lished there by the late Judge Reed. A seminary for young ladies in this place, has acquired distinguished reputation. Pop. 4,458.

Several of the towns upon the borders of Long Island Sound are worthy of notice. Bridgeport and Norwalk maintain an active intercourse with New York, to which by means of steamboats and sloops, they send large quantities of produce. Stratford, Fairfield and Greenfield, may be ranked among the pleasantest towns in New England.

4. AGRICULTURE. The general fertility of the soil in this state, with the skill and care bestowed upon the cultivation of the land, has made some portions of it resemble a well cultivated garden. There are however considerable districts, which are barren and unproductive. On the whole, the farmers of Connecticut may be ranked among the first in the country for diligence, industry, and economy. To a high degree of skill in the art of husbandry, they add equal shrewdness in turning the produce of their farms to account. The chief articles of culture are maize, rye, wheat, oats, barley, buckwheat, flax, hemp, potatoes, pease, beans, &c. Orchards are numerous, and cider of the best kind is exported. The fine meadows and pastures enable the farmers to support great numbers of horses, neat cattle, and sheep. The farms are generally small, but seldom less than 50 acres.

5. COMMERCE. The vicinity of the great mart of New York, must prevent a large portion of the commerce of this state from centering within its own territory. Most of the foreign trade is therefore diverted to the New York market, but the coasting trade along the Sound is very active. The exports from Connecticut are much the same in kind, as from Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The shipping enrolled and licensed in 1827, amounted to 56,708 tons. The domestic produce exported in 1828, amounted in value to 493,925 dollars. The imports for the same year were estimated at 485,174 dollars. The Shad Fishery of Connecticut river furnishes a large amount of shad for exportation, and has a reputation above any other.

6. MANUFACtures. The value of the different manufactories in Connecticut, in 1826, was estimated at above 1,000,000 dollars, and the increase since that period has been very great. At Middletown, are many manufactories of cotton, woolen, paper, combs, rifles, pistols, swords, machinery, cards, &c. At Tarifville, are manufactories of cotton and carpeting. At Norwich, are manufactories of flannel, cotton, leather, paper, iron, &c. At Manchester, there are extensive cotton manufactories. Vast quantities of tin ware are made in various parts of the state, and sent to every town in the Union for sale. At Canton is a manufactory of axes, which have acquired a reputation over all others in the United States. An individual from Texas, recently informed the writer, that even in that country their superiority was well understood. Hartford is distinguished for the manufacture of books, chiefly for education, which are distributed over all parts of the Union, and occupy a large amount of capital.

At the distance of two miles from New Haven, on the road to Hartford, and situated at the foot of East Rock, is a gun factory, established by the late Eli Whitney, Esq. the inventor of the cotton-gin. For several years it has been occupied in manufacturing muskets for the United States. It is remarkable for the excellence of its internal arrangements, and the perfection of its various mechanical processes. The establishment forms a pretty village of small stone edifices, and has a quiet, tasteful aspect.

Wooden clocks form a very thriving branch of manufacturing industry in Connecticut. In the single town of Bristol above 30,000 clocks are made annually, and whole ship loads are exported at a time. Some of the clocks are of metal, and the whole bring an average price of 8 dollars each.

There are also, in different parts of the state, extensive manufactories of

dies in the hats, block-tin ware, and other things. There are a multitude of small establishments in different places devoted to the making of articles of various are worth kinds; these are separately of little account, but in the aggregate they are e with Ne important. The culture and manufacture of silk at Mansfield and the vicinrge quantity, are already considerable, and are increasing.

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7. INDIANS. There remain about 400 of the aborigines in Connecticut. The Mohegans are 300 in number, and have 4 or 5,000 acres of land, situated on the Thames, between New London and Norwich. At North Stonington, are 50 Pequods, who possess 300 acres. At Groton is another settlement. The state government has the care of them. They manufacture brooms, baskets, mats, &c. but are generally in a wretched condition, and are little disposed to receive instruction.

8. GOVERNMENT. The present constitution of Connecticut was adopted in 1818; before this time the state was governed according to the colonial charter. The legislature is called the General Assembly, and consists of a Senate and House of Representatives. The representatives are chosen in towns, according to numbers, and the senators by a general ticket. All elections are annual, and the qualifications for voting amount to universal suffrage. The executive branch consists of a Governor and Lt. Governor, chosen by the people. There is no religious test in office.

9. RELIGION. The Congregationalists have 236 ministers; the Baptists 78; the Methodists 40; the Episcopalians 58. There are a few Unitarians, and some Universalists, Catholics and Shakers.

10. EDUCATION. Connecticut has two colleges. Yale College, at New Haven, is one of the oldest in the United States. It was founded in 1701, and before its establishment in this place, was for a time fixed at Killingworth, and afterwards at Saybrook. It comprises at present, four buildings for students, a chapel and two other buildings for the laboratory and mineralogical cabinet. The observatory is built upon the model of the Tower of the Winds at Athens. The libraries contain 17,500 volumes, and the collection of minerals is the finest in the United States. A medical institution is connected with the college. The officers are a President and 14 professors and tutors. The students are 346. There is also a law school of high standing, nominally attached to the institution. There are 3 vacations, in January, May and September, amounting to 12 weeks. Commencement is in Sep

tember.

Washington College, at Hartford, was founded in 1826. It is under the direction of the Episcopal clergy. The buildings are two handsome stone edifices. The establishment has struggled with many difficulties, but is now under better auspices, and may be regarded as in a promising state.

At Hartford is the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, the first of the kind established in the United States. It has ample funds derived from lands granted by Congress. The indigent deaf and dumb of the New England states are sent hither at the expense of the several state governments. The course of instruction was begun in 1817. The number of pupils is about 130. At Litchfield, is a Law School established in 1784, and which has formerly possessed the highest reputation. At Colchester, is Bacon Academy, founded in 1801. It is supported by liberal funds. Schools of high charac ter exist in almost every large town.

With the means of common education, this state is more amply provided than any other in the Union. The Connecticut School fund, arising from the sale of western lands belonging to the state, amounts nearly to 2,000,000 dollars. The income of this fund is appropriated by the constitution of the state, to the support of primary schools, and is divided among the different counties, in proportion to the number of children.

11. HISTORY. Connecticut was originally a colony of Massachusetts: the Plymouth settlers despatched a company in 1633, who established themselves at Windsor, on Connecticut river. The Dutch from New York had previously built a fort at Hartford, and considered the English as intruders, although Lords Say, and Seal, and Brook, with other persons, had obtained a grant of the territory from the Plymouth Company in England. Other settlers shortly arrived from Massachusetts, and laid the foundation of Hartford, in 1636. At first, the authority of Massachusetts was acknowledged, but in January 1639, a separate government and constitution were agreed upon at Hartford, and the claim of the Plymouth colony was purchased. Another colony was soon after planted at New Haven, by emigrants from England. Both these colonies were involved in constant disputes with the Dutch settlers at New York; but in 1650 a treaty of partition was concluded, which removed all differences, and during the war between England and Holland, which immediately followed, the colonies agreed to remain at peace.

A royal charter was granted to Connecticut by Charles II.; this compre. hended New Haven, but for several years the people of that settlement refused to consent to an union. Their reluctance was overcome in 1665, and from that period one government prevailed in Connecticut. James II. annulled the charter in 1686, and Andros who had been appointed Governor of New England, was sent to assume the Government. He repaired with a body of troops to Hartford, where the Assembly was in session, and demanded the charter. The Assembly hesitated, and put off his demand till the evening, when the instrument was bought formally into the hall and laid upon the table; but the lights were suddenly extinguished as if by concert, and the charter conveyed away. It was concealed in a hollow tree in the town, which is still pointed out to visitors as the Charter Oak. Andros ruled the state arbitrarily, till deposed by the people of Boston in 1689, when the charter was resumed, and the state government was administered according to its forms till 1818.

1. BOUNDARIES AND EXTENT. The six New England states extend from 41° to 47° 20' N. lat. and from 71° 50 to 73° 45′ W. lon. They contain about 63,000 square miles, and are bounded on the N. and N. W. and N. E. by the British territories, E. and S. by the sea, and W. by New York.

2. MOUNTAINS. New England is distinguished for a surface of infinite variety. Mountains in condsiderable ranges, bold spurs and solitary eminences rising from the New Haven bluffs of 400 feet to the lofty grandeur of Mount Washington, are everywhere dispersed. Beautiful swells of land in every form are innumerable. None of the mountains reach the height of perpetual snow, and none are utterly sterile or inaccessible. The ancient forests still clothe their sides, but the industry of the cultivator is only necessary to render them productive. Their outline is in general somewhat rounding and tame, and except in the loftier regions of the White Mountains and perhaps some of the unexplored eminences of Maine, they exhibit none of those astounding precipices, deep and gloomy ravines, abrupt elevations and towering peaks, which invest the Alps and Andes with sublimity.

3. VALLEYS. The only extensive valleys are on the banks of the large rivers. They are all of very unequal breadth, and consist of a flat alluvion now cleared of trees, and commonly of a fertile soil. The valley of the Connecticut, by far the most extensive in New England, is a tract of land extending from Long Island Sound to Hereford mountain in Canada, five miles beyond the 45th degree of lat. In the largest sense, it is from 5 to 45. miles in width, and its surface is composed of a succession of hills, valleys and plains. The interval lands begin about 12 or 14 miles from the mouth of the river. These are formed by a long and contiuued alluvion. The

tributary streams of the Connecticut run every where through a soft and rich soil, considerable quantities of which, particularly the lighter and finer particles, are from time to time washed into their channels, by occasional currents springing from rains and melted snows. Wherever the stream moves

with an uniform current these particles are carried along with it; but where the current is materially checked, they are in greater or less quantities deposited. In this manner a shoal is formed at first, which afterwards rises into dry land; this is almost invariably of good quality, but those parts which are lowest are commonly the best, as being the most frequently overflowed, and therefore most enriched by successive deposits of slime. Of these parts, that division which is farthest down the river is the most productive, consisting of finer particles, and being more plentifully covered with this manure. In the spring these grounds are almost annually overflowed. In the months of March and April, the snows, which in the northern parts of New England are usually deep, and the rains, which at this time of the year, are generally copious, raise the river from 15 to 20 feet, and extend the breadth of its waters in some places a mile and a half or two miles. Almost all the slime conveyed down the current at this season, is deposited on these lands, for here, principally, the water becomes quiescent, and permits the earthy particles to subside; this deposit is a rich manure; the lands dressed with it are preserved in their full strength, and being regularly enriched by the hand of nature, cannot but be highly valuable. Nor are these grounds less distinguished by their beauty. The form of most of them is elegant; a river passing through them becomes almost of course, winding; the earth of which they are composed is of a uniform texture, the impressions made by the stream upon the border are also nearly uniform; hence this border is almost universally a handsome arch, with a margin entirely neat, and very commonly ornamented with a fine fringe of shrubs and trees. Nor is the surface of these grounds less pleasing; their terraced forms and undulations are eminently handsome, and their universal fertility makes a cheerful impression on every eye. A great part of them is formed into meadows which are here more profitable, and everywhere more beautiful than lands devoted to any other culture; here they are extended from 5 to 500 acres, and are everywhere covered with a verdure peculiarly rich and vivid. The vast fields also which are not in meadow, exhibit all the productions of the climate, interspersed in parallelograms, divided only by mathematical lines, and mingled in a charming confusion. In many places, large and thrifty orchards, and everywhere forest trees standing singly, of great height and graceful figures, diversify the landscape. Through its whole extent this valley is almost a continual succession of delightful scenery. The Connecticut is one of the most beautiful rivers in the world; the purity, salubrity and sweetness of its waters, the frequency and elegance of its meadows, its absolute freedom from aquatic vegetables, the enchanting elegance and grandeur of its banks, sometimes consisting of a smooth and winding beach, here covered with rich verdure, there fringed with bushes, now crowned with lofty trees, and now formed by the intruding hill, the rude bluff, and the shaggy mountain; these are objects which no description can equal.

4. RIVERS. Few countries are better watered than New England. There is scarcely a farm without a brook, mill-stream or river. These rivers are remarkable for flowing over different levels. Water-falls are abundant. There is not a brook or river whose course is not broken by them, and many of the streams are little more than a succession of cataracts. The falls are most numerous toward the heads of the streams. None of them are remarkable for height, but some are highly picturesque.

The currents of the rivers are rapid, and their waters remarkably clear.