RUDIMENTS OP NATIONAL KNOWLEPaE, PRESENTED TO THE; YI^UTH OF THE UIVITED STATES^, AND TO EJ^yfUMRMJ%^ rOHEI€kjrER^. BV A CITIZEN OF PENNSYLVANtA. PUBLISHED BY E. L. CAREY & A. HART, And for sale by the principal Booksellers. J, Richards, Printer. 1833, Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1833, by J. Churchman, in the Clerk's Office of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The Author, retaining very little recollection of the formal rules of grammar, partially studied in his youth, does not presume to claim exemption from occasional error in the construction of his language; which is merely the result of habit combined with the exercise of an imperfect judgment. If the eye of criticism should detect faults, both in grammatical construction and punctuation, he will not be disap, pointed. He has himself observed imperfections in both these respects too late for correction in the present edition, — which, however he must do himself the justice to attribute, in some part^ to the fatigues attend, ant on a continual course of indisposition during the progress of prints ing. Not being vainly desirous of appearing personally before the pub, lie, he has caused entry in the office to be made in the name of a youth- ful friend; on whom, though legally constituted a representative of the Author, with relation to the property of the work, no responsibility will rest on account ot its imperfections. CONTENTS. Introduction ----- page 13 BOOK L Chapter I. North America (Discovery) - - 21 II. Aboriginal Inhabitants - - - 32 Indian Oratory - - - - 36 Do Worship - - - - 37 Do Morality and love of Truth - - 38 Do Anecdotes - - - 40, 42, 44 III. Settlement of the Colonies - - - 51 •- ion 1. Massachusetts - - - - - 52 2. Maine . . . - . 56 3. New Hampshire - ♦ - - 57 4. Vermont - - ^ - - 59 5. Rhode Island . - - - - 60 6. Connecticut , . - . 52 7. New York - - - - - 64 8. New Jersey - - - . - 67 9. Pennsylvania - - ^ - - 69 10. Delaware - - , , . 71 11. Maryland • ^ . - - 72 12. Virginia - - , - . 74 13. Kentucky » - - - - 81 14. North Carolina - ^ - - 83 15. Tennessee - ^ ^ - - 85 16. South Carolina . . , ^ 86 17. Georgia - - - - - - 88 18. Alabama and Mississippi - - = 90 19. States and Territories N. W. of Ohio river - 91 20. Louisiana, Missouri, &c. - - - 93 21. Florida - . - - - - 97 I VI CONTENTS. BOOK II. Introductory , . - , - Chapter I. United States - - - - Federal Convention - , - Form of Government , , - Comparative Reflections II. Waters of the United States Part 1st. Seas and Lakes - , , - 2nd. Rivers and Bays . - - - Section 1. St. Lawrence . . -, . 2. Mississippi and branches 3. Susquehanna and Chesapeak 4. Delaware . . • - 5. Hudson, or North river - - - 6. Columbia river - - - . Observations and Reflections Chapter III. Mountains and Face of the Country ^ IV. Climates and Seasons , <. .. T. Larg-e native Animals - Indian method of taking" tlie Buffalo Encounter of Captain Lewis with a Bear Anecdote of two Eagles VI. Native Vegetable Productions VII. Agricultural Products VIII. Mineral and Geological Substances IX. Manufactures in general Moral Reflections , , - X. Salt Mines and Manufactories XL Sugar Manufactories . , - XII. Manufactures of Potash XUI. Corporations - » " ° XIV. Insurances , , - - XV. Banks , . - - - XVI. The Mint - , , - XVII. Post Offices . - - - XVm. Patent Office . , ' - XIX. Fisheries --•»-» Anecdotes - • • 188, Mode of attacking a Whale XX. Fur Trade - - . - XXI. Commerce . . - - page 99 . 100 103 - 104 109 - 113 ibid ' 115 ibid - 116 118 - 119 ibid - 120 ibid - 125 130 , 131 132 134 , 136 137 - 140 143 - 149 i5r . 158 161 - 163 164 - 169 172 - 178 181 - 183 185 190 191 195 198 189, CONTENTS. Vll Chapter XXII. Commercial Emporiums - page 202 Washington City . - - - 204 Boston ----- 205 New York 206 Philadelphia . - - - 208 Pittsburgh - - - - - 209 Baltimore - - - - 210 New Orleans - . - . 212 XXIII. Steam Navigation - - - 213 XXIV. Canals 217 XXV. Rail Roads - - . - 222 XXVI. Waterfalls, Medicinal Springs and Curiosities 226 XXVII. Lines of Measurement - - - 234 XXVIII. Education - - - - 237 XXIX. The Eagle Map - - - - 244 XXX. Agriculture, &c. . - . 246 BOOK III. Introductory Remarks . - - . 253 Chapter I. Waters of the Several States 257 II. Comparative Views of the States - 272 Section 1. Maine ibid 2. New Hampshire . 273 3. Vermont - . . - 274 4. Massachusetts - - - - 275 5. Rhode Island 277 6. Connecticut . - « - ibid 7. New York - - . . 278 8. New Jersey . 282 Anecdote of a drunken Bear 283 9. Pennsylvania . 285 10. Delaware 288 u. Maryland - 290 12. District of Columbia 292 13. Virginia - ibid 14. North Carolina 294 15, South Carolina • - 297 16. Georgia , ^ , . 298 17. Alabama and Mississippi - 300 18. Louisiana . p » . 301 Vlll CONTENTS. Section 19. Tennessee . . . , page 302 20. Kentucky - - ... 303 21. Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois - - - 304 22. Missouri - - ♦ - - 307 23. Michigan Territory - - - - 309 24. Arkansas Territory - , , . ibid 25. Florida - - - - - - 310 Chapter III. Cities and Chief Towns - - - 311 IV. Tables of Counties, Seats of Judicature, &c. 345 General Table - - - ^ 571 V. Definitions of Legal Terms - . 372 A few inconsiderable errors in print having escaped timely no^ tice, are here pointed out for correction by the reader. Page 47, line 9 — For "this," read ** their." 61, 3— For "Aquetnee," read "Aquetnec." 71, 24-^For ** Proprietor," read '* Proprietary." 113, 6— For "mankind," read "manhood." 115, 11 — For "Provinces," read "Province." 155, 19 — Between " by" and "portions," insert "dif- ferent." 263, 17— For ** Mataposny," read " Metapony." INTRODUCTION. More than fifty years have now elapsed since the question of the Independence of these United States, became settled. The actors engaged in the work of effecting the revolution, have nearly all passed away. The second generation from them are now in their different spheres of activity. Those who may be termed, according to the received calculations of the ages of men, the third generation, are in the morning of life — in the spring time of 3^outhful buoyancy and growing vigor; rising up as a new race of actors, to take the place of the present, in conducting the ex- tensive and complicated concerns of a great nation. The remembrance of transactions current at the birth of our national independence, is still preserved by the few remaining ancients; and their descendants have been taught to hail the period as one of all- important interest. History has been faithful in its office, in detailing the events of that deeply interesting period, in the order in which they occurred. A record of the na- tional transactions, during the last half century, has been preserved in the public archives; and some of those transactions have been occasionally unfolded to us, by the later historian and the politician, as circum- stances have called for their development. In party contests of public opinion, and in popular assemblies, many interesting sentiments and circum- stances have been from time to time thrown before the public view, clothed with enthusiastic ardor, in the form of popular declamation; and have been de- tailed with reiteration in periodical prints. From these, and similar public stores, the general chain of events hitherto interesting to the nation, may XiV INTRODUCTION. perhaps have been sufficiently unfolded to the past and current active generations; who may have pre- served in memory, each his own peculiar store of knowledge. As time passes on, and the generations of men suc- ceed each other, the ideas of things past, naturally become more and more faint, varied, and uncertain. Thus, the apprehension and comparative importance of things which have passed two generations ago, may wear a different aspect in the minds of the pre- sent very interesting race, in the morning of life, from that which they did in the minds of their forefathers. Though many of our citizens now in the vigor of activity, may entertain the opinion, that the sources of general information are sufficiently multiplied, yet a little reflection may satisfy us, that the records of knowledge are becoming m.ore and more diffuse; and that the youth now rising, must, in order to arrive at a correct general understanding of important national subjects, glean their information from a great diversi- ty of sources: and that, as time advances, this circum- stance will still become more obvious, and the labor to obtain a store of correct general knowledge still more expansive. The rising generation, will probably possess all the variety of taste and inclination which has heretofore marked the progress of the human mind. Their in- quiries will pursue different subjects, according to their diversity of taste. Amongst those subjects, the great variety of our national circumstances, and na- tional interests, v/ill occupy a prominent place, pro- vided their youthful attention may be properly di- rected, by those having the important charge of their education: when the gratification of those various in- clinations, may lead to their proper practical results, toward determining the pursuits, and forming the in- dividual character of the future citizen. Indulging in reflections such as the foregoing, it has appeared to the author of this little volume, that an im- INTRODUCTION. XV portant link in the chain of educational knowledge, adapted to the wants of the rising youth in our coun- try, at the present day, remained unsupplied by the multiplied efforts of modern authors to provide for all the public demands. The deficiency unprovided for, has appeared to him to be, a condensed view, in regular and easy connex- ion, and separated from extraneous matter, of the ge- neral rudiments of the history of the discovery of our country — the character and manners of the natives preceding us — the settlement of our early colonial es- tablishments — their advancement to the period of the Declaration of Independence — the establishment of our great Federal Compact — the form of our national Constitution — a summary view of our great national interests — and a comparative geographical and statis- tical sketch of the present aspect of the different mem- bers of our political Union. It has appeared to the author, that by presenting to the youth a connected stock of general ideas, those who may afterward have leisure or inclination to pur- sue the study of the whole, or any part of our na- tional history, or general national interests, may, from such a v/ork, receive important aid in the pur- suit of their different objects of study or inquiry, by haA'ing acquired thereby, a more enlarged, and at the same time a more connected and concentrated previous understanding. And that the very extensive and in- teresting portion of our great national family, the children of those efficieni citizens who are engaged in the laborious, and highly important occupations of the practical farmer, the manufacturer, the mechanic, and other branches of useful industry, and whose daily avocations, or circumstances in life, may limit their opportunities for study, or a more general course of reading, may, by the same means, enlarge their stock of information, and increase their qualification, to reason, reflect, and converse, on subjects of national interest, with a satisfaction which the mind of a free citizen of an enlightened community may derive from XVI INTRODUCTION. a rational employment of his mental powers, though under disadvantageous circumstances. Under these considerations the present volume has been prepared. As the plan of the work is profess- edly rudimental, the unaspiring title of ^^ Rudiments of National Knowledge,'^ has been adopted. It has accorded with the plan of the author, to avoid a detail of any of the military operations of the revolution. They appeared to him, to belong espe- cially to the class of subjects proper to be embraced in a regular history; to be noticed as inclination might lead, after a condensed, connected sketch, of rudimental knowledge should be attained. He has also thought proper to avoid the language of glowing declamation, calculated to excite in youth an unprofitable excess of chivalrous sentiment; and to substitute occasional moral reflections, designed for the use of the future practical citizen, as well in the enjoyment of the leisure of affluence, as in the com- mon walks of industrious life; and calculated to lead the youth to a rational, interesting comparison, be- tween our peculiar enjoyments, as a nation standing independent and alone, in the undisturbed occupancy of avast, unbroken territory, and the evils of the en- tangled alliances and trammelled' institutions of fo- reign realms. To awaken in youth, a just sense of our national ad- vantages and blessings, has appeared to the author, likely to be productive of important moral eifects, tending to the encouragement of a course of conduct calculated to promote and ensure their protracted en- joyment. For the purpose of rendering the w^ork more enter- taining to young minds, the author has taken the li- berty, occasionally to introduce an interesting anec- dote, having direct relation to the subject discussed. Though many of the subjects treated upon, are no doubt familiarly known to the great mass of citizens, and may, therefore, at first view, seem to be scarcely deserving of a place in a work intended for juvenile INTRODUCTION. XVll instruction, yet we shall at once perceive, that know- ledge of every description, must, with the youthful mind, have a beginning; and that if a fair view of any subject is at once exhibited, the labor of future inqui- ry is saved; and the mind prevented from satisfying itself with accidental conceptions of things, which, though at present supposed to be correct, may, when afterward recurred to, for any practical purpose, be found to be in reality, imperfect and vague. As the author is disposed to offer his work to the favor and adoption of teachers, as an additional book of school exercises, he will cheerfully leave to their determination, whether the method of arrangement adopted in the geographical and statistical parts, be an improvement on former methods or otherwise; only requesting, as a stipulation, that his reasons of- fered at the commencement of those parts, may be candidly examined and considered, in connexion with his remarks in this introduction. In some of the systems of Introduction to Geogra- phy, for the use of schools, very little, if any, more attention appears to have been bestowed upon the de- scriptions of our own country than upon those of dis- tant parts of the world. This, with respect to the studies of the youth of a nation constituted as is ours, has appeared to the author to be an important error. The very brief descriptions of other countries, may, perhaps, be all that may ever be practically useful for our youth in general to know of them. But, to the rising future representatives of a great nation, under a government of a republican form, where a general knowledge of all important national circumstances is desirable, to qualify for future thought and action, under the independent character of citizens, enjoy- ing not only the name, but the essential realities, of moral and political freedom, a more expanded and comprehensive view of practical subjects relating to our own country, would appear proper to be familiar- 2* XVlll INTRODUCTION. ly impressed upon the youthful notice and memory. If, however, those very brief systems are merely in- tended for scholars in their childhood, or very early minority, the author will cheerfully leave them to their own merits, without designing any censure. The present volume, it will be perceived, is intended for those of more expanded understanding, advancing onward, in the further stages approaching to man- hood. Other authors, while they pursue the same course of extreme brevity, in descriptions simply geographi- cal, seem to manifest a desire to exhibit, in one ge- neral system, a sketch of many branches of the know- ledge of the laborious investigators of philosophical science: combining together, with their brief geogra- phical descriptions of surface, the doctrines of geolo- gy, natural philosophy, &c. &c. in sketches equally brief and unimpressive. This plan has appeared, in the humble opinion of the author, as comprising an error equally inconvenient with the former, if the works are intended for the general study of the youth in our common schools. To assume the office of public criticism, however, is not intended; nor is any desire felt to discredit the labors of others. The author would only further simply observe, that, in this little volume, the plan adopted, has been to confine his intention principally to the exhibition of practical facts and circumstances; bearing in their nature, some relation to the common business of life, and possibly adapted to the purposes of useful reference, when future business and future settlement, may become to the student, subjects of important consideration: leaving the doctrines of ab- struse science, to be pursued by the inquiring student, as from leisure or inclination he may be inclined, in works especial!]/ devoted to them. In the present performance, truth and accuracy have been intended. But as the principal part of the work, is little more than a compend of the ideas stored INTRODUCTION. XIX up in the author's own mind, derived from reading, conversation, and personal observation, through an extended course of years, his knowledge may, per- haps, in many instances, be found to be too superfi- cial. When he has attempted corrections, by compa- rison with some of the popular treatises on geography, he has at once fallen upon so many and great inaccu- racies, with respect to parts where he had been him- self long personally acquainted, as to impair his con- fidence in their authority, with relation to other quarters of the Union. To some of these, the geogra- phical notices will of course be found to be contradic- tory. He will, nevertheless, freely acknowledge that he has made unreserved use of those historical and geographical authorities which have fallen in his way, so far as he has found them to answer his pur- pose. As the publication of the volume has been several years delayed in consequence of indisposition, the author has availed himself of the opportunities of cor- rection of some of its parts, by a comparison with some works very recently published. He now ven- tures the emission of a small edition; subject to such censures for incorrectness as it may yet be found to deserve. Should his plan, and its general execution, so far meet the public approbation as to encourage a second edition, he would invite his intelligent pa- trons, in any part of the Union, to communicate free- ly, their views of necessary correction, or further brief elucidation, directed to the publisher; when, if health be permitted for a careful review, their communica- tions shall be faithfully attended to. From an apprehension that some such rudimental work might be useful to many who come to settle among us from beyond the ocean, he has enlarged his title by a reference to '^inquiring foreigners.'' If the volume should be honored with a share of the approbation of a judicious community, it will af- ford the author the satisfaction naturally arising from the performance of an acknowledged service to the XX INTRODUCTION. rising generation; in whose well being and well doing he feels himself peculiaHy interested. If otherwise, he will console himself with the reflection of having intended well, though bound to submit with resigna- tion to the decision of public sentiment. EUDIMENTS OP NATIONAL KNOWLEDGE. BOOK I.— CHAPTER I. N O R TH A ME R ICA. Krr a period but a few centuries past, when our predecessors, counting ten or twelve generations back, were mingled with the mass of the inhabitants of Europe, many of the arts of civilized life, were, as compared with their advances towards perfection observed at the present time, in a very imperfect con- dition. The art of navigation, among other achieve- ments of human genius, was then in a state of com- parative infancy. ^ The navigators of that day, confined their efforts chiefly, to coasting along the shores of the eastern continents and islands; seldom venturing far from the sight of land. The idea of launching into a wide trackless ocean, in a direction contrary to all former voyages, was perhaps entertained by no one; or, if ever conceived, it seems to have been considered too bold a thought for human daring to realise. At length a man of superior mind appeared; who, influenced partly by reports accidentally gleaned from traditions then ancient, and partly by the force of his own native genius, guided by such lights as the progress of science and philosophical deduction afforded, conceived the bold design of navigating the Atlantic ocean into distant regions, westward from the world of his acquaintance, with a view to new discoveries. His purpose once formed, became the object of his 22 NORTH AMERICA. sole pursuit. He therefore applied, with assiduity, to different governments and sovereigns of Europe; as well to obtain their patronage, as the adequate means of carrying his purpose into effect. The man thus distinguished for unparalleled bold- ness of design, was Christoval Colon; who, however, adopted a mode of spelling, which perhaps he thought more elegant or classical, which changed his name to Christopher Columbus. He was a native of Genoa; a republican city on the Gulf of Genoa, a part of the Mediterranean sea. He addressed himself successively to the rulers of his native city, and to the sovereigns of Portugal, Spain, and England; but his applications were for a period of some years unsuccessful; as being in the apprehension of the different courts, founded in vanity or idle conjecture, or attributable to ambition, reck- less eccentricity of character, or any other unsub- stantial motive which they chose to impute to him. He, however, persevered with undaunted resolution; and the more his applications were neglected or des- pised, the more intently he pursued his faA^ourite ob- ject; till after a long course of suppliant solicitation, he gained the confidence of Isabella, queen of part of the territory now composing the kingdom of Spain; who reigned conjointly with her husband, Ferdi- nand, king of the other portions of that realm. For the accommodation of Columbus, Isabella caused to be fitted out and manned, a small fleet, of three insignificant vessels; perhaps as much inferior to the noble ships now to be seen in our different sea- ports, as the early log cabins in the infant settle- ments in our western wildernesses, are, to the sub- stantial brick houses of a densely peopled district. With this pitiful fleet, with poor accommodations, and with crews difficult to be governed, and disposed to mutiny, he, in the year 1492, took leave of the shores of Europe; and launching into the wide ocean, pursued his course westward; braving every diffi- culty and discouragement which occurred, till he ar- NORTH AMERICA. 23 rived amongst the islands bordering on this western continent. The geography of the world was then imperfectly known. Some of the European navigators had coasted round the southern cape of Africa, and ar- rived at some parts of Asiatic India. The whole eastern coast of Asia not having been visited by those navigators, Columbus, unaware of the extent of the dimensions of this our earth, though con- vinced of its globular form, apprehended that, by a" voyage in a western course from Spain, he should arrive at the coast of Asia by a shorter route than by passing round the southern cape of Africa. On his arriving at the islands near our continent, he supposed he had actually realised his intention of reaching India ; totally unaware of the existence of the great Pacific ocean which still lay beyond him. From this mistaken apprehension, those islands, as they were reached by sailing westward, came to re- ceive the name of the West Indies, and the Asiatic India, which was arrived at by an easterly voyage, was called the East Indies. From the circumstance of denominating those islands the *'West Indies," the native inhabitants, as well of the islands as of the American continents ge- nerally, received the name of Indians, After arriving at those islands, Columbus returned to Spain with some of the native inhabitants, as well as of the produce of those regions; when he was re- ceived with unbounded applause. After several re- petitions uf his voyage, he reached the continent of South America, in the year 1498. On his return from his first voyage, the fame of his wonderful success, rapidly spread amongst the nations who had rejected his previous applications as vision- ary — an enthusiastic spirit of adventure for the pur- pose of new discoveries became highly excited, and expeditions from various nations were fitted out. Amongst others, Henry the Vllth, the king of England at that time reigning, partaking of the gene- 24 NORTH AMERICA. ral excitement, committed the charge of a voyage of discovery, to John and Sebastian Cabot, father and son, two of his subjects, of the city of Bristol. As Columbus and the previous adventurers, had mostly confined themselves to the latitudes of the West India islands, the Cabots struck out a new course; and sailing westerly from England, arrived upon the coast of the New World about the 57th de- gree of north latitude. From this point of first dis- covery, they traversed the coast southwestward, till they arrived at Florida, and from thence returned to England. But it does not appear, that their voyage was productive at that time, of any further result than a slight general survey or observation of the coast from the verge of the ocean. The three monarchs of England who followed Henry VII. next in succession, were too intently en- gaged, in political and religious revolutions and coun- ter-revolutions, to devote any attention to distant ob- jects unpossessed. And thus the discovery of this northern continent of the New World, remained unim- proved for nearly a century after the visit of the Ca- bots; though the coast might have been transiently visited by other navigators. A navigator, named Amerigo Vespucci, generally called Americus Vespucius, who visited the coast of the southern continent soon after its first discovery by Columbus, had the address, by means of the fame and consideration he acquired in Europe, by the pub- lication of a history of his voyage, to give and per- petuate, to the whole continent, north and south, a de- rivative of his own name. Hence North and South America. In the latter part of the sixteenth century, when the government of England had become settled, un- der the long reign of queen Elizabeth, who was the fourth monarch from Henry VII., the spirit of colo- nization in America revived, or became excited, un- der the energies of Sir Walter Raleigh; who zeal- ously promoted several enterprises, with a view of NORTH AMERICA. 25 effecting a colonial settlement on the coast. At this time the whole seaboard, from Maine to Florida, re- ceived the name of Virginia; in compliment to the virginity of the queen, who reigned unmarried. The enterprises of Raleigh were directed to the part of the coast which now constitutes North Caro- lina. The scene of operation, however, was very- distant from Great Britain — the interior circum- stances of the country unknown — the genius of the native inhabitants little understood, and perhaps as little regarded. These circumstances, together with the want of experience for such an undertaking, the only safe instructor in great and hazardous enter- prises, were probably the reasons, w^hy these first at- tempts at colonization became entirely abortive — The people who were left on the coast to form settle- ments, for want of timely succours, either perished by disease, or lack of suitable food and accommoda- tions, in an unknown climate, or too little regarding the rights, or careless of the friendship of the natives, were by them destroyed. We will here offer a few observations, which the reader will consider as a digression from the chain of historical information intended to be conveyed in this chapter: but which will, perhaps, be found in some measure, to illustrate various circumstances which will be narrated in the course of our work. At the time of the discovery of South America by Columbiis, and this Northern Continent by the Ca- bots, the professors of the Christian religion, in Eu- ropean nations in general, were comprehended under that which is called the Roman Catholic church. The bishop or pope of Rome, professed himself to be the head of that church. And as this prerogative had been assumed by a long succession of bishops, the nations had become so much habituated to their assumption of supreme power, as generally to admit and acknowledge its validity. Under a presumptuous claim of divine right, as 3 NORTH AMERICA. head of what they were pleased to denominate the universal church, the popes of Rome assumed to own, and to have a right to bestow, on whomsoever they would, all realms and regions of the earth, which should be discovered in the occupancy of nations whom they were pleased to term savage or heathen, because unacquainted with the manners, and forms of worship, which had been prescribed by them.selves, or by councils under their influence. On this principle, they aSected to bestow on the princes and adventurers of Europe, a right to the ter- ritory and government of the vast newly discovered regions of America. And under this preposterous idea of grant from the pope, by divine right, the Spa- nish government, assumed the right of property, to the West India islands and the Southern Continent. And though those regions were found to be inha- bited by an immense population of friendly and in- offensive people, as this people were not furnished with the modern European means of warfare, to repel unjust invasion, the subjects of the Spanish govern- ment exercised towards them a most rigorous, cruel, wicked, and destructive course of conduct; by which millions of unoffending inhabitants, were, in a few years, exterminated from the face of the earth, in or- der to obtain the abundant stores of wealth, in gold and silver, which they were found to possess. And all this, under a mighty display of hypocritical zeal, for the honour and interests of the pretended holy mother church, by the destruction of the heathen. This served as a cloak, to cover their insatiable lust of wealth, which supplanted every principle of hu- man kindness. Another branch of assumed right, may perhaps be considered as standing in connexion with, or, owing its origin, either directly or indirectly to, the same root A doctrine became so generally established by the governments of Europe, as to be deemed a law of nations, that the government whose subjects first discovered a territory before unknown to the civilized NORTH AMERICA. 2i world, and in the possession of a people supposed to be barbarian or savage, had, by such discovery, a right to such territory, to the exclusion of all other civilized governments. This claim of right, however futile and defective its origin or ground, is even continued amongst na- tions down to the present time. Though it must be inferred, that by the advances of sound moral princi- ple, the original ground of such claims must be so modified and mitigated, as to exclude the idea of a property in the possession of tribes and nations, in newlv discovered places, and to assume at present only the exclusive rights of trade with, and guardian- ship over those nations. On the ground of right, founded on the discovery of the Cabots, the claim of Great Britain, on the set- tlement of its American colonies, was supported. And this claim of right, was occasionally resorted to for the expulsion of the colonial governments under other powers, in different parts on the coast, as will be ob- served in the condensed historical sketches which will be found in this work. But, as the progress of the human mind is slow in abandoning the prejudices of education and tradition, and becoming inured to the exercise of sound rational principles, under the guidance of universal benevo- lence, in opposition to the conduct and doctrines of previous ages, so too many traits may be observed, in the character and conduct of some of the earlv colo- nists from Great Britain, showing that they were still, at a period of one hundred years after the first disco- very of the country, under the influence of false no- tions of divine right, founded on their own assumed superior religious knowledge and Christian piety; their blind self-love and self-complacency, inducing them to view the native inhabitants as heathens and savages, less worthy of the divine beneficence. And hence the just rights of the unoffending natives were in many instances disregarded. At the same time that it appears proper to give a 28 NORTH AMERICA. correct account of the early circumstances of our com- mon country, it may be expedient to caution the youthful mind, against inferences of an unjust cha- racter. Though the spurious claims of the bishop of Rome, as head of the universal church, to bestow on whom- soever he would, a right to territories to which him- self had no more right than he had to the mountains in the moon, may be now justly held in contempt and abhorrence, we are to remember, that many of the nations of Europe, were at that day, surrounded with great mental darkness and superstition, much of which has, by the diffusion of religious light, and the progress of moral principle, now become dispelled. At the present time, therefore, the sincere profess- ors of allegiance to that church, in a religious point of view, in our country, are not to be involved in a responsibility for the absurd notiT)ns which led to the destruction of whole nations of the south. On the contrary, many of them are among the class of our most amiable citizens in civil society; standing as it were in the fore ranks, in support of our excellent civil institutions, and in maintaining the doctrines of equal civil and religious rights. On the other hand, the blighting circumstances of our own early colonial history, which took place un- der the domination of other sectarian associations, are not to involve in their disgrace, the present sincere professors of the same general doctrines, whatever they may be. While the professors of different forms of religion, are bound to cherish such sentiments as accord with the dictates of conscience, and may be justified in even an earnest dissent from each other, in opinions, yet, as a nation united in civil and political institu- tions, we are bound together by mutual ties of social brotherhood, each under obligation to promote the general good according to our best ability; guarding at the same time, with a watchful eye, against all en- croachments on the civil power, which may possibly* NORTH AMERICA. 29 from the misguided influence of self-love, be at any time attempted, by any one of the many religious sub- divisions of our great civil community. Thus, mutually fulfilling our civil and social du- ties, we may safely trust the cause of true religion to its own merits; confiding that it will eventually make its way in the minds of men, aided only by sound rational argument, and the force of its own intrinsic evidences. To resume our narrative: — After the failure of attempts at colonization, under the auspices of Raleigh, in the reign of Elizabeth, the subject seems to have been abandoned by the Bri- tish government, till the reign of her successor, king James I. In the year 1606, the coast of North America, was by him, ideally divided into two parts, extending from Maine to Georgia. To these parts he gave the names of South Virginia and North Virginia. For the two portions of territory, grants were issued by the king, in favour of two companies, composed of men of property and public note. The company of South Virginia was commonly called the London Company; of North Virginia, the Plymouth Com- pany. The spirit of adventure being thus revived, the first permanent settlement on the coast, was effected under the London Company, in the year 1607. The place of its location was called James Town, which was situated on the bank of the beautiful James Ri- ver, in Virginia — names given by the adventurers, to the town and river, in honour of their patron king. The next permanent settlement was made under authority of the North Virginia or Plymouth Com- pany; at a place which the adventurers named New Plymouth; now included in the state of Massachu- setts. These first adventurers on the northern coast, have since been denominated *' The Pilgrims," from the circumstances connected with their emigration. 3* 30 NORTH AMERICA. The grants of king James, to the two Virginia Com- panies, were soon found to be attended with inconve- niences detrimental to the public interest. They were therefore abrogated, and the distinctions of North and South Virginia were soon lost, or superseded by other names, which accompanied new grants, from different monarchs in succession, under a great va- riety of circumstances, as traced in our historical sketches, until thirteen different governments were established, extending from Maine to Georgia. Those thirteen governments, were held as pro- vinces, under the crown of Great Britain, until the increase of oppression by the parent state, produced a revolt; which led to measures of forcible resistance on the part of the colonies, and at length to a Decla- ration of Independence. That far famed, and ever memorable instrument, which was signed by the re- presentatives of the people in Congress assembled, and published to the world, on the 4th of July, 1776; by which the Thirteen Provinces were declared to be thenceforth "Free and Independent States." After a war of eight years continuance, the British government was compelled to acknowledge their in- dependence as a distinct nation; the northern and western boundaries of whose territory, was settled by treaty, as passing along the river St. Lawrence, through the great northern lakes, and westward to the head waters of the river Mississippi, and thence down that river to the Spanish province of Louisiana. The British colonies still remaining, under the names of Upper and Lower Canada, New Bruns- wick, and Nova Scotia, had been settled by emigrants from France, under that government, but were in pos- session of the British government by conquest, and did not participate in the revolt of the other thirteen. A part of the boundary between Maine and the British provinces, northeastward, being expressed in the articles of treaty, with some supposed ambiguity, has been for many years a subject of dispute, between the governments of the United States and Great Bri- NORTH AMERICA. 31 tain. The subject has been latterly referred, in an amicable manner, to the friendly arbitration of the king of Holland; who gave his award in the year 1S30. It appears, however, from evidences of dissa- tisfaction in the proposed terms of settlement, that the dispute still remains open. The large extent of country westward of the Mis- sissippi, including the present states of Louisiana and Missouri, with the Arkansaw Territory, and the great Missouri Territory, extending westward to the Pacific ocean, was afterwards purchased from the go- vernment of France, to whom the claim to it had been then lately transferred, by that of Spain. The purchase was made under the administration of Thomas Jefferson, our third president, in the year 1803; and the consideration paid $15,000,000. The territory of Florida, has been since purchased of the Spanish government, for the consideration of jg5,000,000. It belongs to the department of more amplified his- tory, to delineate to the student and the foreigner, the difficulties, the hardships, and the dangers, en- countered by our forefathers, in effecting their first settlements in the wide- spread American wilderness — to transmit in more minute detail, a record of the va- rious circumstances and incidents severally attending them, in their different detached situations — and to trace the rapid progress of the new born nation, through all its vicissitudes, from a state comparable to feeble and tottering infancy, to that of a vigorous political manhood; proclaiming, and demonstrating, before the face of the nations of the world, its capa- city to resist oppression, and to assume and exercise the powers and the right^^ of self-government. 32 NORTH AMERICA. CHAPTER 11. Previous to entering upon distinct notices of the colonial settlement, and early history, of the several states, it seems to be a natural course of inquiry, to examine by whom the country was held and inha- bited, before European enterprise transplanted into it so many portions of the numerous population of the old world. The inquiry, pursued to its extent, would afford a wide field for contemplation — furnish much room for the exercise of philosophical reflection — and unfold many interesting views of human nature, in a state uninfluenced by the refinements of education, which obtain in those regions of the earth which history has made familiar. To us, the subject is interesting, as they were our immediate predecessors in occupancy, and still hold with us, in a national capacity, an important rela- tion. They have, moreover, surrendered to us a beautiful country, affording vast room for the free extension of agricultural industry, and for the culti- vation of every art, and the improvement of every science, calculated to increase the comforts of human life. Though curious inquirers into their origin, suggest to us that they originally came from different parts of the old world, it seems to us of little consequence whether their arguments are well founded or other- wise. We know that they compose an important part of the great family of mankind; and being, equally with ourselves, the workmanship, and under the care, of the one Almighty Creator, they bear to us, in that point of view also, an interesting relation. More- over, though they have been separated for many ages, from other families of the earth, we know not at what period of human existence, they may have been the children of the same identical parentage with ourselves. NORTH AMERICA. 33 Though they have been widely spread over this vast continent, and associating in an almost infinite number of different tribes and families, from what- ever sources, among the great human race, they may have sprung, they seem to partake throughout, of one general national character; and as that character appears to be little liable to changes, while they sus- tain their ancient modes of life, whatever they were, in a national point of view, two hundred years ago, they still, in general, continue to be. We shall therefore be justified, as we sketch their character and manners, in resorting to both early and latter circumstances for illustration. ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS of North America. When the European colonists first settled on the North American shores, the great wilderness was found in possession of numerous tribes of inhabitants, from whose forefathers the inheritance of the country had descended, through an unknown number of suc- cessive generations. Satisfied with the simplest accommodations, they dwelt in wigwams formed of slender and perishable materials. Agriculture was unknown to them, ex- cept the occasional cultivation, by their females, of small portions of ground, in corn,* and a few other simple vegetables. Inured to, and delighting in, the chase, they fed principally on the flesh, and clothed themselves and their families with the skins, of the native animals, which then ranged the wilderness in great numbers. Though their mode of living was thus simple, they were, nevertheless, a bold, resolute, and warlike pea- * Com, is a term applied in Europe, to wheat and other small grains, but as it is more common with us to confine the name, in its common use, to Indian Com, or maize, we so use it throughout this work. 34 ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS pie, when they supposed themselves to be aggrieved, by the conduct of neighboring tribes or nations. In their enmities and retaliations for wrongs en- dured, they were vindictive and cruel; revenge for an injury unatoned for, holding, in their imagina- tion, and under their national usages, the rank of a virtue. Their arts of warfare, consisted much in stratagem, ambuscade and decoy; generally aiming at the onset, to take advantage of their enemies by surprise; but when engaged, they would contend with great reso- lution, and apparent contempt of death. Yet, when accosted even by an enemy, with offers of peace and friendship, if they believed him to be sincere, they were easily reconciled. When, having smoked together alternately, from the pipe of peace, their amity remained unbroken, till some fresh pro- vocation, either real or imaginary, was offered to themselves or their allies. in their friendships firm and steadfast, they would in some cases, interpose their own persons, even be- fore a presented rifle, to ward off danger from a con- fiding individual, to whom they stood pledged for protection, by promise, implication, or the sacred- ness of the rights of hospitality. A singular custom prevails with them, and is often resorted to — the adoption of captives taken in battle with their enemies, as children and members of their own families, to supply the places of children and re- lations slain by those very enemies. Their simple national governments, are conducted by that which may be termed the force of moral power alone: and the representatives of that power, are those who have risen, by tacit agreement of the nation, or by special convention, to the rank of chiefs; in con- sequence of their wisdom in council, or their prowess in war; or sometimes by the influence of hereditary claim, united with demonstrations of bodily and men- tal vigor. But national councils are often held, to de- termine important questions; and it is a remarkable OF NORTH AMERICA. 35 fact, that instances have been by no means solitary, where the counsels of grave, discreet, and venerable Women amongst them, have been regarded with equal reverence with those of distinguished chiefs; and such women, have seemed to be a necessary component part of their assemblies, in public debate upon the con- cerns of the nation. Having no alphabet, and consequently no written documents or memorials, a correct knowledge of the powers of their language, could only be obtained by long personal intercourse and conversation. Hence the opportunity of acquiring a complete acquaintance with their different dialects, and with the extent of the meaning of the words and sounds in use with them, occurred w^ith few; and those few perhaps sel- dom qualified with sufficient discernment to be judges in the case: and hence, their language was considered by their first European visiters, and by their success sors, for a long time, as comparatively harsh and barren. Of latter time, on a scientific examination and ana- lyzation of their words and phrases, it has been disco- vered, and clearly demonstrated, that their language, though simple in its structure, is rich, copious, and masterly: according with the most correct rules of grammatical construction, and fully adequate to the eloquent expression of all the ideas necessary to their circumstances, habits, and associations in life. In their national councils, they conduct themselves with great gravity and decorum.; attending, solemnly, and strictly, to the business before them, and using no more words than are necessary, forcibly to convey their sentiments. In those councils, and in conference with the re- presentatives of other powers, their speeches are often highly figurative; and are delivered with screat ener- gy and force of argument: and their observations are, occasionally, remarkably keen, shrewd, and satirical, when their opponents in argument manifest the weak- ness of their cause, by fallacious, unworthy, or un- 36 ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS reasonable propositions, or a vain affectation of supe- riority. Some of their public addresses, delivered on affect- ing occasions, would, for boldness of figure, and elo- quence of expression, even vie with the ancient ora- tory of Greece or Rome. Many instances might be cited, but we confine ourselves to the speech of Logan, a bold and skilful chief, as handed to us in Jefferson's Notes on Virginia. On occasion of a great national council, to consult on propositions of peace, after a bloody war with the white inhabitants, Logan, in consequence of a perpe- tual sense, rankling in his mind, of injuries of the most deeply afflicting nature, committed in wanton, savage, unprovoked cruelty, absented himself from the council; but fearing that his absence might have an improper effect upon other chiefs, he sent, by a friend, to be delivered in his name, the following speech. It is said, however, that no translation can give an adequate idea of the original; neither can the natural, graceful, and commanding gestures peculiar to Indian oratory be transferred to any other lan- guage. **I appeal to any white man to say, if he ever entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him no meat: if he ever came cold and naked, and he clothed him not.* During the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his cabin, an ad- vocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites, that my countrymen, as they passed, said, ^ Logan is the friend of white men.' I had even thought to have lived with you, but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood, and unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not even sparing my women and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. This called on me for revenge. I have *The conformity of the practice of the nohle chief, with the doctrine of the Great Head of the Christian church is strikingly remarkable. Bee Mattliew xxv. 35. OF NORTH AMERICA. 37 sought it: I have killed many: I have fully glutted my vengeance: for my country I rejoice in the beams of peace. But do not harbor a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He would not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one!'' Though they have, by som.e writers, been repre- sented as void of settled sound religious principle, the conclusion appears to be unfounded and unjust. Nu- merous testimonials have been recorded by travellers and residents among them, who have had ample op- portunities of observing their manners, and discover- ing their sentiments, that they are habitually agreed in the sentiment of worship and adoration, to the one all-powerful Creator and Preserver of their being, whom they address in supplication, as the ^* Great Spirit," or ^^Master of Life." An accomplished modern traveller has given us short translations of some of their invocations, as over- heard by himself, when the tribe was engaged in their mournful religious celebration of the memory of de- ceased relatives. **My dear father exists no longer: have pity on me, oh Great Spirit! Thou seest I cry forever. Dry my tears, and give me comfort." '^Our enemies have slain my father and mother. They are lost to me and their family. I pray thee, Oh Master of Life! to preserve me, until I avenge their death, and then do with me as thou pleasest."* The rude images occasionally found among them, and to which they seem to pay a secondary reve- rence, must, therefore, be considered only as memo- rials addressing to their senses, in aid of their spiritual devotions; and equally reasonable, with some of the ceremonies and symbols, used by some professors of the Christian name. At the same time it must be ac- knowledged, that some of them are, for want of better * Lieutenant Pike's Travels up the Mississippi. 4 38 ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS information, much given to superstition, and false no- tions of supernatural agencies. Though to those accustomed to the refinements of a more luxurious life, the comparative coarseness of features of some of the females, added to the effect of a homely habit of clothing, and a retiring bashfulness of manners, may present the idea that theirsensibilities of affection are dull, and but little refined; yet various instances are upon record, where they have manifested an intense feeling, equal to any of their sex, when cru- elly separated from their infant children; and other in- stances, where they have resolutely sought a voluntary death, in preference to enduring the torture of an en- tirely hopeless separation from the endeared objects of tlieir affection, or, to being compelled to accept in marriage, men whom they did not love, while their affections were fixed upon others. They educate their children with the greatest care and strictness, to the habit of speaking truth on all oc- casions: and if a man of their tribe, should ever be de- tected in a falsehood, he can rarely, or never, regain their confidence. Should he even be the bearer of news from their war parties, which would be highly inte- resting to them, he is treated with distrust or indiffe- rence. They will, perhaps in their broken English, observe to by-standers, who do not comprehend the the cause of their indifference, ''May be so true. May be so not. He once told a lie." When first visited by Europeans they were kind and hospitable. Treating the new settlers as friends; generously supplying them with food; and for very small considerations allowing them land to cultivate. But shrewd in observation, and quick in their percep- tion of improper conduct, which in many cases was soon manifested towards them, their, resentments and jealousy were easily kindled and brought into action. Hence, several of the earliest colonies exposed them- selves to dreadful sufferings and dismay, from the in- fliction of cruel tortures and loss of many lives. OF NORTH AMERICA. 39 Results of a different kind, however, were the consequence of a different conduct toward them. These results were manifested in the settlement of Pennsylvania on a large scale, and in other exam- ples on a smaller. When William Penn established his colony, his utmost care was exerted, to conduct all his negotia- tions and intercourse with them on the principles of justice, benevolence, and unbroken faith. Appearing among them without weapons for at- tack, or defence, all hostile views on their part were obviated. Paying, according to terms agreed upon in formal treaties, a full satisfaction for the lands he purchased, he closed the avenues of discontent. Ma- nifesting in all his intercourse with them, a uniform course of openness, candour, and conciliating friend- ship, no jealousies had room to grow. At his first treaty with the assembled Sachems of the wilderness, under the great elm tree, at Shacka- maxon, (Kensington,) they appeared, on meeting, as if agitated by a variety of emotions. Perhaps they might be the blended result, of hesitancy, cautious po- licy, astonishment at his confidence in appearing un- armed, and wondering anxiety for the final issue. Observing, however, with a keen and scrutinizing eye, his simplicity of habit, dignified, unsuspecting deportment, benevolent countenance, and open manly presence, they became influenced by a spontaneous feeling of solemnity, awe and reverence. And what- ever of doubt, or hesitancy, they might have enter- tained, soon gave way to confidence, and profound respect. The solemnization of that treaty, is commemorated by the inhabitants of the state at the present day, as a circumstance of great interest. Exhibiting the sin- gular spectacle, of a man of the most refined and po- lished manners, conversant in the most magnificent courts of Europe, but devotedly sustaining the ex- alted principles of universal benevolence and peace, uniting in commingled sympathy with the high 40 ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS minded, indejDendent, and proudly decorated war- riors of the western world, in the profound and heartfelt acknowledgment of the governing provi- dence of the one Almighty creative and sustaining power, — the ^^ Great Spirit," — and pledging them- selves to each other, as his children, in the bonds of an everlasting friendship. Thenceforward their love and attachment to him and his friends remained inviolable; and their vene- ration for his name and luemory, descended by tra- dition through a course of successive generations; and is cherished by the broken and scattered rem- nants of the ancient tribes then inhabiting the terri- tory of Penns3"lvania, to the present day. At a treaty held at Sandusky, near the close of the last century, when hostile commotions had prevailed in the Northwest for a considerable time, several of the religious society in which William Penn held communion attended. Although the irritation and discontent which had caused hostilities on the part of the natives, remained in sufficient force to prevent the success of the treaty for peace at that time, yet a deportment peculiarly respectful towards *' the Children of Onas,'^ * pre- vailed among the natives assembled. One of the party holding the principles of Penn was a man of large person and commanding presence, A distinguished chief, of still larger stature and of an athletic frame, on a day during their social inter- course, approached him with his muscular arms ex- tended, and grasping him in close embrace, raised him repeatedl}^ from the ground, letting him down again with considerable force, in the familiar manner one might be supposed to handle a beloved child when in a sportive mood, though with much greater rough- ness; accosting him at the same time, in language he had learned from some depraved or dissolute person * Onas is the Indian name of a feather. Hence the settlers under Penn and their descendants were called by them the children of Onas, OF NORTH AMERICA. 41 among the white population, as English words, adapted to a familiar, easy, good natured address, language too common among the habitually profane. Though his salutation was comprised in terms^ of vulgar coarseness too gross for our pages, yet it was, at each repetition, concluded with the emphatic ex- pression, '' You are my brother.'^ Here was an evidence of the affections of the heart, cultivated and cherished by parental care, through the traditions of an hundred years, secretly prevailing over the spirit of animosity and deadly ha- tred, which had influenced his general conduct during the war then depending. For some time after the first settlement of Penn- sylvania, the efforts of the colonists engaged in agri- culture, were chiefly confined to securing, by their industry, the articles of the first necessity. These, besides simple food and simple clothing, were simple log habitations, generally but one story high, and composed of one or two rooms on a ground floor. In these they lived, and began the opening and im- provement of their farms, in the different neighbour- hoods where they were located. The natives remained in their wigwams, wherever they happened to be situated, as long as they chose to continue among the white population; and dwell- ing in perfectharmony together, the colonists, whollj' void of fear, thought it not necessary, even to provide a fastening for their doors, except a simple latch to prevent the winds from blowing them open, or to guard against the nightly entrance of the wolf or the bear. Thus would the affectionate mother and her helpless infants, sleep in perfect security; even during the necessary intervals of absence of the kind hus^- band and careful father. Among the natives, an established law of hospi- tality, secured to the Indian an undisputed right, when hungry, to enter the wigwam of his friend, whether present or absent, and help himself to what- 4* 42 ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS ever food he could find, for the supply of his present want. And for their conduct in so doing, by a rule of mutual tacit consent, no apology was due to each other. The natives, conducting their intercourse with the white inhabitants upon the same benevolent princi- ples, naturally considered the same law, applicable to their mutual relations with each other. But if, when hungry, an Indian entered the house of his white neighbour in the night in quest of food, which he could at any time do, by merely raising the door latch by a string, his first care was to inspect, with great delicacy, and without noise or disturbance, whether the husband were at home. If he found him with his family, he then felt himself at liberty to kindle the tire, cook such food as he couid find in the house, and having satisfied his present hunger, pass quietly away without utter- ing a word. But if, on cautious inspection, he dis- covered that the husband was absent, and the wife and children thus unprotected, such was his native sense of politeness and decorum, that he would im- mediately retire, gently close the door after him, and leave the family in the sweet enjoyment of un- disturbed rest, with his hunger unsatisfied. From the numerous examples transmitted to us by tradition, or preserved upon record, of the exalted benevolence of the Indian character, when left to its native or educational bias, unblighted by a sense of wrongs received, we will cite a convincing instance. A family of colonists, who had settled at a dis- tance from other white inhabitants, having exhausted their small stock of provisions, had no means of pro- curing a supply for their present necessities, but by travelling on foot, a distance of many miles, to a place of earlier settlement, where they supposed corn could be procured, and carrying home on their backs such small stock as they should be able to travel umder. Having thus, under the impulse of necessity, de- OF NORTH AMERICA. 43 termined on the tedious journey, the parents con- cluded to send their little son, to abide with an In- dian family until their return. The family, discovering from the boy, the object of his parents contemplated journey, their friendly com- passion became to them the spring of immediate ac- tion, determining them instantly to divide their own small remaining stock with the sufferers. The best means which occurred to them on the spur of the occasion, by which to convey their spon- taneous bounty, was, to take the trousers of the boy, and after securely tying the legs at the bottom, fill them with corn. This done, they sent the child to his grateful parents, with his trousers swung over his shoulders, bearing as much provisions for their present sustenance as his slender powers could well support* Though such a picture may, to the youth of the present refined age, appear somewhat ludicrous, and perhaps excite a smile at the simplicity of Indian contrivance, yet the occurrence, when vievv^ed in connexion with its spring of action, and with due re- gard to the difierence of means and circumstances, may perhaps be perceived to comprise in it, an evi- dence as decidedly honourable to the dignified bene- volence of the human character, though exemplified through the untutored children of the wilderness, as would be the exertions of a polished community, in the present days of ease and plenteous profusion, who, acting in concert, should freight a noble ship, and send it to the Mediterranean sea, for the purpose of conveying supplies to the sufiering families of mo- dern Greece. When the pilgrims established themselves in New England, as they chose to pursue a course of conduct toward the natives, opposite to the plan of William Penn, they were sometimes reduced to such awfu! * Watson's Annals. 44 ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS circumstances of danger of invasion by them, that they even passed a law, at their general court, to oblige all their men, under a penalty, to go well armed, to their places of worship; and another law, when ammunition was scarce, to lay a fine for the act of shooting any thing of less importance than a wolf or an Indian! The original settlers of Pennsylvania, were a peo- ple who also were distinguished for their devotion to religious principle. The attendance of their yearly and other periodical meetings, sometimes required several days absence from their homes. On those oc- casions, as both sexes were equally interested in the attendance of their religious assemblies, they some- times left their young families without a full grown head, during their absence. Well attested instances are transmitted to us by tradition where the neigh- bouring natives, on discovering the absence of the heads of the family, and its cause, have visited the children several times in the day — tenderly inquired in what way they could be useful to them — and watched over their welfare with the kindest solici- tude, till the return of the parents. But these were the people, whom some of our mo- dern writers, seem to take a pleasure in stigmatizing, when they attempt to give their original character, with the opprobrious epithets of ^^ barbarous wander- ing savages;" and to advert to them in other degrad- ing terms, calculated to excite in the minds of young people, very unjust apprehensions. That many of them have since become greatly de- based, by their intercourse with the vicious part of the white population, has been very evident; and hence, that their moral habits, have been in many cases much changed. That they were, when first visited by Europeans, merely '^ wandering hordes," is, as a general character, sufficiently contradicted by the well known fact, that their national territo- ries were generally well defined amongst themselves; OP NORTH AMERICA. 45 and by the jealous tenacity, with which they ad- hered to, and attempted to defend, their national rights, against unjust aggression. That they were '^savage," in the sense which seems intended to be implied, needs no farther contradiction than the re- cital of well attested circumstances, such as the fore- going. Such interesting facts as we are able to give, with relation to the settlement of Pennsylvania, are not solitary. The history of the settlement of Rhode Island, by the benevolent Roger Williams, furnishes evidence equally conclusive, of the effect of the ope- ration of a righteous principle, sustaining a constant course of just and pacific measures. The facts to be gathered from the account of the settlement of Mary- land, under the humane and enlightened Catholic Baron of Baltimore, afford testimony similarly inte- resting. But as they had no written language, by which to represent their grievances, and record their wrongs, the injuries they suffered in some of the colonies, in early time, were unnoticed, or lightly touched upon, by the interested and partial historian; and their ef- forts to avenge themselves, according to their accus- tomed terrible modes of warfare, blazoned to the world, as treacherous, wanton, acts of savage cruelty. The numerous if not unnumbered tribes and na- tions, which, in those early days of our intercourse with them, were spread over the whole region, from the northern lakes to the gulf of Mexico, and from the Atlantic shores to the Mississippi, have with few exceptions disappeared. Many populous tribes, inhabiting along the sea coast and tide waters, have dwindled away, before the white population, and become extinct. Many thousands, have first and last, been slain in battle, and have been otherwise destroyed, by the wanton violence of parties despising the restraints of law and the authority of government. Some numerous tribes, and the feeble remnants of others, have migrated to 46 ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS mingle with their red brethren inhabiting the distant regions of the west, far removed from our view. The larger and smaller remnants of tribes, retain- ing a national consideration, on the eastern side of the Mississippi, are, or have been till lately, located in the northwestern states and territory — in the south- western states lying near the Mississippi and the gulf of Mexico — and in Florida. The most of them, ap- pear to be rapidly giving up their inheritances, under contracts with our public agents, and removing. It appears to be the settled policy of our general government, and particularly of the present adminis- tration, to prortiote the removal of every representa- tive of the tribes, from the eastern side of the river Mississippi and the adjoining country northwestward, and to induce them to settle in a more collective ca- pacity, in a southern section of our national territory, beyond the western meridian of the state of Missouri. There they are promised a national protection, in a permanent establishment; either under their ancient modes of living, or in the cultivation of the arts of civilized life, as the different tribes may choose. It has been supposed, that if they can be brought to settle nearer to each other, those tribes which have long been in habits of mutual enmity and war, may be induced to relinquish their national hostili- ties; and in due time, by the aid of qualified agents, who may have gained their confidence, form a kind of Indian ^'United States," combined in a common interest, under some kind of general government, in- stituted and administered by themselves, for the ge- neral good of the whole native race. Some of the nations inhabiting far west of the Mississippi, appear, from the accounts of travellers, and from the knowledge recently gained of their cha- racter by the agents of our government, tb possess in a more prevalent degree than the tribes formerly resident near the Atlantic, the ferocious habits of cru- elty and treachery towards their own countrymen of different tribes. Other nations again, in that quarter. OP NORTH AMERICA. 47 are represented as pacific in disposition, and easily influenced by judicious counsel. One cause of the early decline of the eastern tribes, after the establishment of our colonies, was the dis- appearance of the large native animals, on which they chiefly subsisted. These have fled, as the fell- ing of the forests, and the progress of cultivation ad- vanced, or have been destroyed by the white hunters. Another prominent cause of this desolation, has been the efiects of intemperance, vice, and disease, early introduced among them by their white neigh- bours; some of whom, as the white population spread and increased, were men who less regarded the mo- ral good of the Indian, than the advantages to be gained over him in trade. These, discovering the excessive fondness manifested by many of the na- tives, for intoxicating liquors, and unrestrained by the British or colonial governments, eagerly embraced the opportunity of furnishing them with such liquors; as well for the profits of their sale, as for availing themselves of the ruinous sacrifices of property, which the Indians would make, when under their influence. By such means as these, together with the influ- ence of the examples of immoral conduct, thus placed before them, by those unprincipled men, many of the natives, became degraded, from their former high minded independence, to a state of extreme po- verty, disease, and abject wretchedness. Thus, though their national customs, habits, and abstract notions, have as a general system remained the same, the moral standard of many of them be- came lowered, and the force of inherent principle, which so strongly marked the conduct of former ge- nerations, deprived of a part of its characteristic effect. Various attempts at what we call civilization, by endeavouring to induce them to restrain their habits of dependance upon the chase for support, and to adopt the arts of agriculture in more substantial habi- 48 ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS tations, have been at best but very partially success^ fill. In some cases they have been driven from place to place, to form new settlements; in consequence of the unreasonable jealousies of unprincipled parties, in time of national commotion. In others, when in particular districts, a progress has appeared, suffi- cient to justify a reasonable hope of success, the de- sign has become eventually defeated, by interested individuals, continually holding out inducements to the natives to sell out their reservations of land, and remove to distant parts, to adopt again their former habits of dependance on the beasts of the fo- rest for subsistence. Thus have unsettlement and disquiet been produced, and the progress of civiliza- tion much retarded. Completely to change the manners, habits, and principles of men, under whatever circumstances, generally requires the aid of powerful motives, ope- rating for a long course of time. So deeply the fond- ness for the manly habit of pursuing the wild game, appears to be implanted in their nature, that it has generally been found almost impossible to induce them to change the life of a hunter for the pursuits of agriculture, requiring bodily labour, unless they saw their dependance upon the former likely to entirely fail. Still other causes have, in time past, produced their injurious effects. The long line of frontier settle- ments of the country, while in a colonial state, was commonly peopled by a class of white inhabitants who delighted in participating in the toils and the pleasures of a hunter's life. Some of these, have, from their half-civilized habits and laxity of morals, been unqualified to exhibit to the natives an attractive picture of the blessings and comforts of civilized soci- ety. These also, have often been the instruments of dis- astrous and irritating collisions; and by some of them deep injuries have, in times long passed by, been in- flicted, which remain untold in the annals of history. OF NORTH AMERICA. 49 Strong irritation, and the desire of revenge, on the part of the natives, have been the consequence. The Indian, resting on his native independence, and proudly exulting in his prowess in war, not staying to compare his nation^s strength with that of his op- ponents, has rushed to deadly combat, for the aveng- ing of his wrongs. After the shedding of much blood on both sides, when the strength of his nation has become broken and wasted, he has been compelled to submit to treaties, for the surrender of immense tracts of country, in which the terms of conciliation have been dictated to him, with the instrument of compact in one hand and the conqueror's sword in the other. Thus, have the principles of jealousy and distrust, been deeply implanted; and the lurking de- sire of revenge, at some future day, has retained a place in his mind, and tended to eclipse the blessings, and benefits of a settled agricultural life; and to asso- ciate in his imagination, ideas, unfavourable to the character of faithfulness, honesty and truth in a white man. While the Canadian country remained in the pos- session of France, previous to its conquest by the British in the year 1760, the subjects of France, having acquired great influence over the natives, ge- nerally succeeded in exciting more or fewer of the tribes in the British territory, who held connexion with their brethren in Canada, to associate with them in times of war between the two governments. They effected their purpose by promising them high re- wards, and by strengthening unfavourable recollec- tions of whatever wrongs they were understood to have suffered. These collisions, though productive of great dis- tress and suffering to the frontier British colonists, from the cruel modes of Indian warfare, generally led to the destruction of many Indian lives, and to the weakening of their national power. The same horrid mode of obtaining allies, was re- sorted to by the British government against the Uni- 5 50 ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS ted States, in the time of the revohitionary struggle* though reprobated and condemned by her worthiest statesmen; and it ended in similar results. In the last war with Great Britain, the same mea- sures were again adopted, by the agents or subjects of that government; which contributed to thin still more the Indian ranks, and reduce their national strength. Still, however, the colonial residents in Canada, who are deeply interested in an extensive Indian fur trade, seem to retain, by means of presents, and other measures, calculated to operate upon uneducated ignorance, a certain share of influence over the na- tives near their boundary. The effects of this influ- ence have been sometimes manifested by appearances of enmity and jealousy towards our government: w^hich, added to a rankling sense of grievances in- flicted upon them, by some indiscreet citizens of the frontier, have occasionally produced renewed hostili- ties; which have brought upon the poor uneducated natives, grievous distress and a wide-spread destruc- tion. But, W' ith what painful interest, might the benevo- lent mind indulge the wish, that circumstances and transactions of a less insidious character, had never placed it within the powder of the faithful historian, to transmit to posterity, memorials of " w^rongs and outrage," at the disclosure of which humanity might weep, and the pride of fancied superior intelligence, blush and hide its face. Though as a great whole, they may have been viewed as *' a people terrible from their beginning," yet, have they in truth, been '*a nation scattered and peeled." Should it become possible, to see them more collected, and settled in social community, en- joying in unenvied happiness and peace, under the guidance of the principles of virtue, a plentiful por- tion of this beautiful inheritance of their fathers — our own conduct conforming in all things, to the eternal principles of justice and right — we might haply consi- OF NORTH AMERICA. 51 der such a state of our country, as one prelude to that g;lorious day, long foreseen in prophetic vision, when '^nation should no more make war against nation" — when the hideous spectre of discord, violence and oppression, should hide his Gorgon head forever, in the caverns of darkness; and "righteousness should cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea" — when the tamed spirit of the rampant lion, forgetting his native fierceness, should compose himself to rest, in social covert with the lamb of innocence and univer- sal peace — when all the families of the earth should behold each other with the beamings of a brother's love. Then indeed, should our shadowing eagle, ex- change his aspect of fierceness and his attitude pre- pared for war, for the placid features and generous mien, of the watchful protector of innocence, the dis- tributor of equal justice, and the guardian of equal rights.* Then, should our national banners, display no other emblems than those of universal benevolence and fraternal concord. Glorious day! — Happy con- summation! — thrown by present appearances almost beyond the anticipations of hope. CHAPTER HI. Pursuant to our plan in this work, we next give a very condensed account of the colonial settlement of the several provinces, and the simple rudiments of their history, before the revolution, which se- cured their independence. By this course, we may be better prepared, to take a view of the United St^ates as a nation, and of our various national inter- ests and bonds of union, as we stand connected by our federal compact, under our general government. In doing this, it appears to be a better course, to notice the different colonies, as they appear in geo- graphical arrangement along the coast, than to pre- * See Chapter xxix. Book II. 52 MASSACHUSETTS. sent them according to the successive dates of their settlement. Those states, however, which have been formed of parts of older ones, will severally follow their parent states, and the formation of new states and territories close the account. A notice of the settlement and organization of these, will necessarily refer to transactions under the authority of our gene- ral government. Section 1st. MASSACHUSETTS. The coast of North America, as noticed in our first chapter, was in 1606, ideally divided by king James I. into two parts, extending from Georgia to Maine. To these parts had been given the names of South Virginia and North Virginia. For the two portions of territory, grants from the king had been issued, in favour of two companies. The South Virginia, or London Company — and the North Virginia, or Ply- mouth Company. Various attempts were made to found colonies in North Virginia, previous to 1620, which had uni- formly failed from different causes. But in that year, a party of colonists arrived from Holland, who were more successful. They had been subjects of Great Britain, who had fled to Holland some years before, to avoid the rigours of a severe persecution, on ac- count of their religious opinions. Though they were called Puritans, they professed the principles of the society afterwards called Independents, and in com- mon acceptation, are perhaps comprehended under the general term of Presbyterians or Calvinists. John Robinson — a man of great sincerity and re- spectability — was their pastor in Holland. And their removal to seek a home in America, where it was conceived they might enjoy their religious opinions in peace, was with his advicec MASSACHUSETTS. 53 Being a man of sound mind, and enlightened views, he gave them at parting, an excellent valedictory ad- dress, fraught with instruction and advice, in what manner to conduct themselves; especially and press- ingly charging them, not to reject the discoveries of further religious light, which he conceived might be in future unfolded, beyond what they had then at- tained. So blinded however, were they, in that day of bi- gotry and superstition, that, supposing themselves to be the chosen people of the Almighty, and viewing the natives in the light of heathen, unworthy of the Divine regard, they immediately on landing, with- out provocation, or any attempt to conciliate these ancient owners of the soil, waged indiscriminate war against them; and thus subjected themselves to the constant danger of retaliation for wrongs committed. They fixed their residence at a place on the bay of Cape Cod, which they called New Plymouth. In 1627, another party of the same sect were prompted by similar motives, to seek a home in America. A small inefficient number of emigrants, appear to have arrived in that year, who fixed their residence at Naumkeak, and called it Salem. These, with the settlers at New Plymouth, had obtained their grants from the Plymouth Company. In the next year, a charter was obtained from the crown, in which the new grantees were called, *'The Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay in New England." Massachusetts, was the Indian name of parts on the bay coast, and the name of New England, had been given to this part of the country by Charles I. , when prince of Wales, on a survey of the coast being pre- sented to him by John Smith, hereafter noticed in the History of Virginia. And by that general name, the six states east of New York, are still called, when they are spoken of for general purposes. In 1629, three hundred persons were sent over to the new colony; part of whom settled at Charles- 5* 54 MASSACHUSETTS. town: and 1630, fifteen hundred arrived, and founded Boston, and several other towns. After some years, the colony at New Plymouth, became incorporated with those afterward established, in one government. The colonists, in all those settlements, experienced for some time, great hardship and suffering, from a scarcity of provisions, and from the intense coldness of the winters in unfinished habitations: and from the effects of these calamities many died. Their accom- modations, however, soon became enlarged, and do- mestic comforts multiplied around them. But, the colonists, notwithstanding their sufferings in a strange land, maintaining their opinion of their own exalted virtue, and consequent favour in the di- vine sight, and disregardins: the counsels of Robin- son, their worthy predecessor, denied to all dissent- ers from them in religious opinions, the enjoyment of those equal rights and privileges, which themselves had so earnestly sought: and a rigorous and cruel course of persecution, marked their progress for many years after their establishment. Some of the sect of Anabaptists suffered severely ; their own townsmen partaking of the consequences of their arbitrary laws, equally with strangers com- ing among them. But their distinguished violence, seemed to be directed against the Society of Friends; some of whom visited the colony, and others were settled among them. Against these, new laws were repeatedly passed by the general court; authorising banishment, cropping of ears, and selling as slaves; till at length the penalty in cases of return after ba- nishment, was raised to that of death. Beside a course of the most cruel treatment to some of their own citizens, and even to delicate women who visited them, they proceeded to inflict the pu- nishment of death on three men and one woman; and had passed sentence on others, the execution of which was stayed by the royal mandate — that same power MASSACHUSETTS. 55 which themselves had fled from to avoid the rigours of persecution. Although some of the historians of the day, have recorded a character of this suffering people, with re- spect to their conductj highly injurious to their me- mory, yet there is no evidence to support the de- scriptions thus given, but the distorted statements of their persecutors; who were interested in traducing them for their own justification; and whose testimo- nies are amply contradicted by other historians of at least equal credit. These instances of bigotry and fanaticism, mani- fested by the persecutors, are noted, because it is the proper office of correct history, to preserve a true statement of interesting past events; as well as for the purpose of a general warning, against the possibility of a recurrence of a like spirit, in any portion of the Union. To the enlightened citizens of the state of the present day, no part of the accountability, for the conduct of former generations can be attached. It is considered rather, that their merit is enhanced, by the circumstance that having the force of powerful exam- ple before them, in the persons of otherwise amiable and respectable predecessors, they have succeeded in shaking off the prejudices of tradition, soared above the errors of early national education, and under the guidance of an enlightened understanding, become exalted in moral excellence and liberality of views, to a standing equal to their brethren in any portion of the Union, more favoured by the power of primitive example. The native inhabitants on the sea coast of the co- lony, had become few by a pestilential disease, before the arrival of the colonists, and were afterward still more reduced, by the spread of the small pox, intro- duced by the whites. Under this circumstance, the remaining portions of the tribes were pacific, and it is said that the settlers in the neighbourhood of Bos- ton, had taken some care to purchase their rights. Yet as time advanced, and the settlements became 56 MAINE. extended, encroachments upon them followed. And the interests of the colony, becoming blended with the neifi^hbouring establishments, where the natives were yet numerous, the people of Massachusetts be- came involved in a combined warfare, for the exter- mination, or banishment into distant regions, of the tribes in their vicinity. In this the combination eventually succeeded, after much bloodshed on both sides. They were afterwards, visited at different intervals, by the calamities of war with the Canadian govern- ment, which generally incited the Indians under their influence, to participate with them; and great terror and suffering to the colonists, were the conse- quence. Thus, for want of the prevalence of the principle of universal justice, governing all their conduct, the progress of the colony, in its early advances toward maturity, was marked with blood. Troubles of the above description at length in a great degree subsiding, the colony continued in a state of progressive prosperity, proportioned to the advances of its neighbours, through its several vicis- situdes of peace and war with the French government, till its disputes with the parent government of Great Britain, eventuated in the Declaration of Indepen- dence. Section 2d. MAINE. An attempt was made as early as 1607, to effect a settlement in Maine, on Kennebec river; but the at- tempt was ineffectual. Fifteen years after the first settlement in Massa- chusetts, Ferdinand Gorges was invested with a grant of the territory; which was afterward confirmed by NEW HAMPSHIRE. 57 a charter from the king, and a governor and council appointed. But after the death of Gorges, the peo- ple who were settled in the colony, agreed upon a more liberal constitution; by which they were go- verned till 1652. In that year, they became included by mutual consent, in the government of Massachu- setts, when the district received the name of York- shire. Their connexion with Massachusetts continued, till the district was lately, by act of Congress, constituted an independent state. Its history from the union with Massachusetts till the Declaration of Indepen- dence, is of course, involved in the history of that state. Its reception as a state in the Union, took place in 1820. Section 3d. NEW HAMPSHIRE. The settlement of New Hampshire, was begun in 1623, by a small colony sent from England, by John Mason, Ferdinand Gorges, and others, who had ob- tained from the Plymouth Company, grants of lands north of Massachusetts. The first house in the colony, was built near the mouth of Piscataqua river; and a part of the company passing, up the river, settled at Dover. The name of New Hampshire, was first given to the colony in 1629, from a county named Hampshire in England. The country between the Piscataqua and Merrimack ri- vers, being in that year granted to Mason alone. Portsmouth was founded in 1631, and Exeter in 1638. The latter by John Wheelright; a clergyman of note, who had been banished from Massachusetts 58 NEW HAMPSHIRE. on a religious account; and who had purchased the land in that part from the natives, previous to the grant to Mason. By these two different grants of territory, a foundation was laid, for a long continued contest of claims. Exeter, Dover, and Portsmouth, each organizing a government of its own, remained distinct till 1641, when they were, by their own request, received as constituents of the government of Massachusetts. The claim of Mason was suspended until 1675, the settlers purchasing of Wheelright. In that year the claim of Mason was revived by his grandson; but was resisted by the settlers who had purchased of Wheel- right; on the plea that their right, being derived from the native owners, was the more just: and long dis- putes succeeded, to disturb the peace of the colony. In 1679, New Hampshire was constituted a sepa- rate province. New Hampshire was more the seat of Indian war- fare than the neighbouring colonies, and many lives were lost: the territory laying upon the frontier, to- ward the country to which the natives had been driven. These distresses continued at different intervals, from 1675 to 1726. That the natives had been cruelly injured, by some of the directors of the public affairs, is admitted by historians, and assigned as a cause of depredations, which were often committed after their national man- ner of warfare, with subtlety and the cruelty of re- venge. The French government of Canada, by giv- ing them premiums, for their trophies of war, taken from the persons of those whom they slew, and a stated price for English prisoners, excited them to use great activity and address; and grievous suffer- ings to the frontier inhabitants were the consequence. It is however known, from the best historical au- thority, that in these wars, they scrupulously forbore to attack, or in any way disturb, those who appeared unarmed, and were known to be advocates of peace with them, and justice toward them. VERMONT. 59 In the remainder of the eighteenth century, the co- lony progressed with its neighbours, in improve- ment, and in the acquisition of moral and physical power, till by the revolution it became an indepen- dent state. Section 4th. VERMONT. This state, is constituted of a tract of country, which, lying between New Hampshire and New York, had been considered by each government as belonging to itself, and each exercised the po\ver of granting lands within the district. The inhabitants, however, dissatisfied with the contending claims, resolved in 1777 to declare them- selves independent of either, and to assume to them- selves the powers of government. As they were faithful to the general cause of inde- pendence, and conducted during the struggle with great energy, the difficulty was not very great, in preparing the way for their admission into the Union as a separate state. The act of Congress passed for that purpose, on their application, bears date in 1791. The state is named from the Green Mountain, which divides it into two parts, nearly equal. In the time of the struggle for independence, the state not being organized, the inhabitants were familiarly styled *' The Green Mountain Boys. " The settlement of the state having been comparatively recent, requires no further present notice distinct from New Hamp- shire and New York. 60 RHODE ISLAND. SECTION 5th. RHODE ISLAND. Rhode Island, owes its establishment as a colony, to the measures of intolerance and persecution, pur- sued by the government of Massachusetts. Roger Williams, being banished from that province in the year 1636, for maintaining the doctrine, that the civil authority, was bound to protect every religious deno- mination, in its civil rights, took his journey south- ward, accompanied by some of his friends of like sen- timents. Having arrived at Mooshausic, he purchased of the natives a tract of land, where he and his followers be- gan a settlement, and gave it the name of ''Provi- dence Plantations,'^ in grateful commemoration of the protection of the Divine power, to which he at- tributed the favour of a peaceful home, undisturbed by the fanatical spirit which had expelled him. Realizing his avowed principles, he established in his colony, entire liberty of conscience; and thus be- came the happy forerunner, in proclaiming and main- taining, equal rights to every religious denomination. His benevolence extending equally to the natives, he, by visiting among them, and learning their lan- guage, obtained their entire confidence. And go- verned by a spirit of love, and forgiveness to ene- mies, he was often instrumental, by his influence over these sons of the forest, in preventing the execution of their hostile designs, against the people who had driven himself into the wilderness. Thus practically fulfilling the divine precept, which enjoins the Chris- tian to render good for evil. In two years after his settlement, he was followed by William Coddington, a wealthy merchant of Bos- ton, who, with a numerous company of like senti- ments, were expelled from the colony of Massachu- RHODE ISLAND. 61 setts on a religious account. These, by the advice of Williams, obtained by a purchase from the natives, their right to the island of Aquetnee, and called it Rhode Island, from the island of Rhodes, in the Me- diterranean sea; under which name the Providence Plantations are now included. By the attractions of a fertile soil, and the estab- lishment of religious liberty in the colony, it rapidly increased in population, and enjoyed prosperity and happiness. In 1663, a provincial charter was granted by the king, to *^ Rhode Island and Providence Plantations." From that time till the revolution, the province con- tinued a distinct and prosperous government; ex- cepting a temporary interruption by one of the gover- nors of Massachusetts, who assumed an arbitrary rule over it, as the king's representative, till he was im- prisoned for his mal-administration, by the people of his own government. The original charter was founded on such fair prin- ciples, that the people have never agreed upon a change. It is a subject worthy of commemoration, that by the justice and benevolence governing Roger Wil- liams, in his intercourse with the natives, the colony was almost entirely preserved from the calamities of Indian warfare. The character of the province, has, however, at a subsequent period, been greatly tarnished, by its merchants, too covetous of unha'llowed gain, enter- ing largely into the trade to Africa for slaves. In this horrid traffic, they became extensively the carriers for other provinces. A trade which has doubtlessly been long held in deserved abhorrence, by their phi- lanthropic successors. 6 63 CONNECTICUT. SECTION 6th. CONNECTICUT. The original settlement of this state, was effected in different ways, and in detached portions. Each small colony within its limits, having a distinct go- vernment, which in time became all consolidated into one. It appears that in 1G31, a grant of territory was ob- tained from the Plymouth Company in England, by an association of adventurers, headed by two noble- men, the title of one being "Say and Seal," and of the other ''Brook." And so little was then known of the geography of the country, that this grant ex- tended from the Atlantic coast to the South sea; on a supposition that the shore of that ocean was not dis- tant. The same circumstance is observable in the early grants in general. In 1633, a party from Plymouth, in Massachu- setts, erected a fortification at Windsor, on Connecti- cut river, where was founded a town in 1635; ano- ther at Weathersfield being also begun at the same time. Both of these towns were settled by inhabit- ants from Massachusetts, who it appears, were al- lured by the report of the fertile lands on the borders of the Connecticut river. In 1638, a settlement was formed at New Haven, by Davenport, Eaton, and others, who had arrived at Boston from England in the preceding year. In 1639 Saybrook was founded, by George Fenwick, one of the patentees, from England; a fort having been erected there in 1635, by direction of the pa- tentees. The name he compounded from the titles of the two noblemen named in the grant. These small colonies, were each under a self-con- stituted jurisdiction, till a charter, comprehending the whole territory, was granted by king Charles II., CONNECTICUT. 63 on terms more liberal than had been usual with the British monarchs; owing to a circumstance of address of the applicant, by which the mind of the king was wrought into complacency, inducing him to abate his usual reservations and restrictions. Under this charter the colonists continued prosper- ous and contented. Though some of their early laws, are strongly characterized, by a spirit of sectarian bi- gotry, at which the present enlightened age revolts. The Dutch government at New York, claiming the country to the border of Connecticut river, disputes often arose between the subjects of the two nations. These disputes, however, were ended by treaty, in 1650. In war with the natives, this colony being on the sea coast, and its frontiers defended by other settle- ments, suffered less than some of the neighbouring ones. Though the people appear to have entered fully into the spirit, and active exertions of war, for the extermination of the neighbouring tribes, who in the cruelty of revenge for accumulated injuries, had com- mitted grievous depredations upon some of the white settlements. In 16S6, king James II. laid a plan to abolish the charters of all the colonies, and substitute arbitrary governments, to be administered by his own agents- To accomplish this design, his agent, at the head of an armed force, demanded of the assembly, when in session, a surrender of the instrument by which their rights were guaranteed. But, by an ingenious stra- tagem, conducted with address, by one of their ablest citizens, he was prevented from obtaining it. Thus secured in ample privileges, the colony con- tinued in a prosperous state for nearly a century; when the contest with Great Britain, resulted in an exchange of relations, from a dependant province of a distant monarch, to that of a member of a great re- publican confederacy. 64 NEW YORK. SECTION 7th. NEW YORK. The North, or Hudson, river, and the adjoining shores, were visited in the year 1609, by Henry Hud- son, of England, but sailing as a captain employed by the Dutch East India Company. This transient visit, laid, according to the usages of European nations, the foundation of a claim to the country by the republic of Holland; in conformity with the absurd doctrine, that the first sight of a country, connected with some circumstances of tri- fling ceremony, by a subject of a nation called civil- ized, gave that nation a right to the territory, pro- vided it was only inhabited by people whom they chose to term savage. Or, in other words, provided the nation thus discovered, were so much less skilled in the arts and modes of modern warfare, as to render them easily reducible by the adepts in those arts. In this instance, however, the Dutch government seem to have overlooked, or disregarded, the previ- ous visit and discovery of the Cabots — the claim of the British government, being long afterward suc- cessfully enforced. In consequence of the discovery of Hudson, the republic of Holland, in the year 1613, granted to some of its merchants, the exclusive right of trading in the territory. And these merchants, depending on the sword for protection, erected a fort, 160 miles up the river, and called it *' Fort Orange." They also built a few houses for trade, on Manhattan island — now New York. In 1621, the republic granted to their West India Company, a large territory on both sides of the river, by boundaries inaccurately defined; but which the company interpreted as extending from the Connec- ticut river to the bay of Delaware. The country thus NEW YORK. 65 granted, they called New Nederlands, and the settle- ment on Manhattan island, New Amsterdam. The country was held by the Dutch for fifty years after their first settlement; though with some inter- ruption from the British claims. In the course of this time, bloody wars with the natives occurred, and many lives were sacrificed on both sides. It is easy to conceive on which side ag- gression was first chargeable; as candid historians agree in testifying, that the native tribes, though cruel and vindictive in revenging injuries wantonly committed, and unjust infringements on their native rights, were never known, in the days of our early history, to be the first in breaking the stipulations of a fair and friendly treaty. In this interval also, the Dutch population had be- come numerous; and the town of New Amsterdam had been fortified, and had grown to a considerable size. In the year 1664, king Charles II. claiming his prior right to the whole coast, on the principle of prior discovery by the Cabots, granted the territory to his brother, James, duke of York and Albany; and though at peace with the republic, immediately sent a squadron and armed force, to conquer for him the possession. This military expedition succeeded; and the terri- tory remained in the possession of the British, from that time forward, excepting a temporary interrup- tion by a Dutch force in 1673. On the British con- quest. New Amsterdam received the name of New York, and Orange that of Albany, from the two titles of the duke. The colony was often afterward, subjected to com- motion and inquietude, for the space of more than eighty years. Some of the governors sent to preside over it, were, it seems, totally disqualified for the of- fice, either by incapacity, profligacy, covetousness, or tyrannical principles; and the people were either 6* 66 NEW YORK. contending against them for their just rights, or dis- contentedly suffering, under arbitrary impositions. Other governors, however, appear to have been men of amiable disposition and manners, and to have conducted with prudence; and the people, being con- ciliated, to have maintained friendly terms with them; the colony prospering under their adminis- tration. Amongst the greatest public evils in those early periods, may be considered their laws enacted at cer- tain times, cruelly and wantonly, infringing on the rights of conscience, with relation to religious persua- sion and principle. The colony, at different periods, during this inter- val, suffered in its northern parts, grievous devasta- tion and bloodshed, by the northern Indians, stimu- lated by the French government in Canada; and sometimes combined with hostile legions from that quarter. Such was the consequence of possessing a country by the power of the sword; without sufficient care to satisfy the just claims of the former rightful owners, and to secure and consolidate their friend- ship, by a watchful and liberal conduct, proportioned to the great advantages which they had surrendered. From 1756 to 1763, the British government and its colonies, were engaged in war with France and her Canadian government, and New York was often the seat of sanguinary warfare. The northern French authorities, as usual, inviting the natives under their influence, to join them, and stimulating them to prac- tise their wonted cruelties. Soon after the conclusion of this war, this, with the other provinces, was involved in disputes with the parent government of Great Britain, which conti- nued with little intermission, till, by the Declaration of Independence, it became an independent state. NEW JERSEY. 67 SECTION 8th. NEW JERSEY. The first European settlement in this state, appears to have been made by a small colony from Denmark, who fixed their abode at Bergen, in the north-east part, about the year 1624. Settlements were soon after made further south, by emigrants from Holland. The descendants of these, remain to be citizens com- posing a large proportion of the population of those parts at the present day. These were soon succeeded by settlements on De- laware bay and river, by inhabitants from Sweden and Finland; who, however, chiefly fixed themselves on the west side of the Delaware, though their pur- chase from the natives appears to have included both shores. About the year. 1640, a settlement was began at Elsinborough, by emigrants from England. But the claim of the Dutch, who then held New York, ex- tending to the Delaware, they joined the Swedes in expelling the English settlers. Afterward, the terri- tory on the Delaware, was contested between the Dutch and Swedes, and several times changed mas- ters, previous to the conquest of the whole Dutch ter- ritory, by a British force, in favour of the duke of York, in the year 1664. The duke of York, in the same year, sold this part of his territory, to the lord Berkeley and sir George Cartaret; when it received the name of New Jersey, in compliment to the latter, who had been governor of the island of Jersey on the coast of England, under king Charles II. The territory being divided be- tween the two purchasers, their separate parts were called East and West Jersey. The two portions, afterward, several times changed owners, and were, for some time, severally held by 68 NEW JERSEY. large companies, of whom William Penii and Robert Barclay, eminent in the Society of Friends, were conspicuous members. The circumstance of a multiplied proprietorship occasioning confusion in land titles, among the actual settlers, produced unpleasant and irritating conten- tions. These, with other difficulties, induced the proprietors in 1702, to agree in surrendering the go- vernment to the crown, under the reign of queen Anne; who united the two divisions under one go- vernment. The legislative assemblies were elected by the peo- ple, but the governors of New York presided over the province till 173S, when a separate governor was appointed. From that time the province continued in a prosperous state until the revolution. The public authorities from the earliest colonial settlement to the latest provincial date, having, so far as appears, conducted toward the native inhabitants with justice, benevolence, and friendship, the pro- vince was never much subjected to the scourge of In- dian warfare; the natives in general, peaceably trans- ferring their rights for satisfactory considerations, alid retiring to the interior country. A few who chose to remain near the graves of their fathers in the middle part of the state, were provided for by the care of benevolent individuals, who took proper measures to secure sufficient portions of land for their maintenance, as long as the tribes remained willing to occupy it. On their application to the le- gislature the land was then sold and the proceeds ap- propriated to the use of the remnants of the tribes. A circumstance of very late date is worthy of pub- lic record, as honourable to the benevolence of the state legislature. It was not uncommon in times long gone by, for the tribes, when they sold portions of their inherit- ance, to reserve the right of fishing and hunting upon them — a right which would be only valuable to them while they remained to occupy it, or the lands re- PENNSYLVANIA. 69 mained unimproved, and cease to be of any worth when the extension of culture should displace the wild animals, or the party should remove to distant parts. It appears that small remnants of one or two tribes, who a long time ago sold their lands and removed to Green Bay in the northwest territory, are still in ex- istence, but have become poor and depressed. As lately as the winter of 1831-2, a distinguished Indian, deputed by this people, presented himself be- fore the legislature when in session; with a plea that when their forefathers sold their land, they had re- ceived their pay, but, that their right of hunting and fishing was never extinguished. Though it is to be presumed no one would dispute the privilege with them, if they chose to come and occupy it, and could find game to pursue, yet the assembly were too mag- nanimous to urge the plea against them; but compas- sionating their forlorn condition, courteously voted them the sum of 2000 dollars in ready money, as a compensation for their reserved privileges. With this sum the agent returned to his friends highly pleased and gratified. SECTION 9th. PENNSYLVANIA. Pennsylvania was first settled as a British colony under the patronage of William Penn, proprietor and governor, in the year 1682. He obtained the British territorial claim from king Charles II. ; in consider- ation of a large sum of money, owing by the king or government to his father; who had been in his ac- tive days an admiral of renown in the navy of Great Britain. After him, the king insisted upon naming the province, Pennsylvania, which literally signifies "The country of Penn. '^ 70 PENNSYLVANIA. But this transfer of territorial title, by a prince of a distant land, did not in the view of William Penn, constitute a ri^ht to the country, without a fair and honourable purchase from the native inhabitants. Of these he made several purchases, including as much land as was necessary for the colony during his personal administration of the government; leaving it for his heirs and successors to follow his righteous example. The earliest emigrants were principally of the So- ciety of Friends; who were of his own religious com- munion; and by whom the offices and sub-adminis- tration, were chiefly held and conducted, during the early periods of the government: though his liberality of mind was so far above the influence of religious prejudice, that it does not appear that he ever rejected the services of men qualified for office, of any deno- mination; and his frame of government secured equal rights and privileges to all. The province remained in the enjoyment of un- broken peace with the natives, until a period more than seventy years after the first settlement; at which time the administration had passed chiefly into other channels: the descendants of the founder, having early relaxed, from the strictness of circumspection and ho- nour, observed by their venerable predecessor toward the natives, and deserted the religious communion of his friends. The laws and institutions of William Penn, being founded in wisdom, and with uncommon foresight, and his measures being mild, pacific, and condescend- ing, the province rapidly advanced to a consequence equal to the oldest colonies. The prosperity of the country, both as a British province and as an independent state, has been, from the earliest settlement to the present time, with little intermission, continually advancing in opulence and moral power. The humanity, philanthropy, and beneficent spirit of William Penn, feeling deeply for the wrongs and DELAWARE. 71 oppressions, constantly committing, by many of the powers of European government in his day, inspired him with deep solicitude for the good of man, as a being constituted by his great and all-wise Creator as a free agent; whose conscience was sacred, and un- controllable by the unhallowed efforts of arbitrary power. Hence, he proclaimed his province, an asylum for the oppressed of all nations. And hence the present population, is a more mixed race, than is to be found in many other states in the Union; consisting of emi- grants and their descendants, from Great Britain, Ire- land, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and many other nations; who, in social compact have liarmo- nized together, in a united common interest. The territorial rights of the Penn family, remained on their original ground, and the executive govern- ment was administered by different branches of the family in succession, and by their deputies, until the revolution. Their right to the territory and govern- ment was afterward purchased by the state, for the sum of 130,000/. sterling — equal to 606,666 dollars, avoiding fractions. Beside confirming to the family, their rights in the proprietor manors, previously lo- cated; which equalled a tenth part of all the lands which had then been surveyed and appropriated. SECTION 10th. DELAWAEE. The first European settlement of Delaware wasi about 1627, by a colony from Sweden. They pur- chased from the natives an extensive tract of land bordering on the tide waters, from Cape Henlopen to the island of Tinicum, at the mouth of the Schuylkill; to which they gave the name of New Sweden. Their chief town they called Cassimer, which has since 72 MARYLAND. been called by the Dutch Neiwer Amstel, but which the British eventually changed to New Castle. The Swedish colonists appear by historical records, to have gained the good will and friendship of the na- tives, by a just and honourable conduct toward them. Possession of the Swedish territor}^ was afterward obtained by the Dutch government, then existing at New York. And they in their turn, were expelled by the power of the British. The late Swedish colony on the Delaware, was connected with New York, when it fell into the pos- session of the duke of York, brother to king Charles 11. by a grant from the king. And the right of the duke of York to the territory of Delaware, was trans- ferred by sale to William Penn, who had then ob- tained the grant of Pennsylvania. It was held under his government by the name of "The Territories," or, ''The Lower Counties,** though having its own legislative assembly. Finally, at the revolution, it assumed the rank of an independent state. SECTION 11th. MAEYLAND. The colony of Maryland was founded by Cecilius Calvert. Sir George Calvert, baron of Baltimore, in Ireland, a Roman Catholic by profession, feeling the oppres- sion of intolerance, under the reign of king James I., conceived the design of removing to America, for the enjoyment of liberty of conscience; and in pursuit of that design, sailed to Virginia. Finding the intolerant spirit prevalent there also, and observing that the Virginian colonists had made no settlement east of the Potomac, after exploring the MARYLAND. - ^ 73 country, he returned to England, and obtained the assent of king Charles I., then on the throne, for a grant of territory; but died before his charter was completed. After his death, the charter was confirmed to Ceci- lius Calvert, his eldest son, and successor to his titles; and the territory named Maryland, in compliment to the queen, Henrietta Maria. The charter, framed by sir George, was upon libe- ral principles, highly honourable to his memory. It established religious liberty upon a broad ground; and his son, being of a like philanthropic disposition, strictly adhered to its provisions. Leonard Calvert, brother of the proprietor, was tJie first governor; who arrived at the head of a colony in the year 1634. His intercourse with the natives was friendly and conciliatory. He purchased of them a considerable village, called in their tongue Yoamaco, and gave it the name of St. Mary's. It remained to be the seat of government for sixty 5^ears. Its situation w^as near the southern point of the western peninsula, on a creek which he called St. George's. By his fair purchases of territory, and his just and prudent conduct, he satisfied the native proprietors, and confirmed their friendship. The charter being liberal, the country pleasant and inviting, and the natives friendly, population rapidly increased; the colony afibrding an asylum for dis- senters driven from Virginia by Episcopalians, and for Episcopalians driven from the eastern colonies by dissenters; who were severally received and che- rished without distinction. Though in the charter, no right was reserved to the crown, to annul laws made by the colonial go- vernment, as had been common in the charters of other colonies, no attempt was ever made by the Ca- tholic authorities, to infringe on equal liberty of con- science. But notwithstanding the family of Calvert, in those 7 74 VIRGINIA. days of bigotry and intolerance, thus governed the pro- vince with equity and liberality, yet by the influence oi political revolutions in England, and the base intrigues of unprincipled men, they were three times, at different intervals, deprived of their government — the liberal- ity of their plans subverted — and cruel laws enacted by the usurped authorities, to oppress them and their brethren, with others who deviated from the Episco- palian doctrines, on account of their religion. After being the third time reinstated in their rights, the family continued to hold the province till the re- volution of 1776, when their authority ceased, on the adoption by the people of a new constitution. SECTION 12th. VIRGINIA. The first settlement in this state was begun by a colony sent out by the London or South Virginia Company, who, in the year 1607, sent over three ships with above one hundred persons, under the marine command of Christopher Newport. Several unsuc- cessful attempts had before been made under the au- spices of sir Walter Raleigh, to establish a colony on tlie southern coast, when the whole country had re- ceived the name of Virginia, from Elizabeth the vir- gin queen, then reigning. The attempts thus made were upon the coast now called North Carolina. They appear to have failed, partly from the want of a sufficient knowledge of the requisites for such an undertaking, in a land so distant and unknown. The destination of those three ships, was directed to the same part; but a storm driving them into the mouth of Chesapeake bay, was the means of carrying them to a place more favourable for their enterprise. They sailed up a beautiful river, which they named VIRGINIA. 75 James river, in honour of their king. They were re- ceived by the natives with a friendly hospitality, and freely offered land to cultivate. The place of their landing they called James town; which name it still bears. The country being an extended wilderness, and the natives subsisting chiefly upon the flesh of the wild beasts of the forest, which they procured by hunting, they could not be expected to afford ample means of subsistence for a long time, to so large a company, habituated to a different mode of life. Yet insubordination and disorder, being quickly manifested among the company, they were careless of providing seasonably for their own wants, by the cul- tivation of the land given them by the native chiefs. The provisions brought with them failing, famine ensued. By this, added to the diseases of a warm climate, to which they were unaccustomed, nearly half their number died in a few months. By these distresses the}^ were for the present hum- bled. And perceiving the necessity of order in their settlement, they conferred the chief authority upon John Smith, one of their principal men, whom they had before unjustly disgraced. He was a man of great promptitude and energy of character. But in- stead of assiduously cultivating peace and friendship with the natives, he resorted to fortification, as the chief, and in his view the only, effective means of se- curity; not considering, perhaps, that the surest way to bind the human family to each other in peace and friendship, is by the observance of strict justice, and a faithful reciprocation of good offices. Thus defended, the colon}^ soon manifested a dis- position which excited distrust in the natives. And Smith, resorting to violence, in cases where he could not at once prevail by mild means to obtain necessary supplies, was after some time captured by the natives, and condemned to death. At the moment appointed for his execution, Poco- hontas, a young, beautiful, and favourite daughter of 76 VIRGINIA. Powhatan, the presiding king, rushed forward, and interposing her own person between the prisoner and the uplifted weapon, implored her father to save him. Her entreaties prevailed; and Smith was sent home with honour under a strong escort; when he found the colony reduced to thirty-eight. By means of occasional small supplies from the tribes, and by the bounty of the princess Pocohontas, who sent them all the aid in her power, being then under thirteen years old, the colony was sustained till the second arrival of captain Newport; who brought with him beside a stock of provisions, one hundred and twenty colonists. The present difficulties being overcome, disorder and confusion again appeared among the colonists. The authority of Smith was rejected; and capricious transfers of authority from one to another were made; till finding themselves involved in great difficulties, they again invested Smith with the government; who succeeded in restoring order for a time. The company, in 1609, sending out three ships, with a band of officers, for the colony, the ship in which the officers sailed was wrecked on Bermudas: and many of the settlers w^ho arrived in the other two were'profligate and vicious. These circumstances called forth in Smith a determined and resolute con- duct; by which he succeeded in maintaining his au- thority. The Indians, in the mean time, sensible of their accumulating wrongs, and jealous of the growing power of the English, concerted a plan to destroy them. The catastrophe was prevented by the faithful friend of the colonists, the youthful and compassion- ate Pocohontas; who exposed herself to the perils of the wilderness, alone, and in the darkness of a dreary night, in hastening to apprize the colony of the danger. Smith was soon after under the necessity of return- ing to England, to procure relief from the effects of a violent explosion of gunpowder, by which he had VIRGINIA. 77 been severely injured. After his departure, the na- tives renewed their attacks; and the colonists were reduced by famine to such extremity as to feed upon the skins of horses, and at length upon the carcasses of the natives whom they slew. Thus by war, fa- mine, and disease, was the colony again reduced from five hundred to sixty persons. On the arrival of the lord Delaware as new gover- nor, who brought a supply of provisions, he by his prudence, industry, and conciliating measures, suc- ceeded in restoring order and contentment: the co- lony, previous to his arrival, having determined on returning to England, in two vessels built at Bermu- das, by those who had been there shipwrecked, and who had just arrived. After this time, new shipments of settlers arrived, and new towns were built, and settlements extended. In 1612, a captain Argal, trading in the Potomac, found means to decoy Pocohontas on board his ship, and treacherously carried her to James town; in the hope that the captivit}^ of his favourite daughter, would induce Powhatan, to agree to submissive and humiliating terms of peace. But he, indignant at the base treachery of Argal, refused any terms till his daughter should be restored to him upon an offered ransom. A general peace with all the neighbouring tribes, was, however, brought about by another interesting circumstance. During the captivity of Pocohontas, her beauty, her dignified innocence, and artless graces, engaged the affections of a respectable young planter: and a reciprocal attachment being produced, they w^ere married, with the consent of the king her father, and a general peace was the consequence. The young planter conducted his princess on a voyage to England, where she was greatly and gene- rally beloved, and w'as received at the king's court with the respect and consideration due to her rank. Having taken passage to return, wshe died on ship- 7* iO VIRGINIA. board; leaving an infant son, who became the ances- tor of a very respectable line of offspring, who value their honourable descent. Emigrants continuing to arrive, and the colony to advance in improvement, the inequality between the male and female population, became a subject of in- teresting consideration; the result of which was, the shipment from England, by several ships, of one hun- dred and fifty girls, of spotless character, for a sup- ply of wives for the young planters. These, to pay the expenses of their voyage, were charged to the young men at 150lbs. of tobacco each; and were soon disposed of at those prices. It is to be observed, that as tobacco had then be- come the staple produce of the country, the exchange in every transaction in trade, was calculated in a pro- portion to the price of that article in the London mar- ket. The salaries of the public functionaries were rated at a certain quantity of tobacco; and the fees in the public offices were graded, according to their con- sequence, by different quantities of tobacco. After the colony had continued some years in a prosperous state, fast advancing in population, and in the requisites for independence and comfort, Powha- tan, who had been its friend since the marriage of his daughter, died. The chief who succeeded him in power and influence, alive to a sense of injuries, and apprehending from the spread of the white popula- tion, that they would gain possession of the whole land, laid a new plan for their destruction. This plan was conducted with great secrecy, art, and address, till by a sudden and unexpected onset, the chief and his people, rushed upon the inhabitants, and three hundred and forty-seven in different towns were cruelly slaughtered. Further slaughter was pre- vented by the faithfulness of an Indian, resident in a white family; who being importuned to kill his mas- ter, gave him information of the intended massacre, in time for the remainder of the towns to avoid the de- struction intended. VIRGINIA. 79 A war of extermination followed. Great numbers of the natives were slain, and the remainder, driven from the homes of their fathers far into the wilder- ness. But the number of whites became in the con- test greatly diminished; their towns reduced to eight, which had before amounted to ten times that number: and only one-fifth part of the population remaining, of the numbers who had arrived from England. Such are sometimes the disastrous consequences, where strict justice is not observed as the guiding star, and universal benevolence as the principle of action. The colony again revived, and but little further trouble from the natives occurred till a later period, when war with them again produced occasional dis- tress: their distant abodes not being so far removed as to prevent hostilities, when they found circum- stances to favour them. Troubles of other kinds attended the progress of the colony; though now rapidly advancing in popu- lation and general prosperity. Changes in their go- vernment took place by the king, revoking their charter. His officers were sometimes the instruments of arbitrary oppression, and his regulations of their commerce highly injurious. Resentment on the part of the people led to resistance; and at one time the different parties of king and people, were engaged in a destructive civil war; in the progress of which James town was burned, and some of the fairest and most productive districts overspread with ruin. Tranquillity was again restored by the submission of the popular party on the death of their leader. And notwithstanding the arbitrary regulations of monarch- ical power, the colony continued rising on the scale of general prosperity for more than half a century, till the war with France between the years 1750 and 1760, again exposed the frontiers of the province to Indian depredation. Soon after this war was ended, this, with its sister provinces, became engaged in those disputes with the 80 VIRGINIA. parent government of Great Britain, which resulted in the declaration of independence. As in the progression and gradual advancement of the province, for the space of more than a century and a half from its first settlement, many of the inha- bitants had become wealthy, the subject of education had received among the upper classes, a proportion- ate share of attention. And the circumstances of the country favouring the expansion of genius in minds formed for greatness, Virginia was furnished with many characters, eminent in abilities, as enlightened statesmen and legislators; and qualified to guide the helm of government in times of uncommon trial and difficulty. Foremost in the list of these stands George Washington; the mention of whose name alone in the present day, is sufficient to revive in re- collection, whatever we know, belonging to the cha- racter of the dignified citizen, the efficient com- mander, and the great statesman. Recurring to the earlier periods of provincial his- tory, it may be observed, that as in the domestic go- vernment of the eastern provinces, the Presbyterian or Calvinistic influence prevailed, so in Virginia, the Episcopalian was predominant. Under its despotic rule, the province was divided into parishes, a priest- hood established by law, and severe enactments passed and sometimes rigorously enforced, extending to im- prisonment and confiscation of goods, of those who, dissenting from the opinions of the established church, were restrained by conscience from conformity. The salaries of the priesthood as those of other officers of the government, being fixed at a certain stipulated quantity of tobacco. Resistance, however, became popular some years before the revolution; and after a severe struggle in a legal contest, when the community were reduced to despair of success, the cause of the people triumphed in the decision, by means of the unrivalled eloquence and skilful management of Patrick Henry, in his very first effort at the bar of a court. KENTUCKY, 81 From that time forward the cause of church estab- lishments withered; the current of public sentiment setting too strongly against compulsive measures for a renewal of the struggle by the clergy, with any hope of success. Early after the first settlement in the colony, a Dutch vessel brought to it a number of African slaves, who were purchased by the inhabitants. From this deplorable introduction, the practice of bringing this people to the colonies became common. The legis- lative assemblies, perceiving the direful consequences to which the continuance of this trade would lead, and aware of its inhumanity, from time to time passed laws, prohibiting the practice. But as the kings had reserved to themselves, a negative on the colonial enactments, the laudable efforts of the assem- blies were always rendered void by the royal nega- tive; either vainly swayed by a disposition to demon- strate the existence and power of the ro3^al preroga- tive, or influenced by the hard-hearted arguments and supposed interests of the British merchants. Thus, were the wise and benevolent measures of the assemblies, from time to time, rendered abortive j and thus was the colony compelled to submit to the entailment upon it of a curse the most degrading; to the indelible disgrace of the British monarchs then reigning. SECTION 13th. KENTUCKY. The territory of Kentucky, on the western con- fines of Virginia, was man}/^ years considered as be- longing to that government. It was the seat of much bloody contest between some of the native tribes; who contended with each other for the possession, or exclusive use as hunting grounds. It was also a ground warmly contested between the white inhabit- 82 KENTUCKY. ants of the frontier settlements in Virginia, and the native warriors; who, as opportunities offered, re- sented what they viewed as intrusions upon their ter- ritory. Their warlike incursions into the white settle- ments, being marked with all the cruelty of their mode of warfare, the aggravating circumstances of their expulsion from their former lands, were oblite- rated from the memor}^, or candid consideration of the white population, by the grievous sufferings of the victims of Indian revenge, who fell into their power. They were therefore viewed by many of the people, as abandoned savages unworthy of existence; and their extermination was consequently the predo- minant wish, with many, who had fixed their abode on the frontier of white settlement. Kentucky, being thus eminently the field of war, became at length the fruit of conquest, and not of purchase. lis name is said to have relation to the horrors of warfare, transacted on the bosom of its surface. An eminent forerunner in its conquest and settle- ment, was a Daniel Boone, a military colonel; whose passion was, always to take the lead of population; and who, when inhabitants began to multiply around him, moved on, to another wilderness frontier, and still to another, till a very advanced period of life; enjoying more pleasure in savage solitudes, than when surrounded by the social circles of society. He began the first white settlement in Kentucky in the year 1775. The district being of a very fertile soil, was mucli resorted to by emigrants, soon after the revolution; before the purchase and opening of the country north- west of Ohio river. It was received into the Union as a separate state in the year 1792, NORTH CAROLINA. 83 SECTION 14th. NORTH CAROLINA. Except the early abortive attempts at colonizing the southern coast under the patronage of sir Walter Raleigh, the first settlement of Europeans in this state, appears to have been begun about the middle of the seventeenth century. Previous to this, a grant had been made of the territory, to sir Robert Heath, by king Charles I., but no settlement was made under it. Persons fleeing from religious persecution in Vir- ginia, were the forerunners in actual settlement. These, being removed from the jurisdiction of other provinces, held themselves not bound by any of their laws; but maintained their internal polity, by an ob- servance of the laws of nature, morality, and con- science. They were located on Albemarle Sound. The climate being mild, and the winters open, they lived with little labour, in the enjoyment of all the necessaries of life. In 1661, some adventurers from Massachusetts ar- rived, and commenced a settlement near Clarendon river; but finding the situation unpropitious in soil and circumstances, they deserted it, to seek better quarters in other settlements. In 1663, the territory was granted to the lord Cla- rendon, in company with seven other proprietors; who were invested with the powers of government, under which they proclaimed liberty of conscience. At the desire of the patentees, a form of govern- ment was prepared by John Locke; who, though justly celebrated for his philosophical researches, and for liberality of religious views, had not arrived at the same expanded notions of political liberty, which were entertained by the colonists. Attempts to en- force his constitution were therefore opposed by the 84 NORTH CAROLINA. people; and insurrection and political tumult pre- vailed, till the prospect of an armed force from Vir- ginia, induced the people for the present to submit. These internal dissent ions, however, retarded the progress of the colony. And its distresses were much increased, by the vicious and cruel rapacity of a go- vernor appointed over it; who enriched himself by the plunder of the innocent and bribes from the guilty. After enduring his oppressions for six years, he was seized by the inhabitants, tried by the assembly, and banished. Under several of the next governors the colony was prosperous, and in 1693, the aristocratic consti- tution of Locke was annulled, at the request of the people, and one more congenial to their wishes es- tablished. Early in the next century, the colony received a considerable increase of population, by the arrival of a large number of French and German protestants, fleeing from the rigours of persecution. To these the proprietors granted lands on liberal terms; but after a few years enjoyment of their new possessions, their quiet was disturbed, and many of them destroyed by Indian warfare. We are furnished with no accounts of fair purchases of soil being made from the natives; and historians agree in stating, that they were exasperated by re- cent injuries suffered from the white population of the country, and were apprehensive of being entirely supplanted from the inheritance of their fathers. Un- der such circumstances, they knew no distinction be- tween the different settlements, provided they were white men encroaching on their rights. They there- fore fell upon the frontier towns of those German co- lonists, and an indiscriminate massacre marked their steps. War ensued. An army was raised. Succours from South Carolina arrived. And many of the Indians were destroyed and made prisoners, and some of them reduced to slavery. The remainder of the Tus- TENNESSEE. S5 caroras, the most powerful tribe on that coast, then removed north to the lake country; and the residue of the natives afterward submitted to necessity, and continued friendly. The interests of the proprietors and colonists seem- ing to be opposed to each other, and the latter com- plaining to the king, he, upon inquiry in his courts, declared the charter of the former forfeited, and sub- stituted a government under officers appointed by himself. The soil in the interior being found fertile, and the climate inviting, many flocked to it from other colo- nies, and a general prosperity attended the province till the time of the revolution. During several years of the struggle for indepen- dence, the people of this state, and those of South Ca- rolina, were subjected to severe suffering by internal dissentions. A part of the population, held themselves bound by their covenants of allegiance to their late sovereign, and their sentiments were in favour of the monarchical interest. Others had imbibed all the ar- dour of the principles of the revolution, and were persuaded of the justice of throwing off an oppressive foreign yoke. The two parties were mingled toge- ther in the same towns and neighbourhoods, and as passing occurrences tended to the depression or irri- tation of either, they mutually suffered their passions to become excited, to the point of partizan war; in- flicting on each other the most shocking waste of life and property — a state of society certainly much re- gretted, by the enlightened citizens of the present day. SECTION 15th. TENNESSEE. This state, though far distant from the sea-coast of North Carolina, was considered and held as a part of that state till some years since the revolution. Set- S 86 SOUTH CAROLINA. tlements in it previous to the revolution were not ex- tensive. The first which attained to permanency ap- pear to have been made in East Tennessee, in 1768 and 1769, and in West Tennessee in 1779. The dis- tinction between the two divisions being now com- mon when treating of the state, as marked by the passage of the Cuniberland mountain. The country was owned by three or four powerful native tribes, who were formidable in their resistance to encroachments on their territorial rights. As early as 1757, a settlement was attempted to be enforced, by building a fortification, and placing a garrison in the country; but in two or three years after, on open war ensuing, the fort was taken, and the garri- son and inhabitants consigned to slaughter. On the whole, such was the state of unsettlement, uncer- tainty, and frequent distress, attending the progress of a forced settlement, by the power of the sword, that in a late celebrated work, it is styled, '^ A Colo- nization made in blood." In so far as the territory may be considered a sub- ject of earlier history, its history is necessarily in- cluded in that of the parent state. It was received into the Union as an independent state in the year 1796. The territory having been previously ceded to the general government by that of Nortli Carolina. Section 16th. SOUTH CAROLIXA. The territory of this state was included in the charter granted to the lord Clarendon and others; and was for some years of the infancy of settlemei>t, held in some sort as one with the former. The first permanent settlement in the part which is now South Carolina, was made in 1670, at Port SOUTH CAROLINA. 87 Royal. In the next year a town was founded on Ashley river and named Charlestovvni; but the situa- tion appearing afterward to be inconvenient, the in- habitants changed their location in 1680, to the site of the present city, and gave it the former name; which has since been changed to Charleston. In 1690, the same person, who, upon his trial by the assembly, had been banished from North Caro- lina, for his baseness and oppression, made his en- trance into Charleston, and by the aid of his partizans assumed the government; which he held for tv/o 3-ears before he was expelled. The settlement of the colony had been materially advanced by the arrival of Dutch settlers from New York, after the conquest of that colony under the duke of York — by puritans from England, who re- tired from the influence of the profane and profligate court of Charles II. — and by French Protestants, driven into exile by the rigorous conduct of Louis XIV. These last brought with them their wealth, and conducted themselves in a meritorious and praise- worthy manner. Yet the English professors, of the Episcopal church, suffered their narrow party views to prevail over reason and the sublime principles of Christianity. Hence, these inoflensive and industri- ous people, were arbitrarily deprived of their politi- cal rights, till by patient submission, they conquered the persecuting spirit of their enemies, and were ad- mitted to a political equality. Although the proprietors had proclaimed perfect liberty of conscience, yet violent eff'orts were used by one of them, who was a bigoted churchman, to de- stroy that liberty and establish the English church upon its ruins. By the aid of a governor, who was pusillanimous and avaricious, and by resorting to bri- bery and intrigue amongst the voters, he succeeded in securing a majority in the assembly, compliant enough to pass a law to that effect. The people, thus deprived of their dearest rights, 88 GEORGIA. remonstrated to the House of Lords, in England. These, voting their disapprobation of the law, queen Anne then reigning, annulled it by the royal autho- rity, and restored quiet to the colony. In the course of fifteen years after this period, the colony was twice involved in war with the natives, and once with the Spanish subjects in Florida. In their Indian w^ars, some of the native prisoners were, to gratify the avaricious disposition of the governor, sold as slaves — many on both sides were slain in bat- tle, and the remnants of the scattered tribes driven out of the province. Disputes of serious import between the people and the proprietors, on account of the oppressions exer- cised by some of the agents of the latter, continued to agitate the colony, till at length, on a full hearing be- fore the king in council, it was decreed, that the co- lony should be governed by officers of the king's ap- pointment. After this time, the province, though sometimes disturbed by Indian warfare and other in- ternal troubles, advanced in a course of general pros- perity until the period of the revolution. SECTION 17th. GEORGIA. The territory of Georgia is understood to have been included under the charter of the Carolinas; but it remained unsettled till after the king had annulled that charter, and taken those provinces under his own protection. In 1732, a plan was settled for establishing a colony on this unoccupied territory. This plan was insti- tuted for the benefit of the poor of Great Britain, and those of all nations suffering persecution on account of religion. It was devised by a company, who were prompted by disinterested benevolence. Every emi- GEORGIA. S9 grant received a portion of land; and the expenses of the passage and first year's maintenance of the indi- gent, were defrayed by charitable donations. The province received its name from the reigning mo- narch, George II. The affairs of the colony were managed by twenty- one trustees, to whom the king had granted a charter. One of their early and wise regulations was, to prohi- bit the introduction of rum; which, however, they were unable to maintain long in force. The first shipment of settlers was placed under the direction of James Oglethorpe— an active friend to the plan — and composed of one hundred and thir- teen emigrants. Five or six hundred followed in 1733. But these, being the idle and irresolute part of the poor of cities, who had become poor by their course of life, were unfitted for the labour of subdu- ing the heavy forests preparatory to tillage, and con- tinued afterward to be an expense upon the company. The trustees, therefore, found it necessary to ex- tend their invitations to more efficient labourers; with an offer of fifty acres of land to each head of a family. These ofiers brought over some hundreds from Scot- land, Switzerland, and Germany. When the trustees, in 1740, rendered an account of their proceedings, it was found, that the expenses in- curred had been very great in proportion to the ends achieved, and the hope of prosperity to the plan was involved in much doubt. About this time the British government declared war against Spain, and Oglethorpe was constituted a general in the war against the Spanish possessions in Florida. In this capacity he continued through the vicissitudes of the war, till it terminated in his favour. The disturbances of war were injurious to the co- lony. And other circumstances contributed to retard its prosperity, till at length, the trustees, disappointed of the success to their plan which they had hoped for, resigned their charter to the crown, and a royal go- vernment was placed over the colony in 1754. 8* 90 ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI. Disturbances sometimes arose from the inroads of the Florida Indians; which generally ended in the triumph of the white inhabitants. After the change of government, the agriculture of the colony annually improved; and in consequence, a continual increase of products for export trade, advanced the general prosperity, till the period of the revolution. SECTION ISth. ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI. The states of Alabama and Mississippi, comprise a territory which was occupied by several powerful tribes of Indians, for many years after the American revolution. This territory, has, at several different periods since the revolution, been the seat of war with those natives; who justly claimed a right to it. And numerous treaties have been made by the go- vernment with them; by which different portions of their territory have been from time to time pur- chased. A considerable portion of the upper part of these states, remained till very lately in their posses- sion, unpurchased. They have been encouraged by the government to adopt the modes of civilized life, and have made considerable progress in the cultiva- tion of farms, building of houses, planting orchards, and rearing cattle. The western boundary of the state of Georgia, not having, before the revolution, been definitely fixed, on principles adapted to its new relation in the fede- ral compact, the country was claimed by that state. But on the adjustment entered into by Congress, re- lative to the claims of different states, to unseated lands, this portion of territory became the possession of the United States, subject, however, to the Indian rights. From the territory was formed the two anticipated STATES AND TERRITORIES, &C. 91 states; and as population extended to them in a suffi- cient ratio, they were severally received into the Union — Mississippi in the year IS 17, and Alabama in 1819. SECTION 19th. STATES AND TERRITORIES NORTHWEST OF THE OHIO RIVER. The states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, with the Michigan and Northwestern Territories, cover a country in which no considerable settlements of white population were planted, till some years since the re- volution. It was nevertheless a part of the territory of the United States, as acknowledged in the treaty of peace with Great Britain, in 1782 and 1783. It was then, and for ten or twelve years after the revolution, wholly owned and occupied, as the hunt- ing grounds of various native tribes. A bloody w^ar commencing between those tribes and the United States, was continued until the sum- mer of 1795; when the natives, being reduced in numbers, and unable longer to maintain the contest, consented to a treaty of peace, to include the cession of a large part of the country to the United States go- vernment. This treaty having been concluded by general Wayne, who had conducted the war, is thence com- monly called Wayne's treaty. General Wayne, as agent of the government, agreed to pay the tribes a sum of money in hand, and a considerable annuity for a term of years, for the territory then ceded. Several treaties have been since held, at which large additional portions of the territory have been contracted for in a similar manner. Perhaps there is now no portion of it uncovered by those contracts. Very soon after Wayne's treaty, the surveying of 92 STATES AND TERRITORIES, &C. the territory bordering more immediatel}' on the Ohio river was commenced, when it was laid out at right an- gles, into sections of a mile square; equal to six hundred and forty acres. Of these sections, the emigrants to the country, bought of the agents appointed by the government, a vvhole, a half, or a quarter, according to their means: the price being fixed at two dollars per acre. Much of the country was however taken by speculators, with a view of profiting by the ad- vance of price to be expected from intermingled and constantly increasing population. The country being rich in soil and native produc- tions, settlements were immediately begun, and were found to extend with unexampled rapidity. The district which is now the state of Ohio, soon acquired a population sufficient to entitle it to a re- presentation in Congress, and was admitted as a state in the Union in the year 1802. Its population and improvements, have advanced with such rapidity, that it is already ranked with relation to its represen- tation in Congress as the fourth state in the Union. The rate of the increase of population in Indiana has been similar to that of Ohio; yet, being more dis- tant from the eastern and middle states, from which the great tide of emigration flowed, the overwhelm- ing influx did not so soon reach it. Indiana was ac- knowledged as a state in 1816. Illinois being still more distant, is not in general so densely peopled to the present time. It however possesses great advantages, and is fast increasing in population and wealth. It was received into the Union as a state in the year 1818. The Michigan territory is now rapidly progress- ing in the increase of population. The western canal of New York communicating with lake Erie, fur- nishino: so easy and cheap a mode of transportation for families to the border of the territory, affords the emigrants great and very important facilities; which naturally increase their inducements to choose that department for their new homes. It being a matter LOUISIANA, MISSOURI, &C. 93 of very important and expensive concern, for a man possessing but little property, to transport by land, and with the desirable portion of comfort to all con- cerned, a large family, consisting of delicate females, young children, and in some cases accompanied by aged, enfeebled, and dependant parents, to whom his near affections are bound, to a distance of many hun- dreds of miles, exposed to all weathers, and the diffi- culties of mountainous and imperfect roads. The inhabitants of this territory will probably be sufficiently numerous to make application to be in- stalled in the rights and liberties of an independent state in a few years from the present. The Northwestern territory, remains to the pre- sent time with but few white inhabitants. Several counties are, however, laid out, and a scattered po- pulation beginning to be planted in them. A large proportion has till very lately remained in the occu- pancy of some of the native tribes; who are probably not yet all removed. The territory remains under the territorial government of Michigan. Though much of the country is understood to be far inferior, in quality of soil, to the three states which are organized, yet other parts are rich, and the territory possesses many ad» vantages in mineral treasures and vegetable produc» tions, inviting settlement. SECTION 20th. LOUISIANA, 3iISS0URI, &c. About the time of the planting of the first colony in Virginia by the British, Canada was taken posses- sion of by the French nation, and a colony establish- ed there under the name of Quebec. But the pro- vince having since received the name of Canada, we now call the whole country north of the great lakes, 94 LOUISIANA, MISSOURI, &C. and the river St. Lawrence, by that name. The Ca- nadian country remained in possession of the Frencli, till the year 1760, when the British obtained posses- sion of it by conquest. Though the French colonists settled but a small part of Canada for a long time after their first esta- blishment in it, yet they made an extensive acquaint- ance with the northern and western Indians; and seem to have acquired an influence over them which ena- bled them to travel safely in frequent excursions through their country westward. The Spaniards had discovered the mouth of the Mississippi about the middle of the 16th century; but we have no account of their then taking further notice of it. It therefore remained without any Eu- ropean claim till the year 1673. In that year, a Fi^ench and a Canadian traveller, departing from Canada, pursued their journey south- westward, till they struck upon the Mississippi, near the mouth of Illinois river, and from thence conti- nued down the great river to the mouth of Red river, and returned to Canada. A few years after another French traveller who had been engaged in exploring the upper part of the Mississippi returning to France, upon his represen- tations at the court of France, a plan was laid to colo- nize the Mississippi country. Various expeditions were from time to time fitted out. A number of small French settlements were made at different times and at different stations, on the Mississippi and its branches, even to a distance far interior. An extensive trade with the natives was established, and the town of New Orleans founded. By these means the French established a kind of connexion from Canada throughout the whole continent; which they afterward, in time of war with England, attempted to strengthen, b}^ a line of military posts and fortifi- cations on the Ohio river. The country of the Mississippi continued under the dominion of France till the year 1763, when it was LOUISIANA, MISSOURI, &C. 95 transferred to that of Spain. The Spanish govern- ment held it from that time till 1801, when by a new agreement between the two nations, it again re- verted to France. In a short time, the French government then reign- ing, more sensible of the necessity for funds, to car- ry on its extensive operations at home, than of the advantage to be derived from the possession of a dis- tant colony, agreed to sell to the United States, for the sum of 15,000,000 of dollars, their claim to the territory. This purchase was made in 1803, and comprehend- ed the whole country west of the river Mississippi, and north of the present line of the Mexican territory to the Pacific ocean, together with the eastern part of that which is now the state of Louisiana. It will of course be seen, that the state of Missou- ri, with the Missouri and Arkansa territories, are included within this purchase, and therefore in the present historical sketch. By this purchase, the United States acquired the command of the entire navigation of the Mississippi; which had before been a subject of difficulty, from the claims of Spain to the control of that channel of navigation, so vitally important to the prosperity of our western states. The people of Louisiana being satisfied with the change of government, the state as at present orga- tiized, was admitted into the Union in 1811. The whole remaining country west of the Missis- sippi, was afterward held as one territory, till popu- lation on the lower parts of the Missouri river, and in the region of the great lead mines, became sufficient to justify the organization of the state of Missouri. The act of Congress for its admission, was passed in 1821. From that time the two territories of Missou- ri and Arkansa, remain as exhibited on the maps. The Missouri territory, is treated by some late geographers as having its western boundary upon the summits of the Rocky mountains; from its numerous 96 LOUISIANA, MISSOURI, &C. heads, in the eastern declivities of which, the vastly extensive Missouri river is formed. The country between these mountains and the Pa- cific ocean, they denominate the Western territory, or the territory of Origon — the last from the river Origon, which is but another name for the Colum- bia; which flows westerly, from its numerous springs, issuing from the western declivities of those moun- tains. This country has been hitherto but little traversed by white men, and is therefore but very partially known. It is, however, known to be occupied by nu- merous tribes of native inhabitants, of various dispo- sitions and manners, but partaking in common of the general traits of Indian character. They support themselves by feeding upon the wild game, and upon fish. Of the last, the Origon river and the ocean, produce abundant supplies, in their proper seasons. The natural growths of grass and vegetables, support great numbers of animals, common on the east side of the mountains; and much of the soil, so far as known, appears to be adapted to cultivation. The country comprises an extent of about 900 miles north and south, and of an average breadth of about 700 miles — equal in area to twelve or thirteen of our larger states. Though we have no account of any pur- chases of territory from the natives by our government, yet it appears, that several companies of adventurers, in different quarters of the Union, have formed designs of settlement upon the Origon, which they are making arrangements to realize. One company, having by accounts, already become stationed there. 97 SECTION 21st. FLORIDA. The name of Florida, it appears was given to this territory as early as the year 1512, by a Spaniard, named Juan Ponce de Leon, who in that year disco- vered the country. The name was, for a long time, understood to include the coast of Carolina. An at- tempt was early made by the subjects of France, to establish a colony on the coast. Their infant colony, however, after enduring great hardships, was extir- pated by a Spanish force, sent out for the purpose, in the year 1564. With many vicissitudes of greater and less prosperi- ty and adversity, Florida remained in possession of the Spanish Government until 1763; when, on the conclusion of a war between the two nations, it was ceded to the British. By the treaty of Paris, of 1783, on the termination of the war of our revolution, in which Spain had taken a part on the side of the United States, Florida was again ceded by the British government to Spain; as an indemnity for losses in other quarters, sustained by Spain, in the course of the contest then ended. The British government, having then finally lost their colonies, now composing the IJnited States, had the smaller inducement to wish to retain this detached portion; a part of which, moreover, had been conquer- ed, and passed into the possession of Spain, in the course of the war, two years before. Florida, thence, remained under the government of Spain, until it was purchased, and taken possession of, by our government, in 1821: soon after which a ter- ritorial government was established. The consideration paid for the territory, was 5,000,000 dollars; which never passed into the Spanish treasury, but was apportioned, with the consent of 9 98 FLORIDA. the Spanish government, amongst the American mer- chants, as a partial compensation for losses sustained by them, in consequence of unlawful depredations upon their property, previously committed, by Spa- nish subjects, or by the government itself. Population does not appear to advance so rapidly in Florida, as to warrant the expectation, that its orga- nization as a state, will be very soon accomplished. RUDIMENTS OF If ATIONAI. KNOlVIiEDGR BOOK IL Having^ completed our sketches relating to the dis- covery of our country — to the inhabitants which pre- ceded us — and to our establishment as colonies, and progressive advances to the rank of independent states, we propose in this book to give first a concise account of the formation of our present federal compact in one general government, together with the form and prin- ciples of that government. And in the succeeding chapters to present a slight view of many subjects of general national interest. In this book we shall confine ourselves chiefly to objects and circumstances which are either interest- ing to the nation as a great whole, or which more par- ticularly connect together in a common interest, ex- tensive sections of our Union; and thus by ties, per- haps unnoticed without the aid of reflection, strength- en the great chain of general connexion, and essen- tially contribute to the general good. Following this plan, we reserve our further geo- graphical and statistical notices of the several indivi- dual states for our third book. The subjects to be introduced in the present book we shall present in the following order, viz: United States — Waters — Mountains and face of the country— Climate — Large native animals — Native ve- 100 UNITED STATES. getable productions — Agricultural products — Mineral and geological substances — Manufactures in general — Salt mines and manufactures — Sugar manufactures — Manufactures of potash — Corporations — Insurances — Banks — Mint — Post offices — Patent office — Fisheries — Fur trade — Commerce — Commercial emporiums — Steam navigation — Canals — Rail roads — Water falls, medicinal springs and natural curiosities — Lines of measurement — Education — the Eagle map — Finally, definitions of a few legal terms frequently met with in newspapers and other periodical publications, and in public debates. CHAPTER I. UNITED STATES. The United States of America, was the significant title adopted by the thirteen provinces, on their de- claration of independence, in the year 1776; and the title which was eventually and formally acknow- ledged by the government of Great Britain, at the treaty of peace conducted at Paris, by the ministers of both nations, and finally ratified in the year 1783. These thirteen states, as they appear on the maps arranged along the Atlantic coast, exhibit great in- equality in their proportions of territory. This in- equality, it will be perceived, must have been owing to the peculiar circumstances attending the settle- ment of each individual government, as they became successively established. At that time the interior of the country was very little known. So little indeed was its geography and extent understood, that in the early grants, it was common for the patents, after fixing some kind of de- finite boundaries on the coast, to include the lands within those boundaries, westward, to the Pacific UNITED STATES. 101 ocean; which clearly implies, that it was believed that the distance to that ocean was not very great. These grants, of course, could not be sustained; and other grants quickly succeeding, they mutually con- tributed to limit the boundaries of each other. No view of the far distant circumstances which were to follow, as exemplified in our present relations, could be brought then into operation, to the equalizing their territorial proportions. The extensive grants made to some of the earliest colonists, by the kings of England, in this random manner, with a very limited and inadequate know- ledge of the country, furnished a ground forconflicting claims among the states, after the independence of the country was established. Some of those claims ex- tended into the unsettled territory north-west of the Ohio, and other wilderness regions, and in various in- stances interlocked with each other. The subject oc- cupied the attention of Congress for a considerable time, in order to effect their amicable adjustment. The conflicting interests were at length reconciled, by mutual concesssion and compromise; and the sup- posed liens of states upon the unsettled wilds were chiefly surrendered to the general government, and became merged in the common national stock of pub- lic lands. The sales of public lands, have, from year to year, amounted to millions of dollars; forming a very im- portant item of national income; and the vast tracts yet remaining unsold, calculated at a very low price, are supposed to be capable of producing above one hundred millions of dollars. As the entire discharge of the national debt is now nearly completed, a law has passed both houses of Congress, to divide the amount which may be produced by sales, for several years to come, among the states, in proportion to their population and representation. The only argument which can now be adduced against the arrangement of the old states with respect to size, must be the inequality of representation in 9* 102 UNITED STATES. the senatorial department of our government, as re- spects the amount of population. Each state large and small sending two members. But this argument, if possessing any weight, may be considered as neu- tralized by other circumstances which it is not neces- sary here to name. In the states subsequently formed, from lands in the wilderness, the government has aimed at as near an equality of territory as circumstances would admit. The names, situations, and dates of establishment of these, have been recited in our first book. The several sections of country marked in the maps as territories, are districts which have not yet arrived at the aggregate ratio of population, which would authorize them to claim from Congress, their acknowledgment as independent states, and a partici- pation in the general government. Some of them have, however, territorial governments, under go- vernors appointed by the President of the United States for the time being, and the right to send each one delegate to the House of Representatives; who is at liberty to participate in its debates, but not enti- tled to a vote. After the restoration of peace, at the conclusion of the war of the revolution, when the people, relieved from the engrossing perplexities of public commo- tion, had become settled in their former habits of agriculture and commerce, it was soon discovered, that the ties by which the states had bound them- selves together, for the purpose of securing their in- dependence, were not adapted to all the ends neces- sary to the government and prosperity of a widely extended agricultural and commercial nation. Several expedients Vv^ere tried without attaining the desired result. Congress, as organized in the time of the war, continued its periodical sessions, without power delegated by the states, to provide adequate remedies for the present difficulties. The necessity of a more consolidated and efficient form of government, was clearly perceived by the UNITED STATES. 103 most eminent statesmen of that day; at whose head we place George Washington; who as well under- stood the just and necessary principles of an efficient civil government as the arts of war. Congress continued to deliberate with prudent cau- tion and care for several years. Its members, with other enlightened citizens, watching with a paternal solicitude, the progress of the great political family, and the results of public measures. At length, after mature deliberation and observa- tion, a resolution was passed in Congress, recom- mending a convention from all the states, to be com- posed of representatives whom the people of each se- veral state should elect; whose duty it should be, to draught, in order to propose to the consideration and acceptance of the people, such a constitution for the general government of the United States, as should embrace the various objects desirable and necessary to the general prosperity of the great comm.onwealth; leaving, at the same time, the several states to the in- dependent management of their own local concerns, according as heretofore, to their own choice. Such a convention being agreed to, and the mem- bers duly elected, they met in Philadelphia in the year 1787. The convention, composed of men of the highest political standing and talent in the Union, after a la- borious session of four months, produced, and offered to the acceptance of the people, the form of a consti- tution, the best that they could attain to, by mutual concession and compromise, with a view to accom- modate the supposed sectional interests of the differ- ent sections of the great national community. The constitution thus proposed, having been duly accepted by the people of the several states, went into operation in the year 17S9; and with some slight mo- difications in some of its less important features, has remained to be the "law of the land" to the present time, and a standing monument to the wisdom and skill of its enlightened framers. 104 UNITED STATES. The powers of legislation are vested in a Congress^ composed of a Senate of two members from each state, chosen by the state legislatures; and a House of Representatives, who, with but two exceptions, are elected directly by the people, in a ratio propor- tioned to the population. The present ratio, as fixed by Congress in 1832, on occasion of the new census of population, being one for each 47,700 inhabitants: five slaves being rated as equal to three whites. The President is the head of the executive depart- ment. He is elected for four years at one term, by persons elected by the people for that purpose, and who are therefore called electors. The electors are the same in number as the representatives and sena- tors in the General Legislature from each state; and the election is decided by a majority of the whole. If, however, there should at any time be three or more candidates proposed, and no one of them should receive a majority of the whole number of electoral votes, the choice then falls on the House of Repre- sentatives. The three which have received the high- est number of electoral votes, are presented to the House, and the result is then determined by a majo- rity of the states; the choice of each state being deter- mined by a majority of its representatives present; who vote in separate departments, to ascertain their own respective majorities. The President, is eligible by the constitution to be elected three terms in succession. But the prudent example set by the first incumbent — the great Wash- ington — of retiring at the end of the second term, seems to have established a precedent so firmly, that no one now thinks of proposing a candidate for a third successive election. The senators are elected for six years at one term, and the representatives for two years. A Vice President is also elected at the same time, and by the same electors as the President. It is the duty of the Vice President to preside over the delibe- rations of the Senate; or, in cases of disability, una- UNITED STATES. 105 voidable absence, resignation, or death, of the Presi- dent, to fill his place till his return to office, or till the next periodical election. For the enactment of laws, the consent of the Pre- sident and a majority of each House of Congress, is necessary; except that, in cases wherein the President may dissent, and refuse his signature, any law in con- templation, may be passed and go into operation, by the votes of two-thirds of each House. If in either House, the number present be equally divided on any question, the decision is made by the castino; vote of the Vice President in the Senate, and by that of the Speaker who presides in the House of Representatives, who, in no other case are called upon to vote. The secretaries of state, of the treasury, of war, and of the navy, are considered the heads of their se- veral departments in the government, and these, who are all appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, are considered as his con- stitutional advisers, in all important concerns wherein a discretionary judgment is admitted by the Consti- tution — particularly during the recesses of Congress. They are termed his cabinet counsellors, and he and they, in common familiar language, are termed *'The Administration.'' The supreme judiciary power is lodged in a pre- siding judge, called '^the chief justice of the United States," and in a competent number of associate judges, all of whom are appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, and are termed, "The supreme court of the United States." They are not removable from office when once ap- pointed, except by resignation, impeachment, or death, and are therefore styled independent. This provision is considered wise and necessary, in order that in their judicial decisions, they may judge righteously; above the influence of fear, favour, or af- fection, of any man, party, or department in the Union; who might, from selfish principles, from of- 106 UNITED STATES. fence, or from party politics, be inclined to seek their overthrow. The judiciary department is justly and properly considered as an eminently important link in the great chain of our general government. Because, to that court is committed by the constitution, a deci- sive judgment in the last resort, in all legal questions of high national importance. The judges are the constitutional expounders of the laws, and the interpreters of the provisions of the constitution itself, in cases where other authorities may differ in opinion. And hence, their appointment ought to be made with a view to their superior weight of moral and general character, tried integrity, up- rightness of principle, and profound legal knowledge; with no regard to the advancement of political par- ties, or to personal partialities. However imperfect human judgment, even under the highest attainments of intellectual perception^ may be, it will on slight reflection appear evident, to every mind uninfluenced by partial considerations, that a final judgment in every disputable case, must be lodged in some acknowledged head; even if that judgment, should in some cases, partake of the falli- bility belonging to human imperfection. Else, might the President, in his official station, judge in oneway — the Senate in another — the House of Representa- tives in a third — and individual state departments, perhaps differ from them all. Hence, each insisting upon tlieir own wisdom, and superior clearness of views, and acting according to them, confusion would pervade the affairs of the nation — anarchy would follow — the happiest institu- tions be destroyed — the constitution itself be rendered nugatory — and this great community of mutual bro- therhood, reduced to disjointed and shattered frag- ments, might become involved in civil commotion, if not subjected to the awful desolations of civil war. Those, therefore, who in any part of the Union, con- fiding in a partial, self-sufficient judgment of theii UNITED STATES. 107 own, should undertake to defend, and bring into ope- ration, a different doctrine, would involve themselves and their deluded abettors in the most awful respon- sibility. The annual salary of the President, is at present fixed at 25,000 dollars, besides a house and furniture provided by the national expense. This sum is sup- posed to be sufficient to enable him to live in a be- coming style of republican simplicity, and to repre- sent the nation, in the reception and entertainment of the ministers and agents of foreign powers, public functionaries, and persons of distinction, to whom a national notice may be due, according to national usages. The salary of the Vice President is 5,000 dollars, and those of the secretaries, chief justice, associate judges, attorney general, and post-master general, vary, from 4,500 to 6,000 dollars per annum,"accord- ing to the responsibility, arduousness, or talent, sup- posed necessarily to attach to each office respectively. The first Congress, under the present constitution, which met in 17S9, held their session in New York. They soon removed to Philadelphia. In the latter city they continued to hold their sessions previously to the year 1800; when the capitol at Washington, in the District of Columbia, was prepared, pursuant to acts of Congress, for their reception. This district is composed of a territory ten miles square, on the river Potomac; partly in the former bounds of Maryland, and partly in Virginia. By these two states it was ceded to the government of the United States; for the purpose of laying out a city, and establishing public buildings on a liberal na- tional plan. It has since been governed by the laws of the states from which jts respective portions were separated, until superseded by laws of Congress; to verbose exclusive jurisdiction it has been consigned. The establishment of at constitution and form of go- vernment for our commonwealth, was justly consi- 108 UNITED STATES. dered at the period of its formation, a great and very importantly interesting experiment. There was not a model in existence adapted in all its forms and provi- sions to our peculiar situation and circumstances. Though republics had anciently existed in Europe, at different periods, they mostly had their being in ages of the world when the principles of human na- ture were not perhaps so well understood, and when the manners of their own and surrounding nations, received a tone and influence, from the then preva- lent doctrines of superstition and idolatry. Republics of modern date, were perhaps, in some respects, still less to be looked to for examples; as they were limited by a contracted scale, and sur- rounded by neighbouring nations under monarchical governments, which, in a certain ratio, imparted an influence and direction to their institutions, in a greater or less degree at variance with the laws of equal liberty. Here was a nation, born as it were in a state of manhood — a people unshackled from all surrounding influence, and left at liberty to form, for the promo- tion of their own prosperity and happiness, a system of government embracing every principle of equal justice and equal rights — a people amongst whom he- reditary titles and badges of distinction were forbid- den an existence; and no citizen was to be permitted, in his civil capacity, to rank higher than another, ex- cept by means of a preference in public opinion, founded on his real or supposed merits, or his excel- lence of moral character, together with his talents and capability to guard, and promote, the public weal. Some of the nations of Europe viewed the experi- ment with distrust, and with an eye of jealousy and envy. Others, with anxious Jiope that a system would be formed and perpetuated, which should become the abiding refuge of rational liberty, denied to them- selves. Thus were the nations, though influenced by different motives, anxiously looking for the result. It was a happy circumstance for our country, that UNITED STATES. 109 a band of men, partaking of the advantages of en- lightened education, and sound philosophical reflec- tion — trained to the endurance of greater or less de- grees of political oppression — inured by a seven years war to national distress — and endowed with a spirit of patient perseverance, in advocating and defending the principles of equal moral justice, were then amongst its citizens. Men qualified to glean from the institutions of distant nations, whatever was adapted to our peculiar situation, and to combine therewith other principles, which experience, obser- vation, and sober, sound reflection, suggested to their enlightened understandings. Amongst the models under their review, the con- stitution of Great Britain, though a monarchical go- vernment, appeared to present, with respect to the combination and division of legislative power, a valu- able example; though liable there to great abuses, from the nature of the civil and political relations which the difierent branches of the government held with each other. By the separation of the legislative power into three departments, a check was intended against usurp- ation by any one department; as no new law could go into operation without the consent of the whole three. This feature of the British constitution was adopted, though the application of the principle to us, was under very different circumstances. In England the head of the executive department is a hereditary king. In the United States, a Presi- dent, elected periodically by the people. In England, what they call the Upper House, con- sists of the hereditary nobility, with the newly created peers, and a numerous band of their highest order of priesthood; who all have, earlier or later, received their distinctions and titles, either directly or indirect- ly, from the crown; and who have always interests to defend, however unjustly, distinct from those of the mass of subjects. With us, the Senate, which may be 10 110 UNITED STATES. supposed in some respect to represent the Upper Bri- tish House, are taken from the mass of the citizens by their own free elections, and have therefore no distinct interest* In England, the House of Commons, is the only branch of the government in which the people, by their rights of election, have a choice; and the elec- tions to this branch, are liable to be influenced and controlled by bribery and intrigue, emanating from those who hold, and wish to retain power to main- tain oppression. With us, the representatives are elected by the same people as the former branches, and under circumstances much less liable to abuse. Thus, the boasted liberty of the people of England, may perhaps be considered as chiefly a kind of nega- tive liberty; but partially secured by the patriotic exertions of the popular branch of the government; who have no final power but a negative, to prevent further encroachments on the people's rights, which might be designed by the Upper House, and are al- ways liable to a negative from that House, to any new patriotic measures they may propose. But with us, the power of the whole three departments ema- nating from the same people, and resting on persons chosen from among themselves, the interests of the whole must be the same; and the negative power of any one over the others, given only as a salutary check, upon the mistaken judgment, or imprudent zeal, which may arise from the imperfections of hu- man nature. The people in the mean time, retaining to themselves, an inviolable right, to correct any abuses which may be seen to spring up under either * Though the assertion that the President and Senators are elected by the people, may be considered in one view as incorrect, yet it is conceived to be true in substance. When electors of President are voted for by the people, it is previously understood what candidate for the Presidency their electors shall vote for, and their pledges are ge- nerally given. The choice is therefore that of the people. Tliough the election of Senators is conferred on the State Legislatures, the people, when they elect them, know this to be a part of their duty, and therefore elect them with this object inclusively. They are then the direct representatives of the people, as relates to this part of their duty in common with their other functions. UNITED STATES. Ill department, by changing, by their votes at the next elections, all, or any, of their servants, in legislative or executive office, from highest to lowest. Having noticed the similitude of some features of the British constitution with our own, were we to pursue the comparison, we should perhaps find as striking traits of difference. In England, for instance, there exists a species of domination which our constitution wholly excludes. There, the nation is oppressed by a power incorpo- rated with the national institutions, assuming distinct prerogatives as its own, under the name of an esta- blished church hierarchy; and holding enormous es- tates in the landed property of the nation; by whose assumption of right, and by its organized grades of in- ferior priesthood, laborious industry, though already borne down by excessive taxation, for the support of a very expensive civil and military government, is deprived by law of much of the remaining fruits of its incessant toil. Here, our constitution is so framed as to forbid for- ever, the powers of the civil government, attempting to legislate, either directly. or indirectly, upon ques- tions involving the rights of conscience with respect to religious opinion, by patronising any one form of religious persuasion more than another; leaving the support of a stipendary ministry to the private volun- tary liberality of its patrons, according to their differ- ent conscientious persuasions, and wisely consider- ing our political and civil institutions, and the private operation of religious principle upon the mind, as to- tally distinct from each other. The first regarding our moral, political and social relations in civil society: and the last, our allegiance to the all-creative power, whose kingdom in the soul is spiritual, and whose laws have reference to a state which looks for its con- summation to a period beyond the confines of time. The benign religion of Jesus Christ was seen to re- quire no aid from human legislation; but to depend for 112 UNITED STATES. its support, upon the doctrines, precepts, and example of its divine head, and the secret influences of his spi- rit upon the soul. Though temperate discussion and argument, on subjects of religion, for the information, persuasion, or convincement of each other, may, in the course of our social intercourse, be often useful and justifiable, and are strictly consistent with the principles of rational civil liberty. The constitution has now withstood the shocks of nearly half a century. Although some imperfection may appear to attach to some of its provisions, which may even involve an effect of sectional partiality, yet wise men have always considered it more prudent to suffer some apparent inconvenience than to endanger the fabric by frequent attempts at improvement, which may perhaps be but doubtful experiment, or at least, the propriety of which may not have been acceded to by all. The minds of reflecting youth, will, it is presumed, be impressed with the conviction, that great responsi- bility rests upon those advancing to m^anhood; and a moral necessity, to maintain a course of conduct the best calculated to preserve the excellent institutions with which, as a nation, we are blest. The foundation principle of such a course of con- duct, they will perceive to be a virtuous life. The community being made up of individual members, the private virtue and consistency of conduct attach- ing to individual character, will always ensure a cor- responding proportion of public virtue. And with- out the maintenance of both, our excellent system of government will always be in danger of subversion, by the violence of party commotion, the insidious in- trigues of designing ambition, the recklessness of sec- tional animosity, or the ruthless hand of traitorous rebellion. It becomes then an imperative duty, to cultivate and cherish in youth, the principles of true religion, SEAS AND LAKES. 113 and sound morality — to endeavour to store the mind with useful knowledge — to exercise the faculties with rational reflection — and to apply with industry to useful pursuits. Thus will youth be prepared to enter the ranks of mankind with modest dignity — to conduct with pro- priety and honor, in advancing years, the aflfairs of civil society and civil government, which must de- volve upon them — to approach the evening of life with calm composure — to take leave of all its con- cerns at the close, with a serene mind and an approv- ing conscience, — and to bequeath to their successors in their turn, the fruits of their laudable industry, and the inheritance of their honorable examples and well earned fame. CHAPTER II. WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES. PART FIRST. SJSdS AND LAKES. The south-eastern shores of the United States, from Maine on the Bay of Fundy to the southern point of Florida, are washed by the Atlantic ocean. An ocean of 3000 miles in breadth, which separates America from the continent of Europe. The southern boundary of the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and the south-western shore of Florida, are limited by the gulf of Mexico— 10* 114 SEAS AND LAKES. a great sea, which may be considered as a part of the same ocean. The western shore of the extensive region pur- chased from the French government, is bounded by the great Pacific ocean. Thus the two longitudinal sides of our national ter- ritory, are washed by the two largest oceans in the world. And thus, are we widely and happily sepa- rated, from the conflicting commotions of the inhabit- ants of the European and Asiatic continents; whose ever jarring imaginary interests, guided and control- led, by the pride and haughty ambition, of Emperors, Kings, Princes, and Priests, have maintained amongst them an almost continual course of oppression, war, devastation, and bloodshed, from the period of the earliest historical records to the present time. The examples of other quarters of the world, thus exhibited, furnish lessons of deep and awful instruc- tion. Examples calculated to impress the necessity, and great moral and national obligation, which the citizens of the many sections of our extended commu- nity are laid under, constantly to act on the principle of good will, and mutual condescension, to the real in- terests of each other; lest the day should arrive, when, by giving way to, and cultivating, sectional jealousies, having no sufficient rational foundation, our great commonwealth should become dismembered, to the exultation of the enemies of republican liberty; and i'ts several portions — separated as in Europe only by rivers, mountains, or lines of latitude or longitude — become enemies to each other; and thus take a back- ward course, into the awful condition of the old world; often involved in bloodshed, and apparently travelling on the highway to mutual ruin. A state of things amongst them, wherein the Christian religion is na- tionally professed, seemingly as a blind, to keep the people in submission. Its undeviating principles of *' peace and good will to men," being subverted and betrayed, by the opposite principles of hatred, jea- lousy, ungovernable ambition, and ruinous strife; while they dare nationally to invoke its name, and ST. LAWRENCE. 115 unblushingly to attempt to amalgamate its sublime doctrines with the worst of human passions. Northward of the United States are five great fresh water lakes or inland seas; called in old time *' the lakes of Canada" — sometimes " the northern lakes," and often in familiar parlance, emphatically '' the lakes." A line passing through four of them — to wit — Ontario, Erie, Huron, and Superior, and along their connecting river, forms, as far as they extend, the boundary line between the United States and the British provinces of Upper Canada. The fifth, call- ed Michigan, is included in the United States; and dividing the Michigan from the North-western terri- tory, is connected at its southern part with the states of Indiana and Illinois. PART SECOND. RIVERS AND BAYS. SECTION 1st. ST. LAWRENCE. The river connecting the great northern lakes, is- sues from a small irregular lake, north-westward from lake Superior, called '*the Lake of the Woods." — And passing through a chain of lakes still smaller, forms the line of the United States, till it enters lake Superior on the north-west side. Again, after connect- ing this with lake Huron, it passes thence through the small lake St. Clair, into lake Erie. Between Erie and Ontario, it bears the name of Niagara river. 116 MISSISSIPPI AND ITS BRANCHES. About midway between the two lakes, is the most stupendous cataract which history has informed us of in the world. The body of water accumulated in its passage, from the different lakes and tributary rivers, is here very great; more especially, after a few days prevalence of strong north-westerly winds. For the distance of nearly a mile above the cataract, the river rushes down a rapid descent, over a very rough, rocky bottom; presenting by its foam and turbulent commotion, an appearance, which in the description of some travellers, has been compared to that of ten thousand horses rushing impetuously to battle. Having arrived at the lower end of this rapid, the river is precipitated over a curving line of rock, one hundred and sixty feet perpendicularly, into a vast foaming whirlpool below. The whole scene present- ing to the view and imagination of the astonished tra- veller, a prospect of the operations of the elements of nature, which is, by many, considered as beyond the powers of just description. The river afterward entering lake Ontario, passes from thence, separating Canada from the state of New York. After leaving New York, it flows on in a north-easterly direction, through Lower Canada, under the name of the river St. Lawrence; and pass- ing the cities of Montreal and Quebec, and expand- ing in its progress to a great breadth, discharges itself into the gulf of St. Lawrence. SECTION 2d. MISSISSIPPI AND ITS BRANCHES. The river Mississippi, because of its great length, its numerous navigable branches, and its importance in various national respects, may be considered as of the foremost consequence in a national point of view. Its sources are near the lake of the Woods, on the MISSISSIPPI AND ITS BRANCHES. 117 northern boundary of the United States territory. Passing thence in a southern direction, it separates the North-west territory and the states of Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi, on its eastern side, from the Missouri territory, the state of Missou- ri, the Arkansa territory, and part of the state of Louisiana on its western side. Then dissecting, the lower part of Louisiana, it discharges in the gulf of Mexico by several mouths, after a meandering course of nearly 3000 miles. It receives in its course many large and smaller rivers, and important tributary streams. It forms an outlet for the waters of the United States, flowing, and intersecting the country, in every direction, in ten thousand streams of every grade, from the humble rivulet to the magnificent river, from the northern boundary of the union to the gulf of Mexico on the south, and from the range of the Alleghany moun- tains on the east, to the Rocky mountains on the west. Its most important branches are as follows — some of which, again, receive other large and important rivers in their courses and near their discharge. On the east side, the Illinois river rises near the south end of lake Michigan; and intersecting the state of Illinois diagonally, enters the Mississippi nearly opposite the mouth of the Missouri. The Ohio rises in the western parts of Pennsylva- nia; and separating the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, on the north-west, from Virginia, and Ken- tucky on the south-east, discharges into the Missis- sippi, after a meandering course of 950 miles from Pittsburgh. It unites near its mouth with the noble rivers Cumberland and Tennessee; the first being na- vigable for steam boats and small craft 500 miles, and the last 1000 miles. On the west, the great and vastly extensive Mis- souri, rises in the Rocky mountains; and running in a south-easterly direction, and receiving in its course various large and important rivers, after dividing the 118 SUSQUEHANNA AND CHESAPEAK. state of Missouri, it enters the Mississippi near St. Louis, the chief trading town of that state; comple- ting a sinuous course of 2643 miles, from the divi- ding ridge of the Rocky mountains. The Arkansa river, rising in the Rocky mountains, forms, for the space of eight degrees of longitude from its source, the line between the United States territo- ry and Mexico. Passing thence through the Missou- ri and Arkansa territories, it enters the Mississippi 300 miles above New Orleans. Red river, rising in the Mexican territory, forms the dividing line between the south of the Arkansa territory and the Mexican province of Texas; and passing through Louisiana, connects with the Missis- sippi 120 miles above New Orleans. SECTION 3d. SUSQUEHANNA AND CHESAPEAK. The river Susquehanna, takes its rise in the state of New York, and passing through Pennsylvania in a southern direction, and entering Maryland, commu- nicates with the head of Chesapeak bay. The bay, passing on, intersecting Maryland and Virginia, and receiving in its course of nearly 200 miles, many im- portant rivers, discharges into the Atlantic ocean be- tween Cape Charles and Cape Henry. The bay of Chesapeak, and several of its tributary rivers, are remarkable in the history of our country, as being the scene of the operations of the first effi- cient European colonists — as the field of many im- portant transactions in the course of the several mili- tary contests between the United States and Great Britain, — and the river Potomac, — a very important branch, separating Maryland from Virginia — present- ing a site for Washington city — the seat of the gene- ral government. 119 SECTION 4th. DELAWARE. The river Delaware, rises in the state of New York, and separating that state and New Jersey on the east, from Pennsylvania and the state of Dela- ware on the west, expands into a wide bay, w^hich enters the Atlantic ocean between Cape May on the east, and Cape Henlopen on the west. The national advantages of this river and its branches, will be no- ticed in the conclusion of this chapter. SECTION 5th. HUDSON, OR NORTH RIVER. The Hudson has its sources in the northern parts of the state of New York, and running a course near- ly south, discharges in the harbor of the city of New York. This river is remarkable for its direct course of more than 200 miles, with very little sinuosity, and for the flowing of its tides nearly 180 miles from the ocean; dissecting in their course, the rugged and high- ly elevated Catskill mountains, and extending to Wa- terford, a few miles abo^/e Albany. It thus affords easy means of transport for the produce of the west of Massachusetts and Vermont, in addition to that of New York. It is of much national importance, from the circum- stances of its northern canal forming a connexion with lake Champlain, and thence with Canada; and its great western canal of 360 miles in length, communicating with lake Erie, and thence with the western states. 120 SECTION 6th. COLUMBIA RIVER. In the western part of Missouri territory, (a coun- try now by some called the Western territory) Lewis's river and Clark's river, rise in different parts within the range of the Rocky mountains; and after running a long distance in varied directions, unite and form the Columbia river; which flowing in a westerly course 300 miles, enters the Pacific ocean near the 47th degree of north latitude. This river is deserving of notice in a national point of view, from the circumstance of its affording a water communication from near the head waters of the Mis- souri to the western ocean; and from its position and localities, offering flattering inducements, for esta- blishing, at some future day — perhaps not distant — of a settlement near its mouth. There, it is supposed might be concentrated, the fur-trade of the north- western regions; which, from thence, might find an easy transit, to China, to India, and to the western shores of Mexico and South America. That the waters we have noticed, may be consider- ed under the character of national interests, will be easily perceived. Our national territory, is allowed to extend three miles into the sea, from ever}^ part of the coast; and any aggression committed by foreigners, upon our commercial or other rights, within this limit, is con- sidered as reprehensible as if committed within our rivers; or even, perhaps, as a trespass upon land. Hence, this space of the ocean's verge, is viewed in the light of national property. The ocean, beyond this limit, being the great pub- WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES. 121 lie highway of all nations, is consequently our high- way; whereon our vessels may, of indisputable right, pass to and fro, in our foreign trade, and for the trans- port of the produce and manufactures of one part of the Union on the sea coast to another. Again, the great rivers which intersect our coun- try, may, as respects our national body, be aptly compared to the arteries and veins of the animal sys- tem- — the channels through which the produce of our industry, as the political life-blood of the nation, may freely flow and circulate, from member to member, to the health and invigoration of the great whole. Where the capacity of those rivers in their natural state, is unfitted for the desired purpose, as they fur- nish the fluid medium whereon to float the substances to be transported, their defects are capable of being supplied by the labours of human industry and enter- prise: by improving their channels, or forming canals along their borders; or in some cases across extensive tracts of country, to be supplied by the head streams of their branches, which rise far interior. In this point of view the Hudson is a highly valu- able public interest; by reason not only of the navi- gation upon its natural tides, but of its extensive ca- nals, by which easy means of transport, are opened to the north and the west. The Delaware and Susquehanna are equally so; the Schuylkill branch of the former, furnishing the means of uniting, by a continuous course of canal naviga- tion, with the eastern waters of the latter; and it again, by its main stream and western branches, con- tinuing the benefit westward, to the waters of the Al- legheny, descending into the Ohio. Further south, the Potomac, furnishing a superior channel of navigation, from the Chesapeak bay to \yashington citv, and Georgetown, is about to be united, by means of a canal along its banks, with the waters of the Ohio. Still further to the south, a line of internal commu- nication has been projected, to unite the western wa- ll 122 WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES. ters with the ocean, at the mouth of Chesapeak bay^ by connecting the beautiful James river with the Ken- hawa, a branch of the Ohio; and much has already been done towards effecting this desirable object, by the enterprising citizens and government of Vir- ginia. We have also ample reason to believe, that from the near approach of the noble Tennessee river to the waters of the state of Alabama, a connexion between them may be easily effected; and thus a direct com- munication be opened between the delightful fertile regions of the state of Tennessee, and the gulf of Mexico; shortening the water course of the trade of the chief portions of that state to the ocean, by many hundreds of miles. •Thus, are four great channels of trade already pro- jected, and the fifth easily practicable, to bind toge- ther the interests of the east, the west, the north and the south. The first, through New York, having been for years in successful operation. The second, through the heart of Pennsylvania, far advanced to- ward completion. The third, by the Potomac, ad- vancing with a spirit of enterprise worthy the great- ness of the object. And the fourth, by the James river, in a favourable state of forwardness. The Delaware, also, by its principal canal from Bristol to Easton, and thence by the canal formed along its Lehigh branch, furnishes easy access to the vast deposites of anthracite coal, in the mountain of Mauch Chunk and its vicinity — a subject of great na- tional interest. The Susquehanna, again, by its na- tural channel, and the channels of its branches affords the means in the spring season, for the descent to its tide waters, of abundant quantities of lumber, iron, grain, flour and coal; thence to be transported to mar- ket, for the supply of the cities of the south and the east. The waters of the noble Mississippi, and its many branches, require but little said to prove their national WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES. 123 value. They are so vastly extended and diffused, that the point of their importance will never be dis- puted. Their flowing to an aggregate of so many thousands of miles, through high lands and low lands, and some of them passing many miles through chasms of rocks, which form perpendicular walls on their borders three hundred or four hundred feet high, and yet so little obstructed by falls and rapids to impede their navigation, is an astonishing circumstance in natural history. And the effects of steam navigation, in over- coming the strength of their currents, by which so easy an ascending movement is attained, is, perhaps, equally surprising in the progress of human art and ingenuity. By inspection of a map, it will be perceived, that there is not a state or territory in the Union, which has not the advantage of a navigable outlet to the ocean. Seventeen states and the territory of Flo- rida, have a direct communication with the Atlantic; either by means of the ocean lining some part of their shores, or by some large tide river, or both. Thir- teen states and territories, connect immediately with the Ohio and Mississippi; by which their trade may take its direction at pleasure — eastward by the canals, or southward by the Mississippi, the great natural channel of outlet. The state of Vermont, is perhaps less favoured in this respect than eny other — its natural water course from lake Champlain to the ocean, being interdicted to our citizens by the British government: but the defect is now well supplied by the northern canal of New York, opening safe and easy means of transport from lake Champlain to the tides of the Hudson. The Michigan territory, will soon be furnished with a choice of channels of trade, either by the ca- nals forming from Cleveland on lake Erie, through the state, to the river Ohio — thence to pass westward to the Mississippi, or eastward through the Pennsyl- 124 WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES. vania canal to Philadelphia, or to take the route already completed through lake Erie and New York. Again, by means of the use of Long Island and Sta- ten Island Sounds — the river Raritan — the canal now forming across New Jersey — the river Delaware from Trenton to near Reedy Island — the canal now in ope- ration across the Delaware and Maryland peninsula — the bay of Chesapeak to the mouth of James river — and the Dismal Swamp canal from thence into North Carolina, — an internal water communication is opened and opening near the sea coast, from Pro- vidence on the confines of Massachusetts, to Albe- marle Sound; a distance of nearly six hundred miles; by which produce and merchandize may be trans- ported, secure from the dangers of the seas in times of war, should they ever again occur, and from the ocean storms, in the seasons of their greatest preva- lence. And this communication is capable of being extended southward through South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, into the gulf of Mexico, and northward into New Hampshire. On taking a view of the whole subject, the reflect- ing mind may well be filled with admiration of the bountiful providence of the Great Author of nature, in permitting our country to be so wonderfully con- stituted. A country apparently formed and fitted for the accommodation of a great united nation; which cannot be separated into fragments without great de- rangement of the extended plan. A nation wherein we would fondly cherish the hope, may be long and happily exemplified, before the view of the world, a model of republican government, conducted under the united principles of public order, rational civil liberty, and mutual interchanges of kindness and be- neficence. How pleasing the anticipation, when the imagina- tion is suffered to glance through future ages, and contemplate the progressing community of our sue- MOUNTAINS AND PACE OF THE COUNTRY. 125 cessors, harmoniously improving the blessings con- ferred ! Many of the present youthful generation, may live to witness the state of the community, as it may pre- sent itself more than half a century hence. Let them then remember, that unless they live a life corresponding with the favours bestowed, the golden chain of correct public and private morals will be severed, and their successors be deprived of the benefit of worthy examples. Let them remember, that on each succeeding gene- ration, the duty becomes more and more imperative, to contribute, by a conduct wisely governed, as they advance in manhood, their aid, toward the expulsion of every grade of injustice and oppression, and the suppression of every thing calculated to introduce ha- bits of intemperance and riot: and under the influence of religious and moral principles, to show forth the genuine fruits of those principles, — universal benevo- lence, internal concord, and mutual good will. CHAPTER IIL MOUNTAINS AND FACE OF THE COUNTRY. A RANGE of mountains rises in Pennsylvania, about midway between the Atlantic ocean and lake Erie; which passing south-westward, nearly parallel with the coast, intersects Virginia; and crossing the west part of North Carolina, and the east part of Ten- nessee, terminates in Georgia and Alabama. This chain, bears the general name of '^ the Al- legheny or Apalachian Mountains," though different branches are called by different names; the eastern 11* 126 MOUNTAINS AND FACE OF THE COUNTRY. range bearing the name of the " Blue Ridge," and the western range, in Tennessee, ^^the Cumberland Mountains." Other ridges, in Pennsylvania and Vir- ginia, are called 'Uhe Tuscarora," ^*Chesnut Ridge," and ^^ Laurel Hill." Though the different ridges are of many miles con- tinuance, yet, as a whole, the chain is broken and ir- regular; one ridge ending abruptly, and another ri- sing, at some miles distance east, west, or south of it. They are in many parts lofty, rugged, rocky, and pre- cipitous; in other parts bearing a fertile soil, capable of profitable cultivation. The whole breadth of country occupied by the dif- ferent parallel ridges, exceeds in some parts the dis- tance of from 60 to 100 miles. They form the divi- ding height, between the waters passing into the At- lantic and those of the Mississippi. A chain of rugged, stupendous mountains, called the " Rocky mountains," is seated along the western part of the continent. They rise near the arctic cir- cle; and ranging in a south-easterly direction, nearly parallel with the shore of the Pacific ocean, divide the nominal dominions of Great Britain from the north-western part of the continent, claimed by the government of Russia. And after crossing the Mis- souri territory, or dividing it from the Western, as the geographers may choose to style it, and separating the waters of the Mississippi from those of the Pacific ocean, terminate far south, in the Mexican territory. There are other mountains of less extent, in different districts — as the Catskill in New York, Green moun- tain, dividing Vermont, and the White mountains in New Hampshire. These, however, as they appear on an average, nearly in the same range with the Apa- iachian, are, by some geographers, considered as a continuation of that chain. Beside these, there are in different sections of the United States, ridges of various extent, elevation, and declivity; which may with propriety be denominated mountains; and which bear the name in the districts MOUNTAINS AND FACE OP THE COUNTRY. 127 in which they are respectively located; but which are, perhaps, not necessary to be noticed in a national point of view. The hills embosoming some rivers and smaller streams, rise in numerous instances, to a considerable elevation, and are in some parts rugged and compa- ratively mountainous. But the great breadth of country generally, from the Atlantic shores to the river Mississippi, is either an agreeable succession of hill and dale, or pleasantly undulating — sufficiently level for cultivation, and hav- ing sufficient declinations to carry off the rains which fall. Almost every farm being accommodated with an agreeable elevation, more or less commanding, whereon to place its mansion and surrounding ap- pendages. In some districts the surface of the soil is rough and stony; but yet fertile, and fitted for the purposes of profitable pasturage. In other parts, the bounty of nature appears to be more restricted, in a soil less capable of contributing to the luxuries of life, but still affording, with due industry of cultivation, all accom- modations justly termed necessary. A great propor- tion of the soil, however, viewing the country on a broad scale, in a national point of view, is either na- turally rich and fertile, or of a quality so easily sus- ceptible of improvement, as to be capable, with the industry which is the proper department of man, and the skill in culture which he acquires by expe- rience, of producing abundant supplies for a dense population, and a large surplusage for the use of cities, manufacturing districts, and foreign nations. The country in general, is intersected in every direction, at convenient distances, with larger and smaller streams; which offer in their courses, the ad- vantage of many powerful waterfalls, adapted to the propelling manufacturing machinery of every de- scription. Along the Atlantic coast, from the middle of New Jersey to Georgia, to an average breadth of fifty, sixty, 128 MOUNTAINS AND FACE OF THE COUNTRY. or more miles back from the ocean, is a level coun- try, the general texture of the soil of which is sandy, or a sandy loam, on which a growth of yellow pine prevails to a great extent. In some parts it is rich and fertile; in other parts covered with swamps and morasses yet undrained; much of which is capable of being converted into profitable meadow grounds. Other parts, being an open sand are comparatively poor and barren, affording but little inducement to cultivation. This district bears in many parts de- cided evidences of having been at some remote pe- riod, covered by the ocean. Some part of the shores of the Carolinas and Geor- gia are lined with a range of long narrow islands, se- parated but short distances from the main land, by narrow arms of the sea. Many of these islands are composed of a deep and very rich soil, which upon cultivation produces cotton, of the most superior sta- ple, and commanding the highest price in the market. It is denominated ^'Sea-Island Cotton,'' from the places of its growth. Westward of the Mississippi, a large part of the Mis- souri territory, to the margin of the Rocky mountains, is composed of vastly extended tracts of level plains, void of timber. Extensive portions of those plains are dry, sandy, and barren; bearing some comparison to the great deserts of Africa. But a large proportion of them are very fertile, and clothed with rich natu- ral pasturage, and a great variety and profusion of beautifully flowering plants. In the spring season they are equal in grandeur to the finest artificial gar- den; and changing their livery by a continual suc- cession of species, their beautiful dress is continued through the summer. These plains, are, in the dia- lect of the early French settlers upon the Mississippi, denominated '' Prairies" — a French word, which ex- presses the idea of natural meadows. Over them the vision, unobstructed by trees of any description, can range without a limit, as on the unruffled surface of a trackless ocean. MOUNTAINS AND FACE OF THE COUNTRr. 129 Tracts of prairie lands of less extent, though still very considerable, are found in the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, but particularly in the latter. There are even some tracts of them in New York. These districts, when of a medium elevation, are of a deep and very rich soil. They are generally co- vered, in their natural state, with a growth of natural grasses and flowering vegetables, rising to a height so luxuriant as to make it difficult, and in some parts almost impossible, to travel through them even on horse-back. For their cultivation it is only necessary to clear their surface by burning, in the spring season, — to turn over the sod by a strong plough, drawn by four horses or oxen — and to plant the surface newly turn- ed up with corn, by means of hand-hoes. With very little or no cultivation afterwards, the crops produced will be surprisingly great. As the native strong deep sod becomes decomposed, in the following seasons, so as to render it capable of being wrought in the usual manner of husbandry, the produce is often al- most beyond credence. Though these lands are destitute of timber, it is not supposed that they are naturally incapable of its growth; but that their present state has been pro- duced, and continued from age to age, by their natu- ral covering being annually consumed by the fires of the natives; in order to make room for a fresh growth, to supply a plentiful green pasturage for the buffalo, the elk, and the deer. 130 CHAPTER IV. CLIMATE AND SEASONS. A REGION SO widely extended as the United States, from north to south, and from east to west, must be supposed greatly to vary in climate and temperature of seasons; partly from changes of latitude, and partly from local and contingent circumstances. According- ly, we find a gradation of temperature, in the cold season of the year, from the rugged snow-clad, Cana- dian winter, in the extreme north, to the mild, balmy atmosphere of a tropical region, in the extreme south. Some parts of the north, however, are said to differ materially in the winter temperature from other parts of equal latitude. In the north, the winters begin early; and the sur- face of the earth is generally shrouded in snow for four months in succession. And when those snows are dissolved and pass away, the spring opens with more regularity of temperature and progression of ve- getation, than in the middle states. In these the winters are irregular; in some years abounding with heavy snows, frozen rivers, and long continued cold. In other years, the winters are bro- ken, and the weather frequently changing from cold to temperate, and but little snow appearing; and again in others, they are mild and temperate general- ly throughout. In the north, the summer days being longer than in the south, heat is often experienced to a high degree, as well as in the states more central and further south. In the south, snow or ice is seldom seen; and the frosts, when they occur, are generally so light as but little to injure the tender vegetable productions; and in Florida, the climate is suited to the tropical fruits of the neighboring islands. LARGE NATIVE ANIMALS. 131 Rainy seasons are generally expected in spring and autumn; but they do not come with a regularity to establish any invariable rule. They sometimes oc- cur at different intervals in the warm periods of the year. Particular districts are sometimes afflicted with long intervals of parching drought; but more gene- rally, the earth and atmosphere, are refreshed at ac- ceptable times in summer, with plentiful showers of short duration; often accompanied with heavy thun- der; leaving the general state of the weather, for long intervals, under an unclouded atmosphere and serene sky. In the Atlantic states, the winds, prevalent in rainy- seasons, generally blow from some point between north-east and south. In clear settled weather the prevalent winds blow from west or north-west. West- ward of the Allegheny mountains the position seems to be reversed, except in certain cases supposed to be influenced by local or governing circumstances; such as the courses of great rivers, or the position of valleys. CHAPTER V. LARGE NATIVE ANIMALS. In the regions eastward of the Mississippi, the large native animals of the forest, which before Eu- ropean colonization, ranged unmolested and unas- sailed, except by the native hunter, with his bow and arrows, or his other simple methods of attack or de- coy, were the buffalo, the elk, the deer, the beaver, the otter, the bear, the wolf, and several species of the cat kind. 132 LARGE NATIVE ANIMALS. These have generally disappeared, as the felling ot the forests, and the more dense population of a new race of inhabitants, have advanced; insomuch that at present, they are rarely discovered from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, or from the northern lakes to the gulf of Mexico, except in the north-western regions, or in some uncultivated mountainous district, or some remaining, extensive, or dense, forest or fastness. Between the Mississippi and the Rocky moun- tains, the large native animals, are the buffalo, the bison, the elk, the deer, an animal called the bighorn, the antelope, the beaver, the great gristly or brown bear, the wolf, and the goat. Beside these, in the vicinity of the Rocky moun- tains, has been discovered a race of wool-bearing ani- mals, sometimes called the mountain-sheep. These appear to be timid, fleet of foot, and not greatly abounding in numbers. The buffalo and the bison, congregate in vast mul- titudes, of tens of thousands; ranging over the rich pastures of the prairie plains at pleasure. They do not seem disposed to interrupt travellers, except in some cases, a few of the more daring of the herd may advance, seemingly with a view to observation, and a nearer acquaintance with their new visiters. They are constituted with such a powerful frame, and their skins are so thick, that before the introduc- tion of fire-arms among the natives, it required the strong arm of the most skilful Indian hunter to bring them to the ground with an arrow*. Their tongues, and some parts of their flesh, are considered as amongst the most delicious kinds of animal food. The natives, sometimes, of late years, improv!- dently destroy them by hundreds at a time; by a sin- gular stratagem, which they adopt to save themselves the labours of the chase, and the exertion of taking them singly. For the purpose of decoy, they choose an opportu- nity, when a herd is feeding near the Missouri, in some part where the rocky bank is one or two hundred LARGE NATIVE ANIMALS. 133 feet perpendicular. They then dress one of their most adventurous and active men, in the skin of a buffalo or bison; in such manner as to represent the living animal as nearly as they can. This man, having previously selected a place of covert, under some projecting rock, or other secure defence, on the brow of the precipice, takes his sta- tion on the plain, between the herd and the river. A company of the natives then contrive, by cautious manoeuvring, to separate a portion of the herd from their companions, and to cause them to direct their view toward the decoy representing them. Having gained this point, the company behind give an alarm, and follow in pursuit of the herd thus sepa- rated: the man dressed as a decoy, at the same time moving on toward the precipice, and the herd follow- ing him, as a flock of sheep will follow any one of their number which happens to take the lead. As they approach the river, the alarm is increased by the company of pursuers, till the herd becomes stimulated to violent efibrts of haste to escape. The decoy suffers them to advance very near to him before he reaches the precipice; when, if he is sufficiently dexterous to throw himself into his covert, he is safe. If the foremost should then become alarmed at their danger, the heavy press of the herd behind rushes them unavoidably onward, till they overleap the pre- cipice, and the hindmost, instinctively following, the whole herd is precipitated upon the rocks at the bot- tom, and killed by the fall. If the decoy has, by miscalculating his distances, suffered the herd to approach too near him at the mo- ment of reaching the precipice, or is not sufficiently active to gain his covert at the proper juncture of time, he must be precipitated before them, and inevi- tably perish with them. VVhen the herd have thus fallen dead, the Indians take such number of their hides, and parts of their flesh, as they choose; leaving the residue to decay, or to be devoured by the numerous packs of wolves, 134 LARGE NATIVE ANIMALS. and flocks of carnivorous birds, which coJlect to feast upon the remaining carcasses. The great gristly or brown bear of those regions, is the largest, most powerful, and most ferocious animal known of its name. Though the species is believed to be single, individuals appear under different shades of colour, but mostly brown or gristled. It is so bold and fearless in its attacks on the unassailing traveller, and withal so tenacious of life, even when mortally wounded, that it cannot be encountered without great danger, except by parties well armed. An instance of their ferocity was recorded by Cap- tain Lewis, when near the great falls of the Missouri, on his exploring tour to the Pacific, under a com- mission from our executive government, in the year 1805. Having left his company at a stationary point, he had walked to some distance, upon the bank of the Missouri, to view the vast scene of romantic beauty which surrounded him; and was on his return, when a large brown bear discovered him, and was within twenty steps advancing to attack him before he per- ceived it. On discovering it, he had no resource but to run with all his speed. The bear, however, gained upon him; and was very near him when he arrived at the river side, and threw himself into the water. It then was within a few feet of him, with its mouth open, ready to seize him. As a last resort he turned upon it; intending to defend himself to the last, with his espontoon — a short dagger. When in the moment of the greatest apparent dan- ger, the creature, seeing his new enemy facing him, in an unusual element, appeared to become alarmed; and turning suddenly from him, it ran off with all its speed across the plain, till it was out of sight. Thus was he unexpectedly and happily relieved, at the in- stant of the greatest peril. In the vicinity of the sluggish rivers, in the level parts of some of the southern states, is found the alji- LARGE NATIVE ANIMALS. 135 gator; a large animal of the lizard form, analogous to the African crocodile, if not identically the same spe- cies. Its habits are amphibious; as it lives part of its time in those torpid waters, and alternately, at its pleasure, a part basking on their banks. It is a voracious creature, ready to attack such ani- mals of less power as comes within its reach, for the purpose of supplying itself with food; and will easily overcome them if found in the water: or, if on the banks, it will generally prevail by forcing them into the water, where its powers and activity seem to be the greatest. The fossil remains of a species of animal, far sur- passing in magnitude any which have been mentioned in the preceding notices, have been discovered in se- veral parts of the United States, distant from each other: generally imbedded several feet beneath a sur- face apparently alluvial. In some cases detached bones have been found, and in other instances, skele- tons nearly or quite entire. To the skeleton of this animal, naturalists have given the name of the mammoth. So far as discovery has extended, it does not appear, that any of them in their living forms are now in existence. They must therefore have been the inhabitants of the forest, in some distant period, far beyond the memory or ra- tional tradition, of the aboriginal inhabitants: and have become extinct, from some cause, known only to the great Controller of events in the boundless re- gions of his own creation. A perfect skeleton may be seen in Peale's museum, in the city of Phila- delphia. The great American eagle, has its latter resort, chiefly, in the northern and western regions. They have frequently been taken of a measure exceeding six feet across the expanded wings. They were formerly, more often than at present, to be seen in the middle and southern states. To reign unmolested in solitude, seems to be more suited 136 LARGE NATIVE ANIMALS. to their nature and habits, than to be found frequent- ing the more open regions of human habitation. A late notice has been published, of a somewhat singular recent occurrence. It is stated, that a negro boy, in Virginia, when in a field alone, in the autumn of 1831, heard an uncommon noise which he could not comprehend; but supposed it to resemble the blasts of a rushing wind, of a distant storm. On look- ing all round him with surprise and terror, he at length discovered, very high in the air over him, two large birds in contest with each other. As their mutual resistance prevented horizontal progressive motion, he w^atched them till they de- scended to the earth, very near to him; each one hav- ing the talons of one foot, firmly fixed in the oppo- site thigh of his antagonist. The boy looked on them with astonishment and afiright, while they con- tinued the battle, till they rose again to some height. On their second descent to the earth, he assumed courage — threw himself upon them — and broke the necks of both, while they remained locked in each other's talons. On carrying them to his master, they were found to be eagles; one measuring across the wings seven feet and a half, and the other nearly of equal dimensions. It is supposed they accidentally met, high in the atmosphere — perhaps above the region of the clouds: and being mutually in the spirit of war, for the sup- port of unrivalled dominion, joined in deadly com- bat, to dispute with each other the sovereignty of the aerial kingdom. Silly creatures! to act so much like some of the human race. As if there was not room enough in the creation for them both; and thus, bj^ crippling their own energies, betray each other into the hands of a third party, to their mutual destruction. The native American turkey is a noble bird, far surpassing our common domestic variety, both in stature, and in the beautiful golden and purple hues of its glossy and polished covering. Separating them- NATIVE VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 137 selves into pairs in the spring, the male and female head, will, by their joint careful attention, often rear a beautiful brood of, from fifteen to twenty-five or thirty in a season. The note of the male is imitated with great exact- ness by the natives; and has often been used as a de- coy in time of predatory war; with a view to entice the incautious inhabitant of the frontier cabin, wuthin reach of the deadly aim of the rifle of his enemy ly- ing in ambush. A notice of the numerous smaller species of animal nature, as well of those which play upon the surface of the earth, as of the beautiful variegated feathered tribes, is left for the records of more amplified natu- ral history. Suffice it to say, that they remain in great variety, either the sportive and pleasing tenants of our fields and uncultivated domains, the occupants of the scattered remnants of our native forests, or the inmates of the caverns of our rocks and mountains. CHAPTER VI, NATIVE VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. At the time of the first landing of European set- tlers, on the shores of this western world, the whole region, from the Atlantic ocean to the river Missis- sippi, was, with here and there perhaps a limited ex- ception, one vast unbroken forest; abounding in great variety of vegetable productions, from the tow- ering and majestic oak, sugar-maple, walnut, poplar, and pine, through every decreasing grade of strength and stature, to the humble grass and flowering plant. In the older states, detached portions of the ancient forests remain, on almost every farm distant from po- 12* 138 NATIVE VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. pulous cities. Though generally divested of the gran- deur of their most magnificent original ornaments, we may still discover, in those fragments of nature's wild domains, here and there remaining, a solitary individual, rearing its head as king of the forest, which may have flourished under the influence of the sum- mer suns, and resisted the peltings of the winter storms, for two hundred years before the eye of a white man ever beheld them. It is a pleasing and innocent exercise of the imagi- nation, to contemplate them, as the silent, unobtru- sive witnesses, of the sportive gambols of Indian boy- hood, and the sinewy boundings of the elk and the deer, for so long a period beyond the retrospection of historical record. In the new states, and in remote sections of some of the older, large portions of those forests remain in their native wildness. From these, abundant sup- plies of timber are furnished, for the use of cities and populous regions. And for the transport of those sup- plies, the different rivers and smaller streams, flowing through or near them, adapted principally to a de- scending navigation, afford abundant facilities. Amongst our native trees, the mulberry may claim a particular notice; its leaves being the appropriate food of the silk worm. Experience has furnished de- cided ground to believe, that the leaf of our native mulberry tree, affords the silk worm a richer food, and capable of producing a stronger and heavier silk, than the leaves of the species imported from Italy: and the leaves being much larger, the daily supply, may, when the trees are properly trained, be pro- cured with much less labor. A part of the territory of Florida, as well as small parts of some of the southern states, is covered with a species of native oak, of such superior strength, and durability of texture, as to adapt it peculiarly to the purpose of ship building. It is denominated ''Live Oak," from the circumstance of its leaves being per- petually green. And the preservation of it has been NATIVE VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 139 considered by the general government, of sufficient importance to maintain an armed vessel stationed on the coast, for the sole purpose of protecting it from lawless depredation. On the arrival of the early European colonists, they found growing on the river banks, as well as further inland, in great luxuriance, different species of the native grape vine. The cultivation of the grape has, however, hitherto received but little general attention. By experiments lately made, it has been found, that the culture may be pursued not only with pleasure but to a handsome pecuniary profit. The belt of country between the 38th and 41st degrees of lati- tude, is believed by some naturalists, to be most con- genial to their growth and profitable culture. But others consider a further extent south equally favor- able. Grapes grow luxuriantly in Georgia. Many of our native grasses, furnish excellent sup- plies of animal food, both green and dry; and for the purposes of pasturage, for the use of the grazier and the dairy, they far surpass in excellence and value, every species imported from other countries. In parts of the North-western territory, grows spontaneously, a native grain, bearing a near resem- blance to oats or rice; which is capable of contribu- ting essentially, to the means of human sustenance, and is gathered for that purpose. Our native corn and tobacco plants, are so well known they need scarcely be mentioned; the first contributing so largely, and essentially, to the sus- tenance of man and the animal creation, and the last to the profits of the planter and the merchant; though much more as an article of luxury, to gratify a de- praved appetite, than for real use. A great variety of our native plants are found to possess highly valuable medicinal qualities; and their uses, and important remedial powers and properties, are becoming every year more and more developed. 140 CHAPTER VII. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. Where the native forests have been subdued, by the labors of civilized man, the application of his in- dustry, in a diligent cultivation, has been rewarded with abundant stores, of every production necessary to his sustenance: and much to convert to the pur- poses of luxury, the progressive improvement of his domains, andforthe use of distant nations and colonies, in exchange for their productions of different species, calculated to add to his comforts, or minister to his luxuries or his pride. In the states eastward of New York, it was disco- vered on settlement, that much of the surface of the ground was rocky, and the soil better adapted to the production of rich pasturage, than to annual cultiva- tion. Hence they abound in dairies. And hence the exportation from those states to other places, of large amounts of dairy products. In the high latitudes of JNIaine and New Hamp- shire, the soil and climate, are remarkably adapted to the production of great quantities of the potatoe, which they use for animal food, for the manufacture of starch, and for the supply of other parts of the Union, where deficiencies of the article occur. From the great northern lakes to the northern line of North Carolina and Tennessee, together with the upland parts of those two states, much of the soil has been found on cultivation, to be adapted to the abun- dant production of wheat, rye, corn, barley, oats, natural and artificial grasses, hemp, and tobacco. Hence, beside the supply of all the inhabitants, and the rearing and feeding of cattle, sheep, hogs, and AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. 141 poultry, for the use of cities and the idense population around them, as well as our manufacturing districts, large quantities of some of those articles, either in their natural or manufactured forms, are annually ex- ported to foreign nations. Some parts of North and South Carolina and Geor- gia, being composed of low lands, subject to natural and artificial inundations, have been found to be pe- culiarly adapted to the culture of rice. Hence this article, with cedar, the natural product of their mo- rasses, and yellow pine, pitch, and turpentine, the products of the sandy district, have become the sta- ple exports of those regions. In South Carolina and the states westward from it, beside the partial production of corn, and other grain, for the support of the inhabitants, the great southern staple, cotton is cultivated and exported, to a very large annual amount. This is also a leading object of culture in North Carolina and Tennessee; and partially so in Virginia and Kentucky. Of latter years, the introduction of the sugar cane into Louisiana and the neighboring sections of Mis- sissippi and Alabama, and the south of Georgia, has also produced profitable results, in the supply of su- gars of the richest flavor. The climate of Florida, being so mild and free from the occurrence of frosts, oranges, lemons, and other tropical fruits, are cultivated in great perfection. The physical possibility of the occurrence of famine in our country, by means of a very uncommon com- bination of circumstances, of drought, frosts, destruc- tive insects, blight, and mildew, we dare not call in question. The negative conclusion would savor too much of human presumption. But viewing all natural circumstances as we find them, we may perhaps be justified in the supposition, that in the eye of reason, we have less cause to apprehend such an occurrence, than any other nation within our knowledge. 142 AGRICULTUPtAL PRODUCTS. The great variety of the means of human subsist- ence, comprehended under our many different species of grain, and other vegetables named and unnamed, — the harvests of the different species occurring at differ- ent periods of the year — the unlikelihood of seasons of long continued drought pervading our whole terri- tory at once — and the circumstance, that one district in a plentiful season, is capable of supplying the de- fects of a season of drought in another — are all circum- stances in favor of hope; and furnish abundant cause of gratitude, to a bountiful Providence, calculated to encourage the maintenance of a conduct conformable to the blessings received. The vast, distant regions of the Missouri territory, being much divested of timber, and other materials for building and enclosures, adapted to the customs and necessities of civilized man, is the less likely, soon to become apportioned out to him, in the man- ner of the present United States. The imagination, therefore delights in contemplating on the territory, as the asylum and the resting place, of the ancient aboriginal inhabitants of the continent; and the rich pasturage of its unbounded plains, as the ranges of the bison, the buffalo, the elk, and the beaver, with other beautiful and interesting productions of the na- tive animal creation, where they may be permitted to retain an existence for many generations; exempli- fying the wisdom and beautiful variety of the works of our great and ever adorable Creator. 143 CHAPTER VIII. MINERAL AND GEOLOGICAL SUB- STANCES. The iron mines of the United States, have been long and successfully wrought, to the production of much wealth to their proprietors, and operators con- cerned, as they pass through the various operations of the furnace, the forge, and the rolling and slitting mills. They abound principall}- in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, jMaryland, and the northern parts of Virginia. Later discoveries have brought to view plentiful veins of ore in Vermont and in the northern section of New York bordering on Lake Champlain; and other states partake more or less of this most use- ful of metals: particularly Kentucky, Tennessee, and the higher sections of North Carolina and Georgia. In Pennsylvania, the ore is very abundant; the de- posites being found in a stony form, in the mountains, hills, and more level parts of their diflerent districts. In the level parts of New Jersey, the ore is generally in a granulated or earthy form, and known by the name of bog-ore; which, beside its deposites under the surface of various districts, accumulates in large quantities, in the ponds raised for working the fur- naces: from the constant attraction to each other, and uniting, of the minute particles of iron, suspended and floating in the waters by which those ponds are sup- plied. The quality of the iron of the United States, is very various; some ore beds producing that which is best adapted to the purpose of makins; all the variety 144 MINERAL AND GEOLOGICAL SUBSTANCES. of castings; others to the manufacture of bar iron, of great strength and firmness for heavy work; and still others, producing metal of a fineness of texture, and general qualities, fitting it for the manufacture of steel, of the most superior character, as well as for wire- drawing, and the finest purposes of the artificer. The bituminous coal-pits of Virginia, have been long known and operated upon; and their produce exported to other states, for the use of the workers in iron. The bituminous mines in Pennsylvania, ap- pearing in many places open to view in the hilly re- gions westward, have been used from the earliest set- tlement of their neighborhood; and being so easily and cheaply obtained, by the mere labor of separating the coal from the exposed surfaces of their extensive masses, are a source of great accommodation to the iron manufacturers of Pittsburgh. The anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania, has been more recently explored; and its coal introduced, and continually introducing, to great advantage, for the purposes of fuel for warming winter apartments, for culinary uses, for the burning of lime, and for the use of steam engines, and the manufacturers of iron. The coal mines of Pennsylvania, are found upon examination, to be very abundant in their stores — suf- ficiently so in all reasonable calculation, to supply the demands of the inhabitants which may continually fol- low each other to draw upon them, as well for export as home consumption, through a very long succession of ages. The gold mines of the United States, have been comparatively of but recent discovery. Their re- gion, so far as is yet known, appears to be limited to a breadth of country perhaps not exceeding twenty or thirty miles. The first modern discovery was in the west of North Carolina, near the Yadkin river, where a lump was taken up, of the metal, in nearly or quite a pure MINERAL AND GEOLOGICAL SUBSTANCES. 145 state, of the value of upwards of 2500 dollars. Since that time, discovery has extended north-eastward across Virginia, if not into the south-west of Pennsyl- vania, and south-westward, into the upper parts of several of the southern states. The quantity of the metal now obtained annually, is very considerable, and still each year increasing. In the Missouri state and territory, and in the north-western territory, is an extensive range of country, in which is imbedded, at a moderate depth below the surface, vast deposites of leaden ore. The quantity is so abundant, and the ore so rich, and easily obtained and separated from extraneous mix- tures, that all the markets to which it can yet have access, after being transported by boat to New Or- leans, are easily overstocked. The miners are then obliged to suspend their operations, for want of a market. A very small portion, comparatively, of the great lead region, having been hitherto opened, the supply for the use of future ages, is bej^ond calculation. In the neighbourhood of lake Superior, abundant quantities of rich copper ore, have long been known to exist: it having even been brought into use by the native inhabitants, in the formation of some of their ornaments, and simple articles of furniture. These mines may become the field of extensive operations in some future day. Other veins of copper and lead, are known to exist in various parts of the Union; and some of them have been wrought to large, and others to less advantage. On each side of the Schuylkill, in the vicinity of Philadelphia, are quarries of fine marble, of variously diversified shades; from which the city is furnished to any desired amount, for building and ornamental uses, and for exportation. A quarry of marble of sin- gular texture, and great diversity of colours, has also been opened on the Potomac; from which the public 13 146 MINERAL AND GEOLOGICAL SUBSTANCES. buildings in the city of Washington, receive much of their ornamental decorations. Marble of great beauty is also plentiful in Vermont, and largely ma- nufactured. It also prevails in some parts of other states, eastward and westward. Limestone, of the best quality, exists in unbounded quantities, in many of the states; by which the builder is furnished with cement, the farmer with manure, and the chemist with the means of obtain- ing many valuable products. To the naturalist and mineralogist, the United States furnish an interesting field of investigation, where inquiry is yet but in its infancy; though a great variety of the different mineral productions, and many specimens of those kinds of stones, which are considered valuable in the cabinets of the curi- ous, have been collected. A notice of our salt mines is reserved for a distinct chapter. Besides the deposites of the bones of the mam- moth, noticed under another head, there have been discovered, in many situations, from the low lands receding from the ocean, even to near the summits of many of our mountains, bones and shells evidently of marine origin. In some parts, fifty miles from the sea, on occasionally digging for water, bones have been taken up in a petrified state, from the depth of more than sixty feet. Circumstances of a similar character, have also been noticed in various parts, westward of the Al- leghany mountains. In the middle part of New Jersey, bordering on Pennsylvania, on digging a well through a deep stra- tum, evidently of a marine deposite, a living toad was discovered, at the depth of more than forty feet below the surface, lodged in a cavity just sufficient to contain it. The creature, after exerting a feeble activity, and receiving the effects of an atmosphere, from which it MINERAL AND GEOLOGICAL SUBSTANCES. 147 must have been excluded for a period of many ages, soon expired. The circumstance of a creature, remaining so long in the possession of vital powers, in such a situation, might, perhaps, well be considered as of doubtful credit, had we not so many instances on record of undisputed authority, of the toad being found living in similar cavities, in the hearts of massive solid rocks, many feet within their surface. A proof, that the toad is so peculiarly constituted, as to be capable of sustaining life in a different manner from most other animals, excluded from a supply of atmosphe- ric air.* Many circumstances might be cited, furnishing conclusive evidence, that this our western hemi- sphere, has^ at some distant, unknown period, by the * A modern geologist, in Europe, it appears, has introduced new doubts, of the reality of facts relied on for trutli, relative to the long protracted living existence of toads, in such secluded situations. But his reasoning and experiments, do not appear to have embraced all the necessary circumstances. It is well understood, that the toad, like the tortoise, and some other animals, after spending the summer in acti- vity in the open atmosphere, retires on the approach of winter, to its seclusion; where it remains in a state of torpor, deprived of activity; either buried in the earth, or closed up in some narrow cavity, till the influence of spring penetrates its retreat, and by its invigorating ef- fects, gradually inspires the animal with renewed life, and inclination to move; by which it in time effects its own release. Now it must be evident, that, to prepare it for its periodical changes, important changes in its constitution or vital functions, are wisely provided for, by the au- thor of its nature, to adapt it to its necessary modes and habits of ex- istence. If, then, after it had imbedded itself in its winter retreat, a superincumbent iDody of matter, had become suddenly placed over it, to a great depth, by some operation of nature to us unknown, inas- much as the influence of a spring atmosphere, penetrating to the depth of its retreat, was necessary to its renewed action, and the recovery of its summer functions, and as the superincumbent matter had pre- vented this effect, and been the means of retaining an unchanging temperature in its habitation, can any conclusive reason be assigned, why, thus cut off from all influence from without, it should not as well continue to sleep on, in its state of complete torpor, 5000 years, as five months? But, in Professor Buckland's experiments, we are left to in- fer, that he had subjected the toads to them, while in their summer habitudes, and from his results thus obtained, had too hastily drawn his conclusions, against the truth of well attested facts. 148 MINERAL AND GEOLOGICAL SUBSTANCES. power of some stupendous force, operating either in- ternally or externally, been subjected to a great revo- lution and transformation. Regions once occupied by the mighty ocean, have been converted into plains and mountains, high and dry; and situations where once sported the monsters of the great deep, have become the habitations of man, furnished by the hand of Almighty Power, with every thing requisite to his accommodation. On the other hand, there are some evidences on which to ground an opinion, that regions once habitable, have become involved in the ocean. On contemplating upon such circumstances, con- jecture is often bewildered, and the imagination ab- sorbed in astonishment. We may resort to the opinions of the visionary speculator, or trace the theories of the scientific geo- logist, and still remain unsatisfied. We have no ancient records, to guide our re- searches, or govern our inferences, except the scrip- tural account of a mighty overwhelming general de- luge; when "the windows of heaven were opened, and the fountains of the great deep were broken up." It remains then for us, to occupy the habitations provided for us, with reverence and gratitude, to the Almighty Disposer of events — diligently aiming to fulfil all the duties assigned us, in this state of proba- tion, and referring all the mysterious operations of vi- sible nature, to his all-wise direction, who governeth the worlds of his own creation, according to the in- scrutable purposes of his own will. 149 CHAPTER IX. MANUFACTURES IN GENERAL. To give a full view of the different species of manu-^ factures, which have within the last few years, been successfully produced in the United States, but which were formerly imported from Great Britain and other foreign places, would occupy a volume. A brief notice only, of this, as of subjects under other heads, is here intended; that the youth, or adult reader, who has not heretofore taken any extensive view of the subject, may, by a concise introduction, be induced to extend his observations and reflections at pleasure. A subject highly important to the general prosper- ity and independence of our country; and present- ing a wide field, for the exercise of native genius and enterprise; either in pursuit of objects of manufacture already familiar, or, in striking out new paths, to fa- cilitate, and bring to perfection, branches of work- manship hitherto but little, if at all, attempted. A catalogue of the articles formerly imported, either wholly or principally, would comprehend al- most the whole list of the conveniences and comforts of life; excepting the articles of common food, the produce of common tillage; and the buildings and improvements immediately attached to the soil. The aggregate value of manufactures, which are now fabricated amongst ourselves, exclusive of the produce of those extensive systematical establish- ments, which excite public attention, would amount tomany millions of dollars annually; though the seats of their production, are distributed about in almost 13* 150 MANUFACTURES IN GENERAL. every quarter, here a little and there a little, claim- ing but little, or transient, general notice. Were we to pass through some parts of our cities, and our manufacturing villages, and to visit our more private establishments, in many parts of the country, with a view to observation, sufficient evidence would appear to prove, that there are few or none of the species of manufacture necesssary to the comfort of the inhabitants of our whole territory, which, as a nation, we are not capable of producing, at prices suf- ♦ficiently low to satisfy all reasonable expectation. B-ut, for our complete success, a universal disposi- tion ought to be maintained, to encourage, and sup- port, those branches of manufacture which are yet in their infancy; till they become so fully established, as to withstand the shocks which have sometimes heretofore been received, from the insidious designs of the merchants and manufacturers of other nations, pouring in upon us abundant quantities of their pro- ducts of inferior quality, though fair in appearance; for the purpose of overwhelming our infant manufac- tories, by a reduction of prices, to a point which no nation could long sustain, without ruinous losses, and the depression of their labourers, by reduction of their just wages, to the ranks of abject poverty, and servile dependance and wretchedness. The means are various by which manufacturing na- tions, in possession of unbounded capital, may injuri- ously affect other nations, which possess equal advan- tages for production, but in which the manufacturing interest may be yet in a state of comparative infancy. To describe them all would exceed our plan and in- tention. But, as a partial illustration of the means already hinted at, we will offer a few additional re- marks. In the United States, the construction and use of manufacturing machinery, are as well understood by many of our ingenious citizens as they are in any other nation. MANUFACTURES IN GENERAL. 151 If, even, the common prices of labour should be a little higher here than in Europe, the comparative fewness of hands employed in some species of manu- factures, where machinery is extensively used, would render any excess of wages of little consequence, and less than the expenses of transporting raw materials from this country, — where some kinds of them are produced in abundance*— to Europe, — where the same kinds do not grow — passing them from hand to hand, through various owners, and bringing the manufac- tured goods back to us. It is therefore clear, that the United States can ma- nufacture many of the common species of goods, cheaper than they can be in any other way supplied, by a fair and regular trade. But foreign manufacturers, in possession of im- mense capitals, by reducing the wages of their labour- ers, to the lowest rate possible to preserve their mor- tal existence, would, in order to dispose of their sur- plus inferior stock at any price, or calculating on a certain loss for the present, from the prospect of fu- ture advantage, be able, without some efficient check, to send to the United States, overwhelming quanti- ties of those manufactures, to be disposed of at auc- tion, for the express purpose of injuring our manu- facturers, and bringing them under discouragement and uncertainty, by sales much reduced; in order that by thus inducing them to abandon their pursuits, the market may in future be open, to receive foreign goods, at prices sufficiently advanced, amply to com- pensate the foreign manufacturer for his present sa- crifices. Here then may be understood by youth, what is meant by the term "protection," as applied to our manufacturing interests. It means nothing more than the institution and support by Congress, of a rate of duties on imported articles which are capable of being manufactured to perfection and advantage in this coun- try, sufficient to counteract foreign designs, until our manufactures may become so firmly established as to 152 MANUFACTURES IN GENERAL. be proof against them. By such an intervention of the government, which should remain undisturbed by the contending fallacious arguments of selfish, shallow politicians, the public confidence would be- come settled, a sufficient number of men of capital would engage in the business, to reduce by competi- tion, the prices of manufactured goods to the lowest rates of reasonable profit; and thus the whole Union would be supplied, at regular prices — at the cheapest rates — and with goods of such excellent qualities, as should supersede all importations of many articles, and be eventually completely satisfactory to every portion of the Union, which should be uninfluenced by unworthy considerations. But few of our agricultural products are necessary to other nations, except two or three species, princi- pally the produce of some of the southern states. For the production of a full sufficiency of food, for men and animals, in our whole national community, it is only necessary that a part of our population should be employed. How unwise then, would be the conduct of that nation, which, for want of reason- able restraints upon foreign insidious designs, should permit the remaining part, to pass their time in use- less idleness; depending upon other nations for cloth- ing, and other necessary and comfortable accommo- dations; for which, if obtained upon that plan, we must be involved in constantly accumulating debts, without the means of payment : while a part of the population thus idle, or at bestunprofitably employed, could, if properly encouraged, furnish all which our wants require, and would receive much of the pro- duce of agricultural industry in exchange. By this plan of mutual dependance, for the supply of our mutual wants, would be established a general connexion of mutual interest, and mutual extensive therhood, so essential to the happiness and inde- pendence of a great nation. And yet some of our statesmen and politicians, for reasons best known to themselves, choose continual])* MANUFACTURES IN GENERAL. 153 to reiterate the idle charge which has been a thou- sand times refuted, by the clearest and most unanswer- able arguments, that '' the system of encouraging our manufactures in their incipient state, by any mea- sures of public protection, is only a partial and unjust mode of taxing the many for the benefit of a few." How unworthy! how contracted! how cruelly self- ish! how suicidal! would be the motives and the po- licy, of any portion of the population of our Union, should such arguments be made to prevail, against a system, the great general advantages of which are so clearly and demonstrably evident; because of any sup- posed temporary disadvantage to themselves. And such disadvantage even now perhaps but merely the- oretical. It would resemble a large family, the sons of one father, who, possessing each his separate portion of a great paternal inheritance, should agree upon a sys- tem of measures designed for the general good; but who afterward, should admit and cherish among them- selves, the spirit of jealousy and envy, from a suppo- sition that the occupations of one or more of the fa- mily, and the application of their industry, had become more profitable than that of others; and the discon- tented members of the family, though possessing in reality, equal, or superior natural advantages, with equal liberty and power to improve them, should blindly or enviously, withdraw their confidence and fraternal attachment, from the members thus industri- ously employed in promoting the general good and mutual prosperity of the whole family; and seek to transfer their friendship and intimate connexion to far distant strangers, not bound to them by similar ties of mutual brotherhood. In the manufacture of iron wares, enterprising in- dividuals, have in many cases turned their attention to single branches; by which circumstance, greater perfection of workmanship, as well as despatch in production, is attained, than when the attention is 154 MANUFACTURES IN GENERAL. divided amongst numerous objects and forms of work- manship. Hence, many of the well finished, as well as cheaper articles, which we now see arranged on the shelves of the hardware merchants, assorted with those yet imported, are of American manufacture. And many things of the first necessity, of superior quality, and of almost unlimited demand, are pro- duced at so cheap a rate, as to admit but little dread of foreign competition, and to supersede entirely the necessity of importation. The amount of labour bestowed, capital employed, and workmanship produced, in the manufacture of steam engines, and other labour saving machinery, of every description now used in the United States, would present an astonishing aggregate. Yet this amount is rapidly increasing every year. In the manufactures of wood, in the forms of house- hold furniture, travelling carriages, and many other species of workmanship, the productions of our inge- nious mechanics, would, in point of elegance, neat- ness, usefulness, and durability, admit of a compari- son decidedly favourable, with similar products of any nation. The manufactures of cotton, of almost every form and quality of fabric, have attained to a great degree of perfection. The business being now conducted on a large systematical scale, in many establishments in different parts of the Union; insomuch, that many thousands of bales of the raw material — the produce of the southern states — find a ready market in the eastern and middle. And the same material, in its diversified manufactured forms, better, and cheaper, on a fair comparison of quality and price, than simi- lar articles can be imported for from any other coun- try, in a fair and regular trade, finds its way back to the southern states, and is distributed into every part of the Union. The wise and venerable Dr. Franklin, exemplified in his day, great clearness of judgment and foresight, MANUFACTURES IN GENERAL. 155 on the subject of supplying ourselves, by our own national industry, with the manufactures necessary to our comfort. He supported the principle by his own example in the last years of his highly useful life. He is, perhaps, as justly entitled to the name of 'Hhe father of^' that which is now denominated 'Hhe Ame- rican system," as any other eminent citizen, to whom the name may have been since applied. His princi- ples on this great national head were completely settled. Viewing our nation as an undivided whole, his comprehensive mind, soared far above the influence of petty sectional considerations and jealousies. He saw^, with the keen penetration of an experienced sage, that our only course to wealth, independence, and national respect, was that of supplying our own national wants by our own industry. He saw that the different kinds and degrees of advantage peculiarly possessed by portions of our territory were capable of becoming equalized, by the due application of the requi- site means. He saw that those means would depend much upon a system of mutual interchanges. He saw that the mines, and the mountain pastures, of the north, — the rich products of general agriculture, in the middle regions, — and the luxuriant growths, upon the plains of the favoured south, — were capable of af- fording the supplies upon w^hich those mutual inter- changes should depend. That upon these, the inge- nuity, and industry, of the population in the more rugged and less productive districts, could be brought to operate, in the plentiful production of manufac- tures. That thus, the Union w^ould become like the works of a well regulated machine; every lever, spring, and spur-wheel, performing its part, in unison with its fellow members of the great whole; where the operation of each distinct part and principle, would infallibly contribute to the orderly movements of the mighty machine. And he saw, that for the full development of the plan, time, patience, and mu- tual forbearance, would be required, to exemplify 1S6 MANUFACTURES IN GENERAL. and display it, to minds less comprehensive than his own. In his day the manufacture of woollen cloth had been but little if at all attempted on any extensive systematical scale; but was a part of the concern of the prudent farmer's family, where the hand cards and the common spinning-wheel, were the instru- ments of cheerful employment in the proper annual season. It is within the knowledge of the author of this vo- lume, that the doctor, in his latter years, applied to a friend of his, who occasionally visited him, though resident fifty miles distant from Philadelphia, for ad- vice and aid, in procuring the manufacture of cloth, for his own wearing. That friend transferred his commission to a worthy woman in his neighbour- hood, who, superadded to all the amiable qualities of the honoured head of a happy family in rural life, possessed eminent skill in domestic manufactures. The improvement of wool, by the introduction of foreign species of sheep had not then become com- mon. She, therefore, had recourse to the choicest fleeces of her husband's native flocks; and in due time, by the aid of a weaver and a fuller in her neigh- bourhood, she completed her engagement to the doc- tor's entire satisfaction. If the cloth was not as finely finished as it might have been from the hands of a British clothier, it was, for decency and comfort, every thing he desired; and was beside, the means of sustaining his principles, and holding up his illustri- ous example. And the same worthy female remained to be his secondary agent as long as his wants required her aid. Since that time the manufactures of broad cloths, cassimeres, flannels, and other products of wool, as well as a numerous variety of valuable fabrics, com- posed of mixtures of wool and cotton, are efiiciently conducted in various districts: and to a considerable extent, compared with the infancy of their establish- MANUFACTURES IN GENERAL. 157 merit, and the insufficiency of encouragement and pro- tection received. The qualities of the goods, and costs of fabrication, demonstrate to a certainty, the capacity of our coun- try, to furnish itself in due time, with every variety of woollen goods, on advantageous terms; and thus to supersede forever, the necessity of a dependance on other nations, for those indispensable agents of warmth and comfort. Thus, on due reflection, we may perceive the pre- eminent advantages enjoyed by the United States as a nation. Our diversity of quality and circumstances of soil and climate, adapted to the abundant production of the necessaries and comforts of life — the northern and eastern States capable of furnishing adequate supplies of wool, for our winter coverings — the south equally fertile in the production of cotton, for the use of our temperate seasons and climates — the middle, and other States, abounding in the means of establishing an extensive culture of silk — some of the States, af- fording resources for an incalculable supply of iron and mineral coal — our abundant accommodation with water-falls, for the propelling of manufacturing ma- chinery — our free government, fostering and promo- ting the expansion of genius, and the display of en- terprise in our citizens, which tend so eminently to the improvement of the useful arts — our wide separa- tion of locality, from the ever jarring and distracting commotions of European nations — these, with many other circumstances, seem to present us as a kind of anomaly, in comparison with the communities of our fellow men, in other regions of the earth. We have, therefore, as a nation, abundant cause to aspire after and cherish, the spirit of gratitude to the all-bountiful Author of nature, for his numberless gifts and blessings: and to maintain the exercise of mutual benevolence and brotherly kindness toward each other, as the joint partakers of his providential favors. Cultivating those dispositions, the different 14 158 SALT MINES AND MANUFACTORIES. sections of our widely spread population, would har- moniously aim, in a disinterested spirit of conciliation, to equalize sectional advantages, and to remove all na- tional evils, which may now be seen to hang over us as national curses. Thus might we expect the advancement of public virtue to go hand in hand with a continued national prosperity; and the blessings of Heaven to descend on our efforts, to fulfil the laws of mercy, justice, and universal benevolence. The North and the South, the East and the West, would then, cordially reciprocate the benefits each is capable of conferring on each; and thus maintain a chain of friendship, and mutual alliance, which no- thing but the admission of groundless sectional jea- lousies, and the growth and prevalence of sentiments and dispositions, the reverse, and the bane, of public and private virtue, could ever be able to rend asunder. CHAPTER X. SALT MINES AND MANUFAC- TORIES. The article of salt, was formerly procured altoge- ther from Great Britain and other foreign places. — Much is still imported; because the consumption is very great. But, for many years past, manufactories of salt, have been carried on in different parts along the sea coast. The sea water, which is always highly impregnated with salt, is admitted into shallow re- ceivers, representing small lakes; when, by excluding a fresh accession of water, and allowing the rays of the sun to operate on the surface, evaporation sepa- rates the watery parts, and leaves the salt in a concrete SALT MINES AND MANUFACTORIES. 159 form at the bottom; from whence it is collected, and prepared for market. A large projiortion, however, of the salt used in the interior of several of the States, is now procured from another source. After the settlement of the western parts of New- York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, and of the States of Kentucky and Ohio, there were springs discovered, the water of which appeared to be impregnated with salt. A salt state of the water was also discovered in some places, by the wild animals resorting from considerable distances, to lick the earth, at certain low grounds where water had issued out, and had become dried up by the sun; leaving the soil in the places where it had lain, combined with a portion of salt: which the animals would swallow, from a relish which nature had given them for salt, as a preserva- tive of their health. These places of resort of the animals, are called ^^ Licks," or '' Salt Licks." Where evidences of salt have thus appeared, by the discovery of licks or springs, the water has some- times been small in quantity, and not very strongly impregnated. Resort has, in these cases, been some- times had to deep boring in the ground; which has been continued in some places to a depth of from 500 to 700 feet; when fine springs of water, strongly im- pregnated, have been obtained. The water rising to near the surface when a passage is opened for it by the boring instrument. Thus, in some cases by collecting the water sup- plied by natural springs, and in others by boring, plentiful supplies of salt water have been obtained, for the constant operation of manufactories; which produce quantities of the article to an astonishing an- nual amount — sufficient to serve all the regions round them, and large quantities to transport to other parts of the Union. The work of evaporation, has commonly heretofore been performed, at those manufactories, by boiling the water in broad shallow iron vessels; from the surfaces 160 SALT MINES AND MANUFACTORIES. of which, evaporation is rapidly effected. And in places where wood is abundant, and it is desirable to clear the ground for cultivation, or where bituminous coal is in plenty, the article of fuel is of but small pe- cuniary consideration. Latterly, however, the mode of evaporation by the rays of the sun, as practiced on the sea coast, has at some of the manufactories, been largely adopted; by means of many broad, shallow receivers, constructed for the purpose. The work of boring, is accomplished by great labor, as it is often continued to a great depth, through solid rocks; and one adventure, has sometimes required a year or two of daily application, to arrive at the ne- cessary depth. It can only be effected by having joints in the boring instrument, so as continually to attach an additional part, as the last becomes nearly sunk to the surface of the earth. The most rational conjecture respecting the cause of saltness in the water, seems to be, that on arriving at so great depth, a near approach is made to large masses of mineral salt, deposited far below the sur- face; which is continually dissolving in the water coming in contact with it; and is thus borne up, in its dissolved state, to the surface of the earth. It appears from the accounts of travellers, that beds of mineral salt, abound in some parts of the Missouri territory. Thus it would seem, that the substances necessary to the health and convenience of man and animals, are placed within their power, by distribu- tion into the various regions prepared for their habi- tation. 161 CHAPTER XL SUGAR MANUFACTORIES. The manufacture of sugar from the sap of the su- gar maple, though not heretofore carried to an extent to spare much from the regions of its production, is deserving of notice. Some have calculated, that the business might be conducted on a scale sufficiently extended, to supply a considerable portion of the Union. Loaf sugar, carefully refined, from the produce of the maple, is superlatively white, pure, and perfect. The trees abound in Vermont — in the newly settled parts of New York — in the northern and western parts of Pennsylvania — in the States north-west of the Ohio — in Kentucky — and in other places. If those who settle new lands on which the trees grow in plenty, would be careful to preserve a suffi- cient proportion of them, and skilfully manage the mode of tapping them, a yearly supply of sugar might be obtained sufficient to obviate the necessity of con- veying to those parts the imported article. The manner of conducting the business of sugar making in those places has been very simple. The trees are tapped by boring shallow auger holes in them, at a convenient distance from the ground. In the auger holes are inserted tubes of elder, or some other simple material. Where tlie people are not furnished with a sufficient number of vessels, to re- ceive the sap as it runs from the trees, they supply the deficiency by troughs, formed by hollowing blocks of wood. The season for manufacturing, is the first return of warm weather in the spring; when the sap will run from the trees, in small but lively streams. The fa- milies are then employed for a few days, young and 14* 162 SUGAR MANUFACTORIES. old; and the scene becomes quite lively and sportive. The shortness of the duration of the season of sap- running, preventing weariness from satiety, it is made rather a matter of cheerful amusement than serious business. The boiler is suspended in a convenient central spot, fuel provided in plenty, and the family engaged in attention to the various parts of the concern, inclu- ding the conveyance of the sap from the surrounding trees to the place of boiling, when the watery particles are evaporated, and the sugar becomes granulated in the bottom of the boiler. By this simple process, many families, have in a very few days, supplied themselves with hundreds of pounds weight of sugar in a season. Instances are not solitary, where frugal and industrious families, have made in a season 3000 pounds weight. The manufacture of sugar in the cane-growing dis- tricts, in the south, is in some respects a very differ- ent business, and its operations regularly systema- tized. The business there, is prolonged for months, between the time the cane stalk attains a sufficient degree of ripeness and the approach of winter. The labour of cutting the cane, and carrying it to the place of manufacturing, is, in large plantations, very great, and employs many labourers. After the cane is thus collected, it is passed through mills, constructed of iron rollers pressing closely together. By this process, the stalk is completely crushed, and the sap pressed out. After the sap is received from the mills, the process of boiling is conducted on the principle before described, though on a large and sys- tematic scale. Of late, however, the operation is performed in some establishments, in a much more cleanly, econo- mical, and perfect manner, by the aid of heat, pro- cured by steam. And it is said that the produce in sugar and molasses, is very materially increased in quantity, as well as improved in quality, by this newly adopted mode of operation. 163 CHAPTER XII. MANUFACTURES OF POTASH. Potash is a concrete substance, highly corrosive; which is obtained from wood ashes, by lixiviation, and by evaporating the watery particles of the ley, by boiling in broad iron kettles. It is much used in the process of bleaching cloths, of hemp, flax, and cotton. It is an important article of export trade; particularly from New York and the eastern towns; large quantities of it being annually shipped, for the use of European manufacturers. It is also used in many operations of chemistry, and in the processes of preparing articles of medicine. In its further refined state, it is called pearl-ash. The manufacture of it, is carried on in the north- ern parts of the United States, in situations where it is desirable to clear the ground for tillage — where timber is in profusion — and where the species natu- rally growing, are not profitable for lumber, or the places are so distant from water carriage, that it would not in that form, pay the expenses of a trans- port to market. In these cases the timber is cut down in large quantities, rolled together, and burned. The ashes are then collected, placed in large tubs, and a suffi- cient quantity of water added to extract the valuable part, in a fluid state, from the gross residue. After the process of evaporation and concretion is finished, it is put in barrels, made air tight, and thus sent to market, in the form of a hard solid substance. In this state, if freely handled with the bare hand, it would very soon corrode the skin, and injure the flesh be- neath. If long exposed to the air it assumes a liquid form by uniting with the moisture of the atmosphere, for which it has a strong and constant attraction. 164 CHAPTER XIII. CORPORATIONS. The term corporation, is derived from the Latin word corpus, signifying a body. It applies to those institutions or portions of the community, where a number of persons, uniting for a common purpose, are, by a special act of legislation, constituted a body corporate. With respect to the special purposes intended, the company becomes, under its specific name and title, conferred on it by the act of legislation, as one person, or body: capable of transacting all its business, of re- covering its debts, or legally defending its rights against aggression, as if it were an individual man. Corporations are of various kinds, and instituted for various purposes. Their names and titles, are such as are supposed to be most expressive of their design, as previously agreed upon by the companies, or portions of the community, who petition the legis- latures for the acts of incorporation. The inhabitants of cities become corporate bodies, by the legislative acts which create, define, and se- cure their privileges. And under their legal name thus acquired, all their business and transactions must be conducted. Such for instance, as ''The Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens of Philadelphia.'' At the same time, every inhabitant of the city, is equally interested with any officer representing them, in the acts and doings taking place under their cor- porate powers. A city corporation, has generally conferred upon it, a power to institute a municipal government with- in itself: to establish laws and regulations for the pre- CORPORATIONS. 165 servation of morality and public order; and to punish offenders by fines and imprisonment. Provided al- ways, that its laws and regulations, shall not be in- consistent with the laws of the state, or of the United States. The mayor, being the chief executive officer of a city corporation, the courts of judicature, held for the trial of offenders against the municipal laws, are commonly called mayor's courts; though another of- ficer, called the recorder, is capable of presiding in these courts, in place of the mayor, on occasions of his absence. The powers of the corporation, extend to the regulation, and direction in general, of all the public municipal concerns of the city. The magistrates associated with the mayor, in the executive department of a city corporation, are called aldermen. A term compounded in ancient usage, from ^'elder,'^ and "man," — equivalent, perhaps, to the idea of a man who has arrived to a ripeness of age and understanding, to qualify him for an office in the government of the city. At present, the office and duties of an alderman in a city, differ but little from those of a justice of the peace in the common departments of the republic. The inhabitants of boroughs are also corporate bo- dies, which are commonly represented by what is called a board of burgesses. Borough corporations are generally composed of smaller sections of the com- munity, resident in smaller towns, and their powers are more limited: being confined to such objects as immediately concern the well ordering of the public affairs of the place, without the power of making laws for the punishment of offences, except by small fines, or temporary disabilities, confined to, and founded on, delinquencies, relating to their own local regula- tions. Their courts of judicature, for the trial of of- fences against the laws of morality and justice, are the same with the counties in which they are situated. Many other corporations exist in the community. Banking and insurance companies are corporate bo- 166 CORPORATIONS. dies. Their powers are granted by legislatures, for the purpose of enabling them to conduct their busi- ness with legal propriety, as the business of a single person. Other companies are sometimes incorporated, for the purpose of conducting with efficiency, large con- cerns, in which, to insure success, it is necessary for many to unite their funds and their energies. All such as these, are supposed to be public bene- fits, so far as they contribute to the general prosperity of the community; at the same time that they are in- stituted, with a view to the private emolument and convenience of the company obtaining the act of in- corporation, by legalizing a name, under which they may recover debts, and make contracts, as one man. The genius and policy of our republican govern- ments, do not, however, favour the creation of a great number of corporations in the community, de- signed as the means of accumulating wealth; lest they should grow into monopolies of business, in the hands of powerful companies, to the detriment of the inte- rests of individual citizens, who may desire to pursue similar objects. Corporations of this description, are therefore ge- nerally confined to a limited number of years; in or- der that if abuses should be found to grow out of them, they may be checked, by the expiration of the charters. But, if they appear to have been conducted with justice and propriety, they are often renewed for another term of years, by a new act of legislation. The charter of a corporation is the parchment, or paper, upon which is written down, or recorded, the peculiar corporate rights, liberties, and privileges, conferred by law upon it; as the coasts of an ocean, or shoals of a bay, are marked upon a chart, for the guidance of seamen. Some centuries before the discovery of America, when our predecessors were, in a national point of view, blended with the population of England, the subject of just government was less perfectly under- CORPORATIONS. 167 stood than at present. The kings were wont to as- sume arbitrary powers; and to enforce their will in government, as they found opportunities through the servile compliance of a sufficient portion of their subjects. Hence, the just limits, between the rights of the kings as heads of the nation, and the rights of the different ranks of their subjects, seem to have retained the character of a kind of verbal, disputable, supposi- tious, without any clear, written definitions; and dis- putes and contentions, from time to time arose, ac- cording as the different powers of the nation acquired alternately, any new degree of ascendency. At length, when a suitable opportunity presented, arising from the peculiar circumstances, arbitrary principles, and daring, reckless, conduct of king John, the nobility amongst his subjects, having obtained a temporary triumph, compelled him to agree to a written code, in which was stated the rights of the king, and the rights of the different ranks of his sub- jects; to remain a law, binding on future ages, and put an end to the corroding disputes, which had be- fore agitated the nation. This instrument was called ''magna charta," or the ''great charter of England." Though several of the succeeding monarchs at- tempted innovations, they were, from time to time, obliged to retract; and the great charter was renew- edly confirmed with improvements, and additional rights secured to the people. This instrument is preserved with the greatest care and jealousy to the present day, as the great bul- wark of English liberty; and is the foundation of the boasted liberty of the subjects of Great Britain, in comparison with the vassalage of the subjects of many other European governments. It became customary with the arbitrary kings and conquerors of England, in those ruder ages, to grant charters, conferring peculiar privileges of a minor and 168 CORPORATIONS. local character, on towns, on the most frivolous pre- tences: founded upon favouritism, in consequence of some servile act of flattery, or acknowledgment of homage, by the people of such towns. These charters, operated with injustice upon other towns, which had not the address or opportunity to obtain equal privileges. They generally included a power to send one or two members to represent them in parliament. And as those charters were unlimited in their duration, and many of those corporate borough towns became decayed, and their population reduced to very few capable of giving a vote, and other towns grew up, from the industry and enterprise of their inhabitants, who had no corporate privileges, a very great and unjust inequality of parliamentary representation at length ensued, under which the grossest abuses pre- vailed. Designing persons, wishing to retain an undue in- fluence in the government, being generally wealthy, were enabled by bribery, patronage, and other means, easily to direct, and govern, the votes of the few re- maining voters, in the old rotten boroughs; and by that means to send two members to parliament of their own choice, and pledged to support their pecu- liar interests; while tens of thousands, in many other thriving districts, remained unrepresented. Hence the great struggle which has been so long maintained in that kingdom, between the people and their oppressors, relative to a reform of parliament. The people, and their patriotic advocates, labouring for the suppression of the old, abusive, arbitrary sys- tem of decayed boroughs, and for introducing a more equal representation, to defend their rights in parlia- ment. And the advocates of aristocracy on the other hand, constantly opposing a reformation, lest their unjust usurpations of power should be controlled. These facts, being familiarly known to our legisla- tors, have tended to establish, and increase, a jealousy INSURANCES. 169 and care, under our republican governments, to guard well, in all cases where charters are granted, against the possibility of abuses in any shape, which might arise and grow up, beyond the power of the people, through their governments, promptly to control. CHAPTER XIV. INSURANCES. Insurances are sometimes made by wealthy indi- viduals, upon their own responsibility; but generally, in the United States, by incorporated companies. At the same time that insurances are calculated on principles to produce at least a fair profit to the com- pany insuring, they are a great benefit to many indi- vidual citizens, who resort to them against the dan- gers of sea voyages, and the dangers by fire, in cities, towns, and manufacturing establishments. In cases where insurances are efiected, it will not be supposed that the measures resorted to, will actu- ally prevent the losses which may accrue on the pro- perty insured; but that the losses so accruing, are, by the act of insurance, transferred, for a stipulated con- sideration, from the owners of the property to the in- surance company. By a long course of observation, and a careful re- cord of facts as they have occurred, insurance compa- nies are enabled to calculate, with a tolerable degree of precision, what has been the average of losses by shipwrecks at sea, on voyages to any given distant port. On this average, they calculate the probable risks on any new voyages to those ports. To this average, they add a certain per centage on the value of the ship and cargo to be insured, sufficient to pay 15 170 INSURANCES. a due proportion of the expenses of their establish- ment, and a reasonable per centage of profit on their stock at risk. These sums, constitute the price paid by the owner of the property, to the insurance company, for its adopting his risk. The amount thus paid, is called a premium, and the written instrument, expressing the bargain, is called d. policy. If the vessel makes the voyage in safety, the in- surance company of course retains its premium. If the vessel and cargo are lost on the voyage, the in- surance company pays to the owner, the amount of the value at which they were calculated. Thus, the owner of the property, has a stock pre- served in safety, on which to commence new opera- tions, when he might otherwise have been totally ru- ined in his circumstances, had the loss fallen wholly on himself. And at the same time, the company is on the whole, a gainer by its business. Because, if, for instance, experience has determined, that of twenty ships going each a voyage to a certain port, one out of the twenty has upon an average been lost, the part of the premiums paid to the company, on the esti- mated value of those twenty ships and cargoes, will pay the entire loss of one; leaving to the insurance company, the amount added to, and paid with, and as a part of, the twenty premiums, as a profit on their business. In times of war, or on vo3^ages to seas frequented by pirates, the premiums are enlarged, according as experience, or the judgment of tlie contracting par- ties, may calculate the additional risks. The same principles, embrace the subject of insu- rances against fire; which will be understood and ap- plied, by an ingenious youth, without further expla- nation. It may be observed, however, that where much property is embarked in an extensive manufacturing establishment, comprising the whole of the estates of INSURANCES. 171 one or more individuals, besides, perhaps, considera- ble amounts, obtained by the adventurers upon loan or credit, it would be very imprudent for such persons to risk the whole of their own, and perhaps much of the property of others, without insurance against fire, which so frequently occurs at such establishments. A species of insurance is sometimes effected, called insurance on lives; which no one will suppose, can have any effect in guarding against the approaches of death. A short explanation, by way of a supposed example, will illustrate the principle of the intention. A young man, for instance, without patrimony, is educated to a mercantile business. On the expiration of his apprenticeship, he marries; depending at pre- sent, on such salary as he may obtain, for the support of a beloved wife and little family. Being found to possess excellent qualifications for business, he is re- tained in the service of some eminent merchant; who, having occasion for a trusty agent to send on a long journey, or perhaps a long sea voyage, on concerns relating to his commercial business, employs the young man in the service. Some friend of his, or perhaps some connexion of his wife, foreseeing, that if he die or be lost, on the journey or voyage, his family will be left destitute on his salary ceasing, goes to the insurance office, where he states the case, with the age, constitution, and common health and habits, of his friend who has left his home. And knowing his capacity for business, and his prospects on his return, estimates the value of his life to his family, in a merely pecuniary point of view, at a given sum — say 10,000 dollars. The in- surance company, viewing the case, and calculating the probabilities of life, with the dangers of the sea or the perils of a journey, according to rules which they have prepared for all occasions which may present in the course of their business, receives of the friend, the premium which they suppose the circumstances require: which is generally very moderate. 1 72 ' BANKS. If the young man return in safety, the premium is cheerfully lost by the friend whose good will dictated the measure, or otherwise accommodated between the parties. If he dies, or is lost, on the voyage or journey, his widow, instead of encountering a state of destitution added to her sorrow, is perhaps sur- prised at the discovery, that she is entitled to draw from the insurance company, the sum of 10,000 dol- lars; from which she finds a plentiful support, and the means of educating her helpless orphan children with independence and comfort. Many other transactions occur in the community, founded on the same or similar principles; though greatly varying in their manner and form, according to the varying circumstances of the cases. CHAPTER XV. BANKS. Banks, are institutions established in commercial cities, and in those country towns where their opera- tions may be expected to be useful to the community. The foundation and spring of all their operations is money; and their chief business loaning of money, to those who have occasion to borrow; especially for short, limited periods. The money of a bank, is generally owned by a company of individuals, who have funds at leisure to devote to the purpose. And these companies are in- corporated, either by the general government or state legislatures. When an act of incorporation is passed by the legis- lature, it defines the amount of money which shall be laised for the use of the bank; and this sum must be raised before it goes into operation: any member of BANKS. 173 the community, being at liberty to become a subscri- ber ; and every subscriber to a larger or smaller amount, becoming by his subscription, a member of the corpo- rate company. The sum thus raised, is the stock of the bank; or the capital upon which it transacts its business. And the amount of business transacted, by a well regulated and justly administered banking institution, ought al- ways to be limited, in a just and reasonable propor- tion, to the amount of its capital. By its chartered privileges, secured by its incorpo- ration, a banking company becomes what is legally termed a body corporate. And in this capacity, it is qualified to sue at law or be sued; and to transact all its special corporate concerns, wdth the same rights and facilities as if the whole company were an indi- vidual. By its corporate powers, it is qualified to hold pro- perty in real estate, to a certain amount limited by the legislature which grants its charter, and to dis- count notes of individuals, or trading companies, and buy and sell bullion, and bills of exchange on foreign nations. The business of a banking company, is controlled and regulated, by a number of men elected by the stockholders from amongst themselves. These are called directors, and they again elect a president from amongst themselves; who presides over their delibe- rations, and superintends generally, the concerns of the institution. When the amount of stock required, is paid into the hands of the officers of the company, it is depo- sited in places of safe keeping provided for the pur- pose, and every precaution used to secure it from danger by fire and robbery. And to represent it, for more convenient circulation, the directors issue notes, signed by their president and cashier — the latter be- ing their chief officer, having charge of their books, and of the money in their vaults. 15* 174 BANKS. Their cash is held responsible for the payment of their notes, whenever individuals holding them choose to demand payment. But, as notes, on ac- count of their lightness of carriage, are much more convenient for circulation than silver, payment of notes, of a bank in good credit, is rarely demanded, unless in limited sums, to answer some particular purpose. This circumstance, being a custom settled by the general consent of the community, and well under- stood, banking companies, in confidence thereof, are justified in keeping a larger amount of notes in circu- lation than they have silver and gold in their vaults. They are, by thus having more money loaned out than has been paid into their vaults in original stock, enabled, by the additional interest they receive on their extended loans, to provide suitable buildings for the accommodation of the bank, and to pay the salaries of the officers and clerks employed in its bu- siness. And generally, beside meeting these ex- penses, and the losses they occasionally sustain, by persons in their debt becoming insolvent," they real- ize an income from their business, to a greater amount than the mere legal interest for the money furnished in original stock. This advantage the company appears to be justly- entitled to, in consequence of the benefit conferred on the community, by the increased amount of a safe circwlating medium, furnished for its use, and based upon the well sustained credit of the institution, ari- sing from its prudent and judicious management. The bank, is also enabled to extend its loans, by means of the amount of money always in its coffers, on fluctuating deposites for safe keeping; and belong- ing to individuals to whom it pays no interest — the safe keeping of the money, being considered by its owners a compensation sufficient for its temporary use. The original stock of a bank is divided into a given number of shares, of equal amount, and these shares become legitimate objects of trade. Those who have BANKS. 175 shares of stock, and desire to raise money, selling to those who have money, and desire to possess stock. The price of shares heing higher or lower, according to the amount of interest realized by the bank on its original shares, after deducting its current expenses. Though banking companies sometimes lend money on mortgages upon lands or houses, called real es- tate, their loans are generally made by discounting notes. If a note is given for money directly bor- rowed, without any previous business transaction on which it is founded, it is endorsed by some friend of the borrower, as personal security for its payment. Otherwise, when a transaction in trade takes place between two persons, on which a credit is stipulated, the buyer gives to the seller his note, payable at the expiration of the credit. The seller, wishing to con- vert his note thus received into ready money, offers it to the bank for discount, with his own endorse- ment as security. The bank, then pays him the amount, after deducting the interest for the time the note has to run till due. By this mode of manage- ment, the whole credit, as well as the whole stock in cash, of the trading community, is capable of being brought into active operation. The bank of the United States, is much the largest banking establishment in the Union. Its charter was granted by the general government; which commonly has held a large amount of its stock. It is located in Philadelphia. Its capital is fixed at 35,000,000 dol- lars. It has branches, called its ^'offices of discount and deposite," established in nearly every state in the Union. In these offices, business is transacted by directors and under officers, as in the parent bank; and with them it maintains a constant intercourse, by which it is furnished with a regular account of the state of the business in each branch. And according to advices thus received, it transmits funds to, or or- ders payments from, its branches, according as cir- cumstances require* 176 BANKS. The notes Issued from, or made payable in, the pa- rent bank, or any of those branches, being mutually receivable on deposite, in the parent bank, or in any other branch, affords an astonishing facility for trans- mitting sums of money, to any desired amount, from one extremity of the Union to another. If, as an instance, a m.erchant in New Orleans in the south, or in St. Louis in the west, or in Portland in the east, has a sum of any amount, which he wishes to remit to Philadelphia, or to any other quarter of the Union, he deposites his money in the office of discount and deposite where he resides, and procures from the office a draft on the parent bank, or on any other branch most convenient, made payable to his correspondent, wherever he wishes to send it. This draft, he may forward by mail to his corre- spondent, without the least possible risk of loss, by accident on the way. Because, as it is made payable only to his correspondent named in it, no other per- son into whose hands it may fall, by robbery, fraud, or accident, can draw the amount from the bank, with- out the correspondent's signature. Thus the directors of this institution — men of the first standing for general mercantile and financial knowledge — have, by a skilful direction and manage- ment, of the very extensive concerns of the institu- tion, been instrumental in establishing, throughout the whole extent of the United States, a sound and equalized state of the currency, never experienced in any other equal extent of territory within our practi- cal or historical knowledge. Although, by means of the overwhelming capital of the bank of the United States, it might be supposed by some, to be in the power of the directors, from selfish motives, to discredit the notes of smaller banks, and bring on them insuperable difficulties, in times of general pressure, arising from peculiar temporary circumstances of the general trade of the country, yet, by a liberal and manly conduct toward BANKS. 177 such smaller institutions, the directors of the United States bank, have been essentially instrumental in sustaining the credit of the smaller banks, and thus preventing a distressing state of temporary embarrass- ment, which, under those circumstances, they might in some instances have witnessed. The benefit arising from this course of conduct,^ has also in a signal manner, extended itself to the community; by preventing the losses, and derange- ment of individual business, which would be the in- evitable consequence of a suspension of payments, by any bank transacting an extended business, even when its funds were sufficient to render it safe, and fully equal to the eventual payment of all its notes in circulation. Under these views, the bank of the United States, thus skilfully managed, is acknowledged by all men of disinterested judgment, and possessing a common share of correct infonr.ation, to be of more extensive general benefit, to our vastly extended community, than any other plan ever devised by the ingenuity of man for similar purposes. Under the various views presented by the subject, the suspension of its opera- tions, would, in the present state of the commercial and general national community, naturally be antici- pated, as a national evil, of immense importance and magnitude. If we further consider its unrivalled convenience and facilities for transmitting the pay- ments to be made by the government, to any quarter of the Union where they may be required, it would seem to afford us decisive proof, that the institution is deserving of, and ought to receive, the ample pro- tection and patronage of the nation. 173 CHAPTER XVI. THE MINT. The mint, is the name of the office established in Philadelphia, where the money of the United States is coined. Its operations are conducted by officers under the pay of the general government. One of them called ''Director of the rnmt,^^ superintends the whole con- cern. Another is called the assayer; whose business it is to ascertain, by the proper chemical tests, the value of the metals offered for coinage, determine the quantity, if any, of spurious mixtures it may contain, and report its standard, or degree of purity. The coins of gold and silver, are always, from the policy of the government, mixed with copper, as a metal of inferior value, in certain fixed small propor- tions. The inferior metal, thus artificially combined, is called alloy. According to the report of the assayer, the next officer, called the melter and refiner, causes those mixtures to be made; taking care that the exact proportion of alloy is introduced; in order that the pieces of coinage, of every denomination, may be of equal relative purity and value. To perform the operation of mixture, it is necessa- ry that the metal shall undergo fusion. For this pur- pose a suitable furnace is provided, in which, by a strong heat, the metal is melted. After fusion, the metal is cast, by the refiner, into square bars, called ingots, of about one foot in length. These bars are then delivered to the coiner; w^ho superintends all the remaining operations. The bars are, by direction of the coiner, placed in another furnace provided for the purpose; and after receiving a due proportion of heat, they are THE MINT. 179 passed between smooth steel rollers, by means of a strong mechanical force, operating by the power of steam. By this operation they are reduced to the form of plates, or hoops, of about five or six feet long; of a suitable breadth, and of the exact thick- ness for the pieces of coin they are intended to be se- verally wrought into. The pieces of coin, are then, by a single stroke of a machine, operating by the same steam power, at the rate of 150 strokes per minute, cut from the plates, to their proper size and circular form, and discharged into a receiver below. In this state the pieces are called blanks. They are next, by a curiously contrived instru- ment operating by hand, but with great despatch, made to turn circularly, between pieces of steel, con- taining the letters to he imprinted upon the edge of the coin. This operation is called milling. They are lastly, placed between two instruments of hardened steel, called dies, having engraved upon them in reverse, the designs intended to be impressed upon the two sides of the pieces. Then, by a ma- chine of great force, created by the quick, rapid, ope- ration of a double lever, w^orking with a horizontal sweep, by the strength of arm of two or three men, the impressions are given to both sides of the piece at once. The blanks are conveyed from the bottom of a tube containing them, to their place between the dies, and discharged from it, in the state of beautiful finished coin, with a surprising rapidit)'^, and with the most exact certainty of time and circumstance, by the ope- ration of springs connected with the impressing lever. The manual labour of coinage, is performed by men hired for the purpose. And as gold and silver are of high value, and a small portion deducted from the mass under operation, would, in point of value, be of proportionate importance, and moreover could be easily concealed, in order to remove temptation from the workmen, who, like other human beings, must 180 THE MINT, be considered liable to aberration from the line of rectitude, when great temptations are presented, the metal on which they have to operate is accurately weighed when they receive it And by weighing it again when they return it, either in its perfect state of coinage, or after any particular operation, the up- rightness of their conduct is tested and established. Or rather, perhaps, from the impossibility of a fraud passing without detection, under this course of pro- cedure, all temptation is prevented. A very considerable part of the metal furnished for coinage of latter years, is procured from the gold mines of Virginia, Carolina, and Georgia. Other por- tions of it are imported fi'om other countries — par- ticularly from South America and Mexico. The pre- cious metals, in their uncoined state, are denominated bullion. As coinage is a national concern, and the creation of a sufficient amount of a circulating medium is of great national importance, the expenses of coinage, so far at least as go to the establishment of expen- sive buildings, machinery, and superintendence, 'are wholly borne b}^ the government. The nation, how- ever, is not the owner of the metal coined. Bullion is an article of trade; which, whether procured from the mines of our own country, or imported from foreign realms, passes generally through the hands of mer- chants. These convey it to the mint in order to be coined; where the current expenses charged upon the operation are so moderate, that a merchant, furnish- ing bullion nearly or quite in a pure state, generally receives more weight of metal in a coined state, than he delivers in bullion — the moderate expenses charg- ed, being more than covered, by the difference be- tween pure bullion and the metal in its coined state, after having received the alloy required to reduce it to the national standard. 181 CHAPTER XVII. POST OFFICES. Post offices are instituted for the safe, speedy, and regular conveyance of intelligence, both public and private; by letters, newspapers, and other de- spatches, from one part to any other of the Union. In a free government, it is considered of vital im- portance to the political welfare of the community, that the people shall be made easily acquainted with political movements; and with transactions generally, which relate to every branch of the public interest. Hence, for the general benefit of the nation, both in its public and private interests, the establishment, and regular administration of post offices have become a branch of the care and duty of the national govern- ment. The business of the post office department, is trans- acted under the superintendence of a Post Master General, appointed by the President. His office is kept at the seat of the general government. He has the appointment of all the deputies in the different post offices in the United States. The business of the general post office is very ex- tensive, and very arduous; and the presiding officer, is expected to be a man of eminent talent for business, and of assiduous industry; and consequently the of- fice ranks among the highest posts of profit in the gift of the President, the salary annexed to it being ♦),000 dollars a year. If industriously and skilfully administered, the de- partment is generally capable of being made to pro- duce an item of national revenue, beside paying all its own expenses. 16 1S2 POST OFFICES. If, on the other hand, the incumbent in office, should not possess sufficient qualifications, or should be negligent in his duties, or should, through favorit- ism, or want of proper knowledge, or from motives still less pardonable, commit the diffigrent offices un- der him to unworthy or dishonest hands, so vastly extended is the general business of the department, that it would be likely soon to fall into confusion, the public be liable to gross impositions, and to be subjected to many disappointments in the regular con- veyance of despatches; and the department probably become a burden to the government; because of its receipts, in consequence of defections among its sub- ordinate officers or otherwise, becoming less than the necessary expenses of the department, and thus obli- ging it to draw on the general treasury for the de- ficiency. This last circumstance may, however, sometimes occur under good management, when in any particular year the national interest may require some expensive new arrangement. Post offices have become so abundantly multiplied, for the accommodation of all the citizens of the Union, however remotely or insularly situated, that they are established in almost every settled neighborhood throughout the states and territories, to a number exceeding 9,000. And the aggregate amount of dis- tances, which the mails are now carried in a year, by stages, sulkies, steamboats, and on horseback, is calcu- lated at 23,625,000 miles; the aggregate length of the routes being 104,467 miles, according to the official report of the department made in the year 1S32. But the length, by the extension of routes, is annually on a rapid increase. The enclosures in which letters are carried are call- ed mails: probably from the idea of their being, by reason of the measures taken to ensure their safety, comparable, in point of security, to the coats of mail worn in ancient times, by warriors in battle; which were designed to be impenetrable by the weapons of their enemies. 183 CHAPTER XVIII. PATENT OFFICE. The comparative ease with which the necessaries of life, may, in this country, by a moderate share of industry be obtained, is a circumstance which, from the leisure thereby afforded, is peculiarly favorable to the cultivation of mechanical genius. Accordingly, attempts at improvement, by the in- vention of new machinery, and implements of almost every description, designed for facilitating the ope- rations of handicraft labor, and the perfection of the arts, and the application of substances, simple and compound, to new useful purposes, have been mul- tiplied, perhaps beyond example in other nations. Many inventions for facilitating mechanical ope- rations, and designed to promote the perfection of science, have occupied the studious care and labor of individuals, according as their pursuits in life, have directed their attention to various objects which have borne a relation to their business. Other inventors, have embraced a wider field of philosophical research, having, perhaps, little or no direct connexion with their other practical pursuits. Of these attempts at improvement, many have proved eminently successful; and some have become sources of independence and wealth to the inventors. Many others, though unsuccessful, have displayed strong powers of inventive genius, but have, perhaps, been superseded by something more perfect, or have lacked the capacity, of the advantageous application of some mechanical or scientific principle, indispensable to success. Others, no doubt, have betrayed absurd or incoherent attempts, at a display of genius never possessed. 184 PATENT OFFICE. For the encouragement of genius, and the remune- ration of all who may be able to eflfect any valuable improvement, laws have been passed, securing the property of every such invention to its proper author, for the term of fourteen years; he, making application according to law, and receiving a patent according to the forms prescribed. For the superintendence, and due administration, of this branch of the paternal care of the government, an office has been created, called the ^' Patent Office;'* and a person of competent abilities, employed by the government, under a salary, to preside over its con- cerns. Connected with the office is a large apartment, in which are deposited, models, of all the different ma- chines and mechanical improvements, for which pa- tents have been issued since the establishment of the office, in 1790. The models are said to number at the present time, about 7000, and are annually increas- ing to a large amount. An inspection of the models thus collected, would, it is presumed, afford much entertainment, and per- haps some instruction, to the philanthropist, the man of genius, the philosopher, and the friend of science- Patented improvements in the various arts and sciences, which do not admit of description by model, are also there identified b)^ appropriate records. Similar laws extend to the security of books, and other literary productions. To meet the provisions of the laws in those cases, it is made the duty of the clerk of the district court of the United States, in each district, to receive, and deposite in his office, impresses of the titles of new books, or other literary productions, which may be offered to him for the pur- pose; by which process, the exclusive right of each is secured to the author or proprietor. By pursuing the forms prescribed by a late law, the exclusive right to works of this description is ca- pable of being extended to a much longer protracted term. 185 CHAPTER XIX. FISHERIES. In the various rivers along the Atlantic coast, are taken in the spring season, large quantities of shad and herrings. They are taken by means of a kind of net called a seine, and formed of strong twine; some of which, for the use of large rivers, where they have sufficient room for a ^reat sweep, are made to an ex- tent approaching a mile in length. The quantity sometimes taken by these nets at one draught, where the fish happen to be collected in astonishing num- bers, is so great as to exceed the bounds of credibi- lity, with those who have not been witnesses to the fact. A large proportion of these are purchased when fresh, in the cities, towns, and country places, border- ing on the rivers where they are taken. The surplus are salted and packed in barrels; for after use, for a further transport into the country, or for exportation. The northern lakes, also, are stocked with fish, of various kinds, and excellent qualities. These, at the proper seasons, are taken in great quantities; and thousands of barrels are annually preserved, and sent in different directions, for the supply of the inhabit- ants at a distance. The coast of the Pacific ocean, and the rivers dis- charging into it, are frequented by great numbers of salmon — a large fish of excellent quality. The na- tives have attained to a considerable degree of art, in their methods of taking them, and preserving them for use; necessarily setting a great value upon them, for their supplies of food. They may, hereafter, be- come an object of importance, if white settlements should be established on that coast. 16* 1S6 FISHERIES- But all these nsheries. are perhaps, less to be view- ed at present, in the light of a national interest, than the great fisheries of cod and mackerelj and of the whale and seal. In the Atlantic ocean, near the entrance of the gulf of St. Lawrence, is a large island, called Newfound- land. From the southern coast of this island, extends a kind of sub-marine mountain, or elevation of the bottom of the sea, of the length of many leagues north and south, and of an extensive breadth. This rising in the ocean is covered with a suficient depth of wa- ter, to allow ships to pass over it without obstruction. Its different parts are of different elevations, which give it a plurality of character: being called in sea- men's phrase, **the banks of Newfoundland. "' Over these banks, and along the coast of Labrador, are the most important places of resort of the cod- fish, and to these stations, the vessels of several na- tions, repair, at the proper season, in great numbers; a large proportion of which belong to the New Ens- land states. The vessels anchor on the banks, and along the coast, when the hands are employed in taking the fish with hooks and lines. After the fish are salted, and dried on the neighbouring shores, they are exported in large quantities to foreign markets. On the coast of Labrador alone, it is stated, that 1500 vessels be- longing to New Ensland, are occupied in a season. Along the New England coast, is the principal re- gion of the mackerel fisheries. These also are taken with hook and line: yet seines are sometimes em- ployed, especially in the nighL These fisheries af- ford employment for many hands, during the fishing season. After the fish are properly cleansed, salted, and packed in barrels, they are shipped in lar^e quan- tities, to the different ports southward, and exported to foreign places: affording a dainty and agreeable irticle of food. A confinement to fishino: as a business, might, no doubt, soon become unwelcome, to some who would FISHERIES. 187 enjoy the exercise merely as an amusement. Could a youth, delighting in it, be transported to the scene of action, and be able to leave it and return to the shore, as soon, and as often as he pleased, it must be supposed, that it would furnish him much gratifica- tion, occasionally to visit the fisheries, and haul up his line as quickly as he could let it down, with as many fine fish hanging to it as he chose to attach hooks. So freely, sometimes, does the beautiful mackerel, in its unsuspecting innocence, lay hold of the instrument of its destruction. A fit subject of reflection and caution, to inexperi- enced youth; to whom temptations may be suddenly presented, to participate in any act of folly or vice, by which his reputation would be wounded, or his moral character debased. His compliance with temptation to evil, like the mackerel seizing the bait, beside subjecting himself to remorse and bitter repentance, being productive of great mortification and disappointment to his family and friends; who, having perceived in him a noble principle of radical probity, had fondly anticipated his arrival at manhood, adorned with every feature of honesty and truth, and qualified to fulfil the duties of his station with unblemished dignity and honour. The produce of these fisheries, being derived from the common ocean, without any expense of feeding, as in the case of animals raised and fatted by the care and labour of man, is considered a kind of clear gain to the community; and is viewed by the government as an important item of national w"ealth. As the island of Newfoundland, and the adjacent shores on the continent, are held by Great Britain, the right of participating in the benefits of the fishe- ries, and drying fish on some parts of the neighbour- ing coast, was secured to the United States, by a spe- cial article in the treaty of peace with that nation, at the close of the war of independence. But the great objects of bold and daring enterprise, 188 FISHERIES. with the hardy and adventurous sons of New Eng- land, are the distant whale and seal fisheries. Whales were formerly very numerous in the north- ern seas, near the icy regions; and not uncommonly found along the New England coast. Individuals of the species, are understood to have been then much larger in those seas than at present, as well as that they were in general more easily taken. The change is accounted for, by the circumstance that they have been so much hunted, and so many of them destroy- ed, that their numbers have become reduced, and they have not been allowed so generally to arrive at their full growth; and have, withal, become more shy, and cautious of approach. Observing these circumstances, the eastern adven- turers some years ago, conceived the design of ex- ploring the far distant regions of the south, in similar latitudes; from an apprehension of the likelihood, that those monarchs of the deep, had a residence in those remote unfrequented regions, in equal numbers with the north in former days. On carrying their hazardous design into execution, they were not disappointed. And now, a whaling voyage to the high south latitudes, or to the Pacific ocean, has become as familiar to some of them, as a coasting voyage to the gulf of Mexico. Still, how- ever, the pursuit of the whale in the northern seas claims a proportionate share of attention. Before the whale trade in the southern seas had received as much attention by those engaged in the fisheries as at present, a large ship, sailing on its voyage near the high south latitudes, came suddenly in company with an old whale of a monstrous size. His appearance being unexpected, and the compa- ny, not being at the moment prepared to attack him, he, after apparently gazing a short time at the ship, with disdain, as an unwelcome intruder into his do- minions, turned away, and seemed to take his de- parture, as if to leave them. FISHERIES. 189 After he had proceeded to some distance, could he be supposed to have possessed the capacity of reflec- tion, it would seem as if, on further thought, he had determined within himself, not to submit to the da- ring invasion of his native rights. He, however, whether from reflection or not, returned to a direct attack upon the ship; and by one tremendous and awful blow, stove a part of it in, in such a manner, that in a few minutes it filled with water and sank. After the one fatal stroke, he departed again in appa- rent contempt, and the company saw him no more. The company betaking themselves to their boats, provided with but little food, or other necessaries, were driven about before the winds on the wide ocean, for more than seventy days before relief ap- peared. A ship, after this long interval, coming in sight, received the few survivors of the party on board, nearly dying, from the effects of exposure, excessive fatigue, and want of food and water. To attack a whale in his native element, is a bold and hazardous enterprize; and sometimes results in serious injury, to individuals of the attacking party, by the floundering, or adverse motions of the animal, in its wounded or dying state. A memorable instance of this kind, occurred many years ago, to a worthy commander of a whaling ship, belonging to an eastern port. Being out on a distant voyage, and having taken a whale, it appeared to be dead. But unexpectedly to him, one expiring strug- gle remained; in which the creature, by a sudden stroke of its tail, crushed his leg in nearly its whole length, to a confused mass, of bones shattered to frag- ments, disorganized flesh, and jellied blood. Being far from home, and having no surgeon on board, no resource remained for him by which to save his life, but to cause his men to perform an amputa- tion. Being conveyed to his berth, he directed the operation with great presence of mind. He made them apply a strong cord in place of a tourniquet; and 190 FISHERIES. with such instruments and materials as were in pos- session, they, under his direction, successfully effect- ed the amputation, and dressing of the wound. He proceeded on his voyage with success; commanding the operations of the business of the voyage from his berth; and by the time that he arrived with his fa- mily, his limb was healed; and he continued a long time, an ornament to the circle of society in which he resided. In consequence of such dangers, and liabilities to accident, a peculiar degree of dexterity is necessary to be acquired. And hence, the custom of the adven- tures in whaling voyages, with respect to the ship's companies, is different from the customs in common trading vessels. Every person on board, from the captain to the cabin boy, is constituted a partner in the voyage, and receives his proportion of the pro- duce on their return, according to rates previously understood. Thus, every person on board is inte- rested, in using his most skilful and vigorous efforts to promote the general success: and thus the hands, become habitually bold, hardy, and energetic. The atmospheric air, is as necessary to a whale as to a land animal. Hence they generally remain at or near the surface of the ocean, and often with the back appearing above water. Or, if in sport, or in search of food, they descend to any considerable depth, they soon rise again to breathe. Though so large as that twenty-five or thirty of them, will sometimes furnish enough oil and whale-bone to freight a large ship, they are capable of moving in the water with asto- nishing velocity. They are occasionally found in so great numbers, collected together in certain tracts of the southern seas, as that some of them will, in their playful movements, incommode the boats, while engaged in capturing others. In a late instance, related by a young adventurer of veracity, while the boat's com- pany were engaged in managing a whale which they had harpooned, another came so near to the boat, to nSHERIES. 191 look upon them, as to seem to court a familiarity more intimate than they desired. The commander of the boat, then gave him, in good humour, a gentle prick on the nose, with a pointed instrument; with a request that he would go about his business till he was ready for him; when the creature, with the ra- pidity of thought, immersing his head in the sea, and raising his tail many feet perpendicularly in the air, brought it down with a stroke upon the surface, which might have been heard at some miles distance. Had the stroke fallen upon the boat, it must have crushed it to fragments, and sent the mangled bodies of the whole company far into the deep. The mode of attack is, when a whale appears, to man the boats of the ship, with a certain number of men to each. The commander of each boat's party, is selected for his strength of arm, and steadi- ness and dexterity of aim. He is furnished with a harpoon of iron, pointed with hardened steel, so formed as the most easily to penetrate the flesh of the whale, and armed with barbs, to hold in the flesh, and prevent it being easily withdrawn, when it has once entered to a sufficient depth. Some adventurers, however, carry guns of peculiar construction; from which, by the force of powder, they discharge the harpoon to a greater distance, and with much more forcible effect than it can be thrown by the strength of a single arm. The harpoon is attached to a strong line of great length, which is carefully placed in a regular coil in the boat. And when, by a dexterous throw, or the discharge of the gun, the harpoon has entered the flesh of the whale, and he feels himself wounded, though he will in some cases exhibit the most violent and gigantic contortions, in order to free himself, yet the most common circumstance is, that he descends as it were to the bottom of the ocean, with such ama- zing swiftness, as that the line, by its rapid friction on the side of the boat, as it runs out, will throw off 192 FISHERIES. such a constant stream of fire as to require incessant wetting, to prevent its kindling on the boat. Having descended to a great depth, the whale must necessarily return immediately to the surface, to breathe; when, by rapidly hauling in the line, as it becomes slack, or by observing the direction of his descent, the men are directed toward the spot where he will rise. The next effort of the company is, with a lance ready poised, to pierce him, as soon as he appears at the surface, in some vital part, from which his blood will flow the most copiously; though it often appears necessary to plant in his back a second, and perhaps a third harpoon, when the first dees not appear to be fixed with sufficient firmness. On receiving these renewed wounds, he again descends, though with less velocity, and to a shorter distance. On his second rising, he receives additional strokes of the lance. And by this manner of proceeding, becoming weaker at every descent, by fatigue, and the loss of blood, flowing copiously from his wounds, he soon becomes so tractable, that the company tow him to the side of the ship, and make him fast. When he is dead, the men leap upon him; having shoes armed with pointed irons, to prevent their slipping into the sea, from his smooth glossy skin: when cutting his flesh in large pieces from the skele- ton, they throw it upon deck, to be rendered into oil. The resorts of the whale being chiefly in high lati- tudes^ the stations chosen by the whaling ships are frequently in the regions of floating ice; or in the vi- cinity of ice mountains or islands, which seem to re- tain in the ocean a stationary position. In those high latitudes, are frequently experienced sudden violent storms; and at intervals dense fogs, which can be pe- netrated by the sight, only to short distances. Under these circumstances, the men are exposed to great dangers, and are obliged to acquire habits of astonish- ing dexterity and adroitness, in avoiding them. FISHERIES. 193 When the boat's companies become suddenly en- veloped in a heavy fog, while in pursuit of a whale, they are in danger, by intensely watching his diverse movements, of becoming so much confused, as to lose all knowledge or conjecture of the course to return to the ship, and are sometimes led, in their ardent pur- suit, beyond the reach of the report of the ship's sig- nals; when, unless some singular circumstance oc- curs in their favour, they are liable to become irre- coverably lost. On the other hand, when they harpoon a whale, near a field or island of ice, he will generally seek a shelter under it, to avoid his pursuers; and sometimes, the leading boat, to which the line from the harpoon is attached, is drawn under and lost, with all its lines and instruments; and the men are only saved by leap- ing with the most dexterous agility, upon the cakes of ice, the moment before the boat is drawn under. Though whales, of even a large size, are in some instances so easily overcome, that the whole business of their capture, from the first attack to their death, does not occupy more than from twenty to thirty minutes of time; yet, in other instances, in the icy regions, they have kept the companies in ardent pur- suit, — as the mighty monster has practised his differ- ent manoeuvres to escape, — for the tedious space of more than fifty hours. And in some such cases, he has been finally lost to them; perhaps with the addi- tional loss of a vast amount of line, and one or two boats, if not with the lives of several men. The whales taken are of two species, very distinct from each other, though frequenting the same seas, and sometimes promiscuously. The spermaceti whales are much the most valuable, though much the fewest in number. They produce the finest oil, and the substance from which sperm candles are formed. The flesh of the common whale, which to a great depth surrounding his whole body is composed of fat, produces the coarser oil, used by curriers in 17 194 FISHERIES. dressing leather. The substance called whale-bone, is taken out of his mouth and throat. The taking of seals is pursued also in distant parts, — chiefly of late time, among the islands of the Pa- cific and southern oceans. The seal is amphibious. They resort in herds, to bask on the sandy banks of the islands; where they are surrounded by the ship's crews, and put to death, with simple weapons formed for the purpose. They are taken as well for their oil as their skins. The latter are tanned into leather, or used for other purposes after being partially dressed. There are two species — one covered with short bristly hair, and the other with a beautiful, fine fur. From the latter are formed many of the fine caps worn by boys in winter. All these fisheries are chiefly conducted on the part of our Union, by the inhabitants of the eastern states. Their dense population, and the circumstances of their soil, as less adapted to culture than some other districts of the Union, obliges many of them to seek employment abroad for a livelihood; and foreign en- terprise thus becomes habitual to them. The trade is however of great and general national benefit, by fur- nishing oil to the whole Union, for lamps and manu- facturing purposes; besides the exchanges furnished by the quantities exported, in payment fui the manu- factures of other countries. 195 CHAPTER XX. FUR TRADE. When we speak of the fur trade as a national in- terest, we have allusion to the trade in the skins of the native wild animals, taken in the uncultivated parts of the national domains, chiefly by the Indian nations. This trade, was formerly an important concern in almost all the principle trading places bordering on the Atlantic; until the extended population and cul- tivation, caused the removal of the natives, and de- stroyed the animals, or broke up their places of breed- ing or resort. At present, the principal part of the trade, is de- rived from the flistnnt regions of the Missouri terri- tory, and the northern country of the Mi^sissippiy bounding on the British dominions and upon lake Superior. In those regions — particularly in the for- mer — the beaver, the deer, and many other species of large and small native animals, remain in great numbers; and the Indian tribes continue to maintain their identity and political consideration, and the ex- ercise of their national rio;hts. The term '^ fur trade, '^ in its extended application, referring as already observed, to a traffic in the skins of native animals generally, would admit of being distinguished in two parts. , The first would embrace those skins, the covering of which is fine, soft, and downy; strictly denominated fur, and used when se- parated from the skin, for the manufacture of hats: and when connected with it, for making sundry ar- ticles for warmth or ornament. The second, those skins which are merely covered with hair, and which are used principally for dressing into leather, and for 196 FUR TRADE. such purposes as they are applicable to, in a state but partially dressed. The term peltry, has also a ge- neral application to them, but perhaps is more strict- ly understood to represent the latter, when a distinc- tion is necessary. The latter is valued chiefly for the skin itself. The former principally for its covering. The fur trade is conducted by men who devote their attention particularly to it. They pass up the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and some of their branches, to certain stations where the natives collect annually after their hunting seasons are over. There, they furnish the Indians with such articles as they have provided, from a knowledge of their wants, and receive their furs and peltry in exchange. When the season of trading w^ith the natives is over, the traders return down the rivers, with their packages, to St. Louis, or along the line of the lakes to Detroit, or some other town, and with them pur- chase a fresh supply of goods for the next season. Thus, passing and repassing, they perform voyages to the amount perhaps of several thousand miles eyery ypar-^thc disiance depending upon the differ- ent routes they pursue. The skins and furs, afterward, find their way to the Atlantic cities, by passing down the Mississippi to New Orleans — by the New York canal — or by in- land transportation to Philadelphia or Baltimore. The fur trade is an object of the paternal care of the government. This care is exerted in adopting measures to prevent the subjects of other governments trespassing against our national rights, by unlawful collision with our own citizens engaged in the trade. Without this care, much of the trade might be di- verted from its natural and just channels, into other courses, from which we should derive no national be- nefit; and a door would be open for designing men, from interested motives, to instil into the minds of the uneducated natives, the principles of jealousy and enmity against our government, by which the quiet- FUR TRADE. 197 ness and peace of our frontier settlements would be endangered. A very extensive north-western fur trade, in con- nexion with the great northern lakes, is carried on in the British dominions, distinct from that of the United States. The active drudgery of this trade is performed by a hardy race of men, who prefer a travelling life, and associations with the natives, in their sports and revelries, at their places of rendezvous, to a settled course of agriculture, or the domestic pursuits of a more civilized life; and who often undergo priva- tions and hardships, which it would be difficult for those educated in the bosom of more refined society to reconcile. On some of their excursions, they take but little provision on setting out; depending on supplies which they manufacture or prepare, from pounded flesh, or bruised native fruits, at certain stations on their routes. They are at some places, subjected to the labor of carrying their boats, and cargoes of peltry, round falls and difficult passes in the rivers. These are called ^^ carrying places." And it being considered in trader's usage, disgraceful to flinch, or complain, on account of the heavy burdens they have on those oc- casions to bear, it is said that the young men, who engage in the trade without experience of its hard- ships, will stand to their burdens, in long difficult portages, till their shoulders bleed, without suffering themselves to utter a complaint. So great do they consider the disgrace that would attach to any proof of inefficiency. They nevertheless take their solace in merriment, at their stations of rest; and the companies who re- turn on the lakes, after their trading seasons are over, appearing highly to enjoy their mode of life, will, by a concert of voices, raise such a loud, shrill, and pe- culiar chorus, as to be heard gliding along the sur- face of the water, in a calm evening, for a long time 17* 198 COMMERCE. before the boats can be perceived at the places of their destination: raising wonder and astonishment, in those unacquainted with the custom, at the peculiar sounds they hear, so long before they can understand their meaning or cause. CHAPTER XXI. COMMERCE. The term ^' Commerce," applies generally to all transactions in trade, by which things of definite va- lue are exchanged for other things of definite value; whether the exchanges are made directly between ar- ticles of produce or manufacture, or through the me- dium of money, as a common representative of all transferable property. It comprehends all transac- tions of buying, selling, and otherwise passing of goods, from the legal possession of one to another, and the transporting them from place to place. Though, perhaps, the term is more commonly un- derstood, as expressive of the transactions of those who manage complicated mercantile concerns. The importer, the exporter, the wholesale and re- tail dealer, the commission merchant, the factor, and the special agent, are all commercial characters, im- portantly useful in their several departments in a large community; and are justly entitled to a fair compensation, for the devotion of their time, their skill in the proper management of business, the risks they run, the use of their money employed in trade, and their expenses incurred. The importer receives his remuneration by an ad- vance in prices on sales made to the wholesale mer- chant, in addition to the cost of his goods at the fo- COMMERCE. 199 reign port, or the shop of the foreign manufacturer. The exporter, calculates his profit by the price he ex- pects to receive at the foreign market. The whole- sale merchant, who buys of the importer by the pack- age or bale, and sells to the retailer by smaller quan- tities, is compensated by a further advance of price. The retailer, who sells in sm.aller fractions, to the farmer, mechanic, or householder, is justly entitled to a still further advance. The commission merchant, who buys and sells in large or small quantities, on behalf of others, is compensated by a percentage, charged on purchases and sales of goods passing through his hands. The factor, w4iose business it is to receive and sell, the flour of the miller, the grain and other produce of the farm.er, or the goods of the manufacturer, is generally paid by a definite rate per barrel, or bushel, or by a commission on the amount of other goods sold. The special agent, employed by another for a specific service, is paid either by a stipulated salary or otherwise, in proportion to the services rendered. All of these, fill honorable stations in society; and are indispensable to the most regular and cheapest transaction of business in a large and well regulated community. Several of them are, however, liable, without pru- dent care and sound judgment, to commit great mis- takes, and thereby subject themselves and their friends to losses and distresses som.etimes insurmountable. The importer, for instance, if in a season of pros- perity, his sales are easily effected, and a handsome profit is accumulating in his hands, may yield to the temptation presented by his prosperity, to extend his orders far beyond the usual amount, in hopes of a con- tinuance of the present favorable state of his trade. And many being in the same business, and taking the same view, may, without a knowledge of the transac- tions of each other, run into the same error. By these means, the maket becomes greatly over- stocked. Sales at the regular profit cannot be effected. 200 COMMERCE. Their engagements requiring money, they are in- duced to resort to forced sales, at prices far reduced, to the lasting injury of the home manufacturer: and after struggling for some time against wind and tide, becoming reduced to the necessity of suspending pay- ments, are thus, sometimes, involved in complete ruin of circumstances. This is what is called over- trading. The wholesale merchant and retailer, are liable to partake deeply of the effects of thesame circumstances. Many of them have, perhaps, bought their stock of goods, at fair prices from the first arrivals. Others are enabled, in consequence of the forced sales afterwards made, to purchase at a much lower rate, and by under- selling the first, oblige them to reduce their prices be- low the cost of purchase; by which they lose not only all their labor and expenses, but apart of their capital; and often become involved in great difficulty, if not impossibility of meeting their payments, and support- ing their credit; which are the mainstay, and the life of commercial prosperity. Dangers attend commercial enterprises in another quarter. When the commercial ranks in a commu- nity are already filled, it has not been uncommon for individuals to press their way into them, without a competent kn owledge of the business embraced. These, sometimes, for want of skill in purchasing, and from other circumstances, soon have found themselves in- volved in inextricable difficulties. Again, traders under embarrassment, are often tempted to take advantages of customers whom they sujDj^ose to be ignorant; by extorting unreasonable prices, to compensate them in some measure, for losses sustained by reduced sales to others. Thus the mind, gradually becomes habituated to deception and unfair dealing, in opposition to the golden precept, which teaches ^* to do unto others as we would wish them to do unto us." Another kind of character is sometimes to be found in the commercial ranks, called a speculator. His COMMERCE. 201 business is, generally, conducted by a kind of cun- ning; by which his aim is to discover the lowest price of articles at any place within his reach, and the highest price to be obtained in any other place; and to exercise his supposed sagacity, in discovering when any article is likely to rise or fall. By mana- ging his purchases and sales upon this principle, he is merely engaged in passing commodities from hand to hand, without adding any thing to their value, or in any manner benefitting the community by his trade — utterly regardless who may be the loser if he can be the gainer. His station in society cannot -be viewed in a light equally honorable with those who fill a department necessary or useful in the communi- ty. And sometimes, by possessing less skill than he imagined, by sudden changes of prices, or other cir- cumstances, he becomes involved in difficulties equal with either of the former. Thus, there appear to be various dangers, attend- ing the entering upon commercial pursuits, by young mou unacquainted by education with their nature, and the disadvantageous circumstances they are lia- ble to. And though the old proverb that *' there is no general rule without exception,'^ may apply in this case, it is commendable, on looking toward com- mercial busines for a livelihood, to act with cautious deliberation; and rather than pursue a doubtful pros- pect, prefer some business of a more simple nature, and more free from the perplexities which traders often find themselves involved in. Though such simpler pursuits, may subject a young man to a greater portion of personal labor, they are at least equally honorable; and may more certainly lead him to independence; attended with a conscious- ness, that by his industry, he has essentially contri- buted to the stock of national improvement and wealth; while those, who, from the hope of gaining a more easy livelihood, embark in commerce, with- out experience, are often landed in embarrassments too great for them ever completely to surmount. 202 CHAPTER XXII. COMMERCIAL EMPORIUMS. In the present notices of commercial cities, a na- tional view of them only is intended. Reflection, will, it is presumed, confirm the propriety of their being thus considered; as by their mutual multiform con- nexions in trade with each other, and the more ex- tended commerce of the United States with other na- tions, in which the concerns of merchants in different cities are often combined, an extensive chain of con- nexion is formed, binding the interests of the seve- ral states together, in a mutual relation, as one ex- tended brothorhood. Such cities only, as are supposed to participate most essentially in this general character, or embrace the special interest of several states, are therefore here adverted to. In our next book, the cities and principal trading towns, will be cited, with relation to their importance to the individual states in which they are severally located. The situations adopted on the first settlement of the American colonies, by the fancy, or with a view to the convenience, of the early colonists, for the con- centration of trade, were not in all instances adhered to in after time. Some of the places chosen with this intention, were afterward, on a more extended view of the country, exchanged, by general consent, for such as appeared to combine more, and greater, advantages. Other instances of early choice, though still adhered to by those immediately interested in their localities, have been superseded in a general trade, by situations af» COMMERCIAL EMPORIUMS. 203 terward selected by other settlers — the force of na- tural circumstances, succeeding, irresistably to draw the course of trade to them. Thus, though, for the mutual accommodation of ar- tizans, handicraft tradesmen, and manufacturers, ne- cessary to a community in every stage of its progress, villages have been built, and have flourished, in such situations as the fancy or the convenience of indivi- dual interest has first pointed out, but little aided by the influence of any superior general advantage, yet commercial cities, never rise to extensive prosperity in a free country, by the mere force of individual pre- dilection; but their growth and extension are the re- sult of such a combination of natural circumstances, as spontaneously concentrate the public mind in their favor, by the force of the sentiment of general inte- rest. The cities which have as yet grown up in the United States, to extensive commercial importance, are comparatively few in number. To their essen- tial prosperity, good harbors, and suflicient depth of water, for the defence and safe navigation of vessels of burden, are indispensable requisites. They are, with few exceptions, situated on the tide waters communicating directly with the Atlantic ocean. — Other situations, however, which now enjoy gene- ral advantages in a more limited measure, neverthe- less participate in them in an important degree. And as the resources and capabilities of our country be- come more and more developed, by means of the ex- tensive connexions, forming and to be formed, and the intercourse which will become established, by the agency of canals and other modes of internal communication, there can be no doubt, that places far distant from each other, and having at present, but little, if any intercourse, will in future tim>e, hold with each other important relations, partaking largely of the nature of those which we advert to in this chapter. 204 SECTION 1st. WASHINGTON CITY. Washington city claims our first notice, as hav- ing been founded by the national will, — and because, as the chosen seat of the national government, it may be considered as equally interesting to each state in the Union. Though not at present a city of much trade, the waters of the beautiful and wide spread Potomac, and a fine commodious harbour, render it capable of an extensive commerce in some future day. At present, the trade of the District is chiefly con- fined to Georgetown, adjoining to the city, on the north side of the Potomac, and the city of x\lexan- dria on the opposite side, a few miles down the river. These two ports, enjoy a handsome share of the in- land trade of Virginia and Maryland; and possess a shipping interest, employed in coasting and foreign commerce, to an important amount. Though Alex- andria has been subjected to overwhelming losses, by the seizure of its whole fleets in port, and a large amount of private property in store, taken to freight them, by the ruthless hand of temporary power, in the last military contest with a foreign nation. The whole district, may in a sense be considered as one commercial department, represented by its three distinct important sections; and its commerce, may eventually become much more extended, on the completion of the Chesapeak and Ohio canal, commen- cing within it — the construction of which is now pro- gressing. We now turn eastward to Boston. 205 SECTION 2cl. BOSTON. Boston is situated on Massachusetts bay, in the state of Massachusetts. It enjoys a convenient port and good harbour; capable of accommodating at an- chor five hundred ships at a time, and communicating directly with the ocean; and it carries on a very ex- tensive coasting and foreign trade. In its vicinity are many large manufacturing estab- lishments; and to its market are conveyed, for sale and exportation, the produce of the manufactures of cotton and wool, of its own and the neighbouring states, to a large annual amount. Great quantities of manufactured goods are shipped to other parts, in- cluding distant foreign ports; and a general public sale of those manufactures, is held once or twice in a year; when merchants resort from distant states, to obtain their supplies. It maintains a considerable trade to India; and is largely interested in the distant whale and seal fishe- ries, and the trade in the articles of their produce; as well as in the cod and mackerel fisheries on the New England coast, and on the banks of New- foundland. The soil and climate of the country communicating with it, being unfavourable to the production of wheat, and producing but partial supplies of other grains, it receives much of its bread-stufis from the middle states. And for the supply of the neighbour- ing manufactories, large quantities of the cotton of the south. The articles of export trade from this port are mul- tiform. Some of the ingenious sons of New England in isolated situations, turning their attention to a great variety of useful manufactures of minor consi- deration, their many small productions arrive at an 18 206 NEW YORK. important aggregate amount, and are received m trade in distant states, under the familiar, but good- humoured appellation of '* Yankee notions." One article of export, though comparatively small, may be deserving of particular notice, as having de- rived its origin from the sprightly ingenuity of an in- dividual enterprising young female. The tasty article of head-dress manufactured from straw, denominated Leghorn, prevailed generally amongst the girls of her acquaintance; and being at that time very expensive, she found her income in- sufficient to procure the desired luxury, in addition to articles more immediately necessary. She therefore adopted the idea, of trying to manufacture one for herself. Commencing her attempt, and her work improv- ing from observation and experience, as she pursued her innocently pleasing task, at leisure intervals, silently and alone, her head-dress received all the gracefulness of customary form, and came out at length a beautiful article; when she received a grate- ful additional reward for her ingenuity, in the general applause of her acquaintance. From this singular circumstance and small begin- ning, the hint was communicated from town to town, and many ingenious and sprightly girls became ma- nufacturers; insomuch, that in a very few years, the annual amount of exports of the article from Boston, arose to many ten thousands of dollars. SECTION 3d. NEW YORK. New York, situated on an island of the same nam.e, formerly called by the native inhabitants Manhattan, at the junction of the Hudson river, with an arm of the sea called East river, is justly considered the NEW YORK. 207 most commanding, and in various respects the most important, commercial port in the Union. Its har- bour in those two rivers, and in the bay in which they unite, is very safe, commodious, and extensive; and the amount of shipping employed in its coasting and foreign trade, is very large. It enjoys a large inland trade, by means of the Hudson river and its extensive canals; which form a connexion with Canada on the north, and with the western states, through lake Erie, on the west. The amount of grain, flour, and other produce, re- ceived through these channels, is very large; and an- nually increasing, as the distant newly settled dis- tricts become more and more cultivated. Its merchants receive and purchase, a large propor- tion of the cotton of the south; which constitutes a material part of their export freights to Europe, in exchange for the heavy and sometimes excessive im- ports from thence. Its merchants being numerous, enterprising, and emulous of much business, some- times commit excesses, in the introduction of greater quantities of European manufactures than are de- manded by the national wants; to the injury of our rising manufactures, to which we must eventually look for independence. There is scarcely a port on the globe of which we have any accurate knowledge, with which the mer- chants of New York do not communicate in trade, nor a sea which their vessels do not traverse. From its contiguity to the ocean, its harbour is very seldom obstructed by ice. This circumstance affords it great facilities of communication with other ports on the coast, and with foreign nations, at all seasons of the year. Beside its general commerce, it maintains three lines of packets, to London and Liverpool, and one to France; — which are large and perfectly constructed ships. By means of these, intelligence is despatched to and from Europe, at various regular intervals, in every month. Those packet ships, have become the 208 PHILADELPHIA. constant objects of praise and admiration, among the nations of Europe, on account of the beauty of their construction, the admirable symmetry of their parts, and the unrivalled elegance of workmanship in their finish. SECTION 4th. PHILADELPHIA. Philadelphia, the first city in Pennsylvania, is seated on a beautiful elevated plain, in the south-east- ern part of the state. It has the river Delaware on the east, and Schuylkill on the west. This circumstance, affording two extensive fronts on navigable tide rivers, of competent depth, and furnishing safe and excellent harbours, affords the city great conveniences of navigation. Its situation is one hundred and twenty miles from the ocean, pursuing the courses of the river and bay of Delaware. Its navigation is therefore sometimes interrupted by ice, from one to two months in the winter season. Its trade is nevertheless large and ra- pidly increasing — its commercial community abound- ing in capital and enterprise, and maintaining a very extensive inland communication with the western states, as well as an expanded coasting trade, and a large commercial intercourse with distant nations — its vessels traversing the seas of all quarters of the globe. Its facilities of internal communication and convey- ance of merchandize, are greatly increasing, by the use of canals and rail-roads, yearly being completed. And its commerce will probably be vastly enlarged by those means of transport, when the extensive plans designed, and in progress of execution, by the state, shall have been completed, and brought into ef- fective operation. PITTSBURGH. 209 The inexhaustible mines of iron and coal, abound- ing; in the interior of the state, and already made easily accessible, by means of canals and rail-roads, together with the products of a soil in many districts rich, and very productive, furnish large and increas- ing augmentations to the trade of Philadelphia. Many of its citizens, however, are men who have withdrawn from commercial concerns, in circum- stances of independence, and who have leisure to de- vote a portion of their funds to the improvement and beautifying of the city, and the extension of its pub- lic works and useful institutions; and many others are extensively engaged in manufacturing establish- ments, so essential to the independence of a nation; and contributing, by furnishing a ready market for raw materials, — the growth or produce of other sec- tions of the Union, — to the political and commercial health and prosperity of the whole, by the system of mutual interchanges. SECTION 5th. PITTSBURGH. Pittsburgh, from its location in the western part of the state, is emphatically called the emporium of western Pennsylvania. It is seated at the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers; which, after their union, take the name of the Ohio. The navigation of this city, is conducted by the use of vessels propelled by the power of steam; which traverse the river to its mouth, and thence down the Mississippi to New Orleans. By means of this mode of transportation, a large amount of heavy produce is annually conveyed to New Orleans; and foreign arti- cles of commerce, received from Philadelphia, and other Atlantic ports, are distributed to their destina- tion, in the different states westward and southward. 18* ^10 BALTIMORE. The active commercial operations of Pittsburgh, it is believed, will be much increased on the completion of the Pennsylvania line of canals; when much of the produce of the western states, which now descends from various points of embarkation on the Ohio, to New Orleans, may take an opposite direction to Pittsburgh; from thence to find its way through the canals to Philadelphia. It has been proved by fair experiments, that the business of ship-building, may be conducted to advan- tage at Pittsburgh. By taking the advantage of high water in the Ohio, sea vessels completely finished and rigged, and freighted with the produce of the coun- try, have been conducted down safely to tide water; and have thence proceeded to sea, to find a market. Before the introduction of steam vessels, the navi- gation of the Ohio, and of the Mississippi above its tides, was comparatively of little national importance, except for a descending trade. The strength of the current, offered too great resistance in ascending, for the exertions of manual labour to overcome to ad- vantage. Now, a well constructed steamboat, laden with heavy articles of import, and numerous passen- gers, to the aggregate amount of hundreds of tons, will sometimes ascend against the current, from New Orleans to Pittsburgh — a meandering distance of near- ly two thousand miles — in the short space of twelve days. A voyage, which formerly required four or five months of severe manual labour, in an unloaded boat. SECTION 6th. BALTIMORE. Baltimore is situated on an arm of the river Pa- tapsco: fifteen miles from its discharge into the west side of Chesapeak bay, in the state of Maryland. BALTIMORE. .211 Though from the general circumstances of the country naturally communicating with it in trade, the site it occupies is admitted to be the most eligi- ble in the state, for the location and prosperity of a great commercial metropolis, yet it does not appear, that the public attention was ever directed to the situation with that view, till nearly one hundred and fifty years after the settlement of the first colony, on the waters of the Chesapeak: its first public notice, if not its first foundation, dating about the year 1750. Till that time, the native deer were bounding in their primeval sportiveness, over the beautiful eleva- tions now occupied by its many mansions of taste, convenience, and simple elegance. Baltimore, now, justly claims an important rank in the list of commercial cities; its merchants being wealthy, enterprising, and extensively engaged in trade; as well inland as foreign, and with the Atlan- tic states. Its harbour is deep, capacious, and uncommonly defended from the influence of storms. But a part of the city, embracing a basin of shallower water, ^ though of sufficient depth for bay and river craft, many of the merchants are obliged to employ light- ers, for the transport of goods and produce, to and from their heavy ships, which lay at the south-east part of the city called the Point. It has ready access, by means of inland transporta- tion, and the great facilities of water carriage, from the numerous rivers discharging into the Chesapeak, to extensive wheat growing districts, in its own and the neighbouring states. And its vicinity abounding with powerful waterfalls, occupied by flour mills of the most perfect construction, and of great magni- tude, means are thus furnished for a large export trade in that article. The manufacturing interest, is cherished and pro- moted by some of the citizens of Baltimore, by active and spirited operations; and its commerce, and gene- 212 NEW ORLEANS. ral prosperity, will probably be greatly increased, when the rail-road now under construction, and par- tially in operation, from this city to Ohio, shall be completed. SECTION 7th. ]\EA\ ORLEANS. New Orleans, situated on the east side of the river Mississippi, about one hundred miles above its confluence with the gulf of Mexico, in Louisiana, is the great depot of the trade of the Mississippi, and its numerous and extensive branches. It receives and exports, the heavy agricultural and manufactured products of the western states, as well as the produce of the lead mines of the Missouri and North-western territories. The cotton of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, are exported from it to Europe, and to supply the manufacturers of the east- ern and middle states, to the amount of many thou- sands of bales annually. It has also a large export trade in sugars; the produce of the contiguous cane growing regions. It is liable, in consequence of the generally de- pressed level of the lands in its vicinity, to the over- flowings of the Mississippi. This river, by reason of its great length, and the immense accumulation of waters from its tributary rivers, rises at certain seasons, to an appalling height: overflowing the level grounds on its borders, to a great extent. The city is defended from the influx of those mighty fresh water tides, by extensive embankments, artifi- cially thrown up for the purpose. These embank- STEAM NAVIGATION. 213 ments, are, in the dialect of the country, called "le- vees. " They extend to a great distance above and below the city, and are maintained at a heavy ex- pense of labor; and sometimes, when they are sud- denly broken, by an uncommon rise of the waters, the most vigorous exertions are required to repair them, and prevent disastrous consequences. Much of the commerce of New Orleans is conduct- ed by means of the shipping belonging to other ports in the Union, and to foreign nations. CHAPTER XXIII. STEAM NAVIGATION. Steam navigation has now become so familiar, that little information may be necessary, to afford the student or youth, a general idea of the movements of a steamboat. The first person who made an attempt, with any degree of success, to navigate a vessel propelled by steam, in the United States, as appears by accounts preserved, was named Fitch. Another American adventurer in the same field, about the same time, was named Rumsey; who went to England, and was engaged in a long pursuit of the same subject, under the patronage of David Barclay, of London. His adventure, however, finally failed of success. Fitch procured his boat to be built at Philadelphia, and succeeded so far as to make one voyage to Bur- lington, in New Jersey — a voyage of twenty miles. By this first, rough, untutored attempt, the practi- cability of the design was demonstrated. But expe- 214 STEAM NAVIGATION. rience, the most efficient instructor, not having yet taught the artist correctly to adapt the machinery employed to the power of his principle of motion, nor duly to proportion the strength of the different parts to each other, another effort was necessary to his success. And being poor, and not sufficiently aided, he was obliged, though with great reluctance, to abandon his design for want of patronage. Such is the hesitancy of the human character, to afford the means for genius to exercise its powers, in any great enterprise which is entirely new; and which, from any considerable degree of complexity, may, to those who are not qualified to reason scienti- fically, involve a doubt of eventual success. The scheme of Fitch, being then generally considered as visionary and altogether unpromising. Sometime after the failure of Fitch, the subject at- tracted the attention of several ])ersons in New York and its vicinity. These were chancellor Livingston, John Stevens, and Nicholas Roosvelt. The two first, pursued their experiments separately for a time. — They afterward joined their interests in connexion with the last. Livingston, being sent to France, on a diplomatic mission under the government, their joint proceedings were interrupted. He, however, carried with him a sanguine expectation of final suc- cess: and at Paris was joined by Robert Fulton, a na- tive citizen of Lancaster county, in Pennsylvania, whose mind had, for some years, often been intense- ly occupied upon the same subject. Fulton, during his engagement at Paris, by expe- riments, and arduous examinations, was enabled to ar- rive at such satisfactory conclusions with respect to some of his principles, as experience alone could fur- nish. His boat being at length prepared, was launch- ed upon the river Seine, and performed its move- ments in exact correspondence with his previous cal- culations. He now hastened to superintend the con- struction of a boat at New York; with many im- provements in his machinery, which his experience. STEAM NAVIGATION. 215 already acquired, had suggested; and after a period of intense application, exposed to the discouragements thrown out by the doubter, and the ridicule of the staunch unbeliever, success at length crowned his ■ labors. When he supposed every thing was ready for a per- fect experiment, and the people w^ere assembled in crowds, to witness the grand result, his first attempt at progressive movement was unsuccessful. This must have been to him a moment of intense anxiety. The eyes of the assembled multitudes were upon him; and many, no doubt, prepared to pronounce in derision, that their w^ise predictions were now real- ized. He, however, maintained the composure of a philosopher; and stepping below, he at once discover- ed the cause of his disappointment; which arose en- tirely from some trifling inaccuracy of adjustment in a part of his machinery. Having quickly corrected this small, inadvertent oversight, his vessel glided off from its moorings in fine style, to the utter disappoint- ment of the unbelievers, and no doubt to the joy of his friends, and his ow^n high gratification. The un- believers themselves then joining in loud applause. In the mean time, Stevens, aided by his son, had been pursuing his experiments at Hoboken, and was enabled to bring his boat into successful operation but a few days after the complete success of Fulton. Fulton continued to devote his attention to im- provements of his machinery, and had arrived to a point in the science approaching to its present state of perfection, when he died, in the prime and vigor of intellectual manhood; though w^orn down in consti- tution by intense application. He is now considered in every circle of enlightened society as a great bene- factor to his country. Thus it appears, that the successful application of steam to the purposes of navigation is clearly ascri- bable to the efforts of American genius and enterprise. And though attempts have been made by one at least of the mechanists of Europe, to arrogate to himself 216 STEAM NAVIGATION. the honor of the invention; his statements have been completely invalidated; and it is clearly manifest, that the first successful steamboat built in Great Britain, has its date five years after the complete success of Fulton, and after full time had elapsed for an examination of our American machinery. The rate of movement of the swiftest European steamboats, continues to the present time, to be five miles per hour behind the speed of some of our American boats. The science of constructing steamboats, is now brought to such perfection, and is so well understood, by many skilful mechanics and engineers, that thou- sands of persons are regularly employed in the United States, in the construction of boats and their machine- ry. And the art is still undergoing improvements and simplifications, intended to render the design yet more perfect. The use of steam navigation has become so exten- sive, and the construction of vessels has attained such perfection that rivers of strong currents are now navi- gated with ease, and to great advantage, which were formerly of little use as respects navigation, except to float down lumber, or vessels of such simple con- struction as fitted them only to descend with the cur- rent, and never return. The gain to the community from the power of steam, and its application to this and other objects for propelling machinery, is, there- fore, beyond calculation. The number of steam vessels engaged on the Mis- sissippi and its branches, alone, is estimated at up- wards of three hundred, and the sum is constantly in- creasing. Some of them are built of the size of five hundred tons burden. By the agency of this inven- tion, the Mississippi has become one of the most im- portant rivers in the world. The means of a con- venient and profitable ascending navigation, on it and its branches, having been gained to the community, to an aggregate amount, perhaps exceeding six thou- sand miles. CANALS. 217 Beside the introduction of the steamboat into all the navigable waters of the United States, the use of steam has been in some cases applied to vessels on long sea voyages. It appears, however, that the in- crease of expense is too great to admit of the general use of steam on such voyages. In these cases, the ships are furnished with masts and sails, to be used when the winds are brisk and favorable; reserving their steam powers for contrary circumstances. By these means they are enabled to keep constantly un- der way in their proper courses, except during the prevalence of severe storms. The application of steam to the purposes of naviga- tion, has now become extensive in Europe. The use of steam, for propelling flour mills, and other manufacturing machinery, has been profitably resorted to in cities, and other situations, where con- venient waterfalls cannot be easily and cheaply ob- tained. CHAPTER XXIV. CANALS. The youth will no doubt be aware, that a canal is an artificial water course, so formed as to maintain a level for the passage of boats, unobstructed by rocks, shoals, rapids, or cataracts; one or more of which kinds of obstruction, are generally found in rivers where the tides do not flow. By this contrivance, boats pass with equal ease and safety in either direc- tion. When it becomes necessary to pass any considera- ble descent on the site of a canal, a convenient pro- vision for the purpose is attained, by the construction of locks. 19 218 CANALS. A lock is a strong basin, formed by cemented stone walls, or by tight wood work, and having a gate at each end. The bottom of it is sunk below the bottom of the canal v>'hich supplies it, to such deptli as is ne- cessary, to adapt it to the level of the lot^er section of the canal passing from it — say eight, ten, or twelve feet. When a boat is required to be passed down, ti^^ lower gate is shut, and the upper gate opened. Th^.^ lock being thus filled, even with the level of the uj)- per section, the boat passes into it. The upper gat. is then closed, to retain the water in the upper sec- tion of the canal. The lower gate being opened, as the water passes out into the lower section of the canal, the boat gradually settles down with it, till having attained the level of the lower section, the boat pursues its voyage. When the boat is required to ascend, the move- ments are partly reversed. The boat passing into the empty lock from below, the lower gate is shut, and the upper opened as before, when, as the lock fdls from the upper section, the boat gradually rises with it, till it attains the upper level, and passing out of the lock proceeds on its way. When the amount of ascent or descent to be over- come, exceeds the quantity most convenient for one lock, several are formed in connexion; and thus, by multiplying the locks to the number required, a boat may be made to ascend or descend, a perpendicular distance of one hundred or two hundred feet, with perfect ease and safety, in a short time. The youth will readily perceive, that it is always necessary, that a canal shall receive an adequate sup- ply of water on the highest level over which it has to pass. But as, when a canal is once filled, its banks secured from leaking, and its soil saturated with wa- ter, there will be no waste of water except by the natural evaporation from its surface, and the amount necessarily let out on passing the locks, streams com- paratively small, are found sufficient to supply them. CANALS. 219 Thus, inland rivers and smaller streams, which, from their insufficiency of water, and the obstructions in their natural channels, would be altogether inade- quate to the smallest useful purpose of navigation, are made effectually to supply the means of a large, extensive, and profitable inland transportation, to the great benefit of the community. And thus, from the abundant supply of natural streams, might this mode of conveyance be multiplied in a thousand directions, where the advantages to be derived might be supposed to justify the expenses of their construction. Canal boats are generally propelled by the power of horses travelling on their banks, and attached to the boats by means of long hempen ropes. The strength of one horse thus attached, is found to be equal to the propelling of a boat bearing a burden of fourteen tons weight, at the rate of three miles in an hour. Thus it appears, that so vast is the difference between the transport of produce and merchandize on a canal, and the transport by common wagons, that one horse will perform a service on the former, equal to forty or fifty horses on a common inland road. It may be easily supposed, how greatly the value of lands, on, or near, the line of a canal, far distant from a market, would be advanced by the expense of conveyance of produce to market being so greatly reduced. In hilly countries,- canals are frequently carried across rivers by aqueducts, supported upon strong stone arches, and sometimes greatly elevated above the beds of the rivers over which they pass. In other cases they are conducted through apertures, exca- vated by great labour and expense, through the bow- els of mountains, which cross their lines; presenting difficulties which cannot be otherwise overcome. These perforations are called tunnels. In some in- stances they extend to many hundred feet, if not to the amount of miles. They are necessarily lighted b}^ lamps, and are at certain intervals, ventilated by openings, called shafts, descending perpendicularly 220 CANALS. from the surface of the mountain, till they communi- cate with the tunnels. Without this precaution, the atmosphere in the tunnels would often endanger the lives of the passengers, by reason of its impurity, occasioned by gaseous mixtures, unfitted for healthy respiration. In England, canals are multiplied to an aggregate extent nearly or quite equal to those in the United States. These have all been constructed since the year 1759, and the most of them at periods many years later than that date. In France, the great canal of Languedoc, of two hundred miles in length, is more than one hundred years old. Some of the vastly extensive canals of China, are understood to have been in use for nearly one thousand years. In the United States, much the greater proportion of our canals, have been planned and executed, within the last ten, fifteen, and twenty years. So far as is discoverable from public notices, the first canal constructed in the United States, for the purposes of navigation, was undertaken about fifty years ago, by a private company. It is located in Cecil county, Maryland, near the Pennsylvania line, and was designed to overcome the difficulties of the Baldfriar Falls, in the river Susquehanna. Its length is but about seven miles; yet, as the science of con- structing canals was then new in this country, and as the necessary funds were less abundant than at pre- sent, some years were required to complete it. The engineer engaged in its construction, was James Brindle}^, — a near connexion of Brindley, the emi- nent artist, who planned and perfected, the great ca- nal of the duke of Bridgewater, in England. The great western canal of New York, connecting the Hudson river with lake Erie, exceeds three hun- dred and sixty miles in length. It was nevertheless finished in a few years; having been undertaken by the government of the state, and the expenses defray- ed from the state treasury. Another important sec- CANALS. 221 tion connects the Hudson with lake Champlain, open- ing a water communication with Canada. The canal connecting the Delaware and Chesapeak bays, is a great work, though only about fourteen miles in length. The excavation necessary on the middle ground, to make it so deep as to pass the sloops used in the trade of those bays, was carried to the depth of seventy feet below the surface: and the whole construction in general, was attended with very great difficulties. It has, however, been brought into successful operation; realizing very important benefits to the trade connected with those bays and their various rivers. A canal has been formed, opening an inland com- munication, between Norfolk in Virginia, and Albe- marle sound in North Carolina. This work, beside forming an inland communication between the two states, opens a pass through an extensive dense forest of the best white cedar; otherwise scarcely accessi- ble. The part where it is situated is the Great Dis- mal Swamp, a place of resort for wild beasts. So much of it being immersed in water, and all passage so obstructed by deep cavities and sunken timber, and the vegetable growth so dense withal, that access into the heart of the district, for the conveyance of timber, by any other common means, was compara- tively impossible. Much has been done in Virginia to improve and connect by canals of greater and less extent several of the fine rivers flowing through the state; and still more extensive plans have been devised. The formation of a canal is now in progress, in- tended to connect the tide water of the Potomac, at Washington city, with the waters of the Ohio — a dis- tance of three hundred and sixty miles. Another canal is now under construction across New Jersey, to connect the Raritan and Delaware rivers, and forming an important section of an exten- sive line of internal transport, between the eastern and southern states. 19* 222 RAIL-ROADS. In Pennsylvania, beside the Schuylkill canal of one hundred and eight miles in length, and the Union canal of nearly eighty miles, connecting the Susque- hanna with the Schuylkill, which have both been completed by private companies, an extensive plan of canalling has been adopted by the state, and the form- ation of the different sections, either completed, or in a forward state of progression. The plan is intend- ed, beside extensively improving the navigation of different rivers, to connect the eastern with the west- ern waters of the state, and thence with lake Erie. Several canals are far advanced in construction, or nearly completed, in the state of Ohio, intended to open a navigation through the state, from lake Erie to Ohio river. Many other canals have been formed in different parts of the Union, within a few years. But to at- tempt to name them all in this place, would be tedi- ous and unentertaining. They are so numerous in some parts of the Union, as to have become familiar subjects of common observation. Any attempt to describe them all at the present time, would probably be far from a complete description a few years hence. Our present observations, being intended only to con- vey general ideas, the task is perhaps now fulfilled. We will therefore close this chapter, with stating, that the whole present aggregate length of canalling in the United States, including those completed, and those now in rapid progress toward completion, is es- timated at the amount of twenty-six hundred miles. CHAPTER XXV. RAILROADS. Though the principle of the rail-road was adopted at som>e of the coal mines of England more than one hundred and fifty years ago, the design of construct- RAIL-ROADS. 223 ing rail-roads, for facilitating the general transporta- tion of produce and merchandize from one part to another, does not appear to have been conceived till after much had been done in the construction of ca- nals. The plan is now, however, believed by many, to combine greater advantages than the use of canals. When a rail-road is designed, a track for its pas- sage is sought, the nearest to a level which can be conveniently found, between the points it is intended to connect. The operators then proceed to reduce the inequalities of the ground, by cutting down ele- vations, and filling up depressed parts, and thus bring- ing the whole line to a common level; or so near to a level, that the inequalities, if any, shall amount to but little inconvenience. This they call ^^ grading." When the ground is thus levelled and prepared, a solid foundation is laid, for the track of each wheel of the carriages to be employed; and on those founda- tions, bars of iron are secured, passing lengthwise the whole distance of the road. The wheels of the car- riages, called cars, are so formed, as to secure them from passing off from the iron bars. Thus, by reducing the ascents and descents of the road to a common level, the resistance of weight is in a great measure overcome. And by fixing the axles of the wheels in a peculiar manner upon rollers, the friction, usual in the running of carriages, is near- ly destroyed. By these means, one horse will move a weight with ease, at the rate of six miles in an hour, which would require the force of twelve or fourteen horses, to move with equal ease, on a common road, in com- mon wagons, at the rate of three miles in an hour. By the use of a steam engine, instead of horse power, a weight of almost any amount, bearing a rea- sonable proportion to the power of the engine, can be moved at a rate so rapid as to exceed all other travel- ling, unless it were upon the wings of an eagle. In this case, the steam engine and its machinery, are placed upon a car provided for the purpose, and iiii4 RAIL-ROADS. the weight to be carried disposed upon a number of cars, attached to each other upon a line; the foremost being fastened to the engine car. Thus have weights been carried to the amount of fifteen tons to one engine, at a rate approaching to, if not exceeding, twenty miles in an hour. And cal- culators assert with confidence, that travelling car- riages may be made to move with safety at a rate ex- ceeding fift}' miles in an hour!!! That such a rate of movemient could never, on any extraordinary occasion, be justified, upon principles of rationality, would, perhaps, be too bold an asser- tion: but, of the propriety of ever reducing it to a common practice, the Christian philosopher may well be permitted to entertain a doubt. When man was placed by his all-wise Creator in the occupancy of this our earth, his powers of motion were adapted to the circumstances surrounding him, and his capacities, in his different situations and cir- cumstances, wisely proportioned to each other. While we fully admit, that it consists with pro- priety in his station, to exercise his rational powers, in the improvement of the useful arts and sciences, as instruments intended to minister to his comforts, and promote his rational enjoyments — amongst which the construction and reasonable use of rail-roads may be fairly considered an important and very interesting item — there may be room for the reflecting mind to conclude, that the providential intention could never be supposed to justify efforts on the part of man, for the sake of rapidly doing a great business, — a busi- ness beyond all the reasonable demands of his neces- sities, — to adopt a rate of motion in some of his movements, so far beyond his usual natural capacity; especially when attended with unavoidable dangers. When we see the noble horse, compelled to move at a rate which we know will injure his natural powers, oppress his life, and painfully substract from his ani- mal enjoyments, we view the circumstance as an evi- dence of at least a reckless levity of character, if not RAIL-ROADS. 225 of a disposition of heedless cruelty, on the part of his oppressors; who seem to be actuated by a trifling, vain ambition, to exceed each other in celerity of mo- tion, without any other apparent inducement to such a conduct. Excesses, in all cases in the human economy, may be considered as calculated to lead either directly or consequently, into some degree of disorder. And al- though, in the use of steam, the circumstance of ani- mal oppression is removed, yet such unnatural rapidi- ty of motion in some cases, might, perhaps, have a natural tendency to urge the mind on, into an habi- tual state of hurry and turmoil in business; and thus our lives might become a scene of bustle and ex- cessive haste, by no means adapted to that course of thought and reflection, becoming beings possessing powers so limited, and of duration so uncertain; and who are bound, by our own incalculable interests, to prepare for a happy admission into a state of being, where disorder and irregularity of conduct cannot enter. We have, however, reason to believe, that the sup- posed rate of travelling would soon become its own corrector; because, notwithstanding the calculations of those interested, there must inevitably, be serious dangers of various kinds, attendant on such a rate of movement. Several extensive rail-roads have been planned, and are now in a course of construction, besides many of less extent, in difierent parts of the Union. One of the longer now forming, is designed to pass from Phi- ladelphia to Columbia, on the Susquehanna — a dis- tance of eighty-five miles. Another, of three hun- dred and fifty miles, now in a state of forwardness to- ward completion, is designed to form a line of trans- portation between the city of Baltimore and the state of Ohio. The spirited exertions of our southern brethren, are now engaged in the construction of an- other, of one hundred miles, to connect the thriving and important town of Augusta, in Georgia, with 226 RAIL ROADS. Charleston, the capital trading city of South Carolina: as a substitute for a meandering boat navigation of three hundred miles to Savannah. As has been said with respect to canals, rail-roads and plans for their location are becoming so nume- rous in the Union, that it would be a vain attempt to give such general account of them as would be likely to be adapted to a period a few years hence. But our present intention of a general sketch of the subject is conceived to be sufficiently fulfilled. CHAPTER XXVI. WATERFALLS, MEDICINAL SPRINGS, AND CURIOSITIES. The Falls of Niagara have been brief!}' noticed in another chapter, under the head "Waters." In ad- dition to what has there been stated, we may remark, that these falls are considered as so far surpassing in sublimity of grandeur, all other objects of the kind, as to leave them as it were involved in comparative littleness. The roar of the cataract is so heavy, as often to be heard, according as the current of air and the state of the atmosphere ma}' favor the progress of sound, to a distance of from fifteen to forty miles. The concussion is so great, as to keep the earth for a considerable distance round, in a continual jar, as of an earthquake; and the windows of the buildings near it, rattling, as we find them in the case of the heaviest thunder, breaking at a distance. The noise WATERFALLS 227 at the houses of entertainment near it, is so great, as to require more than common exertion of voice, to he intelligibly heard in conversation. On a fine day, when the position of the sun and the visitor, are relatively in the proper points, several per- fect rainbows, of great brilliancy, may be seen at once, upon the dense cloud formed from the spray, always ascending to a great height, from the vast abyss into which the body of water is constantly pouring itself. The falls of the Missouri, in the vicinity of the Rocky Mountains, were discovered by captains Lewis and Clarke, when on their exploring tour to the Pa- cific, under a commission from our executive govern- ment, in the year 1805. The cataract is divided into many distinct sections, at a considerable distance from each other, on the windings of the river through the mountainous ele- vations. The greatest perpendicular descent, is stated at eighty-seven feet, and the two next greatest at forty-seven and eighth-twelfths, and nineteen feet respectiveh^ But the rapid descent of the river, between and from them, together with a number of beautiful smaller cataracts, increases the whole amount of descent to three hundred and fifty-two feet, in the distance of two miles and three-quarters — the river being from three hundred to fourteen hun- dred yards wide, in its difierent parts. The roar of the water is heard at a great distance, before its cause can be discovered. The whole scene is represented, as presenting many adaiirable pros- pects, from the different views from the surrounding mountains, which intercept the prospect from one cataract to another; causing them to iDreak upon the vision, under a variety of very interesting aspects. On the whole, the cataracts of the Missouri, with their surrounding scenery, are represented as next, in sublimity and grandeur, to the scenes presented at the great cataract of Niagara. The falls of St. Anthony, on the Mississippi, near the forty-fifth degree of latitude, are presented to the 228 WATERFALLS. beholder under very different circumstances. At this fall are no surrounding mountains. The perpendicu- lar pitch of the water is represented by lieutenant Pike to be sixteen and a half feet: but the sloping de- scent of the river occurring immediately at the bot- tom of the cataract, increases the fall to fifty-eight feet. The surrounding scenery, forming a fine varie- gated landscape, with but little elevation of the banks of the river, and the southern prospect, extending many miles over a beautiful sloping country, render the whole view a very interesting scene, of great pic- turesque beauty, rather than of sublimity and gran- deur. Many other cataracts, and cascades, are to be found in the United States, which are interesting, and wor- thy of a traveller's attention; but which, from the comparative smallness of the streams, or the smaller amount of descent, are less the objects of general in- terest. A brief notice of some of them, without de- scending to minute description, will be all we shall here attempt The cataract of the Mohawk, near Albany, has a perpendicular descent of about sixty feet. This is often called by its Indian name, — '^The Cohoes. " It is a very pleasing object. The falls of the Passaick, at the town of Patterson, in New Jersey, of seventy feet perpendicular, pre- sents a view of interesting grandeur on a moderate scale. It affords a very eligible seat for extensive manufacturing establishments, in successful operation. The falls of the Genessee river, in the state of New York, embrace a descent of one hundred and seventy feet by several cataracts in the space of about two or three miles, and furnish an opportunity seldom equal- ed in any country, for a line of very powerful mill- seats; some of which are occupied by large flour mills, and others by extensive manufactories. There are several interesting falls in the southern states. The Tochoa creek rises among the southern terminations of the Alleghany mountains, in Geor- WATERFALLS AND MEDICINAL SPRINGS. 229 gia, and leaving them, is precipitated in one perpen- dicular sheet, one hundred and eighty-seven feet; though when the water is low, the whole sheet, be- fore it reaches the bottom, is separated into particles, resembling fine rain. Among the mountain terminations in the northern extremit}^ of South Carolina, there are said to be seve- ral instances of like nature. The Catawba river, in one part of its course, descends by several cataracts nearly connected, to a distance of one hundred feet. Upon some of the rivers of the east, in the hilly regions of several of the states, are rapids and cata- racts; sublime, though in miniature, as compared with some of the preceding. In a country much devoted to the manufacturing interest, they afford very valua- ble sites for establishments of this character. Medicinal springs, the waters of which hold in so- lution different proportions and combinations of the various mineral substances with which waters of a medicinal character are commiOnly impregnated, are numerous in the United States. Some of them are much frequented by persons of deficient health; and the patients often receive decided benefit from their use. At some of them are places of resort for the gay and fashionable part of the community, in the sum- mer months; where hundreds, or thousands, accord- ing to the comparative degrees of fame the different places may have attained, form an ever fluctuating so- ciety, by the constant arrival of new guests, and the departure of those who preceded them. The most noted and most frequented of those places of public resort, are understood to be those of Sarato- ga and Balston, in New York, within a circle of thir- ty-three miles from Albany — the numerous highly valuable medicinal springs among the mountains of Virginia; issuing their waters of various temperature from hot to cold; much varied in their medicinal qua- lities; and of great efficacy in many diseases — and the 20 230 MEDICINAL SPRINGS AND CURIOSITIES, famous Indian springs of Georgia; situated in a most romantic position; partly enclosed by hills, and sur- rounded by embowering native groves. The scene- ry surrounding the last, and the accommodations pro- vided for the numerous resident invalid visitors, who go there to spend the summer, are said, by a highly estimable and accomplished citizen of the state, to ^'present at once, all the comforts of civilized, and all the romance of untamed life." The place is par- ticularly famous for having been the treaty ground of many treaties, between the agents of our government and the southern Indian tribes. The mineral springs of York and Chester counties, in Pennsylvania, of New Castle county, in Delaware, and many others, in different states eastward and Vv'estward, have yet attained but a secondary degree of celebrity. Perhaps more from accidental circum- stances than from a general inferiority of medicinal value in the waters. Amongst the natural curiosities of the United States, may be reckoned the caverns, abounding in many of our mountainous and limestone regions. As the rivers and mountains of America, exceed in magnitude and extent, those of the old world generally, the same may be said of some of our natural caverns; though from their late discovery, and the resolution required to penetrate, and examine their various windings, they have not been so minutely described, or so familiar in the annals of fame, as several of those in Europe. Some of them have been reported to be of the asto- nishing extent of from three to nine or ten miles, fol- lowing their windings, though others, perhaps, not exceeding a few hundred yards. Those which are the most extensive, have gene- rally several apartments, branching off from their sides; and from some of these again, winding pas- sages, through several magnificent chambers, and again connecting perhaps, with the principal caverns, at a great distance. NATURAL CURIOSITIES, &C. 231 In passing their different windings, the adventurer is occasionally surprised, and astonished, to find him- self suddenly introduced into halls resembling pa- laces, of amazing height and extent; ornamented with massive columns, formed by the gradual accumula- tion and adhesion of particles of lime, spreading over them in a dissolved state, by the continual gentle drip- ping of water from the ceilings; and adorned with semi-transparent festoons, of every fanciful form, and sparkling with brilliancy, reflected from the ten thou- sand surfaces presented to the light of the conductor and adventurer's lamps. The most extensive of these caverns yet discover- ed, are situated in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, and Georgia. They do not all partake of those characters of surpassing grandeur. Some of them are merely dark, subterraneous passages and chambers, abounding with nitrous incrustations; which might be collected from several of them in large quan- tities as an article of commerce. There are many caves of less extent, in several other states of the Union. In the Alleghany mountain in Virginia, is a cave, from the mouth of which is constantly issuing, a cur- rent of air sufficiently strong to keep prostrate the weeds in its passage, to the distance of fifty or sixty feet from the entrance of the cave. It is called the blowing cave. As another class of American curiosities, may be noted, the ancient fortifications, presenting them- selves in various parts of the western states. They appear to have been generally formed of strong em- bankments of earth, though some have been discover- ed, a large part of which have been constructed with stone walls, connected together with a very consider- able appearance of art. Many of them appear to have been formed for large encampments, capable of accommodating many hundreds of persons within their walls. They are generally laid out with what may perhaps be termed a competent share of mathema- 232 NATURAL CURIOSITIES, &C. tical accuracy and proportion; the angles being cor- rectly defined, and corresponding with the cardinal points of the compass. The largest trees are found growing upon their ruins; and no traces of their history, can, so far as has yet appeared, be gleaned, from any rational tradition of the present Indian population. The varied sublime prospects presenting from the tops of many of our mountains, may perhaps be reck- oned as curiosities of American scenery. To attempt a description of many of them, does not come within our present plan. The lofty eminence, called the Pilot Mountain of North Carolina, is represented as furnishing a sample of the sublime of this character of objects seldom equalled. The mountain rises in the form of a pyra- mid, to nearly a mile in height, when its upper sur- face would present a circular flat of about an acre. — Upon this platform, suddenly rises a vast rock, con- tinuing its conical form to the height of above three hundred feet, and presenting itself as the appearance of an immense castle, on the top as flat as a floor. It can be ascended by a single pass, through the crags and fissures of the rock. When on the top, a vastly extended prospect of uncommon grandeur is enjoyed; embracing the Apalachian Mountains on the north, a great extent of plain on the south, and a river on each hand, winding their way to the ocean. The natural bridge, over a branch of James river, in Rockbridge county, Virginia, is justly ranked amongst our natural curiosities. It consists of a solid arch of rock, supported by natural abutments on the banks. The breadth of the passage across the stream, exceeds sixty feet; and the stone arch is covered with a suflicient dep-th of earth to support trees of a large size. The elevation of the bridge above the stream, is two hundred and ten feet. The view of the structure from below, is awfully and delightfully grand; though to look down from the top, into the rugged, craggy. NATURAL CURIOSITIES, &C. 233 romantic chasm, which forms the bed of the river, inspires the beholder with sensations of such terrific character, as to prevent enjoyment; and few persons possess sufficient firmness of nerve, to approach the edge of the perpendicular precipice, near enough to attempt a fair view downward. In Scott county, Virginia, a bridge of a similar cha- racter, is represented to be three hundred feet high; passing over a branch of Tennessee river, to an extent of one thousand feet. Several bridges of similar, though much less stu- pendous structure, are found in other states. A description of the natural and artificial curiosities, found in different parts of the Union, might be extend- ed to a great length; embracing romantic scenery upon a large scale, observable at the passes of noble rivers through and amongst rugged mountains — deep lakes upon the summits of eminences, three or four thousand feet above the sea — burning springs — ever enduring ice in the mild latitude of thirty-nine degrees, and surrounded by the beauteous verdure of summer*— remains of Indian antiquities — and many other arti- cles. But much minute description our plan will not admit. A notice of some of the curiosities observed in the state of Tennessee, has very recently appeared, in the twelfth volume of the Encyclopaedia America- na; from which we take the liberty to subjoin an ex- tract, as a conclusion to the present chapter. It will serve to mark the character of some of our American antiquities. *' On some spurs of the Cumberland mountains, are marked in solid limestone, the footsteps of men, horses, and other animals, as fresh as if recently made, and as distinct as if impressed upon clay mor- tar. Similar tracks were found in a block of solid limestone quarried on the margin of the Mississippi. Near the southern boundary of the state, are three * Allusion is here had to a mountain in Virginia, on the north side of which, by removing the loose stones to the depth of two or three feet a body of ever enduring ice may be at any time found. 20* 234 LINES OF MEASUREMENT. trees entirely petrified. One is a Cypress, four feet in diameter; one a Sycamore; and the third a Hicko- ry. Prodigious claws, teeth, and bones, of animals, are found near the salines. Some of these bones are perfect, and indicate an animal twenty feet high. A nest of eggs of the wild turkey, have been dug up in a state of petrifaction. Walls of faced stone, and even walled wells, have been found in many places, w^hich are undoubtedly the work of a remote generation. In this state, as well as in Missouri, are ancient burying grounds, where the skeletons seem all to have been pigmies. Even the graves in which the bodies are deposited, are seldom more than two or two and a half feet long, and (yet) the teeth shew that these skeletons are skeletons of adults. Jugs, vases, idols of clay, logs and coal, are dug up from great depths. Beautiful cascades, falling from two hundred to four hundred feet, are seen in many places. On some high and apparently inaccessible rocks, are numerous paintings, the work of remote ages. They consist of figures of the sun, moon, and various animals. Some of the delineations are good, and the colours are as fresh as if recently applied.'" CHAPTER XXVH. LINES OF MEASUREMENT. In presenting the following calculations, strict ac- curacy is not pretended. The measurements are sim- ply taken from the face of a map, presumed to pos- sess a common share of correctness, without regard to the curvatures of the lines of latitude or meridian. They are only offered on the supposition that they may afford some assistance in fixing on the memory LINES OF MEASUREMENT. 235 a general impression of the form and extent of our na- tional territory. For this purpose — if at all useful — ■ they are presumed to be sufficiently correct. A parallel of latitude on the forty-second degree, from near Cape Cod, Massachusetts, passing west, divides between Massachusetts and Connecticut — be- tween New York and Pennsylvania — dissects Lake Erie — crosses the south end of Michigan territory and lake, and the north end of Illinois; and measures to the Mississippi about 1000 miles — to the Missouri river, 1320 miles — to the Rocky mountains, 1950 miles — and to the Pacific ocean, 2900 miles. A parallel of latitude, dividing Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri state and territory, on the north, from North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas, on the south, would measure, from the Atlantic coast to the line of Mexico, 1350 miles. A meridian line run north from Washington city, after crossing Maryland, would touch the Susquehan- na near its passage through the Blue mountain — cross the west branch near Williamsport — dissect New York at Geneva, on the Seneca lake — and enter lake Ontario at a distance from Washington of 320 miles. Running south from Washington, would cross the western peninsula of Maryland near Port Tobacco — leave nearly eighteen counties of Virginia to the east — cross North Carolina near the towns of Windsor and Washington — and enter the ocean westward of Cape Lookout, at a distance from Washington of 300 miles. Whole distance from Ontario to the ocean, 620 miles. V A meridian line from the mouth of the Mississippi to Isle Royal, in lake Superior, would cut ofi' the east side of Mississippi state — the west end of Tennessee — the south-west point of Kentucky — divide Illinois near the middle — and intersect the north-west terri- tory — a course of nearly 1350 miles. A line drawn diagonally, from the mouth of Pas- maquaddy river, on the Bay of Funda, to the mouth of Sabine river, at the south-west point of Louisiana, 236 LINES OF MEASUREMENT. would cut the south coast of Maine — intersect New Hampshire in its south-east quarter— Massachusetts in its north-west — intersect New York above Pough- keepsie — pass near the north-west point of New Jer- sey — intersect Pennsylvania near Harrisburgh — dis- sect Maryland at its narrowest part, at the west end of Washington county — pass from Virginia near its south-west point — dissect Tennessee near the range of the Alleghany mountain — detach a triangular portion of the north-west of Alabama — divide the state of Mississippi diagonally, in nearly equal parts — and cross the river Mississsippi near the mouth of Red river — measuring a distance of nearly 1800 miles. A line drawn diagonally, from the north point of the Union, at the Lake of the Woods, to the southern extremity of Florida, would divide Illinois diagonally, in nearly equal parts — cut off the south-west point of Indiana, and the west end of Kentucky — dissect Ten- nessee near the middle — touch the north-east point of Alabama — divide Georgia — touch the north-east point of the Gulf of Mexico — and dissect Florida — measure- ing a distance of 1850 miles. A line drawn diagonally from Cleaveland, on lake Erie to Cape Hatteras, would cut off the north-east corner of Ohio, the upper part of Brooke county, Virginia, and the south-west corner of Pennsylvania, and cross Virginia near Richmond, measuring 560 miles. 23' CHAPTER XXVIII. EDUCATION. Education is a subject of great importance in a republican community; and the acquirement of a sufficient share, to answer the most desirable pur- poses of citizens in the common walks of life, is less difficult in the United States than in many other countries. As the rising generation, however, are the subjects of it, the duty necessarily devolves upon those in ac- tive stations in manhood, to provide, and adapt, the means, suited to the importance of the occasion. To stimulate us in the exercise of the means, an important principle, implanted in our nature, is a powerful incentive — the principle of natural affec- tion. This prompts us to open the way to our chil- dren, for the acquirement of all desirable advantages in their future manhood, and passage through this life: and education is perceived to contribute largely to their individual rational enjoyments, and to their capacity of usefulness to each other, and to the com- munity at large. In situations where population is dense, schools, for the education of children, are, by the general consent, and very moderate exertions, of the more enlightened and efficient members of the community, easily estab- lished and kept in operation; securing the desired advantages to their own offspring. In those situa- tions then, the principle of natural affection toward our children, is perceived to be sufficient to open the channels of common education, and insure its progress. But even in densely peopled districts, there are generally a portion of the inhabitants who are less fa- 238 EDUCATION. voured than others, with the means of a comfortable subsistence for themselves and their families; by which circumstance their energies may be much re- stricted in their operation. There may be also some, perhaps, who, though very deserving citizens, are less qualified by natural endowments, for the im- provement of the means of independence and comfort which may be presented to them. Others there are, who, taking little thought for the future, indulge themselves in a course of life wherein their natural affections become blunted and inoperative, as respects a provision for the promotion of the future dignity and usefulness of their offspring. Many portions of our country are yet but thinly peopled, and the inhabitants are necessarily subjected to a course of laborious industry, in the clearing and improvement of their grounds, and collecting the de- sired comforts of life around them. Among a scat- tered population thus circumstanced, many difficul- ties are experienced; and however strongly the prin- ciple of natural affection may be felt, inclining them to provide, and duly to apply, the means of a suita- ble education for their children, procrastination and delay, will sometimes interrupt the course approved by their better judgment, till the most proper season may be passed by, and thus their offspiing arrive at manhood, less happily furnished with a good com- mon education, than their natural affections would fondly desire. The most effectual bulwark of a just republican go- vernment, and the most effectual means for the pre- servation of republican liberty, and republican insti- tutions, next to the operation and influence of virtu- ous principles, is believed to be correct general knowledge; derived through the medium of a good education, and the reading and observation to which it opens the way. Uneducated ignorance, on the other hand, may become their most dangerous adversary; when wrought upon and guided by intriguing dema- gogues, who are capable of converting, by their art- EDUCATION. 239 ful deceptions, the subjects of ignorance, into tools of political mischief, and thus making them the blind instruments of the consummation of the basest pur- poses of unbridled ambition, and lust of power. With all these circumstances and contingencies in view, it becomes the care of the philanthropist, the good moralist, and the enlightened citizen, possess- ing means and influence, to devise plans, by which other principles may be brought into operation, to the realizing the designs of education, which natural af- fection, under the various impediments recited, is found to be insufficient to complete. The principles of public virtue and expanded be- nevolence, which lead to the promotion of the ra- tional enjoyment and happiness of each member of the community, and which desire the unimpaired continuance of our excellent republican institutions, prompts these, to place themselves, as it were, in the capacity of heads of the national family; and to vie^v the rising generation without lespect of persons, as children of the communit}', whose education ought to be provided for by liberal public exertions, or by the national care, and by unfailing means, devised upon general principles. Hence, the many more pri- vate plans, devised for the extension of the benefits of education, to families in depressed circumstances, in densely peopled districts. Hence, the establish- ment of rules, in some religious societies, requiring an attention to the education of all the children of their poorer members. Hence, the legislative enact- ments in different states in the Union, for the estab- lishment of schools, for the literary instruction of all the children of their citizens. And hence, the provi- sion made by the general government, on the estab- lishment of new states, by separating a certain pro- portion of the public lands in each new state, to be devoted to the exclusive objects of general education. A good common education is not difficult of attain- ment, when the opportunities are afforded to youth possessing a docile disposition, and a lively desire to 240 EDUCATION. improve. It may perhaps be comprehended under a few heads. 1st. A ready and correct application, by established habit, of the rules of orthography. 2dly. A general knowledge of the grammatical construc- tion of our language. 3dly. The art and habit of reading with correctness, and a graceful ease and fa- cility: by which we may receive pleasure and in- struction ourselves, clearly comprehend the sense of the author, and communicate pleasure, and a clear understanding of the subject, to those who hear us. 4thly. The art and habit of writing a plain, fair, and neat hand; with convenient despatch, for all pur- poses of business, friendship, social intercourse, pri- vate recreation, or an occasional ready record of inte- resting facts and circumstances. And 5thly. A cor- rect knowledge and ready application of a few of the first common rules of arithmetic. By the first and second, we are relieved from any real occasion to blush, at the necessary exposure of any written memorandum of interesting transactions or circumstances. By the third, we are exempted from awkwardness and embarrassment, v/hen occa- sionally called upon to read for the benefit of a com- pany, on private or more public occasions. By the fourth, we are qualified to act with promptitude and pleasure, when circumstances may require us to fulfil the part of recorder of transactions of private parties of business, or of companies, meetings, or associa- tions, of a more public character. By the last, we are enabled to keep a regular correct account of our own daily pecuniary concerns and transactions of bu- siness, as well as intelligibly to follow and under- stand, the calculations exhibited in public documents, or by public speakers. For the attainment of those branches of a good common education, it is highly important that youth should be early taught duly to estimate their value: and become so impressed with a sense of the neces- sity of application, as to use all due diligence in the improvement of the opportunities placed before them. EDUCATION. 241 by the kind affections of their parents, or the benevo- lence of their friends. Spurning from their minds, while associated in schools, all invidious distinctions, between those who are blest with affectionate parents, possessing their own means of affording education to their children, and those who, less favoured, may be kindly provided for by the bounty of their friends. The latter are equally under the care and protec- tion of the universal Parent with the former; and the children of the poor, are often seen to rise into emi- nence and honourable distinction in the community, while the children of the rich, depending too much upon the favoured circumstances of their parents, often fall into habits of indolence, or indulgence in the pleasures of idle diversions, and remain upon the common level, or become degraded by a course of vicious irregularity of conduct, unworthy of the fa- voured citizens of an enlightened republic; where all the just distinctions of rank between man and man, are founded upon demonstrations of intellectual excel- lence, and a consistent course of meritorious conduct. After youth have succeeded, by an industrious use of the means placed in their power, in securing a good common education, there is no room for uneasi- ness or anxiety, should their worldly circumstances seem adverse to a further uninterrupted progress into more extended branches of learning. Having ac- quired this first invaluable prize, there is scarcely a situation in our country to be conceived of, where those disposed to acquire further educational know- ledge, may not, by their own unaided exertions, re- alize much advancement. Books, relating to geography, mathematics, arts, sciences, history, natural philosophy, and all other departments of literary knowledge, exist in abun- dance. From the private study of these, as leisure is afforded from their necessary avocations in life, they may derive rational pleasure, and greatly add to their general stock of useful knowledge; and thus be- come the better prepared, to fill with propriety, such 21 242 EDUCATION. stations in the community, as they may, in 3'ears of manhood, be called upon to occupy. Many, from the ranks of those who have received in their youth only a good common education, have become qualified to fill with dignity, the olFices of ma- gistracy, of legislators in their respective states, and of representatives and senators in Congress: the high- est stations in our government being open to them, according as their real merits may advance them in the public estimation. Individual youths in the common or lower walks of life, who may find their inclination peculiarly di- rected to the pursuit of mathematical studies, or any other particular branch of a more advanced educa- tion, may often, by keeping their laudable objects in view, and using with proper application, the means falling within their private reach, find opportunities of throwing themselves under the notice of those in whose power and inclination it may be, to afford them efficient aid. And to watch the evidences and progress, and promote the useful development of na- tive genius, ought to rank high amongst the rational pleasures of the virtuous and wealthy members of a republican community. Taking a summary view of the subject of education on a broad ground, we should say, that the first step toward the general diffusion of a good common edu- cation, would seem to be, a general peculiar care, to bestow a suitable education upon the female part of the rising society. These, then, beside acquiring an additional interest of character, in connexion with their native loveliness, when they become the heads of rising families, would find a delightful employment of a part of their time, in mingling the first principles of literary instruction with the playful amusements of their infant charges; by which means a knowledge of the first rudiments of education would be secured, and a taste for, and delight in learning implanted, which would be of the highest consequence in their subsequent studies; and EDUCATION, 243 which, in many instances, might be easily extended to a considerable proficiency in the first parts of a s^ood education. In the next place, common schools, under the ma- nagement of judicious and qualified tutors, would be sufficient to complete a good common education: and in many of these, are now embraced higher branches, which were formerly never supposed to belong to them. After these, private boarding schools, embracing a wider range of study, for those who have means and inclination to use them, abound in many p^irts of the community. Beyond these again, the various grades of acade- mies and colleges, for the acquirement of foreign and ancient languages, and instruction in the various de- partments of science, established upon public and more private foundations, are in constant operation, in many states in the Union. And lastly, there are many institutions termed uni- versities, founded in some instances by the benefac- tions of individual liberalitj', but generally, either aided or established, by the authority of the states in which they are located. Thus are opportunities widely difiused for the ac- quirement of education in all the departments of lite- rary knowledge, science, and the learned professions; and open to access by youth whose inclinations may lead them to avail themselves of the opportu- nities presented; and whose parents or friends are fa- voured with the requisite means of gratifying their desires. 244 CHAPTER XXXIX. THE EAGLE MAP. On presenting to the public a map upon the con- struction here imperfectly exhibited, if an apolo2;y be not necessary, perhaps at least, some notice of the origin of the idea, and some of the reflections of the author upon it, may not be misplaced. The first sudden impress of the form of the figure upon his attention, was under a combination of pe- culiar circumstances. A map of the United States happened to hang upon the wall of his apartment, upon which a dim lamp light was reflected. The ef- fect of the light, in the particular position in which it was accidentally placed, seemed, as reflected from the various colourings of the map, to cast a shade over the state of Maine, and to mark a kind of separation between it and the adjoining territory. The close connexion of this state, as, always, under a common view, necessarily combined with the great general ground plan of the Union, he conceives to be the principal reason why the notion of the figure has not before been apprehended. On its first presentation, he was disposed to discard the idea, as merely a sportive play of the imaginar tion, unworthy of notice. The figure, however, once impressed, could not be eflaced from the imagination; but was ever afterward in view when his eye happen- ed to glance on a map, till he was at length induced to give the subject a share of consideration, regarding its possible usefulness and moral bearing. Arguments which presented in favor of construct- ing a map embracing the plan of the figure, appeared conclusive with relation to the youth engaged in the THE EAGLE MAP. 245 study of the geography of our country. Those argu- ments were founded upon an apprehension of the in- creased facility with which lessons may be impressed and retained upon the youthful memory, when the aid of figure, adapted with a tolerable degree of accu- racy to the subject of study, can be resorted to. To this opinion it is presumed teachers in general will readily yield their accord, without further remark upon the questions of Why? or Wherefore? When extending his reflections further, the recollec- tion was of course present, that the figure of the eagle was the figure adopted by our national councils, as our national badge. In this point of view, the coincidence appeared as a circumstance peculiarly striking. A fur- ther singular and surprising coincidence presented it- self, in the circumstance that the bird is placed in a position perfectly correct, with respect to a corres- pondence with the lines of latitude and longitude; no variation from the common principles of constructing maps being required, to place it in a natural position. As the subject has occasionally occupied a further extension of thought, a variety of serious moral reflec- tions have occurred to the mind of the author, in which he is not disposed to anticipate his intelligent readers, who are altogether capable of reflecting for themselves. He will, therefore, under this head, con- tent himself with offering a supposition of a single example, illustrative of the manner in which visible objects, as they stand associated in the mind with ideas of order or deformity, may possibly be more or less productive of moral effects. If, from a selfish, or misguided policy, the citizens of any one state, should propose to separate their in- terests from the interests of the Uiiion, and claim a right to withdraw from the general connexion, the ugly chasm which would be produced by carrying their design into effect, would be aptly represented by supposing a line of separation drawn round the seceding state, and admitting its whole internal de- clinations, and even its very name, to be blotted out 21* 246 THE EAGLE MAP. from the eagle map of the United States, — the signs and notices, of all the delightful alternations of river, mountain, hill, and plain — of cities, the seats of com- merce and refinement — of villages, the abodes of in- dustry and social enjoyment — of the rural residences of friends whom we love — all shrouded, in a shade of gloomy, impenetrable darkness — and then observ- ing the distortion which would be thus effected, in the beautiful figure before us. Thus, might not a moral repugnance be strengthened, against the open or in- sidious attempts, of artful, designing men, who might, for some ignoble or selfish end, be disposed, by de- ceiving their fellow citizens, to attempt a disorganiza- tion of the republic? In the common representations of the eagle as the American ensign, an allusion seems to be generally intended to a martial spirit; and it is therefore repre- sented with an aspect of fierceness, and in an attitude prepared for war. Here, on the contrary, having possession of the whole country, and no enemy to contend with, it is designed to appear as the placid representative of national liberty, and national inde- pendence; with an aspect of beneficent mildness, and in an attitude of peace. It is therefore to be conceived of, as having be- come wearied and disgusted, with the oppressions, perpetual discords, and tyrannizing of power over right, prevailing from age to age in the old world, and as having, in consequence thereof, taken its flight across the western ocean, in search of a resting place; where its administration of equal rights might be duly appreciated and respected. Having arrived at the shores of this western world, and taken its aerial circuits with the continent under review, it appears as though arresting its flight — its wings raised with a graceful, natural, and easy curve, as relinquishing their hold on the buoyant atmosphere —and its feet extended, as in the act of gently settling on the rocks of the Florida reef, to exercise a benign THE EAGLE MAP. 247 presidence over a territory equal to the length and l)readth of its own shadow. Thus it appears as overshadowing the whole ex- tent of the United States and territories, excepting the state of Maine, and the home of the natives in the distant regions of the west. The citizens of Maine, it is presumed, will not be offended at the impossibi- lity of comprehending their department in the Union, within the regular form of the figure, when we assign to it the appellation of the cap of liberty, attached to the eagle's head. The present small map, is supposed to be sufficient, in its internal delineations, to serve the purposes of illwstrating the subjects of the volume which it ac- companies. It may also serve to impart a fair gene- ral idea of the design of the figure. Yet it has not the least pretension to showing a specimen of the elegance, with which the combined circumstances of coincidence of figure, and geographical utility, are capable of being represented. By an enlargement of the scale alone, the proportions of the figure would be presented to the eye, with a general aspect greatly improved. It is contemplated to issue, simultaneously with the present volume, proposals for publishing by sub- scription^ an eagle map of the United States, upon a large and liberal scale; to be executed by the ablest artists in a superior style; and intended to furnish an appropriate ornament, to decorate our halls of legis- lation, judicature, literature, and science, with the library of the retired gentleman, the office of the law- yer, and the retreats of the farmer, manufacturer, and merchant. It is conceived that the ornament would be likely to be viewed with peculiar interest and gra- tification, because of the circumstance of containing, in correct proportion, a representation of our beloved country. In the large map proposed, much of the common minutia will be omitted in the engraving, in order to show the figure with greater advantage and beauty. 248 AGRICULTURE. All the most important items, will, however, be re- tained, and the place of the smaller supplied by a neatly printed and bound accompanying volume of references; so arranged, as to render all the usual pur- poses of a map of the United States complete. In exchange for the omitted minutia, will be engraved, the regions of our different mineral and vegetable pro- ductions, with various other interesting and ornamen- tal delineations, never heretofore presented in similar works. CHAPTER XXX. AGRICULTURE.* Though agriculture may be properly said to stand foremost, amongst the occupations of the citizens of our country, the general subject may not, perhaps, have been viewed with all the importance of consideration, of which its rank amongst the pursuits of the sons of men renders it a proper object. Its discontinuance would cause the fruitful field to become a wilderness; and the luxuriant garden, overspread with brambles, would lose all traces of the cultivator's skill. The wilds of the forest would remain unsubdued; and population, wasting away, before the advances of a * The present chapter, referring principally, but net exclusively, to the pursuitH of agriculture, would seem to have been vjovq appropriate- ly placed in an earlier part of the volume, in a nearei- connexion with the chapters upon manufactures and commerce. But as it has been prevented, by a circumstance wholly accidental, from occupying tliat station, it will stand at present, as the concludhig chapter of the second book; where the reader, if he please, may consider it r^s a summary recapitulation of sentiments, before expressed less plainly, and with less intimate connexion, upon those peculiarly interesting subjects of national concernment. The chapter of legal definitions is transferred to the conclusion of the volume. AGRICULTURE. 249 constantly encroaching solitude, would leave its abodes upon the surface of this beautiful dwelling place of social delights, to become again the dens and ranges of untamed beasts of prey. If we look to the other side of the picture, and be- hold the skilful agriculturist, pursuing his annual course, with a steady, rational, well directed aim, we perceive every season furnishing fresh evidences of the wisdom of his measures, and pouring its rich ad- ditional rewards, into the lap of patient, persevering industry. But, the character of the agriculturist, becomes much more interesting, when we view him as he really is — an agent, acting in co-operation with that supreme Intelligence, which has given life and per- manence, to those invigorating powers of nature, by which alone, the labors of the husbandman are ren- dered effectual. His duty is to prepare the ground, and scatter the seed in due season. Yet, without the influence of the "early or the latter rain," — which are never at his command — the fructifying principle, by which the earth sends forth her golden harvests, must remain inoperative. Whether a controlling Providence may command the operations of nature to proceed according to ge- neral or special laws, it is presumed, it will never be his proper business to inquire; or to determine by his finite powers, the secret causes which sometimes ope- rate, by permission of the Infinite. If blight or mil- dew — '' the drought by day, or the frost by night'^ — be permitted to encroach upon the labors of one sea- son, he has no right to complain. The next, may compensate his patient submission seven fold. Yet is he the most independent of human beings; because all others are dependent upon him. He feeds the idle and the dissipated, who spend their abundance in rioting and reckless waste, regardless of the sources from whence their supplies are derived. He provides for the widow and the fatherless; and the whole civil-, ized world, looks to him as its purveyor. 250 AGRICULTURE. The enlightened agriculturist, may be viewed as a patriarch amongst the people over whom he presides. His cultivated mind, perceives and appreciates, the true principles of a wise and just government. His servants, and the junior members of his famil}^, are appointed their portions of labor with a kind regard to their varied powers, and without oppression. And the animal creation under his dominion, enjoy the sweets and pleasures of their existence, unalloyed by circumstances of careless neglect, or the irregular operations of an inconsiderate caprice. While he feels a rational delight in beholding the expanding bud, and the opening flower — the pledges of his future reward — his grateful mind is raised in sublime contemplation, upon the Great First Cause. The influence of his example, may be seen to spread from field to field, and from district to district, by the improvements which his discriminating judg- ment, and the happy effects of his example have in- troduced; and by a consequent annual enlargement of the means, by which countless multitudes may, upon our national domains, be amply sustained. To those to whom the pursuits of agriculture are must attractive, our country afibrds opportunities be- yond any other region of the earth with which we have any acquaintance. If a young man be disposed to seek, with the selected partner of his life, a habi- tation even in the western wilds, and plant himself in solitude upon some chosen spot where the soil pro- vided for the field of his industry may best accord with his choice, he will soon find the social circle ex- tending itself around him, and every season adding some substantial increase to the comforts and enjoy- ments of his beloved family. His wilderness will soon become a fruitful field; and the lot of his inhe- ritance, presenting the evidences of his well directed industry, will bear no resemblance to the '^garden of the sluggard," '^covered with briers and thorns." But, in a country like ours, having within itself every circumstance, and with few exceptions, every AGRICULTURE. 251 liiaterlal, necessary to our accommodation, and com- plete independence of all other nations, it will never be expected that all our citizens should be agricultu- rists. There will always be found a due proportion, whose genius and inclinations will dispose them to other pursuits, equally honourable, and equally ad- vantageous to the great whole. Thus, while one por- tion of our citizens is engaged as agriculturists, in providing the comforts of the table, for the whole po- pulation, another portion, pursuing the direction of native genius, and acquired skill, will be engaged, with equal industry and honour, as manufacturers, in providing suitable array for the whole. And a third, and a fourth class, in the pursuit of other ob- jects of industr}^, by which the whole may be fur- nished with all other rational accommodations to be desired in a refined society. Other citizens, again, will be found, in sufficient numbers, who, from education and habit, will be qualified to occupy the place of the merchant; to ma- nage the business of exchanges in the community; and to discover the best modes of disposing of the surplus products of the whole national industry; and through whom will be introduced, all articles of fo- reign growth or manufacture, which it may yet be found expedient to import. Thus, may agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, go hand in hand, under a beautiful, well regulated, national system. Some theorists, whose arguments are suited to their own peculiar interests, will tell us, that these are selfish principles ; and that true philanthropy would teach us to employ the poor of other nations, who are suffering for want of bread, as our manufac- turers. But, who can reasonably suppose, that under the general plan of a wise Providence, nations sepa- rated from each other by immense oceans, should ever be intended to depend upon each other for the means of existence? It may be rationally believed, that the produce of the soil, the circumstances, and most judicious modes of employment of the people, 252 AGRICULTURE. of every nation, would, if justly appropriated, and wisely and seasonably directed and administered, be all-sufficient for the comfortable maintenance of its population. If, then, the nations of the old world, distrusting each other's honesty, choose to maintain armies of hundreds of thousands, spending, in worse than use- less idleness, the fruits of the labours of the industrious poor, while they are jealously watching the motions of each other — if the pampered landlord, upon whom the caprice of remote ages, has bestowed the control of immense tracts of the national domain, shall be permitted to devote vast portions of the soil to the exclusive purposes of his own pleasures and amuse- ments, while tens of thousands, who might be com- fortably supported upon them by their own labour, remain the victims of hopeless destitution — if the possessor of millions, which were never acquired by his own industry, shall spend uncounted sums from those millions in voluptuous vanity or in midnight revelling and debauch, regardless of the distresses of those from whom his supplies of food and raiment are derived, and deaf to the cries of their children, suf- fering for want of bread, let the oppressor, in every nation, answer for the wickedness of his own con- duct. It surely cannot be our duty, to go to far dis- tant lands, in quest of objects upon whom to bestow this kind of charity, while many of our own popula- tion would, in consequence, remain unprovided with the means of useful employment, by which to insure their own comfort, and the education of their own offspring. RUDIMENTS OF NATIONAL KNOWLEDGE. BOOK III. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. It is our design to devote this third book to an account, — according to our settled plan of brevity, — of the states and territories, in their several separate capacities. Chapter I. will contain a description of the princi- pal waters of each. In this chapter, those rivers will be noticed, which serve either as partial or more ex- tended channels of navigation, to the states particu- larly interested in them, with some of the principal rivers which are essentially useful, in plans of inter- nal improvement by canals, whiie they serve to fer- tilize and beautify the regions through which they flow. To notice by name, all the noble streams, which may, in some future day, be devoted to the purpose of supplying canals, or which contribute to diffuse the most lively and pleasing interest over a thousand varying landscapes, and scenes of rural beau- ty or romantic grandeur, adorning every state in our Union, would be passing beyond the limits of our present plan. 22 254 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. Chapter II. will be devoted to giving a compara- tive view of the face of the country, soil, agricultural products, manufactures, and trade of each state. In chapter III. will be found notices of the cities, and principal trading and manufacturing towns, show- ing generally, their amount of population, according with the census of 1830. By a view of their re- spective population, an estimate of their comparative size and importance may be generally inferred. In chapter IV. will be exhibited, tables of the counties of each state, with the seats of judicature in each county. Though the plan of arrangement under which the different subjects will be presented may appear un- common, it has been adopted from an apprehension that it will be found to be an improvement upon the method heretofore generally in use. To trace each class of subjects, throughout the states, to its conclu- sion, it has been conceived, will contribute to impress the information designed to be conveyed, with greater efficiency; and that the circumstances of each state, compared with others, will be more clearly compre- hended, and readily retained upon the memory, than when the attention is alternately changed, in quick succession, from one class of subjects to another. If, moreover, it should be at any time desirable to view in connexion, all the information which is given with relation to any particular state, the simplicity of the arrangement is conceived to be such, that the stu- dent, or other reader, can instantly turn to the page on which the desired additional information may be found. If such a course should be often necessary, perhaps an additional advantage would be found to result from the circumstance of the attention becom- ing brightened, and the memory strengthened, by a habit of inquiry, comparison, and research. As students will always have the advantage of a map, while engaged in the study or perusal of the work, it is apprehended, that the boundaries of the INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 255 states, and their geographical bearings from each other, will be more readily and lastingly impressed upon the memory, when the knowledge of them is obtained through their own research and observation upon the map, than by any other means. It is there- fore believed, that it would be an unnecessary exten- sion of the labors of the printer, and at best, a dry, formal compliance with customary forms, to insert them in printed tables. In his descriptions in this book, it has been the study of the author to avoid any considerable repeti- tion of his former observations, where he has treated of any subject or circumstance in a national point of view; and to confine himself principally, to addi- tional items of information, where the same subjects recur. In this volume, it will be observed, that the author has adopted a mode of tracing the states from the north-eastern extremity, as they stand in geographi- cal connexion, till we reach Louisiana; taking next, the six remaining states, upon the Ohio and Missis- sippi, as they most regularly occur in succession. In casual conversation — in mere general inference — and sometimes in public debate — it may be found convenient, without the necessity of referring to any exactly defined boundaries, to express ourselves, with relation to different portions of our Union, by the ge- neral terms, eastern, northern, middle, southern, west- ern, &c. But to divide the states into groups, by lines of exact demarkation, according to the method of mo- dern geographers, is not perceived to be necessary, or tending to any point of usefulness. In the present work, therefore, the plan has been departed from; part- ly from motives of convenience. But a desire has also been predominant to avoid sectional distinctions in general, and to present the Union as one great whole: its parts standing in a mutual relation to, and depend- ance on, each other, for a mutual interchange of be- nefits and kind offices, as a family of brethren, united 256 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. by a common interest, and in possession of a noble* if not an unequalled, common inheritance. From this view of the subject, the method adopted from motives of convenience, receives in the mind of the author additional value; from the tendency it may possibly have, to foreclose the consideration of selfish sectional interests, and counteract the contracted po- licy of sectional preferences and partialities. It appears, however, that our modern geographers are not agreed in the manner of forming their groups. Individual fancy appears to have been the rule by which they have been governed, rather than by any established national agreement, adopted by general consent; some dividing by one set of fanciful crooked lines, and some by others, and perhaps no two of them alike. Some of those arrangements have ap- peared to the author as involving a great degree of awkwardness and geographical absurdity. Were the author disposed to pursue a similar me- thod, he would probably follow the example of his predecessors, by striking out a plan of his own. The six New England states, eastward of New York, he would still call the "eastern states." The remainder he would divide into two departments only — '^northern'* and ''southern." The dividing line he would pro- pose, should be the line, which, with very little irre- gularity, separates Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri state, upon the north, from North Carolina, Tennes- see, and the territory of Arkansa on the south. By this ideal arrangement the portions would be nearly equal, and the necessity of following many awkward zigzag courses would be avoided. It may be further observed, that as the south point of Florida is in latitude twenty-five degrees, and the north point of Maine, as now represented in our maps, and Isle Royal in lake Superior, are each jn latitude forty-eight degrees, the division line pro- posed, being on a parallel of thirty-six degrees, thir- ty minutes, is exactly on a medium between them. Thus would each section embrace exactly an equal WATERS OF THE SEVERAL STATES. 257 range of latitude, and furnish a more rational and pal- pable ground for sectional denominations, derived from a consideration of equal ranges of latitude, ra- ther than a supposed difference of habits and manners of the citizens. Should some future age show an ad- ditional number of states organized in the Missouri territory, it may then become a consideration, whe- ther to denote those west of the Mississippi, including Missouri, as the " western states.'^ r^^^ CHAPTER L WATERS OF THE SEVERAL STATES. Sec. I. MAINE. — The extensive sea coast of Maine is indented with many inlets of the sea, afford- ing numerous harbors, and navigation to short dis- tances. The Penobscot river passes from the north into Penobscot bay, near the middle of the coast. It af- fords a ship navigation to Bangor, fifty-four miles from the head of the bay, which is a beautiful and ex- tensive sheet of water, extending thirty miles from the ocean, and affording many advantages to naviga- tion. The Kennebeck rises in the Moosehead lake, and runs south into the ocean near Wiscasset. Its tides flow to Augusta, forty-two miles, affording naviga- tion for sloops. The Androscoggin enters the state from New Hampshire, in the west, and runs south-easterly, into 22* 25S WATERS OF THE SEVERAL STATES. Kennebeck, at its mouth. Its navigation is short for sea vessels, but much more extensive for boats. The St. Croix river, and Passamaquoddy bay, into which it enters, separate the lower eastern part of the state from the British province of New Bruns- wick; the bay discharging in the bay of Funda. Its tides are not extensive, though they rise to an ama- zing height, sometimes exceeding forty feet. Sec. II. NEW HAMPSHIRE.— The Connecti- cut river is the dividing line between this state and Vermont. It has a navigation by flat boats, by means of canalling, and otherwise improving its different, falls, from hence to the tide. Other rivers of the state, though numerous, are small; passing into Massachu- setts and Maine. The Merrimack intersects the state near the middle, and passing by Concord, continues south into Massachusetts. It then turns north-east- ward, and enters the ocean near Newburyport. But by a canal continued south-east, it has a direct con- nexion with Boston harbor. The state includes a very limited portion of sea coast, at its south-east corner. Sec. hi. VERMONT. — TheConnecticut river se- parates the state from New Hampshire. Lake Cham- plain, on the north-west, separates it from New York, and furnishes the only natural channel of navigation to the ocean, through the St. Lawrence. The want of the use of that channel, is well supplied, for the purposes of a convenient transport, by the northern canal of New York, connecting the lake with the tides of the Hudson. Sec. IV. MASSACHUSETTS.— This state is in- tersected from north to south, in its westerly part, by the Connecticut river, navigable by boats. Its other rivers in the east, are small, affording very lit- tle means of natural inland navigation, but plentiful waters for the supply of canals. Merrimack is the chief. The state is, however, well supplied with con- WATERS OF THE SEVERAL STATES, 259 venient havens, on Massachusetts, Cape Cod, and Buzzard's bays, for the reception and harbor of ship- ping. Sec. v. RHODE ISLAND.— This little state is abundantly watered, by the ocean on its south, and the bay of Naraganset, and its branches intersecting its eastern parts, and extending twenty-eight miles inland, when it receives Providence river five miles below the town. Sec. VI. CONNECTICUT.— Connecticut is in- tersected by three rivers from north to south; all dis- charging in Long Island Sound. Housatonick, in the west — Connecticut near the middle — Thames near the east boundary. The Connecticut is navigable for sloops to about fifty miles inland. The tides of the Tliames extend seventeen miles. The whole south coast of the state bounding on Long Island Sound is by that means well watered. A good boat navigation is extended across the state by means of improvements on Connecticut river. Sec. VII. NEW YORK.— The lakes Erie and On- tario, with their connecting and discharging rivers, bounding the western and northern parts of the state, have been already noticed in our second book. The Hudson river rises in the northern part of the state. Its course, for more than two hundred miles, to the city of New York, is nearly a straight line south. A direct course of such extent, intersect- ing high mountains, is anomalous, as respects the ri- vers of America. Its importance, as a great thorough- fare of trade, is elsewhere noted. The Mohawk is a branch of the Hudson, discharg- ing near Albany. Its sources are near the east end of lake Ontario, and its length one hundred and fifty miles. It is particularly distinguished, as furnishing a site along its border, for the great western canal. 260 WATERS OF THE SEVERAL STATES. On the north-east, dividing the state from Vermont, is the long narrow lake Champlain; much noted in American history, as the scene of many military oc- currences. In the middle and western parts of the state, are many small oblong lakes, of various extent. These communicate with lake Ontario: and the level plain in the upper country, upon which they are situated, being a high table land, they afford at their outlets, and on the streams passing from them, many power- ful waterfalls, adapted to manufacturing purposes. The Genessee river waters a rich country in the western part of the state; crossing it from Pennsylva- nia, and entering Ontario near its middle. The Delaware river, rising in the state, separates it from the north-east of Pennsylvania. The Susquehanna also, takes its rise in New York, passing southward into Pennsylvania. The channel of New York harbour, which sepa- rates the city from Long Island, is called the East river. It is an arm of the sea; and in its passage eastward, expands into a wide water, called Long Island Sound. In its channel, eight miles from New York, is a crooked narrow rocky pass, which is often called Hellgate, its original Dutch name being Horll- gatt, signifying a whirlpool. It is of dangerous na- vigation, except at high water. At this pass, the tides meet from each direction, but press earliest and heaviest from the east; and, at the times of their in- flux, as well as among the rocks at lov*- water, a tur- bulent commotion is presented of awful appearance, and much dreaded by navigators. Yet tliis dangerous pass, has sometimes, on extraordinary occasions, been navigated at high water by large ships, and for steamboats and other small vessels is then per- fectly safe. Sec. VIII. NEW JERSEY.— The river and bay of Delaware, bounds the whole extent of the state, from its north-western point to Cape May. The WATERS OF THE SEVERAL STATES. 261 Hudson on the north-east, separates it from New York. Other rivers are the Raritan, navigable two miles above New Brunswick, and nineteen miles from its discharge into Raritan bay at Amboy. The Hackinsack and Passaick, emptying in Newark bay, and Great and Little Egg Harbour, on the south-east sea coast. Many of the large and small creeks, on both sides of the state, admit the influx of the tides, to some miles inland, and furnish abundant facilities of conveyance, of lumber, fuel, and the products of agriculture and the iron mines, to the markets of New York and Philadelphia, by boats and sloops. Sec. IX. PENNSYLVANIA.— The principal ri- vers of Pennsylvania, east of the Apalachian moun- tains, are the Delaware and Susquehanna, noted in our second book. These have many branches. The Lehigh, connecting with the Delaware at Easton, is a bold, rocky, and rugged stream, presenting many strong rapids, and incapable of much use for boat na- vigation, before the construction of the noble canal, now in operation from the vicinity of the coal mines of Mauch Chunk, to its junction with the Delaware. The Schuylkill, passing on the west side of Phila- delphia, near which is the head of its tide water, is of similar rugged character, but now improved, by slack- water and canal constructions, to near its head, one hundred and eight miles from Philadelphia. Its western branches furnish the means of a connexion, by the Union canal, in full operation, with the wa- ters of the Susquehanna. The branches of the Susquehanna, in the middle and northern counties of the state, are numerous, and several of them are navigable for boats to great distances; besides affording ample means for the ex- tension of canal communication, in various directions: some of which have been heretofore noticed. West of the mountains, the Alleghany river is collected from many heads, rising in the north-west parts of the state, and south-west of New York. 262 WATERS OP THE SEVERAL STATES. The Monongahela is collected in a similar manner, from the south-west of the state and Virginia. These two, uniting at Pittsburgh, form the Ohio. Sec. X. DELAWARE. — Excepting the Dela- ware, separating it from New Jersey, the rivers of this small state, are all of comparatively inconsidera- ble size; though it has many tide creeks, communi- cating with the Delaware, which afford convenient sloop navigation, to some miles inland, and furnish great facilities, for the conveyance of timber, and the products of agriculture, and the extensive northern manufactories, to a choice of markets. George's creek furnishes a channel, connecting with the thorough- fare canal, passing across the peninsula. Sec. XI. MARYLAND.— The rivers on the East- ern Shore of Maryland, are necessarily short. The principal are Elk, Chester, Wye, Choptank, and Po- comoke. Back creek, between Elk and Chester, af- fords a channel of connexion with the canal, which unites the bays of Chesapeak and Delaware, and is therefore, an important navigable stream. The Chesapeak bay and the beautiful Potomac, have been heretofore noticed in our national sketches, Other principal rivers on the western shore, are the Patuxent and the Patapsco. The Susquehanna, entering the state from the north, discharges in the head of Chesapeak bay. The tides pass up it only about five miles, to Port De- posite. Sec. XII. The DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, besides the passage through it of the beautiful Poto- mac, includes a short branch of that river, called East Branch, which affords deep anchorage, and a safe and excellent harbour, for the national vessels, at the public navy yard. Sec. xiii. VIRGINIA.— The Potomac divides the state from Maryland, by its several meandering WATERS OF THE SEVERAL STATES. 263 ind circuitous courses, from its mouth on the Chesa- peak bay, to its fountain head. From the head of its rides, in the District of Columbia, its valley affords a passage for the Chesapeak and Ohio canal, through the Alleghany mountains. James' river rises in the range of the Alleghany mountains, and running eastward, discharges at Hamp- ton roads, near the mouth of Chesapeak bay. It is navigable for small sea vessels to Richmond; by its several windings, nearly one hundred miles inland. Batteaux traverse it two hundred and twenty miles above Richmond into a fine, beautiful, agricultural district. It has numerous branches, navigable to short distances. A south branch, named Appomatox, affords sloop navigation to Petersburgh. York river — fiimous in revolutionary history — is formed from the Pamonky and Mataposny rivers. It affords the means of passing small vessels, thirty-five miles from the junction of those branches, to its dis- charge in the Chesapeak. Its course is between James' river and Rappahannock, and nearly parallel with them. The Rappahannock rises near the Blue mountain, and is navigable from Fredericksburgh to its dis- charge in the Chesapeak — a course of one hundred and ten miles. The Shanandoah is an inland branch of the Poto- mac, which has a north-east course, watering a very fertile and beautiful valley, between the Blue Ridge, and the more western ranges of the Alleghany, to its discharge at Harper's ferry. The Ohio, forms the north-west boundary of the state. The Kenhawa, has its sources among the moon- tains of North Carolina; where it is called New river. Entering Virginia, it passes north-westerly, across the state, and discharges in the Ohio at Point Plea- sant ; receiving in its course through the state the tribute of nine or ten smaller rivers* 264 WATERS OP THE SEVERAL STATES. The Roanoke, rises among the mountains of Vir- ginia, and passes south-easterly into North Carolina. These rivers are all composed of numerous branch- es, by which the state is abundantly watered. Sec. XIV. NORTH CAROLINA. Albemarle Sound is a bay of considerable expansion, passing into the state from the east, to the distance of forty-five miles. It receives from the north numerous branches, navigable to short distances. The principal of these is formed from the small rivers Blackwater, Notta- way, and Meherron, which rise in Virginia. The Roanoke enters the state from Virginia, and discharges in the head of Albemarle Sound. Pamlico Sound is a large basin of the sea, inclosed by the long narrow island, which, by a projecting angle, forms cape Hatteras. Pamlico river is navigable for small sea vessels forty miles, to the town of Washington. Its princi- pal head branch is Tar river. Neuse river rises in the interior of the state, and discharges in Pamlico Sound. It is navigable for sea vessels to Newbern — forty miles. Cape Fear river rises in the northern parts of the state, and discharges in the Atlantic ocean, twenty miles below Wilmington. The Peedee and Santee rivers, pass from the north- ern and western parts of the state, into South Carolina. Sec. XV. SOUTH CAROLINA. The Great Peedee, entering the state from North Carolina, dis- charges in the ocean, a few miles below Georgetown. It receives in its course the Little Peedee, flowing from North Carolina. It is navigable for vessels of sixty tons nearly two hundred miles. The Santee river, entering the state from North Carolina, receives from the west the Congaree, com- posed of several branches, and running south-easterly, enters the ocean near the mouth of Peedee. In North WATERS OF THE SEVERAL STATES. 265 Carolina, it is called the Catawba, and before its junc- tion with the Congaree, it is called the Wateree. The Edisto is a small river, entering the ocean at St. Helena Sound. The Savannah river forms the dividing line be- tween this state and Georgia, in its whole distance from the south-west point of North Carolina. It is navigable for small craft three hundred miles by its windings from Augusta to its mouth. Sec. XVI. GEORGIA.— The Atamaha waters the middle of the state, from near its northern boundary to its discharge in the ocean, near the middle of the south-east coast. Its principal branches are, the Oco- nee and Ocmulgee. The Ogechee runs between the Atamaha and the Savannah, and discharges in the ocean, near the mouth of the latter. The Savannah bounds the state on the side of South Carolina. The Chatahoochee and Flint rivers, unite at the south-west point of the state, and pass through Flo- rida, to the gulf of Mexico, by the name of Apalachi- cola. The Chatahoochee divides the south-west part of the state from Alabama. The upper part of it waters the north-west part of Georgia. Sec. XVII. ALABAMA. — Mobile bay is an ex- panded water, projecting into the south end of the state, from the gulf of Mexico, westward of Florida. The Tombeckbee river, enters the state from the eastern line of Mississippi, and receiving in its course the Black Warrior river, forms a conjunction with the Alabama. When united, they compose the Mo- f)iie river, which discharges in the head of Mobile l>ay. The Coosa is formed of various branches, bearing various names, rising among the terminations of the Alleghany mountains, in the north-west of Georgia, After entering the state, It meanders to the west, and 23 266 WATERS OF THE SEVERAL STATES. afterwards to the south, till at the Hickory Grounds, it receives the Talapoosa. From thence it bears the name of Alabama; which, by a very crooked course, passes southward, till it is joined by the Tombeck- bee, forming the Mobile. The Catahoochee separates the south-east part of the state from Georgia. The north part of the state is intersected by the Tennessee river, which enters the state at its north- east point, and after a very crooked course, return? into Tennessee, at the north-west point of Alabama. Sec. XVIII. MISSISSIPPI.— The great Missis- sippi is the western boundary of the state. The prin- cipal branches, which pass into it after watering the state, are the Yazoo and Black rivers. Pearl river, after watering the middle of the state, becomes the dividing line between it and Louisiana^ discharging into lakes Borgne and Pontchartrain, by several outlets. The Pascagoula is formed of many small rivers, which water the south-east part of the state. Taking a south course, it enters the gulf of Mexico, near lake Borgne. The north-eastern section of the state, is plentifully watered by the Tombeckbee. Sec. XIX. LOUISIANA. ^-Lake Borgne is a large inlet from the gulf of Mexico, in the eastern extre- mity of the state. Lake Pontchartrain, an extensive water, situated north of New Orleans, is connected with lake Borgne by a strait, at the mouth of Pearl river. At its western end it connects by a strait, with the smaller lake Maurepas, which receives Amite river. The southein part of the state, being a flat, marshy country, contains many small lakes, and passages for water, bearing different names. Some of them con- nect with the Mississippi, at great distances from its principal discharge, and serve as outletSj for a part WATERS OF THE SEVERAL STATES. 2G7 of the immense body of water descending its vast channel. The Mississippi bounds the upper part of the state eastward, and passing south-east, enters the gulf of Mexico by many outlets; which appear to have changed their position, with the advances of time, according as the vast alluvial deposites of sediment, descending from the upper country, may have form- ed new embankments, and caused the waters to open for themselves fresh channels. The Sabine river, approaching the state from Mexico, bounds the greater part of its western side to the gulf of Mexico. Red river enters the north-west of the state, from the Arkansas territory; and passing south-east, joins the Mississippi, near the south-west point of the state of Mississippi. The Washita enters the state from the north, and unites with Red river, twenty miles above its mouth. Sec. XX. TENNESSEE.— The Mississippi is the western boundary of the state. Tennessee river rises among the mountains, on the confines of Virginia; and passing south-westerly, be- tween their ridges, enters Alabama. Crossing that state, it returns into Tennessee, and passes northward into Kentucky. Cumberland river enters the state from the south- east of Kentucky, and after a meandering course of nearly two hundred miles, returns into Kentucky, near the egress of the Tennessee. Sec. XXI. KENTUCKY.— Ohio bounds the state on the north, and the Mississippi on the west. The Tennessee and Cumberland rivers cross the state near its western extremity, where they combine with the Ohio. Green river waters the state from its middle parts, and unites with the Ohio, near the south-west con- fines of Indiana, 268 WATERS OF THE SEVERAL STATES. Kentucky and Licking rivers abundantly water the eastern parts of the state, and enter the Ohio — the former at Port William, fifty miles above Louis- ville, and the latter, opposite Cincinnati. T'he branches of the Cumberland river, are spread over the south-east of the state, before it enters Ten- nessee. Sec. XXII. OHIO. — The Ohio river bounds this state on the south, and separates it from Virginia and Kentuck}^ The Muskingum, the Sciota, and the Great Miami, after watering the middle parts of the state, descend into the Ohio — the first at Marietta — the second at Portsmouth, near the middle longitude of the state — and the last, on the line of Indiana. The Maumee, crossing the north-west part of the state, enters lake Erie, through the corner of the Michigan territory. The Cayahoga, a small river, enters lake Erie at Cleaveland. It supplies a part of the line of canal, through the state, southward. Sec. XXIII. INDIANA. — The Ohio is its southern boundary. The Wabash, formed from many streams in the northerly part of the state, takes a south-west direc- tion, to the border of Illinois. From thence, it marks the line between the two states, one hundred and fifty miles, to its junction with the Ohio. The many branches of White river, are distributed over the south section of the state. This river enters the Wabash, fifty miles above its mouth. The northern section of the state, is watered by branches of the Maumee of lake Erie — the St. Jo- seph's of lake Michigan — and streams descending to the Illinois. In the north-west, the state is connect- ed with lake Michigan. WATERS OF THE SEVERAL STATES. 269 Sec. XXIV. ILLINOIS. — The Mississippi is its western boundary, and the Wabash the eastern boun- dary of its lower part. On the south is the Ohio. The Illinois river, by its many branches, waters the north-east, and middle parts of the state, and passing diagonally, enters the Mississippi above the mouth of the Missouri. The north-west of the state is watered by Rock river, and the south-west by Kaskaskia, — tributaries to the Mississippi. The north-east is connected with lake Michigan. Sec. XXV. MISSOURI.— The Mississippi bounds the great extent of its east side; but De Moyen a small part of the north-east. The great Missouri crosses the state near its mid- dle, from the Missouri territory to the Mississippi. The important southern branches of the Missouri, are the Osage, — an extensive river, which enters the state from the west, and unites with the Missouri about the middle of the state — -and the Gasconade, which rises in the Ozack mountains; and running northward, enters the Missouri river eastward of the Osage. The principal branches of the Missouri, which en- ter it from the north, are the Grand river, and the Great and Little Charitan. Sec. xxvi. MICHIGAN TERRITORY.— This territory being nearly enclosed by the large lakes Michigan, Huron, St. Clair, and Erie, its rivers are all, comparatively, short and small. The chief are St. Joseph^s, in the south-west — Grand river, in the west — Ottoway, discharging in Grand Traverse bay, in the north-west — and Saginaw river and bay, in the east. Saginaw bay projects into the territory, from lake Huron, nearly sixty miles. Sec. xxvii. NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY. Mississippi is its western boundary. 23* 270 WATERS OF THE SEVERAL STATES. Wisconson, or Ouisconson river, running from the north to the south-west of the territory, discharges in the Mississippi, at Prairie du Chiens, or Dog Meadow. Chippeway, St. Croix, and Rum rivers, are branches of the Mississippi, discharging more northward, in succession as named: the latter near the falls of St Anthony. St. Louis's river communicates w^ith the west end oi" lake Superior, which bounds much of the north of the territory, and Michigan of the east. Sec. XXVIII. MISSOURI TERRITORY.— The great Missouri, is exceedingly serpentine in its course, running, by its windings, nearly 2000 miles, from the Rocky mountains, till it enters the state of Mis- souri. Its south-western branches, Kongas, Platte, and Yellow Stone, are large, and very extensive, rising in the Rocky mountains. Its most extensive northern branch, is James river, which runs south, crossing five degrees of latitude. The Arkansas, divides between this territory and Mexico, for a great distance, from the Rocky moun- tains eastward. Afterward crossing the territory, it enters the x\rkansas territory, and passes into the Mississippi. De Moyen, and St. Peter's rivers, are branches of the Upper Mississippi; the former discharging at the state of Missouri. Red river, of the north, passes north, from the north-east of the territory into the British dominions. The Columbia river, formed by the junction of Lewis's river and Clarke's river, rising in the Rocky mountains, passes westward into the Pacific ocean. Though we have heretofore treated of this territo- ry, as extending to the Pacific ocean, it appears to be a growing custom with geographers, to denominate the western part, from the Rocky mountains to the Pacific, ^'The Western," or *' Oregon territory." WATERS OF THE SEVERAL STATES. 271 When this name is found in modern authors, its ap- plication may be thus understood. Sec. XXIX. ARKANSAS. — The Arkansas river enters the territory from the north, one hundred and fifty miles west of the state of Missouri, and runnin^:^ south-easterly, four hundred miles, enters the Mis- sissippi, seventy-five miles above the line of Louis- iana. The Canadian river, composed of three large branches, embraces much of the western part, and unites with the Arkansas, near the middle of the territory. White river enters the Mississippi from the north, near the mouth of the Arkansas. Its many, and wide spread branches, water the north-eastern part of the territory. Red river, on the south, separates the territory from Mexico, and passes into Louisiana. The W^ashita waters the south-east section of the territory, till it enters Louisiana. Sec. xxx. TERRITORY OF FLORIDA.— The coasts of Florida, being surrounded on three sides by the Atlantic and gulf of Mexico, are generally flat and level. They are abundantly indented with inlets and bays, extending to short distances inland, which receive numerous small streams. St. John's river rises in the southern part of the territory, and running two hundred miles northward, nearly parallel with the coast, enters the ocean from the north-east of the territory. The Apalachicola crosses the territory from the south-west point of Georgia. 272 CHAPTER II. COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. SECTION I. MAINE. A LARGE proportion of Maine is yet a wilderness but little explored, and therefore is but little known. Its vast forests, where the labors of man have pe- netrated, abound with timber of various names and descriptions; suitable for the purposes of ship build- ing, and for masts, spars, scantling for house build- ing, boards, and general lumber. Many of the in- habitants find a profitable employment in penetra- ting the forests, and converting their products into such forms as their difierent markets require; for which purpose they have many saw mills. Great quantities of their inferior wood are converted into potash. The southern parts of the state, only, have been cleared. The soil and climate are not favorable to the production of wheat. The surface is generally rough and uneven — better adapted to grazing than annual cultivation; though large crops of summer produce are raised. Oats grow luxuriantly, and the potatoe is cultivated in abundance, on their new grounds, with little labor. Many of the people are engaged in the fisheries, and business connected with them. And many others COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. 273 pursuing a sea faring line, are employed in the trade " of conveying the produce of their fisheries, their fo- rests, and their grazing farms, to their various markets; and in extending their commerce largely in the coast- ing trade, as well as more distant enterprises. An important item of export consists in great quantities of lime, which they manufacture from their native lime stone, and send to distant ports secured in tight hogsheads. The amount of shipping owned in the state, is very large, in comparison with its general population. The business of manufacturing is not yet extensive. The air of this most northern state is pure and healthy, though the climate is subject to great extremes of heat and cold. •■?.■. SECTION II. NETV HAMPSHIRE. The northern parts of New Hampshire are rough and mountainous, and except on the high, rocky^ sterile elevations, abounding with timber. This section of the state contains the highest moun- tains east of the Mississippi, under the general name of the White Mountains, though different peaks and elevations bear difierent names. Mount Washington, in Coos county, is the highest; its elevation being 6224 feet above the level of the sea; where the snow lies ten months in the year, and during the remain- ing season, it is generally capped with a dense white fog. Its elevation renders it visible at a great dis- tance at sea, and it is to mariners an important land- mark. The remaining forests furnish the means for an ex- tensive manufacture of potash. The middle parts are hilly, and though in these regions, and in the south, are many fertile and well cultivated tracts, yet the general character of the soil renders it more fit for grazing, than for annual cul- 274 COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. tivation. Hence, dairies, and the raising of cattle, horses, and sheep, are important objects of attention. The state contains mines of iron ore. The produce of these, and of the forests and dairies, furnish the chief articles of export to the industrious and orderly population; except so far as they participate in the iDUsiness of the fisheries; but in these, as they have so little sea coast, and but one port, they are less in- terested than the people of other states. Manufac- tures, however, are becoming a concern of growing importance. sECTioxx III. VERMONT. The state being divided longitudinally, by the Green mountain, into its eastern and western sec- tions, and this elevation being itself rough, and in son:e parts lofty and rugged, extends its character of unevenness to each section, excepting the extreme eastern and western borders. The soil is, however, generally productive, and the cleared grounds are de- voted to agriculture and pasturage, as the character of the different portions indicates to be to the most ad- vantage. The cultivators pay much attention to the raising of horses, cattle, and sheep, for the supply of dis- tant markets, and for the growth of wool; and the feeding of cattle and keeping dairies, are in general, leading objects. The forests remain to be extensive, and abound with valuable timber; and the manufacture of potash is largely pursued. Late discoveries have brought to light iron mines, of the most superior quality; the working of which has become an object of large busi- ness, and of great interest. The state contains very extensive quarries of beautiful marble; which re- ceives the finest polish; and is sent to other parts as an COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. 275 article of trade. Their manufactures of wool and cot- ton, are lively, profitable, and growing; concerns. As in the other New England states, wheat is but little cultivated, except on the western border. Rye, and summer produce generally, are the objects of the farmer's annual attention. From these they feed their fatting cattle, and sustain their families. In the New England states generally, the apple orchard is an object of great interest; and cider, as a luxury, their principal drink: but the climate does not admit of the perfect growth and ripening of the peach. This state having no shipping port, its export trade, except in the stock which travels to market on foot, is conducted either by land transportation, to Boston, Troy, and Albany, or by means of the northern canal of New York, or the flat boat navigation of Con* necticut river. The state, on the whole, is increas- ing in wealth, and is a thriving and prosperous section of the Union; the habits of the population being those of industry and general morality; and the mass of the people well educated in common literature. SECTION IV. MASSACHUSETTS. The surface of this state exhibits great variety. Much of the soil abounds with loose stones, as well as with those of a large size; so firmly fixed in the ground as to present many obstructions to the plough. Of the first, the fiirmers, as in other New England states, build their fences, and the latter render the improved grounds generally, more fit for pasturage than annual cultivation. Agriculture, however, claims an important rank amongst the pursuits of the inha- bitants; and for its encouragement, and for mutual improvement, by a communication of experimental knowledge, societies are formed; and annual exhibi- 276 COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. tions of specimens of jDroduction of live stock, of im- provements in implements, and skill in the operations of husbandry, are instituted. The eastern parts of the state are generally uneven, and in some districts poor and sandy. As we advance westward, the hills increase in height, till in the west- ern section, the surface becomes very mountainous. In the valley of the Connecticut river, however, and in some other districts, the surface is pleasant, the quality of the soil excellent, and the farms highly and profitably cultivated. The timber of the state, crossing its middle from east to west, is observed to be generally dwarfish, and fit for little use, except for a plentiful supply of fuel. Manufactures have become a great and very impor- tant object of pursuit, and are efficiently conducted, upon an extensive scale, in different establishments, in many parts of the state, both in the east and in the west. Of these, those of cotton, and wool, are per- haps the most prominent. Other branches are never- theless numerous. Amongst them we number crown and common window glass; machine, and hand cards; machinery of various kinds; leather, nails, shoes, straw hats, and a great variety of other articles. The raising of sheep, for their supplies of wool, is an object of great interest in the New England states generally. The subject of general education, claims a remarka- ble share of attention; and their common schools are established and systematized by law. There is rare- ly to be found a member of the community, who is not sufficiently taught in school literature, for the com- mon purposes of life. Scholars of a higher grade are numerous; and the publishers of books appear to be emulous of excelling, in their number and fitness of productions, designed for the moral instruction of children and youth. COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. 277 SECTION V. RHODE ISLAND. The people of this state partake of the general cha- racter of the other New England states, with respect to industry and moral habits. Though the state is the smallest in the Union its surface is diversified — the islands, and parts of the coast, being very fertile, and very beautiful and well cultivated, and the north- ern parts hilly. The state is famed for the large quantity, and good quality of its cheese; which is an important article of export. Its manufactures, particularly of cotton goods, are very extensively conducted; and have been the source of wealth to individuals engaged in them. Here, the first regular enterprises, in this branch of business, were conducted; which required a long time of pa- tient, industrious, and economical perseverance, in acquiring the skill and experience necessary to arrive at perfection. The production of cotton goods continues here to take the lead of other states. But in speaking of the amount of the various productions of the state, we must be understood as having a reference to its small surface, and comparative amount of population. SECTION VI. CONNECTICUT. Connecticut contains an ingenious, frugal, and in- dustrious population. These traits of character, com- bined with a general regularity of moral conduct, have ensured them a competent portion of wealth. The surface of the state in general is rough and un- even, and much of it stony and difficult of tillage. — Agriculture is, nevertheless, pursued to profitable ef- fect; and products, commonly called garden vegeta- bles, are raised to a surprising amount per acre, and 24 278 COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. find a profitable market in other states; particularly for the supply of vessels going to sea. The raising of sheep for the growth of w^ool and for the markets, and grazing and the keeping of dairies for the ma- nufacture of cheese, employ a great proportion of their lands which are the least fitted for annual cul- ture. The north-western part of the state is mountainous, and very rough. The valley of Connecticut river is, however, of a soil so rich, productive, and easy of cul- tivation, and its different portions so desirable, as to have been styled the garden of New England. Before the settlement of the west of New York, and the states north-west of the Ohio, Connecticut was famed for producing the finest cattle seen upon the meadows of Pennsylvania, to which they were often brought. The people are very enterprising; and notwith- standing they conduct comparatively a limited foreign trade from their own ports, they possess a large in- terest, and furnish many seamen, in the vessels trading from New York. Their manufactures of cotton, wool, and iron, are in an advanced and prosperous state. Much of the produce of these is exported: beside a valuable ag- gregate of a great variety of manufactures of minor consideration. The propagation of the silk worm has been attend- ed to in the state with great success; and the quantity of raw silk now exported annually, is of astonishing amount, considering the lateness of its introduction. SECTION VII. NEW YORK. The eastern section of this state may be termed, in some parts, mountainous. The Blue mountain enters the state from New Jersey, and other ridges rise COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. 279 nearer the Hudson. In the passage up the river, these are called " the Highlands.'^ The Catskill mountain, of comparatively great ele- vation, is intersected by the Hudson river, near the city of Hudson. The perpendicular cliffs, rugged pro- jections, and overhanging promontories, of the rocks on either shore, present to voyagers on the river, a succession of views highly romantic, and sublimely picturesque. From the appearance of the severed parts, it may easily be imagined that the mountain has, by some great convulsion, or by the accumulated force of water, at some remote period, pressing above for a vent, been rent to its foundation. And so com- plete has been the effect, that a passage is opened for a free influx of the tides of the ocean, one hundred and twenty miles distant, in a deep channel, naviga- ble for large ships. On the summits of the mountain, are erected houses of entertainment, for those who, disgusted with a city confinement, are seeking a summer recreation, or who travel for health, and the pleasure of viewing the diversified scenes, presented in the different regions of our favored land. These houses are approached by circuitous passages cut in the side of the mountain, forming a spiral or zigzag ascent. And from these retreats, the visitor is sometimes gratified by observing the play of the vivid lightning, and the hues of the deeply tinted rainbow, on the upper surface of the clouds, spread out as an expanded lake below him. Though some districts under cultivation in this quarter are rou^h, and very stony, and difficult of tillage, the soil is productive in grass; which fur- nishes the requisite support for extensive dairies. The north-eastern section of the state partakes of the general character of the states eastward of it; but in the vicinity of the east end of Lake Ontario, are extensive tracts of surpassing richness of soil, and vegetable productions. 280 COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. The western parts are generally agreeably level; the western canal, in one instance, passing more than sixty miles on a level elevated plain, without a lock. The soil of this western region, is of the character of first rate land; easy of tillage, and very productive in wheat, corn, natural and artificial grasses, fruit, and other species of summer produce. Great and constantly increasing quantities of wheat, are annual- ly brought to New York, either in grain, or manu- factured. Pork, beef, and other produce, are in similar proportions; and numerous herds of cattle and sheep are driven to a market, amongst the gra- ziers of Pennsylvania. Many portions of this country having been quite lately brought into cultivation, though now densely peopled, and adorned with neat, and even many ele- gant houses, with large barns, and other substantial improvements, present the singular appearance of the stumps of the heavy native forests, thickly set over the surface of the farms, and in the streets of po- pulous towns. Great quantities of lumber and staves are brought down the canal. Manhattan and Long Islands, contain the garden grounds for the supply of the city of New York. The latter is divided into three counties. Kings, Queens, and Suffolk, which are productive in grain, and the common articles of vegetable culture; and the eastern parts of the island produce an abundant growth of wood, for the purposes of fuel. They sup- ply much of the consumption of the city of New York. The inhabitants are compensated for any want of fertility in the sandy unproductive districts, by the variety of excellent sea fish, taken at all seasons of the year, on the coasts of the island. The constant supply of those fish in the New York markets, is pro- verbial. Staten Island, which of itself composes the county of Richmond, is hilly and moderately productive. In the northern section of the state, near lake Champlain, late discoveries have brought to light an COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. 281 abundant supply of excellent iron ore; the reducing of which into castings and bar iron, has become a great, growing, and profitable business. Other parts of the state are not remarkable for metallic sub- stances. The salt mines of Salina, in the west, are very rich, and furnish large quantities of salt from the ma- nufactories. The hydraulic cement is of late disco- very, on the line of the western canal. It is a kind of lime, which forms a strong impenetrable cement under water; and has been of great importance in li- ning the bottoms and sides of canals, where they pass over porous grounds, or rocky places, otherwise very difficult to secure from leaking. Common lime stone is plentiful on the Hudson, and excellent buildins: and paving stone, on its shores, near the city. The characteristic pursuits of the citizens of the state, are divided in fair proportion, between agricul- ture, manufactures, and commerce. The manufacture of flour holds a conspicuous rank among them; the many waterfalls near the Hudson, and on the west- ern waters, furnishing ample propelling power. The manufacture of cotton and woollen fabrics, pa- per, and many other products of mechanical skill, are great and growing concerns, as well in the newly set- tled as older parts. The manufacture of glass is conducted upon a large scale, in the noi'th of the state near lake Champlain. The construction of every kind of machinery, in brass, iron, and wood, for the use of the home manu- facturers, and for other purposes in distant parts, is conducted in various large establishments, in differ- ent parts of the state. The large amount of shipping furnishes employment to many hundreds, in the ma- nufacture of iron work, cordage, and every article necessary to the commercial interest, beside those employed in the construction of ships. The cities, and many towns of the state, are emi- nently commercial. Some of the merchants, in cities 24* 282 COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. and towns far distant from the ocean, have themselves become importers. And the citizens of several of the towns on the Hudson, are engaged in the distant whale fisheries. SECTION VIII. NEW JERSEY. The Blue mountain ranges along the north-western quarter of New Jersey, to its intersection by the river Delaware. The northern part of the state is general- ly hilly, and some portions of it rough and stony, though cultivated to advantage. Other portions are pleasantly undulating and fertile. In some of the northern parts are found rich level tracts, which are wet, by reason of their flatness. These are generally capable of being converted into profitable meadow and grazing grounds, by an exten- sive plan of draining. The timber in the north is not luxuriant, though presenting much variety. The southern half of the state composes a part of the alluvial district, noted in a chapter of our second book. It presents a great variety of soil; almost every county having large portions of rich meadow and arable land, as well as larger tracts of sandy soil, covered with pitch pine, and other timber of inferior growth. Those pine forests are sufficiently extensive and dense, to afford a refuge and places of breeding, for a considerable number of the native deer; which have continued there from the first settlement: the inter- vening cultivated portions of this state and Pennsyl- vania, cutting off their retreat to the northern moun- tains. These are objects of the assiduous pursuit of the huntsman, every autumn, and good venison is a common treat upon the tables of the iron masters, whose dwellings are embosomed within those forests. A few also, of the common black bears find there a refuge; making occasional excursions to the culti- COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. 283 vated grounds. A few years ago, a waggish carter, having heard of the natural fondness of this animal for honey, took it into his head, to turn the circum- stance to his own advantage. Being engaged in cart- ing wood from the forests, to a neighbouring landing, in time of a light snow, he observed the track of a bear cross his road, where it appeared to have fre- quently passed and re-passed. Having procured an earthen vessel, he put into it a quantity of honey, in- timately mingled with as much whiskey as he sup- posed would produce intoxication. Placing his pot among the bushes, in the way of the track, at some distance from the road, he examined it from time to time as he passed. At length, on a visit to his pot, he found it emptied, and the poor creature sprawling upon the ground beside it, in as pitiable a state of helpless drunkenness, as is common to see any de- graded animal in human form; unable to do any thing but utter a piteous whining cry. In this state he hoisted the creature into his wagon, drove to the next town, and sold him before he had time to reco- ver. Being chained by his purchaser, he soon sub- mitted to restraint, and became domesticated. In the sandy parts, but little cultivation is attempt- ed, except in the neighbourhood of the tides on the sea coast. On the torpid tide creeks and rivers, is much marshy ground, some of which is of a deep rich soil. On the side of the state next the Delaware, much of the land is very productive, and being of easy til- lage, is a desirable farming district. In the pine district are numerous tracts of wet ground, covered with white cedar. These swamps are in consequence very valuable. The soil of the poorer land is remarkably adapted to the rapid growth of many species of forest trees, which become ripe at an early age, and moderate stature, and from which, by repeated cutting, immense quantities of wood, in the form of fuel, have annually contributed to the 284 COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. comfort and important accommodation of the neigh- bouring cities. Wheat, rye, corn, oats, and buckwheat, and natH- ral and artificial grasses, with lumber of cedar and pine, are the staple vegetable productions of New Jersey. The state is famed for the superior quality of its hams, pork, and lard; and for the abundance of its cheese; for the production of which large dairies are maintained. In the neighbourhood of Philadel- phia, the abundance and excellence of culinary vege- tables, peaches, and melons, cultivated for the supply of the city markets, are proverbial. The state contains extensive deposites of iron ore; in the north, of a stony form, and in the south, granu- lated or earthy. Furnaces for working it are numer- ous; and the quality of the metal is excellent for the manufacture of castings. Lime stone is found in some of the northern counties. In the alluvial district, a marine substance is im- bedded, at various depths below the surface, which has been found to operate as a valuable manui'e. Extensive manufactures of cotton and woollen goods, are in operation, and annually rising in impor- tance. The manufactures of pig and bar iron, and castings, comprise a very important item of the wealth of the state. Other species of manufacture are nume- rous. Many establishments for the manufacture of glass, have long been conducted with success. And paper-mills are large and successfully in operation. The internal commerce of the state is lively and very active, but its export trade passes generally through Philadelphia and New York. The channels of trade, by artificial thoroughfares, are subjects of lively interest. The northern parts are intersected by two canals, to connect the coal re- gions of Pennsylvania with the markets of New York; and in the middle, a canal and rail-road are forming, for the purposes of travelling, and a general thorough- fare route of trade, by inland transportation, between the east and the south. COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. 285 Section ix. PENNSYLVANIA. The surface of Pennsylvania is greatly diversified. The fertile agricultural districts, may be included un- der the terms level, undulating, and hilly, according as those different characters alternately prevail. The mountainous districts, occupied by the different ridges and spurs of the great Apalachian chain, engross much of the middle and southern portions of the state. From about its middle latitude, on its eastern boun- dary, upon the Delaware, they take their general di- rection south-westerly, till they pass off, across the narrow western counties of Maryland, into Virginia. The different ridges of the mountainous chain, take the names of the Blue Mountain, the Tuscarora, the Alleghany, Laurel Hill, and Chesnut Ridge, as they succeed each other westward; having other ridges of less elevation intervening. They embrace within their precincts, either whol- ly, or to a greater or less extent, the counties of Northampton, Schuylkill, Dauphin, Union, Perry, Mifflin, Huntington, Bedford, Cambria, and Somer- set, with portions of the adjoining counties, on the south-east, on the north, and on the west. Between them are many beautiful valleys, and ex- tensive tracts, composing ranges of large townships, which have been many years under cultivation; rich, fertile, and well improved: and many parts of the lands termed mountainous, are subjected to, or capable of, an easy and profitable cultivation. Where these tracts remain uncultivated, they are clothed with valuable timber, of great variety. The heights of the mountains, though presenting here and there, fine level, or gently declining land- scapes, adorned with substantial improvements, and springs of purest water, and exhibiting distant pros- pects grandly picturesque, are generally of a rough 286 COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. and rugged surface; and some of them, either formed of stupendous, craggy rocks and precipices, or com- posed of immense piles of loose stones, and sterile, to a degree forbidding all future cultivation: though bearing in many parts, a burden of forest growth, which would seem to be inaccessible, by any profita- ble efforts of human labour. Asa compensation for their sterility, the mountain- ous districts, contain in diflerent positions, mineral treasures of incalculable value. In them are found the vast deposites of anthracite coal. These, occupy the country upon the eastern waters of the Susque- hanna, and upon the Schuylkill and the Lehigh; ex- tending north of the mountains, till they approach the Delaware. Upon the western waters of the Sus- quehanna, bituminous coal, of superior quality, pre- vails to a great extent; re-appearing in the western counties, upon the branches of the Ohio. In various sections of the mountainous region, as w^ell as in the adjoining counties, south, north, and west, mines of iron ore are so numerous and exten- sive, as to be supposed to be equal to all our national wants, for many ages. The metal of some of those ores, particularly near the middle of the state, is found to possess qualities of very uncommon excel- lence, for the manufacture of steel, and for the finest purposes to which iron can be applied. The forges and furnaces for the manufacture of iron in those counties, amount to nearly two hundred and fifty. Many counties contain unbounded quantities of the best lime stone. Hydraulic cement is plentiful in some districts; and marble, of various beautiful shades, prevails on the Schuylkill, near Philadelphia. The south-eastern section of the state, including the counties of Bucks, Montgomery, Philadelphia, Delaware, Chester, Lancaster, York, Adams, Frank- lin, and Cumberland, and parts of Northampton, Le- high, Berks, and Lebanon, comprises an extensive agricultural district; a large proportion of which is land of first quality; generally in a state of cultiva- COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. 287 tion highly productive; as well as furnished with buildings and improvements, neat, commodious, and handsome, and of the most substantial construction. The western counties partake of the same charac- ters of soil; and, according to the date of their settle- ment, the same style of progressive improvement. The northern ranges of the state, from east to west, are of later settlement, and in many parts, yet remain in the state of original forests, clothed with heavy burdens of timber. Extensive portions of them are rich, and favourable to productive cultivation; and present highly valuable inducements, to persons dis- posed to seek new homes, where lands are very cheap, and the advantages of an easy transport of produce are promised, by the great plans of internal improvement, conducting to maturity, under the au- thority of the state. Wheat, rye, corn, oats, barley, and natural and artificial grasses, are prevalent objects of the Pennsyl- vania agriculturist's attention; though many other species of vegetable culture, claim their share, accord- ing to their respective value. But, as the soil and situ- ations, so are the pursuits of the farmers diversified. The breeding of valuable horses, and the raising and fatting of cattle, sheep, and swine, are objects of their general care. Immense quantities of wool are raised in the western counties. The manufacture of butter is an art well understood, and claiming great atten- tion. The markets of Philadelphia, and occasionally, those of the cities of the neighbouring states, are abun- dantly supplied with the finest beef, from the rich al- luvial meadows of the Delaware, and the surrounding highly cultivated districts. As Pennsylvania is emphatically an agricultural, so it is extensively and eminently a manufacturing state: its products of mechanical skill being greatly diversi- fied. To present a complete enumeration, would be unentertaining— suffice it to say, we must hold in re- quisition for such an effort, the articles of wool, cot- ton, iron, copper, brass, marble, wood, leather, silk, S88 COMPARATIVE VIEWS OP THE STATES. and paper, in almost every form to which they are severally applicable. In the manufactures of the state many millions are embarked. A manufactory of porcelain has been established in Philadelphia, pro- mising great perfection. The cut and plain glass of Pittsburgh, is far famed, and glass is produced in other parts to large amounts. The manufactures of many species of edge tools, in some establishments, far exceed in perfection similar articles of foreign im- portation. The construction of ships, steamboats, steam engines, and machinery in general, furnishes employment to many hundreds of the citizens. The manufacture of flour is extended into every cultivated neighbourhood, and flour-mills are very numerous. Many establishments are devoted to the manufac- ture of paper and pasteboards, and their produce is of great amount. The manufacture of salt is conducted to a great extent in some of the western counties. The commercial character of the state has been no- ticed in our views of its eastern and western empori- ums. In trade, the inland towns participate in their several proportions, according to situations and cir- cumstances. From our account of the products of agricultural, and manufacturing industry, the articles of export trade may be inferred. But to these must be added, the products of the forests in lumber of every form, of the limestone and freestone quarries, and the large and constantly increasing amounts of mineral coal. SECTION X. DELAWARE. The northern part of the state is undulating, or pleasantly diversified with hill and dale; affording many situations capable of, or already adorned with, neat and handsome improvements. The soil varies in quality, from first, to second and third rates. COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. 289 The southern parts are generally level, and those bordering upon the tide waters, though mostly rich, and capable of being converted into profitable mea- dow and grazing grounds, are, where this purpose has not been effected, marshy, and unhealthy in the au- tumnal seasons. Some of the more elevated parts are poor, and others of a fine productive soil, easy ot culti- vation, and capable of a high degree of improvement. The state is not known to contain any remarkable native mineral treasures, of sufficient importance to attract general notice, except that in the southern part of the state, iron bog ore is in a considerable degree prevalent, and one furnace has been some years in operation. i -a Some of the southern low grounds, abound witli heavy and very valuable timber. In New Castle county, manufacturing industry is carried to a high point of consideration. The coun- ty is intersected by a number of fine streams, enter- ing it from Pennsylvania. These furnish sites for flour-mills and manufactories, which are mostly well improved. The Brandywine, entering the county from the north, and passing the city of Wilmington, is a powerful stream, which affords, by its numerous falls, many sites for manufacturing establishments, which are generally occupied. The principal manufactures, beside flour, are cot- ton and woollen goods, paper and gunpowder, and the establishments for these, are upon an extensive scale and of high character. Leather is, in Wil- mington, a product of importance. In the state as a whole, agriculture is the prevail- ing pursuit, and wheat and corn the staple products, Wilmington maintains a considerable trade with the neighbouring counties of Pennsylvania and Mary- land, and its markets are well supplied. The export trade generally passes through Philadelphia. Beside the articles already mentioned, the state furnishes large quantities of bark, for the tanners of Phila- delphia. 25 290 C03IPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES* SECTION XI. MARYLAND. On the side next Virginia, the state being bounded by the river Potomac, is described according to the courses of the river, by a very irregular line. The upper part of the river approaches so near to the line of Pennsylvania in two different points, as to give the state at those points, a breadth of only four or five miles, but expanding to a greater breadth, at the western extremity. The state being divided into two parts, by the pas- sage of the Susquehanna and Chesapeak, from north to south, the division bordering on the state of Dela- ware is called the ^' Eastern Shore/^ and the oppo- site side of the bay the ^'Western Shore.'' No mountains appear in Maryland, except the ridges of the Apalachian chain, crossing its narrow western part into Virginia. The surface of the Eastern Shore is generally level. Some parts of Cecil county, bordering on the Sus- quehanna, form an exception. In the south of this shore, a sandy or mixed soil prevails, some parts of which are naturally rich, and very productive, but the mode of farming, practised from the early settle- ment, has prevented a general improvement, propor- tioned to the advantages of soil and situation. Small tide creeks and rivers abounding, the shores of them are flat, and often unduly wet. From this circum- stance, and the occurrence in some parts of swampy ponds, the climate is often unhealthy in autumn. On the Western Shore, except upon the flat alJuviai grounds, on the bay side, the country presents gene- rally, a pleasing variety of elevation and depression. Though there are in this section, some tracts cold, gravelly, and sterile, the general character of several counties is of a medium natural quality, with por- tions of first rate land intermixed. In the north of Baltimore, and in Frederic counties, lime stone is COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. 291 abundant; and here the lands are first quality, and very productive. The chief productions by cultivation are wheat, corn, and tobacco. The climate is remarkably favor- able to their growth, and in some districts on both shores, wheat is much cultivated, furnishing large sup- plies to the flour-mills of Baltimore. The principle mineral product of the state is iron, which has been manufactured to a considerable ex- tent, in several parts distant from each other, from north-east to south-west; though at present it is less an object of pursuit in consequence of the partial ex- haustion of fuel, which, in a large proportion of the state, is scarce, owing to the mode and circumstances of cultivation. A quarry of marble has been opened on the Poto- mac, which appears to be composed of pebbles, of a great variety of forms and hues, cemented together in solid masses, by some natural process. When dressed and polished, it presents a very beautiful surface, though of very singular appearance. Masses of beau- tiful white marble abound in the lime stone regions of Baltimore county; from which the supply was ob- tained, for the construction of the Washington monu- ment, erected in the northern part of the city. Though agriculture is the leading pursuit of the in- habitants of Maryland generally, yet manufactures and commerce sustain a very lively interest, and are each conducted with spirit and enterprise becoming their importance, where situations and circumstances conspire to render their pursuit desirable, or promise reasonable success. Flour is the most important arti- cle of domestic export from the market of Baltimore, and generally sustains a high character. Baltimore is styled the best market of tobacco in the Union. 292 COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. SECTION XII. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. The principal external features of this small terri- tory, will be inferred from the twelfth section of the next chapter. The quality of its soil exhibits consi- derable variety. There are some small portions on the side of Maryland which may be termed first rate land. The soil, however, in general, on this side, is of various textures of land of inferior quality. — Some parts are poor and gravelly, but the eastern section is light, level, inclining to sand, and of a tex- ture capable of improvement by the aid of the means derivable from all cities, into luxuriantly productive grounds, for gardening, and the culture of vegetable products of many kinds, necessary for the supply of a city. On the Virginia side of the river, the lands in general are of unpromising appearance and quality, except a tract of some extent contiguous to Alexan- dria, which is of a quality capable of improvement to a state of highly profitable culture. SECTION XIII. VIRGINIA. The several ridges of the great Apalachian chain of mountains, present a broad belt of country, across the middle of Virginia, as they enter from Maryland and Pennsylvania on the north, and pass off into North Carolina and Tennessee, at the south-west. Between these different ridges, are a number of extensive, beautiful, and very fruitful valleys. The Shanandoah valley is famed for its luxuriant growth of wheat, corn, and the common minor productions of agriculture; and the valley of the south branch of Potomac, is remarked, as well for its adaptation to those articles, as for grazing and feeding numerous COMPARATIVE VIEWS OP THE STATES. 293 herds of the finest cattle, for the markets of the cities north-eastward from it. In the north-western section, a part of the country upon the waters of the Kenhawa river, and streams northward, though the soil is rich, and the plains pleasant, a rough surface of a hilly or mountainous character, prevails in general. On the east of the mountains, is a range of country highly favorable to agricultural pursuits, and much of it very fertile; the prevalence of lime stone, particu- larly in the northern counties, contributing to its fer- tility. On the tide waters, and along the eastern coast for a great breadth, the sandy alluvial, district presents itself. Though the river bottoms are in many places luxuriantly rich, of easy cultivation, and produce large crops of corn and tobacco, yet those bottoms are comparatively narrow; and the intervening coun- try in general either of a medium, or a poor open soil; which having been long under cultivation, with little effort to improve it, or to preserve its ancient propor- tion of fruitfulness, is represented by its own inhabit- ants, to have become unproductive, and the display of former magnificence, in the style of its lordly man- sions, much declining, and presenting unquestionable signs of depreciation. Two of the eastern counties, Northampton and Ac- comack, are separated from the main body, by the bay of Chesapeak. They occupy the eastern Mary- land peninsula, from its point at cape Charles, to the mouth of the Pocomoke river, at the thirty-eighth degree of latitude. The pursuits of the great mass of the inhabitants of Virginia are agricultural, and their leading objects wheat, corn, and tobacco. Of latter years, however, the culture of cotton has divided the attention of the southern section of the state, and might probably be advantageously extended. The native forests are a mixture of many species of timber similar to the northern adjoining states. 25* 294 COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. It has been lately discovered, that the region of gold extends across the state from North Carolina., and the business of collecting the metal is pursued with avidity; the deposites in some particular situa- tions being so rich, as to afford results highly profita- ble. In other parts, the indications are more decep- tive; tempting the adventurer on in long pursuit, with inadequate compensation — common circum- stances in the more southern parts of the gold mining region. Some of the iron mines of Virginia are very rich, and have been largely wrought. The bituminous coal mines near Richmond have long furnished a large part of the export^ trade from that city. The salt springs on the waters of the Kanhawa, near the Ohio, are very strongly impregnated, and the manufacture of salt, conducted on a large and profitable scale, to the amount of many thousands of bushels annually. The manufacture of flour is efficiently conducted,, in a number of noted establishments in different parts. Other manufactures, though in successful operation in some parts, are not in general much advanced, except as family concerns, for domestic purposes. The export trade of the state from the Atlantic ports, is principally in flour, grain, tobacco, and cot- ton. Virginia hams are, however, in high repute, in the markets of other states. SECTION XIV. NORTH CAROLINA. The coast of North Carolina for sixty miles in- land, is of the district heretofore mentioned as appa- rently alluvial. A range of long narrow islands and sand bars, lines the whole extent of the sea coast, ex- cept as they are occasionally severed by an inlet, or the discharge of a river. The inlets are generally COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. 295 shallow; which renders the navigation difficult for sea vessels. Rich rice grounds prevail along the rivers, and in some other situations; but generally in the alluvial district, the soil is sandy, poor, and dry, and covered in its natural state with pitch pine, much of which grows to a large size. Hence the scattered inhabit- ants employ themselves in the manufacture of pine boards, and in extracting the sap of the timber, in the form of tar, turpentine, and rosin, which together form a large proportion of the exports of the state. As we advance to the upper countr}^, the soil is greatly improved, and grain and cotton flourish. Here is presented a beautiful country. In the valleys among the mountains, in the western extremity, the land is rich, the timber in great variety and luxu- riance, and the climate in the whole upland and western regions of the state, being mild, pleasant, and healthy, a residence is rendered agreeable. The products of agriculture are rice in the low moist lands, and cotton, corn, wheat, and tobacco, in the uplands. The raising of cattle was formerly a favorite object, and many were driven to a market in the states northward. Swine also, are bred in abun- dance. As the winters are generally very mild, but little provision for live stock is required, beyond what they can themselves procure, in their woodland ranges. The accidental discovery in the western part, about thirty years ago, of a mass of gold nearly in a pure state, of the value of 2500 or 3000 dollars, induced a further search, till discoveries gradually succeeded each other across the whole state. The search for gold became extensive, and treasure, amounting to many thousands, if not to millions, has been ac- quired. Though the results of the labors of adventurers are often precarious, and occasionally involve them in severe losses, by reason of not collecting a sufficient quantity of the precious particles to pay expenses, 296 COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. still gold, — the idol of the covetous, and the desire of the poor, — retains sufficient charms to urge on to new adventures: and a large remuneration for the labor of to-day, is stimulus sufficient to excite to avidity of pursuit to-morrow, and the day following, if not many days in succession; till, as in a lottery, a rare prize is at length obtained, or disappointment and chagrin are found to be the eventual reward. In the western regions iron ore is found in many places. In the south-east of Virginia, and north-east of this state, a few miles from the ocean, is a body of flat wet land, amounting to many thousands of acres, called the Dismal Swamp. On this swamp, is a vast body of white cedar, which furnishes an important article of export from each state, but particularly from North Carolina, in the form of shingles and staves. In the Dismal Swamp the denseness of the thick set forest, and the deep cavities filled with water, — always occurring in cedar swamps, — render the access to a choice of timber difficult. The swamp has, how- ever, been latterly penetrated, and a pass opened through it by a canal from Elizabeth river, near Nor- folk, to the w^aters of Albemarle sound; which is of great service for conveying the produce from the heart of the forest. The dark fastnesses of this forest remain to be places of refuge for some of the native wild beasts. The wolf and the bear find there a safe retreat, where human daring will rarely follow them. Manufactures of a domestic character occupy the attention of the farmer's family, for the clothing of its members. The exports of the state, are chiefly rice, cotton, and tobacco; with shingles, boards, tar, rosin, and turpentine. COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. 297 SECTION XV. SOUTH CAROLINA. The higher and lower grounds of this state are of a character similar to those of North Carolina. Rice is the object of culture in the low rich river bottoms, and lands fitted for natural or artificial inundations. Cotton is abundantly produced in the plain coun- try, beyond the poor sandy range. The exports of this article have been some years ago, of great annual value. Hence, the merchants of Charleston enjoyed a large share of prosperity, and the planter received an abundant reward. The highly fertile soil of the new lands of Alaba- ma, Mississippi, and Louisiana, have, however, con- tributed much to reduce the value of the crops of South Carolina. Their abundant production, with a less proportionate amount of labor, have largely con- tributed to fill and overstock the markets, and there- by reduce the price; to the serious disappointment and chagrin of some of the planters of this state; who had long lived in splendor, enjoying a kind of mono- poly of the market. The^ir splendid habits of living, and liberality of expenditures, being thus restrained, after having become habitual, occasions their reverses to be the more keenly felt, and the more difficult for them to reconcile. The northern part of the state being but little broken by mountains, except in the extreme north- west, is a rich, healthy, and beautiful country of plea- sant cultivation; and inhabited by an industrious, and in general a contented population. Many of these occupy plantations ©f moderate size, and divide their labors between the culture of cotton, for exportation, and grain, for the sustenance of themselves and their families. Cotton and rice are the great articles of export. 29S COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. SECTION XVI. GEORGIA. The general characteristics of the surface of Geor- gia resemble those of the Carolinas. The rich rice bot- toms are extensive, and very productive. The pine lands of the southern section are also extensive and generally poor. They serve, however, by burning the undergrowths ever}^ year, to supply the inhabitants with pasture ranges and hunting grounds. The cul- ture of the sugar cane has been latterly introduced into the richer parts of the south, and affords a fair profit to the cultivators. The climate is unfavorable to the apple, but peaches grow and ripen in luxuriant perfection, and grapes and figs are abundant in every section, as are oranges in the south. In the middle and northern parts, the soil is pro- ductive, and much of it rich. Cotton is here the prime object of culture for exportation; though the raising of grain for the support of the population, is generally attended to. The plantations are here of a moderate size, and are managed with more care, con- venience, and general cont^itment, than is common with estates which are spread over a vast surface, and require hundreds of laborers. On common farms, where the companies of slaves are sm.all, and the masters treat them kindly, and themselves and sons participate with them in the labors of the plantation, to every ten acres cultivated in cotton, it is necessary to devote about eight acres to the raising of grain, for the support of the general family. In those smaller establishments,* under such a sys- tem of rural economy, the labors of the plantation generally go on with more harmony and rational en- joyment than in districts either on the continent or in the islands of America where the gangs of slaves are very large, and are held to their labors by the con- stant presence of hard hearted drivers, while the COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. 299 families of the lordly masters are supported in idle- ness and extravagant dissipation. The climate of the northern parts of Georgia is soft, mild, healthy, and very agreeable. Some of the most desirable parts have been but latterly settled, and considerable portions of the now broken native forests still remain. Here the wild turkey, the deer, and other species of native game, continue to range in profuse numbers. A section of the north-west corner of the state is occupied by spurs and fragments of the terminations of the great chain of the Apalachian mountains; and the gold region is found to extend into the northern parts from North Carolina. The soil of some parts of the state is adapted to the culture of indigo, which was formerly much raised and manufactured, till its culture was superseded by the more profitable growth of cotton. Cotton, rice, and sugars, are at present the chief exports. The north-western section to a considerable extent is still owned by the Clierokee nation of Indians; who have made considerable advances in the arts of civilized life, but who seem to be gradually removing to some distant region, west of the Mississippi, where they are persuaded to believe they may maintain their national character, and enjoy greater advan- tages than in their present situation, surrounded by the white population. The vilest characters among the frontier whites, after committing crimes or trespasses, against the laws of society, are wont to seek a refuge from jus- tice among this people; and there become the agents of disorder and riot, to the scourge of the more or- derly portions of the frontier society, and to the great tiisadvantage, and injury to the morals, of such of the natives as are not yet established in the principles of order and civilized government. 300 COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. SECTION XVII. ALABAMA AND MISSISSIPPI. So great similarity is found in the surface, soil, cli- mate, productions, and date of settlement, of these two states, that they will be included in one section. They are composed of a vast body of very rich land, and are yet but thinly peopled, in comparison with states of older settlement. The northern parts partake of a character rather mountainous. The west- ern part of Mississippi, composes a part of the valley of the Mississippi river. The sugar cane has been latterly introduced, and has become a very prominent article of culture; di- viding with cotton, the agricultural labours of those states. From the exuberant richness of the soil, the crops of the latter are very profuse. The principal supplies of food for the inhabitants, are brought from the states of older settlement, north- ward. The horses and mules used in their agricul- tural labours, are also derived from northern settle- ments. The middle and northern parts of these states, are generally sufficiently elevated and undulating, to ren- der the climate healthy and agreeable. The south being mostly composed of rich level flats, is more at- tended with diseases. The exports are of course from the articles named — sugars and cotton. The greater proportion of these, find their way to market through New Orleans; though a considerable portion of the export trade of Alabama, passes through Mobile. Large tracts of these states, have been till lately, owned and occupied by the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations of Indians, and portions of the tribes yet remain. COMPARATIVE VIEWS OP THE STATES. 301 SECTION XVIII. LOUISIANA. Louisiana is generally low and level, and for many miles from the gulf of Mexico, is a continued morass; intersected by numerous channels, which serve to dis- charge portions of the waters of the great river. In parts further distant from the gulf, swamps and small stagnant lakes are prevalent. The firm grounds are luxuriantly fertile; and pro- duce rich returns in sugars and cotton, for the labour bestowed upon them. A large proportion of the state is composed of rich natural meadows, which feed vast herds of cattle, requiring no special provision for the winter, on account of its tropical mildness. Tropical fruits, of various kinds, grow to perfec- tion, as winter, in many seasons, is scarcely known by frost or snow. These, when seen, are generally slight, and of short continuance. On account of the flatness of the country, the abounding of swamps and stagnant waters, and the annual decay of great burdens of vegetable growths, the climate is rendered very unhealthy; particularly to those who migrate from more northern latitudes. The exports of the state, in its own staple produc- tions are great, but vastly augmented by the amount of produce descending the river, from the more north- ern states. Its dependance is chiefly upon the upper country for flour, grain, and other articles of upland growth; as well as for the machinery necessary for sugar works. Large quantities of the implements of husbandry are sometimes imported from Philadelphia and other places. A great proportion of the population are descend- ants of the former emigrants from France; the inha- bitants who first planted the colony under that go- vernment; and a dialect of the French language, re- mains to be in common use with many of them. 26 302 COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. . SECTION XIX. TENNESSEE. It is common to consider this state as divided into east and west; the line of division being marked by the Cumberland mountains. The different ridges of the Apalachian chain, passing obliquely across East Tennessee, give to the surface the general character of mountainous roughness, or unevenness. West Ten- nessee has also various mountainous elevations, and in many parts an uneven surface, though much more level than the east of the state. Except on the rough mountain ridges, the soil is generally fertile, and favourable to cultivation. Two noble rivers, the Cumberland and Tennessee, pass- ing through the state, the lands in their vicinity are remarked for richness. The climate is healthy, mild, and pleasant, for re- sidence. It is adapted to the culture of the wheat of the north, and the cotton of the south. Corn, hemp, flax, and tobacco, are also of ample growth. Grazing, and the breeding of horses and cattle, are with some of the people, favourite and profitable pursuits. Iron ore is in some parts plentiful, and the manu- facture of iron carried to a considerable extent. Other manufactures in general, are mostly of a domestic character. The trade with the neighbouring states, in the ai'- ticles produced in this, is very considerable; though its insulated situation, is unfavourable to a direct ex- port to foreign parts. The large burden of export products is borne upon the fine rivers Cumberland and Tennessee, to the Mississippi, and thence to New Orleans. These rivers afford a very extensive steam and flat boat navigation. COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. 303 SECTION XX. KENTUCKY. The climate of Kentucky is mild, and generally healthy. It is separated from Virginia by Sandy river on the north-east, and by the Cumberland mountain on the south-east. Several spurs of this mountain enter the state, and render the south-eastern extremity rough. In general, the state in its differ- ent parts, is hilly, uneven, or pleasantly undulating, but in some parts are found considerable tracts of prairie. The largest of these being nearly one hun- dred miles in extent is now adorned with a beautiful growth of young timber, not yet arisen to a height and thickness of foliage to suppress the former de- lightful covering of grass, and the most beautiful flowering plants; which continue to spread forth their rich luxuriance of mingled colours through the warm and temperate seasons; thus exhibiting the character- istics of a delightful botanic garden upon a magnifi- cently extended scale. The common character of the soil is that of first rate land; of so great fertility as to have been on its early settlement, proverbial for its astonishing pro- duce. It is remarkably adapted to the growth of wheat, corn, tobacco, and hemp; all of which have been extensively cultivated: and the culture of cot- ton, though yet but partially attempted, might be made a profitable pursuit. The breeding of horses, cattle, and swine, and the feeding of pork, are important objects of the farmer's care; and are articles of extensive trade with other states. The spirit of manufacturing has been much ex- cited, and the practical pursuit of various branches, forms an active business. In the eastern section of the state, the manufacture of salt, from the saline springs, is advantageously and largely pursued. 304 COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. Mineral coal is found in various situations near the Ohio; and iron is a mineral of the state. Much pro- duce is raised for distant markets. The heavy arti- cles generally passing down the Mississippi to New Orleans. The country is abundantly watered, by rivers and smaller streams; yet the bowels of the earth being in some parts rocky, and abounding with caverns and hollow crevices, as is common in lime stone regions, the waters in summer, seem often to be so much ab- sorbed as in seasons tending to dryness to leave the surface in want of sufficient moisture, and render their mill seats of less permanent value. The beds of the rivers are very deep; in some places from one thousand to fifteen hundred feet below the upper level of the country, and a fifth part of this depth inclosed on each side with perpendicular walls of solid lime stone. '^:^- SECTION XXI. OHIO, INDIANA AND ILLINOIS. The three states north-west of the Ohio river — Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois — are, in their general cha- racter and circumstances, of so great similarity, that, to treat of them in the present instance separately, would probably subject the author to the charge of tedious repetition. They range in the same latitude — enjoy a general similarity of climate — are composed of one extended tract — organized upon similar principles — and peo- pled from the same regions, under one general plan of survey and settlement. They are laid out in sections of one mile square, equal to six hundred and forty acres — by lines at right angles, coinciding with the lines of latitude and longitude. Of these sections, purchasers under the COMPARATIVE VIEWS OP THE STATES. 305 government take a whole, a half, or a quarter, ac- cording to their means or inclination. There are no mountainous districts within them. The south-eastern parts of Ohio, and a part of the south of Indiana, are hilly. The whole remaining country, though in common partaking of gentle un- dulations, may, in a general description, be properly termed a level country. In many instances, the plains — covered in their native state, with forest trees of great height and circumference — are very extensive. Throughout the three states, though the soil will admit of some distinctive grades of quality, the coun- try is, as a whole, exceedingly rich and fertile. In the hilly parts of Ohio, though some of the hills are of considerable height, and hill and dale are alter- nated in quick succession, the summits are rounded, and of ascent sufficiently easy for cultivation; and are remarkable for being equal, if not superior, in quality of soil, and in productiveness, to the valleys. Ohio contains some tracts of prairie plains. In In- diana they are more numerous, and more extended. In Illinois they compose a considerable proportion of the state. The exuberant richness of some of them, and the manner of their cultivation, have been no- ticed in our second book. Chapter IV. In his description of the soil, the author would not be understood to mean, that the agriculturist will ne- ver be under the necessity of adopting the common modes practised in other districts, to sustain it in a state equally productive with the time of its early cultivation; though in much of the country it is so deep, as to induce the belief, that many years, of a constant judicious succession of crops, would be re- quired, to operate any very visible change. Wheat, corn, grasses, hemp, tobacco, and in gene- ral every species of vegetable culture, successful in similar latitudes eastward, are suited to the soil and climate of these states, and afford abundant production. 26* 306 COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. It must be observed, however, that in their north- ern regions, swamps and small shallow lakes are nu- merous. In their vicinity the lands are too wet and flat for a profitable cultivation. Beside the products of a common course of agri- culture, horses, cattle, sheep, and swine, are bred in abundance; many of which are driven eastward, to various markets, and great quantities of pork, lard, and ham.s, are sent to New Orleans, and to eastern markets by other routes. The amount of flour, grain, and other heavy produce, descending the rivers to Nev/ Orleans, is greatly increasing annually. Manufacturing in Ohio, appears to keep pace with the progress of population and general improvement; and some of the most beautiful broadcloths made in the Union, are produced by the manufacturers of the state. The hilly region of the state is found, as the western counties of Pennsylvania, to be peculiarly adapted to the breeding, and healthy preservation, of the merino, and other varieties of sheep, and large flocks are maintained. The progress of population and cultivation west- ward, is proportioned to the distance from the old states, from whence the tide of emigration flowed. Thus Ohio is, on the whole, much fuller in popula- tion, and further advanced in general improvement than Indiana, and Illinois proportionally less. The denseness of the forests, where they are but very partially reduced, and the thick shade of the tall heavy timber, by which the rays of the sun are ex- cluded, are supposed to have an efiecton the climate, rendering it less favourable to the general health of the inhabitants, than where the country has become more opened. The north-west corner of Illinois, falls within the region of the lead mines of the Mississippi, which are here very rich and easily wrought. No other metallic mineral substances, yet discovered, are of suflicient amount and importance to demand notice in this place. Salt springs have been discovered in the COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. 307 "^south-east of Ohio; and some of them have furnished manufactories of salt to a considerable amount. On Saline river, in Illinois, similar springs are found, from which salt is very extensively and cheaply manufactured. Coal is discoverable in some parts in the banks of the Ohio. The channels of the rivers and large streams, are generally deep; and the banks inclosing them bold and steep. Many of the streams, as noticed in Ken- tucky, become much reduced in summer, which ren- ders them less to be depended upon for manufactur- ing purposes, than in other states eastward. The plans of canalling projected, and in a rapid course of completion, in Ohio, are very extensive. They include a design to open a thoroughfare through the state, from lake Erie to the river Ohio; and by their various courses, are calculated to accommodate a very large proportion of the community with easy means of transport, in either direction, as conveni- ence may dictate. Though they are of much easier construction than similar w^orks in some other states, on account of the absence of mountains, and precipi- tous rocky passes, the designs are bold and liberal, and indicate a high tone of public spirit. The whole aggregate extent of the several canals already under- taken, and to a large extent completed, falls little short of 375 miles. SECTION XXII. MISSOURI. Missouri, the only state which is wholly on the west of the Mississippi, is different in wSome of its fea- tures and circumstances, from all the other states. The Ozark mountains, entering it from the south- west, render large tracts in that quarter rugged and inhospitable. A great proportion of the state is com- posed of high prairie plains, which, though inter- 308 COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. sected by large rivers, are much in want of small re- freshing streams. Timber is insufficient in quantity, for the purposes of an extensive population, and the prevalent species are of very inferior quality. The soil, however, in the vicinity of the rivers, and in the northern prairies, where cultivation can be the most advantageously pursued, is rich and very pro- ductive, and the prairies afford plentiful pastures and ample range for great numbers of cattle. The climate, though sometimes serene, temperate, and pleasant, is on the whole fickle and variable, and the changes of temperature sudden and great. The large proportion of surface exposed to the sun, occa- sions the atmosphere to be dry and healthy, except when interrupted by those sudden changes. In the south, bordering on the Mississippi, is a very extensive tract of marshy ground, abounding in lakes: and inundations from the river, in times of high water, are very extensive and prevalent. Agriculture is the general business of the inhabit- ants, in cultivated districts, and is capable of produ- cing large profits in many articles. ' But the princi- pal source of export profit is, from working the lead mines; except when, from the metal being so plen- tiful, and easily obtained, the market becomes glut- ted, and sales at the most reduced prices cannot be effected. At Herculaneum, on the border of the Mississippi, are extensive shot factories: the perpendicular preci- pice of the river bank, occurring at that place, serv- ing in the place of towers. High elevations are ne- cessary, that the melted metal, let fall from them in drops, may have sufficient time in its descent, to acquire forms perfectly globular. The grains of shot would otherwise be oblong and ill shaped. COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. 30& SECTION XXIII. MICHIGAN TERRITORY. The southern part of the Michigan territory has generally a very fine fertile soil — pleasantly level and easy of cultivation. It may be considered in character as identified with the adjoining states of Ohio and Indiana; producing plentifully of the differ- ent species of vegetable culture comm-on in them. The climate is said to be more mild and equable, than in other parts of equal latitude; and the circum- stances of the country on the whole, appear so desira- ble, that population is rapidly increasing, by emigra- tions; not only from the rougher parts of New Eng- land, but from other fruitful districts near to it. The northern parts are not so much settled, and must be supposed to be of a colder temperature in winter. The North-western and Missouri territories having comparatively but few white settlements, seem to re- quire but little notice as relates to the objects of the present chapter. SECTION XXIV. ARKANSAS TERRITORY. This territory is but little advanced in cultivation, though the population is sufficient to maintain a terri- torial government. On the Mississippi, the ground is marshy, but further inland the soil is rich and pro- ductive. Much of the west is occupied by the rough, sterile, Ozark mountains. In summer, the streams fail, and a surface in some of the plains impregnated with salt, communicates an unpleasant brackishness to the waters. Trade and manufactures are not in a state to require present notice. 310 COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. SECTION XXV. FLORIDA. Florida, being chiefly surrounded with ocean, presents very little elevated ground, except that in the peninsular parts is a ridge of lime stone of some elevation, and of great extent from north. to south. Much of the country is either composed of swamps and marshes, or of a poor, open, sandy soil, partially clothed with pines. Along the alluvial river bottoms, in some parts, the soil is very rich and fertile. Hence some of the best cultivated estates are narrow, and far extended in length. Population is scattered and thin. In the pine forests, however, are many tracts of rising or elevated ground of greater or less extent, which compose some of the best lands in the territo- ry. And in some other elevated parts, large heavy timber abounds in great variety. The majestic ap- pearance of the forests, and the beautiful display of rich colors upon the flowering shrubbery, are, in va- rious portions of the country, objects of very pleasing attraction. So also are the majestic magnolia trees, which rise to the height of one hundred feet in a strait branchless trunk, and present at the head a rich, deep green foliage, forming a cone, and intermingled with very broad white flowers. The profitable agricultural products to which the better portions of the country are adapted, are sugar, coffee, cotton, rice, indigo, and tobacco. The western section, which, while in possession of the Spanish government, formed a separate province, is in some parts highly fruitful and inviting. The climate is mild, and frosts are scarcely ever known. The region is therefore a region of tropical fruits and vegetables, which are cultivated in per- fection. The territory is remarkable for the growth of a pe- culiar kind of evergreen oak, called live oak, of most COMPARATIVE VIEWS OF THE STATES. 311 singular solidity and durability. In the construction of ships it is said to so far outlast every other species of oak, as to render it of great and manifold value. It is held as the property of the government, and pro- tected against depredation at the national expense. The torpid rivers abound with fish and with alliga- tors, and their reedy banks, and at some seasons their surfaces, swarm with various species of wild fowl. 7'^^ CHAPTER III. CITIES AND CHIEF TOWNS IN THE SEVERAL STATES. SECTION I. MAINE. Portland, with a population of 12,600, is seated on a peninsula in an inlet of the sea, called Casco bay, in the south-west section. Its situation is beautiful and healthy, and its harbor one of the best in the Union. It is much the most populous town in the state, and its chief station of commerce. It is hand- somely planned and its style of building convenient and elegant. Its commercial operations are lively and extensive; and conducted with eminent ability and enterprise. Wiscasset is at the head of an inlet called Sheepscot river, near the mouth of the Kennebeck. Castine is a pleasant town upon a promontory on the east side of Penobscot bay, near the middle of the sea coast. Population, 1155. It is furnished with 312 CITIES AND CHIEF TOWNS an excellent and capacious harbor, and enjoys con- siderable trade. Eastport is the frontier port, adjoining the British dominions. It is seated at the south-east corner of the state, upon the bay of Funda. Population 2450. Bangor, on Penobscot river, fifty-two miles from the ocean, has the advantage of a navigation for ves- sels of three or four hundred tons. 2886 inhabitants. Augusta, the capital, has a sloop navigation on the tides of the Kennebeck, thirty-five miles from the sea. Its population nearly 4000. Kennebunk is on the coast of the south-west of the state, with a population of 2763. Bath is or Sheepscot bay, or Kennebeck river near its mouth, opposite Wiscassett. Inhabitants 3770. Belfast, at the head of Penobscot bay, opposite Castine, numbers a population of above 3000. Hallowell, a wealthy and flourishing town at the head of tide water, on Kennebeck river. The general export trade, from the towns of this state, is in the produce of its vastly extensive forests, in the form of masts, spars, staves, and lumber, in great variety, and in the produce of the fisheries, in which the inhabitants are extensively engaged. The soil is remarkably adapted to the growth of the pota- to, which is cultivated to a great extent, and is often an item of export, to supply deficiencies in other states upon the sea coast. SECTION II. NEW HAMPSHIRE. Concord, the capital, is an inland town, of 3727 inhabitants, on the Merrimack river, near the middle longitude of the state. It has a considerable trade in inland produce, which it carries on with Boston, by means of the Merrimack canal. IN THE SEVERAL STATES. 313 Portsmouth, is on a small bay projecting from the ocean, on the south-west confines of Maine. It is the largest town and only sea port in the state, its population being 8082. Its shipping, and mercantile intercourse with other parts are extensive. Dover, a town of 5450 inhabitants, is the oldest town in the state, dating in 1623. It is twelve miles north of Portsmouth, on the line of Maine. It stands upon the river Piscataqua, and the Cochecho passes through it, having a perpendicular fall of forty feet, affording abundant water, with a power seldom equal- led, which is occupied to great advantage by exten- sive manufactories of iron and cotton. The export trade of this state will admit of the same general description as that of Maine, with the addition of a greater proportion of manufactured cot- ton and woollen goods. SECTION III. VERMONT. MoNTPELiER, the capital, is situated east of the Green mountain, near the middle of the state. Its population is nearly ISOO. Windsor, is on the Connecticut river, near the mid- dle latitude. Its inhabitants number above 3100. Burlington, on lake Champlain, has a population of above 3500. Rutland, west of the mountain, in the middle part, maintain 2750 inhabitants. Middlebury, near the middle latitude, bordering on New York, numbers nearly 3500 people. Bennington, with a population of 3400, is in the south-west corner of the state, near the New York line. Vermont, having no sea ports, none of its towns are large. Burlington, though on the lake opening a passage to the St. Lawrence, cannot partake of that natural channel, Agriculture and manufactures, 21 314 CITIES AND CHIEF TOWNS being the chief pursuits of the inhabitants, its towns partake of those characters, according as circum- stances govern. Burlington and Middlebury are seats of public colleges. SECTION IV. MASSACHUSET^rS. Boston, the capital city, has a population of 61,392. Its situation has been described in our second book. Being one of the oldest towns in the Union, the older parts of its ground plan partake of the taste of those days of simplicity and suffering, when the pre- sent advanced state of the arts and general improve- ment, were perhaps not even conceived of in the visions of the imagination. The streets are, therefore, somewhat confined, narrow, and irregular. Much of the present city, however, is upon a more modern ground plan; which occupies handsome emi- nences, of easy ascent; where the streets are spacious, and the buildings exhibit much modern elegance and taste, with a very pleasing variety. The city is adorned with many public buildings, devoted to various uses, and contributing much to establish a character of public spirit in the citizens. Its principal inhabitants combine in character the traits of industry, commercial and manufacturing en- terprise, correct moral principles, and hospitality to strangers. Salem, the next in population, numbers nearly 14,000 inhabitants. Its seat is upon the sea coast, fifteen miles north-east from Boston. It maintains a very lively coasting and foreign trade, and pos- sesses a large interest in sea vessels, which extend its traffic to distant oceans and ports upon the European and Asiatic continents. Newburyport, is a thriving trading town, at the mouth of the Merrimack river, near the north-east IN THE SEVERAL STATES. 315 point of the state. Its population numbers nearly 6400. New Bedford, is upon an inlet from Buzzard's bay, upon the southern sea coast. Its population amounts to about 7600. The interest of the inhabitants is very extensive in the distant and neighbouring fisheries; and the leading articles of their trade, are the produce of the whale, the seal, and the fisheries of Newfound- land, and the New England coast. The town has been for some years rapidly increasing, its population appearing to have advanced fifty per cent in the last ten years. Charlestown, on the north-east of Boston, is sepa- rated from it by only an arm of the bay. It partici- pates in the general pursuits of its neighbours. Its population rises above 8700. Cambridge, four miles to the north-west of Boston, and numbering above 6000 inhabitants, is famed as the seat of Harvard University, — the oldest public collegiate establishment in the Union, founded in 1638. Marblehead, numbering a population of 5150, is seated very near to Salem, participating in the lively trade of the country. Lynn, with a population of above 6100, is a town principally devoted to the manufacture of shoes; which find their way into almost every part of the Union. Lowel, is a manufacturing town of great activity, which has but latterly risen into eminence. Its in- habitants vvere numbered in ISSO at 6474, but are now rated at 10,000. Sherburne, is a sea port on the island of Nantucket, situated in the ocean, ninety miles south-westward from Boston. The island forms a separate county of the state. The population amounts to 7200, who are almost wholly engaged in the concerns of the distant whale and seal fisheries, and the trade connected with then!. 316 CITIES AND CHIEF TOWNS Many other towns of Massachusetts are compara- tively large, neat, and very respectable; the inha- bitants being extensively engaged in the concerns of agriculture and manufacturing. The custom of the country, from its first settlement, has congregated the inhabitants generally in towns, while their farms are seated in the country round about them. Hence the term ^Uown" comprehends in New England the same import with the term '' township" or *' hun- dred,'^ in many other states. Many of the towns will be named as the seats of judicature, in our tabular views of the counties of the state. SECTION V. RHODE ISLAND. Newport, is situated in Rhode Island proper, on Newport bay, reputed to be one of the best harbors in the Union, directly bordering on the ocean. It has been much superseded in trade by other sea ports. The site of the town is very handsome, the climate agreeable, and the air healthy. Its population amounts to 8000. It claims an early date among our colonial settlements. Providence, is much the largest town in the state, having a population of 16,800 in 1830, which is sup- posed to have increased 3000 in two years since. It is seated on a good navigation, upon Providence river, five miles above the head of Naragansett bay. It maintains a very brisk trade, and constantly transmits to other parts extensive shipments of the produce of the thriving manufacturies in its vicinity. The state being the smallest in the Union, its other principal towns are but few. Scituate has 6850, War- wick 5500, Smithfield 4000, South Kingston 3660, Bristol 3054, and North Kingston 3036 inhabitants. IN THE SEVERAL STATES. 317 SECTION VI. CONNECTICUT. Hartford, is seated on the tide water of Connec- ticut river, fifty miles from its discharge in Long Island sound. Its population amounts to nearly 9800. It is surrounded by a beautiful, fertile country, and its commerce is flourishing. It accommodates, alter- nately with New Haven, the sittings of the legisla- ture- New Haven, the largest town in the state, has a population of 10,678. It is seated on a projection of Long Island sound, in the south-western quarter of the state. New London, upon Thames river, three miles from its mouth, in the south-east of the state, numbers 4350 inhabitants. Middletown, is on the west side of Connecticut river, nineteen miles below Hartford, with a popula- tion of about 6900. The trade of these towns is principally confined to an intercourse with other states of the Union; New York, from its commanding situation, and many su- perior advantages, superseding the necessity, and limiting the prospect of benefit from distant enter- prises in any other place on the same portion of coast. The exports of Connecticut, are chiefly the products of its thriving manufactories of cotton and woollen goods, and iron wares, and its extensive dai- ries, together with a great variety of manufactures, and agricultural productions of minor consideration. Raw silk, however, has become a very important and profitable item among its export articles. 27* 318 CITIES AND CHIEF TOWNS SECTION VII. NEW YORK. As the state of New York numbers the greatest population of any state, so the city has attained the rank of the most populous city in the Union. Its in- habitants amounting to 203,000. Its situation, and its circumstances as a commercial einporium, have been described in our second book. The city corporation includes the whole island of Manhattan. The length of the island is variously stated by different authors, at from eight to fifteen miles. It is from two to three miles wide, between the Hudson and East rivers. It is separated from the northern main land by a narrow channel called Haer- lem river, crossed by bridges. The dense population extends from the south point, between two and three miles north, occupying the whole breadth of the island. The oldest part of the city, having been built by the early Dutch settlers, their houses appear to have been placed according to individual fancy, without any regular design; and the streets have been permitted to remain in the same irregular order. Hence, they pass in angles to each other, of almost every measure and direction; some of them being very narrow and (•oiifined, others short, and irregular in breadth, and others very crooked and circuitous. In this part, strangers are easily confused and brought into diffi- culty, to find their way to the desired point. The modern inhabitants, however, finding them- selves obliged to make the best of their predecessors want of taste and foresight, have adorned many of those narrow and irregular streets, with lofty and spacious stores and warehouses, and with elegant mansions, and structures occupied by banks, and public offices. The modern parts of the city, which comprehend its much larger proportion, are laid out with regu- IN THE SEVERAL STATES. 319 larity, and great convenience. Broadway is a spaci- ous and elegantly improved street, passing northward, along the ridge of a handsome elevation, in a direct continuous line, near the middle of the ground plan of the city: the cross streets, taking their departure from it on each hand, where older arrangements will permit. The lower western part owes its present re- gularity to an extensive fire, which destroyed that part of the ancient city, in the time of the commo- tions of the revolution. From the borders of the city, and from some of its public walks, beautiful and picturesque views are presented, of the Hudson and East rivers, the spaci- ous bay, the adjacent islands, and the shore and neighbouring heights of New Jersey. The city contains many edifices for public uses, in- cluding numerous houses for public worship. Some of these display the improvem.ents of modern ele- gance and taste; and others exhibit striking speci- mens of the grandeur of former days. The grant of the first charter of the city, was ob- tained about the year 1666, under the administration of the first British governor. Albany, the seat of legislative government, num- bering 24,238 inhabitants, stands on the western bank of Hudson river, one hundred and sixty miles from New York, commanding a good sloop navigation, on the tides of that river. It is an important and rapidly increasing city. The discharge of the western canal within its precincts, with the advantages of the northern canal combined, contribute largely to its trade and prosperity. It is located on a handsome rising ground, and its plan and modern improve- ments, are neat, convenient, and liberal. Its more ancient buildings partake of the early style of Dutch taste. It has been a place of much note and import- ance, from the first European settlement of the coun- try, as the key to the whole western region, and the centre of early Indian trade. It is understood to be 320 CITIES AND CHIEF TOWNS the oldest town in the Union, except James town in Virginia. The city of Hudson, on the east bank of Hudson river, one hundred and twenty miles from New York, was founded in the latter half of the last century. Though above the Catskill mountains, the channel of the river is sufficiently deep to pass sea vessels of heavy burden. Some of the citizens are therefore conductors of extensive foreign trade, and of enter- prises in the distant fisheries. Its communication with the western parts of Massachusetts, and the neighbouring inland regions, furnishes much retail business. The city is handsomely seated on the ele- vated bank of the river, and neatly improved. Its population numbers about 5400. Troy, is a handsome and prosperous city, on the east side of the Hudson, six miles above Albany. It contains a wealthy population, and beside the common pursuits of trade and manufactures, conducts a consi- derable business in printing and book binding. It is famed for the perfection and elegance of its workman- ship in coach making. Being near the head of sloop navigation, it serves as a key to the trade of Ver- mont, and the western parts of Massachusetts. It numbers 11,400 inhabitants. Other cities of the state are Schenectady and Utica on the Mohawk, and Rochester on the Genessee river. The present population of the first amounts to 4250, of the second 8300, and of last 8650. But the increase of population, in these and many other im- portant towns, which will be named in our tables, is so rapid, that the descriptions of a geographer would remain but a short time correct. The growth and prosperity of many of them have few examples on record. Plattsburgh, is an important post on lake Cham- plain, in the north-east section of the state, number- ing a population of 4900. Sackett's Harbour, is on the navigation of lake Ob- tario, at its eastern end. IN THE SEVERAL STATES. 321 Buffalo, is a city and port of much celebrity, on the east end ^f lake Erie. Its population numbering 8650. Brooklyn, on Long Island, is separated from New- York by the channel of the East river. It is a hand- some town, furnishing seats of retirement for wealthy citizens, conducting business in the city. Besides its other brisk business of various kinds, it is noted as the seat of a public navy yard, and for its very exten- siv^e scale of ship building. Its population numbers above 15,000. ■•?K■^ SECTION VIII. NEW JERSEY. None of the cities of this state are large, its princi- pal commerce being divided between Philadelphia and New York. Trenton, the seat of government, is seated on the Delaware, at the head of tide water. Burlington, on the Delaware, twenty miles above Philadelphia, Camden, on the shore, opposite Philadelphia. New Brunswick, at the head of the tides of the Raritan. Perth Amboy, on Staten Island sound, at the mouth of the Raritan. Newark, on Passaick river, near New York. Patterson, about twelve miles north- ward, at the falls of Passaick. Jersey City, on the Hudson, opposite New York. The population of Trenton numbers about 4000. Burlington and Camden contain each a smaller num- ber. New Brunswick 7800. Newark, nearly 11,000- Patterson, 7700. Jersey City is of modern date, and not of rapid improvement. Some of those cities date their origin from the early colonial settlements. They are generally placed upon eligible and commanding sites, and some of them ex- hibit great neatness in their improvements, and libe- rality in their plans. Newark is considered by some 322 CITIES AND CHIEF TOWNS travellers as the handsomest town in the United States, and is a lively and prosperous snaLof trade, and of manufactures of various kinds. Princeton, is seated upon an elevated plain, com- manding an extensive view of the country, north and south, upon the thoroughfare road from Trenton to New York, ten miles from the former. It is a hand- some inland town, long famed as the seat of Nassau college. Other towns, noted as the seats of judica- ture, in the several counties, are generally improv- ing, prosperous, and handsome, and combine the requisites of agreeable residence. ■•s(^- SECTION IX. PENNSYLVANIA. Philadelphia, already noticed as a commercial emporium, was founded by William Penn, on a plan of his own projection, in the same year as his provin- cial settlement. The original plan of the city extended one mile north and south, from Vine to Cedar streets, and about two miles east and west, between the rivers. Its streets are laid out at right angles, correspond- ing with the cardinal points of the compass, as they then appeared, without regard to the variation of the magnetic needle. Hence, there is a continuous pros- pect along them, and the advantage is secured, of a free circulation of air, and the means of a uniform cleanliness, in every part. The contiguous districts, of Southwark on the south, and the Northern Liberties and Penn Town- ship on the north, being laid out and improved, by continuing the streets, on an extension of the same plan, are not now distinguishable from the city pro- per. The dense improvements are therefore extended to nearly four miles, north and south, and the popu- IN THE SEVERAL STATES. 323 lation of the whole, as one extended city, is found to amount to nearly 168,000. In Philadelphia are many public institutions; and it contains many public buildings, devoted to the va- I'ious objects of promoting the advancement of the arts and sciences, to professional pursuits, purposes of benevolence and charity, and public worship; and for the accommodation of the mercantile community and the monied institutions, of the city, the state, and the nation. To enumerate them all, does not come within the scope of the plan of this work. The additions, now about to be made, in pursuance of the plans devised in the last will of the late Ste- phen Girard, will add much to the list of the objects of public interest. He having bequeathed to the city, property amounting to millions, devoted to the exe- cution of a plan, devised by himself, for the literary and liberal education, upon a very extensive scale, of the poor orphan male children, of this and other por- tions of the community. He had moreover in his life- time, contributed much to the beauty of the city, by his liberal, neat, substantial, and uniform plans, of many different ranges of buildings, directed and exe- cuted by himself. The modern plans, of improvements in general, in the city, exhibit great neatness, simple elegance, and sectional uniformity. The ancient state house was, in the days of its foun- dation, no doubt considered as a splendid and ele- gant, as it is yet a very respectable structure. The apartment within it, in which the Declaration of Iii- dependence, at the time of the revolution, was pro- mulged, is preserved as an object of lively and vene- rable interest. A species of veneration, however, toward an inanimate object, which, though natural to the human mind, as combining with the associations of the memory, might perhaps, in the eye of the en- lightened philosopher, be of small or no moral value. If asked for a reason for his indifference, he would probably answer, that the apartment in which that 324 CITIES AND CHIEF TOWNS declaration was matured, was no more to the noble instrument itself, than the dead carcass is to the living spirit, which once pervaded it; or the empty and de- serted hive, to the bounteous treasures of the rich \.^oney comb. ' A very interesting circumstance attaching to the city, must be considered, the means of furnishing it with an abundant supply of excellent water, at a very trifling current expense. The tides of the river Schuylkill, extend but a short distance above the bounds of the city. At the head of which, by the erection of a permanent dam across the river, em- bracing the first falls, a power is acquired, by which, applied to the purpose of working a set of forcing pumps, the water is raised obliquely up the hill, and delivered into large excavations, dug out by im- mense labour, upon the top of an eminence called Fairmount. These serve as continual reservoirs, al- ways full, and sustaining a perpetual head of water, sufficient to raise the water, conducted from them into the city, by iron pipes, to the elevation of the tops of the houses. Thus may every house have a fountain in each story, for the use of baths, and every other desirable purpose, as they are generally furnished with foun- tains in their ground apartments, for all domestic uses. The public and private benefits of such an estab- lishment are not easily calculated. Beside the un- limited supplies of water in every street, in cases of fire, the quantity may be made amply sufficient to maintain constant streams running in the streets, for the purposes of general cleanliness, and the preserva- tion of a sweet and healthy atmosphere. Lancaster, is seated upon a beautiful fertile plain, in the middle part of Lancaster county, sixty miles westward from Philadelphia, and ten miles from Co- lumbia, on the Susquehanna. It was founded before the middle of the last century. It contains an indus- trious population, numbering nearly 7700, many of whom are of German descent. Many of the citizens IN THE SEVERAL STATES. 325 are engaged in manufactures of various kinds, but particularly in several denominations of iron work, in some species of which, its workmen have been long known to excel. The large Conestoga creek has latterly been made navigable, from its vicinity to the Susquehanna, by a canal and other improve- ments. Harrisburgh, the seat of the state legislation, con- tains a population of 4300. Its location is on a rising ground, on the east bank of the Susquehanna, ninety- five miles from Philadelphia, north-westward. The situation of Pittsburgh has been already de- scribed. It is sometimes significantly styled the Bir- mingham of America, from its extensive manufac- tures in iron, a large quantity of which, both cast and wrought, is furnished to the southern and western states. Its manufactures of glass ware, cut and plain, have attained a perfection equal to the workmanship of Europe. Its manufactures of cotton and woollen goods, are also of important extent. The construction of steam vessels, for the use of the Ohio, Mississippi, and other western waters, is conducted upon a great and constantly extending scale. Its location is pecu- liarly adapted to the growth and prosperity of a great trading and manufacturing city. Its population amounted in 1830, to 17,365, denoting an increase in the last ten years, exceeding 140 per cent. The two first and the last are the only corporate cities in the state. Its other towns are very nume- rous, and of various importance. A few of them only will be here introduced. Columbia, on the Susquehanna, seventy miles westward from Philadelphia, is a town of rather recent origin, but of very rapid growth, from its participa- tion of the trade of that river. The navigation of the river being much more difficult below, than for a great distance above the town, in times of low water, renders it a place of depot for the trade ^f the upper country, during most of the year. A rail-road, now under construction by the state, is intended to estab- 2S 326 CITIES AND CHIEF TOWNS lish a direct and cheap mode of transport to Philadel- phia. The town numbers 2050 inhabitants. York is a thriving inland town, upon Codorus creek, twelve miles westward from Columbia, con- taining a population of 5000. The town of Erie is a port upon lake Erie, in the north-west of the state, from which an extensive navigation is maintained. Population 1450. Easton, in Northampton county, is seated upon a beautiful level, surrounded by lofty eminences, with- in the junction of the Delaware and its Lehigh branch. Its trade with the surrounding country, and parts of the state northward, is large. The many water falls in its vicinity, furnish powers for an extensive manu- factory of flour, which is transported to Philadelphia by the Delaware. Its population is numbered at 3529. Kensington, on the Delaware, separated from the Northern Liberties of Philadelphia by a small inlet of the tide, is a corporate town of 13,326 inhabitants. In it is conducted, beside several iron founderies, and other manufacturing, an extensive scale of ship and steamboat building, for the use of the city, and for foreign customers. Frankfoid, a borough town, five miles northward from Philadelphia, containing within its corporate limits a population of 1637, is extensively a .nanu- facturing district. The borough, and its vicinity a few miles round, is said to employ a manufacturing capital approaching to 2,000,000 dollars. Reading, on the line of the Schuylkill navigation, fifty miles from Philadelphia, has long been a place of trade, and now, since the completion of the navi- gation, rapidly increasing; its population amounting to nearly 6000. Manyunk, on the Schuylkill canal, is a manufac- turing town of great activity, distant from Philadel- phia seven miles. Its works are propelled by the water power of the canal. The town contains four hundred houses, and fourteen mills, all which have risen in about ten years. IN THE SEVERAL STATES. 32' SECTION X. DELAWARE,. The seat of the city of Wilmington is in Newcas- tle county, a few miles from the northern extremity of the state. It is bounded on the south by Chris- tiana creek, and on the north by Brandywine — two navigable tide waters, on which a sloop navigation is conducted into the Delaware. The situation of the city is remarkably beautiful. The north extremity exhibits the pleasingly romantic roughness of a pow- erful rocky stream, conjoining with the smooth sur- face of a deep tide, and a range of lofty flour mills on the bank of the tide, which are propelled by the power gained from the stream, at its lowest falls. On the soulh side, is a space sufficiently level, to accom- modate in an agreeable manner, the trading part of its community. From each side is an easy ascent to the middle ground; which is composed of an emi- nence of one hundred and nine feet and a half above the level of the flood tides, and commands extensive and picturesque prospects of the river Delaware, and the surrounding country. The elevations of the city offer, at many points, situations for a display of elegance and taste not yet occupied. The city is plentifully watered, from a spacious artificial reservoir, constructed upon its high ground, and supplied by forcing pumps, moved by the water of the Brandywine. In Wilmington is concentrated a large amount of manufacturing capital and interest. The far famed Brandywine mills have been long established in an extensive manufacture of flour, where the art has at- tained to a great degree of perfection. The population of the city is stated to be 6638. New Castle, on the Delaware river, the seat of ju- dicature of the county, is the oldest town in the state^ 328 CITIES AND CHIEF TOWNS having been first improved by the Swedes, under the name of Casimer. When it fell into the possession of the Dutch its name was changed to Neiwer Amstel, and when it was assigned to the Duke of York, it re- ceived the name of New Castle. Excepting a limited retail trade with the neighboring country, its chief commercial importance at present seems to be as a place of departure for vessels going to sea, where they often take in supplies of live stock and fresh provisions. Dover is the seat of the legislative assembly, and of the judicature in Kent county. Its population 3416, Millford, on Muspillion creek, is a place of lively and active business. Delaware city, which we now often see noticed in the public prints, is at the harbor formed on the side of Delaware bay, at the entrance of the thoroughfare navigation formed through George's creek, and the cross cut canal, into Chesapeak. A town has been there planned, under this name, which is yet but very little improved by building. SECTION XI. MARYLAND. The city of Annapolis, the seat of the state govern- ment, situated on the west side of the Chesapeak bay, about two miles from the mouth of a small river named Severn, on which it stands, is the oldest city in the state. This town was made the seat of govern- ment in the year 1694. Previous to this time, the legislative assembly and colonial authorities, had re- mained at St. Mary's. Annapolis, though placed on a fine healthy and convenient site, is little known as a place of trade. Its location being unfavorable to the concentration of an extensive commerce, though its plan and improve- ments are liberal and elegant. IN THE SEVERAL STATES. 329 Baltimore is the focus at which the trade of the state centres from every direction, as intimated in our second book. The plan of the city, though the work of different periods, as the wants of the population indicated an enlargement, is as a whole, liberal and convenient: presenting on its various pleasant elevations, many appropriate sites for elegant improvement, and fur- nishing an interesting variety of situations for resi- dence. By the passage of a very valuable mill-stream call- ed Jones's falls, the city is divided into two parts, connected by bridges over the stream. The vicinity, abounding in beautiful eminences, occupied and handsomely improved as country seats, and commanding various extensive views of the city, the surrounding country, and the wide spread distant waters, gives to the scene presented, an interestingly picturesque character. Baltimore at present, ranks as the third city in the Union in point of population, the late census present- ing an aggregate of 80,625. The city has the advan- tage of several natural fountains, which are conducted in pipes, and discharged in appropriate situations, for the benefit of the market, and to supply a considera- ble proportion of the inhabitants with excellent water for culinary uses. At the head of the tide on Susquehanna, in Cecil county, is a growing town of modern origin, called Port Deposit; which receives the produce descending the river in rafts, and a kind of simply constructed vessels called arks. The produce is there transship- ped, either to find its way to a market at Baltimore, or to pass by the canal, and Delaware river, to Phila- delphia. The town of Frederick, in Frederick county, is populous and thriving. It is seated in a very fertile inland region, in high cultivation, much of the popu- lation of which is of German descent. Its inhabitants are rated at above 4400, 28* 330 CITIES AND CHIEF TOWNS EUicott's Mills, on the falls of Patapsco river, nine miles from Baltimore, is a place of great business. The stream is very powerful, and the fall occurring in a short distance, is converted into several diflferent seats, for the use of iron works, flour mills, paper mills, and various other species of manufacture; all of which are conducted with great spirit and efiect. SECTION XII. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. The ground plan of the city of Washington is laid out with strict mathematical accuracy, upon a very extensive and liberal scale, as designed for the per- manent metropolis of a great nation. Its extent mea- sures four miles upon the north-east bank of the Po- tomac. It contains several commanding eminences. On the principal eminence is placed the Capitol of the Union: comprising the Halls of Congress, and the various other extensive apartments of state. This building, from its elevated situation, its lofty struc- ture, and the magnitude and elegance of its plan and proportions, is an object very interestingly conspicu- ous from distant parts of the city and the surrounding country. The Presidential jNlansion, seated upon a commanding ground of less elevation, and distant from the Capitol between one and two miles, forms another object of eminent distinction, as viewed from different distant points of observation. Beside the intersection of many spacious streets at right angles, the ground plan of the city is dividetl into sections by another order of streets, termed ave- nues. These are still more spacious than the rect- angular streets, and intersect them at various angles. They bear the names of different states in the Union, and take their courses in various directions from the IN THE SEVERAL STATES. 331 most distinguished points; such, for instance, as the Capitol and the President's House. By means of those avenues, should the general plan of the city, in a future age, become covered with buildings, the view will remain unimpaired in many directions, from one prominent point to another, at great distances. The situation of the city, as respects the circum- stances of land and water, is uncommonly beautiful. The ground ascending by an easy slope from the river, till it attains an elevation eminently commanding; by which means the view of the silvery surface of the broad Potomac, with the surrounding scenery, is pre- sented from many points, to great advantage. The extended plan forbids as yet the extension of improve- ments over any very considerable proportion of the whole ground; but the occupied portions exhibit ex- tensive groups, more or less distant from each other, of substantial and elegant buildings; for the accom*- modation of the citizens, the members of Congress, during their sessions, and the various public agents: with great numbers of visitors, who resort to the city on account of business, amusement, or curiosity. The population of Washington, as exhibited in the census of 1830, amounted to 18,827. Georgetown is situated adjoining Washington, at the head of ship navigation, near the lower fails of the Potomac. Its ground plan rises gradually from the river in a manner similar to Washington, and is more or less undulating. Its streets are commodious, its improvements good, and its style of building ge- nerally substantial. Its population numbers 8440. Alexandria skirts the southern boundary of the District, on the side of Virginia, six miles from Washington. This city is seated upon the river bor- der of a widely extended level plain, of uncommon beauty. Its streets are broad, strait, at right angles, and well paved, and its improvements handsome, con- venient, and substantial. The bank of the river is bold, descending quickly to deep water, and sufficient- ly elevated for health, convenience of wharfage, and 332 CITIES AND CHIEF TOWNS perpetual cleanliness. As regards depth of water? spaciousness of harbor, and general local circum.- stances, it combines all the requisites of a great conn- mercial city. Its population amounts to 8263. SECTION XIII. VIRGINIA. WiLLiAMSBURGH is the oldcst chartered city in this state. Its situation is between James and York rivers, in James City county. Being an inland place, it is not understood to have advanced latterly, in population or improvement. It is noted however, as being the seat of the first public collegiate establish- ment in the state; still maintained, under the name of William and Mary College. Its name denotes its establishment to have been under the reign and pa- tronage of those joint monarchs, nearly one hundred and forty years ago. Richmond, the seat of legislation, stands upon the north side of James river, eighty miles on a line, from its mouth. Though incapable of receiving ships of great burden, it is the largest city and commercial port in the state, numbering 16,000 inhabitants. Its export trade in the products of agriculture, consists in wheat, flour, tobacco, and cotton. The region of the bituminous coal mines of Virginia, is in its vici- nity, and from hence this article has long been ship- ped in large quantities. Norfolk, one of the early trading establishments, is located on the east side of Elizabeth river, which opens eight miles below the town into Hampton roads. It is much used as a place of refuge for vessels enter- ing the bay of Chesapeak, for shelter in storms; or in distress from disasters at sea. Gosport, one of the public navy yards, is opposite to it. Being near the sea coast, the circumstances of the soil, climate, and IN THE SEVERAL STATES. 333 state of agriculture, are not favorable to its rapid in- crease, yet, owing to its ample depth of water, it is said to enjoy a greater share of foreign commerce, than any other town in the state. Its present popu- lation is numbered at above 9800. Petersburgh, is a town maintaining a considerable commercial intercourse with the seaports of the neigh- boring states. It is seated on the south side of Appo- matox river, near the head of its tides. It numbers a population of 8300. About seventeen years ago, a large part of the town was destroyed by fire, which has been substantially rebuilt. Its appearance, busi- ness, wealth, and enterprise, place it in the highest rank of towns in the state. Fredericksburgh, is at the head of sloop navigation, on the Rappahannock, of 3000 inhabitants. Winchester, is an inland town, in the fertile coun- ty of Frederic, westward of the Blue mountain. It is of much importance in its neighborhood as a place of manufacturing, retail and exchange business, num- bering 4300 inhabitants. Lynchburgh, is a very flourishing town, which transacts a large business in the inland trade of the state, as well as with several of the adjoining states westward. It is on a bend of James river, in a fertile region, in Campbell county, near the Blue mountain, and numbers a population of 6700. Wheeling, is an important town on the Ohio, west- ward of Pennsylvania. It partakes eminently of the trade of that river. Its population is 5200. SECTION XIV. NORTH CAROLINA. Raleigh, the seat of government, is an inland town, in the central part of the state. It appears to be declining in population, falling at present belou 2000, 334 CITIES AND CHIEF TOWNS None of the towns in this state are large; the popu- lation showing but little increase in the last ten years. The harbors of the state, and the channels of admis- sion for ships of heavy burden, are generally unfa- vorable to a large trade; its exports being mostly in smaller vessels, many of them belonging to other Atlantic ports. Much of its produce has heretofore passed by inland transportation, to the seaports of Virginia, and to Charleston. Its principal trading towns upon navigable waters are as follows: Wilmington, upon Cape Fear river, thirty-five miles from its discharge into the Atlantic. Its popu- lation 2800. Newbern, upon Neuse river, is the largest and best improved town in the state, seated thirty-five miles above the discharge of the river in Pamlico sound. Population 3776. Washington, at the head of the tide, on Pamlico river, numbers 1400 inhabitants. Edenton, is at the head of Albemarle sound. 1600 is the amount of its population. The export articles of trade from these towns, are chiefly rice, tobacco, lumber, tar, turpentine, and rosin. SECTION XV. SOUTH CAROLINA. Charleston, the principal city of the state, contains a population of nearly 30,300. It was a town of early settlement, and has been a long time a prosperous and important commercial city: its exports being large in cotton and rice, the staple agricultural products of the state. Some of its leading inhabitants, however, com- plain much at present, of its ruined circumstances, and declining trade; from whose public statements it would seem, that few of tiie ships now frequenting the port, are owned by its merchants, and but small importa- IN THE SEVERAL STATES. 335 tions made directly from foreign countries. These public statements, given by its own citizens, have alone prevented our noticing it at present, as a great commercial emporium, in our second book. Much of the produce of the state is transported to the states north-eastward, either to find a market in the manu- factories, or for a further transport to Europe. The citizens of Charleston have long sustained the character of dignified politeness of manners, and gene- rous hospitality to strangers. The city is seated near the middle of the sea coast, at the junction of the small rivers, Ashly and Cooper. Much of the surrounding country, for many miles inland, is unfavorable to a very productive cultivation; and the rivers not being navigable far above the city, the export articles from the interior and northern parts, are subjected to the expenses of a land trans- portation, except that some of the waters have been improved to a limited extent by canalling and other- wise. Georgetown, the trading town of next importance, is situated upon the Pedee river, ten miles from its mouth. As its population may not exceed a tenth part of the numbers in Charleston, its trade may be considered as bearing a similar proportion. Columbia, the seat of the state government, is an Inland town, near the middle of the state, with a po- pulation of between 3000 and 4000. SECTION XVI. GEORGIA. MiLLEDGEViLLE, the scat of legislation, is located near the middle of the state. It is represented to have decreased in population within the last ten years; its present number being about 1600. It is seated upon the river Oconee, which furnishes a good boat navi- gation. 336 CITIES AND CHIEF TOWNS Savannah, is the only considerable seaport in the state. Its situation is on the Savannah river, fifteen miles from its mouth. It therefore is in the south-east corner of the state, on the confines of South Carolina. Its population is above 7000, but appears to have de- creased in the last ten years. Its trade is principally in the export of cotton and rice, the produce of the state, though the late introduction of the sugar cane into the south of the state, affords an additional item. Augusta, is an improving town, of lively and ac- tive inland trade, on the Savannah river, near the middle of the eastern line of the state. Its population is rated at nearly 6700. SECTION XVII. ALABAMA. Cahawba, the legislative seat, numbering 2300 inhabitants, is at the junction of the Alabama and Cahawba rivers, in a central part of the state. Mobile, is the principal seaport, at the head of Mobile bay, of above 3000 inhabitants. Huntsville and Florence, in the fertile valley of the Tennessee river, in the north, are flourishing towns. The state having been lately organized, and of re- cent settlement, its trading establishments are yet in- considerable, compared with the old settlements. SECTION XVIII. MISSISSIPPI. The seat of government is named Jackson. It is located in a central situation, upon Pearl river. Its population is stated at 1700. Natchez, is the principal trading town. It is seated on the Mississippi, in the south-west of the state, m THE SEVERAL STATES. 337 about one hundred and fifty miles on a direct course above New Orleans, and contains nearly 2800 inha- bitants. Monticello, is a town of rapid growth, upon Pearl river, in Lawrence county, numbering a population of 2300. The principal trade in the sugars and cotton of the state, centres in New Orleans. SECTION XIX. LOUISIANA. New Orleans, the great depot of the productions of the west and of the south, described as a commer- cial emporium, numbers 46,300 inhabitants. Having nearly doubled in population in the last ten years. Baton Rouge, is a place of considerable note, and rapidly increasing in population; their present num- bers being 2500. It stands on the east side of the Mississippi, eighty-five miles on a direct course above New Orleans. Natchitoches, on Red river, is a station and town of some importance, as the nearest considerable estab- lishment to the border of the Mexican territory, through which travellers pass, and inland despatches from the upper provinces of Mexico are forwarded. SECTION XX. TENNESSEE. The seat of government in this state is Murfrees- boro', situated in Rutherford county, very near the centre of the state from every direction. Being en- tirely an inland place, it is but little known at a dis- tance, except as a legislative establishment. Its num- ber of inhabitants amounts to 2300. 338 CITIES AND CHIEF TOWNS Nashville, is on Cumberland river, thirty-five rniles north-west from Murfreesboro'. It is the most con- siderable town in the state, and may be considered the capital of West Tennessee, having a population of 5566. Knoxville, is situated east of the principal moun- tains, though in the mountainous district, in the east- ern part of the state. It stands on the border of Hol- ston river, the principal upper branch of the Tennes- see. Its population approaches to 3700. Memphis, is on the Mississippi, in the south-west corner of the state. Tennessee being distant from the navigation of the Atlantic rivers, and having but a small frontier upon the Mississippi, compared with the extent of the state, its principal means of transport of the products of agriculture, appear to be by the boat navigation of the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, which, by their meandering courses, is very extensive; afford- ing opportunities of transport by boats to extensive portions of the fertile regions of the state. SECTION XXI. KENTUCKY. The town in which the legislative assembly of Kentucky hold their sessions, is Frankfort, seated in Franklin county, on Kentucky river, about sixty miles from its discharge into the Ohio. Its inhabit- ants amount to nearly 2000. Lexington is the oldest principal town in the state, seated on a fertile plain, in Fayette county, twenty- two miles south-east of Frankfort, and numbering above 6000 inhabitants. Louisville is the principal centre of the trade of the state; rapidly advancing in size and commercial importance. Its population appears to have advanced nearly 150 per cent, in ten years: being at the ceo- IN THE SEVERAL STATES. 339 sus of 1830, 10,352, but is understood to have in- creased in one year, from that time, to 13 or 14,000. It stands on the Ohio river, near the middle longi- tude of the state. It is laid out upon a large and liberal plan; eight wide streets extending three miles east and west, parallel with the river, and eighteen similar streets crossing them, to the extent of a mile south from the river. It appears likely to maintain its rank, as one of the greatest cities of the west; be- ing a thoroughfare, passed by an immense number of travellers by land and water, as well as the seat of a great and vastly growing trade. Its public improve- ments are upon a scale, and executed in a style, worthy of its prospects in advance. A rapid in the river, has made it necessary to a convenient naviga- tion at low water, to construct a canal at Louisville, of two miles extent. The fall in the river in those two miles is twenty-four feet, being the only rapid obstructing a free navigation from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. The canal is very capacious — sufficient to pass boats of five hundred tons burden. Its locks, and other works, are constructed in a superior style of strength, beaut}', convenience, and excellence of workmanship. SECTION xxii. OHIO. The vast and rapid spread and increase of popula- tion, and of trade in the products of agriculture, in this state, being almost without a parallel, many of its principal towns are making similar advances; and others springing up in every quarter of the state, as the fitness of situations, to promote the convenience of the people, become developed. Cincinnati, the principal city, now numbers a po- pulation of 26,800. Having advanced to this amount from 9643, in ten years. 340 CITIES AND CHIEF TOWNS Its extension of buildings and the improvement of their style — its multiplication of trade and the estab- lishment of public institutions, appear to keep pace with its advances in population. It stands on an elevated plain, on the border of Ohio river, which forms a semi-circular curve, round its southern part. The plan of the town is laid out with judgment, and adapted to the accommodation of a great city. The hills, presenting themselves at a convenient distance upon the back ground, are becoming exten- sively improved, into elegant seats of country resi- dence — those same grounds, which a very few years ago, were considered nearly v/orthless, because of their unfitness for common easy cultivation, selling now at enormous prices. It is situated in the south-west quarter of the state, about four hundred and fifty miles below Pittsburgh, by the courses of the river. Its merchants receive from the farmers of the state, and from the interior towns, immense and annually increasing amounts, of grain, flowr, pork, beef, and other agricultural pro- ducts, which they transmit to New Orleans and the Atlantic cities, for a market, and purchase in return the produce of the southern states, and goods of fo- reign importation, and from the manufacturing dis- tricts of the Union, such articles as the manufacturers of the state do not yet furnish in sufficient amount. Columbus is the legislative seat, with a population of nearly 2500. It is situated on the Sciota river, conveniently near to the centre of the state. Chilicothe is one of the oldest towns, though its population numbers less than some of a later date, be- ing rated at about 2850. It is seated on the Sciota river, thirty-five miles directly north from its dis- charge in the Ohio. Dayton, on the Great Miami, forty-eight miles north-easterly from Cincinnati, is represented as oc- cupying a situation, and adorning a neighborhood, of uncommon beauty. The town is of very modern IN THE SEVERAL STATES. 341 date, but rapidly enlarging, and the style of building which prevails is liberal and elegant. Its population in 1830 was nearly 3000. Steubenville is on the Ohio river, in the east of th^ state, thirty-five miles nearly due west from Pitts- burgh. It of course has the benefit of the river trade. Its population amounts to 5500. Marietta is at the mouth of the Muskingum river. Its inhabitants 1200. Zanesville is on the Muskingum, nearly fifty miles inland, with a population of above 3000. A further description of the towns of this state, would probably be, in some respects, a very imper- fect sketch in a very few years hence; in consequence of the rapid advances making in improvement, by the progress of agriculture and manufactures, and the very extensive lines of canal, forming with great des- patch, from the resources of the state, yet as it were in its minority. These, as they open an easy com- munication between different parts, hundreds of miles distant from each other, will be likely to favour the establishment of new towns, and facilitate the growth of older, according as corresponding circumstances may be found to impart their influence. SECTION XXIII. INDIANA. Indianapolis, near the middle of the state, on a branch of White river, is the seat of government of Indiana. Its inhabitants amount to 1300. Vincennes is on the Wabash, in the south-western quarter, with a population of 1800. Indiana is supposed to be equally favoured with Ohio, in the quality of its soil and in situation. Its improvements, as they rapidly advance, are also of 29* 342 CITIES AND CHIEF TOWNS similar character. But being of later settlement, the advances of the state as a whole, are proportionably in arrears. The south-eastern quarter conveniently communicates in trade with Cincinnati. SECTION XXIV. ILLINOIS. Vandalia has much more than doubled its popu- lation in ten years; numbering at present 2373. It is situated in the southern half of the state, near its mid- dle longitude, and is the seat of government. Kaskaskia, is near the junction of Kaskaskia river, with the Mississippi. Its population is nearly 1400. The town of Galena is at the lead mines, on Fever river, in the north-west of the state. This state, though possessing great advantages in soil and circumstances, is still later than Indiana, in the date of its general improvements. Much of its agricultural labour and care, are devoted to the rear- ing of stock of various descriptions, which finds its way to different markets on foot. SECTION XXV. MISSOURL Jefferson City, designed for the capital of Mis- souri, is seated on the south side of Missouri river, near the middle of the state. Its population amounts to 1333. St. Louis, on the Mississippi, below the junction of the Missouri, may be presumed to have had its origin and name, more than a hundred years ago; at a pe- riod when the French government was in possession of Canada, and formed a line of settlements, extend- ing from New Orleans, up the Mississippi, into the IN THE SEVERAL STATES. 343 heart of the continent, with design to establish a con- nexion with their northern possessions, and to enjoy the interior fur trade, and that of the north-western regions of the Missouri river. St. Louis is at present a very important station, as the key to the north-western trade; where the fur traders sell their cargoes, and purchase goods for their next expeditions: the goods arriving here from the Atlantic cities by way of the Ohio. The popu- lation of the town is nearly 6000, and appears to be fast advancing. St. Geneveive, on the Mississippi, fifty miles on a line below St. Louis, and Herculaneum about mid- way between them, are convenient situations to di- vide between them the trade in the produce of the lower lead mines, to be transmitted to New Orleans. Other principal towns are Franklin on the Missouri, one hundred and fifty miles from its mouth. Potosi, in the mining district, and New Madrid on the Mis- sissippi, in the south-east. >l"Mr- SECTION XXVI. MICHIGAN TERRITORY. Detroit is the chief place of trade of this terri- tory. Its population is stated at 2222. Its name is French, signifying simply '^ The Strait," as it is situ- ated on the strait, forming a connexion between the lakes Erie and St. Clair. It has a continuous line of water communication from the city of New York, through lake Erie and the western canal of that state. Its importance will probably continually increase, as the population and improvement of the territory advance. The North-Western Territory, is at present in- cluded in the territorial government of Michigan. The advancement of white settlement has not been 344 CITIES AND CHIEF TOWNS, &C. sufficient to establish any town requiring our present notice. The latter observation will also apply to the Mis- souri Territory, though thej-e are various posts and stations, on the Missouri and other rivers, where public business is transacted with the natives, and where they assemble at stated periods, to meet the traders, on the business of their exchanges. SECTION XXVII. ARKANSAS TERRITORY. The principal town and seat of the territorial go- vernment of this territory, at which communication centres from each direction, is Little Rock, or Arko- polis. It is situated on the Arkansas river, seventy miles above its discharge in the Mississippi. The water of the river is seldom sufficient to pass steam- boats far into the territory. SECTION XXVIII. FLORIDA. Tallahassee, the seat of the territorial govern- ment, stands near the middle longitude of the terri- tory. Its growing population numbers about 2600. Pensacola, is seated on Pensacola bay, on a penin- sula, at the western extremity of the territory. A considerable intercourse is maintained between it and some other ports. Its inhabitants are numbered at about 3000. St. Augustine, is a town of old settlement, on an inlet of the Atlantic, in the north-east part of the ter- ritory, with a population of nearly 1400. It is some- times resorted to by invalids, for the benefit of enjoy- ing its mild climate, when the rigours of a northern winter are supposed to be injurious. 345 CHAPTER IV. TABLES OF THE COUNTIES IN THE SEVERAL STATES, With the Seats of Judicature in each County, In these tables, the counties are numbered, and ta- ken in alphabetical order. The positions of the counties, with reference to the central parts of their respective states, are distinguish- ed by the initial letters, N, S, E, W, N E, N W, S E, S W, or M. The first eight denote the points of the compass from the middle of the state, and M, denotes the position of the county to be in a part of the state which may be considered as belonging to its midland regions. The distances of the Seats of Judi- cature from the Capitals of their respective states, are laid down as they are given for the mail routes, in the tables of the General Post-Office for 1831. The sixth column in the tables is devoted to miscellaneous notices; but chiefly, to the mention of other towns in the several counties, beside the seats of judicature; or to the connexion of the counties with rivers, moun- tains, or other interesting circumstances. 346 SECTION I. MAINE. ^ Posi- ms. fm. Counties. County towns. tion. Angus. Miscellaneous. 1 Cumberland Portland S.W. 53 Scarboro, Gorham 2 Hancock Castine s. 78 Taunton, Eden 3 Kennebeck Augusta S.W. Pittston, Farmington 4 Lincoln Topsham s. 31 Wiscasset, Warren 5 Oxford Paris w. 42 Bethel, Hebron 6 Penobscot Bangor M. 66 Edington, Dixmont 7 Somerset Norridgewock N.W. 28 Bloomlield, Cornville 8 Waldo Belfast s. 40 Newport, Frankfort 9 Washington Machias E. 143 Luber, Harrington 10 York Alfred S.W. 86 Sacho, Berwick SECTION II. NEW HAMPSHIRE. Counties. Cheshire Coos Grafton Hillsborough Merrimack Rockingham Strafford Sullivan County towns. Keene Lancaster Plymouth Amherst Concord Exeter Gilford Newport Posi. ms. fm. tion. Conc'd. S.W. 63 N. 117 N.W. 40 S. 26 M. S. E. 39 M. 30 E. 40 Miscellaneous. Hinsdale, Richmond Mount Washington Hanover, Bristol Hillsboro', Hancock Henniker, Hopkinton Windham,Greenlaiid Milton, N. Hampton SECTION III. VERMONT. i Posi- ms. fm. Counties. County towns. tion. Monfr. 59 Miscellaneous. 1 Addison Middlebury W. Kingston, Vergennes 2 Bennington Bennington S.W. 120 Dorset, Manchester 3 Caledonia Danville N. E. 29 Linden, Burke 4 Chittenden Burlington N.W. 38 Shelburne, Charlotte 5 Essex Guildhall N.E. 78 Limington, Brunsw'k 6 Franklin St. Albans N.W. 64 Highgate, Sheldon 7 Grand Isle North Hero N.W. 68 South Hero 8 Orange Chelsea M. 23 Newberg, Bradford 9 Orleans Irasburg N. 49 Coventry, Albany 10 Rutland Rutland W. 67 Orwell, Pittsfield 11 Washington MONTPELIER M. — Stow, Water bury 12 Windham Fayetteville S. 110 Brattleboro, Putney 13 Windsor Woodstock E. 48 Windsor, Norwich 347 SECTION IV. MASSACHUSETTS. »-, Posi. 7ns. fm.. r Counties. County towns. tion. Boston. Miscellaneous. 1 Br.rnstable Barnstable S. E. 68 Cape Cod, Chatham Berkshire Lenox W. 133 Wilburton, Sheffield 3 Bristol New Bedford S. E. 57 Taunton, Westport 4 Dukes Edgar town S. E. 97 Martha's Vineyard .5 Essex Ipswich N.E. 27 Salem, Marblehead 6 Franklin Greenfield N.W. 95 Northfield, Hadley 7 Hampden Springfield s.w. 76 Southwark,Westfield 8 Hampshire Northampton w. 91 Hatfield, Pelham 9 Middlesex Concord N. 17 Pepperill, Groton 10 Nantucket Sherburne S. E. 100 Nantucket Island 11 Norfolk Dedham E. 10 Dorchester, Randolph 12 Plymouth Plymoutii S. E. 38 Abington, Pembroke 13 Suffolk Boston E. — Cambridge 14 Worcester Worcester M. 39 Leicester, Sturbridge SECTION V. RHODE-ISLAND. ^ Counties. County towns. Posi- tion. ms. fm. Provid. Miscellaneous. 1 3 4 5 Bristol Kent Newport Providence Washington Bristol E. Greenwich Newport Providence Kingston E. W. S. E. N. S. 15 15 27 31 Warren, Barrington Warwick Tiverton Pawtuxet, Smithfield Exeter, Richmond SECTION VI. CONNECTICUT. r Posi. ms. fm. Counties. County towns. tion. HarVd. Miscellaneous. 1 Fairfield Danbury S.W. 61 Fairfield, Norwalk 2 Hartford Hartford M. — Windsor, Enfield 3 Litchfield Litchfield N. W. 31 Colebrook, Cornwall 4 Middlesex Haddara S. 25 Middle t. Saybrook 5 New-Haven New-Haven s. 34 Milford, Guilford 6 New-London New-London S. E. 42 Norwich, Lynn 7 Tolland Toll and N. 17 Stafford, Vernon 8 Windham Brooklyn N.E. 41 Windham, Plainfield 348 SECTION VII. NEW YORK. Counties. 1 Albany 2 Alleghany 3 1 Broome 4 Cattaraugus SiCayuga 6Chatauge 7jChenango 8 Clinton 9|Columbia lOCortlandt 11 'Delaware 12 Dutchess 13Erie l4Essex ISFranklin IGGenessee 17 (Greene ISHamilton 19 [Herkimer 20 Jefferson 2l!Kings 22 Louis 23 Livingston 24|Madison 25 (Monroe 26jMontgomery 27 New York 28Niagara 29|Oneida 30Onondago 31 'Ontario 32|Orange Orleans Oswego County towns. Putnam Queens Rensselaer Richmond Rockland St. Lawrence 42 Saratoga Schenectady Schoharie Seneca Albany Angelica Binghamton Elliottsville Auburn Mayville Norwich Plattsburgh Hudson Cort't Village Delhi Poughkeepsie Buffalo Elisabethtown Malone Batavia jCattskill jHerkimer iWatertown JFlatbush iMartinsburgh iGeneseo |Cazenovia Rochester Johnstown New York Lockport Rome Syracuse Canandaigua Goshen Albion Oswego Coopei-stown Carmel N. Hemstead Troy Richmond Clarkstown Potsdam Ballston Schenectady Schoharie Ovid Posi- tion. ~Er s. w. s. s. w. w. S.W. s. N. E. E. M. S. E. S. w. N. E. N. W. s. w. M. M. N. W. S. N. W. M. N.W. E. S. N.W. N. M. W. S. N.W. N.W. M. S. S. E. S. s. N. E. E. M. W. ms. fm. Albany 256 145 292 156 336 110 162 29 142 77 75 284 126 212 244 34 80 160 156 129 226 113 219 45 160 227 107 133 195 105 257 167 66 106 174 6 167 122 216 29 15 32 171 Miscellaneous. Coeymans, Hamilton Almondv'e, Belvedere Chenango, Harpersv. Hamilton, McClure's Cato, Springport Dunkirk, Portland Smyrna, Guilford Beckmanton, Keesv'e Kinderhook Homer, Preble Walton, Roseville Fishkill, Rhinebeck Blackrock, Coldspri'g Essex, Westport Chateaugay, Bangor Covington, Sheldon Freehold, Athens Russia, Norway Sackett's Harbor On Long Island Lowville, Ley don Moscow, York, Avon Morris ville, HamiltOT Brighton, Pittsford Pelatine, Kingsbury Manchester, Lewis t. Utica, Whitesboro' Onondago, Milan Geneva, Manchester Newburgh, Westp't Ridgway, Gaines Richland, Constantia Milfordville,Hamb'Tg Cold Spring Flushing, Jericho Lansingburgh Staten Island jTappan, Gibraltar Ogdensburg, Louisv'e Scotia, Galway Duanesburg Middleburgh Waterloo, Farmersv'e 349 ? Posi. ms.fm. Counties. County towns. tion. Albany Miscellaneous. 46 Steuben Bath S. W. 216 Liberty, Howard 47 Suffolk Suffolk S. E. 225 L.Island, Sag Harbor 48 Sullivan Monticello s. 113 Rome, Burlingham 49 Tioga Elmira s.w. 198 Oswega, Newtown 50 Tompkins Ithica s. w. 163 Ludlowville 51 Ulster Kingston s. 58 Glasgow, Marble t. 52 Warren Caldwell N. E. 62 Johnsburgh, Chester 53 Washington Salem E. 46 Sandy Hill, Shaftsb'y 54 Wayne Lyons N.W. 181 Palmyra, Clyde 55 Westchester Bedford S. 135 W. Chester, Cretan 56 Yates Pennyan w. 185 Dresden, Esperanza SECTION VIII. NEW JERSEY. ? Counties. 1 Bergen 2 j Burlington 3|Cape May 4!Cumberland 5 1 Essex 6 Gloucester 7 [Hunterdon 8iMiddlesex 9 1 Monmouth lOiMorris lljSalem 12j Somerset 13, Sussex 14; Warren Posi- ms. fm. County towns. tion. Trent. Hackensack N. E. 63 Mount Holly S. 21 Middletown s. 102 Bridgetown s.w. 69 N^ewark N. E. 49 Woodbury S. 39 Trenton w. — N. Brunswick M. 27 Freehold E. 36 Morristown N. 55 Salem S.W. 65 Somerville M. 33 Newton N. 70 Belvedere N.W. 54 Miscellaneous. Hoboken,Charlottesb. Moores t. Lumberton Cold Spring Deerfield, Fairton Elizabeth t. Patterson Wey mouth,Bargain t. Flemington Lumberton,Cranbury Allentown,Shrewsb'y Mendham Sharptown, Canton Germanto^vn Blue Mountain Hackets t. Hope SECTION IX. PENNSYLVANIA. Counties. Adams Alleghany Armstrong Beaver Bedford Berks Bradford Bucks Butler Cambria County towns. Gettysburg Pittsburg Kittaning Beaver Bedford Reading Towanda Doylestown Butler Ebensburg 30 Posi. ms. fm. tion. Harris. S. 34 w. 201 w. 183 w. 229 s.w. 105 E. 52 N. E. 128 E. 107 W. 204 M. 131 Miscellaneous. Hunters t. Petersb'rg Birmingham Alleghany r. Brighton, Greensb'rg McConnells t, Blue m. Womelsdorf Lees r. Tioga r. Bristol, Newhope Woodville Alleghany m. 350 :^ Posi. ms. fin. ® Counties. County towns. tion. Harris. Miscellaneous. lljCentre BeUefonte M. 85 Milesboio, B.Eagle c. 12 'Chester Westchester S. E. 75 Downing t. Coatsville 13 Clearfield Clearfield M. 129 W.Branch Susqueha. 14 Columbia Danville N. E. 65 Bloomsbury 15 Crawford Meadville N.W. 236 French c. Pottersville 16 Cumberland Carlisle S. 18 Blue m. Shippenburg 17 Daupliin Harrisburg M. — Middletown 18 Delav.'are Chester S. E. 95 Darby, Lazaretto 19 Erie Erie N.W. 272 Lexington,Wateribrd 20 Fayette Uniontown s.w. 184 Chesnut Ridge 21 Franklin Chambersburg s. 48 Tuscarora m. 22 Greene Waynesburgh s.w. 222 New Market, Lisbon 23 Huntingdon Huntingdon M. 90 Connelsburg 24 Indiana Lidiana W^ 157 Blairsville 25 JefFerson Brookville N.^V. 165 Port Barnet 26 Juniata M. Tuscarora m. 27 Lancaster Lancaster S. K 35 Strasburg, Marietta 28 Lebanon Lebanon M. 24 Millers t. Jones t. 29 Lehigh Allentowm E. 85 Blue m. Trexlers t. 30 Luzerne Wilkesbarrc M. 114 Shawny t.Tmikhanna 31 Lycoming Williarasport N. 97 Newberry, Jersey sh. 32 McKean Smethport N.W. 200 Stanton, Norwich 33 Mercer Mercer W. 235 Sharon, N. Bedford 34 Mifflin Lewistown M. 55 Juniata, Belleville 35 Montgomery Norristown S. E. 88 Schuylkill, Potts t. 36 Northampton Easton E. 101 Blue m.Stroudsburgh 37 Northumber- Sunbury M. 52 Snyders t. Nortiiumb. 38 Perry [land N. Bloomfield M. 36 Juniata r. Liverpool 39 Philadelphia Philadelphia S. E. 98 German t. Frankford 40 Pike Milford N. E. 157 Bushville 41 Potter Condersport N. 174 Head of Alleghany r. 42 Schuylkill Orwigsburgh E. 59 Fredensburgh 43 Somerset Somerset S. W. 143 Smithfield 44 Susquehanna Montrose N. E. 163 Friendsville 45 Tioga Wellsborough N. ■ 147 Covington 46 Union New Berlin M. 60 Freeburg 47 Venango Franklin N.W^ 212 Alleghany r. 48 Warren Warren N.W. 240 Alleghany r. 49 Washington Washington S.W. 212 Hillsboro, Greenfield 50 Wayne Bethany N.E. 162 Stockport, Damascus 51 Westmoreland Greensburgh S.W. 170 Mt.Pleasant, Young t. 52 York York S. E. 24 Hanover, Liverpool 351 SECTION X. DELAWARE. ^ Counties. County towns. Posi. tion. ms. fm. Dover. Miscellaneous, 1 2 3 Kent New Castle Sussex Dover New Castle Georgetown M. N. S. 42 40 Smyrna, Milford Newark, Newport Lewistown, Laurel SECTION XI. MARYLAND. EASTERN SHORE. Counties. Caroline C^cil Dorchester Kent Queen Anne's Somerset Talbot Worcester Posi. ms. fm. County towns. tion. Annap. Denton E. 44 Elkton N.E. 80 Cambridge S. E. 62 Chestertown N.E. 47 Centreville E. 32 Princess Ann S. E. 107 Easton E. 47 Snow Hill S. E. 127 Miscellaneotis. Greensboro, Hilsboro Port Deposit Choptank r. Georgetown Kent Island, Wye r. Pokomoke r. Salisb'y Oxford, Louistown Pokomoke r. Atlantic WESTERN SHORE. Alleghany Annarundel Baltimore Calvert Charles Frederick Harford Montgomery Prince George St. Mary's Washinffton Cumberland Annapolis Baltimore Pr. Frederick Port Tobacco Frederick Bell Air Rockville Marlborough Leonardtown Haffarstown w. 165 M. M. 30 S. 63 s. 60 N.W. 76 N.E. 53 W. 52 M. 23 S. 82 W. 101 Allegh'y m. Yough r. West r. Elkridge Gunpowder r. Patuxent r. Bryan t. Newport Emmittsburgh Haverdegrace, Joppa Triadelphia, Clarksb, Bladensburg Patuxent river Tuscarora m. SECTION XII. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ? Counties. County towns. Posi tion. ms. fm. Wash. Miscellaneous. 1 2 Alexandria Washington Alexandria Washington S. M. 7 George Town 352 SECTION XIII. VIRCtLNIA. ^ Post. ms. ;>«. ? Counties. County toicns. tion. Rich?n. ^^^sceUuneous. 1 Accomack C. H. > e! 214 E. of Chesapeak Riy •2 Albemarle Charlottesville ' M. SI Monticello 3 -Alleghany Covington ! M. 191 Head of James r. 4 Amelia C.H. S. E. 47 Panesrille, Mansfield .5 Amherst C. H. 31. 136 Amherst springs 6 Aucfusta Staunton M. 121 Middlebrook 7 Bath C. H. M. 170 MountaiQS,Warm sp. 5 Bedford Liberty ' S. 145 Blue ridge, James r. 9 Berkley ^lartinsburgh ' N. 172 Gerrards tJamesb'rg 10 Botetourt Fincastle M. 176 Amsterdam, Florence 11 Brooke Wellsburgh N.W. 373 Ohio r. Penna. line 1'2 Bnmswiek LawrenceviUe S. 69 HarrisviUe 13 Buckinoham C.H. M. 87 Maysville, X. Canton UCabeU C.H. W. ^44 Guyandot, Oliio r. 15 Campbell C.H. S. 132 Lvnchburg 16 Caroline Bowlinggreen N. E. 44 Port Royal 17 Charles City C.H. 1 E, 30 James r. IS Charlotte C.H. 1 S. 96 Keysville, Roanoke r. 19 Chesterfield C.H. ' S, R 14 Coal uunes 20 Culpepper C.H. N.K 94 Jefferson t. 21 Cumberland C.H. S. E. 55 Cartersville, James r. 22 Dinwiddle C.H. S.E. 40 Petersburg 23 Elizabeth City Hampton S. E. 96 Old Pomt^Comfort 24 Essex Tappahannock E. 50 Layton 25 Fairfax Fairfax N. E. 129 Mount Vernon 26 Fauquier Warrenton ■ X. E. 107 Rappahannoc r. 27 Fluvanna Palmyra M. 5J W Llmin 2 1 on . Colum b . 2S Franklin Rocky :Mount s. ISo Blue ridge, German t. 29 Frederick Winchester X. 150 Stephensburg 30 Giles C.H. s. w. 240 Kenhawa r. Parisb'g 31 Gloucester C.H. E. 82 Gloucester, York r. 32 Goochland C.H. M. 28 Hadensville, Dover 33 Grayson C.H. S. W. 276 Xew r. of Kenhawa ^ Greenbriar Lewisburgh W. 221 Kenhawa r. 35 GreenviUe Hicksford S.E. 63 Bellefield, Mehenon r. 36 Halifax C.H. S. 130 Bannister, Meadsv'lle 37 Hampshire Ronmev X. 195 Mountains 38 Hanover C.H. E. 20 Woodville, X. Castle 39 Hardy Moorfields N. 195 Mountains 40 Harrison Qarksburg N.W. 26«3 Bridgeport, Bull t. 41 Henrico RlCHMONT) E. — 42Henrv Martinsville S. 207 Irvine r. 43 Isle of Wight Smithfield S. E. SO James r.Blackwater r. 44 James city Williamsburg ; S. E. ■ 60 James town 45 Jefferson Charleston 1 N. I 182 Smithfield 46 Kenhawa C. H. W. ! 308 Kenhawa r. 353 Counties. County towns. King «fc Queen C. H. King George ,C. H. KiBg William C. H. Posi. tion. ms. fm. ^Richm. Miscellaneous. Lancaster Lee Lewis Logan Loudoun Louisa Lunenbiirgh Madison Mason Matthews 3Iulilenburgh Boydston ^liddlesex Urbanna ^lonongahela ■\Ionroe Montgomery Mor^an C. H. jJonesville Weston C. H. Leesburgh C. H. C. H. C. H. Point Pleasant: C. H. ! 1 N. E. ; 42 Dunkirk, Walker t. 1 E. ^ Point Conwav i E. '21 Brandywine i E. 83 Chesapeak bay i S. W. , 392 Cumberland m. j N.W. 249 SoutherviUe W. , 324 Guyandot r. N.E. i 156 Waterton, MillviUe E. 54 YanceyviDe S. 91 Lewiitown N. E. 110 Madison, Blue m. Xansemond Nelson New Kent Nicholas Norfolk Northampton North umberl'dC Nottaway Ohio Orange Patrick Pendleton Pittsylvania Pocohontas Powhatan Preston Pr. Edward Morgantown Union Christiansb'gh Berkley Spr'gs Suffolk jLivingston C. H. 'c. H. : jPortsmouth I Eastville H. |C. H. ; jWheeline- C.H. C. H. Franklin •C.H. Huntersville JScottsville Kingwood f.n. Prince George Tern pleton Princess Anne C. H. Pr. William iBrentsville Randolph Richmond Rockbridge Rockingham Russell Scott Shanandoah Southampton Spottsylvania Stafford I Beverly C. H. ' I Lexington i .Harrisburgh ■, j Lebanon jCastleville jWoodstock Jerusalem | jFredericksb'rg; C. H. ! W. E. S. E. N. W. S. W. S. W. N. S. E. M. E. W. S. E. E. E. S. E. N.W. M. S. N. S. M. S. E. N. S. E. S. E. N. E. N.W. E. M. M. S. W. S. W. N. S. E. N.E. N.E. 356 100 118 83 223 208 206 186 102 118 30 268 116 174 92 67 357 80 241 171 167 191 32 261 75 35 137 104 j 210 I 56 156 I 122 330 357 156 81 66 76 iKenhawa r. New Point Comfort jRoasoke r. |Rap r. Chesapeak bav .Smithfield, King t. ' jSweet Springs |Newburn, Inglesvilie iTuscjLTora m. Lake Drummond Nev/ Market, Blue m. jCumberland IKenhawa r, iDismal Swamp, Gos- I [port I Mouth of Potomac 'Morgansville ■Elizabeth t. jWhite Plains jTaylorsville, Blue m> [Moimtain& jPeyton'sburgh Heads of Elk r. ; Jefferson, Hopkin&on Monongahela r. Chalky Level Broadway ,Powhattau Kempsville, Ocean ;DumlTies,Occoquan r i3IorgansvL!le Rappahannoc r. Natural Bridge jShanandoah r. Franklin, Clinch r. Cumberland m, Strasburg, New Mills Nottoway r. Wilderness Falmouth 30^ 354 Posi. 7ns. fin. No. Counties. County towns. tion. Richm. Miscellaneous. 96 Surry C. H. S.E. 60 Cobham, Cabin Point 97 Sussex C. H. s.w. 50 98 Tagewell Tyler C. H. s.w. 290 Mountains 99 Middlebourne N. W. 307 Ohio r. 100 Warwick C. H. S.E. 81 James r. mouth 101 Washington Abingdon S.W. 309 Scottsville, mountains 10^ Westmoreland C.H. N. 70 103 Wood Packersburgh N.W. 299 Ohio r. 104 Wythe C.H. S.W. 253 Evansham 105 York Yorktown E. 72 Chesapeak bay SECTION XIV. NORTH CAROLINA. ^ Posi. ms. fm. Counties. County towns. tion. RaleVh Miscellaneous. ~T Anson Wadesboro' S.W. 134 Rocky r. 2 Ashe JefFersonton N.W. 205 Heads of Kenhawa r. 3 Beaufort Washington E. 122 Pamlico sound 4 Bertie Windsor N. E. 130 Wottington 5 Bladen Elizabethtown S- 99 Cape Fear r. 6 Brunswick Smithville S. 178 Oldtown 7 Buncombe Ashville w. 259 Warm Springs 8 Burke Morgantown w. 199 Table m. Catawba r. 9 Cabarras Concord s.w. 141 Rocky r. 10 Camden New Lebanon N.E. 201 Dismal Swamp 11 Carteret Beaufort S. E. 166 Core sound 12 Caswell C.H. N. 93 Learsbarg, Milton 13 Chatham Pittsboro' M. 33 Cape Fear r. 14 Chowan Edenton N.E. 155 Albemarle sound 15 Columbus Whitesville S. 138 Fair Bluff 16 Craven Newburn E. 120 Pamlico sound 17 Cumberland Fayetteville S. 61 Cape Fear r. 18 Currituck C.H. N.E. 211 Albemarle sound 19 Davidson Lexington W. 110 Yadkin r. 20 Duplin Kenansville S. E. 120 21 Edgecombe Tarboro' E. 72 Stanton 22 Franklin Louisburgh M. 30 Tar r. 23 Gates C.H. N.E. 141 Dismal Swamp 24 Granville Oxford N. 47 Head of Tar r. 25 Greene Snow Hill E. 84 26 Guilford Greensboro' M. 85 Martinsville 27 Halifax Hallifax N.E. 86 Innfield, Scotland 28 Haywood C.H. S.W. 295 Heads of Tennessee r. 29 Hertford Winton N.E. 129 Pitch Landing 30 Hyde Lake Landing E. 20V Woodstock,German t. 31 Iredell Statesville W. 146 Heads of Yadkin r. 3S Johnson Smithfield M. 47 Neuse r. 32 Jones Trenton S.E. 140 Whitcock r. 355 ►> Posi. ms.fm. f Counties. County towns. tion. RaleVh Miscellaneous. 34 Lenoir Kinston S. E. 80 Neuse r. 35 Lincoln Lincolnton S.W. 169 Catawba r. 36 Macon Ffanklin S.W. 333 37 Martin Williamston E. 106 James t. Roanoke r. 38 Muhlenburgh Charlotte S.W 150 Catawba r. 39 Montgomery Lawrenceville S.W. 109 Henderson, AUenton 40 Moore Carthage M. 69 41 Nash Nashville N.E. 44 Tarr. 42 New Hanover Wilmington S. 149 Berlin, S.Washington 43 Northampton C. H. N.E. 95 Welden, Princeton 44 Onslow C.H. S. E. 188 • Swansboro, Ocean 45 Orange Hillsborough M. 41 Chapel Hill 46 Pasquotank Elizabeth City N.E. 189 Nixonton, Alb. sound 47 Perquimous Hartford N.E. 167 Albemarle somid 48 Person Roxboro' N. 60 Hycot r. 49 Pitt Greenville E. 97 Tar r. 50 Randolph Ashboro' M. 72 51 Richmond Rockingham S. W. 113 Great Peedee r. 52 Robeson Lumberton s. 94 Lumber r. of Peedee 53 Rockingham Wentworth N. 65 Danr. 54 Rowan Salisbury W. 125 Mocksville 55 Rutherford Rutherfordton s. w. 215 Heads of Broad r. 56 Sampson C.H. NW. S. r. of Cape Fear 57 Stokes Germantown N.W. Danr. 58 Surry Rockford N.W. Pilot m. 59 Tyrrell Columbia E. Swamps 60 Wake Raleigh M. Neuse r. 61 Warren Warrenton N. Roanoke r. 62 Washington C.H. E. Plymouth 63 Wayne Waynesboro' E. Neuse r. 64 Wilkes Wilkesboro' N.W. Yadkin r. Gold SECTION XV. SOUTH CAROLINA. ^ Posi. ms. fm. Districts. Court towns. tion. Colum. Miscellaneous. 1 Abbeville Abbeville W. Vienna, Cambridge 2 Barnwell C.H. W. 62 Savannah r. 3 Beaufort Cousauhatchie s. 147 Graham t. Parisburgh 4 Charleston Charleston s. 110 Eutaw sps. Pineville 5 Chester C.H. N. 57 Lewisville 6 Chesterfield C.H. N.E. 102 Cheraw 7 Colleton Waterboro' s. 93 Willtown, Dorchester 8 Darlington C.H. E. 86 Mechanicville 9 Edgefield C.H. W. 57 N. Richmond 10 Fairfield Winnsboro' M. 29 Broad r. 11 Georgetown Georafetown S. E. 134 Black r. 12 Greenville c.h: N.W. 117 Merrittsville 13 Horry Conwayboro' S. E. 150 Waccamaw r. 356 ^ Posi- 7ns. fm. Districts. Court towns. tion. Colum. Miscellaneous. u Kershaw Camden M. 38 Wateree r. 15 Lancaster Lancaster N, 73 Wateree r. 16 Laurens Laurensville N.W. 79 Huntsville 17 Lexington C. H. M. 12 Saluda r. 18 Marion Marion E. 115 Springville 19 Mailborough Beunetville N.E. 102 Great Peedee r. 20 Newberry Newbury M. 45 Saluda r. 21 Orangebm-gh Orangeburgh M. 43 Edisto r. 22 Pendleton Pendleton N.W. 23 Pickens C. H. 157 24 Richland CoLUiMBIA M. — Minervaville 25 Spartensburgh Spartensburgh N. 104 Meansville 26iSumpicr Sunipterville M. 44 Statesb'g,Manchester 27:Union Unionville N. 77 Pinkneyville 28;Wiliiamsburg Kingstree S. E. 86 Indian town 29|York C.H N. 78 BellviUe SECTION XVI. GEORGIA. Posi- tns. fm. ^ Counties. County towns. C.H. tion. Milled. Miscellaneous. ~1 Applinff S. E. 145 E. Swamp 2 Baker Byron 155 3 Baldwin Mit.t.edgevi'le M. Salem, Scottsboro' 4 Bibb Macon M. 35 Ocmulgce r. 5 Bryan C.H. E. Hardwick 6 Bullock Statesboro' E. 117 Cannouchee r. 7 Burke Waynesboro' E. 87 Savannah r. 8 Butts Jackson 51 9 Camden Jeffersonton S. E. 212 Colerain, St.Mary's r. lOCampbell Campbelton 134 11 Carroll Carrolton 153 i^ Chatham Savannah E. 167 Vernonburgh 13 Clark Watkinsville E. 69 Athens 14 Columbia Applingville E. 93 Raesville 15 Coweta Newnam 129 16 Crawford Knoxville M. 60 Flint river 17 Decatur Bainbridge 206 18 De Kalb Decatur N.W. 117 Chatahoochee r. 19 Dooly Berrien S.W- 97 Flint river 20 Early Blakely S: W. 227 Flint river 21 Effingham Willoughby E. 181 Springfield, Ebenezer 22 Elbert Elberton N. E. 101 EdinburgjPetersburg 23 Emanuel Swainsboro' E. 79 Ohoopee river 24 Fayette Fayettevillc W. 107 Chatahoochee 25 Franklin Carnesville N.E. 114 Tugaloo r. 26 Glynn Brunswick E. 200 i Crow Harbor 57 Greene Greensboro' N. E. 44 1 Oconee r. 357 ? Covniies. Posi. ms. fin. County towns. tion. Milled. Miscellaneous. 28 Gwinnett Lawrenceville N.W. 93 ■ 29 Habersham Clarksville N. E. 144 Turoree r. 30 Hall Gainsville 123 31 Hancock Sparta M. 24 Powellton 32 Harris Hamilton 134 33Henry McDonough 85 34 Houston Perry M. 60 Flint r. 35; Irwin C. H. S. Ocklockey r. 36iJackson Jefferson N.E. 98 Clarksboro' 371 Jasper MonticelJo M. 35 Ocmulgeer. 331 Jefferson Louisville E. 52 Ogeechee r. 39Jones Clinton M. 23 40i Laurens Dublin M. 47 41 Lee Pindertown 130 42' Liberty Riceboro' E. 202 Sunbury 43 1 Lincoln Lincoln ton N.E. 100 Goshen, Lisbon 44Loundes Franklinville 187 45 Madison Danielsville N.E. 92 46 1 Mcintosh Darien E. 187 47 [Marion C. H. 174 48, Merry weather Greenville 111 49! Monroe Forsyth M. 60 50 Montgomery Mount Vernon M. 89 Oconee r. 51 i Morgan Madison 44 52 Muscogee Columbus 120 53 Newton Covington M. 60 54 Oglethorpe Lexington N.E. 69 55iPike Zebulon 86 56;Pulaski Hartford M. 67 57 Putnam Eatonton M. 22 58 Rabun Clayton N. 174 59 Randolph C.H. 170 60 Richmond Augusta Jacksonboro' E. 90 Harrisboro', Bedford eiScriven E. 144 62jTalbot Talboton 112 63TaUiaferro Crawfordsville 47 64|Tatnall Perry's Mills E. 115 65|Telfair Jacksonville S. 111 66|Thomas Thomasville 235 67iTroup La Grange 133 68 Twiggs Marion M. 37 69 Upson C.H. 87 70 Walton Monroe N. 72 71 Ware Waresboro' 161 72 Warren Warrenton E. 49 Georgetown 73 Washington Sandersville M. 27 74 Wayne Waynesville S.W. 190 75 Wilkes Washington N.E. 64 Wrightsboro' 76 Wilkinson Irwinton M. 20 358 SECTION XVII. ALABAMA. Counties. County tokens. Post- Hon. ms. fin: TuscaV 1 Ataug'a 2 Baldwin 3 Bibb 4 Blount 5 Butler 6 Clarke TConeculi SiCovington 9 Dallas 10; Fayette ll! Franklin 12' Greene 1.3 Henry 14 Jackson 15 Jefferson 16: Lauderdale It Lawrence 18' Limestone l9tLoundes 20: Madison 21 Marengo 22 ?.Iarion 23l Mobile 24! Monroe 25' Montgomery 261 Morgan 27! Perry 28iPickin8 29 i Pike 30iSt. Clair 3i Shelby 32 Tuscaloosa 33iWalker 3 4j Washington 3.5WiIcox (Washington JBlakely iCentre\-ille Blountsville Greenville ClarksvUle Sparta Montezuma Cahawba C. H. Russelville Erie Columbia Bedfonte Elyton Florence Moulton A.thens C. H. Hunts ville Linden PikeviUe Mobile Claibourne Montgomery Somerville C.H. Pickinsville IC. H. Ash ville Shelbyville TUSCAJLOOSA C.H. C.H. jCanton i M. I S. W. M. N. S. S.W. s. s. M. N.W. w^ S. E. N. N. N.W. N. N. N. W. N.W. S. W. S.W. M. N. M. W. S. E. N.E. M. M. Is. W. i s. 129 228 39 110 143 146 205 187 96 59 127 47 260 172 59 146 102 130 131 155 78 118 189 157 119 135 61 48 179 129 93 47 146 ( 113 Miscellaneous. lAntauga, C2 Elysian fields Port Gibson w. 67 Brunisbursf ' Copiah Gallatin S.W. 53 - " rovington Williamsburg S. E. S3 Moont Camitl Franklin Meadville s. w. 105 Franklin ■" Greene LeakesvUle S.E. 171 Leaf r. ^ Hancock Pearlington S.E. 200 Shieldboro' 9! Hinds Jackson M. — lOiJackson C.H. S.E. •213 1 1 Jefferson Fayette S. W. 93 Uniwi t. !•> Jones EUisvUle lU 13 Lawrence Monticello S. SS 14jLoundes Columbus VM 15; Madison Livingston 31 16! Marion Cohmibia s. 120 Fords 17 'Monroe Hamilton N. E. 150 Cohm3bu> l8:Perrv Augusta S.E, 137 19iPike Holmesville S. 151 20;Rankin [Brandon 16 21 Simpson jWestville M. 56 2:2Warren jVicksburgh W. 54 Warrentoii '23 AVashinfifton ; Princeton 119 '24;Wayne^ 1 Winchester E. 165 •25{Wiikin?v>n jWoodvilk S. W. 14S Buft^o, Piuckiievvi'« :26l Yazoo :Bcmon 1 W 64 t siCTioN XIX. LOnSIAXA. > ^'a^>f of 1 Fosi. ms. ftn. ?^ Parishes. Judicature. Hon. y.Orle. 1 Ascension LV)KaldsonYiile S. 75 o Assumption Assumption s. 90 3 Avovelles .Marksville M. 240 4 Catahoola Harrisonburg^ N. E. 251 o Claiborne Russelville 441 6 E.Baton Routrt^ Baton Rouge M. 117 -^ E. Feliciana Jackson M. 158 8 Iberville Iberville M. 98 y La Favette VcrmiJlioiaviUe S. W. 192 10 LaFourchelnt. Thibiideauxv'e S.E. 108 11 Natchitochez Natchitochez N.W. 354 It} Orleans Nkw Orixaxs S, 13 O^vlousas Bayou Chicot S.W. 220 360 fel Seats of Posi. ms. fm. 14 Parishes. Judicature. lion. N.Orle. Miscellaneous. Plaquemines Fort Jackson E. 15 15 Point Coupee Point Coupee M. 154 16 Rapides Alexandria 272 17 St. Helena St. Helena E, 98 Springfield 18 St. James Beragier E. 60 19 St.JohnBaptist Bonnet Carre 36 20 St Landry Opelousas S. 192 21 St. Martins St.Martinsville S. 176 22 St. Marys Franklin s. 141 23 St. Tammany Covington E. 44 94 Terra Bonne Williamsb'gh s. 90 Washita Monroe N. E. 323 96 Washington Franklinton E. 81 27 W. Feliciana Francisville M. 149 SECTION XX. TENNESSEE. ^ Posi- ms. fm. Counties. County towns. tion. Nashv. Miscellaneous. "I Anderson Clinton N.E. 195 Cumberland m. 2 Bedford Sbelbyville M. 52 3 Bledsoe Pikeville E. 109 Cumberland m. 4 Blount Mary'sville E. 197 Morgan t. 5 Campbell Jacksonboro' N.E. 215 Grantsboro' 6 Carroll Huntingdon W. 109 7 Carter Elizabethtown N. E. 316 8 Clayborne Tazewell N. E. 243 Clinch river 9 Cocke New Port E. 247 10 Davidson Nashville M. — Haysboro' 11 Dickson Charlotte M. 40 12 Dyer Dyersburgh W. 16S Miss, river 13 Fayette Somerville S.W. 184 14 Fentress Jamestown . 131 15 Franklin Winchester S. 82 Metcalfboro' 16 Gibson Trenton w. 139 17 Giles Pulaski s. 77 Elkton 18 Grainger Rutledge N.E. 232 Mountains 19 Greene Greenville N.E. 273 20 Hardimaii Bolivar S.W. 158 21 Hamilton C. H. S. 148 Brainard 22 Hardin Savannah S.W. 112 Tennessee r. 23 Hawkins Rogersville N. E. 264 Moorsburg 24 Haywood Brownsville W. 175 Harrisburg 25 Henderson Lexington w. 130 26 Henry Paris N.W. 108 27 Hichman Vernon M. 66 28 Humphries Reynoldsb'gh W. 78 29 Jackson Gainsboro' N. 79 Williamsburg 361 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 4? 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 Counties. Jefferson Knox Lawrence Lincoln McMinn McNairy Madison Marion Maury Monroe Montgomery Morgan Overton Obion Perry Rhea Roane Robertson Rutherford Sevier Shelby Smith Stewart Sullivan Sumner Tipton Warren Washington Wayne Weakly White" Williamson Wilson County toicns. Fosi- tion. ms. fm, Nashv. Dandridge E. 229 Knoxville E. 199 Lawrenceburg S. 75 Fayetteville S. 73 Athens S. R 153 Purdy s,w. 128 Jackson w. 147 Jasper s. 114 Columbia M. 42 Madisonville S. E. 168 Clarksville N. 46 C. H. N. 161 Monroe N. 109 Troy N. W. 161 Shannonville W. 114 Washington E. 129 Kingston E. 159 Springfield N. 25 Murfreesburg Sevierville M. E. 33 225 Memphis S. W. 224 Carthage N. 52 Dover N.W. 81 Blountville N. E. 306 JGallatin N. 1 25 Covington W. 1 197 jMcMinnsville M. i 74 jjonesboro' N. E. 298 Waynesboro' S. 92 Dresden N.W. 132 Sparta M. 92 Franklin M. 18 Lebanon M. 31 Miscellaneous. Calhoun Port Royal Montgomery Wood Lake Barrysville Jefferson, Rccdyvnii Mississippi r. Boat Yard Chickasaw B'alis SECTION XXI. KENTUCKY. Counties. 1 Adair 2 Allen 3 Anderson 4 Barren 5|Bath 6| Boone 7 1 Bourbon 8' Bracken 9|Breckenridge 10 Bullet County toiims. Columbus Scottsville Lawrenceburg Glasgow Owingsvillc Burlington Paris Augusta Hardinsburgh Shephcrdsville 31 Posi. ms. fm. tion. Frank. M. 91 S. 151 N, 12 S. 126 E. 73 N. 72 N. E. 43 N.E. 73 N. 118 N. 74 Miscellaneoxc? Barren r. Belleville, Petersbarj' Millcrsburg Germantown Patesville, Stapcf^pcct Mount VcnioK i^ 362 ^1 Posi- ms. fyn. p^ Counties. County towns. tion. W. Frank. 141 Miscellaneous. IT Butler Morgantown * 12 Caldwell Princeton W. 229 Eddyville 13 Callaway Wadesboro' w. 262 Nashville 14 Campbell Newport N. 99 Covington 15 Casey Liberty M. 66 Caseyville 16 Christian Liberty S. W. 206 Hopkinsville n Clark Winchester M. 45 Indian t. 18 Clay Manchester S, E. 115 19 Cumberland Burkesville S. 119 '20 Daviess Ovvenboro N.W. 150 Vienna 21 Edmonson Brownsville 138 23 Estill Irvine E. 71 23 Fayette Lexington M. 25 Cross Plains 24 Flemino; Flemingburgh N. E. 79 Blue Lick 25 Floyd Frestonburgh E. 142 Burning Springs 26 Franklin Frankfort N. — S. Frankfort 27 r^allatin Port William N. 57 Ghent, Fredericksb'g 28 Gerrard Lancaster M. 52 29 Grant Williamstown N. 44 30 Graves Mayfield W. 284 31 Grayson Litchfield W. 110 32 Greene Greenbui-ffh M. 90 Sumpterville 33 Greenup C. H. N. E. 1.32 Greenupsburg 34 Hancock Hawsville 1.30 35 Hardin Elizabcthtown N. 80 Philadelphia 36 Harlan C. H. S. E. 168 37 Harrison Cynthiana N. 38 Marysville 38 Hart Mumfordsvillc M. 105 Monroe 39 Henderson Henderson N.W. 180 40 Henry New Castle N. 37 Bedford, Westport 41 Fiickman Clinton S. W. 308 Columbia 42 Hopkins Madisonville w. 200 Bellville 43 Jefferson Louisville N. 52 TransylvJinir!, Portl'd 44 Jessamine Nicholasville M. 37 45 Knox Barboursvii\' S. E. 122 46 Laurel Hazel Patch 102 47 Lawrence Louisa E. 127 48 Lewis Clarksburgh N. E. 96 Vanceburgh 49 Lincoln Stanford M. 51 Crab Orchard 50 Livinorston Salem W. 245 Kirksville, Smithland 51 Logan Russelville S. 171 i Shaker t. 5-2 McCraken Wiliaington S. W. 28.9 53 Madison Richmond M. 50 Boonsboro' 54 Miison Washington N.E. 63 Maysville,Williamsb. 55 Mead Brandenburgh 90 56 Mercer Hariodsburofh M. 30 Walnut Grov<.', D;inv. 57 Monroe Tompkinsville S. 144 Chaphn t. 58 Montgomery MountSterling N.E. 60 59 Morgan West Liberty 107 60 Mnh\enhr.rg Greenville W. 177 [yewisburuh 363 ? Post- ms. fin. Counties. County toivns. tion. Frank. Miscellaneous. 61 Nelson Bardstown M. 55 Bloomfield, Fairfield 62 Nicholas Carlisle N.E. 58 EUisville 63 Ohio Hartford W. 154 64 Oldham West Port 44 65 Owen Owenton N. 28 66 Pendleton Falmouth N. 60 67 Perry C. H. E. 148 68 Pike Piketon E. 165 69 Pulaski Somerset S. E. 85 70 Rock Castle Mount Vernon E. 73 71 Russel Jamestown 109 72 Scott Georgetown N. 17 73:SheIbv Shelby ville N. 21 Hardaibville 74 Simpson Franklin S. 165 75 Spencer Tavlorsviile N. 35 76 Todd Elkton S. W. 186 77 Trigg Cadiz s. w. 226 78 Union Morganfield N. W. 205 Raleigh, Carthage 79 Warren BowUnggreen s. 145 80 Washington Springfield M. 50 Maxville, Lebanon 81 Wayne Monticello S. E. 110 82 Whitely C.H. S. E. 130 Williamsburgh 83 Woodford Versailles M. 13 Mortonsville SECTION : SXII. OHIO. >. Posi. ms. fm. f' Counties. County towns. tion. Colum. Miscellaneous. ~1 Adams West Union S. 101 Adamsv. Manchester 2 Allen N. W. 110 3 Ashtabula Jeflferson N.E. 191 Harpersfi'ld,Windsor 4 Atliens Athens S.E. 73 Hockhocking r. 5 Belmont St. Clairsville E. 124 Fairview, Morris t. 6 Brown Georgetown S.W. 104 Ripley 7 Butler Hamilton S.W. 101 Rossvillc, Middle t. 8 Champaign Urban n a W. 50 9 Clarke Springfield S.W. 43 Boston 10 11 Clermont Clinton Batavia ^Vilmington S.W. S.W. 109 67 Williamsburg, New t. 12 Columbiana New Lisbon E. 152 Fawcets t. Fairfield 13 Coshocton Coshocton M. 84 Tuscarawas r. 14 Crawford Bulyrus N.W. 75 Upper Sandusky 15 Cayahoga Cleveland N. 138 Euclid, Grainger 16 Darke Greenville W. 103 Stillwater cr. 17 Delaware Delaware M. 23 Berkshire, Norton 18 Fairfield Lancaster S. 28 Royalton, Centreville 19 Fayette Washington S. W. 45 Greenfield 20 Franklin Columbus M. Franklinton 21 Gallia Galliopolis s- 108 Fair Haven 364 ^ Posi. J ns. fm. o* Counties. County towns. tion. '^olum. Miscellaneous. ^ Geauga ( Dhardon N. E. ' 157 Painsville, Fairport 23 Greene Xenia S. W. 57 Fairfield 24 juernsey i Z^ambridge E. 83 Washington, Frankf. 25 Hamilton ( [:;incinnati S. W. 112 Springfield, Miami 26 Hancock Finlay N.W. 114 27 Hardm N.W. 66 28 Harrison Cadiz E. 124 Moorfield 29 Henry Damascus N.W. 161 Maumee r. 30 Highland Hilsboro' S.W. 74 N. Market, Florence 31Hockinjr Logan S. 47 32 Holmes Millersbnrgh M. 80 33 Huron Norwalk N. 113 Huron, Fair Haven 34 Jackson j C.H. S. 74 35 JefFerson j Steubenville E. 149 Mt.Pleasant, Jefters'u 36! Knox i Mount Vernon M. 45 N. Lexington 37 Lawrence Burlington S. 135 Bunsburgh 38 Licking Newark M. 34 Fairfield, Johns t. 39 Logan Bellefontaine W. 62 40 Lorain Elyria N. 130 Dover 41 Madison N. London S. W. 27 Lawrenceville 42 Marion Marion M. 47 43| Medina C.H. N. 111 Mecca, Medina 44 Meigs Chester S. 94 Salisbury 45; Mercer St. Mary's w. 111 46: Miami Troy w. 'iS Staunton,Washingt'n 47 Monroe Woodsfield S.E. 140 48, Montgomery Dayton S. W. 66 Liberty, Centerville 49 'Morgan McConnelisv'c S. E. 70 Waterford 50 Muskingum Zanesville M. 59 Putnam, Irville 51 Paulding N.W. 52 Perry Somerset S. E. 46 N. Lebanon 53Pickawav Circleville S. 26 Bloomfield 54; Pike Piketon s. 65 55 Portage Ravenna N. E. 127 Deerfield, Hudson 56 Preble Eaton S.W. 92 57iPutnam N.W. 148 53;Richland Mansfield N. 71 Greentown, Truxv'e 59'Ross Chillicothe S. 45 N. Richmond, Old t. 60 Sandusky L. Sandusky N. 103 6. [ Sciota Portsmouth S. 91 6f > Seneca Tiffin N. 85 6: J Shelby Sidney W. 86 Hardin 6^ 1 Stark Canton E. 116 Oznaburg, Kendal 6. 5 Trumbull Warren N. E. 157 Canfield, Boardman 6 3 Tuscarawas N.Philadelphic I E. 107 Gnadenhutten, Salem 6 7 Union Maryville M. 37 Zane t. Milford 6 ^IVnn \V art Wilshire N.W. 146 GRlWarren Lebanon S.W. 83 Deerfield, Montgom'y ^Washington Marietta S. E. 1 106 Newport, Troy 365 ^ Counties. County towns. Posi- tion. ms. fm. Colum. Miscellaneous. 71 72 73 Wayne Williams Wood Wooster Defiance Perrysburgh N.E. N.W. N.W. 86 175 135 Moscow, Paintvillc Maumee SECTION XXIII. INDIANA. .^ Posi- ms. fm. Counties. County towns. tion. \ Indian. 141 Miscellaneous. "l Allen Fort Wayne N.E. 2 Bartholomew Columbus S. 41 3 Boone Thorntown 62 4 Carroll Delphi 88 5 Case Logansport 113 6 Clark Charleston S. 105 jN. Washington 7 Clay Bowling Green I 69 8 Clinton Frankford i 9 Crawford Fredonia s. 122 ! Mount Sterling 10 Daviese Washington S. W. 106 U Dearbori- Lawrenceburg S. E. 98 Harlingb. Parnaesus 12 Decatur Greensburgh S. E. 55 13 Delaware Muncytown 59 14 Dubois Portersville s. w. 124 15 Fayette Connersville E. 68 16 Floyd New Albany S. 121 Clarksburg 17 Fountair; Covington 81 18 Franklin Brook ville S. E. 70 Somerset, Fairfield 19 Gibson Princeton s. w. 141 20 Greene Bloomfield s. w. 76 Burlington Connortown 21 Hamilton Noblesville M. 22 22 Hancock Hancock 21 23 Harrison Cory don s. 124 Northampton 24 HendrickiJ Danville M. 20 25 Henry New Castle E. 49 i 26 Jackson Brownstown S. 69 27 Jefferson Madison S. E. 86 New London 28 Jenninge Vernon S. E. 64 29 Johnson Franklin M, 20 1 30 Knox Vincennes s. w. 126 Russelville, Shaker t. 31 Lawrence Bedford s. 73 Palestine 32 Madison Andersontown M. 41 33 Marion Indianapolis M. 34 Martin Mt. Pleasant s. w. 121 Greenwich 35 Montgomery Crawfordsville w. 44 36 Monroe Bloomington M. 51 37 Morgan Martinsville M. 30 38 Orange Paoli S. 94 Orleans, Salt Spring 39 Owen Spencer w. 52 40 Parke Rockville w. 68 31 366 ? Fosi. ms. fm. Counties. County towns. tion. Indian. Miscellaneous. 41 Perry Rome S. 143 Troy, Washington 42 Pike Peterburgh s. w. 119 Columbia 43 Posey Mount Vernon s. w. 187 Springiield,Harmony 44 Putnam Green Castle w. 42 45 Randolph Winchester E. 97 46 Ripley Versailles S. E. 79 Ripley 47 Rush Rushville E. 40 Shelbyvilie 48 Scott Lexington S. E. 89 49 Shelby Shelbyvilie M. 30 50 Spencer Rockport S.W. 167 51 Sullivan Miriam W. 115 Carlisle 52 Switzerland Vevay S. E. 105 53 Tippecanoe La Fayette 70 54 Union Liberty E. 77 Dunlapsv. Brownsv. 55 Vanderburgh Evansville S. W. 170 56 Vermillion Newport W. 86 57 Vico Terra Haute W. 83 58 Wabash 196 59 Warren Williamsport 60 Warwick Booneville S. W. 187 Springfield 61 Washington Salem s. 91 Fredericksburgh 62 Wayne Centreville E. 63 Richmond, Salisbury SECTION XXIV. ILLINOIS. ? Fosi. ms. fm. Counties. County towns. tion. Vanda. Miscellaneous. ~r Adams Quincy W. 193 2 Alexander America s. 181 3 Bond Greenville S.W. 20 4 Calhoun Gilead w. 126 Colesgrove, Monioe 5 Clarke C. H. E. 134 Aurora, Sterling 6 Clay Maysville 46 7 Clinton Carlyle S.W. 30 Washingt. Donaldson 8 Cole C. H. 9 Cook Chicago N.E. 10 Crawford Palestine E. 118 York 11 Edgar Paris E. 106 12 Edwards Albion S.E. 92 Palmyra, Oxford 13 Fayette Vandalia M. — Lexington, Perryviile 14 Franklin Frankfort S. 102 Columbia 15 Fulton Fulton w. 133 16 Galatin Equality s. 137 Shawneetown 17 Greene Carrollton w. 106 Mount Pleasant 18 Hamilton McLeansboro' S. E. 93 Mantua 19 20 Hancock Henry W. W. 144 21 Jackson Brownsville S.W. 127 Ovid 367 ? Posi- ms. fm. Counties. County toions. tion. Vanda. Miscellaneous, 22 Jefferson Mount Vernon ~S. 65 23 Jo-Daviess Galena N.W. 326 24 Johnson Vienna S. 167 25 Knox C. H. w. 188 26 La Salle Ottowa 27 Lawrence Lawrenceville S. E. 84 Smallsburgli 28 McLean Bloomington 29 Macon Decatur 70 30 Macoupin Carlinville 95 31 Madison Edwardsville s. w. 55 Gibralter, Troy 32 Marion Salem s.w. 26 33 McDonough McComb 34 Mercer w. 35 Monroe Waterloo s.w. 99 Hanisonville 36 Montgomery Hillsboro' M. 28 Hamilton 37 Morgan Jacksonville w. 115 38 Peoria Peoria W. 43 39 Perry Pinckneyville 129 40 Pike Atlas W. 148 41 Pope Golconda s. 160 RockHaven,Belgrade 42 Putnam Hennepin 43 Randolph Kaskaskia s.w. 95 Portland 44 St. Clair Belleville s. w. 71 Athens, Lebanon 45 Sangamo Springfield M. 79 46 Schuyler HushviUe W. 172 47 Shelby Shelbyville 40 48 Tazewell Mackinaw 149 49 Union Jonesboro' s. 154 Hamburgh, Elvira 50 V^ermillion Danville 150 51 Wabash Mount Carmel 109 52 Warren Warren w. 203 53 Washington Nashville s. 52 Covington 54 Wayne Fairfield S. E. 69 55 White Carmi S. E. 94 Mantua SECTION xxy. MISSOURI. Counties. Boone Callaway C'pe Girardeau Chariton Clay Cole Cooper Crawford Franklin Gasconade County towns. Columbia Fulton Jackson Chariton Liberty JeffersonCity Booneville Little Piney Union Gasconade Posi- ms. fm. tion. Jeff'n M. 56 M. 32 S. E. 208 N. 79 N.W. 190 M. M. 51 97 E. 79 M. 47 Miscellaneous. Elizabeth, Mexico Cape Girardeau Howard's Bluff Newport 368 >l Posi. ms. fm. f Counties. County towns. tion. Jern Miscellaneous lljHoward Fayette M. 65 Franklin 12|Jackson Independence 177 13 Jefferson Herculaneura E. 164 Merrimac 14 La Fayette Lexington E. 138 15 Lincoln Troy E. 97 Alexandria 16 Madison Frederickton S. E. 170 St. Michaels 17 Marion Palmyra 190 18 Montgomery Lewistown E. 67 Pinckney 19 New Madrid New Madrid S. E. 258 Mt. Pleasant 20 Perry Perryville S. E. 157 Maddensburg 21 Pike Bowling Green E. 132 Louisiana, Clarksville 22 Rails New London N. E. 167 Hannibal, Palmyra 23 Randolph Randolph 96 24 Ray Richmond N.W. 149 Missouriton, Bluflfton 25 St. Charles St. Charles E. 123 Missouri 26 St. Francis Farmington S. E. 152 27 St. Genevieve St. Genevieve S. E. 168 28 St. Louis St. Louis E. 134 Corondolet, Florissant 29 Saline Walnut Farm W. 85 Jefferson 30 Scott Benton S. E. 236 31 Washington Potosi S. E. 127 Caledonia, Bellvue 32 Wayne Greenville S. 210 SECTION XXVI. MICHIGAN TERRITORY. ^ Posi. 7ns. fm. ? i Counties. County towns. tion. Detroit Miscellaneous. 1 Berrien 179 2 Branch 133 3 Brown Menomonee 4 Cass Edwardsb'rgh 169 5 Chippewa 6 Crawford Prair. du Chien 7 Jackson Jacksonopolis 77 8 Iowa Helena 9 Hillsdale 108 10 Kalamazoo 11 Lanawe Tecumseh S. E. 63 12 Lapeer 13 McComb Mt. Clement E. 26 14 Michilimaci- Mackinac N. 321 15 Monroe [nac Monroe S.E. 36 Lawrenceville 16 Oakland Pontiac E. 26 17 Saginau Saginau M. 18Salinac 19 Shiawassee Biron S. E. 20 St. Clair St. Clair E. 59 21 St. Josephs S.W. 22 Washtenaw Ann Harbor S.E. 42 23 Wayne Detroit S.E. — Monguagoii 369 In the North-western Territory, which is attached to the territorial government of Michigan, are located two counties. 1. Bradford — in the south, bounding on Ilhnois. 2. Browne — in the east, at the south of Green Bay, and bounding on lake Michigan. SECTION XXVII. ARKANSAS TERRITORY. .^' Posi. ■ms.fm. Counties. County towns. tion. Arkop. Miscellaneous. 1 Arkansas Arkansas E. 114 Beards t. 2 Chicot Villemont S. E. 184 3 Clarke C. H. S. E. 87 Hot sp'gs. Pine Bluff 4 Conway Harrisonburg 40 5 Crawford C.H. M. 136 Dwight, Spadra 6 Chittenden Greenock 168 7 Hempstead C.H. S. 130 8 Independence Batesville N. E. 102 Cadron 9 Izard C.H. 172 10 La Fayette C.H. 182 11 Lawrence Jackson N.W. 152 12 Miller CH. S. W. 228 Pecan point 13 Monroe 84 14 Phillips Helena E. 124 Hopefield 15 Pope Scotia 81 16 Pulaski Arkopolis E. Piatts t. 17 St. Francis Franklin 18 Sevier Sevier 168 19 Union Corea Fabre 20 Warm Spring Warm Spring 60 21 Washington 200 SE( :tion XXVIII. FLOR] [DA. Posi. ms. fm. Counties. County towns. tion. Tallah. Miscellaneous. Alachua Dell's 178 2 Duval Jacksonville N.E. 252 Fernandine 3 Escambia Pensacola W. 242 Cambell t. Florida 4 Gadsden Quincey 23 5 Hamilton 6 Jackson Marianne N. 77 ~ Jefferson Monticello 29 8 Leon Tallahasse N. — 9 Madison Hickstown 10 Monroe Key West 11 Moscheto Tomoka 12 Nassau Fernandina 313 13 St. Johns St. Augustine N.E. 292 14 Walton Alaqua 161 15 Washington Holmes Valley 121 370 In the following Table, the calculations of square miles and acres, will not always be found exactly to correspond with the given measures of length and breadth. The dimensions do not appear to be uni- formly laid down upon the same principles. The two diameters are mostly stated as nearly corresponding with their full length, and the calculations of square miles and acres founded upon the estimate averages of length and breadth. In some cases, however, the averages appear to be aimed at in the given dimen- sions. In cases where considerable portions are co- vered with lakes, some are calculated for the whole surface, and others exclusive of the waters To ar- rive at greater accuracy, in so large a country, would seem to be attended with more labor and difficulty, than the advantages to be gained from a greater ex- actness would compensate. The calculations are gene- rally taken from the best authorities extant. The seventh column, denoting the dates of founda- tion, refers, with respect to the original states, to their first settlement, and with respect to those organized since the revolution, to the dates of the Acts of Con- gress receiving them into the Union in their state caoacities. The District of Columbia dates from the first meeting of Congress in Washington. Tiie column of bearings of the Capitals from Wash- ington, aims at no more than a near approximation to the true courses. The direct distances of Capitals from Washington, are estimated from the face of a map of the Union, and are supposed to be sufficiently correct, for the purpose of imparting general ideas — which is the only purpose intended. The distances of the Mail routes, are taken from the Tables of the General Post Office, as graduated in 183U x^ 00 "^ ^ ^' *^ ' " ■ — ' ;c 00 ^B^--±^^^-*-^^ - - H'^ > Q ^ !2: < a ^ o :? ^ 2 2. =i p O O p* o p p o o- ^ O 3 ^. 4^ o g o C^- « Q M 2 a" cfl ;:. Sis <;=:-2 p H 2 >-=• « CD S o o •-^ ^ ; UU 2 S n^' il I lis 1 i i i i i I i ill--il||gSIII-^| 1 1 1 1 §gggg§g§§§i§^§ooo^o^-^^::ir gssissssiiilliliiliiiisii f— uu wj I'w iw w. ^^^^ S"r^^"^ 2J a|6ls-sl«^l?r2.|-sgS=.sS=.S:S.&2i ^-Is S^S f4 g S S I £ g .0 5 "»^S^!l^ = - = ^ :^ j» ^ ■ :^ • • • • • • • ^-^ tsi 00 o Ci 00 ^^ § 22 ^J '^ j:2 :;: S " Sa3 c w. k; i 2 372 CHAPTER V. DEFINITIONS OF LEGAL TERMS. THE present chapter is introduced merely to de- fine the most common obvious meaning of a few terms, as they are used in the United States, in a le- gal sense; and is chiefly intended to embrace those which most frequently recur in newspaper publica- tions, and other familiar prints, or appear in public documents or debates. The object in view, is, that the youth, when they meet with them in such publications, may neither be subjected to the uncertainty of some random vague conjecture of their meaning, nor be driven to the ne- cessity of a resort to some law dictionary — which ve- ry few families are supposed to possess — nor to that of passing them over, as belonging to an unknown tongue. The list has been carefully corrected, by a practitioner of law, of acknowledged ability. The youth will be aware, that manj^ of the words have other meanings, as they occur in common use, in our language, unconnected with the operations of law. These we leave to the explanations of a com- mon dictionary. ACCOMPLICE — Any one of several, who are concerned together in committing a criminal act. ADMINISTRATOR— One to whom is committed the settlement, ac cording to law, of the estate of a person who dies without leaving a will or testament. ADVOCATE — A Lawyer, who assists his client, by advice, and by advocating his cause in court if necessary. AFFIDAVIT — An oath or affirmation, taken in writing, before a com- petent officer legally authorized. 373 AFFIRMATION — A solemn promise and declaration, instead of an oath, made by those conscientiously scrupulous against taking an oath in judicial and other proceedings. AFFRAY — A public fighting — which is a public offence against the peace and morals of a community. AGENT — A person appointed by another to transact business for him. AGREEMENT — When written, is a memorandum, expressing a bar- gain between two or more persons. ALIEN — A person not born within the state or nation wherein he re- sides, nor acknowledged as a citizen by any public act or ceremony, prescribed by law for the purpose. ALLUVION — -Lands formed from the accumulation of sand upon a sea shore, or from the collection of sediment brought down by a river, forming islands, or an extension of ground, upon its borders. AMNESTY — An act of general pardon, or oblivion of offences, against a government. ANNUITY — A yearly rate, paid for years or for life, (as the agree- ment may be made between the contracting parties,) in consideration of a principal sum, paid in hand. APPEAL — The removing of a cause from the decision of a justice, to the judgment of a court, or from an inferior court to a superior. APPURTENANCES — Things of less consideration appertaining to things of greater — as barns, highways, or waters, to a farm. ARBITRATION — A submission of things in dispute between two or more persons, to the judgment and decision of others who are not interested. -ARCHIVES — The rolls, or places, wliere public records aie kept. ARREARAGE — Money remaining unpaid after due, or the balance of an account afler settlement ARREST— A legal restraint, assumed and iield by an officer, upon a person charged with debt or with crime. ARSON — House burning ASSAULT AND BATTERY— An attempt by violence, to do bodily injury to another. ASSIGNS — Persons to wliom the title to a property is transferred by others. ASSIGNEES — Persons to whom the property of a bankrupt is made over, for legal distribution among his creditors. ATTORNEY — A person legally authorized by another, by a written instrument, to pay or receive money, or to transact any other busi- ness on behalf of the person employing him. Al'TORNEY AT LAW— A lawyer, qualified, and employed lo manage suits before a court of judicature. Al'TORNEY GENERAL— A law officer, appointed on behalf of the State, to conduct prosecutions against criminals, or public offenders. AUDITOR — A public officer, appointed to examine and correct the accounts of other public officers, or agents. BAIL — The act by which a person arrested is set at liberty, on surety given by another for his appearance, at a certain time and place, to stand his trial — the surety binding himself in a certain sum, to en- sure the said appearance. BANKRUPT — A person who by accidents, mismanagement, the fail- ure of others, or any other Cviusr itself CODICIIj — A snpplenient to a will. COMMITMENT— Sending a person to prison, for crime or other suffi- cient cause. COMMON LAW — Compreliends the rules for administering justice, wliich have been established by custom, and handed down by tradi- tion, from a period of time before any statute laws by acts of parlia- ment novv extant were passed. It is understood as embracing an extensive code of laws, v/hich generally appear to have had their foundation in the principles of sound reason and common self-evident justice. Decision? in our American courts, are generally made by its rales, where tiicy have nc-t been superseded by special acts of legislatures. COMMON PLEAS— In courts of judicature, include all civil actions at law between citizens. The courts where they are tried are de- nominated courts of common pleas. CONSIDERATION — Is the price in money, or other valuable things, which is paid for land or other property conveyed — without which no conveyance is valid. CONSIGNMENT — The act by which goods are committed, or sent to another to be disposed of, and accounted for, to the ov/ner, or per'' ^■on sendinfr them. 375 CONTEMPT — Disobedience to the rules or orders of a court, or dis- respect for its authority publicly manifested. CONVEYANCE — A deed which passes land from one to another. COPY-RIGHT— The exclusive right to a literary performance, se- cured by law to its author, which includes the exclusive right of printing and publishing it for a limited time. CORONER— The office of a coroner, was formerly, in England, very comprehensive. At present, in the United States, the principal duty of a coroner, which comes under general public notice, relates to the examining, by the assistance of a jury of twelve men, whom he sum- mons, and over whom he presides — into the circumstances of the death of persons dying suddenly, or by unknown causes, and report- ing the cases, as they may appear, upon the best evidence which can be procured. The design of the law appears to be, to prevent the interment of persons who have thus died, without due examina- tion, lest circumstances of private murder, by violence, the administra- tion of poisons, or other means, should pass without detection. Thi.- officer is sometimes vulgarly called crowner — his title being derived from his being in England, an officer of the crown, appointed to in- quire on the king's behalf. With us the authority of the state in equivalent to that of the king. COVENANT — Is a clause in a deed of conveyance, or other instru- ment; by which the seller, engages with the buyer, that such, or such, circumstances, relative to the premises, are in reality as he has represented them — or that he will perform something relative there- to, which is yet to be performed, as a part of the bargain. COUNSELLOR — A lawyer engaged by a client, to plead his cause iu a court, or to administer advice privately, relative to a case in con- troversy, or question of law. COURT MARTIAL — A court of officers in an army, appointed as any particular occasion may require, to judge of and award, punish- ment, or acquittal, for the offi3nces charged upon officers or soldiers, in time of w^ar. CUSTOMS— ^A term synonimous with duties — being the assessment paid, according to acts of the legislature, on goods imported, to pay the expenses of government. It is a mode of taxation. CUSTOM HOUSE — A house in a port town, where customs are re- ceived. DEBENTURE— The same as drawback. When goods which have been imported, are afterwards exported, the owner, by a provision of law, draws back, either in whale or in part, the duties which he paid on their importation. DECREEr-r-The sentence pronounced or awarded by a chancellor, on the decision of a suit before Jaim. DEED — A written contract sealed and delivered. As respects land, its meaning is the same as conveyance. Some deeds are called in- dentures, because they are indented, or cut unevenly, at the top or edge. In this case two copies were considered necessary; which must correspond, by being cut at the same operation, thus making one for each party exactly alike. A deed poll, is a deed polled, or shaven strait, which supposes no second copy necessary. They are severally used with reference to circumstances, where there is some variation of antecedent title to the land to be conveyed. 37(5 DEFAULT — When either plaintiff or defendant in a suit at law, ne- glects to appear at court, for its trial, judgment often passes against the negligent party, which is called judgment by default. DEFENDANT — In law is the party sued. The party suing is called the plaintiff. DEPOSITION — The testimony of a witness put down in writing. DEPUTY — One who performs an office, or duty, deputed by authority of another. DEVISE — A bestowing, or disposition, of land or other property, by last will and testament. DISFRANCHISE — To dispossess a person of his rights and privileges as a freeman. DISTRESS or DISTRAINT— Goods or chattels taken by legal au- thority, for the payment of a debt — most commonly for rent due, or other legal demand withheld. DOWER — The portion of a widow, of the lands or effects, of her de- ceased husband. DOWRY — The portion which a woman brings to her husband, upon marriage. EXCHANGE — Among merchants, is the bartering or exchanging, the money of one place for that of another. For instance — A, of Philadelphia owes B, of Liverpool. B, again, owes C, of Philadelphia. A, then, pays to C, the amount of the debt he owes to B, and receives C's order, called a bill of exchange, of equal amount on B. This bill he transmits to B, in payment of his debt; and thus the three par- ties are accommodated, without the risque of transmitting money across the ocean, in either direction. EXECUTION — A writ grounded on the judgment of a court or ma- gistrate; empowering a sheriff, or constable, to seize the person, goods, or lands, of a debtor, against whom such judgment has issued, there- by to enforce payment" to the creditor, in whose favour the court has decided. EXECUTOR — A person appointed in the will of one deceased, to car- ry it into effect, or to execute it. Every person acting under such authority, is in fact an administrator, in that he administers to the estate of the deceased, though under the authority of a will. But every administrator is not an executor ; because that term applies ex- clusively to the settlement of an estate under the direction of a will, and not merely by the prescription of the laws. EX OFFICIO— That power which a public officer has, to do certain things, in right of his office, without the necessity of a special war. rant, or authority, granted for the occasion by his superiors. EX PARTE— Legal action had in certain cases, or evidence taken, in the absence of one of the parties concerned. The latter is gener- ally unlawful, though capable of some rare exceptions. FEE' SIMPLE— An estate in lands, absolute, and unlimited by any condition. FELO DE SE— A self-murderer. FELONY— Comprehends in general, every species of crime commit- ted with an evil intention, which under the common law was sub- jected to capital punishment. But under our laws, felony, except in cases of wilful murder, piracy, or some cases of mail robbery, is ge- 377 nerally punished by fines, imprisonment at hard labor, or some other corporal infliction. FEME COVERT — A married woman, so called in law, as being un- der cover or protection of her husband. FEME SOLE — An mimarried woman, or a woman alone. FIERI FACIAS — A writ, authorising a sheriff to levy on, and sell, the goods of a person against whom judgment has been obtained in a court, for the payment of his creditor who has obtained the judg- ment. GAOL DELIVERY— The judicial process by whidi gaols are evacuated, by the trial, and either condemnation or acquittal, of all persons confined in them, on criminal charges. GRAND JURY — A jury summoned by the sheriff, or in some of the States drawn by lot, from the ballot box in which the names of all persons in the county supposed to be most fit for tlie office are de- posited. The jury is generally composed of twenty-three members, twelve of whom being a majority, are capable of doing business — a majority of twelve being always necessary to the finding of a bill of indictment. It is the duty of the grand jury to inquire, and present to the court, all cases of public grievance known to themselves, without further evidence. And to hear and act upon, bills of in- dictment, prepared and presented to them by the Attorney General, against individuals charged with criminal conduct; and either to present those bills to the court as true, or, in case of insufficient evi- dence, to discharge the supposed offender from further prosecution. HABEAS CORPUS— The name of a writ, by which a person com- mitted to prison for less than a capital crime, found before a justice, or magistrate of a corporation, ftiay, upon a plea of illegality, cause himself to be brought before a judge; who is empowered to decide, upon the evidence presented, whether he shall be returned to prison to await his trial, be admitted to bail, or be discharged without fur- ther process. This is tlie most common use of the writ, though it may embrace other cases which we need not here explain. The name is derived from two Latin words, haheo, to have, and corpus^ the body ; implying a power secured to the citizen, to have his body removed before competent authority, in order to gain a fair hearing. It is considered a most important bulwark for the protection of the citizen, ag-ainst illegal oppression, and in favour of just liberty. HOMICIDE— Manslaying. HUNDRED — In some of the United States implies a section of a county. It is equivalent to township in other states. IMPEACHMENT — An accusation and prosecution of an officer un. der the government, for treason, or for misdemeanor in office. IMPOST — Identical with custom, or duty. INCENDIARY — A person guilty of setting fire to buildings or other property. INDICTMENT — A written bill, or accusation, of a crime or misde- meaner, drawn up by the attorney general, and presented to the grand jury. INQUEST — An inquisition, or inquiry by a jury. It is applicable to many cases of law proceedings, but is especially used to express the inquiry of a coroner's jury, in cases of death, by sudden, accidental, or unknown cause. 378 JOINT TENANTS— Are those who hold lands in partnership in un- divided right, under such circumstances that if one of the partners should die, the whole property will remain vested in the survivor, and go to his heirs on his decease, while the children of the first dying will be wholly excluded. IPSO FACTO — A term signifying that the instant any thing is done, or omitted, contrary to the terms on which the holding of a proper- ty, privilege, or office, depended as a condition, on that instant the right to that property, privilege, or office, ceases without formal process. JUDGE — Judges are the chief officers in the law, to trj', and deter- mine, by rules of law, causes coming before them, either civil or criminal. JURIES — Are a number of persons, — most generally twelve, — to trj- some matter of fact. They are the judges of evidence presented to them, and are bound to decide according to the preponderance of evidence produced. — The judge having explained the law when necessar)'. LARCENY — The felonious and fraudulent taking away the personal goods of another. It is generally applied to thefts. If the amomit taken be of small value, it is called petit larceny. If the amount be considerable, it is called grand larceny. LAW OF NATIONS — A system of rules, supposed to be deducible by natural reason, from the immediate, self-evident principles of natural justice ; by which the reciprocal conduct of nations toward each other, is professed to be regulated. It may, however, be modi- fied by mutual compact, between separate free and independent states. LEGACY-— A bequest, or gift, of a. person, by will, to another. LETTER OF ATTORNEY— A written instrument, by which a person is legally authorized to act on behalf of another. LEVARI FACIAS-^A writ, authorising a sheriff, to levy a sum of money on lands and tenements. LEVY— To gather, or collect. LIEN — A law term, expressing the circumstance of lands or goods, being bound by law or contract, for the payment of certain defined debts, in preference to others afterward ccntracted. MARSHAL-^ An officer who executes the processes of the courts of the United States ; as sheriffs do those of the state or county courts. MISDEMEANOR— An act, committed, or omitted, in violation of u public law. MITTIMUS — The name of a precept, directed to a gaoler, by a justice of the peace, for receiving and safe keeping an offender. MORTGAGE — A pawn of the title of land, in security for money borrowed, or debt otherwise contracted ; to become void on the pay- ment of the debt. NATURALIZATION— The act and process directed by law, by which a person coming from another country to reside, acquires the privi^ leges of citizenship. NOLLE PROSEQUI— A process, or entry, denoting that the plaintiiF; or prosecutor, will proceed no further in his action or prosecution. NONSUIT^Occurs where a person has commenced an action at law, 3nd fails to support it by legal evidence : or where he has commenced 37^ liis action upon an incorrect principle, and is obliged to give it ap) in order to commence anew, under a different form. KOTARY — A person appointed to attest deeds and writings, and to protest notes of hand, remaining unpaid after due, and to translate languages for legal pui'poses. OBLIGATION — A bond containing a penalty, with a condition an- nexed, for payment of money, or the performance of a covenant. OVERT ACT — Some action which can be proved, as having been openly performed, demonstrating a treasonable intention, or unlaw- ful design — bare wordsj not being in law, sufficient to ground a con- viction upon, without some siich action. OUSTED— Put out, or removed. OYER AND TERMINER— A court held to hear and determine, all charges of treason, felony, or misdemeanor. OYES — A term derived, or changed by habit, from the PVench oyez, which signifies "hear ye." It is made use of by the crier of a court, to enjoin silence, v/hen proclamation is to be made of any order or conclusion of the court. PANEL — An oblong piece of parchment or paper^ containing the names of a jury. PARCENERS — Holders of land in partnership — therefore partners. PARLIAMENT — The supreme legislature of tlie British government. PARRICIDE— One who kills his parent. PASSPORT — A hcense signed by one in authority, authorising the safe passage of a person from one part to another. PEERS — In common law, are those equal in rank and station with a man who is to be tried for an offence, from amongst whom his jury shall be taken. PEERS — In another sense, are the nobility under monarchial govern- ments. In England they compose what is called the upper house, or house of lords, in parliament. PENALTY — A forfeiture inflicted for not complying with certain laws, or a conditional pledge in a contract, binding to the perform- ance of a covenant. PERJURY — False swearing, when an oath is administered by legal authority. PIRATE— A robber at sea. PLEA — The form, or substance, of the allegation of either party, in a suit at court. POSSE COMITATUS— The power of a county— the people at large, who may be called upon by a sherifr, to aid him in the execution of the laws, in certain desperate cases. Pound — a public enclosure, pvepafed to secure animals taken in trespass, till damages shall be paid by their owner. PORTS OF ENTRY— Those seaport towns or places where vessels are allowed by law to enter and discliarge their cargoes, under the view and superintendance of an officer of the customs. PRECEPT— A command in writing, by an executive officer, for bring- ing a person or record before him; PRESENTIMENT— Expresses the act of a grand jury, when they find an offence, and present it to the court, of their own knowledge^ v/ithout an indictment laid before them by the attorney general. PROCESS-^Thc covirsc, cr manner of proceeding, in any cause at law. 380 PROTEST — The open affirmation of a person that he disapproves, or is not consenting, to any act. It is also the act of publicly declaring a bill or note unpaid, or not accepted. PROTHONOTARY— The chief clerk of a court. PROXY A person appointed by another to represent him in his ab^ sence, on certain particular occasions. RECOGNISANCE— Is an obligation a man enters into, before a court, or magistrate, to appear at court, or to keep the peace. REGISTER— Recorder of deeds and other public documents withm the verge of a county. ; , , • •^, , REJOINDER— Is the answer of the defendant to the plauitiit s reply to his former plea. SIERE FACIAS— A writ, embracing a complex state ot law proceed- ings, beyond the purpose of the present chapter to explain. SHERIFF— The chief officer of a county, to execute the writs of the courts, preserve the peace, SiC ^ . j j- • SOLICITOR— A person employed to take care of suits, depending in courts of law or equity. , . r ♦, STAPLE— The principal, and most prontable, products ot a country. STATUTE— A written law, enacted with the usual formalities. SUBPCENA— A writ, or summons, commanding the attendance o. persons at a court, as witnesses. SUPERCEDEAS— A writ, to stay proceedings in law, upon good cause TENANTS IN COMMON— Are those who hold lands in undivided partnership, but whose rights are inherent in each, severally, and descend, each part to their several heirs, without being affected bj the death of one, as in the case of joint tenants. TREASON— An offence of " high grade, committed against a statt or government. ^ , TRESPASS— Any transgression of law under treason or telony. VENDITIONE EXPONAS— A writ, to expose to sale property pre- viously levied on. ■ .. VERDICT— The answer of a jury, made upon any cause, civil or criminal, committed to them for decision. THE END.