length. Here the sides of the canal are secured by walls of stone, and the high banks are in some places thatched with straw to prevent their washing into the canal. E. of this spot, the canal is carried through deep marshes; the foundation and embankments were executed at great expense. At every half mile, are recesses for the passing of vessels, where the width of the canal is increased to 110 feet. At its junction with the Delaware, is an artificial harbor, or large basin of a semicircular shape. This canal was begun in 1823, and completed in 6 years, at the cost of more than two million of dollars, of which sum the United States government subscribed 450,000; Pennsylvania 100,000; Maryland 50,000; and Delaware 25,000. The navigation upon it is great and increasing.* 3. TOWNS. The largest town is Wilmington, in the northern part of the state, between the Brandywine and Christiana, a mile above their confluence, and two miles W. of the Delaware. It stands on a pleasant slope of ground, and is regularly laid out; the houses are mostly of brick. It contains 10 churches; a town house; an almshouse; three banks; an arsenal of the United States, and a public library. The commerce of the place is considerable, and the river admits vessels drawing 14 feet of water, to come up to the town. There are two bridges over the Brandywine and Christiana. The surrounding country is pleasant, and within a short circuit, contains 50 flour mills, and a large number of manufactories. Pop. 6,628. Dover is the capital of the state, and is situated on Jones's Creek, 7 miles from its entrance into Delaware Bay. It is a small, but regularly built town, consisting of four streets running at right angles. The houses are principally of brick. The State House fronts upon a neat square in the centre of the town. Dover has a flourishing trade, chiefly in flour. Newcastle, upon the Delaware, in the northern part of the state, was once the capital, and enjoyed considerable trade. The city of Delaware, which has just been laid out at the mouth of the canal below, will probably soon become a flourishing town, and absorb much of the commerce of the state. 4. AGRICULTURE. Wheat is the chief article of cultivation. The flour made here is of a superior quality, and is highly esteemed for its softness and whiteness. Maize, rye, barley, flax, buckwheat, potatoes, &c., also receive attention. In the S. are some fine grazing lands, which support considerable numbers of cattle. 5. COMMERCE. There is little foreign commerce, but there is a considerable trade in the export of flour, and timber from the swampy districts of the S. The shipping in 1828, amounted to 13,213 tons. 6. MANUFACTURES. Though small in extent, and the smallest of the states in population, Delaware has important manufactures. The chief of these are at Wilmington and in the neighborhood, and are devoted to the making of cotton and woolen goods, paper, gunpowder, snuff, &c. Some * During the year ending June 1, 1831, there were employed between Philadelphia and the ports on Chesapeak Bay and its waters, in the transportation of passengers and merchandize upon this canal, 2 lines of steamboats, and 7 lines of packets. There were also, in the same time, according to official report, the following number of passages through the canal. 1,230 packets with merchandize. 600 vessels with wood, carrying 13,332 cords. 272 vessels, arks, and rafts, with lumber, carrying 7,118,734 feet. 294 vessels with flour, carrying 246 vessels with wheat, corn, &c., carrying 101,462 barrels. 2,638 vessels with cotton, iron, oysters, fish, whiskey, &c.-making a total of 5,280 passages. The tolls during the year amounted to 62,223 dollars. The great expense of keeping this work in repair will probably prevent its ever yielding much revenue to the proprietors. of the largest and finest flour mills in the country, are in this vicinity. The manufacture of iron in the southern part was formerly extensive, but it has lately declined. 7. GOVERNMENT. A General Assembly, consisting of a House of Representatives and Senate, compose the legislature. The Senate has 9 members, elected every three years; the house 21 members, elected annually. The governor is chosen for three years. Elections are popular, and suffrage is universal. Delaware has but one representative in Congress. 8. RELIGION. The Methodists have 15 ministers; the Presbyterians 10; the Baptists 9, and the Episcopalians 6. 9. EDUCATION. Delaware has no college. There is a common school fund, belonging to the state, yielding a yearly revenue of 9,225 dollars. The income also of 25,000 dollars invested in the Chesapeak and Delaware canal, is appropriated to the purpose of education. În 1829, a law was passed, establishing a system of common schools. 10. HISTORY. The first settlement in this state was made at Fort Christiana on the creek of that name by the Swedes and Finns, in 1627, under the auspices of Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden. This monarch named the country Nova Suecia, and for some time it went by the name of New Swedeland. In 1655 the colony was subjected by the Dutch of New York, and after the conquest of that territory by the English, in 1664, it was annexed to the colony of New York. In 1682, it was granted as before stated together with Pennsylvania, to William Penn, but was separated from that state in 1701. The two colonies however were under one governor with distinct legislatures till 1776, when Delaware adopted a new constitution, vesting the executive power in a President and privy council. The present constitution was established in 1792. 1. BOUNDARIES AND EXTENT. Maryland is bounded N. by Pennsylvania; E. by Delaware and the ocean; S. and W. by Virginia. It lies between 38° and 39° 44' N. lat. and 75° 10′ and 79° 20′ W. lon., and contains 10,800 square miles. 2. MOUNTAINS. The narrow strip of territory, belonging to this state, which extends to the W. along the northern bank of the Potomac, is crossed by the Apalachian mountains, but their extent is so small as not to require notice. 3. RIVERS. The Potomac divides this state from Virginia; it rises in the loftiest region of the Apalachian mountains, near the Alleghany ridge, and flows southeasterly into Chesapeak Bay. It is 550 miles long, and 7 miles wide at its mouth. The tide water reaches 300 miles from the sea, and there is a good ship navigation for nearly the whole of that distance. Washington, Alexandria and Georgetown are situated upon this river. Three miles above Washington the navigation is interrupted by falls. The Susquehanna comes into this state from Pennsylvania, and empties into Chesapeak Bay. The Patapsco is a small river, navigable from its mouth to Baltimore. The Severn is another small stream, on which Annapolis stands, two miles from its mouth. The Patuxent is 110 miles long, and is navigable nearly half its course. All these rivers enter the Chesapeak from the W. On the opposite side are Chester River, the Choptank and the Nanticoke, which are navigated by small water craft. 4. ISLANDS. The Bay of Chesapeak contains many islands within the limits of Maryland. Kent Island on the E. side of the bay, opposite Annapolis, is 12 miles long. The Tangier Islands lie farther down the bay. On the sea-coast is the island of Assatiegue, 20 miles long and two broad. 5. BAYS AND HARBORS. The northern half of Chesapeak Bay is contained in this state. The whole bay is 270 miles in length, and from 7 to 20 miles wide, and generally 9 fathoms deep; it is narrowest in the northern part. It contains many fine harbors, and is highly favorable to navigation. 6. CLIMATE. The summers in this state are hot, moist, disagreeable and anhealthy; agues and intermittent fevers prevail, and the inhabitants have a sickly complexion. These remarks apply more particularly to the southern regions of the state, and especially to those parts on the eastern shore of the Chesapeak. As Maryland lies not only farther S. than Pennsylvania, but is also a lower, and more level country, it will be readily seen that the winters must be considerably milder; yet the Potomac at Washington is usually frozen in January. Throughout the whole state, the weather is subject to sudden changes. 7. SOIL. There is little rocky territory in the state, but there are many tracts of thin unproductive soil. Much of the land however is well adapted to the culture of wheat and tobacco. Kitchen vegetables in great perfection, are produced in the vicinity of Baltimore. 8. GEOLOGY AND MINERALS. Nearly the whole state is of alluvial formation, composed of clay, gravel, sand, shells and decayed vegetable substances. The small portion of mountainous country in the northwest has the general character of the eastern Apalachian region. Coal is abundant in this quarter, and bog iron is found in many places toward the South. POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY. * 1. DIVISIONS. Maryland has 19 counties, and in common language is considered as comprising two great divisions, separated by the Chesapeak, viz. the Eastern Shore, and the Western Shore. The population is 446,913, of which 102,878 are slaves. 2. CANALS. The Port Deposit Canal is 10 miles in length, passing along the Susquehanna. The Chesapeak and Ohio Canal is designed to unite the Potomac at Washington with the Ohio at Pittsburg. It will be 360 miles long, and 60 feet wide. Its course is along the northern bank of the Potomac, through the mountains, by a tunnel 4 miles in length, and down the rallies of the Youghiogeny and Monongahela to the Ohio. It was begun in the eastern part, on the 4th of July, 1728. The United States Government have subscribed 200,000 dollars towards it. 3. RAILROADS. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad is designed to extend from Baltimore to Pittsburg, above 300 miles. A portion near Baltimore is already completed, and cars are now in operation upon it. A mile and a half from the city is the Carrollton Viaduct, 312 feet in length, and 40 feet high, built of granite, with an arch of 80 feet over a stream running into the Patapsco. Two other viaducts are in the same neighborhood, one of Prince George's St Mary's Washington. * Eastern Shore. Caroline Cecil Dorchester Kent Queen Anne's Somerset Talbot Worcester Western Shore. Alleghany Anne Arundel Baltimore Charles Frederick Hartford Montgomery which is 375 feet long, and crosses the Patapsco on 4 arches. Besides these several other viaducts, bridges, embankments, &c. are already completed. When this great work is finished, the whole distance from Baltimore to Pittsburg will be travelled, according to the present expectations, in 30 hours with horses, and in 20 hours by steam power. The Carrollton viaduct is The Baltimore and Susquehanna Railroad will extend from this city to York Haven on the Susquehanna, 60 miles. It is already begun. 4. CITIES AND TOWNS. Baltimore, upon the Patapsco, 14 miles from the Chesapeak, is a large city, and the chief commercial mart for all the country upon the bay and its waters. It is finely situated, and regularly built, chiefly of brick; the public buildings and monuments indicate by their splendor a high degree of wealth and enterprise in the inhabitants. The Catholic Cathedral is an edifice in the Ionic style, 190 feet long and 177 wide, surmounted by a dome and cross which rise to the height of 127 feet. It has some fine paintings, and the largest church-organ in the United States, containing 6,000 pipes. The Merchants' Exchange is 255 feet in front, and contains a hall, 86 feet in length, lighted from a dome, 90 feet above the floor. St Paul's church, the Unitarian church, the court house and the Union bank are also elegant buildings ers. Two splendid public monuments particularly attract the attention of strangThe Washington Monument consists of a base 50 feet square and 23 feet high, supporting a column, 20 feet in diameter at the base, and diminishing to 14 feet at the top; on the summit rests a colossal statue of Washington, at a height of 163 feet from the ground. The Battle Monument commemorates the defeat of the British, in their attack on the city, in September, 1814; it is 55 feet high. Both of these monuments are of white marble. There are also four handsome public fountains, which furnish a copious supply of pure water. The trade of Baltimore is great, and it may be considered the best flour market in the world. In commerce it is the third city in the United States. The harbor is good, although vessels larger than 200 tons, cannot ascend below the lower suburb, called Fell's Point; this is separated from the city by a small stream, over which there are several bridges. The shipping of Baltimore amounted, in 1828, to 106,303 tons. There are within 20 miles of the city, above 60 flour mills, one of which has ground 32,000 barrels in a year; within the same space, there are also 12 cotton manufactories, and various others of cloth, powder, paper, iron, copper, glass, steam-engines, chemical works, &c. Baltimore has two colleges, 45 churches, two theatres, and a public library. It was founded in 1629, but for thirty years it could boast of no more than 25 houses and two vessels. Since the revolution, however, it has grown with astonishing rapidity, and at the last census, contained 80,625 inhabitants. The neighborhood is pleasant, and the land rises in successive elevations, affording variegated and extensive prospects. Annapolis, on the western shore of the Chesapeak below Baltimore, is the seat of government. It has a harbor formed by the river Severn, and is a handsome and regular city, with streets diverging from a common centre, occupied by the capitol, a large and handsome edifice. It is not, however, a place of any trade. Pop. 2,623. Fredericktown, on the eastern side of the Chesapeak, is pleasantly situated and regularly built. It has a considerable trade in flour and grain. Pop. 4,427. Hagerstown, in the northern part, is a place of some trade, with a fertile and productive country around it. Pop. 3,371. 5. AGRICULTURE. Wheat and tobacco have hitherto been the staple articles of Maryland. But within a few years, cotton has been introduced, and the culture has succeeded remarkably well. The general state of agriculture is less thriving than in those parts of the Union already described; yet there is much attention paid to it as a science. At Baltimore is a journal devoted to the interests of husbandry, which has recently produced the best effects. The Hessian fly often commits such ravages in this state, that the farmers plough up their wheat lands, and sow them with maize. 6. COMMERCE. The Chesapeak and its rivers afford a ready medium for the exportation of all the productions of the state, and no part of it lies beyond the reach of an advantageous market. The exports of flour and tobacco form the principal trade. In 1830, there were inspected at Baltimore, nearly 600,000 barrels of flour. The shipping of the state in 1828, amounted to 170,937 tons. The imports, to 4,804,135 dollars. The exports of domestic produce, to 3,662,273 dollars; total exports, 4,804,465 dollars. 7. MANUFACTURES. Most of the manufactures of the state are in the neighborhood of Baltimore, as already mentioned. There are various manufactures in other parts, of iron ware, glass, paper, calicoes, carpeting, &c. An association called the Maryland Institute, have undertaken the encouragement of domestic industry, by annual exhibitions at Baltimore. 8. GOVERNMENT. The legislature consists of a Senate and House of Delegates. The senators are chosen for 5 years, by electors, who are chosen by the counties and the cities of Baltimore and Annapolis. The delegates are elected annually. The Governor is chosen annually by the legislature, and there is an executive council chosen by the people. Suffrage is universal. The state expenses for 1828, were 268,875 dollars. Maryland sends 9 representatives to Congress. This is the only state north of the Potomac, that permits by its laws, the holding of slaves. * 9. RELIGION. The Roman Catholics are numerous in this state, and they have an archbishop, who is the metropolitan of the United States; their churches amount to 30 or 40. The Episcopalians have 57 preachers; the Presbyterians 17; the Baptists 12; the German Reformed 9. There are also Methodists, Unitarians and Swedenborgians. 10. EDUCATION. The University of Maryland grew out of a medical college at Baltimore, and received its charter in 1812. It has 11 instructers. St Mary's College at Baltimore, is a Catholic institution, founded in 1799; it has 18 instructers, 147 students, and a library of 10,000 volumes. The By this we mean, that in all the states north of the Potomac, slavery is abolished, and when the few slaves still living there are dead, there will be no more slavery in Laose states. |