therein, and some discreet person, well instructed in the Latin, Greek, and English languages, procured to keep the same, and be suitably paid by the inhabitants. The penalty for neglect of schools, in towns of 50 families, is 101.-those of 100 families, 201.—of 150, 301.

In Boston there are seven public schools, viz. one Latin grammar school, three English grammar schools, and three for writing and arithmetic, supported wholly at the expense of the town; in these schools, the children of eve ry class of citizens (the black excepted) freely associate.

Besides these, there are many private schools, for instruction in the English, Latin, and French languages in writing, arithmetic, and the higher branches of mathe matics and also in music and dancing. There is probably not a town in the world, the youth of which enjoy the benefits of school education more fully than in Bos

ton.

Next to these in importance, are the academies, of which there are about 20 in the state. In these the sciences are taught, and youth fitted for the university.

Harvard University, at Cambridge, with respect to its library, philosophical apparatus, and professorship, is the first literary institution in the United States. It consists of five handsome brick edifices, the names of which are, Harvard Hall, Massachusetts Hall, Hollis Hall, Holden Chapel, and Stoughton Hall. Harvard hall is divided into six apartments; one of which is appropriated for the library, one for the museum, two for the philosophical apparatus; one is used for the chapel, and the other for a diring hall. The library of this college contains upwards of 12,000 volumes. It has a president, and professor in divinity, mathematics, natural philosophy, surgery, theory, and practice of medicine, rhetoric and oratory, and natu ral history.

At Williamstown, in Berkshire county, is another literary institution, called Williams College. The languages and sciences usually taught in the American colleges are taught here, and the institution is flourishing.

Sciences. The literary, humane, aud other societies of Massachusetts are numerous. They are, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; the Massachusetts Charitable Society; the Boston Episcopal Charitable Society s

the Massachusetts Medical Society; the Society for propagating the Gospel among the Indians and others in NorthAmerica; the Massachusetts Missionary Society; the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; the Hampshire Missionary Society; the Evangelical Missionary Society; the Massachusetts Society for promoting Agriculture; the Historical Society; the MarineSociety of Boston, Salem, and Newburyport; the Massachusetts Congregational Society; the Scotch and Irish Charitable societies; the Massachusetts Charitable Fire Society; the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Associa tion; the Boston Dispensary, for the Medical Relief of the poor; the Boston, Salem, and Newburyport Female Asylums; the Boston Athenæum; and some others.

Chief Towns BOSTON, the capital of Massachusetts, lies in latitude 42° 32′ north. It is built on a peninsulá of an irregular form, at the bottom of Massachusetts bay, The isthmus, which joins the peninsula to the continent; is at the south end of the town, and leads to Roxbury. The length of the town itself is not quite two miles. Its breadth is various. It contained, in 1800, 24,937 inhabitants. In 1810, 33,250.

In Boston are twenty-one houses for public worship; of which, nine are for Congregationalists, three for Epis copalians, three for Baptists, one for Friends, one for Universalists, one for Roman Catholics, two for Methodists, and one for Africans.

The other public buildings are the state house, court house, gaol, Faneuil hall, a theatre, an almshouse, and a powder magazine. On the west side of the town is the mall, a very beautiful public walk, adorned with rows of trees, and in view of the common, which is always open to refreshing breezes.

The harbor of Boston is safe and large enough to contain 500 ships at anchor, in a good depth of water; while the entrance is so narrow as scarcely to admit two ships abreast.

The principal manufactures here are rum. beer, paper hangings, of which 24,000 pieces are annually made, loaf sugar, cordage, cards, sail cloth, spermaceti and tallow M

candles and glass. There are 30 distilleries, 2 breweries, 8 sugar houses, and 5 ropewalks.

SALEM, the second town for size, and the oldest, except Plymouth, in the commonwealth, containing, in 1810, 12,613 inhabitants, was settled in 1628, by Governor Endicot. Here are a meeting of Quakers, an Episcopal church, and five Congregational societies. The town is situated on a peninsula, formed by two small inlets of the sea, called North and South rivers.

Southeast from Salem, and at four miles distance from it, lies MARBLEHEAD, Containing in 1810, 5900 inhabitants, one Episcopal and two Congregational churches. The chief attention of this town is devoted to the bank fishery.

NEWBURYPORT, originally a part of Newbury, from which its incorporation detached it in 1764, and by which and Merrimac river it is wholly encircled, is the most limited, in its extent of land of any town, in the Commonwealth, containing but about 640 acres. Here are 6 houses for public worship, viz. one Episcopalian, three Presbyterian, and two Congregational. In 1813, it had 7634 inhabitants.

IPSWICH in the county of Essex, 32 miles north northeast from Boston, is divided into four parishes, and contained in 1810, 3569 inhabitants. The supreme judicial courts, the courts of common pleas, and sessions, are held here once in a year.

CHARLESTOWN lies north of Boston, with which it is connected by Charles river bridge, and is the principal town in Middlesex county. It is very advantageously situated for navigation, trade, and manufactures of almost every kind. Bunker's, Breed's, and Cobble, (now Pleasant) hills, celebrated in the history of the American Revolution, are in this town. One of the principal navy yards in the United States is established here, in which a marine hospital has been built, which cost 14,000 dollars. In another part of the town, the state has erected a Penitentiary. Charlestown, in 1800, contained 2751, and in 1810, nearly 5000 inhabitants.

CAMBRIDGE and CONCORD are the most considerable inland towns in the county of Middlesex; the former is 3

miles from Boston, is a pleasant town, and the seat of the University. The latter is 18 miles northwest of Boston. The Provincial Congress sat in Concord, 1774. This town is rendered famous in history, by its being the place where the first opposition was made to the British troops, on the 19th of April, 1775.

PLYMOUTH, the chief town in the county of the same name, and the capital of the Old Colony, so called, is 40 miles southeast of Boston, and contains about 200 houses. It is famous for being the place first settled by the pious ancestors of the New-Englanders, in 1620.

WORCESTER, the shire town of the county of that name is the largest inland town in New-England; it is 47 miles westward of Boston.

On Connecticut river, there are a number of pleasant towns; among which, are Springfield and Hadley, on the east side of the river; NORTHAMPTON, the shire town of Hampshire county, Hatfield, and Deerfield, on the west.

Islands. PLUM ISLAND is about 9 miles long, and one broad, extending from Merrimac to Ipswich rivers, and separated from the main by a narrow sound, called Plum Island river. It consists principally of sand, blown into curious heaps, of 10, 15, and 25 feet high, and crowned with bushes, bearing the beach plum. On the north end are two light houses. Near the shore of the island, the Humane Society of Newburyport have erected huts, for the relief of shipwrecked mariners. In the season when the plums are ripe, the island is the resort of the neighboring inhabitants, and, for a few days, exhibits a scene of lively amusement.

NANTUCKET ISLAND lies south of Cape Cod It contains 23,000 acres, including the beach, and constitutes one county by the name of Nantucket. It has but one town, called Sherburne, containing in 1810, 6807 inhabitants. There is not a single tree on the island of natural growth. The inhabitants carry on a considerable whale fishery. They are mostly Quakers; there is one society of Congre-gationalists.

MARTHA'S VINEYARD, a little to the westward of Nantucket, is 19 miles long, and 4 broad. It contains three societies of Congregationalists, two of Baptists, and three of Indians, one of which was till lately, supplied by an

ordained Indian minister. This and the neighboring isl ands of CHAPPAQUIDDIC, NOMAN'S ISLAND, and the ELIZABETH ISLANDS, constitute Duke's County, containing, in 1810, 3290 inhabitants, 320 of whom were Indians and mulattoes, subsisting by agriculture and fishing.

Edgarton, which includes the fertile island of Chappa qiddic, about three or four miles long, and one and a half broad, is the shire town. The principal productions of the island are corn, rye, and oats. They raise sheep and cattle in considerable numbers.

RHODE ISLAND.

Extent. THIS is one of the smallest of the United States, its greatest length being 47 miles, and its greatest breadth 37, containing about 1300 square miles.

Boundaries. Bounded north and east by Massachusetts; south by the Atlantic ocean; west by Connecticut.

Divisions and Population. The above limits comprehend the territory formerly known by the name of Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations; divided into five counties, viz Newport, Providence, Washington, Bristol, and Kent, which are subdivided into 30 towns.

The number of inhabitants in 1800, was 69,122, of whom 280 were slaves; in 1810, 79,931.

Face of the Country. This state is hilly, though there are no very high mountains: in the northwese parts, it is rocky and barren, and more fit for pasture than for tillage. The most remarkable mountain is Mount Hope, in the town of Bristol, the seat of the famous Indian king PHILIP, and the place where he was slain by Colonel Church.

Bay and Harbors. Narragansett Bay makes up between the main land on the east and west; and embosoms many fertile islands. The harbors are those of Newport, Providence, Wickford, Patuxet, Warren, and Bristol.

Rivers. Providence and Taunton rivers fall into Narragansett bay; the former on the west, the latter on the