Each of the counties fends four Reprefentatives to the Houfe of Delegates, befides which the city of Annapolis, and town of Baltimore, fend each two, making in the whole 76 members.

Climate.] Generally mild and agreeable, fuited to agricultural productions, and a great variety of fruit trees. In the interior hilly country the inhabitants are healthy; but in the flat country, in the neighbourhood of the marshes and ftagnant waters, they are, as in the other fouthern ftates, fubject to intermittents.

Bays and Rivers.] Chefapeek-Bay, as we have already hinted, divides this ftate into the eaftern and western divifions. This Bay, which is the largest in the United-States, was particularly defcribed, page 47. It affords feveral good fisheries; and, in a commercial view, is of immenfe advantage to the ftate. It receives a number of the largest rivers in the United-States. From the eastern fhore in Maryland, among other fmaller ones, it receives Pokomoke, Choptank, Chefter, and Elk rivers. From the north the rapid Sufquehannah; and from the weft, Patapfco, Severn, Patuxent and Patomak, half of which is in Maryland, and half in Virginia. Except the Sufquehannah and Patomak, these are small rivers. Patapfco river is but about 30 or 40 yards wide at the ferry, juft before it empties into the bafon upon which Baltimore ftands. Its fource is in York county, in Pennfylvania. Its course fouthwardly, till it reaches Elkridge landing, about 8 miles weftward of Baltimore; it then turns eaftward, in a broad bay-like ftream, by Baltimore, which it leaves on the north, and paffes into the Chefapeek.

The entrance into Baltimore harbour, about a mile below Fell's-Point, is hardly piftol-fhot acrofs, and of courfe may be eafily defended against

naval force.

Severn is a fhort, inconfiderable river, paffing by Annapolis, which it leaves to the fouth, emptying, by a broad mouth, into the ChefapeckBay.

Patuxent is a larger river than the Patapfco. It rifes in Ann Arundel county, and runs fouth-eastwardly, and then eaft into the bay, 15 or 20 miles north of the mouth of Patomak. There are feveral finall rivers, fuch as Wighcocomico, Eaftern Branch, Monocafy, and Conegocheague, which empty into Patomak river, from the Maryland fide.

Face of the Country, Soil, and Productions.] Eaft of the blue ridge of mountains, which ftretches across the western part of this ftate, the land, like that in all the fouthern ftates, is generally level and free of ftones; and appears to have been made much in the fame way; of course the foil must be fimilar, and the natural growth not noticeably different.

The foil of the good land in Maryland, is of fuch a nature and quality as to produce from 12 to 16 bushels of wheat, or from 20 to 30 bushels of Indian corn per acre. Ten bushels of wheat, and 15 bushels of coru per acre, may be the annual average crops in the itate at large.

Wheat and tobacco are the ftaple commodities of Maryland. Tobacco is generally cultivated by negroes, in fetts, in the following manner: The feed is fowed in beds of fine mould, and tranfplanted the beginning of May. The plants are fet at the diftance of 3 or 4 feet from each other, and are hilled and kept continually free of weeds. When as many leaves have thot out as the foil will nourish to advantage, the top of the

plant

plant is broken off, which prevents its growing higher. It is carefully kept clear of worms, and the fuckers, which put out between the leaves, are taken off at proper times, till the plant arrives at perfection, which is in Auguft. When the leaves turn of a brownish colour, and begin to be fpotted, the plant is cut down and hanged up to dry, after having fweated in heaps one night. When it can be handled without crumbling, which is always in moift weather, the leaves are ftripped from the ftalk, tied in bundles, and packed for exportation in hogfheads containing 8 or 900 pounds. No fuckers nor ground leaves are allowed to be merchantable. An industrious perfon may manage 6000 plants of tobacco, (which yield 1000lb.) and four acres of land.

In the interior country, on the uplands, confiderable quantities of hemp and flax is raifed. As long ago as 1751, in the month of October, no lefs than 60 waggons, loaded with flax feed, came down to Baltimore from the back country.

Among other kinds of timber is the oak of feveral kinds, which is of a ftrait grain, and eafily rives into ftaves, for exportation. The black walnut is in demand for cabinets, tables, and other furniture. The apples of this state are large, but mealy; their peaches plenty and good. From thefe the inhabitants diftil cyder brandy, and peach brandy.

The forefts abound with nuts of various kinds, which are collectively called Maft. On this Maft vaft numbers of fwine are fed, which run wild in the woods. Their fwine, when fatted, are caught, killed, barrelled and exported in great quantities. Douglas fays, that in the year 1733, which was a good mafting year, one gentleman, a planter and merchant, in Virginia, falted up 3000 barrels of pork.'

To an

Population and Character.] The population of this state is exhibited in the foregoing table. By that it appears that the number of inhabitants in the ftate, including the negroes, is 254,050; which is 18 for every fquare mile. The inhabitants, except in the populous towns, live on their plantations, often feveral miles diftant from each other. inhabitant of the middle, and especially of the eastern ftates, which are thickly populated, they appear to live very retired and unfocial lives. The effects of this comparative folitude are vifible in the countenances, as well as in the manners and drefs of the country people. You obferve very little of that chearful sprightlinefs of look and action which is the invariable and genuine offspring of focial intercourfe. Nor do you find that attention paid to drefs, which is common, and which decency and propriety have rendered neceffary, among people who are liable to receive company almost every day. Unaccustomed, in a great measure, to these frequent and friendly vifits, they often fuffer a negligence, in their dress which borders on floveliness. There is apparently a difconfolate wildnefs in their countenances, and an indolence and inactivity in their whole behaviour, which are evidently the effects of folitude and flavery. As the negroes perform all the manual labour, their masters are left to faunter away life in floth, and too often in ignorance. These obfervations, however, muft in juftice be limited to the people in the country, and to thofe particularly, whofe poverty or parfimony prevents their spending a part of their time in populous towns, or otherwife mingling with the world. And with thefe limitations they will equally apply to all the fouthern

fouthern ftates. The inhabitants of the populous towns, and those from the country who have intercourfe with them, are in their manners and cuftoms like the people of the other ftates in like fituations.

That pride which grows on flavery, and is habitual to those who, from their infancy, are taught to believe and to feel their fuperiority, is a vifible characteristic of the inhabitants of Maryland. But with this characteristic we must not fail to connect that of hofpitality to ftrangers, which is equally univerfal and obvious, and is, perhaps, in part, the offspring

of it.

The inhabitants are made up of various nations of many different religious fentiments; few general obfervations, therefore, of a characteris tical kind will apply.

Chief Towns.] ANNAPOLIS (city) is the capital of Maryland, and the wealthiest town of its fize in America. It is fituated juft at the mouth of Severn river, 30 miles fouth of Baltimore. It is a place of little note in the commercial world. The houses, about 260 in number, are generally large and elegant, indicative of great wealth. The defign of those who planned the city, was to have the whole in the form of a circle, with the streets, like radii, beginning at the center where the Stadt House ftands, and thence diverging in every direction. The principal part of the buildings are arranged agreeable to this awkward plan. The Stadt House is the nobleft building of the kind in America.

BALTIMORE has had the most rapid growth of any town in the continent, and is the fourth in fize, and the fifth in trade in the United States*. It lies in lat. 39° 21', on the north fide of Patapfco river, around what is called the Bafon, in which the water, at common tides, is about five or fix feet deep. Baltimore is divided into the town and Fell's Point by a creek, over which are two bridges; but the houses extend, in a fparfe fituation, from one to the other. At Fell's Point the water is deep enough for fhips of burden; but fmall veffels only go up to the town. The fituation of the town is low, and was formerly unhealthy; but the increase of houses, and of course of smoke, the tendency of which is to deftroy or to difpel damp and unwholesome vapours, and the improvements that have been made, particularly that of paving the streets, have rendered it tolerably healthy. The houfes were numbered in 1787, and found to be 1955; about 1200 of which were in the town, and the reft at Fell's Point. The number of ftores was 152, and of churches nine; which belong to German Calvinifts and Lutherans, Epifcopalians, Prefbyterians, Roman Catholics, Baptifts, Methodists, Quakers, Nicolites, or New Quakers. The number of inhabitants is between 10 and 11,000. Not more than one in five of these attend public worship of any kind, notwithstanding they have fuch a variety in their choice. Their main object (in which, indeed, they are far from being peculiar) appears to be to make their fortunes for this world; while preparation for another is either unthought of, or deferred to a more convenient feafon. There are many very refpectable families in Baltimore, who live genteely-are hof

* In point of fixe, the towns in the United States may be ranked in this order; Philadelphia, New-York, Bofton, Baltimore, Charleston, Sc. In point of trade, New-York, Philadelphia, Bofton, Charleston, Baltimore, &c.

A a

pitable

pitable to strangers, and maintain a friendly and improving intercourse with each other; but the bulk of the inhabitants, recently collected from almost all quarters of the world-bent on the purfuit of wealth-varying in their habits, their manners, and their religions, (if they have any) are unfocial, unimproved, and inhospitable.

Market-ftreet is the principal street in the town, and runs nearly east and weft, a mile in length, parallel with the water. This is croffed by several other streets leading from the water, a number of which, particularly Calvert, South and Gay streets, are well built. North and east of the town the land rifes, and affords a fine profpect of the town and bay. Belvidera, the feat of Col. Howard, exhibits one of the fineft landscapes in nature. The town-the point-the shipping both in the bason and at Fell's Point-the bay as far as the eye can reach-rifing ground on the right and left of the harbour-a grove of trees on the declivity at the right-a ftream of water breaking over the rocks at the foot of the hill on the left, all confpire to complete the beauty and grandeur of the profpect.

FREDERICKTOWN is a fine flourishing inland town, of upwards of 300 houses, but principally of brick and ftone, and moftly on one broad ftreet. It is fituated in a fertile country, about four miles fouth of Catokton mountain, and is a place of confiderable trade. It has four places for public worship, one for Prefbyterians, two for Dutch Lutherans and Calvinifts, and one for Baptifts; befides a public jail and a brick market-house.

HAGARSTOWN is but little inferior to Fredericktown, and is fituated in the beautiful and well cultivated valley of Conegocheague, and carries on a confiderable trade with the western country.

HEAD OF ELK is fituated near the head of Chesapeak bay, on a small river which bears the name of the town. It enjoys great advantages from the carrying trade between Baltimore and Philadelphia. The tides ebb and flow to this town.

Mines and Manufactures.] Mines of iron ore, of a fuperior quality, are found in many parts of the ftate. Furnace for runing this ore into pigs and hollow ware, and forges to refine pig iron into bars, have been erected in a number of places in the neighbourhood of the mines. This is the only manufacture of importance, carried on in the ftate, except it be that of wheat into flour.

Trade.] On this head I can only fay, that the trade of Maryland is principally carried on from Baltimore with the other ftates, with the Weft-Indies, and with fome parts of Europe. To these places they send annually about 30,000 hogfheads of tobacco, befides large quantities of wheat, flour, pig iron, lumber and corn-beans, pork, and flax-feed in fmaller quantities; and receive in return clothing for themselves and negroes, and other dry goods, wines, fpirits, fugars, and other West-India commodities. The balance is generally in their favour.

Religion.] The Roman Catholics, who were the first settlers in Maryland, are the moft numerous religious fect. Befides these there are Proteftant Epifcopalians, English, Scotch and Irish Prefbyterians, German Calvinifts, German Lutherans, Friends, Baptifts, of whome there are

about

about twenty congregations, Methodists, Mennonifts, Nicolites, or New Quakers.

Seminaries of Learning, &c.] Washington Academy, in Somerset county, was inftituted by law in 1779. It was founded and is fupported by voluntary fubfcriptions and private donations, and is authorised to receive gifts and legacies, and to hold 2000 acres of land. A fupplement to the law paffed in 1784, increased the number of trustees from eleven to fifteen.

In 1782, à college was inftituted at Cheftertown, in Kent county, and was honoured with the name of WASHINGTON COLLEGE, after his Excellency General Washington. It is under the management of 24 vifitors, or governors, with power to fupply vacancies, and hold eftates, whofe yearly value fhall not exceed £.6000 current money. By a law enacted in 1787, a permanent fund was granted to this inftitution of .1250 a year currency, out of the monies arifing from marriage licences, fines and forfeitures, on the Eastern Shore.

St. John's College was inftituted in 1784, to have alfo 24 trustees, with power to keep up the fucceffion by fupplying vacancies, and to receive an annual income of £.9000. A permanent fund is affigned this college, of .1750 a year out of the monies arifing from marriage licences, ordinary licences, fines and forfeitures, on the Western Shore. This college is to be at Annapolis, where a building is now preparing for it. Very liberal fubfcriptions were obtained towards founding and carrying on thefe feminaries. The two colleges conftitute one univerfity, by the name of The Univerfity of Maryland,' whereof the governor of the ftate, for the time being, is chancellor, and the principal of one of them vice-chancellor, either by feniority or by election, as may hereafter be provided for by rule or by law. The chancellor is empowered to call a meeting of the truftees, or a representation of feven of each, and two of the members of the faculty of each, (the principal being one) which meeting is ftiled, The Convocation of the University of Maryland,' who are to frame the laws, preferve uniformity of manners and literature in the colleges, confer the higher degrees, determine appeals, &c.

The Roman Catholics have lately elected a college at George-Town, on Patomak river, for the promotion of general literature.

In 1785, the methodists inftituted a college at Abingdon, in Harford county, by the name of Cokefbury College, after Thomas Coke, LL. D. and Francis Afbury, Bishops of the Methodist Epifcopal Church. The college edifice is of brick, handfomely built, on a healthy fpot, enjoying a fine air and a very extenfive profpect.

The ftudents, who are to confift of the fons of travelling preachers, the fons of annual fubfcribers, the fons of the members of the Methodist fociety, and orphans, are to be inftructed in English, Latin, Greek, Logic, Rhetoric, Hiftory, Geography, Natural Philofophy and Aftronomy; and when the finances of the college, will admit, they are to be taught the Hebrew, French and German languages.you

The college was erected and is fupported wholly by fubfcription and voluntary donations.

The ftudents have regular hours for rifing, for prayers, for their meats, for study and for recreation. They are all to be in bed precisely at nine

A a 2

o'clock.