BOS 



773 



BOS 



Benton, bay, and is connected with the main land by an iath- 

 v " mus, at the scith end of the town. The length of 

 the town, including the rock, is three miles, and its 

 widest part onemileand 139 yards. The town of Bos- 

 ton contains 79 * streets, 86 lanes, 26 alleys, and 1 8 

 courts. The principal public buildings are the State- 

 house, the court house, two theatres, Faneuil hall, 

 roncert hall, the almshouse, the workhouse, the 

 powder magazine, the gaol, and the bridewell ; be- 

 sides 19 buildings for public worship, most of which 

 are adorned with lofty and beautiful spires. On Bea- 

 con Hill, the highest land in the peninsula, is a monu- 

 ment, having on its top a gilt eagle, and the arms of 

 the union, with several inscriptions on its base, in 

 commemoration of the leading events of the Ameri- 

 can war. On the south side of the hill, a magnificent 

 statehouse was begun in 1795 ; and on the east side is 

 the MM1, which is a delightful promenade about 600 

 yards long, adorned with rows of trees. The two bridges 

 over Charles River, called Charles River Bridge, and 

 West Boston Bridge, contribute to the ornament, as 

 well as to the accommodation of the town. The 

 former is 1503 feet long, and 43 feet broad, stands 

 on 75 piles, and cost 50,000 dollars. The latter is 

 3483 feet long and 40 feet wide, stands on 180 

 piles, and cost 76,700 dollars. Besides these public 

 buildings, there are seven free schools at Boston for 

 the education of the citizens children. 



The approach to Boston from the sea is singular- 

 ly picturesque and beautiful. The town is built in 

 an irregularly circular form round the harbour, which 

 is studded with about 40 small islands, 15 of which 

 afford excellent pasturage, and are frequented in 

 summer by numerous parties of pleasure. The har- 

 bour itself, which is formed by Nahant Point on the 

 north, and Point Alderton on the south, is so capa- 

 cious, as to allow 500 vessels to ride at anchor in a 

 tolerable depth of water. The entrance to the har- 

 bour, which is so narrow as scarcely to permit two 

 ships to pass abreast, is defended by the fort of Cas- 

 tle William, erected upon Castle Island, and having 

 40 pieces of heavy artillery. On one of the islands, 

 at the north entrance of the channel, is placed a 

 lighthouse about 65 feet in height. 



Prior to the late commercial decrees, which have 

 proved so injurious to the trade of the United States, 

 the trade of Boston was very considerable, as appears 

 from the following statement : 



There are no fewer than 80 wharfs and quays in 

 Boston. The long wharf, or Boston pier, stretches 

 1743 feet into the harbour. It is 104 feet broad, 

 and at the extremity of it there is 17 feet of water 

 at ebb tide. 



The principal manufactures of Boston, are sail- 

 cloth, cordage, cards for wool and cotton, pViying 

 cards, paper hangings, hats, plate, glass, tobacco, 

 rum, loaf sugar, beer, and chocolate. There are in 

 Boston 30 distilleries, 1 1 rope-walks, 8 sugar-houses, 

 2 breweries, and 3 banks. The principal societies 

 are the American Academy of Arts and Sciences ; 

 the Marine Society ; the Massachusetts Agricultural 

 Society ; the Massachusetts Historical Society ; the 

 Medical Society ; the Humane Society ; the Boston 

 Library Society ; and the Boston Mechanic Associa- 

 tion ; beside several religious and charitable institu- 

 tions. 



The town of Boston was settled from Charlestown 

 in the year 1631. It received great damage from an 

 earthquake on the 29th October 1727, and has since 

 suffered severely from numerous fires, the houses be- 

 ing chiefly built of wood. In 1794, no fewer than 

 96 houses were consumed, and the loss sustained 

 amounted to 209,861 dollars. Number of houses 

 2376. Population in 1790, 18,038; but since that 

 time it has considerably increased. West Long. 70 

 58' 53", North Lat. 42 23' 15". See Morse's Ante- 

 rican Geography, p. 187. Morse's American Ga- 

 zetteer. Wansey's Journal, London, 1796. A full 

 account of the operations of Boston during the Ame- 

 rican war, and an excellent plan of the town, har- 

 bour, and environs of Boston, are to be found in Mar- 

 shall's Life of General Washington, Vol. ii. chap. iv. 

 and vol. v. frontispiece, (w) , 



BOSWELL, James, a celebrated literary cha- 

 racter, was descended from an ancient and honourable 

 family in Scotland. He. was born at Edinburgh, 

 October 29, 1740. His father, Alexander Boswell, 

 was one of the judges in the supreme courts of Ses- 

 sion and Justiciary, by the title of Lord Auchinleck, 

 a man of a strong understanding, a sound scholar, a 

 respectable and useful country gentleman, and an able 

 and upright judge. His mother, Euphan Erskine, 

 descended in the line of Alva from the house of Mar, 

 was a woman of exemplary piety. He received the first 

 rudiments of his education partly at home under pri- 

 vate tuition, and partly at the school of Mr Mundell in 

 Edinburgh. In his earliest years, he displayed that 

 quickness of mind, vivacity of disposition, and taste 

 for literature, which accompanied him throughout 

 his life. He afterwards studied civil law in the univer- 

 sities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. This latter semi- 

 nary was then, as it is now, very much resorted to by 

 students from England, with several of whom Bos- 

 well became intimate, but with none so much as with 

 Mr Temple, afterwards Vicar of St Glurias in Corn- 

 wall, who was a friend of Gray, and whose character 

 of that poet has been adopted both by Dr Johnson 

 and Mr Mason. This society confirmed in him a de- 

 sign, which he had early formed, of visiting England, 

 and a predilection for English manners, which he has 

 often been heard to say, was originally derived from 

 a perusal of the lively representations in the Specta- 

 tor. His first visit to London was in the year 1760, 



Boswelk 



Morse, in his Caztttter, makes it 97 streets ; but in his American Geograply, where the number of streets is expressed in 

 words, he makes them 79. As it is more likely that there has been a transposition in the figures, than an error in the words, 

 we have adopted the latter. 



