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1818.

Deaths.

Alabama.

Arkansaw.

Arthur St. Clair died, in the 84th year of his age;1 Caspar Wistar, in his 57th year;2 Daniel Boon, the first discoverer and settler of Kentucky;3 and Joseph M'Kean, at the age of 42 years.1

1819.

THE Alabama territory was admitted, as a state, into the Union.

The Arkansaw territory was erected into a territorial government by an act of congress.

1 Major general St. Clair was born in Ireland, and came to America with admiral Boscawen in 1755. He was a lieutenant under general Wolfe at Quebec.

2 Dr. Wistar was a man of deep and various learning, and eminent for his knowledge of medicine and anatomy. The leading trait in his character was benevolence. He held an extensive correspondence with literary men, and was a member of several of the most learned societies. He was a distinguished lecturer in the University of Pennsylvania. In 1795 he was elected vice president of the American Philosophical Society, and on the resignation of Mr. Jefferson, in 1815, he was elected its president. On the death of Dr. Rush, he succeeded him as President of the Society for the Abolition of Slavery. “ Anatomy was Wistar's forte, but he was well versed in Chemistry, Botany, Mineralogy, and History, in all its branches. As an author, he has not left much behind him." Soine of his essays are in the Transactions of the College of Physicians, and in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. "His most considerable work is his System of Anatomy."-Memoirs of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, and Thacher's Medical Dictionary.

3 See 1773.-The State, after the lapse of 45 years from the first plantation of colonel Boon, contained a population of more than half a million souls.

4 The Rev. Joseph M'Kean, D.D. LL.D. was born in Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1776. His father was a native of Edinburgh, and came to America in 1763. The son was educated at Cambridge, where he was graduated in 1794. After a preparatory course of theological study, he was ordained pastor of the church in Milton, in 1797. A long and dangerous sickness, commencing with a pulmonary affection in 1803, left him in such a state of debility, that he was induced to ask a dismission from his pastoral charge, which he obtained, with an honourable recommendation, in 1804. Although his health was still delicate, his active mind was ardently directed to literary and useful employment; and being elected Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory in Harvard College, he accepted the office, and was inaugurated in 1809. After an assiduous, punctual, and faithful discharge of the duties of the professorship for six years, his health began to decline, and he at length sought relief in the warm climate of Havana. In a land of strangers, he was invited to the house of Mr. Carson, formerly of Boston, where he received affectionate and unremitted attentions, which soothed and comforted his last hours. He died at Havana, in the full possession of his mental powers, and with unshaken trust in the mercy of God, through the merits of his Son. He was buried there, with appropriate funeral solemnities; and his aged father caused a monumental stone to be erected over his grave. Respected by the literary community for his talents and active usefulness, and endeared to his family and friends by his social and Christian virtues, and his exemplary piety, he was alike honoured and lamented in his early exit. The Univer sity testified its high respect for his character, and grief for his premature death. An Eulogy was pronounced in the college chapel by one of the Professors, who, from a long and mutual intercourse of mind and affection, was able to do justice to his character.-Sketch of the Life and Character of Dr. M'Kean, in 2 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. viii. 157-167. Professor Hedge's Eulogy.

1819.

A treaty for the cession of the Floridas to the United States by Spain was signed at Washington on the 23d of February, n and ratified by the United States; but in August, the king of Floridas. Spain refused to ratify it.

Vandalia, the seat of government of the state of Illinois, and Vandalia. Catawba, the seat of government of Alabama, were laid out.

Catawba.

A treaty was concluded at Edwardsville, Illinois, by commis- Indian sioners of the United States, and the chiefs and warriors of the treaties. Kickapoo tribe of Indians, by which they ceded all their lands west of the Wabash river, with an additional tract, and received in exchange a tract of land on the Osage river, to which they were immediately to remove.-A treaty was made by governor Cass with the Chippewa Indians, who ceded to the United States a large tract of land in the territory of Michigan; making many reservations in favour of certain chiefs. In consideration of this cession, the tribe is to receive an annuity of 1000 dollars in silver, for ever.1

The case of Dartmouth College was decided in the Supreme Case of Court of the United States. It was considered as a case of great Dartmouth College. importance to the literary and charitable institutions of our country, and the decision of it was regarded as highly auspicious to their future stability. In June, 1816, the legislature of New Hampshire made an act to amend the charter and enlarge and improve the corporation of Dartmouth College, and two additional acts in December. The original charter of 1769 had appointed 12 trustees to compose the corporation, expressly providing that it shall for ever afterwards consist of 12 trustees and no more; but the first of these legislative acts makes the trustees under the charter, and 9 other individuals to be appointed by the governor and council, a corporation by the name of "The Trustees of Dartmouth University," and to this corporation transfers all the property, rights, powers, and privileges of the old corporation. The last of these acts authorizes the treasurer of the plaintiffs to retain and hold their property against their will. The Trustees of Dartmouth College, believing these acts to be a violation of their charter, commenced an action against the treasurer; but the Superior Court of New Hampshire adjudged the acts to be valid in law, and binding on the Trustees of the College. Regarding those acts as repugnant to the constitution of the United States, and void, the Trustees appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. The decision of the court was: That the Charter granted by the British crown to the Trustees of Dartmouth College, in 1769, is a contract within the meaning of that

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1819. clause of the Constitution of the United States, which declares that no state shall make any law impairing the obligation of contracts; That the Charter was not dissolved by the revolution; and, That an act of the state legislature of New Hampshire, altering the Charter without the consent of the corporation, in a material respect, is an act impairing the obligation of the Charter, and is unconstitutional and void.1

S. Carolina.

Steam ship. Antiquarian Society.

Harvard
College.

The legislature of South Carolina passed an act, constituting a Board of Public Works.2

The first steam ship sailed for Europe in May.

A neat and convenient edifice was erected in Worcester, Massachusetts, for the library and cabinet of the American Antiquarian Society, at the expense of Isaiah Thomas, the first president of the Society.

A Professorship of Sacred Literature was established in the University of Cambridge, and Andrews Norton, A. M. was inauYale Col- gurated Dexter Professor.-The College Hall of Yale College was built. It contains a room for the mineralogical cabinet.3

lege.

Mission to
Sandwich
Islands;

W. Asia.

Maryland.

Deaths.

A Mission Church was formed at Boston for the Sandwich Islands; two missionaries were ordained; and on the 23d of October the missionary family embarked at the Long Wharf for the place of destination.-The first missionaries for Western Asia embarked at Boston.

The Maryland Economical Association was formed at Baltimore, for the encouragement of American Manufactures and domestic economy.

William Samuel Johnson died at Stratford, aged 93 years ;*

1 Wheaton's Reports, vol. iv. Constitutional Law. Report of the Case of the Trustees of Dartmouth College against W. H. Woodward, by Timothy Farrar, Counsellor at Law. This "Report" makes a volume of more than 400 pages, containing the Charter of 1769; the Acts of the Legislature; the Arguments in the Courts; and the Opinions and the Judgments of the State Court, and of the Supreme Court of the United States.

2 The Board was placed under the presidency of Mr. Poinsett, on whose motion. in December, 1818, the legislature passed a resolve, directing" the civil and military engineer of the state to devise and adopt all such means as he shall deem expedient for opening certain rivers, therein specified."

3 A Professorship of Chemistry and Natural History was founded in Yale College in 1802. It was afterwards called the Professorship of Chemistry and Mineralogy. The mineralogical collection of colonel Gibbs, which had been deposited several years in the college, has been purchased for the institution. This collection contains from 12 to 13 thousand select specimens. Beside the Gibbs collection, there are about 6000 minerals belonging to the cabinet.

4 William S. Johnson, LL.D. was the eldest son of the Rev. Dr. Johnson, first president of the College in New York. He was educated at Yale College, where he took the degree of bachelor of arts in 1744. At the bar he was an eminently graceful speaker and able advocate, and soon rose to the highest professional reputation. After passing with honour through almost all the respectable offices of the colony, he was sent to England in 1766 by the colonial legislature of Connecticut, as their agent extraordinary for the purpose of arguing before

Hugh Williamson, at New York, in his 85th year;1 Caleb
Strong, at Northampton, aged 75 years;2 John Langdon, at

the royal council a great land cause of the highest importance to the colony. He remained in England until 1771, and during this period the University of Oxford conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Civil Law, and he was elected a member of the Royal Society. Some time after his return, he was appointed one of the judges of the Superior Court of Connecticut. He also represented the state for some years under the old confederation. He was sent as a delegate from his native state to the Convention for forming a new constitution for the United States, and was elected a member of congress on the first organization of the new constitution. In 1792 he was elected President of Columbia College, and he continued to fill that statlon with great dignity and usefulness until 1810. New York Spectator, 19 November, 1819.

1 Hugh Williamson, M.D. LL.D. was a native of Pennsylvania, and was educated in the College of Philadelphia, where he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts at the first commencement in 1757. At the first institution of the University of Pennsylvania, he performed the duties of professor of mathematics in that seminary; and, in conjunction with Rittenhouse, Ewing, and Smith, he was appointed by the American Philosophical Society to observe the transit of Venus in 1769. The account of their joint labours appears in the Transactions of that Society. He was in England in 1772; and it has been said, on respectable authority, that he was the person from whom Dr. Franklin received the famous letters of Hutchinson and Oliver. He resided several years in North Carolina, from which state he was a delegate in the convention which formed the constitution of the United States, and a member of congress before and after its adoption. He was a member of many literary societies in Europe and America, and published many medical and philosophical essays in the public journals. In conjunction with Dr. Franklin and others, he frequently instituted electrical experiments. A paper containing the result of his investigations on this subject, entitled " Experiments and Observations on the Gymnotus Electricus, or Electrical Eel," was first published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. His most important publications are, The History of North Carolina, in 2 volumes, published in 1812, and an Essay on the Climate of the United States.-Collections of New York Historical Society, vol. iii, containing a Biographical Memoir of Dr. Williamson, by Dr. Hosack, delivered before the N. York Hist. Society. The subject of the Hutchinson Letters is examined in the North American Review (new series), ii. 34—37.

2 Caleb Strong, LL.D. was born at Northampton in 1744, and educated at Harvard College, where he was graduated in 1764. He established himself in the practice of law in his native town. At the commencement of the revolution, he took an early and decided part in the cause of liberty, and in 1775 was appointed one of the committee of safety, and in 1776 chosen a delegate to the state legislature. In 1779 he was a member of the convention which formed a constitution for the state; and on the organization of the government under it, was chosen a member of the senate. Two years afterward he was appointed to a seat on the bench of the supreme court, but declined the office. In 1787 he was chosen a member of the convention which framed the constitution of the United States, and also of the state convention appointed to sanction that constitution, and exerted himself to procure its acceptance. When the new government became organized, he was chosen a member of the senate of the United States. In 1800 he was chosen governor of Massachusetts, and he continued in the office seven years. He was again elected in 1812, and he retained the station until 1816, when he retired to private life. He possessed a vigorous understanding, and an excellent judgment, and was an accomplished scholar, jurist, and statesman. In the various and important offices which he sustained, he distinguished himself by his intelligence, wisdom, uprightness, patriotism, and fidelity, and was justly ranked among the ablest and most useful of his contemporaries. In private life he was equally eminent for his social virtues, benevolence, and piety.

1819.

1819. Portsmouth, aged 79 years;1 Jesse Appleton, aged 47;2 and commodore Perry, in the West Indies.

Maine.

vention.

Slave trade

with death.

1820.

THE District of Maine was separated from Massachusetts, formed into a distinct state, and admitted into the Union. On Mass.Con- this occasion, a convention of delegates from the towns in Massaachusetts met in Boston, to revise the Constitution of the State.3 Congress enacted, that if any citizen of the United States, punishable being of the ship's company of any foreign ship or vessel, engaged in the slave trade, or any person whatever being of the crew or ship's company of any ship or vessel, owned by or navigated for any citizens of the United States, shall on foreign shore seize any negro or mulatto, not held to service or labour by the laws either of the states or territories of the United States, with intent to make him a slave, or shall decoy or forcibly bring or receive him on board with such intent, he shall be adjudged a pirate, and on conviction shall suffer death.

Census. Celebration at Plymouth.

The population of the United States, by census, was 9,708,135. This year completed the second century since the settlement of New England. The commemoration of the Landing of the Fathers was celebrated at Plymouth on the 22d of December, by the Pilgrim Society, joined by the Massachusetts Historical, and the American Antiquarian Societies, and attended by a vast concourse of people. A Discourse, "in Commemoration of the First Settlement of New England," was delivered in the Old Church, by the Hon. Daniel Webster, with thrilling effect. The day, the occasion, the hallowed place, the surrounding ob

1 John Langdon, LL.D. was distinguished by his activity in the cause of liberty during the revolution. He was chosen a delegate to congress in 1775; and was afterward a member of the state legislature, and speaker of the house of representatives. In 1784 he was elected president of the state, and continued in office until 1788, when he was a delegate to congress, and a member of the convention which formed the constitution of the United States. Under this constitution he was appointed one of the first senators from New Hampshire. In 1805 he was elected governor, and continued in office three years; and was again elected in 1810.

2 The Rev. Dr. Appleton was born at New Ipswich, New Hampshire, in 1772, and graduated at Dartmouth College in 1792. Having studied theology under the direction of the Rev. Dr. Lathrop of West Springfield, he was ordained to the ministry in Hampton, New Hampshire, in 1797. In 1807 he succeeded the Rev. Dr. M'Keen in the presidency of Bowdoin College, and greatly contributed by his learning, talents, and wisdom, to the advancement of that rising institution. While respected for his talents and accomplishments, he was esteemed for his virtues and piety. He published occasional tracts and sermons; and 2 volumes of his lectures, sermons, and addresses have been printed since his death.

3 The Convention met on the 27th of November, and rose on the 9th of January.

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