﻿GEORGIA. 



GERIIAIN-EN-LAYE, ST. 



magaziDe, peuitentiary, market-house, five churches, Ac. Milledge- 

 vjlle standR in the centre of a rich cotton district, and is a place of 

 considerable business. It is well connected by railway with the other 

 leading towns of the state and union. Five newspapers and journals 

 are published here. 



Sarannah, the chief city and port of entry of Georgia, is built on 

 the right bank of the Sarannah, about 18 miles from its mouth. The 

 population in 1850 was 15,312, of whom 6231 were slaves ; according 

 to a local census taken in 1852 the population in that year had 

 increased to 18,301, of whom 5473 were slaves. The city is generally 

 regarded as one of the finest and healthiest on the south coast. It is 

 about a mile long by thrce-q>iarter« of a mile wide, is laid out at right 

 angles, and has several good public squares. Along the river are 

 convenient wharfs and ranges of warehouses. The principal public 

 buildings are — the custom-house, a fine new edifice 110 feet long and 

 62 feet deep ; a court-house, jail, city-hall, exchange, arsenal. United 

 States barracks, market-house, theatre, 15 churches, some of which are 

 bandsome structures ; several asylums, hospitals, &c. Of the private 

 homes a large number are built of wood, owing to which the city has 

 several times suffered severely from fires. Savannah is one of the 

 chief commercial cities of the south, and is especially eminent as a 

 mart for cotton, rice, and lumber. From it in 1851-2 the quantity of 

 bags of cotton exported was '353,068, of which 228,614 were sent 

 coastwise and 124,454 to foreign ports, 109,378 of the last quantity 

 bring sent to English ports. Of rice 39,929 tierces were exported 

 from Savannah in 1851-2, and of lumber 25,508,500 feet. The entire 

 foreign commerce of the state centres in Savannah, and the city is 

 consequently well provided with railway communication with every 

 town and district of the state. The city maintains also regular com- 

 munication by steamers with Florida, Charleston, New York, &c. 

 Several newspapers are published here. 



Athent, on the right bank of the Oconee, 67 miles K. from Milledge- 

 ville, has a population of 1661 free persons and an 'undefined' 

 number of slaves. It is chiefly noticeable as the seat of the University 

 of Georgia. Four newspapers are published here. Atlanta, at the 

 junction of the Georgia, Western and Atlantic, and Macon and 

 Western railways, is an important entrepot of the internal commerce : 

 population, 2572. Augiuta, on the left bank of the Savannah, 90 miles 

 E.N.E. from Milledgeville, is one of the most flourishing towns in the 

 state, being the commercial centre of a fertile cotton and tobacco 

 district ; the population in 1850 is not given in the general census, 

 but alocal census taken in 1852 showed that the town had then 11,753 

 inhabitants, of whom 4718 were slaves. The town is regularly laid 

 out, and contains several good public buildings ; the chief are a city- 

 hall, county court-house and jail ; several churches, an arsenal, 

 hospital, theatre, &c. Three newspapers and two monthly magazines 

 are published here. Columbut, on the left bank of the Chattahoochee, 

 at the head of steam navigation, and immediately below the falls of 

 the river, population 5942, of whom 2258 were slaves. The town, 

 which is regularly laid out, contains two streets, ninning parallel to 

 the river, each 165 feet wide, and six streets of 132 feet wide, with 12 

 other streets intersecting them, each 99 feet wide. The public 

 buildings are the court-house and other county buildings, several 

 churches, a market-house, &o. The town is the centre of a rich cotton 

 district, and contains several cotton and woollen factories, flour-mills, 

 Ac. Steam-boats drawing five feet of water ascend the river to 

 Columbus at all seasons ; and a large number of steam-vessels main- 

 tain constant communication with the sea-board, Mew Orleans, lie. 

 Railways connect the town with all parts of the state. Three news- 

 papers are published here. Griffin, on the Hacon and Western 

 railway, 68 miles W.N.W. from Milledgeville, population 2320, is an 

 important railway centre, and rapidly growing in commercial conse- 

 quence. Macon, on the right bank of the Ocmulgee, at the head of 

 steam-boat navigation, 29 miles S.W. from Milledgeville, population 

 6720, of whom 2853 were slaves. A very large quantity of cotton is 

 sent down the river in the steam-boats from this place, and the town 

 is an important commercial depAt. Besides the usual county buildings, 

 churches, and market-house, it contains the Wesleyao Female College ; 

 several extensive stores, lumber-yards, printing-offices, grist-mills, 

 foreign commission houses, Ac. Four newspapers are published here. 



Uovemment, Judicaturt, <ic. — The right of voting appertains to 

 every free male citizen 21 years of age, who has lived in the county 

 six months, and paid all taxes demanded for 12 months. The legis- 

 lativ* body, styled the general assembly, consists of a senate of 47 

 members, and a house of representatives, consisting of 1 30 members, 

 who are elected biennially. The governor, who has a qualified veto 

 on the acts of the general assembly, is also elected biennially ; his 

 salary is 8000 dollars. The public debt of the state, which is redeem- 

 able from 1863 to 1874, amounts to 2,801,972 dollars. The property 

 of the state, consisting of shares in the Western and Atlantic railway, 

 is valued at the coat price, 6,000,000 dollars. The total revenue 

 for 1853 was 922,140 dollars, the expenditure 900,534 dollars. The 

 state militia is composed of 78,699 men, of whom 5050 are commis- 

 sioned officers. 



The judicature consists of a supreme court, and superior and 

 inferior courts. The judges of the supreme court are elected by the 

 general assembly for a term of six years, and receive each a salary of 

 2600 dollars ; the judges of the superior court ard elected fur four 



years by the people of the district over whicfi they preside. The 

 judges of the inferior courts are also elected by the people for four 

 years. 



The state has made considerable provision for the education of the 

 children of free citizens. In 1850 Georgia possessed 13 colleges, 219 

 academies or high schools, and 1251 common or primary schools. 

 The total number of children attending school was 77,015, of whom 

 42,365 were boys. Among the attendants at school one free coloured 

 boy is returned. The principal colleges are the Franklin, or Georgia 

 University, at Athens, founded in 1785, which has 8 instructors, 182 

 students, and a library of 15,500 volumes ; the Oglethorpe college 

 near Milledgeville, founded in 1838, which has 5 tutors and 69 

 students; the Emory college at Oxford, which has 5 tutors and 115 

 students ; and the Mercer (Baptist) University at Penfield, having 7 

 tutors and 127 students. Among religious sects by far the most 

 numerous are the Baptists and Methodists. In 1850 the Baptists had 

 879 churches, affording accommodation for 319,293 persons ; the 

 Methodists had 795 churches, with accommodation for 237,218 

 persons. Next to these are the Presbyterians, who had 97 churches, 

 with accommodation for 40,596 pei'sons. Fifty-one newspapers and 

 periodicals, circulating 4,070,866 copies annually, are published in the 

 state. 



Hitlory, <fc&— The colony of Georgia was founded in 1732 by a 

 private company, and received its name in honour of King George II. 

 In 1733 General Oglethorpe founded the to\vn of Savannah. In 1752 

 it became a royal government, and in 1755 a provincial legislature 

 was established. The original limits of the state included also the 

 territory which now forms the states of Mississippi and Alabama. 

 It joincKl the other provinces in 1776 in declaring war against Great 

 Britain ; but in 1778 was occupied by a British foroe, and continued 

 in such occupation till the peace of 1786. A new constitution was 

 introduced in 1785, and afterwards was amended in 1798. 



The whole population of Georgia is now composed of Europeans 

 and Africans, or their descendants. Not a trace remains of the old 

 Indian population. The Creeks, who up to 1826 inhabited the 

 country between the Flint and Chattahoochee rivers, sold their lands 

 in that year, and emigrated to the banks of the Arkansas. Up to 

 1835 the Cherokees were in possession of the north-western corner of 

 the state, but in that year they were obliged to abandon it. 



By the constitution the importation of slaves from Africa or any 

 foreign state is prohibited : the legislature cannot liberate slaves 

 without the owner's consent, or prevent immigrants bringiug slaves 

 into the state with them from any other state. The persons of slaves 

 are protected equally with those of free i)eople, and persons killing 

 them are liable to punishment for murder, " unless their death should 

 happen from accident in giving such slaves moderate correction." 



(Statittical Gaztiteer of the United Stales, 1853 ; Seventh Census of the 

 United Statet, Oficial Report, 1853 ; American Almanac, 1854.) 



OERA, a town in the principality of Reuss, in Germany, is situated 

 in about 50° 52' N. lat, 12° 6' E. long., in a valley on the banks of the 

 White Elster, and contains about 1 0,000 inhabitants. The streets are 

 in general broad and at right angles to one another, and embellished 

 with handsome houses. Uera has a fine town-hall ; five churches ; a 

 gymnasium attended by between 600 and 700 pupils; a training 

 school ; a house of correction, to which an orphan asj lura is attached ; 

 two hospitals; and a free school. Gera possesses numerous mauu- 

 factures, particularly of fine woollens, mixed cotton and silk goods, 

 woollen and cotton yams, china, earthenware, printed cottons and 

 woollens, oil-cloth, tobacco, carriages, chemical colours, hats, leather, 

 musical instruments, soap, beer, &c. A canal from the Elster passes 

 through the town. The china manufactory of Schloss Uutermhaus, 

 and the princely residences of Ostersteiu, Ktistiitz, and lionneburg 

 are in the vicinity of the town, which is about 35 mUes S.S.W. from 

 Leipzig. 



GERMAIN-EN-LAYE, ST., a town in France in the department 

 of Seine-et-Oise, stands on the left bank of the Seine, 14 miles by 

 railway W. by N. from Paris, and has about 14,000 inhabitants 

 including the commune. It is situated on a height which commands 

 a beautil'ul prospect of the valley of the Seine, with a distant view 

 of Paris and its euvirons. The streets are wide, handsome, and well 

 laid out ; the houses lofty and well built. There are many mansions 

 in the town in which formerly the grandees of the French court 

 resided, before Louis XIV. forsook St.-Germain for Versailles : and 

 even to this day many of the old French noblesse continue to reside 

 in this their ancient haunt. The town originated in a monastery 

 founded about A.D. 1010 by King Robert, on the summit of the hill 

 which was then surrounded by the forest of Lida (Laye). The same king 

 or one of his immediate successors built a royal residence near the 

 abbey. Louis Le-Gros (1124) occasionally resided here, and the palace 

 of St.-Gennain was the residence of Baudouin, emperor of Coustauti- 

 nople, during his visit to France in the reign of St. Louis. The English 

 plundered and burnt the town and the palace in A.D. 1346. 'I'liey 

 seized it again on account of its commanding military position in the 

 invasion of Henry V., and held it from 1419 to 1435. The chiiteau, 

 or palace, which replaced the more ancient royal residence and was 

 erected by Fransois I., is built chiefly of brick, surrounded by wide 

 and deep ditches; the apartments are handsome. Henri II., his 

 sisters Madeleine of France (queen of James V. of Sootlaud), and 



