BOSTON. 



035 



which is spacious, is ornamented by a liandsome 

 cross, and in the town-hail are commodious assembly- 

 rooms. Like most towns near the sea, it is but in- 

 differently supplied with water ; that acquired from 

 the wells, with a few exceptions, being somewhat 

 brackislk, The early history of Boston is obscure ; 

 but it is believed that the Romans built a fort at the 

 mouth of the Witham ; and it is certain that the word 

 Boston is a corruption of Botolph's town, so called 

 fiorn a Saxon of that name, who built an abbey here. 

 Population in 1801, 5,926; in 1811, 8,113; in 1821, 

 10,373; in 1831,11,240. 



BOSTON, the capital of Massachusetts, and the 

 largest city in Ntgw England, lies 210 miles N. E. 

 from New York, bOO S. S. E. Montreal, 300 N. E. 

 Philadelphia, 456 N. Washington; Ion. 71 4' W. ; 

 lat. 42 22' N. Population in 1765, 15,520 ; in 1790, 

 18,038; in 1800, 24,937; in 1810, 33,250; in 1820, 

 43,298; in 1825, 48,281; in 1830, 70,164. It is 

 situated at the bottom of Massachusetts bay, at the 

 mouth of Charles river. It stands principally on a 

 small peninsula of elevated ground, two miles and 

 tliree quarters in length, and one in breadth, and is 

 connected with the continent by a narrow neck of 

 land, and by seven bridges. Including South Boston, 

 which is without the peninsula, its whole extent is 

 nearly three square miles. It has a capacious har- 

 bour, of sufficient depth of water for the largest ships 

 of war to enter safely, and lie at anchor, protected 

 from storms by a great number of islands, on several 

 of which are fortifications. The bridges, with one 

 exception, are of wood. That which leads from B. to 

 Cambridge is 3483 feet in length, and is supported 

 by 180 piers. The western avenue, so called, leading 

 across the bay, from the western part of the city to 

 Roxbury, is 8000 feet in length, and is formed of 

 solid earth, supported on each side by walls of stone. 

 It serves the double purpose of a bridge and a dam, 

 by means of which and a cross dam, two large basins 

 are formed, one of which is filled at every flood-tide, 

 and the other is emptied at every ebb, whereby a 

 perpetual water power is created for carrying mills 

 and machinery. This dam was built at a cost exceeding 

 135,000. The streets are mostly narrow and ir- 

 regular, and some of them are crooked. The wharfs 

 are, in general, spacious, and afford ample accommo- 

 dation to shipping, and storehouses for merchandise. 

 Long wharf is 1650 feet in length ; Central wharf, 

 1240 feet long and 150 wide. The wharfs and 

 many of the streets have been made by raising the 

 ground formerly covered by the tide. The number 

 of dwelling-houses is about 10,000, besides a great 

 number ot storehouses and shops. A great part of 

 the buildings are of brick, four stories in height. 

 Many of them are of hammered granite and sienite. 

 These are excellent building materials, of a beautiful 

 grey colour, hard and durable, splitting easily, and 

 readily wrought into the required form. Many of 

 the dwelling houses are large and well built The 

 principal public buildings are the state-house, which 

 is of brick, is situated on the highest part of the city, 

 and commands a view of the country and bay for 

 many miles round ; the county court-house, which 

 is of stone ; Faneuil hall, in which town-meetings 

 and public assemblies for political discussions are held ; 

 the Massachusetts general hospital, and the Faneuil 

 hall market ; about forty churches ; ten public school 

 houses ; a house of industry ; a house of correction ; 

 a county jail ; and two theatres. The city is divided 

 into twelve wards. The municipal government is 

 vested in a mayor, eight aldermen, and a common 

 council of forty-eight members. The executive 

 powers are exercised by the mayor and aldermen, and 

 measures of a legislative character are adopted by a 

 concurrent act of that board and of the common coun- 



cil. These officers are chosen annually by the citi- 

 zens, voting in the wards in which they reside. Ward 

 officers are also chosen annually to superintend the 

 elections. The city, with the small town of Chelsea, 

 forms the county of Suffolk. The county is repre- 

 sented in the senate of the state by six senators. Un- 

 til the year 1821, the municipal afiairs of the town 

 were superintended by a board of seven select men, 

 annually chosen ; and all measures for raising and 

 granting money, establishing schools, and making 

 municipal regulations, were adopted in town-meeting, 

 or assembly of the qualified voters, held in Faneuil 

 hall. All public officers were chosen in town meet- 

 ing. There is a police court of three justices, for 

 examining all criminal charges and the trial of minor 

 offences; and a municipal court, held by a single 

 judge, whiqh has jurisdiction of all criminal causes 

 not capital, which are tried by jury. The annual 

 expenditures of the city amount to about 70,000 ; 

 of -which sum 12,000 are expended for the support 

 of schools; 11,250 for paving, repairing, and wid- 

 ening streets ; about 7000 for the support and 

 relief of the poor, &c. 



The public schools are a Latin grammar school, 

 open to all boys between the ages of nine and fifteen ; 

 a high school, in which are taught the various bran- 

 ches of mathematics and other brandies of English 

 education ; eight grammar and writing schools, seven 

 of which have two masters each, a grammar and 

 a writing master, who. teach, alternately, boys and 

 girls, at different hour's ; one African school ; and 

 fifty-seven primary schools, which are kept by women, 

 and in which children from four to seven years of 

 age are taught to read, spell, and write. The schools 

 are under the direction of a school committee, con- 

 sisting of the mayor and aldermen, and twelve mem- 

 bers, annually elected. The principal literary insti- 

 tution in the vicinity, Harvard university, is situated 

 at Cambridge, three miles from the city. The medi- 

 cal branch of this institution is established in Boston, 

 where the professors reside. The Boston athenaeum 

 has two large buildings; one containing a library, 

 and the other a picture gallery, a hall for public 

 lectures, and other rooms for scientific purposes. The 

 library consists of about 24,000 volumes. There are 

 many literary, scientific, and charitable societies in 

 B. Among the former are the American academy 

 of arts and sciences, which has published four vo- 

 lumes of memoirs ; the historical society, which has 

 published twenty-two volumes ; the Massachusetts 

 medical society ; the mechanic institution, under 

 whose patronage courses of lectures for mechanics are 

 delivered annually. Among the latter are the 

 humane society ; the Boston dispensary, by which 

 the poor are furnished with medical attendance and 

 medicine free of expense ; the female asylum, for the 

 maintenance of female orphans; the boys' asylum, 

 and several others. 



The pursuits of the inhabitants are in a great mea- 

 sure mercantile. They carry on an extensive foreign 

 trade, and own many ships, which are employed not 

 only in the importing, exporting, and coasting trade, 

 but in trade between foreign markets. B. is the 

 second commercial town hi the United States. The 

 value of the annual imports is about 3,000,000, and 

 that of the exports 2,025,000. The amount of 

 shipping owned in B.,at the commencement of 1828, 

 was 161,583 tons. Many kinds of manufactures are 

 carried on here. The capitalists of B. are also the 

 principal proprietors in the joint-stock manufacturing 

 companies established in Lowell, Waltham, and other 

 towns in Massachusetts and some of the neighbouring 

 states. 



Great improvements have been made, within a few 

 years, in the appearance of the city, by the widening 

 4x2 



