tribes fixed the extinction of their title at a breadth of 24 leagues 1802. from east to west, and about the same length, parallel with and including the Wabash. The Indians also ceded a tract of four miles square, including the Salt Springs, near the mouth of that river.1 The state of Ohio was admitted into the Union by an act of Ohio. congress. A convention of Ohio at Chilicothe in November settled a constitution for that state. The number of its white inhabitants, the next year, was estimated at about 76,000.2 A treaty was concluded and signed at Fort Wilkinson between Treaty. the United States and the Creek nation on the 16th of June. The Catawba Indians could scarcely number 60 men in the Catawba list of their warriors; or 200 persons in their whole nation. Indians. David Humphreys, late minister to the court of Madrid, im- Merino ported into New England 100 of the Merino breed of sheep sheep. from Spain, to improve the breed of that useful animal in his own country.3 Some were also imported by R. R. Livingston. The only manufactory of sheet copper in America was in Sheet copMassachusetts. per. A bridge was built over Connecticut river between Montague Bridge. and Greenfield. The revenue of the United States was nearly 15 millions of dollars; and the expenditures upward of 13 millions.* The value of the articles imported this year into the United Louisiana. States from Louisiana and the Floridas, was 1,006,214 dollars; the value of the articles exported to those places was above 1,100,000.5 South Carolina College was founded in Columbia, the seat Colleges. of the state government. Jefferson College was incorporated and established at Canonsburg in Pennsylvania. The Law Law Li Library in Philadelphia was established." The Massachu- brary. setts Baptist Missionary Society was instituted. The Boston Female Asylum was incorporated. 1 American State Papers, iv. 151. 9 Ohio was admitted into the Union 28 April, 1802; organized 3 March, 1803; divided into 18 counties in 1804. In 1803 it contained about 76,000 inhabitants. Harris's Tour. 3 For this patriotic act the Massachusetts Society for promoting Agriculture presented colonel Humphreys with a gold medal. 4 See TABLES. 5 The estimate is 1,124,710 dollars; of which 170,110 dollars worth only were domestic articles. 6 The assembly, in 1801, passed a law for building and endowing this college. The Rev. Dr. Maxcey, who had presided, with great reputation, over Brown University and Union College, was its first president. Ramsay, Hist. S. Car. ii. 361. 7 The Law Library was formed for the accommodation of the members of the bar, of whom the association consists. In 1824, it contained about 650 volumes. 1802. Publica tion. Washing. ton. Fires. Deaths. An experiment of literary fairs for the sale and exchange of books was made, but not extensively adopted. Mathematical and physical Essays, by Jared Mansfield of New Haven, were published. This was the first publication of an original work in the higher branches of the mathematics, by an American author. The city of Washington contained 4350 inhabitants. A fire broke out at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and consumed about 100 buildings. The college at Princeton in New Jersey was burnt. John Ewing died at Philadelphia, in the 71st year of his age;1 John Lowell, at Roxbury, in his 59th year;2 Samuel Phillips, at Andover, aged 50 years ;3 and George Richards Minot, at Boston, in his 44th year.1 1 The Rev. Dr. Ewing was minister of the first presbyterian church in Philadelphia, and provost of the college in that city. He was graduated at Princeton College in 1755, and was afterward a tutor in that seminary. He was an accurate and profound scholar, and had an uncommon talent for communicating instruction on the most abstruse and intricate subjects. 2 John Lowell, LL.D. the son of the Rev. John Lowell of Newbury, was graduated at Harvard College in 1760. Upon the new organization of the courts of the United States in February, 1801, he was appointed chief judge of the first circuit. Possessing a vigorous mind, which was enriched with acquisitions of science and literature, and especially with legal knowledge, he became eminent in the profession of the law. Uniting with integrity, an elevation of mind, a refined taste, and conciliatory manners, he was the delight of his friends, and an ornament of society. He was an original member of the American Society of Arts and Sciences, and an elected member of its first Council. His Eulogy upon its first president does honour to his talents and eloquence, while it does justice to the great man who was the subject of it. He was greatly respected and beloved; and his death was deeply lamented. 3 Samuel Phillips, LL.D. was the grandson of the Rev. Mr. Phillips of Andover, Massachusetts, and was graduated at Harvard College in 1771. He was a member of the provincial congress in 1775. In 1780, he assisted in framing the constitution of Massachusetts; and on its adoption, he was elected a member of the senate, of which he was afterward president from 1785 to 1801, when he was chosen lieutenant governor. As a statesman he was wise; as a patriot, disinterested; as a Christian, exemplary. To institutions for literary, religious, and charitable purposas, he was a friend and patron; to the academies of Andover and Exeter he was a liberal and distinguished benefactor. 4 Mr. Minot was born in Boston in 1758, and educated at Cambridge. In 1792 he was appointed judge of probate for the county of Norfolk, and several years afterward, judge of the municipal court in Boston. He was highly respected and esteemed for his mildness, candour, and moderation. A just portrait of his character was drawn by his friend Hon. John Quincy Adams, in an Address delivered soon after his death before the Massachusetts Charitable Fire Society. He there appears as an estimable man, an exemplary citizen, a good scholar, and an able historian. "As an historian, authenticity, impartiality, penetration, and sagacity, are obvious characters of his writings." His publications are: An Oration on the Boston Massacre, delivered in 1782; History of the Insurrections in Massachusetts, 1788; Address to the Mass. Charitable Fire Society, 1795; Eulogy on Washington, 1800; and Continuation of Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, 2 vols. 8vo. 1798 and 1803. Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. viii. 86-119. 1803. LOUISIANA was purchased of the French republic by the United April 30. States for 15 million of dollars. On a representation to the Louisiana purchased Spanish government of the injury done to the United States by by U.States. its officer, who had suspended the right of deposit at New Orleans, that right had been restored. The government, however, had been previously aware of the danger to which the public peace would be perpetually exposed, whilst so important a key to the commerce of the western country remained under a foreign power; and propositions had been authorized for obtaining, on fair conditions, the sovereignty of New Orleans, and of other possessions in that quarter. At this juncture, the government of France, perceiving the importance, to both nations, of such arrangements as might permanently promote their mutual peace, interests, and friendship, transferred to the United States, on certain conditions, the property and sovereignty of all Louisiana.1 ana. In execution of an act of congress for taking possession of Possession Louisiana, and for its temporary government, governor Claiborne, of Louisi of the Mississippi territory, and general Wilkinson, were appointed commissioners to receive possession. On their arrival at New Orleans, they found the province already delivered by the commissaries of Spain to the commissary of France, who delivered it over to them on the 20th of December. Governor Claiborne, being duly invested with the powers before exercised by the Governor and Intendant of Louisiana, assumed the government on the same day, and, for the maintenance of law and order, immediately issued a Proclamation, with an Address to the citizens of Louisiana.2 to U. States. This year, also, there was another important acquisition of Indian territory. The friendly tribe of Kaskaskia Indians, reduced by lands ceded wars and other causes to a few individuals who were unable to defend themselves against the neighbouring tribes, transferred its country to the United States; reserving only a sufficiency to maintain its members in an agricultural way. The stipulations on the part of the United States were, to extend to them patron 1 American State Papers. The instruments are dated 30 April, 1803. 2 Ibid. iv. 220-27. On the 16th of January, 1804, the American government at New Orleans received the orders of the French and Spanish commissioners for the delivery of the posts in upper Louisiana; and on the 8th of April, about 300 Spanish troops embarked from New Orleans for Pensacola, leaving a few officers and men in the city, the stores and magazines being still occupied by the French and Spanish governments; and on the 21st the prefect of France embarked. 1803. age and protection, and to give them certain annual aids, in Indian treaty. Com.Preble bombards Tripoli. American frigate taken. money, implements of agriculture, and other articles of their choice. This ceded country extends along the Mississippi from the mouth of the Illinois to and up the Ohio; and is estimated as "among the most fertile within our limits." 1 The governor of the Indiana Territory concluded a treaty with the Indians at Fort Wayne, by which nearly two million acres of land, chiefly in the neighbourhood of Vincennes, were granted to the United States. Commodore Preble, with an American fleet, bombarded the town and forts of Tripoli. The United States, it has been remarked, set the first example to the world, of obliging the Barbary powers to respect their flag by the force of arms, instead of a disgraceful tribute.2 The frigate Philadelphia, commanded by captain Bainbridge, struck on a rock in the harbour of Tripoli, and was taken by the Tripolitans; and her officers and crew, amounting to 300, were made prisoners. Harmony Botany. Academy. The Massachusetts Society for promoting Christian Knowledge was instituted. The Boston Female Asylum was incorporated. Elements of Botany, or Outlines of the Natural History of Vegetables, by professor Barton of Philadelphia, were published. Dr. Barton has the honour of being the first American, who gave to his country an elementary work on Botany." Bacon Academy was opened at Colchester in Connecticut. 1 American State Papers, iv. 200. 2 Coll. N. York Hist. Society, iii. 404. 3 They were afterwards joined by 90 families more. The settlers have since removed to Indiana. 4 Mr. Adams was born in Boston in 1722, and was educated at Harvard College, where he was graduated in 1740. The thesis which he maintained at the commencement in 1743, when he took the degree of master of arts, indicated the germ of his political character: "An supremo Magistratui resistere liceat si aliter servari republica nequit?" Affirmat Respondens, Samuel Adams. "Whether it is lawful to resist the supreme Magistrate, if the Commonwealth cannot otherwise be preserved?" Affirmed by Samuel Adams. When the trial came, he adhered to the principle. No man was more decided than he, in his resistance to the supreme magistrate when the safety of the Commonwealth required it. It was for his early and decisive resistance to the measures of the British government, that he was excepted with John Hancock, in Gage's proclamation," in the king's name," of a general pardon. In 1776, he was one of the Massachusetts delegates who signed the Declaration of Independence. On the adoption of the constitution of Massachusetts, he was chosen a member of the senate, of which body he was elected president. In 1789 he was chosen lieutenant govemor, as successor to governor Hancock. Mr. Adams was a man of incorruptible integrity, of Christian principles and profession, and of exemplary piety. UNITED STATES. 427 Samuel Hopkins, at Newport, Rhode Island, aged 83;1 David 1803. Tappan, at Cambridge, aged 51;2 Anthony W. White, a general officer in the revolutionary war, at Brunswick, in Pennsylvania; and John Barry, first commodore in the American navy, at Philadelphia. 1804. cede their THE Delaware Indians relinquished to the United States their Delawares native title to an extensive territory, east of the Mississippi. This lands to the tract contained all the country between the Wabash and Ohio, south U. States. of and including the road from the Rapids toward Vincennes ; for which they were to receive annuities in animals and implements for agriculture, and in other necessaries. This acquisition was considered important, not only for its extent and fertility, but because, by its fronting 300 miles on the Ohio, and nearly half that extent on the Wabash, the produce of the settled country, conveyed down those rivers, would no longer pass in review of the Indian frontier, but in a small portion; and because, with the cession recently made by the Kaskaskias, it nearly consolidated our possessions north of the Ohio, in a very respectable breadth from Lake Erie to the Mississippi. The Piankashaws, having some claim to the country ceded by the Delawares, were quieted by a fair purchase.3 The house of representatives in congress, on the 19th of October, resolved unanimously, "That this House is penetrated with a full sense of the eminent services rendered to his country, in the most arduous times, by the late Samuel Adams, deceased; and that the members thereof wear crape on the left arm for one month, in testimony of the national gratitude and reverence towards the memory of that undaunted and illustrious patriot." 1 The Rev. Dr. Hopkins was born at Waterbury in Connecticut, and was educated at Yale College, where he was graduated in 1741. He studied divinity with Mr. Edwards at Northampton, and in 1743 was ordained to the ministry at Great Barrington in Massachusetts. In 1769 he was regularly dismissed; and in 1770 was settled in the ministry at Newport, Rhode Island, where he continued until his death. He was an eminent divine, distinguished chiefly by deducing from certain doctrines of the Reformation, consequences which the Reformed churches had never admitted to be deducible from them. Allen, Biog. Life of Hopkins. 2 The Rev. Dr. Tappan was the son of the Rev. Benjamin Tappan of Manchester, in Massachusetts. He was educated at Harvard College, and in 1774 was ordained minister of the third church in Newbury. In 1792 he was elected professor of divinity in Harvard College, and inducted into office, the duties of which he performed with great ability and usefulness until his death. He was eminent for humility, meekness, and modesty; and he exemplified the benevolent spirit and fervid devotion, the Christian candour and kindness, which he uniformly taught and inculcated. He was always interesting as a preacher, and his works do honour to his understanding and to his heart. Beside many occasional sermons, published during his life, two volumes were printed from his manuscripts after his death; the one consisting of Sermons on Important Subjects, and the other, Lectures on Jewish Antiquities. 3 American State Papers, iv. 231. |