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TOPOGRAPHICAL AND STATISTICAL

OBSERVATIONS.

MAINE.

THE recent agitation of the public mind, growing out of the unsettled boundary question in this state, has given to Maine an unusual degree of interest. Great Britain claims about one third of the whole surface of this state, upon the ostensible plea, that she is rightfully entitled to it by virtue of treaty to that effect, but doubtless, in reality, that she may secure a direct land communication between her provinces on the Atlantic and the Canadas; and evidently, as it is believed, in contravention of former treaties on this subject.

Lumber constitutes one of the principal productions of the state. The value of lumber cut and sawed annually, is estimated at ten millions of dollars; the yearly value of wool grown, is about two millions; that of lime manufactured in the state, one million; annual value of manufactures, ten millions; upward of fifty thousand tons of shipping are annually built.

Be

There is in the valley of the Kennebec a fine wheat tract. sides lumber, lime, and wool, beef, pork, butter, pot and pearl ashes, dried and pickled fish, hay, marble, firewood, &c. are exported. The constitution amply provides for the support of public schools, and for the encouragement and endowment of academies, colleges, and seminaries of learning.

NEW HAMPSHIRE.

There is a great variety of soil in this state, much of it may be said to be fertile, but perhaps generally better adapted to grazing than tillage. Agricultural pursuits constitute chiefly the occupation of the inhabitants; and horses and cattle, beef, pork, butter, cheese, lumber, fish, pot and pearl ashes, &c., are largely exported. The state yields a very fine granite, which is extensively quarried, and affords an excellent material for building. There are some large manufacturing establishments, chiefly in the southern part of the state. Portsmouth has one of the finest harbors in the world, affording forty feet of water at low tide, easily accessible, and completely landlocked. Common schools are established by law throughout the

state.

VERMONT.

A large proportion of the soil in this state is fertile, and fitted to the various purposes of agriculture; and this is the chief employment of the inhabitants. Iron is found in great abundance, and is extensively wrought; also marble of good quality is quarried and carried out of the state. Horses and mules are sent from this to other states, and to the West Indies. A number of cotton manufactories are in operation. Domestic fabrics of linen and woollen are made in almost every family. In the state a council of censors is chosen once every seven years, for the term of one year, by the popular vote. It is their duty to examine whether there have been any violations of the Constitution, and whether the legislative and executive branches have done their duty, and also to propose any alterations in the Constitution. Towns are divided into districts, each of which is required by law to support a school at least three months during the year.

MASSACHUSETTS.

This is, indeed, a noble state; and taken as a whole, the best cultivated state in the Union. Its legislature and agricultural societies have made great efforts to encourage a skilful and thrifty husbandry; but its most important branches of productive industry are the fisheries, navigation, commerce, and manufactures. The shipping belonging to this state amounts to about half a million of tons, being greater than that of any other state, and nearly one third of the whole tonnage of the country. In this state the first blood was shed in resisting the oppressive acts of the mother country, and which ultimately led to the triumphant achievement of American Independence and being noted as it is for its extraordinary attention to the education of its citizens, will doubtless be the last to submit to oppression from any other quarter.

RHODE ISLAND.

This, although the smallest state in the Union, is not less noted for the enterprise, intelligence, patriotism, and sound morals of its citizens, than are the larger states of the confederacy—the climate healthy as that of any part of America. Commerce, the fisheries, and manufactures, rather than agriculture, constitute the principal occupation of its inhabitants. The annual value of imports is upward of half a million of dollars, principally derived from the whale fishery. Here are some large cotton and woollen mills, bleacheries, calico-print works, iron_foundries, machine shops, tanneries, &c.a silk manufactory in Providence-and lace is made in Newport. In fact, no state in the Union has so large a proportion of its population and capital employed in manufactories as Rhode Island. Ten thousand dollars a year is appropriated by the state for the support of common schools. There are in the state three hundred and twenty-three free schools, with nearly twenty thousand pupils.

CONNECTICUT.

Soil generally productive, but not highly fertile, being better adapted to grazing than tillage. Fine rich meadows, however, adorn its rivers, particularly on the Connecticut and Housatonic. The farmers of this state are distinguished for their skill and industry, and much care has been bestowed upon the cultivation of the land; it resembles, in many parts, a well cultivated garden. Considerable attention has been paid to the cultivation of the mulberry tree; and the breeding of silk-worms successfully prosecuted. The fisheries are carried on with enterprize, and some fifteen thousand tons of shipping employed in the whaling business. The manufactures are of great value, but being principally in the hands of the people, there are few large establishments. The income from the common school fund (about two millions of dollars) is appropriated to that highly important object, the education of its children.

NEW YORK.

Appropriately denominated the "Empire State," being the most flourishing, wealthy, and populous of the Union. Unsurpassed in the natural advantages of its soil, internal navigation, and easy access to the sea, public works, executed on a scale of imperial grandeur, it exhibits one of those amazing examples of growth and prosperity that are seen nowhere on the globe, beyond our own borders. To describe the varied beauties of its diversified scenery, its inexhaustible mineral resources, the extent of its agricultural productions, its numerous and flourishing manufactories, its magnificent public works, its great commercial operations, (New York city being after London the greatest commercial emporium in the world) its noble institutions liberally endowed, and established for the promotion of the fine and useful arts and sciences, its ample provision for the moral culture of its inhabitants, its generous contributions towards ameliorating the condition of the helpless and destitute, the general intelligence, and enterprising public spirit of its citizens, would require a volume of no ordinary dimensions. In illustration of this last particular, it may be stated that the great fire of December, 1835, destroyed six hundred and fifteen houses, and property to the amount of about eighteen millions, and that the buildings were mostly rebuilt within eight months after the event.

NEW JERSEY.

A very considerable portion of this state, namely, that part extending from the Raritan and Trenton to Cape May, being a great sandy plain, is unadapted to the prominent agricultural staples of wheat, &c. Its extensive pine forests, however, afford supplies of fuel to the numerous furnaces of the state, and find a ready market in the large adjacent cities. Some tracts, moreover, are found to

produce abundance of fine fruit, particularly the peach, and vegetables, that yield a profitable return in the New York and Philadelphia markets. But the middle section is the most highly improved and wealthy part of the state. Valuable iron ores and other minerals abound in this state. Several thousand manufacturing establishments, of various kinds, are vigorously prosecuted. The value of the iron manufactures is estimated at nearly two milions of dollars annually. Many eminent men have gone forth from Nassau Hall, Princeton; and several high schools and academies adorn the state, but primary education has been too much neglected.

PENNSYLVANIA.

The central position of this great state, its wealth, its natural resources, its grand artificial flues of communication, and its population, make it one of the most important in the Union, and have obtained for it the honorable distinction of being denominated the "Key Stone of the Arch." Like Virginia, it stretches quite across the great Appalachian system of mountains. Distinguished topographers have boldly asserted that it may be doubted whether a more widely diversified region exists on the face of the earth, than Pennsylvania, or one of similar area on which the vegetable and mineral productions are more numerous; and, it may be added, the climate of which is more congenial to health. Besides marble, which it produces of a beautiful variety and excellent texture, the state abounds with iron and anthracite coal in quantities literally inexhaustible. This highly favored state is, moreover, emphatically congenial to wheat, and admits a wide diversity of vegetable productions, embracing, in fact, (with the exception of rice) the entire catalogue of cerealia cultivated in the United States. Manufactures are also carried on in great variety and extent, many of which are of superior excellence. Improvements for internal intercommunication have been executed on a grand scale, extending over broad and rapid rivers, through rugged defiles, and over lofty mountains. Pennsylvania has the honor of having constructed the first turnpike in the United States. Philadelphia, the most regularly laid out, and handsomely built city in the world, is second only to New York in population, and while it is inferior only to that city and Boston (on this continent) in commerce, it yields to none in the Union in the wealth, enterprise, and intelligence of its citizens. Time would fail to describe the number and excellence of its literary and benevolent institutions. Free schools abound in the city, and the legislature in its wisdom has not very long since perceived the importance and propriety of extending them throughout the state. There are nine hundred and thirty-three school districts, of these, eight hundred and forty have accepted the provisions of the law for their support. During the past year, there were in these accepting districts, three thousand seven hundred and fifty-eight male teachers, one thousand nine hundred and seventy-four female teachers, five thousand two hundred and sixty-nine schools, one hundred and twenty-seven thou

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