﻿MI 



MIDDELBURG. 



MIDDLESEX. 



803 



there are beiiides " 21 unorganised couulios." Lansing is the capital, 

 but Detroit is the centre of commercial operations, and by far the 

 largest town in the etate. Lansing and the other more important 

 towns we notice here : the population is that of 1S50 : — 



Laming, the capital, stands on the right bank of the Grand River, 

 at the confluence of the Cedar River, 42° 43' N. lat, 84° 29' W. long., 

 483 miles N.W. from Washington : population, 1229. Lansing is 

 regularly built, having been laid out as the capital of the state on a 

 site reclaimed from the wilderness in 1847. The state house is large 

 and handsome, and other public buildings are neat structures. 



Adrian, at the junction of Beaver Creek with Raisin River, 86 miles 

 S.E. from Lansing, population 3006, is a busy village, having some 

 mills and factories. Ann Arbor, the capital of Washtenaw county, on 

 the fiuron River, 51 miles E.S.E. from Lansing, is the centre of an 

 important internal trade, and the seat of the university of Michigan. 

 Orand Rapidi, by the rapids so called, at the bead of the steam navi- 

 gation of Grand River, 60 miles W.8.W. from Lansing, population 

 2686, is becoming one of the leading commercial depdts of the state. 

 In the town are numerous public buildings, warehouses, and mills; in 

 the vicinity are quarries of excellent building stones. On the opposite 

 side of the river is an extensive ancient Indian burying place. Jackton, 

 on the upper branch of Grand River, 32 miles S. by E. from Lauaiog, 

 population 2363, stands in the centre of a good grass and grain 

 district; possesses great water-power for manufacturing purposes; 

 and building stone and coal are obtained in abundance in the vicinity. 

 The manufactures are of iron-ware, machinery, and leather ; there are 

 several flour-mills ; and a large trade is carried on with the interior. 

 Kalamazoo, on the river of the same name, 51 miles W.S.W. from 

 Lansing, population 2507, is a thriving manufacturing and trading 

 town, and is the centre of a rich agricultural district Monroe City, 

 on the right bank of Raisin River, 2i miles from its outlet in Lake 

 Erie : population, 2813. Monroe as the terminus of the Michigan 

 Southern railway, and the depdt of the commerce of Lake Erie, is a 

 place of considerable and growing commercial importance, and has 

 some manufactures. It contains several handsome public buildings. 

 Yptilanti, on the Huron River, and the Michigan Central railway, 60 

 miles S.E. from Lansing, population 3051, contains five churches, a 

 branch of the state university, and a state normal school; and has 

 numerous mills and manufactories. 



Oovemmml, Jcc. — The present form of constitution was framed and 

 adopted in 1850 : every sixteenth year the question of the revision of 

 tile constitution is to be submitted to the popular vote. The right of 

 voting in all state elections is vested in every white male citizen, and 

 every civilised male Indian not a member of a tribe. The legislative 

 body, elected biennially, consists of a Senate of 32 members, and a 

 House of Representatives of not leas than 64, nor more than 100 (at 

 present t'6) members. The acknowledged debt of the state, November 

 1852 was 2,307,850 dollars, but Michigan is one of the repudiating 

 ■tatea, and omits all reference to the repudiated debt. 



Early in the 17th century the French penetrated into this country 

 from Quebec In 1670 they founded Detroit. In 1783 Michigan was 

 included in the limits of the United States, but not actually given up 

 by the British until 1796. In 1805 it was formed into a territory ; 

 and in 1S37 it was admitted into the Union as an independent state, 



MIDDELBURG. [Zeeland.] 



MIDDLKFAIIRT. [Funks.] 



MIDDLEHAM. [Yorkshire.] 



MIDDLESEX, the metropolitan county of England, is bounded K. 

 by Hertfordshire ; E. by Essex, from which it is separated by the 

 river Lea ; S.E. by Kent ; 8. by Surrey, from both of which it is 

 separated by the river Thames; and W. by Buckinghamshire, from 

 which it Is separated by the river Colne. Its greatest length is, from 

 north-east to south-west, from the Lea near Waltbam Abbey to the 

 Thames opposite Chertsey, 28 miles ; its greatest breadth, at right 

 angles to the length, is, from near South Mlmms on the great north 

 road to Limehouse, 17 miles. Its area is estimated at 282 square miles. 

 The population in 1841 was 1,576,636; in 1851 it was 1,886,576. It 

 is the smallest of the English counties, except RuUand. 



Smrfaet ; Oeological Character, — The surface of the county consists 

 for the most part of gentle undulations, afibrding a sufficient slope 

 for the purposes of drainage. A range of hills extends along the 

 HerMi(irdshire border by Bamet, Elstree, Stanmore, and Pinner, averag- 

 ing 400 feet in height above the level of the Thames, Another range 

 of hills skirts the northern side of the metropolis by Uomsey, High- 

 gate, and Hampstesd ; Harrow occupies an insulated eminence between 

 these two ranges. That portion of the county which lies south-west 

 of a line drawn from Brentford to Uxbridge is an almost unbroken 

 flat, scarcely rising more than 20 feet above the level of the Thames. 



The county is chiefly occupied by the London clay. EnSeld Chace, 

 the most northern portion, and a strip along the western boundary by 

 Hare&eld and Uxbridge, are occupied by the plastic clay, which here 

 crops out. The high ground about Hampstead, Highgate, and Hom- 

 sey consists of Bagshot sand. The thickness of the London clay varies 

 from 45 to 240 feet. The thickness of the plastic clay appears to be 

 from 100 to 120 feet. 



The county belongs entirely to the basin of the Thames, which 

 farms its southern boundary. The Thames first touches the border 

 Jtist above Staines, at the junction of one of the arms of the Colne. 



oioo. DIT. TOU III. 



The river is navigable throughout its course along Middlesex for 

 laden barges ; but locks are required in the upper part to keep up the 

 water. The lowest of these locks is at Teddingtou, between Kingston 

 and Richmond bridges. Up to London Bridge the Thames is navigable 

 for sea-borne vessels, and the space between that bridge and the 

 junction of tho Lea forms the port of London. The banks of the 

 Thames are for the most part low and flat, and in some places 

 marshy. 



The Lea forms the eastern boundary of the county, which it touches 

 below Waltbam Abbey. Its watera are, at the point of junction, 

 divided between two or three channels, which re-unite very soon after. 

 Its course is southward through a belt of low marshland, 8 miles to 

 the foot of Stamford Hill, and thence south-east 6 miles by Lea Bridge, 

 Old Ford, Bow, and Bromley, into the Thames. Between Lea Bridge 

 and Old Ford, the navigation is carried on by an artificial channel. A 

 navigable cut opens a communication between the Lea at Bromley and 

 the Thames at Limehouse. On the channels of the Lea which are not 

 used for navigation are several mills. 



The Colne forms the western boundary of the county. It first 

 touches the border below Rickmansworth, and its waters, like those 

 of the Lea, frequently flow in several channels, which inclose a number 

 of islands. It flows southward past Uxbridge, and Colnbrook (Bucks), 

 to its junction with the Thames above Staines. Its whole length ou 

 the border of this county is about 18 miles; it is not navigable, but 

 is useful in turning a number of mills. 



The Brent rises just withiu tho northern border of the county, and, 

 after crossing a comer of Hertfordshire north of Totteridge, flows by 

 Finchley, Uanwell, and Brentford, into the Thames. Its course, which 

 is very circuitous, is about 1 8 or 20 miles ; in its lower course it forms 

 part of the line of the Grand Junction Canal. The Cran rises between 

 Harrow and Pinner, and after a circuitous course of 20 miles past or 

 near Ickenham, Cranford, and the powder-mills at Hounslow, joins 

 the Thames at Islewortb. 



The principal canal is the Grand Junction, which enters the county 

 near Harefiild, in the north-west corner, and runs southward along 

 the valley of the Colne by Uxbridge to West Drayton ; from this place 

 it runs eastward across the Cran to the Brent near Hanwell ; it then 

 follows the valley of the Breut, and for the most part coincides with 

 the channel of that river, till it joins the Thames near Brentford. 

 About 18 miles of its course are in this county. A branch from this 

 canal near Cranford runs northeast to Northolt, and from thence east- 

 south-east by Twyford to Paddington, a distance of 12 or 14 miles. 

 The Regent's Canal commences in the Paddington branch of the 

 Grand Junction Canal, and passes along tho north and east sides of 

 the metropolis by the Regent's Park, Islington, Hackney, Mile End, 

 and the Commercial Road, into the Thames near Limehouse, 84 miles. 

 It has one or two short branch cuts or basins in its course. The New 

 River, an artificial cut designed to supply the metropolis with water, 

 enters the county on the north side between Enfield and Cheshunt, 

 and is conveyed in a very winding channel to a reservoir at Pentou- . 

 ville, on the north side of London. 



The south-western road (to Salisbury, Exeter, &o.) leaves London 

 by Hyde-park Comer, and runs by Brentford and Hoimslow to Staines, 

 where it crosses the Thames into Surrey. The Portsmouth road, 

 branching from this near Hyde-park corner, crosses the Thames at 

 Putney Bridge; and the western (Bath and Bristol) road, branching 

 from it at Hounslow, crosses the Colne at Colnbrook. The Oxford 

 and Birmingham road leaves Oxford-street at Hyde-park Corner, and 

 passes through Acton and Uxbridge, beyond which it crosses the Colna 

 into Buckinghamshire. The Great North road leaves London by 

 Islington, and passes through Higbgato and Bamet to South Mimms. 

 Of the Norfolk and Suffolk roads, one leaves London by Shoreditch 

 church, passing through Hackney and crossing the Lea at Lea Bridge 

 into Essex ; another leaves by Whitechapel church, and crosses by Bow 

 Bridge into Essex. Edgware Road leads from Hyde-park Comer by 

 Paddington and Edgoware into Hertfordshire, joining the north road 

 at St. Alban's ; another road passes by Harrow to Rickmansworth ; a 

 third, called ' the Green Lanes,' leads by Stoke Newington and Winch- 

 more Hill to Enfield. 



The North-VV'e.stera railway has its London terminus at Euston- 

 square, on the north side of the metropolis, and runs past Harrow, 

 beyond which it leaves the county. The Great Western railway has 

 its London terminus at Paddington, and runs by Ealing and Southall 

 to West Drayton. The Great Northern railway has its terminus at 

 King's Cross, and runs by Hornsey to Baruet. The Eastern Counties 

 railway commences at Shoreditch, and runs by Bow, across the Lea 

 into Essex. The Cambridge branch, however, re-enters the county 

 near Tottenham, and continues just withiu its boundary to Waltbam. 

 A short branch is carried from it near Edmonton to Enfield. The 

 Blackwall railway runs from Fenchuroh-strect by Limehouse and the 

 West India Docks, to Blackwall. A branch from it quits the main 

 line at Stepney, and runs by Bow, Hackney, &c. to the North- Western 

 line at Camden station, whence it is carried by a short junction-line 

 to unite with the Windsor branch of the South-Wostem railway. 

 There are other short connecting lines and extensions belonging to 

 the North-Westem and the Blackwall companies, chiefly for the 

 transmission of goods into the centre of London. 



Soil and Agriculture. — The soil of this county is of three distinot 



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