778 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 
Land; and even whalers may not improbably follow in the same direction. The 
only difficulty which may cause them to hesitate is the supposed obstruction of 
the approach, by ice floes. Explorers, by annual reconnaissances, will throw a 
flood of light on that question, and, as in so many other instances, Arctic discov- 
ery will prove to be not only important in increasing the sum cf human knowl- 
edge, but also in opening up new sources of commercial industry. 
The following letter of Gen. Washington is in possession of a gentleman 
living at Mendon, Chariton Co., Missouri: 
Mount VERNON, April 22, 1789. 
Sir :—I received this day by the Free Mason, Capt. Lawrence Layton, four 
tierces and three barrels of seed which were notified by a letter you were so 
obliging as to forward by last stage. I beg leave in behalf of my Uncle to offer 
many thanks for your care of and dispatch in forwarding them—as the freight 
agreed upon was not specified and the Captain informed me that you would set- 
tle it, will thank you by the first stage to inform me the amount and any other 
charges that may have arisen from its transportation and the money shall be im- 
mediately remitted to you. . 
I am Sir, Your Obedient Humble Servant, 
GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
RICHARD CURRAN, Esq. 
THE FIRST REGULAR MEETING OF THE NEW MEXICO SOCIETY. 
At the first regular meeting of the New Mexico Historical Society, composed 
of the most influential and prominent officials and citizens, the president, Acting- 
Governor W. G. Ritch, made an able and exhaustive address, reviewing the ob- 
jects of the society, outlining the ancient history of the territory and calling spe- 
cial attention to the three-century-old palace dating from the earliest existence of 
the Spanish colonists in New Mexico. He recommended, and a memorial is be- 
ing prepared and extensively signed praying Congress for a charter, and asking 
that this ancient historical relic, the oldest in the United States, be granted to the 
society for preservation in the interest of the whole country, the society being 
national in its scope and embracing the oldest and most prolific fields of historical 
research. 
