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Alabama,
Mississippi,
Michigan,

431,000

116,000

7,000

$1,636,000

It is presumed that the returns for public lands will be from $1,200,000 to $2,000,000 per annum. The national debt amounts to

To which add a fund to pay for the claims on the United States, in consequence of the purchase of Florida,

$93,424,000

5,000,000

* $98,424,000

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE PEOPLE.-The inhabitants of the United States being mostly from Great Britain, their manners and customs generally are very much like those of that nation; but there is a great difference in many essential particulars, as will be clearly inferred from their government and laws. They are all on an equal footing in the eye of the law, and there are no privileged orders. There is no law of entail or primogeniture, so that no circumstance exists to form a permanent distinction of ranks. In regard to religion there is the most unqualified toleration and universal liberty of conscience. Education is pretty well attended to throughout all the states, and information is general. The great body of the people are engaged in agriculture, and in manufactures and the mechanic arts; and these occupations, carried on under the free and economical government of the United States, never fail, with industry and economy, to

* On the 1st of October, 1825, the national debt was $80,985,537.

lead to a reasonable share of wealth and independence. The other classes are merchants, lawyers, and teachers, and they are generally well-informed and respectable. Upon the whole, the character of the people of the United States stands very fair, compared with other parts of the world. There are many things in all societies which require amendment, and the people of the United States are not without their share of them; but they are susceptible of improvement, and will unquestionably improve every year; such is the general information and desire for knowledge. The great extent of the country holds out an inducement to the people to diffuse themselves too widely over it on the one hand; but it is calculated to expand the mind, and to cultivate a spirit of independence upon the other. The female part of the community generally appear to great advantage, being correct, modest, and affable in their deportment, and set a good example to the other sex, a sure presage of national improvement. The country has of late years laboured under great difficulties, in consequence of the change of circumstances arising from a state of general war to a state of peace; and speculation has been too often substituted for industry; but manufacturing industry, the virtuous handmaid of agriculture, is making great progress, and will finally lead the citizens to real, solid, and permanent independence and freedom, arising from the country being independent within itself for all its material wants, and furnishing abundant employment for all its members.

RELIGION AND EDUCATION. It has been already stated that there is no established religion in the United States. That heavenly principle which binds man to his Creator, and by the cultivation of the mind, and purification of the life, prepares the soul for felicity hereafter, is here placed upon the proper foundation, being left to the intrinsic sup

port arising from its own merit. The religion generally adopted by the people of the United States is the Christian, of various denominations, all of whom are equally under the protection of the law, but none of them have any peculiar privileges; hence they generally live as brethren of the same family, and however they may differ in speculative points, they all unite in the great leading doctrines of the importance of love to God and good will to men. As they unite on these broad principles, it is deemed unnecessary to state the particular denominations.

The value of education being generally seen and felt, few of the youth of America are destitute of it, and many of them get an excellent education. The desire for information, as has been already stated, is general, and more people receive daily, weekly, and monthly instruction, through the medium of the newspapers and other periodical publications, than in any other country in the world. The improvements in literature and the mechanic arts, within these few years, are proofs that the people of the United States possess good information, and a great share of original thinking, and good common sense; so that there is ground for hope, that the country will long enjoy the blessings of freedom and intellectual refinement; and that a system of political economy will be gradually extended over the country, corresponding with its free institutions, and calculated to make the whole community independent and happy within itself.

SECTION III.

HAVING gone to much greater length in the description of the United States as a whole than was originally intended, the descriptions of the separate states and territories will be proportionally brief. The length, breadth, and area, of the several states are already exhibited in the general statistical table, No. 2, p. 84, but are repeated in the particular articles, in order to present an entire picture of the states. In these articles too it has been judged proper to throw these particulars, together with the situation, into the tabular form, originally adopted by Guthrie, and which, in truth, ought never to have been departed from.

The arrangement adopted in the description is natural and easy, and presents a clear picture to the mind, as it presents a view, First, of the great leading features of the subject: Secondly, of its various qualities: Thirdly, of its progressive history; and Finally, of its present state. The particulars will be as follow:

1. Table of the length, breadth, &c.

2. Boundaries.

3. Face of the country.

4. Mountains.

5. Rivers.

6. Geological formation.

7. Soil.

8. Natural productions.

9. Minerals.

10. Climate.

11. Historical view.

12. Civil divisions and population.
13. Agriculture and produce.
14. Manufactures and commerce.
15. Cities, towns, and villages.

16. Roads, canals, and improvements.
17. Government and laws.

18. Education and manners.

Although all the particulars are here mentioned, it will be observed, that from the nature of this work, the descriptions must necessarily be brief; and as a number of the articles are already disposed of, under the general head of the United States, frequent reference will be had to it. It is presumed that the whole, connected with the statistical tables and map, will present a very complete picture of the United States.

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Boundaries. N. W. and N. Lower Canada; east, New Brunswick; south, the Atlantic Ocean; and west, New Hampshire.

Face of the Country. The sea-coast is remarkably indented with bays and inlets, and there are several large navigable waters. The country in the interior is hilly, and in the north-west there are considerable mountains.

Lakes and Rivers. The principal lakes are on the head waters of St. John's and Penobscot Rivers; and Umbagog lake on the head of Androscoggin. The principal rivers are St. John's, St. Croix, Penobscot, Kennebec,

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