INTRODUCTION. 177 
fession; a political history of the state, from the time of the Dutch colonial g0- 
vernment to the revolution; a notice of the establishment of the constitution of 
1777; an account of the formation and establishment of the constitution of the 
United States, and of the organization and early administration of the federal 
government, so far as concerns the action of this state and of its citizens ; notices 
of the abolition of slavery, of the amelioration of the criminal code, and of the 
progress of jurisprudence, with an account of the judiciary and of the legal 
profession ; a reference to contributions by citizens of New-York to political and 
financial science ; accounts of the formation of the constitution of 1821, and of 
the codification of our statute laws in 1827 and 1828; a history of internal im- 
provements within the state, from the period of their conception, which, as con- 
stituting a peculiar and interesting feature in our physical progress, have been 
deemed worthy of extended and detailed remark ; accounts of the improvement 
and present condition of agriculture, of the development of agricultural science, 
and of the introduction of horticulture ; a sketch of civil engineering, with a full 
description of the recently constructed Croton aqueduct; notices of the appli- 
cation of the steam engine to navigation, and of improvements in the steam en- 
gine ; of sacred, civil, academic and domestic architecture ; of antiquarian curio- 
sities, and of Indian history ; of the materials collected for the history of the 
state; of the studies and productions of our citizens in the departments of history, 
classical learning, mathematical science, pure and mixed biography, travels, ro- 
mance and general literature, poetry and the fine arts; and of researches in our 
zoology, botany, meteorology, chemistry and mineralogy ; with an account of the 
inception, progress and consummation of the survey, to which those researches 
gave birth. 
This review, although circumscribed and imperfect, furnishes gratifying proof 
that a republican government is not unfavorable to intellectual improvement. 
Intelligent and patriotic citizens were invited to furnish the materials necessary 
for the work, and portions of it consist substantially of such materials, in the 
Inter. 25 
