NEW YORK. 



ties provide for the suffering and tne poor 

 among which are institutions for the bhnd, 

 and the deaf and dumb, the city hospital, 

 the hospital for insane paupers, orphan 

 asylums, relief societies, &;c. The His- 

 torical Society, with a library of 10,000 

 volumes ; the Society Library, with. 

 30,000 ; the Mercantile Library Associ- 

 ation, with 14,000 ; the Lyceum of Nat- 

 ural History, with a good museum and 

 library ; the American Institute, for the 

 promotion of domestic industry ; the 

 Academy of Fine Arts ; the University ; 

 Columbia College ; the Episcopal Theo- 

 logical Seminary ; the New York Theo- 

 logical Seminary ; the Medical College, 

 &c. are indications of intellectual taste ; 

 JlstoT House. and not less than 70 periodicals, including 



daily newspapers, monthly magazines, and quarterlies, are published here. There are 50 free 

 schools in the city, with about 15,000 pupils, supported at a charge of 120,000 dollars a year. 



But it is chiefly as the great mart of foreign commerce and inland trade, that New York is 

 known. The annual value of imports from foreign cotmtries is from 70 to 80,000,000 dollars, 

 of exports about 20,000,000. The inland and coasting trade of New York is immense, but 

 of its actual value we have no account. The amount of shipping owned in this port is nearly 

 400,000 tons, or about one fifth of the whole shipping of the United States. There are about 

 2,000 arrivals annually from foreign countries, and nearly 5,000 coastwise arrivals. Regular 

 lines of commodious packets keep up a connexion with the principal Adantic ports of Europe 

 and America ; 20 ships of the finest class constitute the Liverpool line, one sailing every week 

 from each port ; the London line consists of 12 similar vessels, sailing once every ten days ; 

 and the Havre line of 15, sailing weekly. There are also lines to Belfast in Ireland, Green- 

 ock, Carthagena in New Grenada, Vera Cruz in Mexico, Havana, and all the principal ports 

 in the United States. Several large steam-packets also ply regularly between New York and 

 Bristol, and other British ports- 



The population, including the suburbs, exceeds 300,000 ; at different periods it was as 

 follows : — 



1790, . . . 33,131 1830, . . . 202,589 



1810, . . . 96,373 1835, . . . 270,089 



1820, . . . 124,706 



The island of Manhattan, on which New Y'ork stands, is 13^ miles long and from 1 to 3 miles 

 broad. The strait which separates it from Long Island is narrow. On the opposite side of 

 the island, the Hudson offers a very wide channel, but all the large shipping lies at the wharves 

 on the east side ; and the immense forest of masts which opens upon the view as the spectator 

 enters the East River from Long Island Sound, gives some adequate idea of the vast commerce 

 of the city. The neighborhood presents many interesting objects and much fijie scenery. The 

 Long Island shore is adorned with handsome villas and farm-houses. The .lersey shore is 

 deficient in that picturesque variety of hill and dale, which is the charm of New England 

 scenery, but affords many pleasant sites. 



The municipal government of New York is vested in a Mayor and Common Council, 

 consisting of two chambers, the Board of Aldermen and the Board of Assistant Aldermen, 

 chosen annually by the citizens. The Dutch had a factory on the present site of New York 

 as early as 1612, and about ten years later they formed a permanent settlement here, which 

 acquired the name of New Amsterdam, and afterwards took the name of New Y^ork, when it 

 passed into the hands of the Duke of Y'ork, in 1664. In 1765, New Y'ork was the seat of 

 a continental congress, and in 1776 it was occupied by the British forces, who retained pos- 

 session until November 25, 1783. The number of inhabitants had been diminished by this 

 hostile occupancy, and many of the public buildings were much injured, but many of the 

 citizens returned soon after the evacuation of the town by the enemy. In 1785, the first 

 Congress after the peace met here, and in 1789 the first Congress under the new constitution 



