DELAWARE. 



269 



obtained by boring 270 feet ; the water is strong, and is raised by a steam-engine ; the salt is 

 white, and of a good quality. This fountain is sufficient for the annual manufacture of 25,000 

 bushels. There are other salt springs on the Ohio, and also on the Chenango and Mahony. 

 The preceding items may afford the reader some general notion of the nature and extent of the 

 manufactures of this State, no regular and complete account of which has yet been embodied. 



S. Government. The legislature is called the General Assembly ^ and consists of «i Senate 

 and House of Representatives. The senators are chosen for three years, and the representa- 

 tives annually. The suffi-age is universal. The governor is chosen for three years by a popu- 

 lar vote. There is no lieutenant-governor, and no council. The governor can only be elected 

 thrice in 12 years, and on retiring from office becomes a senator. The legislature meets annu- 

 ally at Harrisburg, in December. The State sends 28 representatives to Congress. 



9. Religion. The Presbyterians are the most numerous, and are divided into two classes, 

 one of which call themselves Associate Presbyterians. These tv/o bodies have 400 preachers. 

 The Baptists have 140 ; the Methodists, 250 ; the German Reformed Church, 73 ; the Epis- 

 copalians, 70 ; there are also Lutherans, Unitarians, Catholics, Quakers, Dutch Reformed, Uni- 

 versalists, Moravians, Svvedenborgians, Mennonists, and Jews. 



10. Education. The University of Pennsylvania, at FhWadelph'ia^ was originally an acade- 

 my and charity-school, and, afler repeated augmentations, became the university of the State in 

 1791. It has 13 professors, one of whom is chief officer of the university, with the title of 

 Provost. Dickinson College, at Carlisle, was founded in 1783, but was for a time suspended. 

 It has at present 8 instructers and 130 students, with a hbrary containing 3,000 volumes. Jef- 

 ferson College, at Canonsburg, was founded in 1802. It has a president, 9 professors, and 

 170 students. The library contains 1 ,500 volumes. The Western University, at Pittsburg, 

 was founded in 1820. It has 7 instructers, and 53 students. Mleghany College, at Mead- 

 ville, was founded in 1815. Washington College, at Washington, was established in 1806. It 

 has 5 instructers, and 100 students. Pennsylvania College, at Gettysburg, Lafayette College, 

 at Easton, and Marshall College, at Mercersburg, are new, but flourishing institutions. Not- 

 witnstanding the number of literary institutions, education is in a backward condition. Not 

 above one third of all the children in this State attend school, and the general means of instruc- 

 tion are very hmited. The public attention, however, has lately been turned to the subject, 

 and exertions are making for the advancement of popular education. The late Stephen Girard 

 left 2,000,000 of dollars for the establishment of a school in Philadelphia. 



11. History. William Penn, a Quaker, obtained from James the Second, of England, a 

 grant of this whole territory, in 1681. This grant was made in consideration of services ren- 

 dered the crown by the father of Penn, who was an admiral in the English navy. The terri- 

 tory at this time contained no settlement. In the autumn of the same year, three ships set sail 

 for the country, loaded with settlers, chiefly Quakers. They landed at the spot where Phila- 

 delphia now stands. The next year, Penn, with another large body of settlers, came to the 

 country ; he purchased a tract of land from the Indians, laid out the city of Philadelphia, and, 

 with a convention of the settlers, established a form of government and a body of laws. Penn 

 returned to England, and, on the accession of William the Third, the government was taken 

 from him, but was afterwards restored. In 1699, he revisited Pennsylvania, and remodelled 

 the government. Delaware, which originally formed part of the colony, was allowed a distil'''* 

 legislature. The early history of this State is not diversified with those narratives of Indian 

 hostilities, which confer so deep an interest upon the annals of most of the other colonies. For 

 70 years after the beginning of the settlement, an uninterrupted harmony existed between the 

 colonists and the Indians. Pennsylvania continued under the original charter until after the 

 American Revolution. The present constitution was established in 1790. 



CHAPTER XV. DELAWARE. 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



1. Boundaries and Extent. Delaware is bounded N. by Pennsylvania ; E. by the rivei 

 and bay of Delaware and the ocean ; and S. and W. by Maryland. Except Rhode Island, it 

 is the smallest State in the Union, containing but 2,120 square miles. It is 92 miles long, and 

 35 miles is its greatest width. It lies between 38° 29' and 39^ 47' N. lat., and 75° and 75° 

 40' W. Ion 



