THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY From the collection of Julius Doerner, Chicago Purchased, 1918. 917-3 S elr\ IS5I The person charging this material is re- sponsible for its return on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation and underlining of books are reasons for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from the University. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY From the collection of Julius Doerner, Chicago Purchased, 1918. 917-3 1&51 / /* ^3 / Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates https://archive.org/details/pictorialdescrip00sear_0 . J f' ■ THE LIBRARY OF THE 0KIYEBS1IY CF ILLIRSIS VIEW OF THE PARK AND CITY IIALL NEW YORK CITY. PICTORIAL DESCRIPTION UNITED STATES; E 31 BRACING THE HISTORY, GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION, AGRICULTURAL AND MINERAL RESOURCES, POPULATION, MANUFACTURES, COMMERCE, AND SKETCHES OF CITIES, TOWNS, PUBLIC BUILDINGS, ETC., ETC. INTERSPERSED WITH REVOLUTIONARY AND OTHER INTERESTING INCIDENTS CONNECTED WITH THE EARLY SETTLEMENT OF THE COUNTRY* ILLUSTRATED WITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS. BOSTON : LEE AND SHEPARD. Ci&j-') > if INTRODUCTION. The history of America has not, like that of the Old World, the charm of classical or romantic associations ; but in useful instruction and moral dignity, it has no equal. It is scarce three quarters of a century since this fair and flourishing republic was a colony of England, scarcely commanding the means of existence without the aid of the mother-coun- try, who was herself oppressed by European wars. Our puritan forefathers began in the rough fields of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, on a broad, comprehensive principle, which has gone forth to fraternize the world. Our history, therefore, like that poetical temple of fame reared by the imagination of Chaucer, and decorated by the taste of Pope, is almost exclusively dedicated to the memory of the truly great. Within, no idle ornament encumbers its bold simplicity. The pure light of heaven enters from above, and sheds an equal and serene radiance around. As the eye wanders about its extent, it beholds the unadorned monuments of brave and good men, who'have bled or toiled for their country ; or it rests on votive tablets inscribed with the names of the blessed benefactors of mankind. The puritans of England — the resolute conquerors of the lakes and forests of the New World — occupied, in the first period of their social existence, the depressed position of a Euro- pean colony ; but the spirit of liberty which had led them to these wild regions, and the gifts of a magnificent and fertile nature, were sufficient to prepare them for their high destiny. * This rude apprenticeship lasted more than one hundred and fifty years before the hour of * We rejoice to see a disposition manifested by the con- ductors of the secular press, to sanction the great princi- ples of morality and religion, which lie at the foundation of social happiness and national prosperity. We have no confi- dence in the stability and success of any form of government which does not recognise God “ as the Ruler of nations.” “ Washington was undoubtedly the man of the age in which he lived. He was raised up by Providence for the accomplishment of a most important and difficult work. But wise and gifted as he was, he would never have achieved the sublime results which crowned his efforts, if he had not had the best material the world has ever fur- nished, for laying the foundation of a government, under whose beneficent influences we have been happy and prosperous. Indeed, the germs of our republic may be traced back long prior to the Revolution. They are seen in the spirit, the intelligence, the probity, the indomitable perseverance, and the piety, of the little band who reached our shores in the May-Flower. It was there, in the solemn compact into which they entered before leaving their frail bark, that we see the incipient steps taken which led on, by a process slow but sure, to the Declaration of Inde- pendence. There is nothing that rouses our indignation more effectually, than to hear the miserable prating of some who have yet to learn the rudiments of our true his- tory, throwing out their sneers, and casting contempt upon those to whom they are indebted for their rich privileges, and whose ‘ shoe’s latchet they are not worthy to unloose.’ Such a man “ ‘ I* fit for treason, stratagems, and spoils; The motions of bis spirit are dull as night, And his affections dark as Erebus. Let no such man be trusted.’ " Philadelphia North American. chano-e struck ; and in the night of the 18th of April, 1775, the cannons of Lexington called a new-born nation to regenerate the world. The people rose as one man, and turning the ploughshare that tilled the soil into a sword to defend it, they threw themselves upon their uni us t oppressors, and proclaimed at Philadelphia the immortal principles of self-govern- ment that made tyrants tremble and every generous heart palpitate with joyful hope. At that moment a new name was inscribed on the catalogue of great nations. If not in na- tional importance, it was great by the moral influence it immediately exercised on the world. England, overwhelmed with a debt of one hundred and twenty-eight and a hall millions sterling chargeable with an annual interest of four and a half millions, wished to transfer a portion of the burden to her colonies, and attempted to infringe their rights by the imposition of the celebrated stamp-tax. The colonists admitted the justice of all the members of a confederation contributing, according to their ability, to the support of the common government, since the prosperity of each depends on the security and well-being of all but declared they could not and ought not share in the expenses of a war with which thev had nothing to do, and a luxurious court which was equally repugnant to their repose and American simplicity. At first England affected to acknowledge the right of the colo- nies to refuse to pay for faults they had no share in committing ; but after the pause of a few years, she renewed her attacks under a different form. With equal firmness America re nelled the second attempt to violate her liberties; and England, offended at this unex- ampled audacity, closed the port of Boston, and kindled the flames of a war wnich doubled her troublesome debt. Then appeared the host of blazing meteors that illumined the path of our Revolution, and now watch in their high spheres over our safety. They broke the chains of thirteen colonies, and offered to the astonished world the most sublime spectacle of ancient or modern times— the fusion of all races, tongues, and sects, in the one political religion of liberty. The Declaration of Independence found thirteen states and three mill- ions of people; now there are thirty-one states, and a population of twenty-five millions The whole exterior commerce of the republic, at 1780, amounted to about eight and a half millions annually ; now our annual exports exceed one hundred and fifty-eight millions, while our internal commerce is valued at five hundred millions per year, without estima- ^What a change has the progress of civilization effected on this vast continent during the last two centuries; and what a glorious change to the enlightened mind. Then a few ill-constructed roads, and the water-courses nature had bestowed, were our only means of intercommunication ; now, about ten thousand miles of railway and i which embrace, in continuous lines of navigation, thirty thousand miles of aad render the most northern corner of Maine nearer in time to Florida and Mexl . ( r9 1 t ^ a ^ as ^^' ton to Charleston in those days. Steam and the magnetic telegraph have a ^ hda jf n d a s ^ A few years ago, and the majestic forest spread its wing far and wide, and the Indian was monarch of all he surveyed— tiaversing its wilds with his spear, or navigating its lakes with his bark canoe. What was once gloomy forests is now beautiful villages and populous cities teeming with industrious and intelligent inhabitants, minjstermg to the wants of the mother-country. Our vast prairies are now becoming thrifty farms, and the produce of every climate smilesupon our shores. The application of steam to various purposes has produced wonderful results. America and England are brought withm a t™-days voy^ and Ch,na will in fifty years be, comparatively, as near as England now is: the whole world 3 !;*^ be neighbors to each other, and peace and good will universally prevail among mankind. In progress of our own country in populatio: * The following passage will realize to our readers the condition of things two hundred years ago:— “ The number of the pilgrims was but one hundred, all told. The bark in which they crossed the ocean was ot less capacity than that of one of the cratt which navigate our Schuylkill canal. The length of their voyage was the same with that of Columbus, a little more than a century before. The Spaniards had held their ‘revels m the halls of the Montezumas’ during the greater part of this centu- ry. Virginia had been settled a few years, and contained from five hundred to one thousand inhabitants. What we now call New England was regarded as an island— a mis- take not corrected in old England so late as the time ot an official despatch of Lord North’s during our Revolution. They came from England, and our thoughts are natural.y turned to the condition of things in England at the time. They had not much glass for their houses, and not a great deal of linen for their persons; no tea or coffee, «n d out little sugar for their tables, in old England then. They had no science of chymistry or of geology ; no knowledge of the preparation of the following work, we have found new reason to admire the rapid ess of our own country in population, the arts, and the various institutions which ac- electricity or of the power of steam ; scarcely any manu- factures, but very imperfect agriculture, and very little horticulture. Crossbows had scarcely gone out ot use in war, and their firearms generally had matchlocks. They had their old baronial establishments, their ruined castles, and deserted monasteries ; their magnificent cathedrals, their two great universities, their vast enclosures lor parks and preserves. They had monuments ot the times ol the Druids, and abiding evidence that England, for two centu- ries, had been a Roman province. They boasted ot a con- stitution ; but it existed principally in custom, depending upon uncertain memory, and there were precedents oi all kinds— those favoring prerogative greatiy prevailing over those in favor of liberty. From the peasant to the prince, the distance was more awful than we can well imagine. For five thousand years the human race had been subject, all the world over, to the dominion of arbitrary power. From the earliest period of recorded time, history had been occupied with the rise and fall of kingdoms and of kings.” INTRODUCTION. vii company and promote civilization, morals, and religion, as well as national extension, wealth, and power. Great pains have been taken, and expense incurred, to introduce some of the most important, appropriate, and interesting scenes, sketches of character, and other matters embraced in the wide surface of the American Union. In the older states, the historical details offered for a work of this kind are superabundant ; and the only difficulty is found in making a selection of periods, and in sufficiently condensing the matter, without reducing it to the form of mere statistics. Respecting the new states, we can assure the reader that the labor of collecting the latest and most authentic information has been very great. We take pleasure in acknowledging our obligations to those benevolent and intelli- gent friends at a distance who have aided us in collecting the most recent statistics relating to some of the most flourishing parts of our country. We can not but feel, in looking upon the numerous and important subjects to which the attention of our readers is here directed — as we pass from one portion of the country to an- other, that they, as well as ourselves, must naturally and almost unavoidably be strongly impressed with several great and salutary reflections. To read the history of any country or people, without permanent benefit, would be to waste time and to abuse one of the most important branches of human knowledge ; but to pass over descriptions of our own land, and the history of our own people, without giving them any serious regard, or drawing from them any of those interesting and salutary lessons which they are adapted to supply, be- yond almost any other part of the world or portion of the human farpily, would prove a frivolity of mind, or an insensibility of heart, too great for any author willingly to attribute to the circle of his readers. We are indeed aware of the extent to which the floods of fictitious writings, at the pres- ent day, vitiate the public taste, waste the time, enfeeble the mind, and, alas ! pervert the heart ; and we find new reason every day to lament the various evils, both mental and moral, which are brought upon individuals and society by that pernicious cause. But still we know full well, that there are those who keep their minds and their hearts free from the contamination, as well as the debilitating influences, of that miserable kind of reading (which deserves not the title of literature), and that there are persons, in all parts of the country, whose native strength of intellect and manly Christian principles have never been subjected to the insidious, injurious, and often ruinous influence of fiction-reading. Heavy responsibility rests upon those who write for the public. Tutors of the world, they may not lightly assume nor thoughtlessly discharge a very important office. Every line found wanting in moral tone should be instantly erased. Incalculable evil may follow its publi- cation— for in that the depraved find countenance, and the young example and encourage- ment. He is without excuse— nay, he is grossly culpable— who trifles with the welfare of society, or neglects to do good when opportunity is presented. A bad thought uttered in i print is not addressed to a single individual, but to the whole community. While others, though it may be by thousands, devote their leisure hours to subjects of a I frivolous and unreal nature, our readers, we would fain hope, will employ them in the more rational and useful task of reviewing the aspect, resources, and history, of their own native land, and the prosperous and powerful nation to which they belong. The materials for such a review we now place before them, in such number and variety as the limits assigned by such a publication permit ; and the public will do us the justice to allow that great labor has been bestowed on these pages, and that we have collected an amount of authentic information not easily to be surpassed in importance, variety, and interest, without greatly exceeding the limits to which we have been confined. It has been our constant study to pursue the happy medium between the dry record of facts and dates, and the diffuse and detached descriptions to which the abundance of pleasing topics invited us at every step. Although four years have not elapsed since the first edition of this work issued from the press, yet a thorough revision of it has been imperatively demanded from the many and extraordinary changes that have, in that brief period, occurred in every section of the country ; the most remarkable instance of which is the recent acquisition, discovery of the mineral wealth, and settlement of California, resulting in the addition, without its going through the usual territorial probation, of a new state to the Union upon the very western verge of the American continent. About fifty pages have been added to the original size of the work, comprising a full historical and descriptive account of the above- named new Pacific state, with appropriate illustrations, and of the territories of Minne- sota, New Mexico, and Utah. Many important facts have been greatly condensed, and many circumstances of minor consequence excluded for want of room ; but we trust that the reader will see that we have, throughout the volume, had in view his own gratifica- tion and lasting advantage ; and that he will arise from its perusal with the reflection that it has brought him ‘a strengthened mind and an improved heart. INTRODUCTION. One of the first reflections to “^Tsurf^ aTcIL""lS rise, is, that we have a ternto y gureg an( j secured, by its position, from many of numerous and inexhaustibh 31 oountries are exposed. Without powerful neighbors, jealous the evils to which most other countn ai fd threatening to interfere in our concerns, as ' of our prosperity, watching o e are i e f t f ree from apprehensions of such dilhcul- TdtsrS'STS — — ** in all P a I ts °f U \ - l i ^d^ust regard for each other which is essential to the existence of a can not feel that 1 high ^and l J S e ral diffusion of accurate knowledge, respecting all strong spirit of brotherhood. e g egteemed as an important public object, as it is one parts of the country, is theref end . While aU look wit h intelligent interest of the principal means to s ^re to * * te and territory, in different branches of 1m- °„ the P^f/X U of g ™at and good m»n will be appreciated, and a noble rivalry main- iaTried, from which the by a knowledge of past ex- All history, however, is only use *1 ius G f self-government have so far made perience. Rational hbertyan P who are qualified by correct habits and self-disci- us united and powerful. P-> th P P • r our'land, liberty is what the sun is to the pline to love and respect t e re an d life and infinite progression. Intellectual, apart earth and religion to than encouraged ; it teaches, indeed from moral culture, is, however, to be liberty at Rome was contempo how ,o rear, but is powerless to ^7 intellectual achievements. . It .. ranecms, or very nearly so, w th .the ■ er g require, but a virtuous appreciation not alone a knowledge rf their nghts tat h p P e q dder Cat0 deplored when he said wxjksBs i is 5S“s .« ijii . »■'" ” council, unblinded by passion > te the prayer of every American cit- The preservation of well-regulated Ireedo ircumfere !, ce> he should take great care izen ; but while honestly desirous of enlarging t centiousn ess. In the present state of lest he admits within the circle the elemei rtt au ^ frora any effort of tyranny. The society, there is more to be feared from <1 down for ever. Ik) those who onward progress of intellect an would *°ay look to the constancy and character of the are united for a good purpose, we -would ay I * earth are slumbering in dark- early founders of our repub he ! ™e^rp ^ example . L et us never ness and debased in crime, e j . and liberally provided for our people, that Amer- forget that it is to an from a11 “Pf^* W , e ica owes her proud superiority. Ua >™ n ? true glory, m the disregard of the believe that no state can prosper in a Ion c religion. A floodtide of apparent claims of justice and the mjunction of ^ and satiati g the cravings prosperity may come, filling for the 11 . hag itg ebb? and either cloys with its abundance of taste and curiosity ; yet, ® OTn ® r °* la m ® is a silent but eloquent witness of its truth, or leaves the void greater than M ° ] a ' t * 0 f unceasing light along our pathway. Th- and from her undying lump * sbe&a stream c ^ conse( f rate & d to ambition, are now fhttm_ fabrics of ancient greatness, built X J d tbe broken pillars and falling columns that were shadows before us, starting up from ' “ “ e ^ . reared to perpetuate the 0 f the several states and territories have With such views, the fohowing descript }° n de ^ if this brief sketch of our great been written. We shall indeed, fe J f readers to those great principles of western republic should increase the l^tce in which were laid the foundation of our in- equal rights, intelligence, virtue, and P eac , displaying the good principles sound KS&tfSfc grrat^commonwealth, and that no one Is too weak or humb.e to do something for the public good. Nov., 1851. MAINE. Antiquities page 15 Area of the State 13 Augusta 18 Bangor 20, 22 First Settlement of 22 Theological Seminary at 22 Bath 23 Bowdoin College, History of 18 Breakneck Hill 19 Castine 23 Eastport 20 Exports 14 Fryeburgh 23 H allowell 18 History 15 Houlton 23 Katahdin Mountain 13, 22 Lovell’s Expedition 23 Lovell’s Pond 23 Lower Stillwater Village 23 Lumber Business 14, 20 Moose Island 20 Moosehead Lake 24 Mount Desert Island and Lighthouse 24 Newspaper, first published in Maine 17 North Bangor 23 Pegipscot Falls 16 Population 24 Portland 17 Burnt in the Revolution 18 Quebec, Expedition for the Capture of 16 Rivers 13 Sebago Lake 24 Settlement first attempted on the Connecticut 15 Soil 14 Temperance Law 24 Topography 13 Trade, Ports and Places of 14 Welles 17 York 17 NEW HAMPSHIRE. Area of the State 26 Bartlett. 36 Bellows’ Falls 30 Boundaries 25 Canterbury 40 Centre Harbor 34 Character of the People 30 | Charlestown ; page 30 CONCOKD 28 Connecticut River, Source of 26, 32 Constitution, Synopsis of 43 Conway.. 34 Chalybeate Springs at 34 Dartmouth College 31 Presidents of 32 Education, Provisions for ■ 43 Gilmanton Theological Seminary ’. 43 Hanover 31 Haverhill 32 Historical Society 43 History 28 42 Lakes 26 Land Slide at the White Mountain, and De- struction of the Willey Family 34 Latitude and Longitude 25, 26 Manchester 30 Medical Society 43 Meredith 32 Merrimac River 26 Natural Curiosities 28 New Hampton Academy 43 Northern and other Railroads 43 Old Man of the Mountain 28 Ossipee Lake 26 Passumpsic River 32 Phillips’ Academy at Exeter 43 Population 26 Portsmouth 28 Saco River 25 Seacoast 26 Shaker Village 40 Squam Lake 26, 33 Statehouse 28 Sunapee Lake 28 Walpole 30 White Mountains 32, 34 Heights of the different Peaks 38 Lake of the Clouds 39 Mount Washington. . 38 Nancy’s Hill 36 Notch of the ,36, 38 Prospect Mountain 36 Wild Birds and Game 39 VERMONT. Area of the State 44 Battle of Fiattsburgh 56, 57 Bennington 54 GEOGRAPHICAL AND ALPHABETICAL INDEX. Battle of Bennington page 54 I Burlington I Courts ^ 6 Crown Point, Fortress of 49 Green Mountains 44, 45 Hero Islands 45, 46 History 46 Lake Champlain 45 Lake Memphremagog 45 Mineral Springs 45 ®2 Mount Defiance 48 Mount Independence 47 Naval Action on Lake Champlain 49, 51 Newspaper first printed 56 Onion River 46 Pell’s Garden at Ticonderoga 48 Rivers 46 Rutland Statehouse at Montpelier 54 Ticonderoga, Fortress of 47 Topography 44 University of Vermont Windsor ^4 MASSACHUSETTS. Adams, John Quincy, Biographical Sketch of 116 Amherst. 104 College 104 Andover 19 0 Theological Seminary at 73 Blind Institution. 86 Bloody Brook, History of 107 Boston - Asylum and Farm School 9w Athenaeum Bridges 03 Common 1 ° Customhouse 86 'Faneuil Hall 88 Faneuil Hall Market 86 Residence of John Hancock 80 Plan for Enlargement of • 80 Schools 02 Statehouse Theatres 0- Villages in the Vicinity of 9 4 Waterworks • • 02 Boundaries Brookfield Bunker Hill Monument Cambridge Observatory ™ Cambridge University Charlestown ^ Clergymen of Early Times ™ Cochituate W aterworks ~ - Common Schools . Deerfield MM Distinguished Laymen of Early Times 6b East Boston Education _ Government Grand Refractor, Cambridge Observatory. • • 70 Hadley 104 History Indians, Early Missions among Islands page 60 Landing of the Pilgrims 107 Lawrence Observatory, Amherst College. ... 106 Lawrence Scientific School, Cambridge 72 Learned Societies 74 Lexington.. 9 8 Battle of 100 Liberty Tree, History of 88 Lowell 00 Sketch of Operatives at 9 8 Martha’s Vineyard 60 Massachusetts General Hospital 84 Mount Auburn Cemetery 9 8 Mount Holyoke 103 Mount Holyoke Female Seminary 103 Mount Tom 103 Nahant 9 4 Nantucket 00 Newspapers 74 Newton Theological Seminary. 68 Northampton 103 Pilgrim Fathers, Historical Incident of the ... 110 Plymouth 9 6 First Settlement of 60 Landing of the Pilgrims at 107 Printing, Establishment of 62 Railroads 63, 96, 98 Sears, Residence of the Hon. David 84 Sears, Sketch of Colonel Isaac 66 Shay’s Rebellion, Brief Sketch of 101 Sears’ Tower, Cambridge Observatory 70 South Hadley Falls 101 Springfield 101 South Boston 76 Statehouse. 78 Watchusett Hill 101 Williams College 68 Winthrop, John, First Governor of Massa- chusetts, Biographical Sketch of HO His History of New England Ill Death of H4 Winthrop Family Tomb, Inscriptions on 115 Worcester 101 CONNECTICUT. 60, 106 .. 62 A Tmnmvprm>nts in _ _ ... 122 - aL 119 . .. 119 Charter Oak, at Hartford . .. 126 ... 125 TTorlrlnm ... 125 Farmington and Northampton Canal Fort Griswold, History of Fort Hill, History of . .. 124 ... 127 ... 127 TTorMom ... 125 Charter Oak at ... 126 Deaf and Dumb Asylum ... 127 ... 127 ... 121 u Manufactures ... 122 ... 125 GEOGRAPHICAL AND ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 3 Mohcgan Indians, History of. page 128 New Haven 122 Graves of the Regicide Judges at 124 New Haven and Hartford Railroad 124 New London 127 Norwich 130 High Bridge across the Thames at. . . . 130 Sachem’s Field at 130 Saybrook 124 History of the Settlement of 125 Sears, David, Esq., Notice of 132 Stateprison at Wethersfield 126 Topography 119 Wethersfield..... 126 Wirithrop, John, First Governor of Connec- ticut, Biographical Sketch of 131 Yale College 122 RHODE ISLAND. Area of the State 133 Blackstone Canal 138 Block Island 140 Boundaries 133 Brown University 136 Coal Mines 136 Commerce 133 Early History of Cotton Manufactures. . . . 138 Eminent Men in Early Times 140 History 134, 141 Manufactures 134, 138 Mount Hope 136 Narragansets, History of 134 Newport 141 Pawtucket 138 Population 134 Population at various Periods 141 Providence 136 Railroads 138 Rivers 133 Statistics 134,141 Topography 133 NEW YORK. Academies 160 Albany 152 Capitol 156 City-Hall 154 History of 154, 156 Rensselaer Mansion... 156 State-Hall 154 Female Institute and Female Seminary 154 Auburn 172 Stateprison at 172, 174 Ballston Springs 147 Brooklyn 192 Navy-Yard at 192 Greenwood Cemetery near 192 Buffalo 178 Canals 158 Carthage 178 Catskill Mountains 144 Champlain Canal 158 Cherry Valley 164 Massacres at during the Revblution .. 164 Clinton 170 Church of Our Lady, at Cold Spring 182 Common School Fund page 161 Common Schools, Statistics of 161 I Cooperstown 162 Delaware and Hudson Canal ] 58 Erie Canal 158 Erie Railroad 159 Falls of the Genesee at Rochester 176 Falls of Niagara 178 Gas Springs.-. 146 Geneva 175 Geneva College . 175 Genesee Flats 146 Genesee River 146 Greenwood Cemetery. 192 History.. 150-152, 161, 162, 164-166, 168, 171, 193-200 Hudson and Erie Railroad 159 Hudson River 143 Palisades on the 144 Hudson River Railroad 160 Indian Barbarities 16 1 Indian Barbarities in Early Times. . . . 164-166 Lake Champlain 149 Lake George 149 Little Falls 166 First Settlement at 168 Marble Aqueduct at 168 Natural Scenery at 166 Remarkable Cavern at 168 Medical Colleges 160 Medical College at Geneva ]75 Mountains 144 Natural History 147 Navy-Yard at Brooklyn 192 New York City. 186 Area of 186 Banks 188 Bellevue 190 Blind Institution 188 Bowling Green 190 Churches 186 City Hall 192 Croton Aqueduct 188 Custom-House 190 Deaf and Dumb Asylum 188 Greenwood Cemetery near 192 I Harbor 186 Merchants’ Exchange 192 Park .' 190 Penitentiary 192 Prisons 192 Public Squares 190 Schools . .... 188 Settlement 186 Streets 186 Trinity Church 192 Union Place 190 Wall Street 190 Washington Square 190 New York and Erie Railroad 159 New York and New Haven Railroad 160 | Niagara Falls. . i 178 Normal Seminaries 160 Onondaga County, French Colony settled at 17 1 Oswego River 146 Plattsburgh 184 Battle of 185 4 ' GEOGRAPHICAL AND ALPHABETICAL INDEX. Penitentiaries page 172 Poughkeepsie 180 Railroads 159 Receipts and Expenditures of New York and Erie Railroad 160 Rensselaer Mansion at Albany 156 Rochester 176 Rome 168 Salina Salt Springs 171 Saratoga Springs 147 Schenectady 161 Schenectady Lyceum . 162 Sears, Colonel Isaac, Biography of. 196 Adventure of the 23d August, 1775... 198 Destruction of the Loyal Gazette Print- ing-Office 199 His Opposition to the Stamp Act 197 Member of Committee of Correspond- ence 197 Washington’s High Opinion of Him... 199 Last Illness and Death 200 Seminaries of Learning and Religion 160 Springs 146 Statehouse at Albany 156 Stone-Church at Dover 182 Staten Island 192 Sons of Liberty, History of 193 Colonel Isaac Sears their Leader 193 First Organization of dissolved 195 Letter of Nicholas Ray to 195 Reply to «- 196 Maryland Association, Proceedings of. 195 New York Association 194 Object of the Association 194 Organization of 194 Paved the Way to Declaration of Inde- pendence 197 Syracuse 17 1 Theological Seminaries 160 Trenton Falls 170 Troy 184 Utica 170 Yan-Kleek House at Poughkeepsie 180 NEW JERSEY. Battle of Assunpink 208 Battle of Trenton ’208 Delaware and Raritan Canal 210 Elizabethtown 210 History of Early Settlements 202 Laws of the Colony in Early Times 206 Livingston, William, first Governor of the State 205 Morristown 212 Names of Early Settlers 204 Newark 212 New Brunswick 210 Rutgers’ College at 210 Newspapers, first printed in the Colony. .. 207 Passaic, Source of 214 Paterson. 212 History of Manufactures at 212, 214 Penitentiary at Trenton 207 Princeton 208 Nassau Hall 210 Presbyterian Seminary 210 I Settlement in West Jersey page 202 Slavery, when introduced 206 Soil 201 Source of the Passaic 214 Statehouse at Trenton 207 Swedish Settlement 202 Temperance, this State Early Advocate of. 206 Thanksgiving-Day first appointed 206 Topography 201 Trenton 207 Battle of. 208 Washington’s Residence at Morristown ... 214 Whale-Fishery, Early Attempts at 206 PENNSYLVANIA. Bedford 245 Bedford Springs 245 Bethlehem 234 Birmingham 245 Boundaries 215 Brandywine, Battle of. 246 j Canals * 215, 234 j Cannonburgh 245 Carlisle 244 Sulphur Springs at 245 Chambersbnrg 245 Coal, Amount imported 222 Coal-Mines 218, 233, 243 Accident in, in 1845 244 Coal Statistics 220 Coal-Trade, Anecdotes of. 220 Delaware and Hudson Canal 234 Easton 238 Lafayette College at 238 Erie 245 Franklin, Benjamin, founded Library 222 Founded Philosophical Society 224 Harrisburgh 244 History of the State j216 Interesting Facts in 247 Inventions and Improvements by Citizens of this State 251 Lehigh Coal-Mines 233 Lehigh River, Locks and Dams upon 234 Literary Institutions 218 Little Schuylkill River 233 Mauch-Chunk 234 Meadville - 245 Merchants’ Magazine, Extract from 220 Minersville 244 Montgomery County 241 History of 242 Mountains 215 Mount Carbon 233 Mount Carbon Railroad 243 Patriotism of People of this State 2o2 Penn, William, Historical Sketch of. 249 His Burial-Place 250 His Treatment of the Indians 216 His Treaty with them 249 Letitia House, his Residence 249 Obtains a Grant of Land on the Dela- ware 216 Site of his Treaty with the Indians .... 249 Pittsburgh 235 History of 236 Manufactures 235 GEOGRAPHICAL AND ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 5 Pittsburgh, United States Arsenal at., page 236 Water- Works 236 Western Penitentiary 236 Western Theological Seminary 236 Western University 236 Port Carbon 244 Pottsville 233 Printing, when first introduced 218 Philadelphia 222 American Historical Society 224 American Philosophical Society 224 Bank of Pennsylvania 224 Customhouse 224 Distinguished for Neatness 222 Exchange 224 Fairmount Water-Works 229 Fountajn Park, Residence of Andrew M*Makin, Esq 229 Girard Bank 224 Girard College 226 Hospital 228 House of Refuge . 228 Independence Hall 224 Markets 222 Naval Hospital 228 Penitentiary 226 Permanent Bridge 229 Philadelphia Library 222 Plan of the Streets 222 Schools 226 United States Mint. 228 University of Pennsylvania 228 Wire Suspension Bridge 229 Railroads 243 Reading 231 Rivers 215 Schuylkill Water Gap 231 Sulphur Springs 244, 245 Tunnel near Orwigsburgh 233 Valley Forge, Revolutionary History of. . . 243 Washington 245 Whiskey Rebellion 218 Wyoming, Valley of 238 Landscape, Beauties of. 240 Massacre at 241 York 244 DELAWARE. Area of the State 253 Boundaries 253 Brandywine Creek 255, 256 Brandywine Springs 255 Cape Henlopen 255 Chesapeake and Delaware Canal 254 Colonial Assembly in 1704 254 Condition and Prbspects of the State 259 Courts 254 Delaware Breakwater 254 Delaware City 256 Delaware College 254,256 Dover 255 Government , * 254 Georgetown , 256 History 253, 254 Kent County 257 Latitude and Longitude 253 Dewes 256 Medical Society of Delaware, 1789.. page 259 Milford 256 Newark 255 Newcastle County and Town 256 Population at various Periods 253 Population and Area of Delaware and Rhode Island compared 259 Printing first introduced 254 Rodney, Caesar, Biographical Sketch of. . . . 257 Stamp-Act, Proceedings on 257 Sussex County 257 Topography . 253 Wilmington ’ 255 MARYLAND. Agricultural Advantages, from Soil, & lc . ... 276 Agricultural Statistics 278 Annapolis 273 Capitol 273 St. John’s College 273 Are» of the State 260 Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 267 Baltimore 267 Area 267 Armistead Monument 268 Battle Monument 268 Battle of Baltimore 272 Cathedral 268 Early History of. 270 Fort MHIenry \ 270 Merchants’ Exchange*. 267 Museum and Gallery of Fine Arts... . 268 Population 267 Suburbs 272 Topography 268 Washington Monument 268 Barren Creek Mineral Springs 274 Boundaries 260 Cambridge 274 Chesapeake Bay 261 Chestertown 274 Coal-Mines 278 Constitution of the Colony in 1650 264 Copper-Mines 278 Cumberland 276 Easton 274 Education 266 Elkton 273 Ellicott’s Mills 276 Emmettsburg 274 St. Mary’s College at 274 Flour Trade 273 Frederick 274 Frederick County 274 Government 266 Hagerstown 274 Hancock 276 Havre de Grace 273 History of the Settlement of the State. 263, 266 Indian War in 1642 264 Iron Mines 278 Latitude and Longitude 260 Manufactures 266, 273, 278 Minerals found in the State 278 Patapsco River 261 Patuxent River 260 Pocomoke Bay 261 ■■■■■■ ■■ ■ - ■- ' — — " ~1 6 GEOGRAPHICAL AND ALPHABETICAL INDEX. Population page 260 Potomac River 261 Productions 266 Rebellion in 1645 264 Rivers 261 Roman Catholic College at Georgetown... 266 Snow Hill 274 Statistics 278 St. Mary’s, Settlement of 263 Temperature 262 Topography 260-262 Viaduct of the Baltimore and Washington Railroad 276 Westminster 274 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. Area of the District 279 Boundaries 279 Capitol 282 Capture of Washington City in 1814. ..... *292 Chain Bridge across the Potomac 301 Columbian Collese 292 Congressional Burying-Ground 290 Congressional Debates, Character of 298 Cumberland Road, Notice of. 299 Georgetown 301 Roman Catholic College and Nunnery at 301 History 279, 289, 292, 293 Inauguration of President described 284 Latitude and Longitude 260 Lighting the Capitol with Gas 292 Manufactures 266, 273, 278 Navy-Yard 292 Patent-Office 286 Statistics of and Remarks on ... . 286-289 Potomac River 299 President’s House ‘ 284 Rotunda of the Capitol, Paintings in 300 Smithsonian Institute 292 Topography ... 279 Treasury Building 290 Washington, George, Anecdotes of. . . 293-297 Brougham’s Eulogy of 297 VIRGINIA. Abingdon 337 Birds of Virginia 310 Blue Ridge, Passage of 305 Boundaries 302 Capitol at Richmond 327 Charlestown 338 Charlottesville 334 Climate and Scenery 312 Education, Provisions for , 331 Elizabeth 337 Fairfax County 338 Farmvil’e 334 Fincastle 337 Fredericksburg 334 Geological Facts 311 Hon. William C. Rives, Letter from 307 Hampden Sidney College 336 Hampton 332 History 313-318, 322, 324, 329-331 Jamestown 314 Jefferson, Sketch of. 322 Lynchville page 334 Madison, Residence of 332 Sketch of 332 Martinsburg 338 Monroe, Birthplace of. 336 Sketch of. 336 Monumental Church at Richmond 327 Montieello, Residence of Jefferson 322 Natural Bridge over Cedar Creek.... 303-305 Negro Cabin and Funeral 348 Norfolk 331 I Old Point Comfort 332 { Petersburg 337 Pocahontas, Sketch of. 350 | Point Pleasant 337 Portsmouth 331 ' Potomac River 308 Randolph, John, Grave of 351 Richmond 325 Springs 337, 338, 346 Staunton 337 Valley of Virginia, Description of. 306 Washington, Sketch of 318 Birthplace of 320 Last Illness of 340 Residence ot 338 Tomb of 342 Wellsburg 348 Wheeling...., 337 Weir’s Cave 306 I William and Mary College 344 Williamsburg 1.. 344 Winchester 337 Woodstock 337 Yorktown 346 NORTH CAROLINA. Area of the State 352 Dismal Swamp 358 Edenton 362 Education 359 Gold-Mines 353,359 Government 358 History 353-357 Internal Improvements 359 Mountains 358 Raleigh . 369 Revolutionary Incident 363 Shocco White Sulphur Springs 362 Statehouse 362 Tarborough 362 | Topography 352, 358 Turpentine and Tar, Manufacture of. 352, 360 Wake Forest College 362 Warrenton 362 Wilmington 362 SOUTH CAROLINA. Beaufort 378 Camden 3?$ Charleston 374 Capitulation of in 1780 369 Literary Institutions of. 376 Settlement of. 366 Cheraw 378 College of South Carolina 378 — — "=jl GEOGRAPHICAL AND ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 7 Falls of the Charashilactay 374 gr^ iiie 365-372 White Sulphur Springs 407 T r , Wir -- 366 368 Wahully River 407 . Marion and the British Officer 368 ALABAMA. Alabama River 412, 413, 417, 418 Jxice, tuuuie Spartansburg ^78 GEORGIA. Demopolis 418 Education, Constitutional Provisions for.. . 416 Hydrargos Sillimanii described 420 Latitude and Longitude 412 Constitution, Synopsis of 386 Magnolia, History and Description of. 424-427 Mobile Bay 413 Montgomery, * 418 Printing first introduced. 416 Selma 420 Remarkable Incidents in 396-403 Lover’s Leap, on the Chatahoochee 380 l\/Tn/.^r> 390 Silliman, Professor, Letter from 420 State of the Country 416 Statistics of the Cotton-Crop 427 St. Stephen’s . , . ■•»... 418 * v i .| i i -j _ i . l _ p /i n Oglethorpe, General, Sketch ot quu Rock Mountain 382 Cross-Roads and Fort on 384 MISSISSIPPI. Agricultural Productions • •• 428, 429 A ttiok nn in 1779 .»••••«•••••••»* 398 rinvprnmpn t . 429 Tnllulnh Ej»11q 382 Wesleys, John and James, Arrival of in the Whitfield, George, Arrival of in the Country 401 FLORIDA. i • J i. /it! n /lA'i A 1 1 Mississippi River, Remarkable Features of 431 A «««!« 407 a it, 4 On C'^-rnr* . 408 T?1 ^ - - 407 LOUISIANA. 40Q 411 t 4DR Torino’ Poirn 409 Cotton-Moth, Ravages of. 447 8 GEOGRAPHICAL AND ALPHABETICAL INDEX. Cotton-Trade page 439, 448 Country Life in Louisiana 446 Covington 446 Cypress, Nature of 448 Donaldson ville 446 Galveztown 446 Geology 438 Madisonville 446 New Orleans 442, 445 Opelousas 446 Parishes and Counties 440 Springfield 446 Statistics 439 Sugar-Making, Description of 440-442 Topography 436, 437, 439, 440 View on the Mississippi 447 TEXAS. Agricultural Productions 451 Area of the State 449 Austin 456 Bastrop 458 Boundaries 449 Climate 451 Corpus Christi 458 Galveston...' 454 Government 458 History 449, 452 Houston 456 Latitude and Longitude 449 Matagorda 458 Nacogdoches 458 Population 452 Rivers , 450 San Augustin 458 San Felipe de Austin 458 San Antonio de Bexar 458 Topography 450 Washington 458 Wild Horses, Manner of Capturing 451 ARKANSAS. Arkansas Post 465 Boundaries 459 Chalybeate Springs 465 Constitution, Synopsis of 464 Helena 465 Hot Springs 465 Indians, Sketches of 465 Little Rocic 464 Population 465 Prairie, Description of 463 Rivers 459 Rocky Bluffs on the Mississippi 462 Scenery along the Mississippi 460 Statistics 465 Sulphur Springs • 465 Topography 459 TENNESSEE. Area of the State 467 Boundaries 467 Capitol at Nashville 473 Cascades 472 Caverns 470 Clarksville 475 Climate and Productions 475 Columbus 475 Curiosities 472 East Tennessee University 473 Fossil Remains 469 Franklin 475 Geological Formations 469 History.. 468, 471 Iron-Trade 470, 471 Jonesborough 473 Kingston 475 Knoxville 473 Latitude and Longitude 467 Maysville 473 Memphis... 473 Minerals 468 Murfreesborough 475 Nashville 473 Population 470 Statistics 470, 471 Topography 467, 468 KENTUCKY. Area of the State 476 Barrens 477 Boundaries 476 Capitol at Frankfort 484 Educational Statistics 485 Frankfort 484 Government 478 History 477 Historical Society 484 Indian Curiosities 481 Kentucky River 477 Latitude and Longitude 476 Lexington 482 Louisville 482 Mammoth Cave, Description of 478 Medical Institute at Louisville 484 Ohio Canal 482 Population 478 Prison Statistics 485 Productions 478 Slateprison 484 Synopsis of the Constitution 478 Topography 476, 477 Transylvania University 482 OHIO. Akron „ 505 Antiquities 504 Area of the State 486 Ashtabula 505 Batavia 51 J Boundaries . . 486 Bucyrus 510 Chillicothe 508 Cincinnati 496 History of 498 Literary Institutions of 500, 502 Manufactures of 500 Cleveland. 505 Clinton County . . 511 Columbus 509 Coshocton 510 Cuyahoga Falls 505 Dayton 511 Elyria 506 GEOGRAPHICAL AND ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 9 PAGE 508 Sheep-Grow r ing page 515. 527 510 1 Soil Gallipolis Statistics 522, 527. 528 Gambier 502 St. Joseph’s Granville Topography 514. 516 Hamilton 512 Wool-Growing, History of .... 527 History 488-494 Ypsilanti Kenyon College at Gambier Lancaster INDIANA. Lane Seminary Academies and Common Schools Latitude and Longitude Area of the State i Mansfield Bear-Hunt Marietta Bloomington Massillon Boundaries .... 532 Maumee City 533 Newark Coal and Copper-Mines . ... 538 Oberlin Crawfordsville Painesville. Cut-off River Pickaway County Evansville Population at different Periods 487 History 540, 543 of 1790 and 1840 compared 494 Indianapolis Pork -Trade of the West Capitol at • • Portsmouth Lafayette.. . . ; Public Works of the State Latitude and Longitude Roscoe Lawrenceburg 542 Sandusky City Literary Institutions Sidney 512 1 M an icon 542 Springfield Michigan City Statistics IV P Uf A lKonv 542 Steubenville New Harmonv 534, 543 Toledo Peculiar Characteristics of Western Mind.. 536 (Jrbana 511 ! ■q • n • 520 Van Buren Population Williamsburg Saltsprings Willoughby South Bend Wilmington Terre Haute Xenia Topography Zanesville V i n ppn n p c 534 Western River Town MICHIGAN. Adrian ILLINOIS. Agricultural Advantages of the State T 5 15 Alton Ann Arbor Area of the State Boundaries!., _ r , 514 Belleville 556 Copper-Mines Cave-in Rock, near Shawneetown . . . . Detroit Chicago Emigrants, Advantages to History of Exports of Wool Emigration Falls of St. Mary Galena 549, 556 Fisheries . 522, 523 Growth of the West History Illinois College Illinois and Michigan Canal Jacksonville 549, 555 Internal Tmprovpmpnts 517 Kaskaskia Jackson 523 Latitude and Longitude Joliet, Water-Power at 527 Lead-Mines Kalamazoo 520 Mou nt Joliet Lake St. Clair* Population Lansing 520, 525 Ppnria , 556 Mackinac 52H River Navigation of the West 559 Business of Rock Fort 556 Marshall Rock Island City 556 Mining Operations, History of Shawneetown Monroe Springfield Population St. Joseph 552 Pictured Rocks of Lake Superior. . . . 528 Swedish Settlement, Notice of Account of Visit to . 529, 530 Topography Railroads • Vandalia 556 GEOGRAPHICAL AND ALPHABETICAL INDEX. 10 MISSOURI. Area and Boundaries page 566 Bethel 575 Boonville 576 Buffaloes and Elks 577 Canton 575 “Cape Girardeau 576 Columbia 576 Edina 575 Elkhorn Pyramid 581 Falls of the Missouri 568 Fulton 576 Glasgow 576 Hannibal 576 Hunting the Buffalo . 579 Independence 576 Jefferson City 571 Latitude and Longitude 566 Lexington 576 Liberty 576 Memphis...., 575 Mines • 567 Missouri River 566 New Madrid 5 7 6 Palmyra 575 Population 567 Potosi 576 Springfield 576 St. Charles 575 St. Genevieve 570 St. Joseph 576 St. Lor is 571 History of 571 Population of at various Periods 574 Tully 575 IOWA. Antiquities 583 Area and Boundaries 582 Burlington 583 Dubuque 583 Geological Features of the State 586 History 582 Iowa City 583 Jamesville 583 Latitude and Longitude 582 Log-Cabin and Sawmill 584 Population 582 Prairie, description of 584 WISCONSIN. Antiquities 592, 594 Area and Bqundaries 587 Azatlan 592 Clearing and Log-Cabin 594 frond du Lac 592 Geographical Description 587-589 Isle Roy ale 598 Lakes, Extent of Great American 600 Lake St. Croix 598 Latitude and Longitude 587 Madison 590 Maiden’s Rock, History of 596 Milwaukie 590 Mines of Lake Superior 598 Population page 587 Prairie on Fire, Description of 596 Racine.... J 590 Rivers 587 Sheboygan 592 Southport 592 Swamps 588 CALIFORNIA. Area and Boundaries .. 606 Benicia 621 Climate 608 Constitution, Synopsis of 605 Geographical Description 606 History 601 Indians 610 Mineral Wealth 622 Monterey, City of 620 Population 610 Postoffices 622 Rivers 608 Sacramento City 617 San Diego 621 San Francisco, Bay of 608 San Frartcisco, City of 611 San Jose, City of 618 Seal of the State, Explanation of 605 Stockton, City of 620 Vallejo.' 621 TERRITORY OF OREGON. Area and Boundaries 627 Climate 627 Geographical Description 627 History 630 Mountains 627, 628 Oregon City, Territorial Capital 632 Rivers 629, 630 Towns and Settlements 632-634 . TERRITORY OF MINNESOTA. Area and Boundaries . . I 636 Geographical Description 636 History 635 St. Paul’s, the Territorial Capital 638 Towns and Settlements 638, 639 Western Territory 639 TERRITORY OF NEW MEXICO. Area and Boundaries 640 Geographical Description 641 History 640 Manners and Customs 644 Mineral Wealth 642 Population 643 Santa Fe, Territorial Capital 643 Towns and Settlements 641-643 TERRITORY OF UTAH. Area and Boundaries 646 Geographical Description 646, 647 Great Salt Lake City, Capital 647 History 646 Population 648 Settlements 647 Seal of Maine, and Desort-Rock Lighthouse., page 13 Bowdoin College, Brunswick 19 Eastport 21 Seal of New Hampshire, and Old Man of the Mountain 25 Squam Lake 27 Statehouse, at Concord 29 Centre Harbor and Lake Winnipisiogee 35 Notch-house, White Mountains 37 Shaker Settlement at Canterbury 41 Seal of Veraiont, and View of Burlington 44 Statehouse, at Montpelier 53 Seal of Massachusetts, and Landing of the Pilgrims... 59 City of Boston 58 Boston in 1776, taken from the Road to Dorchester... 61 Residence of John Hancock, Boston 67 Cambridge University 69 Cambridge Observatory, with Sears’ Tower 71 Grand Refractor, Cambridge Observatory 72 Lawrence Scientific School, at Cambridge 73 Boston and Bunker Hill from the East 75 Old City-Hall, and State Street, Boston 77 Boston Common, with the Statehouse in the Distance. 79 The Statehouse, at Boston 81 Sears’ Plan for Improvement of Boston 83 Residence of the Hon. David Sears, Boston Common.. 85 Customhouse, Boston 87 Liberty-Tree 88 Faneull Hall ' 89 Bunker-Hill Monument, Charlestown 95 Plymouth 97 Cemetery at Mount Auburn 99 Mount Tom and Mount Holyoke 102 Amherst College, with new Cabinet and Observatory. 105 Portrait of John Winthrop, first Governor of Mass... 110 Death-bed of Winthrop 114 Residence of the Adams Family, Quincy i 117 Yale College, State Seal, &c 119 New Haven College-Green 123 Bridge at Norwich 129 Portrait of John Winthrop, first Governor of Con- necticut 131 Seal of Rhode Island 133 Landing of Roger Williams 133 Newport page 135 Brown University 137 Seal of New York - 143 Tomb of Kosciusko, West Point 142 Genesee Falls, Rochester 143 The Palisades, Hudson River 145 View of Albany from Greenbush 151 Albany Female Seminary 153 St. Paul’s Church, Albany 155 State Street, Albany .. 157 Schenectady Lyceum 163 Village of Little Falls 167 Utica 169 Auburn 7 172 Geneva Medical College 175 Falls of Niagara, viewed from Table Rock 177 Falls of Niagara, viewed from the Clifton House... 179 The Van-Kleek House, Poughkeepsie 180 Collegiate School, Poughkeepsie 181 Church of Our Lady, at Cold Spring 182 Dover Stone Church 183 St. Paul’s Church, Troy 184 View of the City of New York - --• 187 Merchants’ Exchange, Wall Street. New York City. 189 The Old Billop House, at Bentley, West End of Staten Island 191 Seal of New Jersey 201 Delaware Water-Gap 201 Theological Seminary, Princeton 209 Washington’s Headquarters, Morristown 211 Source of the Passaic 213 Seal of Pennsylvania 215 Head Waters of the Juniata, and the Allegany Mountains 215 Treaty of William Penn with the Indians 217 City of Philadelphia 219 Philadelphia Exchange 221 Customhouse (formerly United States Bank), Phila- delphia 223 Old Statehouse, or Independence Hall, Philadelphia. 225 Eastern State Penitentiary, near Fairmount 226 New Suspension Bridge at Fairmount 230 Fountain Park, Residence of Andrew M‘Makin, Esq. 232 View of Pittsburg 236 The Wyoming Valley, from Prospect Rock 239 LIST OF EMBELLISHMENTS. LIST OF EMBELLISHMENTS. 12 Seal of Delaware page 253 Chesapeake and Delaware Canal 253 Seal of Maryland 260 Battle Monument . • 260 City of Baltimore 269 Washington Monument, Baltimore 271 Viaduct over the Patuxent, on the Baltimore and Washington Railroad 275 City of W ashin gton 280 Capitol, Washington 283 President’s House 285 State Department 291 Smithsonian Institution 292 Seal of Virginia 302 Shannondale Springs 302 Natural Bridge over Cedar Creek 304 Ruins of Jamestown 4 315 Portrait of Washington 319 Birthplace of Washington 321 Monticello, Residence of Jefferson 323 Richmond 326 Statehouse, at Richmond 328 Monumental Church, Richmond ' 329 Residence of Madison 333 Birthplace of Monroe 335 Harper’s Ferry, from the Potomac Side 339 Mount Vernon, Residence of Washington 341 Death-bed of Washington 343 Tomb of Washington, Mount Vernon 345 Yorktown 347 Negro Cabin in Virginia 349 Seal of North Carolina 352 Pine Forest in North Carolina 352 The Old Statehouse, at Raleigh 361 Seal of South Carolina 365 Lake Scene in South Carolina 365 City of Charleston 367 Keowee Lake 373 Falls of the Charashilactay 375 Charleston Hotel 37H View in Meeting Street, Charleston . 377 Seal of Arkansas page 459 Ozark Mountains 459 Rocky Bluffs on the Mississippi 462 i Seal of Tennessee 4(57 Cumberland Mountains 457 City of Nashville 474 Seal of Kentucky 475 Bank Lick *’ 47^5 Entrance to the Mammoth Cave 479 City of Louisville 433 Seal of Ohio * 436 Blennerhasset’s Island * 430 Scene in the Early Settlement of Ohio . . ." 491 View of Cincinnati in 1800 493 View of Cincinnati in 1850 495 The Landing-Place at Cincinnati 497 New Catholic Cathedral, Cincinnati 499 Lane Seminary, Walnut Hills, near Cincinnati 501 Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio 502 Antiquities— Silver Sword-Ornament 503 Front and Back View of a Boss of the Sword-Belt 504 A Copper Plumb, or Pendant 504 View of Steubenville ’ 507 Seal of Michigan Pictured Rocks on Lake Superior 514 City of Detroit A 519 Mackinac Bluffs 521 Seal of Indiana 530 Cut-off River, near New Harmony *’ 532 Statehouse, at Indianapolis ” 535 View on the Wabash River 539 Bear-Hunting — Winter Scene 541 Seal of Illinois 544 Cave-in Rock, near Shawneetown 544 The Pioneer of the Western Forest 547 City of Chicago 553 Rock Fort, on the Illinois River ’’ 557 Mount Joliet **" 554 Emigration to the West W.V. 563 Encampment for the Night 565 Seal of Georgia 379 The Lover’s Leap 379 Tullulah Falls 381 Rock Mountain 383 Pulaski Monument, and Christ Church, Savannah ... 385 Statehouse, at Milledgeville 387 City of Columbus 389 Entrance to Madison Springs 390 Medical College of Georgia 391 Oglethorpe University 393 Falls of Towaliga 395 Tockoa Falls 397 Seal of Florida 404 The Everglades 404 Public Square at St. Augustine. 406 Seal of Alabama 412 Tombigbee River 412 City and Harbor of Mobile 419 Seal of Mississippi 428 A W&oding Station on the Mississippi River 428 Seal of Louisiana •. 436 Canebrakes 436 City of New Orleans 445 Mississippi River, at Bend 100 447 Seal of Texas 449 The Texan Hunter’s Home 449 Catching Wild Horses on a Prairie 453 Galveston 455 Houston 457 Seal of Missouri 566 Elk-horn Pyramid, on the Upper Missouri .......... 566 City of St. Louis 573 Herd of Buffaloes and Elks 57g Buffalo-Hunting ”” 539 Seal of Iowa 532 Emigration 502 Log-Cabins and Sawmill at the West ." 585 Seal of Wisconsin Prairie on Fire ...- ** 537 View of the City of Milwaukie 591 View of Southport, on Lake Michigan !”!!!! 593 A Clearing, and Log-Hut 595 Maiden’s Rock, on the Missouri River * 597 Seal of California 601 Scene in the Valley of the Sacramento ***’ 601 California Emigrants at Panama converting Canoes in"- ; 1 . __ . Iron House at San Francisco ” 615 View of Sacramento City, from the River . 619 Scene in the Mines— Washing out the Gold 623 Rounded Water-worn Pebble of Gold, with Quartz.. 624 Foliated Gold intermingled with Quartz ** 625 Lump of Gold, as it came from the Mines " 625 Specimens of Gold-Dust and Gold in Crystals ... 625 .View of Astoria on the Columbia River 631 View of Oregon City, at the Falls of the Willamette. 1 9^3 Seal of the United States 648 Although Maine was settled by Europeans several years before any other part of New England, it was not admitted into the Union as a state until 1820. Previously to that peri- od it was a mere territory of Massa- chusetts, and long bore the title of the “ district of Maine.” In point of extent, however, and rapidity of growth, it ranks at the head of the eastern states ; embracing, between its distant limits of Lower Canada on the north, New Brunswick on the east, the Atlantic on the south, and New Hampshire on the west, an area of 33,223 square miles. A considerable part of the northwestern division of the state is mountainous, and there are rough tracts and peaks of considerable elevation in some other parts; but in the north the surface is generally even, although the height is con- siderable, dividing the waters of the St. Lawrence from those emptying into the ocean. The Allegany range, which first appears in Alabama, and traverses all the intermediate Atlantic states, with mountains or hills of different breadth and elevation, is considered as terminating in that cluster of wild and lofty heights which occupy the northwestern counties of Maine ; beyond which no ridge is to be found, except that of the greatly rising land in the north just mentioned. The highest land east of the Mississippi, excepting only Mount Washington, and a few of its neighboring peaks, in the heart of the New Hampshire White hills, is Katahdin mountain, on the Penobscot river, near the centre of this state. It is 5,335 feet high. The other most elevated points are Speckled, Whiteface, Bald, and Saddleback mountains, north of Androscoggin river, and not far from the western boundary of the state. The rivers, of Maine present some striking peculiarities. The surface of the state is divided into unequal parts by the courses of the Penobscot, Kennebec, ■* ", - rj t~ "v. : 14 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MAINE. and Androscoggin, which run nearly south, in directions nearly parallel and equidistant ; while, as they approach the 1 sea, a number of smaller streams flow in short courses between them, subdivi- ding the coast into many capes and pe- ninsulas, whose number is still further increased by bays and coves which set up into the land every few miles, and fringe the southern outline of the state along its whole extent of 221 miles, from Kittery point to Quoddy head. The northern part of the map presents count- less small streams pouring into the main trunks of the rivers above-mentioned, of which they are the tributaries ; while still above them, flowing with a long sweep, from north to east and southeast, the St. John’s, the principal stream of the state, encircles the whole, marking out the present northern boundary, till it crosses the eastern boundary, and flows on through the neighboring Brit- ish province of New Brunswick. The valley of the Saco embraces 650 square miles, that of the Androscoggin 3 , 300 , the Kennebec 5 , 280 , and the Penobscot 8 , 200 . The smaiier streams in the south part of the state, before al- luded to, are the Piscataqua, Sheepscot, Damariscotta, Muscongus, Union, Nar- ragaugus, and Machias. The region between the Penobscot and the Kenne- bec, a distance of fifty miles, is remark- ably well supplied with streams and in- lets, so that almost every, town has a navigable channel of its own. The soil along the Atlantic border, extending from ten to twenty miles back from *the coast, is generally poor, al- though varying from sand to gravel, cl&y and loam, producing small crops of grass, Indian corn, rye, &c. The next belt of land, from fifty to one hundred miles wide, is of better quality, and yields, in addition to these articles, wheat, oats, flax, and hemp, as well as most of the northern plants. The tract between the Kennebec and Penobscot is remarkably favorable to grazing, and, when well cultivated, yields forty bush- els of corn, and from twenty to forty 1 bushels of wheat, to the acre. Agricul- 1 ture was greatly neglected for many 1 years, the attention of the inhabitants being almost entirely engrossed, on the one hand, by the cutting of timber in the interior, its transportation to the mills at the falls of the' rivers, the saw- ing and exportation of it to the different ports of the Union and the West Indies; and, on thp other hand, by the fisheries along the coast. The increase of pop- ulation, however, with the rapid disap- pearance of the forests in the immediate vicinity of streams, together with the diffusion of just views of the importance and methods of agriculture, have pro- duced great and extensive improve- ments ; and the benefits resulting to the state are already incalculably great. Manufactures have also been introduced to a considerable extent, while the min- eral resources have be gnu to be devel- oped, as iron, slate, marble, and espe-, cially limestone, which is celebrated for its excellent quality. Literary institu- tions have been multiplied and well sup- ported, and the common-school system has been placed on a liberal foundation. Trade is much favored by the nature of the coast and the character of some of the principal rivers ; and already great improvements have been made by the construction of roads, railroads, and ca nals, and the establishment of steamboat lines. The principal ports and places of trade are Portland, Hallo well, Bangor, Calais, Brunswick, and Belfast ; and Saco, Machias, and Eastport, have also excellent harbors. The exports are chiefly timber, lumber, dried fish, salt pork and beef, lime, and pot and pearl ashes. The business of cutting, transporting, and manufacturing timber, includes ma- ny laborious operations, and occupies a considerable part of the population. Trees are felled in the winter, drawn by oxen to the nearest water-course, and left upon the ice, marked with the axe in such a manner that they may be rec- ognised by the agents of the owner, sta- tioned on the lower parts of the main river. In the spring, at the melting of the deep snows, the floods carry down the timber with the broken ice ; and, after a long voyage, every log is drifted to the falls of the great stream on whose i branches it has grown. Here numerous r*— — DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MAINE. 15 mills are kept in active operation by the powerful currents, which bring down abundant materials to employ them. Above these are long rafts, or floating bridges, called buoys, formed of logs, connected strongly together, and stretch- ed from bank to bank, to stop the float- ing timber. Men are continually em- ployed with boats, in the spring, in bringing it to the shore as it comes down; and great care is taken to dis- pose of each stick according to the di- rection of the owner, whose name is known from the mark. The millers, with their circular saws and other ma- chines, saw whole rafts of logs into millions of planks, boards, shingles, staves, headings, &c. ; and vessels, lying at the foot of the falls, readily receive their cargoes of lumber from the doors of the mills, slid down upon their decks and into their holds ; and, hoisting sail, steer away for many a distant harbor. History. — The Jesuits in Lower Can- ada early began their intercourse with the Indian tribes in Maine, and soon j established a mission on the Penobscot, which, according to custom, became a centre of intrigue and of military oper- ations against the New England settle- ments. It was at length cut off by an expedition from Massachusetts, by which, in a sudden attack, the Jesuit chief, Ralle, was killed. The remnants of the Penobscot tribe are, to this day, chiefly Roman catholics. Previously to the landing in Massachusetts bay, a col- ony was commenced on the coast of Maine, by Gorges and Mason, under a grant from the council of Plymouth, England, to whom the territory had been granted by King James I., in 1606. The first settlements made, at Damaris- cotta and a few other points on the coast, were soon abandoned ; and few traces are to be found of any of them. Few motives were offered to colonists, to counterbalance the inhospitable nature of the country, the severity of the cli- mate, and the exposure to interference from the Indians and French. Two or three miles from the road that leads between Linniken’s bay and Damariscotta river, where was formerly j an Indian burying-place, the remains L_ — : of cellar-walls and chimneys are found, as also broken kettles, wedges, &c. At the head of the bay are the hulks of two or three large vessels sunk in the water; and on the shore, the ruins of an old gristmill, where the present one stands. On the islands opposite the town, are other ruins, the history of which is un- known, as is also that of those already mentioned. The following interesting facts afford a guide to their origin. In the year 1605, Captain Weymouth, i of Plymouth, in England, returned from j an unsuccessful voyage made for the dis- | covery of a northwest passage, bringing j with him five American savages, whom J he had taken on board in the Penobscot river. Sir Fernando Gorges felt so much interest in these men from a new world, that, to use his own language, he “seized upon” them, and had three of them in his own family for three years ; and “this accident must be acknowledged as the means, under God, of putting on foot and giving life to all our plantations.” He obtained much information from the Indians, and became, from that time, deeply interested in schemes for the set- tlement of the New World, and an active member of the Plymouth company. The first settlement was attempted by Englishmen, on the Kennebec, at the early date of 1609, the same year as that of Jamestown. King James, having, by request, granted a patent, in 1606, divi- ding the coast into North and South Vir- ginia, this part of Maine was embraced in the former, which extended from the 38th to the 45th degree of north latitude. While Gosnold, with Captain Smith for his agent, commenced planting a colony at Jamestown, Captains George Popham and Raleigh Gilbert led another to the mouth of the Kennebec. They landed near the island of Monheagan, a few leagues east of that river, and soon after entered the stream, and stopped at an island near its eastern shore, now form- ing a part of Georgetown. As Chief- Justice Popham had procured an accu- rate survey of the river the year before, it is probable that this place was chosen in England, before the sailing of the ex- pedition. 4 1 But the history of this colony is short 16 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MAINE. and melancholy. As it did not arrive until August, there was not • sufficient time to complete the necessary prepara- tions for the winter, which set in early and with rigqr. A fort was erected, but many arrangements, important to the comfort of the people, could not be made ; and, as the ships returned in December, about half of the number embarked in them, apprehending severe sufferings from the cold and the want of food. Part of the buildings and provis- ions were soon after destroyed by fire ; and Captain Popham died before spring, j The first ships brought the news of the de- cease of the chief-justice ; and the pain- ful intelligence of the death of a brother rendered it necessary for Captain Gilbert to return to England. The remaining colonists, becoming disheartened, aban- doned their enterprise ; and, the place being deserted, the Plyfnouth company did not repeat the experiment. Gorges, one of the most intelligent and devoted friends of America among the members of the Plymouth colony, endeavored in vain to induce them to send out a second colony. Unwilling, however, to see the object wholly aban- doned, he engaged in private enterprises for trading with the natives and fishing; and, in 1616, sent out a party, under the command of Richard Vines, to explore this part of the coast. They penetrated into the country, and were kindly treat- ed ; but they found the people suffering from the smallpox, and the hostile at- tacks of the Tarrantines, a nation east of the Penobscot. They met with the Indians who had been in England, and received special marks of favor from them. On the approach of winter, which they had agreed to spend in the country, they chose a spot on the western side of Saco liver, at its mouth. Some of them took up a hundred acres of land on lease from Vines, one of which was for a thou- sand years, at the annual rent of two shillings and one capon, after the pay- ment of a previous compensation. The lease, partly in Latin, was executed in 163S. A considerable trade was carried on here for some years, the colonists employing themselves both in agricul- ture and in fishing, besides trading con- siderably with the savages for beaver- skins, &c. In the southwestern parts of the state are several scenes of the later and more permanent settlements. Pegipscot Falls . — Near Lewistown, on the Androscoggin river, is a remark- able cataract, where the current breaks through a range of mountains, and pours over a broken ledge of rocks. The scene is wild and striking, and derives an additional interest from its connexion with the history of a tribe of Indians long since extinct. According to a tra- j dition current in the neighborhood, the j | upper parts of this stream were formerly ; the residence of the Rockmego Indians, j who inhabited a fine and fertile plain 1 through which the river winds. The I situation was remote, and they had never , engaged in any hostilities with the whites, i but devoted themselves to hunting and ' fishing. The ground still contains many ! remains of their weapons, utensils, &c. I They were, however, at length persua- 1 ded to engage in a hostile incursion ! ; against Brunswick, at that time an ex- j posed frontier settlement; and the whole j , tribe embarked in their canoes to ac- | complish the enterprise. The stream ; flows gently on for a great distance, un- | til it approaches very near to the falls ; j and this was the spot appointed for the night encampment. Night set in before their arrival ; and they sent two men j forward to make fires upon the banks a little above the cataract. F or some un- known reason, the fires were kindled below the falls ; and the Indians, being thus deceived concerning their situation, did not bring up their canoes to the shore in season, and were carried over the rocks, and the tribe all destroyed to- gether. It was along the valley of the Kenne- bec that the expedition, formed in the winter of 177-5-’6, for the capture of Quebec, proceeded. The hardships they endured were very severe, as the coun- try at that time was wholly destitute of inhabitants through almost the whole route, after leaving the seacoast, until approaching the valley of the St. Law- rence. The plan had been formed and adopted while the American army was DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MAINE. 17 engaged in the siege of Boston, and General Montgomery was placed at the head of it. Benedict Arnold was among the most active of the officers. After numerous delays, caused by the difficul- ties of navigation and transportation, cold and hunger, they arrived af the French settlements ; but being unable to proceed with desirable rapidity, or to cross the St. Lawrence immediately after reaching its shore, the inhabitants had time to make preparations; and, instead of taking the city by surprise, and at once finding comfortable quarters, they were able only to encamp on the heights of Abraham, after scaling the precipitous shore at Wolfe’s cove, with an army be- tween them and the walls. This un- fortunate expedition failed, after losing their commander, who was killed it) an unsuccessful attempt to gain the lower- town by a night attack, and Arnold, with a large division of the forces, who were made “prisoners in an assault on the up- per town. The first newspaper in Maine was printed on January 1, 1785. It was called the “ Falmouth Gazette and Weekly Advertiser,” and published at- Falmouth (now Portland), by Benjamin Titcomb and Thomas B. Wait, on a demy sheet. Its name was changed to the “ Cumberland Gazette,” in 1786. Tire second was commenced in the same town, in 1790, called the “ Maine Ga- zette,” by Benjamin Titcomb, and con- tinued till 1796 ; at which time there were but three newspapers in Maine, one of them at Hallowell, and one at Augusta. In 1810, there were eight newspapers, and, in 1850, fifty-six. The first daily paper was begun at Portland, October 13, 1829, and called the “ Daily Corn ier ;” and the second, the “ Daily Evening Advertiser,” in 1831. York. — There are some pleasant fields about this little place, but its size is in- significant, when compared with the an- ticipations formed of its destiny at the time of its first settlement ; for the ground was laid out for streets, and the divisions of the land still retain much of the regular form given it by the first sur- veyors. Population, about 3,500. The Nubble is a rocky point, four and a half miles from York, and Cape Ned- dock lies beyond. While travelling along this dreary country, the road pass- es the site of an old fort or blockhouse, built before Philip’s war. The Aga- menticus hills form' a range some dis- tance west. Lower Welles. — There is a little harbor here, defended by a sandbar, with a narrow entrance under a rock ; but it is almost dry at low water. Welles. — The sea ofien breaks beau- tifully on the beach, in front of the tav- ern. Porpoise point is just distinguish- able in the northeast, and the view of the sea is fine and refreshing. Three miles beyond is Breakneck hill, over which falls a small stream, from the height of thirty feet, about forty yards from the path. The old fort was half a mile beyond, or a quarter of a mile from the church. This little fortress was once attacked by five hundred Indians, who at first supposed, as was the fact, that the men were absent from home. The place was, however, very bravely and successfully defended by five women, dressed in their husband’s clothes. Portland. — The situation of this place is remarkably fine, occupying the ridge and side of a high point of land, with a handsome though shallow bay on one side, and the harbor on the other. The anchorage is protected on every side by land, the water is deep, and the communication with the sea direct and convenient. Congress street runs along the ridge of the hill, and contains a number of very elegant private houses. There is also the town-hall, with the market below, and a beautiful church, with granite columns. The steps are fine blocks of granite, six by nine feet, brought from the quarry at Brunswick, twenty-two miles distant. From the observatory, south and south- west, are seen several distant eminences : among others, the Agamenticus hills ; northwest are seen, in clear weather, the lofty ridges and peaks of the White hills in New Hampshire, which are discov- ered at sea often before the nearer land appears in sight. Cape Elizabeth is the highland on the 18 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MAINE. south side of the harbor; and the islands, which nearly close the entrance, are called Bangs’s and House islands. Fort Preble stands on the former, and Fort Scammel on the latter. Due east is Seguin lighthouse, which is visible, in clear weather, thirty-two miles distant, tit the mouth of the Kennebec. Nearer, and in the same quarter, lie numerous islands of various forms. The intrenchments on the hill, west of the observatory, belong to Fort Sum- ner, and part of them were made during the Revolutionary war. Under the bluff, on the water’s edge, is Fort Burroughs. Portland (the former name was Fal- mouth) was burnt in the Revolutionary war by Captain Mo watt, in the British sloop-of-war Canceau, on the 18th of October, 1775, on the refusal of the inhabitants to deliver up their arms. About one hundred and thirty houses, three quarters of all the place contained, were consumed, some being set on fire with brands, after a cannonade and bom- bardment of nine hours. The old church is among the buildings saved, and has the mark of a cannon-shot in it. A small part of the hotel belonged to one of the houses not destroyed. There are many fine stores and dwelling-houses in the middle of the town, and the shore is lined with shipping. Pop. 28,000. Augusta. — This town, the capital of Kennebec county, is fifty-six miles northeast Rom Portland, and two miles north of Hallowell. It stands on both sides of the Kennebec, forty-seven miles from its mouth, and has a bridge across that river, connecting its two parts. It is a place of some trade, being at the head of sloop-navigation. The situation' is pleasant, on the top and sides of an elevation. Population, 9,000. The statehouse has a front of one hun- dred and fifty feet, toward the east, with two wings, of thirty-three and fifty-four feet, on a plan somewhat resembling that at Boston ; and its position, on Capitol hill, is commanding. It is built of gran- ite, and has eight granite columns, twen- ty-one feet high, each weighing ten tons. The top of the dome is one hundred and fourteen feet from the ground. Hallowell is a considerable town, fifty-four miles northeast from Portland, and is a place of much business, and one of the principal in the state. The Ken- nebec is navigable in vessels of one hun- dred and fifty tons, and an extensive and productive tract of country is depend- ent <5h it. Granite of excellent quality abounds in the vicinity, which is quar- ried on a considerable scale. Brunswick. — This town is situated on the left bank of the Androscoggin riv- er, at the Pejepscot falls, which here make an extensive water-power. It con- tains about six thousand inhabitants, ten churches, two academies, cotton and wool- len factories, and is the seat of Boivdoin College . — The two larger buildings represented in the engraving, are occupied by the students. The three- story building contains the mineralogical cabinet, gallery of paintings, medical cabi- net, the library, and lecture rooms. The northerly of the two central buildings, besides rooms for the students, has- reci- tation-rooms, and two spacious apart- ments for the libraries of two societies. This edifice was ejected in place of the one destroyed by fire in 1836. The three-story building is called Massachu- setts hall, the large building on the south, Maine hall, the other, North college. It was after several petitions had been presented to the government of Massa- chusetts, that, in 1^31, a bill was intro- duced for the establishment of a college in the district of Maine, which was to be called Bowdoin college, after the dis- tinguished governor of that name. It was not built, however, until 1734, du- ring which time Brunswick was chosen as the seat of the college. This act also appointed a board of trustees, which was to consist of thirteen members, and a board of overseers, of forty-five mem- bers, who were to regulate the institu- tion. At the same time a grant was made to it of five townships of wild land in the interior of Maine. Immediately after its establishment, Governor Bow- doin’s son, honorable James Bowdoin, made to it a donation of a thousand acres of land, and upward of eleven hundred pounds in money. Now the business of the boards was the erection of a suit- able building. Accordingly, a meeting Bowdoin College, Brunswick. I 20 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MAINE. was called at Brunswick, in 1796, for the selection of a location. This town is on a sandy plain, south of the Andros- coggin river. The plain is slightly ele- vated, nearly a mile south of the river ; and this spot was chosen as the most desirable situation for the college. Al- though the uninterrupted level of the ground, and the dark green of the pines and firs, render the scenery of Bruns- wick rather monotonous, yet, by its quiet Retirement, it is well adapted for the seat of an institution of learning. Shortly after, the brick building, called Massa- chusetts hall, was erected, and received the name which it still bears. The boards assembled, in July, 1801, for the election of a president. The Rev. Dr. M‘Keere, from Beverley, Mas- sachusetts, was chosen; an 1 Mr. John Abbott was chosen professor of lan- guages. They were inducted into office on the 2d of September. Also, at this time, eight students were admitted to the institution. Ihe services were per- formed on a stage which was raised un- der a grove of evergreens, near to the college. In 1804, Mr. Samuel Willard entered the college as tutor, and the fol- lowing year Mr. Parker Cleaveland was installed professor of mathematics and natural history. Mr. Bowdoin had given one thousand acres of land toward this professorship. The first commencement of this col- lege was in 1806, when the honors of the institution were conferred upon seven young men. The name of Richard Goff, Esq., of Boston, stands first on the list of graduates. This was the only com- mencement at which President MTveene was allowed to preside, for, in July of the following year, he was removed by death from the scene of his labors. Eastport, on Moose island, occupy- ing the extreme point of the coast of the United States on the eastern border, is a spot interesting alike for its military importance and its natural features. The ground is rocky, and rises abruptly from the western shore of St. Croix river, to a considerable eminence, which is crowned by the fort, on which waves the first American flag that greets the eye of a traveller from the east, on ap- proaching our country. It is 41 miles east-northeast from Machias, 176 miles east from Augusta, and 279 miles east- northeast from Portland. It contains 2,500 inhabitants. Moose island, on which Eastport is situated, lies in Passamaquoddy bay, and is four miles long, surrounded by deep wa f er, and connected with Lubec by a ferry, and with Perry by a bridge. The village is in the south part of the island, and is a place of considerable business ; the lumber-trade and fishing being carried on with activity. Bangor. — This city is situated on the west side of the Penobscot, at the head of navigation, on an elevation which commands an extensive view. There is a bridge across the river, 1,329 feet in length : and the place contains a court- house, a jail, seven churches, a bank, two academies, and a population of fifteen thousand. It is thirty-five miles north from Castine, sixty-five northeast of Augusta, and two hundred and twen- ty-two miles from Boston, with which communication is held by steamboats, touching at Portland, to which latter place rail-road trains run daily. An ex- tensive trade in lumber is carried on at Bangor. The distance from the sea, at Owl’s Head point, is thirty miles. The spot now occupied by the town was in a wilderness only about fifty years ago. The region above, lying in the valley of the Penobscot, and natu- rally tributary to Bangor, is an area of nine thousand square miles. The wa- ter-power is abundant, and applicable to a great variety of machinery. There are few places in the Union which pos- sess greater advantages of this kind. The lumber-trade, which has formed the chief source of business and prosperity, must necessarily decrease ; but the clear- ing of the land will as naturally be ac- companied with the extension of agri- culture and the increase of its more valuable products, which will of course I seek their vent through this town. N av- igation is active during the summer-sea- son, and much transportation is per- formed in the winter in sleighs. The soil in the neighborhood is good for brickmaking 1 '! ! 1 ( 1 22 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MAINE. Bangor, on account of its rapid growth, as well as its important position, and the beauty of its situation, is the place of , the greatest note in the interior of the state. The Kenduskeag enters the Pe- nobscot nearly at right-angles, dividing the town into two parts, and diversify- ing the surface in the environs with high and picturesque banks. The town ap- pears to great advantage on approach- ing it from down the valley of the Pe- nobscot, as it is gradually disclosed to view, displaying its numerous clusters of houses spread up the rising grounds and over the more level surface on the summit of the bank. On. the northwest side of the town the eminence commands an extensive and charming view, Mount Katahdin appearing in the distance, in clear weather, though more than seventy miles off, its head often capped with snow. Judge Williamson’s History of Maine informs us, that the first settlement 'was made in this place in the year 1769, when only one family became the inhab- itants. A second followed in the course of 1770 ; and two years later there were twelve families. In 1787, the first pub- lic meeting was held, to procure a pas- tor and a place for public worship ; when the Rev. Seth Noble, a whig refugee from Nova Scotia, was appointed, and received his ordination under the shade of an oak-tree. He received a salary of four hundred dollars from the people residing on both sides of the river, and ’remained there twelve years. He was appointed, in 1791, to procure an act of incorporation from the Massachusetts legislature ; and, although N tlie people proposed to call the place Sunbury, the present name was chosen. The courthouse (now the city-hall) was the first public building erected in the place, in 1812. It was occupied for public worship, as well as for various other public purposes, until 1822. That year the first meetinghouse was built, by the only religious society existing there. The Rev. Harvey Loomis, who was ordained in 1811, officiated in it un- til 1822, when, having preached a new- year’s sermon, Qn the 2d of January, from the text, “ This year thou shalt die,” on leaving the pulpit he dropped down dead. Five years afterward the 1 building was destroyed by fire ; and, in 1831, a handsome brick edifice was erected in its place. In 1828, three houses for public wor- ship were commenced, by societies of methodists, baptists, and Unitarians, and several others were erected a few years later; and, in 1832, a large courthouse, with county offices, and a jail. The Theological Seminary has three j professors, about fifty students, and a li- brary of seven thousand volumes. The classical and theological course occupies four years. It was instituted, in 1815, to prepare young men to preach the gospel. A tract of five acres of land was given to the institution by Isaac Davenport, of Milton, Massachusetts, on which the present fine building stands. It is of brick, four stories high, and en- joys an elevated and commanding situa- tion. A second edifice, of a similar de- ’ scription, with houses for the professors, was afterward planned. The institu- • tion is under the' direction of a board of trustees, and has a fund of about a hun- dred and twenty thousand dollars. The Bangor House is one of the orna- ments of the town. It is constructed on a plan resembling that of the Tremont house in Boston, and was built in 1836. i There is a bridge across the Penob- I scot, and three across the Kenduskeag. j Two of the latter were built by individ- J uals. ^ \ The first printing-office was opened j in Bangor in the year 1815, by Peter Edes. The first bank was established in 1818 ; and banks have since been mul- tiplied to supply the demands of the ex- | tensive lumber-business and navigation carried on here. The ice interrupts the river-trade during four or five months in the year ; but the river is generally open to Frankfort, twelve miles below. The first railroad in the state was that from Bangor to Oldtown, in Oxford coun- j ty, twelve miles of which was opened in 1836, at an expense of $250,000. The market-house is large, and well planned. A wiral cemetery, on the plan of that of Mount Auburn, near Boston, was laid out in 1S36, two miles from the DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MAINE. 23 city, enclosing about thirty acres ; of which twenty belong to the public, and the remainder to individuals. A fine greenhouse is connected with it. In the neighborhood of Bangor, sev- eral small manufacturing villages have been founded by capitalists, where large quantities of timber are sawn. North Bangor . — Here are the mills of the Penobscot Milldam company. It is four miles from Bangor, on the road to Orono, and three miles from — Lower Stillwater Village , another of these industrious settlements, situated, like the preceding, on the Kenduskeag. The ample water-power at these places admits of a large amount of business. The population of Bangor experi- enced a very rapid increase in the course of a few years. In 1793, there were hut forty-five rateable polls in the town. In 1800, the population was 277 ; m 1810, 850 ; in 1820, 1,221 ; in 1830, 2,868; in 1840, 8,627 ; in 1850, 14,441. Bath, thirty-four miles northeast from Portland, and one hundred and fifty-three northeast from Boston, is situated on the western side of the Kennebec, and occu- pies a considerable eminence, on a piece of land almost isolated by several arms of the sea, from which it is distant about twelve miles. It is a considerable town, of 8,500 inhabitants, extends along the river a mile and a half, and back from ir about three fourths of a mile. The har- bor is excellent, and freely admits to its wharves ships of the largest size. There are in the town two banks and five acad- emies. Steamboats communicate daily with Portland and Boston during nearly the whole year. Castine, the capital of Hancock coun- ty, occupies a promontory on the east side of Penobscot bay, and has a good harbor, always open, and accessible to large vessels. It is in latitude forty-four degrees and twenty-four minutes, seven- ty-eight miles from Augusta, and a hun- dred and twenty-two east-northeast from Portland. Pop. 2,000. Houlton is a military post jn a small branch of St. John’s river, near the line of New Brunswick. It is one hundred and twenty miles north-northeast from Bangor. Frye burg, sixty miles northwest of* Portland, is remarkable both for its sit- uation and its history. The township, in its extent of six square miles, embraces a rich and beautiful valley, secluded on every side by a wild and mountainous range of country. The Saco river, ta- king - its rise on Mount Washington, and flowing through the notch in the White hills, passes down the valley to Conway, where it finds the termination of “the southern range ; and then turning ab- ruptly to the east, soon enters the charm- ing meadows of Fryeburg, and performs a serpentine course of no less than thir- ty-six miles within the limits of the township. The Indian fort was on a gentle hill at the western side of the village, which commands a view of the Saco valley six miles up its course, and six miles down. LoveV s Pond is on an isthmus, about one mile southeast from the village, and j is memorable as the scene of one of the most severe and disastrous battles in the old partisan warfare against the Indians. The Portland road passes along the western side of the pond, and affords a view of its north end. This was the place of the action. Another road runs very near the north shore ; and it is a pleasant ride to the place. LoveV s Expedition . — In 1725, Captain Lovel undertook a secret expedition through the wilderness against the Pick- waket tribe of Indians. Instigated by the French, they had committed many depredations on the frontier, so that the general court of Massachusetts had of- fered one hundred pounds each for their scalps. His company consisted of thir- ty or forty men, many of them accus- tomed to the life of hardy hunters and settlers, with young Mr. Frye for their chaplain, whose history was somewhat romantic, and from whom this town re- ceived its name. They passed up Win- nipiseogee lake, Ossipee pond, the Saco, and encamped at the mouth of Mill ! brook, at the northwest corner of Lov- el’s pond. It happened that the Indians had gone down the Saco river, and on their return, discovering tracks, pursued ! them toward Lovel’s pond, and, having 24 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MAINE discovered the encampment, and the way they had gone, removed their packs, and, forming an ambush around the place, fired upon them, on their return, and killed eight men. The white men re- treated to the northeast corner of the pond, where is a narrow strip of land, and defended themselves till night ; and j the remains of the unfortunate expe- dition returned through the forest, suf- fering from hunger and fatigue, and some of them from wounds. Sebago Lake . — This is one of the numerous bodies of water, of different forms and sizes, which spot the surface of Maine, and cover so large a part of it. It has been estimated that, including lakes and rivers, one sixth part of the surface of the state is water. Sebago lake is in Cumberland county, and thir- teen miles by twenty in extent, nearly divided by a long cape, which extends from the eastern side, in Raymond, in a southwest direction. No less than five townships lie upon its shores. It re- ceives Crooked river from the north, with the waters of Long lake, which flow into that stream through its outlet. Presumpscut river, which drains Sebago lake from the south, falls into Casco bay, and affords a channel of navigation in boats to Portland. Monsehead Lake , in Kennebec coun- ty, and the source of the east branch of Kennebec river, is sixty miles in length, of an irregular form, and sur- rounded by a tract of country but little inhabited. Mount Desert Lighthouse . — Off a part of the coast remarkable for its deso- late and forbidding character, and upon a small barren rock, is erected the tall and fine lighthouse depicted in the vig- nette at the head of this description. One of the spots most dangerous to passing ships, and most destitute of the means of subsistence for shipwrecked strangers, is thus provided with one of those marks for navigators which now occupy every important point along our seaboard, from one extremity of the country to the other. Mount Desert island, which lies be- tween Union river and Desert sound, is fifteen miles in length, and twelve in breadth. It is in latitude forty-four degrees twelve minutes, and comprises a township of the same name. With so large a surface as Maine comprehends, such supplies of timber, and such remarkable facilities for pro curing, sawing, and transporting it ; with so much valuable land cleared and clearing as the forests are removed ; to- gether with a population of such ener- getic character and intelligence, a more rapid increase of numbers, wealth, and power, might be anticipated, if more genial climates and more luxuriant soils did not attract the great masses of emi- grants in other directions. In spite, however, of the richness of the western and southern lands, and the softness of the climates in the new states and terri- tories, Maine will probably continue 1o improve, and to experience a more solid and substantial growth than .could be produced by the introduction of a less educated and hardy population. According to the censuses, taken suc- cessively, Maine contained 96,540 in- habitants in 1790; 151,719 in 1800; 228,705 in 1810; 298,335 in 1820; 399,955 in 1830; 501,793 in 1810; and ’ 583,088 in 1850. Maine has a stringent law for the ' suppression of traffic in intoxicating li- quors. It allows the seizure and confis- ; cation of liquor wherever found, with the exception of places designated by proper authority, where it may be sold for mechanical or medicinal purposes. ! Those who are discovered with this illicit article of traffic in their possession, are allowed no redress for the loss by the ! confiscation of their property ; and the attempt to try the matter judicially is ineffectual, as the courts are forbidden to entertain suits of this description. The contrast presented in this state, by a comparison between the present and several past periods of its history, is striking: indeed. The most favorable O # _ effects resulted from its separation from Massachusetts and erection into a state. Legislation, with the energies of the peo- ple, has effected wonders ; while com- merce, agriculture, manufactures, and education, are annually making advances, I which bid fair to continue. DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 25 HEW HAMPSHIRE. This state is bonneted on the north by Canada, east by Maine, south by Massachusetts, and west by Vermont. Connecticut river forms a part of the northern boundary, and its western shore the whole of the western, the entire breadth of the stream belong- ing to New Hampshire. Extending from latitude forty-two to forty-five, and having much mountainous sur- face, the climate is cold, and in some parts severe, although the southern regions, being both low and nearer the ocean, have milder seasons and shorter winters. The Allegany range, which crosses this state near the middle, though here far distant from its broadest ranges, has its highest peaks in the White hills, whose principal eminences tower above all other peaks this side of the Rocky mountains. In that region are the sources of the principal rivers of the state. The Merrimack rises from the outlet of Winnipiseogee lake, a broad and beauti- ful sheet of water lying at the foot of the southern eminences of that Alpine region ; while the Ammonoosuc, pouring down the steep declivity of Mount Washington, finds its way to the Connecticut; and the Saco, a direct tributary to the Atlantic, after rising within a few yards of the Ammonoosuc, is soon diverted flowing through the celebrated Notch in the moun- ine region of New England, before it reaches the which are moved by its power. The impediments offered to navigation are not only, in a great measure, coun- j terbalanced by the abundance of valuable water-power afforded by nature, but j are obviated by science and art, in the construction of railroads as well as canals, ! which have been multiplied within a few years, in proportion to the increasing demands created by the numerous manufactories. In all these branches of in an opposite channel, and, i tains, waters the most Alp I! manufactories at its mouth, — 1 26 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. improvement, New Hampshire has dis- played a degree of intelligence and en- terprise unsurpassed by any other state, in proportion to her extent and re- sources, and promises to reap from them long-continued benefits. A large nart of her territory is ren- dered useless by lofty, wild, barren, and almost inaccessible mountains. The surface, soil, and climate there discour- age almost any attempt at cultivation, and in many places entirely refuse a spot for the habitation of man. Im-' 1 mense masses of stone, however, which have been brought down from those re- gions, by some ancient cause not easily explained, are spread over the surface for seventy or eighty miles south, and have supplied the state with one of the chief sources of its we.alth. Blocks of granite and sienite have been cut up for building, and transported to near and many distant places, often at great profit. The New Hampshire stones of these kinds, like those from some of the adjacent states, aie known, used, and highly valued, and form the materials in constructing many of the finest edifices in our cities, even to the southern ex- tremities of our country. The northern extremity of this state is in latitude forty-five degrees eleven minutes, and the southern in forty-two degrees forty-one minutes. The area is 9,280 square miles ; and the popula- tion in 1850 was 317,864. New Hamp- shire has the smallest extent of seacoast of all the Atlantic states — only eighteen miles. There is but one good harbor in the state — viz., Portsmouth, where is a navy-yard of the United States. Ly- ing at the mouth of the Piscataqua river, and having a great depth of water, this port is deficient in one very important respect. That river is navigable but a short distance, when it is broken by a fall. The Merrimac has a succession of rapids, which have been canalled and locked all along its course, and render it useful for boat navigation. But its principal value is for manufacturing, in which respect, however, it is one of the most valuable streams in the United States. The largest and most flourish- ing manufacturing town in the'Union, Lowell, in Massachusetts, occupies the most advantageous point on the Merri- mac, on the south side, by which it is supplied with abundant water-power. Lakes. — Winnipiseogee lake is re- markable for its picturesque shores, and numerous and beautiful islands, as well as for the fine scenery which here be- gins to display itself, offering, to the traveller from the south, the first and distant introduction to the noble fear tures of the White mountains. It is twenty-three miles in length and ten in breadth, measured in the widest part. The water is remarkably clear, and abounds in fish. Squa?n Lake, situated north of it, is six miles long and three wide, and lies at the bottom of a deep and narrow val- ley, surrounded by several mountainous elevations, except on the side where it sends an inlet into Winnipiseogee. Fine trout abound here, which are taken in considerable numbers, and salted for market. Above these lie Ossipee and Sunapee lakes, which are of inferior size. Connecticut River. — This is the principal stream of New England, both for size, the rich and populous country through which it passes, and the large meadows which it annually overflows and fertilizes. It rises in the elevated region between this state and Canada, in a pond called Lake Connecticut ; and its eastern branch marks the boundary between- the two countries, to a point at the distance of one mile from the forty-fifth degree of north latitude. The course of the river is neprly south, and,- after separating New Hampshire and Vermont, it flows on through Massachu- setts and Connecticut, and falls into Long Island sound at Saybrook. It is navigable in sloops to Hartford, in steamboats a few miles further, and in flat-bottomed boats through Massachu- setts to the middle of this state. Short canals, with locks, are formed round the falls at Enfield, Connecticut, and South Hadley, Massachusetts : but the Farmington canal, with its extension to Northampton in the last-mentioned state, takes off a portion of the trade to New Haven ; and much freight, as well quain Lake 28 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. as most of the travellers, now pass more swiftly along the banks of the stream over the railroads. Several _ important routes cross Connecticut river at differ- ent points ; but the principal one is the railroad loute from Boston to Albany, through Springfield. ; Natural Curiosities. — The Notch, Flume, and several objects in the heart of the White mountains, may be termed ' curiosities, and a remarkable rock in ! Franconia is noted as such. The pro- file, when viewed from a particular j point, presents a considerable resem- blance to the human profile, whence it has received the name of The Old Man j of the Mountains. The peak rises about one thousand feet above the valley at its base. History. — The first settlements were made as stated on page 42, at Dover and Portsmouth, in 1623 ; and the people voluntarily united themselves to Massa- chusetts in 1641. But in 1679 the coun- try was constituted a separate, colony by Charles II. For many years the frontier villages suffered severely from the hostile incursions of the Indians, usually led or sent against them by the French Jesuits in Canada. Many dwel- lings were burned in the wars of Philip and France, many lives were lost, and many captives taken to Canada. The people of New Hampshire bore an active part in the war of the revolu- tion. On the 21st of June, 1788, the convention of the state adopted the con- stitution of the United States by a vote of fifty-seven to forty-six. Portsmouth, the principal seaport in New Hampshire, is the capital of Rock- ingham county. It enjoys a pleasant situation at the mouth of Piscataqua, three miles from the ocean. The har- bor, although perfectly shut in by land, is never obstructed by ice. It is fifty- four miles from Boston, and four hun- dred and ninety-three from Washington. It is connected with the town of Kittery, in Maine, by two bridges, and a third extends to Great island, where is a lighthouse. The navy-yard is on Con- tinental island, on the eastern side of the harbor. There are eight churches, seven banks, two markets, a custom- house, an athenaeum, and an almshouse. The population is about ten thousand. The Boston and Portland railroad passes through the town. The- Athenaium, incorporated in 1817, has about five thousand volumes in its library, a cabinet of minerals, and col- lections in other branches of natural history. Concord. — This town, the capital of New Hampshire, is located upon the Merrimack river, with the principal vil- lage upon the western side. It is forty- five miles, west-northwest, from Ports- mouth, and seventy-four miles, north- north-west, from Boston by railroad, and sixty-two by turnpike. It has communi- cation, also, with Boston by the Merri- mac river and the Middlesex canal, and engrosses the chief trade from the north. Main street, its principal thoroughfare, on which are located most of the public buildings, and the stores and principal places of business, is about two miles in length. A fine intervale lies between the village and the river. Here are the statehouse, state prison, lunatic asylum, also a state institution, county court- house, several banks, twelve churches, and several other public buildings. Con- cord has about eight hundred and fifty dwelling-houses, and a population of about nine thousand. The Statehouse , a beautiful structure, appropriately built of granite, is one hundred and twenty-six feet in length, and forty-nine in breadth. It occupies a conspicuous situation, surrounded by a fine park. The view from the cupola is very extensive and picturesque. The halls of the house of representatives and the senate contain several works of art ; among which are a portrait of Count Rumford, the founder of the town, after whom it was originally named, and a full-length likeness of Washington (after Stuart) by Walter Ingalls, a native-artist of the granite state, whose lifelike portraits have, both in his own country and abroad, given him a high rank in his profession. A few years since, but a single rail- road extended to Concord ; but several roads now radiate from this busy town, and the enterprise of the people, being once awakened to their true interests, The State House, at Concord. '1 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. j 30 I will not rest till the iron bands, which are drawing the extremes of our wide- spread country nearer and nearer, shall extend to every section of the state, and even to the commercial metropolis : of Canada. Manchester. — This city is one of the I youngest but most flourishing manu- facturing places in the state. It was fcommenced with activity, by a large Boston company, about ten years ago, at one of the best sites for water-power on the Merrimac, and has rapidly in- creased in business. Pop. 20,000. The soil is sandy, and the situation favorable only for the objects for which the town has been built; but the prospects are flattering for permanent and increasing prosperity. The good regulations es- tablished in most of the other large manufacturing places in New England, have been, from the first, adopted here, and the results are highly favorable. Precautions are taken to secure com- fortable, healthy, and respectable lodg- ings and accommodations for the work people, or “ operatives,” of both sexes. Several churches, of different denomina- tions, are erected ; schools are abun- dant ; and the agents of the manufacto- ries are men of intelligence and public spirit, who favor all measures for moral and intellectual improvement. A rail- road, as in most other instances in towns of this kind, affords its advantages. Several other towns might be men- tioned, in this part of the state, of a similar character, though none of so recent a date, and such rapid and re- markable growth. The various and val- uable products of manufacturing skill, constantly yielded by the thousands of industrious hands and busy wheels in these places, find their way to Boston, with but few exceptions ; the grand route of transportation being the Lowell railroad, with its extension and branches. It is by this channel that the capital of that wealthy city extends its influence through this part of the country, and brings its profitable returns to the wharves, whence they are transported to distant ports. There are many agreeable interior towns in the midst of pleasant agiicul- tural regions. The land varies from jj valleys and level meadows, to swelling |j and often elevated uplands ; but the soil is generally well cultivated, situations healthful and agreeable, and the state of society, in different degrees, refined and intelligent. Considerable diversity is observable, in different parts of New Hampshire, in the character of the pop- ulation. Portsmouth was, for a time, a j seat of no little aristocratic pride, during J the period of its existence as a royal j colony ; and some remains of the feel- ings of those days may still be found. Large bands of emigrants', of the agri- cultural classes, who came out from Great Britain and occupied large tracts in the interior, were for a long time found slow in conforming to the habits and institutions which have always char- acterized those of puritan origin, who constitute the third division of the pop- ulation. Charlestown. — This is a beautiful village on the bank of Connecticut river, and one of the first places occupied, in early times, in the interior of the state. It was included within “ Township No. 4” (by which name it was long known), being one of a range of settlements first laid off above the present line of Massa- chusetts. For many years it was much exposed to Indian depredations, and was defended by a small fort, built of < logs, in a spot now crossed by the street, in the southern part of the village. In- significant as was this little place of de- fence, it was held by a few men, against a considerable body of savages, during a long and persevering attack. Walpole. — In full view of Connec- ticut river, this town occupies a fine, commanding situation, on a bold and beautiful hill, which rises abruptly from the shore, three or four miles south of Bellows’ Falls. The country in the vi- cinity presents many striking scenes and beautifnl landscapes ; the soil is strong j and well cultivated, and the village very pleasant. Pop. 2,500. Bellows’ Falls. — Although the vil- lage which bears this name is on the western side of the Connecticut, the re- markable descent of the stream from whiah it has received itfe name is within DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE 31 the bounds of New Hampshire. There is no other spot along its course which bears so striking marks of the violent operations of nature. An immense mass of the hardest and most solid kind of gray granite has been burst through, and the masses have apparently been torn away in some long passage, while the smoothed surfaces of those which remain indicate the slow but consider- able effects of rushing streams, uninter- mitted for ages. A little above the spot, the water flows in a smooth and gentle current, and spreads out to a consider- able breadth ; while broad meadows on both sides line its course, and show marks of successive elevations which it formerly maintained at different periods. But just at the falls, the whole stream is confined between two rocks only a few feet apart ; while only a portion of the intermediate space is filled by the water, as large masses of granite lie between and divide the current into several parts. The rapidity and force of the descent are extremely great, so that ex- travagant reports have been made on the subject, especially by a singular writer of past days, Hugh Peters, who gravely published that the water was so much hardened by compression, that a crowbar could not be forced into it ! Salmon, however, used to pass the spot in great numbers, so long as they abounded in the river, and this, like many other waterfalls, was the site of a great Indian fishing-place. The deep pools in the bed of the stream were crowded with them at that season in the spring, when they annually moved up toward the shallow water to deposite their spawn ; and large encampments of savages were at that time made upon the blinks. Marks still remain, especially in several figures engraved on a smooth, projecting piece of granite, a little be- low the cascade. A short canal was commenced, many years ago, to facilitate boat-navigation around the falls. The scenery at the spot is remarkably wild; a mountain rising abruptly from the eastern bank of the river, covered with rocky and forest trees, and casting a deep shadow upon the roaring stream which rushes by at its base. An elevated bridge, which crosses it just below the falls, and affords a near and almost terrific view of the tumultuous scene, gives the place a double interest in the eye of the traveller. The effect of the whole is ► greatly heightened, by the contrast it forms with the rich and tranquil region which opens to the view above. One of the largest and most fertile tracts of alluvion there spreads out on the river’s borders, through which its waters mean- der in long and graceful curves ; and well-tilled and productive fields, covered with the deepest verdure, extend to the borders of the rising grounds, which swell to the wooded uplands. Hanover. — This is a remarkably pleasant village, occupying a high level on the top of a considerable ridge of land, in the midst of a wild and sterile tract, which has but few inhabitants. It presents a pleasing aspect ; for be- sides having several streets with a num- ber of neat houses, with court-yards and gardens, there is a large, level public square in the centre, well shaded with trees, and ornamented with some of the finest buildings in the place, especially those connected with the principal lit- erary institution of the state, viz. : — Dartmouth College . — This was origin- ally a school, founded by the Rev. Mr. Wheelock, for the education of Indian youth for the ministry of the gospel. With a zeal and perseverance fitting the enlightened and noble object, that de- voted man surmounted obstacles which it would be difficult to appreciate, to any one not intimately acquainted with the state of the country at the time. Like almost every other attempt made for the extensive and permanent benefit of that unfortunate race, i ( t ultimately failed of success, so far as it related to them. In the course of years, however, it proved useful in an eminent degree ; and Dart- mouth college has long maintained a highly respectable rank among its kin- dred institutions. Among its alumni have , been found many distinguished men ; and its standing and usefulness are likely to rise with the advance of population. The principal academical buildings 32 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. stand on the eastern site of the square, while that of the medical department is a little further north. The houses of ; the president and professors are neat and handsome structures, and add much *to the appearance of the village. Dartmouth college is supported by funds contributed by individuals at dif- ferent periods, and lands granted by this 1 state and Vermont. The library of the institution contains about 4,500 volumes, and those belonging to societies of stu- dents about 9,000. The corporation consists of the governor and chief jus- tice of the state, the president, ten mem- bers elected for the purpose, the coun- cillors of the state, the president of the senate, and the speaker of the house of representatives. Moore’s charity school, a well-en- dowed institution, is connected with the college. The following are the names and dates of the presidents of Dartmouth | college: Rev. E. Wheelock, D.D., 1769 to 1779; Jno. Wheelock, LL. D., 1779 to 1815; Rev. Francis Brown, D. D., 1815 to 1820 ; Rev. Daniel Dana, D. D., 1S20 to 1821 ; Rev. Ben net Tyler, D. D., 1822 to 1828 ; Rev. Nathan Lord, 1828. The annual expense of tuition is twenty-seven dollars ; rent, seven and a half dollars ; board, from one dollar to one dollar and a half per week. The course of lectures in the medical college continues fourteen weeks. F our or live lectures are delivered daily, d he fees are about fifty dollars. Haverhill is a town extending along the Connecticut, opposite the Great Ox- 1 bow, one of the largest and most fertile tracts of meadow-land on this part of its course. The size of this stream is much smaller here than in the lower part of the state ; yet its source is still quite distant ; and there are a few points con- nected with it which may be adverted to in this place. Connecticut river in this state makes a considerable part of its descent from its headwaters to the ocean level. Lake Connecticut is one thousand six hundred feet higher than Long Island sound; but six hundred of this is reduced in i the first twenty-five miles, in which the U — — - - course is southwest. The next twenty miles, where it runs more southwest, it descends three hundred and fifty feet more. Below this point are two considerable falls, the first of which is at the mouth of White river, and the other is Bellows Falls, which has been described. The Passumpsic, a considerable branch | of the Connecticut, enters it at the foot j of Fifteen-mile falls. Nearly two hun- j dred small lakes, or ponds, are formed in different parts of the valley of the Connecticut, two of the largest of which are in New Hampshire, viz., Mascony and Sunapee. The former is seven miles lono-, and the latter twelve. From the superior elevations m this state, it is not surprising that five of the princi- pal rivers of New England should have their sources within its limits. The White mountains — those “ Alps of New England, '* as they have been, not inappropriately, called — present nu- merous attractions to every visiter of taste and science, and are the annual resort of numerous travellers. Winni- piseogee lake, as we have before re- marked, lies on the route from the south, and at its outlet is situated one of the most flourishing villages in the state. Meredith. — This place has the ad- vantage of the water-power of Winni- piseogee river, and lies on the route of the railroad line from Concord north- ward, which is gradually extended as the stock is taken up, and is designed to extend to Canada. The town has sqme twenty stores, and its population is about 5,000. Red Mountain . — This is a conspicu- ous eminence, occupying a favorable position as a point of view, at the north- west corner of Lake Winnipiseogee, which is a favorite resort of travellers, being easy of access, and commanding a scene of the greatest variety and beauty. The following description was written on the spt>t : — “North, the eastern end of Squam lake, and part of a pond lying near it, with the range of the Sandwich moun- tains behind, stretching off toward the east, with numerous dark-brown peaks, partly cultivated about their bases, -and DESCRIPTION OF THE ST A.TE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 33 enveloped above with forests, excepting their summits, which are generally di- vested of verdure. Far beyond these appear several loftier peaks, which might be mistaken for the White moun- tains, were they visible from this point. An intermediate peak with rocky preci- pices is White-faced mountain. “ East-northeast, the eye ranges up the spacious valley through which lies the way to the White mountains, and the road which is to conduct the travel- ler seems diminished to the dimensions of a garden walk. Chocaway, or, as it is familiarly called, Coroway peak, rises on the left ; while the noble ridge of the Ossipee mountains begins nearer at hand on the right, and almost overshad- ows the observer with its enormous size. The sides of these mountains show a beautiful display of farms, interspersed with wood-lots and dwellings, which in many places have encroached far toward the summits, and in others pursue the slope of the fertile uplands to the valley at their feet. Numerous elevations ap- pear at a greater distance, and range themselves in lines to complete the per- spective of a most magnificent vista, which finally closes at a ridge, whose shade is reduced by its remoteness to the color of a cloud. A prominent and remarkable mountain, which appears scarcely less distant, is called Pickvvaket mountain, and rises by the Saco river, near the place where Captain Lovel fought his well-known battle with the Indians ; and the fine valley between is the country passed over in that fatal ex- pedition, in both the approach and the retreat. “ East, the view abuts upon the Ossi- pee mountains, and no variety is afforded until we turn to the south-southeast. In that direction, and further to the right, the whole surface of Winnipiseogee lake lies charmingly spread out to view, va- ried by 'numerous points and headlands, and interspersed with beautiful islands which man despairs to number. Sev- eral distant elevations appear, on this side of which the sloping land just men- tioned extends for several miles along the shore, with a well-cultivated surface spotted in all directions with large barns and farmhouses, to the very margin of the lake. There numerous points run out far into the water, to complete the labyrinths formed by the islands. Gun- stock mountain rises one point east of south, just on the left of which opens the entrance of Merry-meeting bay. The elevated island on the right of that is Rattlesnake island, named from the ven- omous reptiles with which it abounds ; over this the distant land appears high. South by west rises a high hill resem- bling the Ossipee in the richness of its slopes. “ The southwest and west is agree- ably varied with wood-lots and cleared fields, scattered over an undulated sur- face, which extends for many miles, in some places quite to the horizon, and in others to the broken boundary of tall but distant mountains. In the south- west appear two or three peaks, so far removed that they are almost, lost in the blue of the sky. Nearly west are seen several ridges of inferior magnitude, which, approaching as the eye slowly moves toward the left, at length come near the lake, and disappear behind the neighboring mountains. “ Long pond may be distinguished by its shining surface between the west and south, with several other little sheets of water, which lie in tranquillity under the shelter of the hills. , “ Winnipiseogee lake is nineteen miles in length, from Centre Harbor to Alton, at the southeastern extremity. Merry- meeting bay lies beyond. Several of the islands are large, and contain good farms and wealthy inhabitants, although only two or three belong to any town, or pay any taxes. Some of their names are Rattlesnake, Cow, Bear, and Moon islands; also, Half-Mile, One-Mile, Two- Mile islands, &c., &c. None of them contain churches ; and although they have few school-houses, yet sufficient at- tention is paid to the rudiments of edu-* cation to render the children intelligent. Winnipiseogee lake, according to sur- veys made by Mr. Baldwin in 1S25, is five hundred and one feet above the ocean. “ Squam lake lies west from Red mountain, and, like Winnipiseogee lake, ~J 3 34 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. abounds not only in islands, but in fish of the finest descriptions.” Centre Harbor. — This is a village situated at the northwest extremity of the lake, in the midst of interesting scenery. The inhabitants are engaged in fishing as well as agriculture, and the place is a favorite stopping-place for travellers. At a short distance rises Red mountain, just spoken of. Conway, six miles. — The view of the White mountains is very fine from this place, presenting a succession of lofty ridges, the most distant of which are the peaks of Mounts Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and Quin- cy. The most prominent elevation on the right, with two summits, is Kear- sarge, or Pickwaket ; a level meadow lies in the foreground, with an isolated woody hill in the middle, and the Saco river, which rises on Mount Washing- ton, and flows down a narrow valley, with many meanderings. The Chalybeate Spring, in Conway ? is in a valley, with mountains on every side except the southeast. From near the church, the White mountains are in sight. Two or three miles above, the Saco valley bends to the left, and Ellis’s river comes down a narrow vale in front. A tremendous catastrophe occurred among the White mountains on the night of August 28, 1826. A storm of rain, unprecedented within the memory of the oldest inhabitants, deluged the principal peaks of the mountains, and poured such an inundation upon the val- leys and plains below, that it is com- monly attributed to the “ bursting of a cloud although that expression is a very ill-defined one. The effects pro- duced by the flood will remain for cen- turies. The inundation was so great and so sudden, that the channels of the stream were totally insufficient to admit of •the passage of the water, which, conse- quently, overflowed the little level val- leys at the feet of the mountains. In- numerable torrehts immediately formed on all sides ; and such deep trenches were cut by the rushing water, that vast bodies of earth and stones fell from the , mountains, bearing with them the for- ests that had covered them for ages. Some of these “ slides,” as they are here popularly denominated (known among the Alps as “ avalanches de terre ”), are supposed to have been half a mile in breadth, and from one to five miles in length. Scarcely any natural occur- rence can be imagined more sublime ; and among the devastation which it has left to testify the power of the elements, the traveller will be filled with awe at the thought of that Being by whom they are controlled and directed. The streams brought away with them immense quantities of earth and sand, which the turbid water deposited, when any obstacle threw it back, in tempo- rary ponds and lakes. The forest-trees were also floated down, frequently, sev- eral miles from the places where they were rooted up. The timber was often marked with deep grooves and trenches, made by the rocks which passed over them, during their descent from the mountains ; and great heaps of trees were deposited in some places, while in others the soil of the little meadows was buried with earth, sand, or rocks, to the depth of several feet. The turnpike-road leading through this romantic country was twenty miles in length, but was almost entirely de- stroyed. Twenty-one of the twenty- three bridges upon it were demolished ; one of them, built with stone, cost one thousand dollars. In some places, the Saco river ran along the road, and cut down deep channels. The Willey house was the scene of a most melancholy tragedy on the night above mentioned, when this inundation occurred. Several days previously, a large “slide” came down from the mountains behind it, and passed so near as to cause great alarm, without* any in- jury to the inmates. The house was occupied by Mr. Calvin Willey, whose wife was a young woman of a very in- teresting character, and of an education not to be looked for in so wild a region. They had a number of young children, and their family, at the time, included several other persons, amounting in all to eleven. They were waked in the night by the noise of the storm, or more Centre Harbor, and Lake W innipiseogee* 36 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. probably by the second descent of ava- lanches from the neighboring mountains, and fled in their night-clothes from the house to seek their safety, but thus threw themselves in the way of destruction. One of the slides, a hundred feet high, stopped within three feet of the house. Another took away the barn, and over- whelmed the family ; nothing was found of them for some time; their clotheg were found lying at their bedsides. The house had been started on its foundation by an immense heap of earth and tim- ber, which had slid down and stopped as soon as it touched it; and they had all been crushed on leaving the door, or borne away with the water that over- flowed the meadow. The bodies of sev- eral of them were never found. The last remains discovered were those of a child found in 1846. A catastrophe so melancholy, and at the same time so singular in its circumstances, has hardly ever occurred. It will always furnish the traveller with a melancholy subject of reflection. Bartlett is a village situated in a rich valley, or intervale, of about three hundred acres, where the view is bound- ed on every side by near and lofty moun- tains. There is another intervale among the mountains westward, which, although it contains as much good cleared land, has been converted into a common, in consequence of the difficulty of making a good road to it. Pursuing still the course of the narrow valley, against the current of the Saco, the country is found uncleared, except two or three pretty little meadows, and destitute of inhab- itants, excepting only three or four poor families, until arriving at Crawford’s- farm, seven and a half miles south of the Notch. The water rose in this house two feet in the flood of 1826. This is the place from which visiters formerly began their excursions to the mountains. Prospect Mountain , one of the princi- pal peaks, presents itself to view a little before arriving at the first Craw- ford’s, with its smooth rounded sum- mit of brown »moss, rising several hun- dred feet above the region of vegeta- tion, and offering an aspect which I distinguishes these from the other ele- vations. The climate in this narrow valley is still so warm as to favor the growth of various trees, which are scarcely to be found a few miles further north. The forests are here formed of spruce, ash, beech, maple, and sugar-maple ; and In- dian corn grows well, which will not come to maturity beyond. The orchard contains hundreds of apple-trees. This is one of the principal stopping-places for the sleighs, which pass the moun- tains in great numbers, during the win- ter, for Portland, Boston, &c. Nancy’s Hill is a small elevation a few miles north of this place. In 1773 a young woman of respectable connex- ions, who accompanied a family of set- tlers to Dartmouth (now Jefferson), set out in the winter to return to Ports- 1 mouth, alone and on foot, her lover hav- ing promised to meet her there and marry her. There was then no house nearer than Bartlett, thirty miles. Nancy was found by some travellers in this spot, frozen and covered with ice, un- der a shelter formed of branches of trees, which was the only shelter to be found on the way. There is a place near the Notch, where the road suffered severe injury. It had been built up against the side of a mountain, on a wall forty or fifty feet high, and about thirty yards in extent, at the expense of five hundred dollars. This whole fabric was swept away by a mass of earth, rocks, and trees, which came from a half a mile up the side of the mountain, rushing down at an angle of forty-five degrees, and precipitated itself into the bed of the Saco, which is nearly three hundred feet below. The road rises with a steep ascent for a considerable distance before it reaches the Notch, and the traveller ob- serves two cataracts, one pouring down a precipitous mountain at a distance on the west side of the valley, and the other, which is called the Flume, rush- ing down on the right hand, and cross- ing the road under a bridge. The scenery is sublime and impressive be- yond descriotion. There is also another flume just beyond. The Notch House, White Mountains 38 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. The Notch is so narrow as to allow only room enough for the path, and the Saco, which is here a mere brook, only four feet in breadth. It is remarkable that the Saco and the Ammonoosuc spring from fountains on Mount Wash- ington, within perhaps sixty yards of each other, though the former empties into the Atlantic, and the latter joins Connecticut river. Another branch of the Ammonoosuc approaches the Saco, in one place, within about six hundred yards. They are both crossed beyond the Notch. The head-waters of the Merrimac rise within about a mile and a half of this place, and run down a long ravine, little less remarkable than that of the Saco; A road was first made through the Notch in 1785. It was fifty or sixty feet higher than the present turnpike, and so steep that it was necessary to draw horses and wagons up with ropes. The assessment for the turnpike was made in 1806. Two rocks stand at the sides of this remarkable passage, one twenty, and the other about thirty feet, in perpen- dicular height. They are about twenty feet asunder, at six or seven yards from the north end, where they open to thirty feet. The part which appears to have been cut through is about one hundred and twenty feet long. A little meadow opens beyond, where is an inn. Mount Washington . — The ascent of the mountain was formerly a most ar- duous undertaking, and was very rarely performed ; but many ladies are now enumerated among those who have gained the summit. The whole way lies through a perfect forest. The first four miles are over a surface compara- tively level ; but the last two miles and a quarter are up an ascent not differing much from an angle of forty-five degrees. The streams of the Ammonoosuc river, which are to be crossed several times, show the ravages of the inundation of 1826. The ascent of Mount Washington is laborious, and the most arduous exer- and to look down in derision from a new and more hopeless height. The first part of the way is through a thick I forest of heavy timber, which is sud- denly succeeded by a girdle of dwarf and gnarlfed fir-trees, ten or fifteen feet high, and eighty rods, or about four ' hundred and fifty yards, broad ; which, | ending as suddenly as they began, give place to a kind of short bushes, and finally a thin bed of moss, not half suf- ficient to conceal the immense granite rocks which deform the surface. For more than a mile, the surface is entirely destitute of trees. A . few straggling spiders, and several species of little flowering plants, are the only objects that attract the attention under the feet. The following heights are stated to j| be those of the different peaks, above j the level of the Connecticut river at Lancaster: Washington, 5,350 feet; Jefferson, 5,261; Adams, 5,183; Mad- jj ison, 5,030; Monroe, 4,932; Quincy, 4,470. Mount Washington is believed j to be more than 6,400 feet above the ocean. In a clear atmosphere (says the “ Northern Traveller”), the view is sub- lime, and almost boundless. The finest part of it is toward the southeast and. j south. Looking down the valley, through which the road has conducted us, a fine succession of mountainous summits ap- ([ pears for many miles, extending below j the bright surface of Winnipiseogee ,: j lake. Toward the southeast, also, the eye ranges over an extent of surface which quite bewilders the mind. Mountains, hills, and valleys, farmhouses, villages, and towns, add their variety to the nat- ural features of the country ; and the ocean may be discovered at the horizon with the help of a telescope, although the sharpest sight, perhaps, has never been able to distinguish it without such assistance. In that direction lies Port- land, the capital of Maine, and nearer is Lovel’s pond. On the northeast is seen the valley of the Androscoggin river, which abounds in wild and romantic scenery, and was tion will be necessary to attain the summit, which seems to fly before the j the usual passage by which the Indians, stranger when he deems it just attained, I in their hostile incursions from Canada, — =*J “ ~ DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 39 used to approach the eastern frontier settlements of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Beyond are the Ivtardin hills, near the extremity of Maine. North, the country is more wild and uncultivated ; and Umbagog lake is seen, from which flows the Androscoggin. West, the nearer view is over a moun- tainous region, covered with a thick for- est, through which an occasional opening is perceived, formed by the farms (or clearings) of the hardy inhabitants. Be- yond, the hills are seen to *rise from the opposite shore of Conoecticut river, the surface of which is everywhere hid- den from view, and the summits, rising higher and higher, terminate in the ridges of the Green mountains in Ver- mont. Southwesterly is seen the Grand Mo- nadnock. The Indians knew the White moun- tains by the name of Agiocochook, and regarded, them as inaccessible, or at least represented them as such to white men. The Lake of the Clouds is a little pond, near the summit of Mount Mon- roe, of beautiful clear water; it supplies the head stream of the Ammonoosuc river. This little current immediately begins its descent, and dashes in a head- long course of several thousand feet, in- to the valley near the encampment. Loose fragments of granite are every- where scattered over the mountain, with some specimens of gneiss. The grai^te is generally gray, and at first fine-grained, but grows coarser as we ascend, and is occasionally sprinkled with small gar- nets. At the summit it frequently con- tains a little black tourmaline, sometimes in crossing crystals. On the summit, also, some of the granite is tinged with red, although much of it is colored bright-green by lichens, dampened by the humidity of the clouds, and inter- spersed with thick and soft gray moss. The grain of the coarse granite is elon- gated ; and what strikes the visiter as very singular, is that not a single rock is to be found in its original place — everything bears the mark of removal ; and this, taken into view with the preci- pice on the northern side, seems to in- dicate that the summit of the mountain has fallen down and disappeared. The*-general opinion seems to be that the lofty peak above us is the highest elevation in North America, except Mex- ico, and some of the Rocky mountains. The inhospitable nature of the climate is such as to forbid all hopes of future improvement ; so that the feeling of sub- limity, produced by the lonely and des- olate character of this desert region, is increased by the reflection that it is des^ tined to be a wilderness for ever. The only places susceptible of culti- vation in the heart of the mountains are the little meadows inhabited by single families, and that at the Notch house; and there the interval of warm weather is so short in the year that few vegeta- bles can arrive at maturity, with all the rapidity of growth which distinguishes such cold regions. Indeed, the short- ness and uncertainty of crops, with the expense of keeping stock, &c., would scarcely allow the farmer a support, without the advantages afforded by the thoroughfare, which is particularly great during the winter season. Population, therefore, may extend to the borders of these regions, and increase, as it does, on every side ; but it can not pass the limit, because it can not contend with their coldness and sterility. Various kinds of wild birds and game are to be found in the woods, besides bears, wild-cats, and deer. The moose and the buffalo were formerly abundant among the mountains ; and it is scarcely forty years since they were killed in • great numbers, merely for their hides and tallow, as the latter still are in the regions beyond the Mississippi. Deer are common in the woods, and frequently are killed by the hunters. Black bears are occasionally seen in the more unfre- quented places, but they will always endeavor to avoid a man. A large spe- cies of reindeer, known here by the name of the Cariboo, has made its ap- pearance in the White mountains. The weather is liable to frequent changes in the mountainous region, which is partly owing to the vicinity of the Notch, through which the wind blows almost without ceasing, even when i the air is perfectly still at only a short 1 distance from it. From the situation of the mountains, it is impossible that the direction of the wind should vary materially in the valley, and it is there- fore, of course, always north or south. During the winter it is often very vio- lent ; so that not only the snow is pre- vented from lying on the path at the Notch, but the surface is swept of every- thing that a strong wind can remove. The summits of the mountains are frequently invested with mist when the sky is clear, and those only who inhabit the vicinity are able to tell whether the day is to be' favorable for the ascent. The mists sometimes collect in the val- leys, and then present some of the most singular and beautiful appearances. The Shaker Village at Canterbury . — I The accompanying engraving affords a view of this settlement of a small and very peculiar sect — the Shakers, or Sha- king Quakers, as they are sometimes called. Like their other villages, or “ families,” as they call their settle- ments, it consists of a few dwelling- houses and offices, or shops, in which their wares are manufactured, and their seeds and herbs prepared, stored, and sold. Separate habitations, of large size, are appropriated to the different sexes, as their doctrines condemn mat- rimony, separate man and wife, and break up the real family state from its foundation. Their moral and theologi- cal opinions it would be difficult to ascer- tain, as they keep much aloof and pub- lish but little, while few avow much that is consistent with one another, or even with themselves. The writer speaks from personal knowledge, having held a conference with the leading men of a Shaker village in this part of the coun- try, and tried in vain to learn their whole creed. They only intimated a rejection of some of the doctrines held as fundamental by most American Chris- tian denominations. Ann Lee, an Englishwoman, the found- er of their sect, they regard as a divine person, but differ in their representations of her. She formed the first Shaker set- tlement at Niskayuna, near Albany, N.Y. She came from England in 1774. The Shakers first took up their resi dence in Canterbury in 1782, and formed a society in 1792, under the direction of V Elder” Job Bishop, who died in 1831, aged seventy-one, and was suc- ceeded by Benjamin Whittier. Their religious exercises consist, chiefly, of a peculiar dance, in which both sexes move, in a regular but awkward man- ner, about a large hall, sometimes whirl- ing round, and uttering inarticulate sounds. Some of them pretend to speak in “ unknown tongues,” to. which no in- terpreter has ever yet been found. We add the following particulars, relating to this settlement, from a published de- scription : — This village is located in the north- easterly part of the county of Merrimack, on the main road from Concord to Con- way, twelve miles from Concord, on an eminence; at the foot of which, as you approach the village, is a spacious gran- ite watering-trough, from the bottom of which boils a bountiful and never-failing spring, furnished by the society for the accommodation of travellers. As you approach the village, the first object is the meetinghouse on the right, the only white building in the village, which stands a few rods from the road, at the head of a large open lawn. On the left stands the trustees’ office, a new, spacious, and elegant building of hewn granite and pressed brick, sev- enty-two by forty feet in size. In this the trustees reside, and transact all the regular business of the family. To this office customers, strangers, and visiters, are to apply, who wish to buy or sell, or for the transaction of any business with the society whatever. All sales and purchases are made by the trustees, who are the general agents of the society for transacting all their secular matters, and in whom the fee of all the real estate, in trust is held. The total number of dwellinghouses in the society is ten, mostly of wood, painted yellow. There are also many other large and convenient wooden and brick buildings, occupied as workshops; also storehouses and granaries, wood- houses, barns, &c., which are spacious | and convenient. The Shaker Settlement, at Canterbury DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. The whole number of buildings in the village is about one hundred, many of which are very valuable, composed of the best materials, and built in a faithful and durable manner. Among these are a convenient schoolhouse, one spacious gristmill, two sawmills, three carding-machines, one fullingmill, one triphammer, five mills for sawing fire- wood, three turningmills, and two tan- neries, besides various other machinery. These buildings are all laid out and constructed in a regular, plain, and ele- gant manner, which gives the village a very fine appearance. The society own and occupy upward of 2,500 acres of land, which, though stony, is a good deep soil, about 2,000 of which lie in one body, enclosed with good stone wall and cross-fenced with the same materials. Grass, corn, grain, and potatoes, are raised in abundance. They are industrious, frugal, and tem- perate. They manufacture many use- ful articles for sale, which are very neat and durable; such as leather, whips, sieves, tubs, pails, churns, measures, rakes, brooms, trusses, snaths, &c., &c. Their gardens are large, and perhaps the most productive of any in the coun- try. They raise and vend a general assortment of garden-seeds, and spare no pains to furnish those of the best kind. They also collect and prepare a variety of botanical herbs, barks, roots, and extracts, which are prepared in the most faithful manner ; the herbs and roots are neatly pressed in packages of a pound, and papered and labelled. All the medicines prepared by them being pure, and gathered in proper season, insure them a very ready sale. They usually keep about twenty horses, eighty cows, fifteen yoke of oxen, five to six hundred sheep, and other stock in proportion, and cut sufficient hay on their premises for their own con- , sumption. They also annually slaugh- ter forty or fifty swine. They freely pay their proportion of taxes, and share all the burdens of gov- ernment, except the bearing of arms, which they deem incompatible with genuine Christianity, being, as they be- lieve, directly contrary to the precepts and spirit of the gospel. So tenacious are they of this fact, that they not only refuse to bear arms, but decline even to receive pensions for their former mili- tary services, to which some of them are legally entitled. Their school will compare well with any in the country. The English lan- guage is taught, and partly on the Lan- casterian system. They are careful to * furnish the school with good books, sta- tionery, &c., so that their scholars, who are disposed, may acquire a good edu- cation. They entirely discard the use of ar- dent spirits, except occasionally in med- ical preparations, but drink some cider. They are temperate and regular in all their habits ; their food is plain and wholesome, avoiding all luxuries. They allow eight hours in twenty-four for sleeping.. The society, from its commencement, has gradually increased in number, as well as in good order. At present it consists of about two hundred and forty members. History. — In 1621 the English Plym- outh company granted to John Mason, one. of its members, thte country between Naumkeag, or Salem, and the Merri- mack ; and soon after, in the same year, to Mason and Gorges all the lands be- tween the Merrimack and the Sagada- hock, extending back to the rivers of Canada. The latter tract was called Laconia. Two years later, two parties of settlers were sent out by “ the La- conia company,” who began settlements at Portsmouth and Dover. In 1629, Mason took out a new patent for the territory between the Merrimack and the Piscataqua, under the name of New Hampshire. In 1635, the Plymouth company divided New England among their members, before they gave up their charter to the king, and the terri- tory between Naumkeag and Piscat- aqua rivers fell to Mason. The first church formed within the present limits of the state dates in 1641. Coos county, including the northern parts of the valley of the Connecticut,- was occupied by a few scattered fam- | ilies before 1775 ; but at the commence- DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. 43 ment of the revolutionary war, the fear of invasion from Canada drove them all back, and only the return of peace could induce a second and permanent occupa- tion of that region, then a perfect wilder- ness, difficult of access. Railroads. — The people of this state have entered with commendable zeal upon several railroad enterprises, which promise to be of permanent advantage to the state. The Northern Railroad, from Concord to Lebanon, a distance of fifty miles, has been completed the entire distance, and forms, in conjunction with the Vermont Central railroad, a continuous lin'e to Bur- lington, by way of Montpelier, the capital of Vermont, 210 miles from Boston. The Boston, Concord, and Montreal Railroad, already incidentally alluded to on page 32, is, as its name implies, intended ultimately to connect the com- mercial capitals of Canada and New England. It has been opened as far as Warren, and is being rapidly pressed to completion. This road furnishes an easy and rapid conveyances theWhitemount- ains ; while the whole line of the route from Meredith village lies through a re- gion so replete with that splendid lake and hill scenery which has given such a world-wide celebrity to New Hampshire, as to render it, for that alone, a desirable route for the admirer of the beauties of nature. . Portsmouth and Concord Railroad . — This is another and most important rail- road enterprise. Concord, as indicated by its heing the point at which so many railroads meet, is destined to become the great inland freight-depot of New Eng- land. This renders it important that the commercial capital of the state should pos- sess those facilities of communication wii h Concord which other sections of country have, particularly as it shortens the com- munication by railroad with the Atlantic about thirty miles. This road, which is now nearly completed, will make Ports- mouth the second port in New England. There are several other railroads in process of construction, but our limits will not admit a further reference to the m. Education. — Common schools are universal in New Hampshire, as in other parts of New England. Each township is divided into school-districts, which are empowered to build schoolhouses. An annual tax is assessed on the town by the selectmen, and with the avails of it is distributed the income of the literary funds, which is raised by a tax on the capital of banks. Academies, or high-schools, are scat- tered all over the state. The oldest are those founded at Exeter in 1781, at Ches- terfield in 1790, at Atkinson in 1791, and at Gilmanton and Haverhill in 1794. Phillips Academy has its name from its liberal founder, John Phillips, LL. D., and has an income of $70,000, with a library of six hundred volumes. The number of pupils is limited to sixty. The Congregational Theological Sem- inary at Gilmanton, and the Baptist Ac- ademical and Theological Institution at New Hampton, are worthy of particular notice. The latter has had above three hundred pupils at one time. Learned Societies. — The N. Hamp- shire Medical Society was incorporated in 1791, and holds an annual meeting in Concord on the Tuesday preceding the state election. The New Hampshire Historical So- ciety was incorporated in 1823, and has published several volumes of collections. The annual meeting is on June 17th. Government. — The legislative power is vested, by the constitution, in a senate and house of representatives, which, to- gether, are styled the General Court of New Hampshire. Every town or incor- porated township having one hundred and fifty ratable polls may send one rep- resentative ; and every three hundred additional polls, one. The senate, con- sisting of twelve members, is elected by the people in districts. The executive power is vested in a governor, and a council of five members. The governor, council, senators, and representatives, are elected annually by the people on the second Tuesday of March. The gen- eral court meets annually (at Concord) on the first Wednesday of June. The right of suffrage is granted to every male inhabitant of age, except paupers, &c. The judiciary power is vested in a supe- rior court and court of common pleas. This state is distinguished among the other New England states by several marked peculiarities. In situation, .it borders, on one side, a foreign country, and on another the grand route of northern invasion, in consequence of which its soil has been exposed to hostile incursions, in the successive wars with the In- dians, the French, and the English. Its climate is so cold and healthful to give hardihood and vigor to the inhabitants ; while it possesses so much rich soil, and such abundant water-power and facilities for navigation, as to encourage all the arts of life. Although circumstances retarded the settlement of the country, and led to unfor- tunate dissensions and conflicting claims for the possession, yet the happy adjust- ment of all, with New York on one side and New Hampshire on the other, and the erection of Vermont into an independent state, gave an impulse to improve- ments of everv kind, which has produced most extensive and impoitant lesults. Extending from forty-two degrees forty-four minutes to forty-five degrees north latitude, and near, several lakes, the climate of "V ermont would have been rigorous in the winter, even if its surface had not been elevated, much above the ocean level ; but the Green mountain ridge is of such extent and elevation as to render the cold season very long and quite severe. The longitude is between three degrees thirty-one minutes and five degrees east; the greatest length of the | state is one hundred and fifty-seven and a half miles, and the greatest breadth : ninety miles. The whole area comprehended within the boundaries is 10,200 square miles. The Green mountain ridge forms a marked and natural dividing line between the counties of Windham, Windsor, and Orange, on the one side, and Bennington, DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF VERMONT. 45 Rutland, and Addison, on the other. IVn all that part of it there is not a single passage to be found wide enough for a road, nor is its long and uniform eleva- tion so much as interrupted by the bed of any stream. Five turnpike roads, in- deed, pass it in different places, but they have been constructed at considerable cost and labor, and are very laborious to travel, as they rise and descend the height of the ridge. In the southern part of Washington county it divides into two ridges, the principal of which borders the counties of Chittenden and Franklin on the east, and the other, known by the name of “ The height of lands,” strikes oft* in a northeast direction into the county of Caledonia. This keeps a remarkably uniform elevation, and forms the dividing line between the waters of the Connec- ticut and the two lakes, Champlain and Memphremagog. The western ridge is cut through by Onion and Lamoille riv- ers, although its principal summits are the highest in the state. Among these is the Camel’s Hump; this ridge con- stitutes the grandeur of the scenery so much admired along the northeastern side of Lake Champlain. Mount Ascutney is one of the emi- nences most celebrated in V ermont, more on account of the beautiful scenery upon which it looks down, and its vicinity to Windsor, one of the principal and most beautiful towns in the state. An excur- sion to its summit affords many fine views, as it rises abruptly from the bor- ders of the valley of the Connecticut, and the path, in its gradual ascent, opens to the eye many varying landscapes. Not less than twenty-one rivers have their sources in the Green mountains, of which twelve flow into the Connec- ticut, and nine into the two principal lakes. From the nature of the country, these streams are necessarily short and small; though in the season of floods, some of them drain off great quantities of water through their rocky channels. No country is better supplied with abun- dant and pure springs. The water of Vermont is generally good, except along the shore of Lake Champlain, where the rocks are of limestone. Mineral springs of different kinds are found in several counties. Some are chalybeate, others sulphurous ; and some are resorted to by invalids for the im- provement of their health. Lakes. — Lake Champlain extends along nearly the whole western bound- ary of the state, and forms an important feature in several respects. It affords invaluable advantages of navigation, for it is of sufficient uniform depth for vessels of considerable size, and forms several good harbors ; while the canal which connects it with Hudson river offers a direct, safe, and cheap channel of commerce to the city of New York. At the same time, fine steamboats of the largest class daily traverse the lake through its whole extent, on the grand route between the United States and Canada, touching at the principal towns along the shore. Lake Memphremagog, lying on the boundary line of the United States, has four or five miles of its southern part in Orleans county, Vermont, but its north- ern and larger portion in Canada. It is about thirty miles long from north to south, and three or four miles wide from east to west. It is about midway be- tween Lake Champlain and Connecticut river. Three small rivers — the Clyde, Black, and Barton — enter the south part of the lake from Vermont. On an island two miles above the line are obtained the celebrated oilstones, for sharpening tools, which are well known throughout pur country, and highly prized, being worth half a dollar a pound. Whet- stones, for scythes, &c., are obtained in the vicinity of the lake, at the place where the gneiss-rocks pass into mica- slate. In Lake Champlain are a number of islands, the largest of which are North Hero and South Hero, in the northern part and near the shore of Vermont, to which they belong. North Hero forms a township of the same name, in the county of Grand Isle. It is twenty-six miles north of Burlington, six west of St. Albans, and contains 6,272 acres. The first settle- ment was made on this island in 1783. In 1793 the British erected a block- 46 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF VERMONT. house on it, which was given up to the United States in 1796. The soil is good, and* there is a small village, four school districts, a courthouse, and a jail, built of stone. The rocks are of lime- stone. South Hero is a small island, of 9,055 acres, twelve miles northwest of Burlington, and sixteen southwest of St. Albans. The first settlement was made here in 1784. In the summer season, when the water in the lake is low, a passage can often be made by fording to Chittenden, on the mainland, a sandbar extending the whole distance. The surface is level and the soil good, being formed of limestone, like that of the adjacent shores and islands. Many marks remain in them all of the numer- ous Indians who formerly resorted to them. Rivers. — Two or three of the rivers of Vermont, viz., those which cross the Green mountains, being of considerable size, are navigable through most of their course in canoes, and communicating, by a - short carrying-place, with the navigable waters of Lake Champlain, were as many principal routes of traffic and of war for the Canadian Indians, on their way to the Connecticut river. When the English first visited the latter stream, they found the savages on its banks, as low down as Hartford, had a trade in furs, &c., with those who in- habited the shores of Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence, which was car- ried on by the channels just indicated. At later periods, when the Jesuits, who occupied Montreal and other places in Canada, as lords of the manor, incited' and directed the fanaticism of the In- dians against the eastern colonies, these same routes were used in the secret, and often unexpected and bloody, incur- sions which were so numerous in the French wars. Onion River is seventy miles long. Rising in Cabot, Caledonia county, it runs south, then southwest, and finally i northwest, falling into Lake Champlain, passing through Washington and Chit- tenden counties, five miles below Bur- lincrton. The principal branches are Dog, Steven’s, North, Mad, Waterbury, and Huntington rivers. Many scenes along the course of the Onion and some of its tributaries are peculiarly wild and romantic. Its highest branch has a fall of five hundred feet, almost perpendic- ular; and at Bolton is a remarkable chasm, cut by the stream into the solid rocks, sixty feet wide, thirty feet deep, and two hundred and seventy yards long, where the descent is so rapid that the stream rushes through with great rapidity. Four miles below Waterbury is a spot, where a wall of rock rises on one side to the height of one hundred feet, and large fragments have fallen down, and lie in such a manner as to form a bridge. Three quarters of a mile above the falls, an artificial bridge commands a striking view, upon a place where the channel of the river is sev- enty feet wide and sixty-five feet deep. A fine turnpike-road now leads through the mountains from this stream to White river and Royalton. This was the principal Indian route to the Connecticut ; and many captives, as well as loads of plunder, were in for- mer times carried by this route, from the New England frontier villages, by war parties returning to Canada. The water-power on this river is very great. It is mostly of little depth, as might be expected from its shortness and its small supply of water. It is, however, use- ful in navigation. Lake vessels can en- ter the river and sail up five miles, and boats forty. Two of the earliest and most spirited military measures taken in the revolu- tionary war were performed by a few men from Vermont, at important points just beyond the bounds of this state. We allude to the surprise of the two great fortresses on Lake Champlain, Tieonderoga and Crown Point. These positions are very peculiar. The lake at these two points, about twelve miles apart, is very narow and crooked ; and the two fortresses were so placed as to completely command the passage. The guns, which were numerous and heavy, were mounted on strong walls, scientifically planned by accomplished i British engineers, and constructed with | great strength, of the limestone abound- DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF VERMONT. 47 ing along the shores ; while deep ditches, in some places cut far down into solid rocks, offered almost insurmountable obstacles to an approach. Lying on the very borders of this state, with some of their outworks actually erected upon the Vermont side of the lake, and owing their capture, as they did, chiefly to Vermont men, a brief description of Ticonderoga and Crown Point may with propriety be here introduced, being ex- tremely interesting to all interested in the war for independence. Mount Independence is a hill on the Vermont side, of comparatively small elevation east of Mount Defiance, and separated from it by the lake, which has here reduced its size to that of a small river. On a bank just above the water a^e the remains of a zigzag battery for about forty or fifty guns, running across a little cornfield behind a house, and making five or six angles. The Horse- shoe battery is traceable on an elevation about a quarter of a mile in the rear. A bridge once connected Ticonderoga with Mount Defiance, the buttresses of which are remaining, to the great an- noyance of the navigators of the lake. On the west shore (near the stone store- house), Arnold, when pursued by the British, caused his flotilla to be run on shore. These hulks remain almost as sound as when first stranded. A forty- two pounder is said to have ranged from the Horse-shoe over this channel (now marked by a buoy) and the fortress. After the revolutionary war, about five hundred cannon were lying about the fortress, lines, &c., many of them as left by the English, with their trunnions knocked off. A twenty-four pounder was taken to the forge at Fairhaven, some years ago, and discharged by the heat, after lying loaded for above twenty years, and a considerable time at the bottom of the lake. The view from Ticonderoga down Lake Champlain is very pleasant. It abounds, the greater part of the way to Canada, with fine natural scenes. The Fortress of Ticonderoga . — This famous old fortress, or rather its re- mains, are overlooked from Mount In- dependence. An elevated piece of land, gently sloping toward the south, and ending abruptly over a bend of the lake, appears partially covered with trees, and crowned near its extremity with a cluster of broken walls and chimneys. The old French Lines , where General Abercrombie was defeated in 1758, are the only part of the fortification which was ever the scene of a battle. They commenced on the east side, at a battery of heavy cannon on the shore, about a quarter of a mile south of the ferry. The remains of the breastwork can yet be seen. The lines were drawn in a zigzag ; first stretching off to the right, along the side of marshy ground, to a cluster of bushes where was a battery; and then to the left to the verge of a wood, where was another. Their course may be distinctly traced in this manner across the ridge of land at its highest elevation, over to the brow of a steep bank, looking toward the out- let of Lake George. The woods which now so much interrupt the sight have grown since the evacuation of the for- tress, after the revolutionary war. The fortress is of an angular form, and embraces a large tract of ground, being divided into parts by deep ditches. The walls were originally much higher than at present, being raised by super- structures of logs filled in with earth. The Barracks formed an oblong, and the walls still remain of all except those on the eastern side ; their form is plainly distinguishable. The parade, is fifty- two and a half yards long, and eight in breadth. The barracks, &c., the walls of which remain on the north, south, and west sides, are built of the rough blue limestone of which the neighbor- ing rocks are formed, two stories high ; and these with the chimneys, several of which are standing, are the principal objects seen from a distance. The en- trances to this courtyard, or parade, are between the buildings, and quite nar- row. By the southern entrance, Ethan Allen entered with his eighty-three raw soldiers when he surprised the fortress on the 18th May, 1775; and on reach- ing the courtyard and calling on the commander to surrender, the British officer, Captain Deplace, made his ap- DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF VERMONT. I pearance at a window and submitted, delivering up three officers and forty- four rank and file. In consequence of this coup'-de-main , this important place was in the hands of the Americans until the arrival of Burgoyne in 1777. The troops in the garrison had be- come loose disciplinarians. A body of men had been despatched from Con- necticut to surprise the place, and ap- proached upon' the opposite shore, but were unprovided with a conveyance to the intended point of their enterprise. A countryman, who had been in the habit of frequently visiting the fort, was made acquainted with their views, crossed the lake by daylight, went care- fully into the fort, and observed in what part of the parade-ground the arms were stacked. Being almost domicil- iated by the frequency of his previous visits, he lounged away his time until night approached. He then possessed himself of a large bateau owned by the garrison, and recrossed the lake. Allen, having joined the band, embarked, ef- fected a landing about one mile north of the fort, and proceeded across the meadows, shrouded by the night, and made good their daring enterprise, by threatening the sentry, and taking im- mediate possession of the firearms, as pointed out by their avant-courier. The battlements of Ticonderoga first bore the flag of independence. This circumstance should, of itself, render this ruin, so fine in other associations, interesting to the traveller. At each corner was a bastion or a demi-bastion; and under that in the northeastern one is a subterranean mag- azine. The cellars south of this, which belonged to the demolished buildings, and are almost filled up, have a room or two with fireplaces still distinguishable. The Grenadiers’ battery is situated on a rocky point toward the east from the main- fortress. They were connected by a covered way, the traces of which are distinctly visible. On a spot formerly occupied as the king’s garden Mr. Pell has a fine gar- den, abounding in the choicest fruits imported from Europe, and transported from the celebrated nurseries of Long Island. Mr. Pell has been a very suc- cessful propagator of the locust-tree (robinia pseudo acacia of Linnaeus), thousands of which are growing on these | grounds in the most flourishing manner; here is also the magnolia grandiflora , never before cultivated in so high k lat- itude; the horse-chestnut [castanea cqui- nus )*; and upward of seventy varieties of the gooseberry from Europe. Here, also, we find the beautiful catalpa t and the liriodendron tulipifera. On the neighboring Vermont shore, there are still some slight remains of Burgoyne’s intrenchments. From Mount Independence the vis- iter enjoys, in fine weather, a delightful view of the lake and the sui rounding ■ country. On the left is the outlet of Lake George, winding through a dark and narrow valley, and spreading out to embrace an island of the brightest ver- dure ; while more immediately under the eye lies the fortress of Ticonderoga, and the lake, stretching far away to the north. Mount Defiance rises on the left, ■ about eight hundred feet high, on the summit of which General Burgoyne’s troops showed themselves on the morn- ing of July 4th, 1777, with a battery of heavy cannon, which they had drawn up along the ridge by night, and planted in that commanding position, whence they could count the men in the fort. The distance to the summit in a straight line is about a mile, so that the defence of Ticonderoga would have been im- possible ; and on the firing of a few shots by the British upon a vessel in the lake, which proved the range of their guns, the Americans made prep- arations to evacuate the place, and ef- fected their retreat to the shore below during the night. The shores are in this part strewed with the fragments of blue limestone- rock with organic remains. The immediate shores are generally low all the way to Crown Point, where the lake suddenly turns to the west at a right angle, and, at the distance of a mile, as suddenly to the north again. A low stretch of land covered with a young forest, on the left, conceals the DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF VERMONT. 49 approach to this ancient fortress, which, for position as well as appearance and history, may be called the* twin sister of Ticonderoga. Chimney point is on the north side of the lake, opposite Crown Point, to which is a ferry three quarters of a mile. The Fortress of Crown Point . — There are several old works thrown up along the shore, with little bays between them. The easternmost one is called the Gren- adiers’ battery ; the middle one is the original old French fort of 1731, and now encloses a garden ; and that fur- ther west is an outwork to a bastion of the fortress. The fortress is situated about a quarter of a mile back from the shore, and appears much like Ticonder- oga from a distance, showing the walls and chimneys of the old barracks, and walls of earth surrounding them. In regard to its plan, however, it is mate- rially different. The fortress ^KXlrown Point was a star work, bein]Pin the form of a pentagon, with bastions at the angles, and a strong redoubt at the dis- tance of two hundred and fifty or three hundred yards in advance of each of them. The fortress is surrounded by a ditch walled in with stone, except where it has been blasted into the solid rock of blue limestone (as is the case in many parts, from five to twenty-five feet), and even into quartz-rock which underlays it. Univalve shells are found in the limestone-rock, frequently four inches in diameter. The walls are about twenty or twenty-five feet high, and there is a convenient path running entirely round upon the top, interrupted only by the gates at the north and south sides. Al- though much shaded by tall sumacs, some fine views are enjoyed in making the circuit, which is .not lar short of half a mile. Opposite the north gate is a small ledge of rocks, and, close by, the remains of a covered way to the lake shore. On entering the fortress, the stranger finds himself in a level, spacious area, bound- ed on the left and in front by long ruin- ous buildings of stone, two stories high, and the first two hundred and twenty feet long, while the ruins of similar ones are seen on two sides on the fight. This parade is about five hundred feet in length. The place was surprised by Cojonel Warner in 1775. The view from the walls toward the north is very fine : looking down the lake, which widens at the distance of two or three miles, you have Chimney point on the right, and two other points projectingbeyond the distant peak, called Camel’s Hump. Ranges of mountains on the western shore, beginning at the distance of eighteen miles, including Bald peak, gradually approach till they form a near and bold boundary to the lake on the left, scattered with cleared farms and houses, and then stretching away to the south, terminate in the mountain behind. This elevation, al- though it seems almost as well calcu- lated to command Crown Point as Mount Defiance does Ticonderoga, is not less than four miles distant. Everything about this old fortress bears the marks of ruin. Two maga- zines were blown up ; the timbers in the south barracks are burnt black ; a portion of the shingled roof which re- mains serves to cover a little hay-mow and the nests of robins ; while some of the entrances and other parts are fenced up for a sheepfold. The ground around it is much covered with fragments of blasted rocks, and, particularly at the south, with the ruins of old buildings. The trees which are seen have grown since the evacuation of the place ; and on one of the angles is an inscription of the date of the fortress, 1756, when it was constructed on a greatly-enlarged plan, by General Amherst, at an expense of c£2,000,000 sterling. Naval Action on Lake Champlain , in 1776. — After the unfortunate termina- tion of the expedition against Quebec, and retreat of the American troops to Crown Point and Ticonderoga, the Brit- ish forces under General Carleton began to collect a formidable flotilla • at St. John, for the purpose of making their way over the lake. Some of these ves- sels were constructed at Quebec, or Montreal, in such a manner that they could be taken to pieces, transported over land to the lake, and the parts there united and soon made ready for 4 50 DESCRIPTION OF THE service. Active preparations were im- mediately commenced on the part of the Americans to put afloat a sufficient force to meet the enemy, and baffle their movements. General Arnold, who, as is well known, had been a sailor in his youth, was appointed to the command ; and, under his direction, a squadron — consisting of two sloops, three schoon- ers, three galleys, and eight gondolas — was in a short time ready to sail. The sloops carried twelve guns, the schoon- ers from eight to twelve, and the galleys and gondolas from three to twelve each. Having received his instructions from General Gates, who had command of the army in that quarter, he sailed down the lake, and, when within a few miles of the Isle-aux-Tetes, discovered it to be occu- pied by the enemy. At Windmill point he moored his vessels across the lake, so as to prevent the enemy from pas- sing. The decks of his vessels being very low, Arnold sent a party of men on shore to cut fascines, for the purpose of erecting around them barricades, to prevent their being boarded by superior numbers in small craft. While engaged in this service, they were fired upon by the Indians, and three of their number killed and six wounded. Finding his position too much exposed, he returned eight or ten miles to Isle-la-Motte, and took a more advantageous station. He here received information of the formi- dable fleet fitting out at St. John ; and, deeming it unadvisable to hazard an ac- tion where he would be compelled to engage a superior force under great disadvantage, he withdrew still further back, and anchored the fleet in a line between Valcour island and the western shore of the lake. Early in the morning of the 11th of October, the guardboats gave notice that the enemy’s fleet was in sight, off Cum- berland head, moving up the lake. It soon appeared advancing around the southern point of Valcour island, and presented a formidable aspect, there being one ship with three masts, two schooners, aradeau, one gondola, twenty gunboats, four longboats, and forty-four boats with provisions and troops. The armed vessels were manned by several STATE OF VERMONT. hundred chosen seamen. Such an array was enough to convince the Americans that they must rely mainly on their bravery and the advantages of their po- sition. The wind was likewise in their favor, as some of the larger vessels could not beat up sufficiently near to engage in the attack. While the enemy’s fleet was coming round the island, Arnold had ordered his three galleys, and a schooner called the Royal Savage, to get under way and advance upon the enemy. On their return to the line, the schooner grounded and was afterward destroyed, but the men were saved. At half-past twelve o’clock the action became general and very warm, the British having brought all their gun- boats and one schooner within musket- shot of the American line. They kept up a heavy fire of round and grapesliot, till five o’clock, when they withdrew from thgfc contest, and joined the ship and sc^pmer, which a head wind had prevented from coming into action. During the contest, Arnold was on board the Congress galley, which suf- fered severely. It received seven shot between wind and water, was h idled twelve times, the mainmast was wound- ed in two places, the rigging cut in pieces, and the proportion of killed and wounded was unusually great. So de- ficient was the fleet in gunners, that Arnold himself pointed almost every j gun that was fired from his vessel. The < ! Washington galley was equally shat- tered, the first lieutenant w r as killed, and the captain and* master wounded. All the officers of one of the gondolas, except the captain, were lost, and an- other gondola sunk soon after the en- gagement. The whole number of killed and wounded was about sixty. The enemy landed a large body of Indians, who kept up an incessant fire of mus- j ketry from the island and the opposite shore, but without effecting much in- jury. A consultation was held by the officers as soon as the engagement was over, j and they agreed, that, considering the exhausted state of their ammunition, and the great superiority of the enemy’s force both in ships and men, prudence DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF VERMONT. 51 required them to return to Crown Point, and if possible without risking another attack. The British had anchored their vessels in a line within a few hundred yards of the Americans, stretching from the island to the main, apparently to frustrate any such design. The night was dark, but a favoring breeze, blew from the north, and before morning Arnold had passed with his whole fleet through the British line entirely undis- covered. This manoeuvre was not less bold in its execution than extraordinary in its success. Arnold himself brought up the rear in his crippled galley, and, before their departure was known to the enemy, they had ascended the lake ten or twelve miles to Schuyler’s island. Here they were obliged to cast anchor for half a day, in order to stop the leaks and repair their sails. Two of the gon- dolas were abandoned and sunk. In the afternoon they set sail axun ; but the wind had died away in the Corning, and it now sprung up from the south, equally retarding the pursuit of the en- emy and their own progress. On the morning of the second day the scene was changed. The Congress and Washington galleys, with four gon- dolas, had fallen in the rear, all being too much disabled to sail freely. The advanced ships of the enemy’s fleet, in one of which was General Carleton, were found to be gaining upon them, under a press of sail, and in a short time were alongside. After receiving a few broadsides, the Washington struck, having been extremely weakened by the loss of men and injury received in the first engagement. The whole force of the attack now fell upon Arnold in the Congress galley. A ship of eighteen guns, a schooner of fourteen, and another of twelve, poured forth an unceasing fire within musket-shot. The contest was kept up with unparalleled resolution for four hours, when the galley was reduced almost to a wreck, and was surrounded by seven sail of the enemy. In this situation, Arnold ran the galley and the four gondolas into a small creek, on the east side of the lake, about ten miles from Crown Point ; and as soon as they were aground and were set on fire, he ordered the marines to leap into the water armed with muskets, wade to the bep,ch, and station themselves in such a manner on the bank as to prevent the approach of the enemy’s small boats. He was the last man that remained on board, nor did he leave his galley till the fire had made such progress that it could not be extinguished. The flags were kept flying, and he maintained his attitude of defence on the shore till he saw them consumed, and the whole of his flotilla enveloped in flames. There are few instances on record of more deliberate courage and gallantry than were displayed by him, from the begin- ning to the end of this action. Being no longer in a condition to op- pose the enemy, he proceeded imme- diately through the woods with his men to Crown Point, and fortunately escaped an attack from the Indians, who waylaid the path two hours after he had passed. The same niodit he arrived at Ticon- O deroga. All his clothes, papers, and baggage, had been burned in the Royal Savage at Valcour island. He found at Ticonderoga the remnant of his fleet, being two schooners, two galleys, one sloop, and one gondola. General Water- bury, who commanded the Washington galley, and one hundred and ten prison- ers, were returned on parole by General Carleton the day after the last action. The whole American loss in killed and wounded was between eighty and ninety. The enemy reported theirs to be about forty * Notwithstanding the signal failure of this enterprise, the valor and good con- duct of the commander and his officers were themes of applause throughout the country. Rutland. — This is the capital of Rutland county, and is fifty miles south- west of Montpelier, sixty south of Bur- lington, and fifty-two northeast of Ben- nington. The first settlement was made in this township about the year 1770 ; and in the revolutionary war two small picket forts were built, one near the present courthouse in the east village. Otter creek flows through the township from south to north, and it receives two of its tributaries here, West river and 52 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF VERMONT. East creek, on which are several manu- factories. Iron, limestone, and clay, are found in different places, the rocks being partly primitive, and partly secondary. Quarries of blue and black marble are wrought in the limestone range which passes’ from Berkshire county, Massa- chusetts, through a great part of Ver- mont. The principal village is in the eastern part, and contains several public buildings, particularly a courthouse. Burlington. — This town, the capital of Chittenden county, and the chief place of trade in the state, enjoys a fine situation on an excellent harbor of Lake Champlain, from the level of which it rises, up a bold and considerable emi- nence, making a beautiful display toward the water. The streets present a pleas- ant aspect, containing many neat and elegant residences, with fine gardens, abounding with flowers and fruits in their season. The inhabitants are dis- tinguished by intelligence, taste, and enterprise, and are extensively engaged in trade, manufactures, and navigation, which is carried on both in steamboats, schooners, and vessels adapted to pass through the Champlain canal to Albany. The county buildings, academy, bank, and various churches, are the principal public buildings in the town ; while the edifices of the Vermont university crown the summit of the eminence. Pop. 5,500. A manufacturing village, of consider- able size, lies one mile and a half north- east from the town, on the bank of Onion river, about five miles from its mouth. The settlement of Burlington, which was commenced a little before the rev- olution, was interrupted and delayed by the war, since which, and especially since the- opening of the Champlain ca- nal and the establishment of steam nav- igation on the lake, its increase has been rapid. Limestone and iron ore are ob- tained in the vicinity, but the soil is gen- erally poor, excepting a rich alluvial tnlct of land below the falls of Onion river. Southwest of the town hard tim- ber abounds, and pine prevails in a region lying on the northeast. Among the branches of manufacture is that of glass. The University of Vermont . — This institution, situated at Burlington, was incorporated in the year 1791, but did not go into operation until 1800. The three college buildings are situated on i a fine elevation about a mile from the lake, east of the town, commanding a very extensive and agreeable view of both, two hundred and forty-five feet above the water. The first edifice, which was built in 1801, was destroyed by fire in 1824. Two of the present buildings are devoted to the accommodation of students, and the third is used as the chapel and for other public purposes. The institution is endowed with lands reserved in all the townships, except those granted by New Hampshire, the income of which is increasing, and must hereafter become very large. Money has been furnished by the legislature and by liberal subscriptions. The cm*p oration consists of seventeen membe*, including the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the president of the university. Rev. Daniel C. Sanders was appointed president in 1800, Rev. Samuel Austin in 1816, Rev. Daniel Haskell in 1821, Rev. Willard Preston in 1824, Rev. Jas. Marsh in 1826. Commencement is held on the first Wednesday in August, and the vaca- tions, one four weeks from that time, and the. other eight weeks from the first Wednesday in January. The annual expense for room, rent, and tuition, is twenty-five dollars. The Medical Department of the insti- tution affords lectures during fourteen weeks from the first Monday after com- mencent, the fees for which are twenty- five dollars, contingent bill three dollars, and graduation fee fifteen dollars. Montpelier, the capital of Vermont and seat of justice of Washington county, is thirty-six miles southeast of Burling- ton, one hundred and forty northwest of Boston, five hundred and twenty-four north by east of Washington, and one hundred and twenty southeast of Mon- treal. It stands at the confluence of the two branches of Onion river, and hao a remarkably wild and romantic situation, I in the midst of high and rugged hills. 54 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF VERMONT. It contains the statehouse, a courthouse, the jail, academy, hank, several churches, and a variety of manufactories. The Statehouse is in a fine situation, fronting or. State street, from which it is distant three hundred and twenty-five feet. A spacious gateway opens into an ample courtyard, across which leads a pathway of pounded granite, seventy- two feet wide, to three successive ter- races, the ascent to which, by a few steps, gradually surmounts the elevation of thirty-two fe6t above the street. The main building has a front of seventy-two feet, with two wjngs thirty-nine feet each ; making an entire front of one hundred and fifty feet. The main build- ing, including the portico, is one hun- dred feet deep, and the wings fifty. Six granite Doric columns, thirty-six feet high, and six feet in diameter at the base, support the portico. The walls of gran- ite, from Barre, nine miles distant, are well cut; the roof and dome are cov- ered with copper. The entrance hall is thirty-two by thirty-eight feet, four- teen feet high, with six Ionic granite columns. The representatives’ hall is sixty-sev- en feet by fifty-seven, and thirty-one feet high. The senate-chamber is oval, forty- four feet by thirty, and twenty-two feet high. The governor’s room and other apartments are commodious and in good taste. The expense of the whole, including the iron railing around the yard, was $132,000, of which the citizens contrib- uted $15,000. Pop. 4,500. Windsor, of which we have spoken before, is, one of the most important towns in the state, as well as one of the most beautiful, both in appearance and situation. It occupies a fine piece of ground, which rises, by two graceful swells, from the western bank of Con- i necticut river, shut in on all sides by su- perior eminences, especially on the New Hampshire side, where the shore is steep and mountainous, and on the west, where the noble Ascutney, or the Two Brothers, 3,320 feet higher than the ocean, forms the background of the pic- ture. Though about four miles distant, its sides and peak appear near at hand, and add a feature to the scenery which few landscapes can boast. Windsor is fifty-five miles south of Montpelier, fifty-five northeast of Bur- lington, ninety-five northwest of Boston, and four hundred and twenty nearly north of Washington. The surface of the township, though hilly, is rich and well cultivated. The first settlement j was made here in 1764. The principal street is crooked, but adorned with sev- ! eral handsome public and private build- I ings, the stateprison in the south part ; and a bridge crosses the Connecticut. Bennington. — This is a frontier town, on the borders of New York, with a hilly surface, rich in iron mines, which supply considerable furnaces and forges. The village stands upon a conspicuous eminence, and contains a court and an academy. The place derives its name from Governor Benning Wentworth, from whom it received its charter in 1749. The settlement was commenced in 1761, by separatists, under Samuel Robinson. They were the first of the inhabitants who resisted the authorities of New York, and drove thqm from the soil, denying her jurisdiction. A range of limestone crosses Ben- nington county, which has been worked for some years, and yields good marble of several different colors and qualities. Some lead is also found. The Battle of Bennington was an ac- tion of considerable importance, though fought by a detachment of the British army on the one side, and the militia of Vermont and the neighboring counties of Massachusetts on the other. It was brought about in consequence of Gen- eral Burgoyne’s despatching a strong body of Hessians, under Colonel Baum, to seize a large supply of American pro- visions collected at Bennington. Bur- goyne was at that time — viz., in the summer of 1777— -preparing to move down the Hudson for Albany, and was occupied, from Juiy 28 to August 15, in transporting bateaux, provisions, artil- lery, and baggage, from Whitehall (then called Skeenesbourgh) and Fort George to the Hudson. Many obstacles were in his way, General Schuyler, while on his retreat from Ticonderoga, having i * s v DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF VERMONT. 55 thrown trees into Wood creek, and left much to be done in clearing the chan- nel of that stream, and in constructing a log road across the sandy region, for the transportation of the British aitil- lery ; while the European troops showed great want of skill in operations so for- eign to their habits. °Colonel Baum set off for Bennington with five hundred regular troops, a num- ber of Canadians, above one hundred Indians, and a few tories ; while Lieu- tenant Colonel Brayman took post at Battenkill, with his Brunswick grena- diers, light infantry, and chasseurs, to support him if necessary. General Stark first received informa- tion of the enemy’s approach on the 1 3th of August ; but at first was aware only of the°small body of Indians, and sent an equal number of Americans to meet them, under the command of Colonel Greg. Near night, however, he was apprized that the force was large, when he called out his whole brigade, and sent an express to Man- chester to inform Colonel Warner of the danger, while he ordered the news to be spread in all directions. The , next morning he marched, and soon met his advance on their retreat, pursued by the enemy, then only a mile in the rear. The Americans were immediately drawn up for battle ; on seeing which, the enemy halted at a commanding po- sition, but made no demonstration of a further advance, thinking it prudent to send back for a reinforcement. Eager for the contest, the American sharp-, shooters pressed the enemy with skir- mishes, and succeeded in killing and wounding about thirty, including two Indian chiefs, without suffering any loss themselves. To secure a better position, General I Stark retired to more favorable ground, about a mile in his rear ; and the fol- lowing day, which was stormy, was spent in skirmishing. The battle be- gan the following afternoon, Colonel Symonds having arrived with some militia from Berkshire county, Mass. The enemy had by this time fortified themselves on a branch of Hoosick river, I and were attacked according to a plan adopted by a council of war, which was designed to take them in the rear of both flanks, while an advance was made on their front to occupy their attention. | Colonel Nichols, with two hundred men, marched for their left — Colonel Herrick, | with three hundred, for their right; while one hundred men marched toward the centre of their line, and two hun- dred more, under Colonels Hubbard and Stickney, marched against the right. The first two detachments were to unite in the enemy’s rear, and then fall upon them together. The Indians fled at the onset, but the rest of the enemy’s troops stood their ground for two hours, when, after an unsuccessful attempt by the Ger- man dragoons to cut their way through with their swords, all their works were carried, and the whole body, with but few exceptions, were either killed or taken prisoners. Baum received a mor- tal wound. The victory was so complete, that the Americans, supposing all was over, be- gan to disperse, when General Stark was apprized of another large force ap- proaching in front. Happily, Colonel Warner arrived at the moment with a reinforcement of Vermont regulars, who, without loss of time, pressed on to en- counter the enemy ; General Stark soon followed, with all the militia he could muster; and an obstinate engagement ensued, which terminated at sunset, by the rout and pursuit of the invaders. The approach of darkness alone saved the greater part of the fugitives, who left behind two cannon and many wound- ed and prisoners. The whole amount of the enemy’s loss in these actions was two hundred and seven killed, an unknown number wounded, and about seven hundred piis- oners ; four brass fieldpieces, twelve base- drums, two hundred and fifty dragoon Swords, and four ammunition wagons. The American loss was only thirty killed and forty wounded. The principal advantage secured by this victory, however, was in the cour- age with which it inspired the army and the people, who had been exceedingly depressed by the evacuation of the for- tress of Ticonderoga, and the undis- 56 DESCRIPTION OF THE puted progress of Burgoyne onward toward Albany. The resistance which he met with, a few days after, at Bemis’s heights, on the west bank of the Hud- son, is supposed to have been rendered more spirited and successful by this great advantage, gained by the Vermont regulars and irregular troops, assisted by their bold and hardy neighbors. The supreme court has five judges, annually chosen by the legislature. The county courts, likewise, have the same number, two being chosen by the legis- lature every year in each county, the third and chief being one of the su- preme judges on the circuit. The coun- ty courts are held twice a year. The justices of the peace, also, are appoint- ed by the legislature. The first newspaper in Vermont was the “Vermont Gazette, or Green Moun- tain Newsboy, ” published at Westmin- ster in 1781 by Judah Paddock Spooner and Timothy Green. Two years after, their press was removed to Windsor. In 1810, the number of newspapers in the state was ten ; in 1828, twenty-one ; and in 1834, twenty-six. The Battle of Plattsburgh . — This was one of the most decisive and important engagements in the war of 1812 ; and like several others which we have no- ticed, although not fought on the soil of Vermont, was one in which many of the people of this state were engaged, and in the results of which multitudes of them were personally and most deeply interested. Having given the particu- lars of the naval battle of the same date in our description of New York, and not having had space for the following account of the battle on land, we may * with propriety introduce it in this place. Three points of our extensive, country appeared to the English to be fatally vulnerable. First, the outlet of the Mis- sissippi, against which Pakenham was to lead an army of veterans ; second, Washington — the seat of government — where in August, 1814, General Ross, at the head of his victorious legions, spread fire and sword; and lastly, Lake Champlain — the great highway of in- vasion to the most densely-populated portion of the Union — where Sir George STATE OF VERMONT. Provost, renowned for skill and valor on many a battle-field, was to lead the largest division of the formidable troops of Wellington. On the 4th September, 14,000 troops, with their splendid uniform, and fault- less discipline, and admirable bands, and waving banners, and formidable trains of artillery, having crossed the lines and marshalled at Champlain, took up their line of march for Plattsburgh. There was one regiment of these veter- ans, in which there was scarcely a man who did not bear a wound, and their disfigured faces, and ferocious and de- termined aspect, reminded one of the ! hundred desperate charges of the san- guinary conflicts of the peninsular war. At Plattsburgh about one thousand regular soldiers under the command of General M‘Comb, and some seven hun- dred militia under General Moore, were prepared to oppose the enemy. The nation, saddened and oppressed by the then recent sacking of Washington, and aware of the tremendous force of her formidable foe, looked with deep anx- iety and alarm to the issue of the con- test at this important point. On Monday, September 5, 1814, the British army having advanced to Chazy and found the state-road guarded by Colonel Appling’s rifle corps intrenched at Dead creek, aided by a troop of horse \ commanded by Captain Saflord and Lieutenant Standish, they crossed to the Beekmantown road, and encamped du- ring the night three or four miles north ; of the Burdick house at Beekmantown. jj The militia commanded by General jj Moore, and composed of Colonel Miller’s ■ regiment, a part of Colonel Joiner’s regi- ment, Major Sanford’s battalion, and the thirty-seventh regiment, from Essex, spent the night at Beekmantown. Be tween 9 and 10 o’clock at night, Gen eral Moore sent Major R. H. Walworth to the quarters of General M‘Comb, who commanded at the forts, with a request that he would send a small body of infantry and a couple of pieces of light artillery, to support the militia in the attack which he intended to make on the British forces on their advance in the morning. Major Walworth ar- DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF VERMONT. 57 rived at General M'Comb’s quarters about midnight, and the general imme- diately ordered a detachment of two hundred and fifty infantry under Major John E. Wool, who had previously and urgently requested such a command, and two pieces of light artillery under Cap- tain Luther Leonard, to be ready by daylight to start for Beekmantown. Major Walworth took a party of vol- unteers from Captain Atwood’s company and those of Captains Cochran and Manley, marched rapidly on the bridge, and had just commenced taking off the plank, when the advanced guard of the enemy emerged from the woods within half musket-shot, and fired upon the party taking up the bridge, two of whom, belonging to Atwood’s company, were severely wounded and taken prisoners. Major Walworth and his detachment immediately fell back to the position occupied by Major Wool, who, forming in the highway and flanked by the militia, opened a deadly fire upon the head of the British column, then just in front of Ira Howe’s house, and momentarily ar- rested its progress. Here several of the enemy were killed, and Lieutenant West, of the Buffs, and twenty privates, severely wounded. Very soon the mi- litia broke and mostly retreated in con- fusion. Many, however, remained with the regulars to contest the ground, inch by inch, and retreat in order. Meanwhile, General Moore, with the aid of other officers, had succeeded in rallying a portion of the militia, which, being ordered to join Major Wool with his detachment, awaited the approach of the enemy at Culver’s hill, about four miles from Plattsburgh. This com- manding position was maintained with so much obstinacy as to compel the enemy, after attaining the summit of the hill, to retire to its base with the loss of Lieutenant-Colonel Wellington, who fell while gallantly leading the Third Buffs to the charge. Here, also, Ensign Chapman fell, and Captain West- roff, of the thirty-eighth British regi- ment, was severely wounded ; and here j several of Major Wool’s men, and Pat- i ridge of the Essex militia, were killed, j Nor was this position abandoned by Major Wool, until after he had received notice from General Moore that a col- umn of 2,000 of the enemy, advancing on the west Beekmantown road, was gaining on his rear ; when the Vermont troops fell back within two miles of Plattsburg. Here Captain Leonard, with two pieces of light artillery, des- patched by General M‘Comb, arrived to take part in the action ; and the fire of the artillery, the regular infantry, and a portion of the militia, literally mowed down the enemy’s advancing column. In front of an overwhelming force, platoon after platoon delivered their fire, 1 and fell back to load and form, in reg- ular succession, contesting every inch of ground, and seizing every favorable point to unlimber their artillery and pour a deadly shower of grape upon the advancing enemy. After repeated con- tests they were driven across the river, the bridges were taken up in the retreat, a final stand was made on the southern bank of the Saranac, and the enemy driven back beyond the reach of our guns. Forty-five of our men were killed in the letreat ; the British had one lieu- tenant-colonel, two captains, four lieu- tenants, and more than two hundred men, killed or wounded. Next morn- ing the British, in attempting to cross the river a few miles west of the village, were repulsed by Capt. Vaughan. The enemy were occupied, the four succeed- ing days, in erecting batteries to play upon the forts, during which there were j frequent skirmishes along the river ; the j gallant Green mountain boys, under the j patriotic General Strong, were wafted to i our aid by every eastern breeze, swelling | our force to upward of three thousand, j On the evening of the 9th, one hundred and fifty of our men crossed the Saranac, stormed and took, at the point of the bayonet, a battery defended by four hun- dred of the enemy, spiked the guns, and made good their retreat, without the loss of a single man. The battle of Beekmantown, the spirited resistance to the enemy’s advance, and the burning of the courthouse, &c., north of the river by the hot shot from our batteries, prevent- ed an immediate attack upon the forts, to resist which would have been fruitless. i This state, occupying a leading position among the six eastern members of the Union, in extent, commerce, manufactures, wealth, and population, borders on Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, on the north, and Rhode Island and Connecticut on the south; while it is bounded on the east by the Atlantic, and on the west by New York. With the exception of the seacoast, the boundaries of Massa- chusetts are almost entirely art- ificial; and, when we cast our eyes over the map, we can discover none of those natural advantages which distinguish most other countries re- markable for prosperity. Massachusetts is a portion of the western continent containing no mines of gold, no long navigable rivers, no broad and fertile plains, not even an accessible supply of timber; and a person unacquainted with the true source of her power and wealth would be at a loss in seeking foi it. “A land of hills, and valleys, and fountains of water,” as the early explorers represented her, in their favorite scripture language, they had little else to say in praise of the natural features of the country. The coast presents a line of inhospitable rocks and reaches of sterile sand, and the approach is rendered difficult and dangerous by a broad tract of shoals, through which a ship can find its way only by pursuing narrow and intricate channels, by careful sounding. Harbors. — Massachusetts is distinguished by the number and excellence of her harbors, which will very naturally secure to her a large part of the entire commerce of New England, with the exception of Maftie, Rhode Island, ami Connecticut. • Shoals. — Nantucket shoals line the coast for fifty miles, and are forty-five miles in breadth. They are very dan- gerous, being cut through by numerous channels of different depths, discover- able only by sounding. Islands. — -Several islands of consid- erable size belong to this state, so situ- ated, and so well provided with head- lands for lighthouses, and with harbors for shelter in storms, as to be of impor- tant service to the extensive coasting and foreign trade — especially such as are in the vicinity of the shoals. Nantucket Island is fifteen miles by eleven, and forms, with five smaller islands, a county of the same name. It contains nearly thirty thousand acres. Its inhabitants have ’ long been prover- bial for their skill in whalefishing, which was formerly carried on in boats in sight of the shore. They are equally distin- guished by their skill and boldness as pilots, many of them spending a consid- erable part of their lives in sailing about the shoals to pilot ships. The island is thirty miles south of the mainland, sixty southeast of New Bedford, and one hun- dred south-southeast of Boston. Lat- itude 41° 15' 22", longitude 7(P 7' 56". Martha's Vineyard is twenty miles long and from two to five miles broad and lies west of Nantucket. Duke’s county is formed of this island and sev- eral small ones in its vicinity. The first settlements were made at Plymouth by the passengers in the May- Flower, the first band of English dis- senters, called puritans, who arrived in America. They reached Cape Cod on the 22d of December, 1620, and, after a few days, fixed on Plymouth for their residence, which received its name from the last port in England from which they had sailed. The important conse- quences which resulted from the arrival of this little band of exiles have invested it with peculiar interest ; and the event and its concomitants have been com- memorated in numerous writings religious freedom, and the universal dif- fusion of learning. Numbers of them had taken refuge in Holland from the persecution they were exposed to in their native land, from the laws which then forbade them to worship God in their chosen manner. But, although treated with kindness by the Dutch prot- estants, they at length determined to seek a country in which they might rear their children, without exposing them to evil influences or to the loss of their native language. A band of them ,at length proceeded to England, accom- panied by their pastor, the Rev. Mr. Robinson, where, arrangements having been made, after some delay they sailed for America. The part of the coast on which they were landed was farther north than they had intended to reach; but this Was probably, in the end, more favorable for their success. The In- dians had been almost all destroyed by a fatal disease, so that they found but little opposition among the natives for some years. The Plymouth colony was followed by several others. Salem was planted in 1628, and Boston in 1630. Most of the settlers being of the same class, a uniform system of laws and habits was established, which was gradually ex- tended, and most of the peculiarities of New England still retain the same char- acter. These first colonies were the sources or the channels from which the settle- tlements on the Connecticut, and many of those in New Hampshire and Ver- mont, derived their impulse and their population, and there we find a general identity of sentiment and society. The first period in the history of Mas- sachusetts is that between the first set- tlement and the Pequod war, in 1636, when Rhode Island and Connecticut river had been occupied and exposed to powerful tribes of savages, against whom Massachusetts afforded them aid. Then commenced that active system of mutual The puritans received this title in support, which often secured the safety derision. They had long been the chief j of the eastern colonies, and gradually advocates of principles which have since extended to all the colonies Rom Eng- become extensively adcfpted in this coun- land, and resulted in forming the United try and elsewhere, particularly civil .and I States. 62 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. The second period extends to Philip’s war, in 1675, when Massachusetts had several towns on Connecticut river, and had an extensive region to protect at home from a powerful savage combina- tion. The third period may be limited by the close of the last French war, in 1759, when the capture of Canada by the British put an end to the long and disastrous hostilities of France upon the frontiers of the colonies. The fourth period extends to the close of the rev- olution, and the fifth to the present day. Early Missions among the Indians . — Rev. John Eliot began to preach to the Indians near Boston in 1646. In 1650 the English “ society for the propaga- tion of the gospel in foreign parts,” opened a correspondence with the com- missioners of the United colonies, and appointed them their agents. Eliot (the apostle to the Indians, as he is often called) had, ere this, been so far suc- cessful in his exertions as to feel encour- agement, and to inspire the benevolent with hope. He continued his labors several years without reward or expec- tation of payment ; but afterward re- ceiving contributions from gentlemen in England, he was enabled to extend his operations, and to educate his sons at college, the eldest of whom afterward preached to the natives. By his exam- ple several other clergymen in the coun- try were encouraged to adopt similar measures. Mr. Bourne and Mr. Cotton acquired the Indian language to qualify them for the task, and preached at Mar- tha’s Vineyard, &c. ; Mr. Mayhew and his son preached at that island and at Nantucket; while Messrs. Pierson and Fitch followed their example in Con- necticut. Eliot published his Indian translation of the New Testament in 1661, and the whole Bible soon after. The printing was done at the expense of the society for the propagation of the gospel. He prepared also translations of Baxter’s Call, psalms, hymns, &c., and composed several works for use in the schools which he established in the Indian vil- lages. Some of the youth were sent to learn Latin and Greek. Several Indian towns were constituted by Massachu- setts, and courts established in them, each with one English judge, while other officers were all chosen by the natives. The first Indian church was formed in 1670, at Natick; the second at Pak- emit, now Stoughton, whose first native teacher was named Ahawton. The other Christian or praying towns in the Indian country were the following : Okomma- kummessit, now Marlborough; Wam- esit, now Tewksbury; Nashobah, now Littleton ; Mungunkook, now Hopkin- ton ; and there were others in Oxford, Dudley, Worcester, and Uxbridge, and three in Woodstock. The gospel was thus early made known to the Indians ; many of them received it, and it immediately began to produce its natural effects, by introducing civil- ization with many of its advantages. The people became fixed in their hab- its and residences, attended to agricul- ture, began to acquire learning, erected more substantial habitations, and pur- sued the arts. In Plymouth colony the success of the early efforts of missionaries among the natives was still more remarkable. About five hundred Indians on Cape Cod, under the care of the Rev. Mr. Bourne, made rapid improvement. About two hundred soon learned to read, and more than seventy to write, and there was a church with twenty-seven communi- cants, with the Mayhews, at Martha’s Vineyard. Printing. — The Rev. Jesse Glover, an English dissenting clergymen, has been called the father of the American press. He embarked for New England in 1638, with his family, and a printing- press which he had purchased with money contributed by himself and his friends, accompanied by a printer, Ste- phen Daye, whom he had hired. Mr. Glover died on the passage; but the magistrates and elders of Massachusetts encouraged Daye to put the press in operation at Cambridge, where the new-comers took up their residences. In January, 1639, he printed the Free- man’s Oath, an almanac, and the Psalms in metre. His first successor, Samuel Green, began to print in 1649, and died in 1702. • He had nineteen children, DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. 63 and many of his descendants have been printers. Government.— The legislative power is vested in a senate and house of repre- sentatives, which together are styled the General Court of Massachusetts. The senate consists of forty members, who are chosen annually by the people, by districts, according to population. The house of representatives consists of members chosen annually by the cities and towns, according to population, ev- ery town having 300 ratable polls elect- ing a representative, and for every 450 more, one addiiional representative. Any town having less than 300 polls, to be represented as many years within ten years, as 300 is contained' in the product of the number of polls in said town, multiplied by ten. The governor is elected annually by the people, and at the same time a lieu- tenant-governor is chosen. The governor is assisted in the execu- tive department, particularly in appoint- ments to office, by a council of nine members, who are chosen by the joint ballot of the senators and representa- tives, from the people. The judiciary is vested in a supreme court, a court of common pleas, and such other courts as the legislature may es- tablish. The judges are appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the council, and hold their offices during good behavior. The right of suffrage is granted to ev- ery male citizen twenty-one years of age and upward (excepting paupers and per- sons under guardianship), who has resi- ded within the commonwealth one year, and within the town or district in which he may claim a right to vote, six months preceding any election, and who has paid a state or county tax. Railroads. — There are completed and in full operation within the borders of the state of Massachusetts more than twelve hundred miles of railroads. Dur- ing the year 1850, nearly ten millions of passengers passed over these roads which also transported two and a hal: millions of tons of freights. — But these many lines of railroad have more thar an interior benefit for the state. Ir conjunction with other railroads beyond the state limits and steam navigation, the city of Boston is connected with thirteen states of the Union, thus intro- ducing the metropolis of the state to a commercial sphere of the utmost im- portance. The people of Massachusetts have shown a remarkable foresight, en- ergy, and perseverance, in the projection and construction of roads within their own, and in the subscription to the stock of others, in contiguous states, the ulti- mate benefit of which can scarcely be over-estimated. The money thus ap- propriated amounts, in the aggregate, to over fifty millions of dollars. Education. — Common schools were established by law very soon after the foundation of the colony of Massachu- setts Bay ; and parents, guardians, &c., were .required to have their children and wards instructed. Every larger village and town was to have a gram- mar-school. Education, at least in the rudiments of learning, has always been universal in this state ; and the influence of Massachusetts in extending and sus- taining institutions of learning in other parts of the country has been great, and not less creditable to her citizens than beneficial to their fellow-citizens of the Union. In the recent improvements in common schools, and some other means of diffusing knowledge, she has been one of the most efficient states ; and many of the measures approved and practised by the intelligent friends of learning have been devised or brought into use, or most early or effectually put into practice, within her boundaries. Yet Massachusetts, until 1835, has never had a school fund, and her common schools were wholly supported by the people. A fund was then provided for, limited to one million of dollars. Every town or district containing fifty families is required to have a school i kept at least six months in the year; or, • if several schools exist, they shall be 5 kept long enough to equal one school 5 for six months. For those containing f one hundred families the requisition is 3 doubled ; and for those containing one i hundred and fifty families, eighteen i months are required. 64 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. Massachusetts is therefore justly enti- tled to a large share of the credit of hav- ing given an impulse to the cause of pop- ular education. The early settlers of that section of our country were fully sensible of the defects of the English in- stitutions which they had forsaken. That the schools of learning and religion were corrupted, and the fairest hopes over- thrown by licentious behavior in those seminaries, was one among the many causes of their emigration from the Old World, and of pledging themselves to the education of their children. In the year 1668, a document was published by order of the government and council of Massachusetts, and addressed to the el- ders and ministers of every town, in which paper was set forth an earnest ! desire for the moral and religious instruc- tion of the people, and an appeal to those to whom the instrument was directed, to examine whether the education of youth in the English language was attended to. From the time of the Winthrops and their associates, who labored zealously in this field of usefulness, to the present period, New England has devoted her attention to the promotion of knowledge ; and in the industry, integrity, and fru- gality of her children, now beholds the brilliant results of her perseverance. When we consider that the tide of im- migration, which is sweeping before it the forests of the west, takes its rise in the eastern section of the United States, and bears upon its bosom the elements of enrichment — that it is composed, in a great degree, of those who have been enabled to obtain there the rudiments o*f learning, the first principles of valua- ble information — ought we not to be grateful to those who have toiled and are still doing all that lies in their pow- er to render the fountain pure and trans- parent ] Too much can not be done in arousing public opinion on the subject of the ed- ucation of children. Let the instruction of a child be considered the paramount duty of a good citizen, and then public sentiment will act much more powerful- ly to produce the results desired than 1 the staff of the officer of police. Public opinion is the best balance-wheel of the machinery of a society constituted as that is in which we live. It must be by promulgating among the people the sen- timent of the necessity of education — by arousing their attention to its value — by demonstrating its beneficial results, as not only the best check on the increase of crime, the prevention of pauperism, but also the promoter of public order and private happiness — that we can hope to have education generally diffused. So soon as the people are convinced, we shall have the brilliant object which all should desire to see effected. To pro- duce great results, must be the work of time. The past labors of the people are the best evidences of their devotion to the advancement of learning, and give great hope that the system of education will be laid with a broad and deep founda- tion, on which the pyramid of the repub- lic’s glory and security may rise, and re- main an imperishable monument of the benevolence and wisdom of her citizens. In connexion, however, with the above, we most unhesitatingly assert that mere intellectual improvement is not, or should not be, the exclusive or even the prima- ry object of education. Moral and reli- gious principles are infinitely more mo- mentous to the character and interests of the future man than the cultivation of the mind alone, whether we look to the individual himself, or to the influence which he will hereafter exercise upon society. The talented and accomplished scholar may shine in public and social life — may astonish by the depth of his erudition, charm by the graces of his el- oquence, or dazzle by the coruscations of his wit ; but the truly moral and vir- tuous man — the man of principle only — is the centre around which domestic felicity revolves ; he only contributes to the real and enduring benefit of*society, and his own near and dear connexions. Contemplated in this aspect (and few, we think, will refuse thus to contemplate it), the morality which may be learned from any system of religious opinions that professes to take the Bible for its basis, deserves to be estimated far more highly than even the most extensive ac- quirements and splendid abilities, if un- controlled by those motives and principles DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. 65 of action which alone can direct them to the production of solid and abiding advan- tage. Devoid of these principles, they have been almost invariably found, like sharp and polished weapons in the hands of a lunatic, to inflict a mortal wound up- on the possessor, and strike deep at the best interests of society. “ A people, to be truly free, must first be wise and good.” This is truly an admirable maxim, and so evident as not to admit of doubt, even if it had not been long since fully demonstrated in the an- nals of the past. Education is the ground- work of national freedom and civilization — the foundation on which have origina- ted the great and essential improvements of agriculture, the mechanical branches, and the pursuits of science — the main pillars which constitute a nation’s power and character. These and the fine arts, which polish and adorn the whole — the beauties of nature, eloquence, and sci- ence, with all the social endearments, which refine and embellish society — as well as the higher and more sublime character of those moral and political in- stitutions, which bind together and direct the whole, — are all the effects of that strength and intelligence which educa- tion has imparted to the human mind. And when we consider that ignorance is the grand cause of vice and crime among the poor — that it contributes to their mor- al debasement and misery, excluding them from the enjoyment of all rational delight — confining their pastimes and pleasures to mere feats of strength and inebriating hilarity — and how it prevents the mind from expanding for the recep- tion of virtue and morality — we can not but rejoice at the success of all plans for illuminating this darkness, and respect the names and memories of those great and good men who have contributed so largely and freely of their time, influ- ence, and earthly substance, to extend the blessing of a sound and religious ed- ucation to every son and daughter within the reach of their influence. Many of the most eminent men of the state and nation were natives or long citi- zens of Boston. The early clergymen were Cotton, Wilson, the Mathers, Oxen- bridge, Norton, Allen, Davenport, Wil- lard, Coleman, Prince, the Eliots, Byles, Thacher, Wadsworth, Pemberton, Cal- lender, Sewall, Cooper, Checkley, May- hew, Gee, Walter, Condy, Stillman, Chauncey, Lathrop, Howard, West, Bel- knap, Parker, Everett, Kirkland, Emer- son, Buckminster, and Channing. They were eminent scholars, as well as able theologians. We have only room for a few of the distinguished laymen of early times. These were Winthrop, Belling- ham, Leverett, Stoughton, Cheever, Bulk- ley, Dummer, Cook, Brattle, the Sew- alls, Belcher, Oliver ; and in later pe- riods, Otis, Bowdoin, Samuel Adams, Gridley, Joseph Warren, John Hancock, Richard Dana, Governor Hutchinson, Thacher, Sears, Quincy, Mason, &c. Of these latter individuals especially, many of them made great exertions, and suf- fered much in various ways, during the war of the Revolution. Several of them were opulent merchants, and they loaned largely of their money to the government for its support. During that period not only was the commerce of this ancient metropolis long suspended and greatly injured, but many of its public and pri- vate buildings destroyed. It furnished great numbers of men in various ways in the service of the country ; they were obliged to be constantly under arms in times of danger and apprehension. The citizens of all classes — the merchants and mechanics, and the professional men — were zealous advocates of the Federal Constitution in 1788, and afterward the firm supporters of tho administrations of Washington and Adams. We learn, from a series of articles, prepared and pub- lished by Edwin Williams, Esq., of New York, that “ the honor of origina- ting a suggestion which afterward led to the organization of the old Continental Congress, and prepared the way for the independence of these United States, was due to the name of Sears.”* * Colonel Isaa'c Sears, the distinguished character here alluded to, was the originator and leader of the “ Sons of Liberty’-' at the opening of the American Revolution. He seems for a time to have represent- ed the spirit of that revolution more fully than any other person in the city and vicinity of New York. His life has never been written, which, including the doings of the “Liberty Boys,” is an interesting and unexplored province of our revolutionary annals. He is often referred to in the correspondence of Wash- [ ington, Gouverneur Morris, and Messrs. Adams, as 5 66 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. These illustrious worthies of a past age being dead, yet speak to us. We do well to hallow their memories and record their noble deeds. Interesting associations cluster around these great actors in the drama of the Past. They belong to the nation ; for not the old states merely, but those which sprang in- to being but yesterday, look upon the glory of the Revolution as a common patrimony. This nation must ever be sensible of the worth of its benefactors, and real merit will soon dissipate the mists of party prejudice. Its effect, like that of a very strong sympathetic feeling running through the people, must be to knit more closely the bonds of national union. It has given freshness to the memory of common efforts in the great national struggle, which must always prove a powerful tie among men who exult in the achievements of a common ancestry. It may have furnished some incense to the vanity imputed to our na- tion ; but this is as dust in the balance compared with the spirit which it indi- cates and the feelings which it has awa- kened. Here we may learn useful les- sons for the future, from the history of the past. Let us follow these distinguished men to “old age when Nature seemed to demand repose, each had retired to the spot from which the public exigencies had first called 'him — his public labors ended, his work accomplished, his be- loved country prosperous and happy — there to indulge in the blessed retrospect of a well-spent life, and to await that pe- riod which comes to all. Lid they pass their time in idleness and indifference ] No. The same spirit of active benevo- lence, which made the meridian of their lives resplendent with glory, continued to shed its 1 ustre upon their evening path. ' Still intent on doing good, still devoted to the great cause of human happiness and improvement, none of these illustri- ous men relaxed in their exertions. They seemed only to concentrate their energy rendering important services to the colonies, and is named in the journals of those times as a brave and heroic character The materials of his biography are yet extant in public and private documents in the city and state of New York, and ought to be collected and' preserved, as important sources of history. as age and increasing infirmity contract- ed the circle of action — bestowing, with- out ostentation, their latest efforts upon the state and neighborhood in which they resided. There, with patriarchal sim- plicity, they lived, the objects , of a na- tion’s grateful remembrance and affec- tion — the living records of a nation’s his- tory ; the charm of an age which they delighted, adorned, and instructed, by their deeds of benevolence, and vivid sketches of times that are past; and, as it were, the embodied spirit of the Rev- olution itself, in all its purity and force, diffusing its wholesome influence through the generations that have succeeded, re- buking every sinister design, and invig- orating every manly and virtuous resolu- tion. We can not set in too strong a light their history. It awakens the public gratitude for their services ; it tells their countrymen to be faithful to their prin- ciples, and vigilant in preserving those institutions free and unimpaired, to at- tain which they sacrificed their ease and safety. These eulogies are in fact the people’s testimony to the excellence of our form of government. The venera- tion paid to such men as Adams and J ef- ferson is an acknowledgment of the worth of the political principles which they labored to establish. And when the kingdoms of the Old World are tot- tering to their foundations, what can be more proper or grateful than the sight of a whole people uniting to testify their love for the l government under which they live! In other countries, one half of the nation is employed in preventing the oth- er from pulling the political machine to pieces. Here, all are united to up- hold it. Of the present distinguished, patriotic, and benevolent citizens of Boston, along list might be here given, and then not all be mentioned. It has been remarked, and with great truthfulness, that the lib- erality of her rich men is proverbial from Maine to Missouri, and has secured for that city a name which, we trust, future generations will not only respect, but en- deavor to add to its lustre, by imitating such men as the Lawrences, David Sears, the Appletons, Thomas Ii. Pbr- Residence of John Hancock, Boston. * — ~ — -J 68 DESCRIPTION OE THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. kins, and a host of others, whose coffers are* not closed, but who are constantly contributing, by their princely individu- al donations of ten and twenty thousand dollars, to undertakings of philanthropy and charity — encouraging talent, promo- ting industry, and fostering the fine arts ; thus setting a most noble example to the wealthy of other cities which we could wish more generally imitated. Since the year 1800, over three millions of dollars have been given in munifi- cent gifts by the citizens of Boston to the cause of education alone. The first settlers of New England were exceedingly tenacious of their civil and religious rights, and they well knew that knowledge was an all-powerful engine to preserve those rights, and transmit them to their posterity. They therefore v.ery early laid the foundation of those free schools of which all the sons and daughters of New England are so justly proud. Exclusive of infant and sabbath school children, about a quarter part of j the population of Boston is kept at school throughout the year, at an annual ex- ; penSe of about two hundred thousand dollars. Their successors have nobly imitated j their bright and patriotic example. Such men are indeed the fathers of the nation, and must ever live in the affections of the people. When time has consigned them to their honored graves, the good they have done will live after them. Fu- ture generations will rise up and call them blessed. Their names will fill a niche in the temple erected in every one’s memory, to commemorate those who, as they passed along the pathway of life, scattered the seeds of knowledge and morality, which have taken root, sprung up, bearing the most delectable fruits, agreeable to the sight, and of pleasant J flavor. Williams College , at Williamstown, Berkshire county, in the northwest cor- ner of the state, was a public school or academy at its commencement, in 1791, and was incorporated as a college in 1793. It derives its name from its found- er, Colonel Ephraim Williams. Besides donations from the state and several in- dividuals, it has received a bequest of fifty-seven thousand dollars from Mr. Woodbridge Little. It is under the charge of seventeen trustees. The Newton Theological Seminary, under the patronage of the baptist de- nomination, was founded in Newton in 1825, and was incorporated by the legis- lature the next year. In 1828, a brick building, three stories in height, besides a basement story, eighty-five feet long and forty-nine wide, was erected, at an expense of about ten thousand dollars. Three convenient houses have been since erected for the professors. In the man- sion-house are accommodations for the steward’s family, a dining-hall, a chapel, and recitation-rooms. The regular course of study occupies three years. There are two vacations of six weeks each — one from the last Wednesday but one in August, the other from the last Wednes- day in March. The seminary is about seven miles from Boston, in a very salu- brious locality, being beautifully situated on an elevated hill, which commands an extensive prospect of Boston and of the rich country around. Cambridge University. — This insti- tution, which is the oldest in the Union, and the most liberally endowed, was commenced in 1636 by the general court of Massachusetts, who then appropriated four hundred pounds sterling toward the establishment of a college, which was incorporated in 1638, under the title of “ Harvard College,” in consequence of a legacy left it that year, by Rev. John Harvard, of £119 lls. 2d. The state and different liberal donors have since increased its funds to a large amount. l't is situated in the city of Cambridge, three miles west from Boston, and com- prises an academical department, as well as those of law, theology, science, and 1 medicine. Each of these five depart- j ments is distinct in itself, with its own particular government and body of in- structors, each having its separate funds, its own pupils, and its peculiar objects, but all subject to one supreme head. The buildings of the university are fourteen in Cambridge and one in Bos- ton. Four of the principal buildings are of four stories, for the accommodation of students ; two others contain the min- 70 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. eralogical cabinet, the library, the chap- by weather-proof shutters, and worked els, &c. Besides these are the halls of law, divinity, medicine, &c. It has an excellent anatomical museum, and a bo- tanical garden of eight acres, richly stored with an extensive collection of trees, shrubs, and plants, both native and for- eign. The libraries contain above forty thousand volumes, including those of the several departments. Those belonging to the studies contain about five thou- sand volumes. The cabinets and appa- ratus are very valuable. The annual commencement is on the third Wednes- day in July. Cambridge Observatory . — This obser- vatory is situated on a commanding emi- nence called Summer-house hill, the sum- mit of which is about fifty feet above the plain on which are erected the buildings of the university. This height is found to give from the dome an horizon almost uninterrupted to within two or three de- grees of altitude. The grounds appro- priated to the use of the observatory com- prise about six and a half acres. It is distant nearly three fourths of a mile northwest from University hall, and three and a half miles in the same direction from the statehouse in Boston. This observatory may be said to owe its existence to the liberality of the Hon. David Sears, who contributed five thou- sand dollars for the erection of an obser- vatory tower, five hundred dollars tow- ard the purchase of a telescope, and five thousand dollars more to create a fund, the income of which to be appropriated to the support of the observers, and for other purposes of science. Sears Tower, so called in honor of its founder, whose generous donation is mentioned above, is built of brick, on a foundation of granite, laid with cement. It is thirty-two feet square on the out- side, while on the inside the corners are gradually brought to a circular form for the better support of the dome, forming a massive arch. This dome, covering the grand equatorial, is a hemisphere of thirty-two feet interior diameter, formed with stout ribs of plank, and covered ex- ternally with copper. There is an open- in o- five .feet wide, and extending a few by means of an endless chain and toothed wheel. On the lower side of this dome is af- fixed a grooved iron rail, and on the gran- ite cap of the wall is placed a similar rail : between these grooves are placed eight iron spheres, accurately turned, on which the dome is revolved. . The appa- ratus for moving the dome consists of toothed wheels, geared to a series of toothed iron plates, fastened to its lower section. By means of this, the whole dome, weighing about fourteen tons, can be turned through a whole revolution, by a single person, in thirty-five seconds. In this dome are placed the “Grand Re- fractor, ’’ and one or two smaller instru- ments. The comet-seeker, a small in- strument of four inches’ aperture, by Merz, is used from the balconies of the dome. This is the instrument with which the younger Bond has discovered no less than eleven telescopic comets before in- telligence had reached him of their hav- ing been seen by any other observer. From these balconies a most extensive and beautiful view of the neighboring towns meets the eye — their numerous hills, spires, &c. On either side of the tower is a large wing. Of these, the eastern is used as a dwelling for the observer ; the west- ern, on which is placed the smaller dome, is used for magnetic and meteorological observations. This wing was erected in the years 1850-’51, and adds greatly to the architectural beauty of the observa- tory. In this dome is placed the smaller equatorial, of five-feet focal length, and an object-glass of four and one eighth inches, made by Merz, which is a re- markably fine instrument. The “Grand Refractor,” justly con- sidered second to none in the world, lias already become celebrated in the hands of the skilful and scientific director and his assistant, from the many brilliant dis- coveries which have been made with it. Among these we may particularly men- tion the new ring and satellite of the planet Saturn. It has also enabled the observers to resolve the principal nebulae, particularly those in the constellations degrees beyond the zenith, which is closed | Orion and Andromeda. The object-glass 72 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. Grand Refractor, Cambridge Observatory. was made at the celebrated manufactory of Merz and Mahler, in Munich, Bavaria. Its extreme diameter is fifteen and a half inches, its focal length is twenty-two feet six inches, and its total weight is nearly three tons ; yet the friction is so success- fully relieved by the judicious arrange- ment of wheels and counterpoises, that it could be pointed to any quarter of the heavens by the finger of a child. A sidereal motion is communicated to the telescope by clock-work, by means of which an object may be constantly kept in the field of view, which essentially aids the observer in delicate examina- tions of celestial objects. Besides the grand refractor, the object- glass, &c., the observatory is furnished with many smaller instruments, and a complete set of meteorological instru- ments, an astronomical clock, and side- real chronometers. One of the most ingenious contrivan- ces connected with the observatory is the “ observer’s chair,” invented by the di- rector. By means of this chair, the ob- server can transport himself to any part of the dome without moving from his seat. The new method of finding the motion of the earth, by means of a pendulum, has been tried at the observatory, and also by Professor Horsford, at the Law- rence Scientific School. Latvrence Scientific School . — Practical instruction in the mathematical, physical, and natural sciences, upon a more ex- tended plan than that pursued in the un- dergraduate department of Harvard, had been a subject of discussion previous to the time of President Everett. In his inaugural address, however, the project of a separate scientific school received its first distinct announcement. About v i DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. 73 Lawrence Scientific School, at Cambridge. this time a vacancy occurred in the Rum- ford professorship by the resignal ion of Professor Treadwell. The situation was filled by the election of Professor Hors- ford, of New York, who soon after his arrival in Cambridge submitted to the corporation a plan for the erection and furnishing of a laboratory for instruction in chymisfry and its applications to the arts, contemplating an expense of fifty thousand dollars. This plan, in an able letter from the treasurer, Hon. Samuel A. Eliot, was laid before Hon. Abbott Lawrence. To this appeal Mr. Lawrence respond- ed in a spirit of munificence altogether unexampled. The gift (of fifty thousand dollars) was accompanied by a letter, proposing, in addition to the erection of suitable buildings, including a laborato- ry, to found two new professorships, one of zoology and geology, and another of engineering, which, with the Rumford professorships, were to constitute the nu- cleus, of a school for the “acquisition, illustration, and dissemination of the prac- tical sciences.” Soon after the receipt of the donation of Mr. Lawrence, Professor Agassiz, of Switzerland, w%s invited to the chair of zoology and geology, and at a later pe- riod Lieutenant Eustis (of the army) to that of engineering. At the commence- ment of 1848, the* corporation conferred upon the institution the name of “ Law- rence Scientific School.” In the summer and autumn of 1849, a laboratory, unsurpassed even in Eu- rope, in its conveniences for practical instruction, was erected and furnished ; and in the year following a building was constructed for the temporary accommo- dation of the departments of zoology, geology, and engineering. The Andover Theological Academy was the first institution of the kind in the country. It was commenced in 1S08, having been founded the year before. It is situated in Andover, a pleasant village, in a fine, elevated tract of country, nine- teen miles northwest of Boston. The value of the property belonging to it has been stated at four hundred thousand dollars, for which it has been largely in- debted to the liberality of its principal donors, namely, John Norris, of Salem ; Samuel Abbott, of Andover ; and Moses Brown and William Bartlett, of Newbu- ryport. The buildings of the institution con- sist of a dwelling-house for each of the 1 professors; ‘Phillips hall, of brick, nine- I tv feet by forty, four stories, containing 1 thirty-two rooms for students, built in 74 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. 1808 ; Bartlet chapel, an elegant brick building, ninety-four feet by forty, con- taining a chapel, library, and three lec- ture-rooms, built in 1818 ; and Bartlet hall, a handsome brick edifice, one hun- dred and four feet by forty, containing thirty-two suites of rooms furnished, pre- sented by Mr. Bartlet in 1821. The build- ings stand on elevated ground, having a commanding, variegated, and beautiful prospect. The library of the seminary contains about fifteen thousand volumes. Besides this, there are two olher libraries : one, of the Porter Rhetorical Society, con- taining from two to three thousand vol- umes ; the other, belonging to the Soci- ety of Inquiry respecting Missions, con- taining from one to two thousand vol- umes. There is an athenaeum and news- room, supported by the students. An- nexed to the institution is a commodious mechanic’s shop, where the students can exercise themselves in carpentering or cabinet-work. The term is three years. The principal study for the first year is the Bible in its original tongues. The second year is occupied in the study of systematic theology. The third year is devoted to the sfrudy of ecclesiastical history, and the composition of sermons. There is also a Teachers ’ Seminary near the institution, which will accommodate two hundred students. It is under the trustees of Phillips Academy and four visiters. Learned Societies. — The American Academy of Arts and Sciences was in- corporated in 1780, and has published several quarto volumes. The Massachusetts Medical Society was incorporated in 1781. The Massachusetts Historical Society was established in 1791 and incorpora- ted in 1794, and has published many vol- umes of collections. The American Antiquarian Society was incorporated in 1812. The American Institute of Instruction was founded in 1831. Newspapers, &c. — The number of newspapers published in this state before the Revolution (in 1775) we(s seven, viz., in Boston, the Boston News-Letter, the Evening Post, the Gazette, the Massa- chusetts Gazette and Postboy ; in Salem, i the Essex Gazette ; in Newburyport, the Essex Journal; and in Worcester (first I published at Boston), the Massachusetts Spy. The first daily paper in Massa- j chusetts, was the Boston Daily Adver- tiser, begun in 1813. The earliest periodical pamphlets or magazines printed in the state were the ; following: from 1789 to 1796, the Mas- sachusetts Magazine, or Monthly Muse- um, which extended to eight volumes ; in 1800, the Columbian Phoenix and Bos- ton Review, which ceased after the eighth number; in 1802, the NewEngland Mag- azine ; from 1S03 to 1811, the Monthly Anthology, or Boston Review, in ten vol- umes, edited at first by Phineas Adams, 1 and afterward by Rev. William Emer- son, W. S. Shaw, A. M. Walter, James Savage, and others ; in 1803, the Ameii- ! can Baptist Magazine was begun, which continued under several editors ; in 1805, the Missionary Magazine, by congrega- j tiona.1 clergymen ; in 1806, the Panoplist, j by Rev. J. Morse and others : these two j! were united in 1808, and edited by Rev. Jeremiah Evarts from 1810 till 1820, J when the Missionary Herald took its place, which is still continued, under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Literary, religious, ; j and scientific publications of this class li have since multiplied to such a degree, | that we have not room for any further ;jj notice under this head. The Noith ,1 American Review, however, must be J mentioned, as one of the oldest and most ! influential publications of the kind in the J United States. It was 'commenced in j 1815, forrrts two volumes annually, and has been edited successively by William Tudor, Jared Sparks, Edward T. Chan- ninff, Edward Everett, Alexander H. Ev- erett, &c. Boston, the capital of this state, is sit- uated on a small peninsula at the head of Massachusetts bay, at the mouth of Charles river, and is the principal city and seaport of New England. The har- I bor is accessible, large, and well protect- ed by both nature and art. This city contains an uncommonfy large propor- tion of fine buildings, particularly private residences. The finest buildings are of 76 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. whitish granite, brought from the shores of the Merrimack river and Quincy.. Boston, like many other large cities, has been, by common consent, divided into districts, with names indicating the location of each. Thus there are North Boston, West Boston, East Boston, South End, and South Boston. The first sec- tion embraces the north end of the city, or all that part lying north of Faneuil hall, and what was the canal, or Mill- creek. This is the oldest part, and for- merly had the advantage of the principal trade. The streets here are generally narrow and crooked, and some of them remain much as they were when first con- structed, on the model of the old towns in England. The buildings are mostly old, and many are built of wood, and ex- hibit the different styles of architecture used for a period of more than a century and a half. Except a portion of what was formerly the Millpond, the only spot of land not covered by buildings at pres- ent is on Coppshill, and the greater’ part of this is occupied for a burial-ground. From this hill the British cannonaded the town of Charlestown in 1775, during the memorable battle of Bunker hill. They left a small fort standing on this hill, which remained a favorite resort for the recreation of schoolboys until 1807. The natural situation of this section of the city gives it an advantage over any other parr, whether considered as a place for comfortable and healthy residence, or its convenience for trade. The chan- nel of Charles river runs close to the shore, and has depth and width sufficient to accommodate ships of the greatest bur- den. The spirit of improvement recently awakened in North Boston shows that the citizens begin to appreciate its ad- vantages. West Boston lies between the com- mon and Canal street, west of Hanover and Tremont streets, and has been re- cently built. The buildings are princi- pally of brick, erected in a handsome style, and are mostly used as dwellings. The statehouse, hospital, national thea- tre, courthouse, and jail, are located in this section. The South End comprises all the peninsula south of Summer and Wintei streets, and extends to Roxbury. About one fourth of the buildings in this section are of wood. Those that have been most recently erected are of brick and gran- ite, exhibiting an improved style of ar- chitecture. The buildings here, also, are generally occupied for dwellings, except the lower stories of those on Washington street. South Boston is that section of the city which is separated from the penin- sula, or the ancient town, by an arm of the harbor reaching to Roxbury. It con- tains about five hundred and sixty acres, and, except East Boston, is the newest and most unsettled part of the city. The population has increased rapidly within a few years, and a considerable number of buildings has been erected, chiefly of brick. This once was a part of Dorches- ter, and embraces the hills known for- merly as Dorchester heights, so famed in the annals of the American Revolu- tion. There are two free bridges that connect this with the older part of the . city : one is at the South End, near the Neck ; the other leads from Windmill point, and was built in 1828. East Boston is an island, formerly known as Maverick’s, Noddle’s, and Wil- liams’ island. In 1814, the citizens of Boston erected a fort on its eastern ex- tremity, which was called Fort Strong. In 1830, some eight or ten of the most enterprising capitalists of Boston pur- chased this island, and commenced lay- ing it out into streets and lots, with a view of making it an important part of the city. Among the important improve- ments in East Boston, we enumerate — first, the introduction of the Cochituate water by the city of Boston ; second, the construction of the Grand Junction rail- road ; third, the construction of the sea- wall across the basin, thus reclaiming a large quantity of low lands which were hitherto partially covered by the tide- waters. These lands consist of marsh and flats to the extent of about ninety- five acres, lying between Westwood is- land and the Eastern railroad. The pop- ulation of East Boston is about twelve or fifteen thousand. It has a deep-watei frontage of seventeen thousand feet, and the Cunard steamers have here a wharf. Old City Hall, State Street, Boston. — .) 78 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. The Boston Common. — This is a large and beautiful public square, in the western part of the city, lighted by gas, encircled by an iron fence, and extend- ing down the long and gentle slope of Beacon hill It contains about forty- three acres, exclusive of the malls which surround it, and the botanic garden west of it, the whole comprehending at least seventy-five acres of open land dedicated to the public. In spring and summer, when covered with a coat of verdant grass, and while the numerous fine trees which shade it are in full foliage, the sight is remarkably striking, and can not be contemplated without admiration, as one of the largest and most beautiful public grounds in America. Beingslighl- ly relieved by several swells and depres- sions, it is remarkably well adapted to the manoeuvring and encampment of troops, to which it is devoted on days of military display. In the centre of this park there is a beautiful piece of water, known by the name of “Frog-pond,” of about half an acre in extent, and enclosed by edge- stones of hammered granite. It is now ornamented with a beautiful fountain. Near this pond, and south of it, stands the celebrated old elm, which for nearly two centuries has triumphed over the heats of summer and the blasts of win- ter, and under whose shade were for- merly held the drumhead courts-martial and the parades of military executions. Before 1733, rows' of trees had been planted on some parts of the common, as, in that year, it was resolved that more should be planted. Since that time the trees have been greatly multiplied, so that thCcommon is at present surrounded with broad and shady avenues, where, on the smooth gravel-walks, thousands of citi- zens find a favorite retreat from heat, and the enjoyment of a cool breeze, on the summer evenings. The number of elms now exceeds seven hundred ; and these are, in some parts, tastefully intermin- gled with other kinds of trees, lining the numerous shady paths which lead across* the grounds around their circuit, or by winding courses up and down the gentle declivities. On three sides the common is bordered 1 by long ranges of stately mansions, being a favorite part of the city on account of its fine scenery, free air, and retirement. On the west it looks down on Charles river, there spreading out into a wide bay. The Statehouse. — Overlooking the common from the summit of Beacon hill, on its northern side, stands the statehouse. This elegant and spacious edifice was erected in 1795. The building is seen at a great distance in all directions, and is the principal object visible when the city is first seen by those who visit it. The form is oblong, being one hundred and seventy-three feet in front, and sixty- one feet deep. The height of the build- ing, including the dome, is one hundred and ten feet ; and the foundation is about that height above the level of the water of the bay. It consists externally of a basement story twenty feet high, and a principal story thirty feet high. This, in the centre of the front, is covered with an attic sixty feet wide, and twenty feet high, which is covered with a pediment. Immediately above rises the dome, fifty feet in diameter, and thirty in height — the whole terminating with an elegant circular lantern, which supports a pine cone. The basement story is finished in a plain style on the wings, with square windows. The centre is ninety-four feet in length, and formed of arches which project fourteen feet, and make a cov- ered walk below, and support a colon- j nade of Corinthian columns of the same extent above. A beautiful statue of Washington, by Chantrey, was procured by private sub- scription, and placed in the statehouse in the year 182S. The costume is a mili- tary cloak, which displays the figure to advantage. The effect is imposing and good; but, instead of confining himself to a close delineation of features, the sculptor, like Canova, has allowed some latitude to his genius in expressing his idea of the character of the subject. The view from the 1,op of the state- house is very extensive and variegated; perhaps nothing in the country is supe- rior to it. To the east appears the bay and harbor of Boston, interspersed with beautiful islands ; and the distance be- yond, the wide-extended ocean. To the The Boston Common, with the Statehouse in the distance. SO DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. north ihe eye is met by Charlestown, with its interesting and memorable heights and the navv-yard of the United Slates; the towns of Chelsea, Malden, and Med- ford, and other villages, and the natural forests mingling in the distant horizon. To the west, is a fine view of the Charles river and bay; the ancient, town of Cam- bridge, rendered venerable for the uni- versity, now above two hundred years old; of the flourishing villages of Cam- bridgeport and East Cambridge, in the latter of which is a large glass manufac- turing establishment; of the highly culti- vated towns of Brighton, Brookline, and Newton : and to the south is Roxbury, which seems to be only a continuation of Boston, and which is rapidly increas- ing ; Dorchester, a fine, rich, agricultural town, with Milton and Quincy beyond; and still farther south, the Blue h ills, at the distance of eight or nine miles, which seem to bound the prospect. Near the capitol, on the west, is the mansion-house of the eminent patriot the late John Hancock, now exhibiting quite an ancient appeura'nce. On the same side, and farther west, rising from the rich foliage which surrounds the specta- tor in the common, conspicuous among many fine edifices, stands the mansion of the Hon. David Sears — a gentleman of large landed property, distinguished a mono- those remarkable men of Boston to whom the literature and charities of the country owe so much. The plan proposed by Mr. Sears for the enlargement and improvement of Bos- ton, by reclaiming the waste spot^of ter- ritory back of the public garden, is one so intimately connected with the welfare and growth 'of that city, that our descrip- tion of the metropolis of New England would be imperfect Without a brief no- tice of it. We have, when visiting Bos- ton, and realizing its rapid growth and crowded streets, looked upon this im- mense basin, which, save as a daily re- cipient of the offal and impurities of streets and dwelling-houses, has long been lying idle (the water-power created by it being a failure, and now disused, and the Water-power Company turning their power info a land-speculation), with a feeling of regret that it could not be handsomely improved, and made to min- ister to the health, the pleasure, and the comfort of the residents of that beautiful city. During the year 1849, Mr. Sears ad- dressed a letter to the mayor and aider- men of Bost on, suggesting a plan of im- provement of this waste spot, to be effect- ed through an amicable adjustment of the several proprietary interests therein. This proposition of Mr. Sears led to the appointment of a commission, on the part of the state, to examine 'into “the tenure of the property, and the rights of individuals, of towns, and of the state therein and which may be looked upon as an initiatory or preparatory step to its future improvement. The plan of Mr. Sears for rendering available and beau- tifying this basin, can be seen in the diagram on page 83 ; and its details will be found in the following letter to the state commissioners, which we publish en- _ tire, as it embraces extracts from the let- ter to the mayor and aldermen referred ; to above, and will give a clearer idea of the proposed improvement than any ex- planations from us could possibly do : — “ Boston, December 16, 1850. “ To the Honorable the Commissioners , SfC. “ Gentlemen : Among the questions which may fairly come within your ex- amination, under warrant from the legis- lature, is the following, viz.: the best plan, having reference to the public, for filling up the Back bay, and making that waste of waters available for useful pur- poses. “ This subject is distinct from the rights of property, and does not implicate any of those questions which have been so ably argued before you. Y et it is of importance to us all, since it may serve as a starting-point from which the par ties interested may hereafter more easily advance to an amicable adjustment ; and it is of especial value at this stage of the matter, because the rights of all to the area of land lying between the bounda- ries of the riparian proprietors of the city of Roxbury and the boundary of the city of Boston being as yet unsettled, a common plan of improvement can be more readily adopted than if said area The Stat^-House, Boston. 6 82 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. was definitively adjudged to be the prop- erty of either. “ In addition to the above, it seems to me that the peculiar tenure of this land if i he original interest of the state is doubtfully merged by specific grants and easements to various parties — renders it proper that the commonwealth, as sov- ereign, should still extend over it a pro- tecting arm, and so regulate its future oc- cupation as to make it, as far as is prac- ticable, an ornament to the metropolis, a pride to the city of Roxbury, and a scheme worthy the name and reputation of the state which grants it. “ Under this view of the subject, I have the honor to present to your board, and to make pait of your report, a plan simi- lar to that I lately offered for the exami- nation of the mayor and aldermen of the city of Boston, and which I beg you to regard as suggestive only, and as the basis, of a more detailed draught, to be worked out by others, for this valuable improvement. “ The principal features of the reser- vations proposed, and to be ordered by the state whenever the parties in interest — the Boston Water-power Company or others — shall apply for the right to fill up and use for building purposes the above- named area of land, are the following, namely : That a pond or lake of water, of not less than twenty-five acres of sur- face, be for ever kept open for public use and ornament, beginning at a point in the city of Boston where Boylston street, continued, terminates at the boun- dary line of the city in the receiving- basin of the Boston Water-power Com- pany, and extending in a westerly direc- tion until it reaches the western boundary of the flats claimed by the city of Roxbu- ry : that not. less than four public'squares, lying within the receiving-basin, and east- erly of the boundaries of the above-named riparian proprietors, and southerly and westerly of the Neck-lots and other lands near the boundaries of the city of Boston, of at least six hundred feet by four hun- dred, be laid out and for ever kept open for ornament and air : that all the prin- cipal streets shall be fifty feet wide : that no street shall be less than thirty feet wide : and that the whole shall be drained in a manner to be approved of by the cities of Roxbury and Boston. “ In my letter on the above subject, I j addressed to the mayor and aldermen I of the city of Boston, and dated J une | 11, 1849, the following suggestions were j made, viz. : ‘ That the Botanic (or pub- j lie) Garden should be extended some | hundreds of feet until it reaches a broad and circular avenue, enclosing within its area- from fifiy to seventy-five acres of water : the avenue to be at least one hundred feet wide on the top, and bor- dered on both sides by elms and other ornamental trees : the water of the lake to be supplied by an aqueduct from the flour and other mills on the cross-dam, and emptied into Charles river by a suf- ficient raceway: the depth of the lake to be three feet below low-water mark, and with a gravelled bottom : the flats to be filled up to a level with Charles 1 street, and laid out with public squares and other ornamental places, as shown on the plan. “ ‘ This project, if ever carried into effect, will give to the city, at a small comparative cost, a large amount of tax- t able property; an extensive and beauti- ; ful Botanic Garden, terminated by a lake of pure water, equal in size, or larger, than the present Common; and a broad and splendid promenade, not to be sur- passed by any in the world. “ ‘ The lake will be in itself an end- j less source of amusement to the public a fit place* for evening music, for boat- races and aquatic sports in the summer, • for skating exhibitions in the winter, and j for fireworks and other public displays I on the 4th of July and holydays. “‘In the hope that these suggestions may be of service, and if of no other use, perhaps the means of eliciting a more advisable mode of relieving the cij,y of a nuisance, and preparing the way for a more desirable embellishment of her pub- lic grounds, I have the honor of laying the plan before you.’ “ The same purpose which called forth | this letter still exists, and the same wish remains to see this improvement carried out. “ Should the state, as is believed, not contemplate a beneficiary interest in the 84 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. matter, but regard its right — be it more or i ess — only as a means of se‘eing jus- tice done to the public, then I can not doubt that it will readily approve the principles I have laid down in reference to a general jfl^^ > 3-ud even if it should determine otherwise, still the advantages of a preliminary movement of the kind herein suggested must be obvious to ev- ery thinking person who examines it. “ With great respect, l have the honor to be your obedient servant, “ David Sears. “Hon Simon Greenleaf, Chairman of Commissioners concerning Boston Harbor and Back Bay. ’ The advantages which will result from this improvement are incalculable. One benefit to the city will be, the creation of a large amount of taxable property at little or no expense to it, except drains and streets, while it will also benefit indi- vidually every real-estate owner, trader, and resident, in Boston. Whatever tends to beautify the city and render it more healthy, has the additional tendency to an increase of population and of busi- ness, thereby enabling all to share, in the advantages of such a scheme as. is now proposed. The water-works which have recently been completed at an immense cost, to furnish an unfailing supply of that important article to the whole popula- tion, present a strong inducement to fam- ilies to move into the city, and will be the means of keeping multitudes from seeking residences in the suburban towns and villages, in preference to the city, as was formerly the case on account of the difficulty of obtaining wholesome water in the latter. It is characteristic of the Bostonian to feel a just pride in the success of any measure which is designed to adorn his city, and make it more and moie truly “ the pride of New England. And this project is one that meets with so much favor, that it will undoubtedly at no dis- tant day be adopted, and thus place Bos- ton in the front rank of her sister-cities in point of health and beauty. The mansion of Mr. Sears, before re- ferred to, a view of which is on the oppo- site page, is in a plain, massive style of architecture, but has a light and pleasing effect, being constructed of white gran- ite, and having the front broken by two semi-circular projections, like round tow- ers, extending from the ground to the roof, and affording to the three stories abundant light, and commanding views of the beautiful and extensive scenery spread out around. In this vicinity are numerous fine and costly dwellings, the residences of dis- tinguished gentlemen — of the princely merchants, the Lawrences and Apple- tons — of the eminent lawyers, Choate, Otis, and Mason — of the historian Pres- cott ; and many others. Costly build- ings may likewise be seen on the several streets which have, chiefly within the last twenty years, been built up parallel and at right angles with the north line of the common, on the upper slope of Beacon hill ; but none surpass, in size or effect, the fine mansion depicted and described. There are several other edifices on dif- ferent sides of the common which merit more particular notice than we have room to give them. Park-street church stands on the eastern side, and is one of the old- est churches in the city. The Gothic ma- sonic temple and St. Paul’s church, on the south, and other places of worship of different denominations, are seen in the neighborhood, adding variety by their different forms and styles of architect ure. The Massachusetts General Hospital , with its two departments — its hospital for the sick and its asylum for the insane — is one of the largest and most impel-* tant of the charitable institutions of the state. It was incorporated in 1811. It was designed to afford relief to invalids, to reach the necessities of every class of persons, and to yield its benefits at the lowest possible rate. The act. of incor- poration granted to the hospital a fee simple in the old Province-house estate, on the condition that one hundred thou- sand dollars was raised within ten years. Special donations for this object, amount- ing to over one hundred and forty thou- sand dollars, were made in 1816, and the estates were purchased where the two departments of the institution have been located. Its endowments now amount to about one million of dollars. The hospi- tal for the sick, erected in a spacious en- closure of four acres in Allen street, is Residence of the Hon. David Sears, Boston Common. l l • 86 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. one of the most imposing edifices in Bos- ton. The asylum for the insane is beau- tifully situated on a rising ground within the quiet precincts of the adjoining town of Somerville. Nearly fourteen thousand patients have received the benefits of the former department of the institution, and more than thirty-three hundred have been inmates of the latter. The greatest dis- covery of the age— the power of produ- cing insensibility to pain — has gone forth from the one ; while the humane treat- ment, and the high professional skill, evinced in the other, have extended its reputation throughout the length and the breadth of the land, and gathered within its walls sufferers alike Irom the frozen north and the sunny south. One of its earliest and most active advocates was Dr. John C. Warren. He was appoint- ed acting surgeon on its first oiganiza- tion in 1817 ; and down to the present time, a period of thirty-four years, he has continued assiduously at his arduous post of duty and of honor. The New England Institution for the Education of the Blind is one of the largest and most prosperous establish- ments of the kind in the Union, and very liberally endowed by public and private donations. It was incorporated in 1829, and in 1833 was presented, by Thomas H. Perkins, with his valuable mansion- house in Pearl street, worth thirty thou- sand dollars, and by individuals with fifty thousand dollars. The Perkins mansion was subsequently exchanged forthe pres- ent edifice on Mount Washington, South Boston. Later donations have increased the funds of the institution. The Customhouse. — This building is located at the foot of State street, be- tween the heads of Long and Central wharves, fronting east on the dock be- tween them, and on the west fronting India street, which is its principal front. The building is in the form of a cross ; the extreme length is one hundred and forty feet, extreme breadth ninety-five ; the longest arms of the cross are seven- ty-five feet wide, and the shortest sixty- seven feet. The base of the building is nine feet high, the columns thirty-two feet, ent ablature ten and two thirds feet, pediment eight and one third feet, and dome at the intersection of the cross twenty-nine feet above that ; — making the whole height, from the sidewalk to the top of the dome, ninety feet. The style of architecture is the pure Gre- i cian Doric. Each front has a portico of six fluted Doric columns, thirty-two j feet high and five feet four inches in di- I a.meter, approached by a flight of four- , teen steps, which are equal in height to j the base of the building. The walls of j the building are composed of sixteen j three-quarter columns, four nearly full j columns at ihe corner, all of the same J height and diameter as those of the por- ticoes ; and four antae, thirty-two feet in height, five feet one inch by three feet eight inches at the intersection of the cross. The columns are each in one piece,. of highly-wrought granite, costing about five thousand dollars. The building is founded on about three thousand piles, driven in the most thor- ough manner; immediately on the heads of "these is laid a platform of granite, in ' the best hydraulic-cement mortar. The large central business-room is sixty-five by sixty-eight feet, and sixty feet high to the skylight of the dome, and is finished in a very elaborate manner in the Cor- inthian order. There are twelve fluted marble columns, three feet in diameter by twenty-nine feet high, highly wrought ; out of Egremont marble, having capitals of Italian marble, designed and wrought (j here, of the most chaste and classic chai- ! acter. The rest of ihe interior is finished ( in a plain and simple style, and fireproof throughout, having mostly stone floors, iron doors, &c. The building is warmed and ventilated by an apparatus, the heating being com- | bined with the ventilation, and effected in part by mechanical means. Faneuil-Hall Market .— This market is of granite, and has a centre building, , seventy-four and a half by fifty-five feet, with wings, extending in all five liundie and thirty-six feet, with a fine facade at j each end, with granite columns of single pieces, twenty-one feet highland weigh- ing each fourteen or fifteen tons. A row of granite buildings on each side, four stories high, for stores, is more than five hundred feet in length. The Custom House Boston. 88 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. Sons of Liberty 1766. Independence of their Country, 1776. Faneuil Hall. — This old building, so intimately associated with our revolu- tionary history, was erected in 1742, by Peter Faneuil, Esq., who presented it to the town of Boston. It was consider- ably enlarged in 1805, and the following are" its present dimensions : length, one hundred feet ; breadth, eighty feet; height, three stories; great hall in the second story, used for public meetings, seventy- six feet square, and twenty-eight high ; hall for military trainings, in the third story, seventy-eight feet by thirty. 4 he basement story is devoted to stoies. A broad staircase, entered from the east front, leads to the second and third sto- ries. The great hall has galleries on three sides, supported by Doric columns ; two rows of Ionic columns support the ceiling. Stuart’s portrait ol Washing- ton, and a portrait of its founder, orna- ment this fine hall. The Liberty-Tree. — The above en- graving of the Liberty-Tree, so famous in the revolutionary annals of Boston, as it appeared just previous to its destruc- tion by the British troops and toiies du j ring the siege of that town, in August, 1775, is copied from a bas-relief repre- sentation, placed, by the Hon. David Sears, in a niche of a block of fine build- , ings which he has recently erected up- | on the site of an old grove of elms, of ! which this tree was one. This sculptured j representation is placed exactly over the j spot where the Liberty-Tree stood. Why j can not the patriotic feeling and the prov- j ident care, which prompted this act on the part of Mr. Sears, be followed in rescuing from oblivion others of the ma- ny localities so interesting and so worthy of being held in perpetual remembrance, from their association with events during the most trying period of our country s history ? The silent though no less cer- tainly destructive hand of decay, and the improvements required by the rapid in- crease of population and settlement, m both country and city, are fast sweeping away every vesiige by which the locah- - ties so reverenced are recognised ; and he who sets up any landmarks by which Faiieail Hall. 90 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. they may be known, as Mr. Sears has done on the site of the Liberty-Tree, deserves and will receive the grateful thanks of posterity. The following letter from Mr. Sears to the mayor and city council of Boston, is so replete with interesting incidents connected with the history of this tree, that we can not repress the inclination to place it on record in the pages of this volume. We take it from a copy print- ed by order of the city council of Bos- ton, for the use of the members of the city government : — “Beacon Street, Boston, ? Sept. 29 . 1849 . $ “ To the Honorable the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Boston : — “Gentlemen: I have the honor to inform you that the old buildings at the corner of Essex and Washington streets have been removed, and that an exten- sive block of warehouses is being erected in their places, to cover the whole front of my estate on these two streets. “ As this site is somewhat remarkable in the history of Boston — it having sus- tained, and for more than a century nour- ished, a splendid American elm, known- and venerated as ‘Liberty-Tree’-— the present seems a fit occasion to bring it to your notice. “ The tree was supposed to have been planted in 1646, and was cut down by the British in 1775. La Fayette, in his visit to Boston, said, * The world should never forget the spot where once stood Liberty-Tree, so famous in your annals.’ “ In accordance with this sentiment, I have ventured to address this letter to you — to make record of certain facts, and to note the changed connected with this historic corner. And, believing that I shall respond to the general feeling of my fellow-citizens on this subject, I have caused to be sculptured, in bas-relief, a representation of this celebrated tree, with appropriate inscriptions, and have inserted it in that part of the building which fronts on Washington street, and directly over the spot where the tree it- self formerly stood. “ The following facts and reminiscen- ces 1 have gleaned from various auihori- ties — principally from Snow’s ‘ History of Boston,’ and from the public records of 1775. “ On the 22d of March, in 1765, the king of Great Britain gave his assent to the stamp-act. This act was extremely odious to the people, and the colonies ! regarding it as ‘taxation without repre- sentation,’ and therefore ‘ tyranny,’ were determined to oppose it. The citizens of Boston had some time before (in 1761) resisted, upon the same principle, anoth- er tyrannous act, called ‘ writs of assist- ance ;’ and the feeling, though somewhat allayed, was still warm in their bosoms, and ready to be brought into action. “ The colonies had earnestly and sep- arately remonstrated against the stamp- act. They looked upon it as the brass collar of servitude to be riveted on their necks, to mark them for the born serfs of George III. ; and this they would not submit to. Boston, in particular, showed a strong opposition to the act, and re- solved at all hazards to maintain her lib- erties and the privileges of the charter of Massachusetts ; though she well knew that, being no favorite in England, the vengeance of that mighty power would be chiefly turned against her in any con- test that might ensue. Her citizens, how- ever, undismayed in their purpose, while they felt that in the coming struggle were staked their property and their lives, did , not hesitate to venture both against un- jj lawful oppression. In this sentiment the ;> whole population were united; and the talents, the property, and the religion of Boston stood shoulder to shoulder in the subsequent terrific struggle between might and right. No boastful threaten- ings marked their course, but on they went as men — cool, determined, and in- flexible, straightforward to their end — the independence of their country. “ In the early history of Boston, it ap- pears that ‘ near the head of Essex street formerly stood a gfove of those majestic elms, of the American species, which form one of the greatest ornaments in the landscapes of our country. This giove had obtained the name of Hano- ver square, or neighborhood of the elms.’ “ Under one of these trees, and nearly opposite to the present Boylston market, the people of Boston assembled on the J DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. 91 14th day of August, 1765, and exhibited the first plain evidence of resistance to the oppressive course of their misguided fatherland. A single act of riot — the pulling down of a shed, supposed to have been erected for a stamp-office — marked this meeting, and for a time over- shadowed the holiness of their purpose. It proved, however, to be but the intoxi- cation of a moment, and was never re- peated.* The building was afterward, with an apology, paid for. The name of ‘ Liberiy-Tree’ was then given to this noble elm, and from that time it became ‘ a sort of idol to the people.’ Law and order, charter rights and property, were nourished at its roots, and liberty ripened under its spreading branches. On the 14th of February, 1766, it was pruned in the best manner, agreeably to a vote passed by the ‘ Sons of Liberty,’ an as- sociation long before known as a club of genilemen, united for mutual protec- tion, and to resist oppression, and which first assumed that name, and called upon the patriotic citizens of Boston to join them, in the early part of the preceding December. “The 20th of February of this 1766 had been agreed upon for burning one of the stamped papers in the principal towns in each of the colonies ; and in Bos- ton the ceremony was conducted with great decency and order. It also is re- corded that, on the 24th, a vessel having arrived from Jamaica with stamped clear- ances, the ‘ Sons of Liberty’ immediately sent an order to one of their members to go and demand in their names those marks of creole slavery. The person to whom it was directed went to the vessel, and, being told that the master had gone to the customhouse, followed him there — * when, upon the above order being shown, the stamped clearance was given up. It was then carried to King (now State) street, and publicly burned, a Son of Liberty standing by the paper while * The Sons of Liberty had no part in the destruc- tion of property at Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson’s house. Their rallying cries were “ Liberty and Prop- erty” — “ Law and Order” — but in this case they were overpowered by a mob of misguided men, led on by a rabble of boys and thieves. They always lamented the act as a disgrace cast upon the cause of freedom. — Ed. it was burning, and shouting to the crowd these words : “Behold the smoke ascends to heaven to witness between the isle of Britain and an injured people!” Three cheers were then given, and in a few minules every man, woman, and child, retired from the street without the least disorder and in silence.’ “ On the 15th of the following May, news was received of the repeal of the stamp-act. The joy of the inhabitants of Boston was great. The bells were rung from every church, and a cannon was fired under ‘ Liberty-Tree.’ The 19th was appointed a day of general re- joicing; ‘Liberty-Tree’ was decorated wiih flags and colors, and at the windows of the houses near it were clustered the daughters of our distinguished citizens, dressed in gay attire, and adorned with garlands of flowers. In the evening ‘ fire- works were everywhere played off — the air was filled with rockets, the ground with beehives and serpents. The gentry gave elegant entertainments, and Mr. Hancock treated the people with a pipe of Madeira.’ On the common, the Sons of Liberty erected a magnificent pyra- mid, illuminated with variegated lamps, and all was bright and joyous. At about midnight, at a signal given, and by beat of drum, the inhabitants quietly retired to their respective dwellings, the lights were put out, and the town was hushed in its usual silence. “ These rejoicings had been ushered in by a subscription for liberating all the poor persons confined in jail for debt, and thus enable them freely to partake of the general joy. “ The ministers of religion also bore their part in these scenes ; and the ser- mons of Drs. Mayhew, Chauncey, and others, were printed. “ In the month of August, 1776, this celebrated tree was cut dV>wn ‘ by the enemies of liberty and America, headed by General Gage.’ A parly, ai med with axes, made an attack upon it, and, after much labor, levelled it with the ground. A Son of Liberty, at Cambridge, gave public notice of its fall, and added these prophetic words : ‘ But, be it known to this infamous band of traitors, that the grand American tree of liberty, planted 92 DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. .in the centre of the united colonies of North America, now flourishes with un- rivalled beauty, and bids fair, in a short time, to afford under its wide-spreading branches a safe and happy retreat for all the sons, of liberty, however numerous and dispersed.’ “ What was then prophecy, has now become history. ‘‘Very respectfully, “Your obedient, humble servant, “ David Sears.” The AtJienceum, in Beacon street, is open daily to strangers introduced by members, and contains a valuable libra- ry of about forty thousand volumes, and about fourteen thousand coins and med- als. In the rear is the gallery of fine arts, with a collection of statues, paint- ings, &c. The Massachusetts Historical Society’s library is in Tremont street. Theatres. — The theatres of Boston are limited in number, and rather ordi- nary in appearance. They are as fol- lows : 1. The National theatre, corner of Portland and Travers streets. 2. The Boston theatre, formerly known as the Odeon, in Federal street. 3. The How- ard Athenaeum, in Howard street. Kim- ball’s museum, in Tremont street, is also open for theatrical performances. Boston Water- Works. — The Co- chituate aqueduct for the introduction of pure and wholesome water into the city was completed in 1848. The cost of construction was over three millions of dollars. The water is brought in an oval brick aqueduct, above six feet in height, about fourteen and a half miles from the Cochituate lake to Brookline, where it discharges itself into a reservoir of more than twenty acres in extent. From Brookline the water is forced by its own pressure through pipes of thirty and thirty-five inches in diameter, to the two reservoirs in the city. The one on Mount Washington, at South Boston, has a superfices of seventy thousand, and the other on Beacon hill of thirty-eight thou- sand feet. The latter contains, when full, three millions of gallons. This reservoir enables them to have a fountain on the common, which throws a jet to a great height. The two reservoirs will deliver to the city of Boston ten millions of gal- lons a day, of the purest and best water, decided by chymists to be equal to that of the Croton of New York. Public Schools. — The educational system of Massachusetts has been no- ticed on a previous page. The sums spent in the city of Boston alone for pub- lic instruction — larger than in all Great Britain — are almost entirely a voluntary offering. The laws of the commonwealth, even as early as 4647, it is true, require the support of public schools in all the towns within its jurisdiction ; but a sin- gle school will meet the demands of the law in most towns ; and in Boston itself, three schools and three teachers only would meet the intent of the statute : two of these must be teachers “ competent to instruct child ren in orthography, reading, writing, English grammar, arithmetic, and good behavior;” and the other must be “ a master of competent ability and good morals, who shall, in addition to the branches of learning before mentioned, give instruction in the history of the Uni- ted States, book-keeping, surveying, ge- ometry, and algebra ; the Latin and Greek languages, general history, rhetoric, and logic.” These three teachers might cost the city, at the present rate of salaries, about four thousand five hundred dollars, with the expense of interest for houses added ; in all, perhaps, seven thousand dollars. Instead, however, of being sat- isfied to fulfil the letter of the excellent law, the citizens of Boston take pride in supporting a Latin school, an English high school, twenty-two grammar-schools, and some two hundred primary schools, with a corps of three hundred and seventy teach- ers, whose combined salaries amount to a hundred and seventy-five thousand dol- lars. Add to this a million dollars vested in schoolhouses, besides apparatus and incidental expenses of superintendence, fuel, &c., and the sacrifice of property for the good of posterity stands forth without a parallel in the Union. Boston Asylum and Farm-School . — In 1813 several gentlemen formed a soci- ety for the relief and education of such boys as might be found destitute of pa- rental and friendly superintendence. In February, 1814, an act of incorporation DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS. 93 was granted them, and the society was organized, with the title of the “ Boston Asylum for Indigent Boys.” For many years it was located at the corner of Sa- lem and Charter streets, in the house for- merly occupied by Governor Phips. On the 9th of June, 1835, the boys, fifty-two in number, were removed to Thompson’s island, which is within the limits of the city, about four miles from the city-hall. A number ofgentlemen in Boston were desirous that an institution should be es- tablished there, to which children either already corrupted, or beyond parental control, might be sent without the inter- vention of a legal conviction and sen- tence ; and in which such employments might be pursued by the children as would make the institution, in the strict- est sense, a school of industry. A plan for this object was submitted to a fpw gentlemen, by whom it was approved and matured ; and a meeting was held in the hall of the Tremont bank on the 27th of January, 1832, when a board of directors was chosen. Subscription pa- pers were opened, and twenty-three thou- sand dollars were soon obtained. In the summer of 1833 following, Thompson’s island, containing one hundred and forty acres, was purchased for the objects of the institution ; and a building is now completed there, which, besides ample accommodations for the officers of the establishment, is quite sufficient for the charge of more than three hundred chil- dren. A suggestion having been made of the expediency of connecting the pro- posed farm-school with the asylum for indigent boys, conferences were held be- tween the directors of these ihstitutions ; and in March, 1S35, they were united under the style of the “ Boston Asylum and Farm-School.” The objects of the present institution are to rescue from the ills and the temp- tations of poverty and neglect, those who have been left without a parent’s care; to reclaim from moral exposure those who are treading the paths of danger; and to offer to those whose only training would otherwise have been in the walks of vice, if not of crime, the greatest bles- sing which New England can bestow upon her most favored sons. The occu- pations and employments of the boys va- ry with the season. In spring, summer, and autumn, the larger boys work upon the garden and farm. The younger boys have small gardens of their own, which afford them recreation when released from school. In the winter, most of them attend school. Their* library contains about fire hundred volumes. Bridges. — Some of the most striking objects in the neighborhood of Boston are the bridges which lead from it to various points. There are no less than seven principal ones, besides several branches. The expense at which they have been constructed, and are kept in repair, is very great ; and they furnish great facilities for strangers desirous of making excursions to the surrounding country. The Milldam bridge, or West- ern avenue, leading to Brookline, is one and a half miles long, and a part of the way one hundred feet wide. Charlestown was settled in the year 1628. It is the oldest town in Middlesex bounty, and one of the oldest in the state. It derives its name from King Charles I., the reigning sovereign of England at that time. The Indian name of the settlement was Miskawam. Charlestown is situated on a peninsula, with the harbor on the east; the Mystic river and Chelsea on the north ; Charles river on the south ; and on the west Som- erville, with which it is connected by a narrow strip of land called “ The Neck.” With Malden on the northwest, Charles- town is connected by a bridge 2,420 feet in length, opened for travel on the 23d of September, 1788. A bridge one mile in length leads from the navy-yard due north to Chelsea This was formerly the great thoroughfare from Boston to Sa- lem, via Chelsea and Lynn. Now the bridge is used for local travel only, the Eastern railroad being the usual means of conveyance to Lynn, Salem, Newbu- ryport, Nahant, thence to Portsmouth, Portland, &c. At Charlestown are the stateprison, conducted on the improved plan ; Bun- k’er-hill monument ; the United States navy-yard, with dry-dock, ship-houses, &c. ; and the M‘Lean insane asylum. Bunker-Hill Monument . — On the 17th of June, 1825, the fiftieth anniversary of the memorable battle of Bunker’s hill, the corner-stone of this monument was laid in an angle of the old redoubt on Breed’s hill, an inferior eminence behind Charlestown. The base, a mass of four- teen thousand tons’ weight, is laid thir- teen feet deep, and has six courses of stone to the surface, the first of which is fifty feet on each side. Above this a pyr- amidal obelisk, thirty feet square, rises tapering, two hundred and thirteen feet four inches on the ground, and fifteen feet at the top. It is composed of eighty courses of stone, each two feet eight inch- es thick. A winding stone staircase in the inside leads to the summit, whence the view is fine and highly interesting. The whole is built of Quincy granite. The largest block in it is said to be eleven feet long, two broad,' and two feet eight inches high, with a weight of ten tons. After the battle of Bunker’s hill, the continental troops were drawn in a more complete line around the town of Boston, which was still in possession of the Brit- ish, and numerous intrenchmenls may yet be traced out on most of the hills iti the vicinity; but it was not till General Washington had succeeded in occupy- ing Dorchester heights, which command the harbor and town from the southeast, that the British forces embarked in their ships and evacuated the place. . . j Dorchester heights were occupied on the night of March 4, 1776. Eight hun- dred men formed the van ; then followed carriages, and twelve hundred pioneers under General Thomas, three bundled carts of fascines and gabions, and guns in the rear. Two forts were formed by , ten o’clock at night — one toward the city, and the other toward Castle island. Preparations were made for an attack by the British, and for defence by the Americans ; but the weather prevented the designs of the former, consisting of ten thousand men, who, after pillaging the town, and providing for the removal of fifteen hundred resident loyalists, em- barked for New York, March 17, leaving behind a. quantity of ammunition, &c. # Villages. — The vicinity of Boston presents a succession of villages, prob- ably not to be paralleled for beauty in the United States. They are generally the residences of a number of the most opulent citizens during the pleasant sea- sons, and many of the buildings are fine and expensive. The grounds are also frequently laid out with great taste and highly cultivated; so that no stranger who has leisure should fail to take a circuit through them for a few miles. There are several manufacturing estab- lishments in this vicinity, among which Waltham is conspicuous. Nahant, fourteen miles northeast from Boston, is a very pleasant and favorite resort during the warm months, being a fine situation, open to the sea, of easy access by land and water, and furnished with several houses for the accommoda- tion of visiters, particularly a large ho- tel. A steamboat runs thither in the summer, and there is a fine road which passes round the bay, through the town of Lynn (celebrated for the manufacture of shoes), along Lynn heach, and then 1 turns off to the promontory of Nahant, which is a point of rough rocks of con- siderable elevation. The passage in the steamboat affords a fine view of Boston bay, with the city ; Dorchester heights on the south ; Bun- ker’s and Breed’s hills on the northwest ; and many other very interesting objects. Among the islands which form the de- fence of the harbor, is that which con- tains Castle William, besides one or two other fortified ones — Rainsford island, which has the marine hospital, part of it quite elevated, but containing only a few acres ; and another on which is the farm-school, an interesting institution for boys.