The earliest colony upon this territory was founded probably about 1620, by the Dutch of New Amsterdam, who claimed the whole country as a part of the New Netherlands. Small colonies of Swedes and Finns settled in the same region. The Dutch and Swedes drove out the English colonists, and afterwards the Dutch drove out the Swedes. In 1664, Charles II., of England, granted all the territory between the Delaware and Connecticut Rivers to his brother, the Duke of York, who sent out an expedition to take possession of it. New Amsterdam yielded without resistance, and the New Jersey settlements immediately submitted. A patent was then granted by the first English governor to immigrants from Long Island and New England, and many settlements were made. In the following years there were many questions and some conflicts as to whether the proprietors or the king held the title. They were at length settled, the colony being divided into East Jersey and West Jersey. In 1682 the whole territory was bought by William Penn and eleven other Quakers. They opened it as an asylum for the persecuted believers of his creed, and for a time it enjoyed much prosperity; but in 1702 the proprietors surrendered the right of government to the crown, and so it remained until the Revolution.

As a whole, this State is well adapted, both by soil and climate, for agriculture. The central region is a vast market garden, which supplies New York and Philadelphia, and even more distant cities.

Its manufactures have of late been considerably developed, and its manufacturing establishments are numerous, varied, and successful. Its fisheries, especially of shad and oysters, are very profitable. Its commerce with foreign countries is considerable, but is mainly conducted through New York or Philadelphia. Its mining industries are very important and valuable, especially in iron, marls, and zinc. Indeed, it is said that its zinc mines yield more than all the zinc mines of Great Britain, and much more than half the zinc products of the United States.

PENNSYLVANIA.

This State occupies nearly the centre of the thirteen original States, and from this position as well as from its importance, is often called the Key-stone State. It occupies a nearly perfect parallelogram, bounded north by Lake Erie and New York, south by Delaware and Maryland, west by West Virginia and Ohio, and east by New York and New Jersey. It contains about 46,000 square miles. or 29,440,000 acres.

Its constitution has recently been amended. The governor and lieutenant-governor are elected for four years, by a plurality vote, neither being eligible for the next succeeding term. The secretary of the commonwealth and attorney-general are appointed by the governor during pleasure; and a superintendent of public instruction is appointed by him for four years. The secretary of internal affairs for four years, the auditor-general for three years, and the State treasurer for two years, are elected by the people. The two last named cannot hold the same office for two consecutive terms.

The judges are elected by the people: those of the Supreme Court for twenty-one years, and they are not eligible for a second term; those of the inferior courts for ten and five years. Justices of the peace are elected for five years.

The senate and house of representatives constitute the general assembly. Senators, fifty in number, are chosen for four years. Representatives are apportioned on the population of the counties by a ratio obtained by dividing the State by two hundred. Every county containing less than five full ratios has one representative for a full ratio, and one more if the surplus is more than half a ratio. Every county containing five ratios or more has one representative for a full ratio. The representatives are chosen for two years.

An elected officer must swear that he neither paid money nor any thing of value to procure his nomination or election, and that he will not accept extra official pay for performing or non-performing his official duty; false swearing in this respect is punishable as perjury, and any candidate thus or otherwise violating an election law shall be forever disqualified from holding office. Any woman twenty-one years old is eligible to any school office. No State debt shall ever be created except to supply casual deficiencies in the revenue, and then not to exceed one million of dollars, or to repel invasion, suppress insurrection, for defence in time of war, or to pay existing debt.

The history of this great State is exceedingly peculiar. Early settlements by Swedes and Finns were made upon the Delaware; then the Dutch acquired the dominion, and soon afterwards the English. But in 1681 a grant from Charles II. to William Penn , included territory nominally at least covered by the ill-defined grants already made to Virginia, Maryland, and the colonies of New England. But the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland was finally settled by the famous Mason and Dixon's line. This line was, in the days of slavery, repeatedly referred to, because it was the dividing line between the free and the slave States of the original thirteen. Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, Englishmen distin

guished for their knowledge of mathematics and astronomy, began in 1763 the line they were employed to lay down, and ended it at a point two hundred and forty-four miles from the Delaware, where they were stopped by the Indians, who ordered that the survey should go no farther. The commissioners yielded to the prohibition, and returned to Philadelphia. Stones were sent from England, and planted at every mile. This line closed a border war which had been kept up at intervals for almost a century. William Penn, the Quaker, founded his colony upon a perfectly peaceful policy. His justice, integrity, and firmness deeply impressed the savages; and the consequence was that while we read in the history of the other original States much about wars with the Indians, and various disasters, Pennsylvania enjoyed an unbroken peace with them, until the beginning of the revolutionary war.

What is now Delaware was for a long time a part of Pennsylvania, and constituted the "Lower Counties." Philadelphia grew rapidly in population and prosperity, and from its importance and central position was the seat of the Continental Congress and of the general government, until 1800. Independence was proclaimed there; and the whole colony bore a decided and important part in the war of the Revolution. The names of Brandywine, Germantown, and Valley Forge will never be forgotten. In 1750 a large German immigration began, and great numbers of that people mingled with the Friends, or Quakers, who were there settled; and afterwards many persons from the North of Ireland, of Scotch origin, came into the colony, and were spread widely over it.

This large State is, through a great part of its territory, successfully cultivated. Its foreign commerce is very large, a good part of it being carried on through the port of New York. Its internal trade over its numerous railroads and canals has reached a great extent, and is now rapidly growing. But perhaps the State is most remarkable for its mining industries. The deposits of coal within its limits, especially anthracite, are of an enormous extent, and generally very accessible. With the coal beds are mingled beds of iron ore, which are very largely worked; and it may be said, indeed, that for both coal and iron the State of Pennsylvania is one of the most productive countries in the world. Petroleum and salt are also obtained in large quantities.

DELAWARE.

This State is bounded north by Pennsylvania, west and south by Maryland, and east by Delaware Bay and the Atlantic. It contains 2,120 square miles, or 1,306,800 acres.

By the constitution of Delaware the governor must be thirty years of age, and have been a citizen and inhabitant of the United States twelve years next before the first meeting of the legislature after his election, and the last six of that term an inhabitant of the State. He is chosen for four years. The secretary of state is appointed by the governor for the same period. The attorneygeneral is appointed by the governor, and holds office five years. The state treasurer and auditor are chosen by the legislature for two years. The senators and representatives are appointed according to population. The number of senators shall never be more than one-half, nor less than one-third, the number of representatives. The judges are appointed by the governor, and hold office during good behavior.

Delaware was first settled by Swedes and Finns in 1638, and was successively held by the Dutch in the New Netherlands, and by the English of New York; afterwards by Lord Baltimore, under a grant from the King of England. Then William Penn included it with Pennsylvania, until in 1703 the territory now constituting the State of Delaware obtained liberty to separate, and was allowed a distinct assembly, but not a governor. The proprietors of Pennsylvania, however, retained all their rights until the Revolution began, and the same governor presided over Pennsylvania and Delaware. In 1776 the inhabitants declared themselves an independent State, and framed a constitution. This was superseded in 1792 by another constitution, which has been frequently amended.

Both the climate and soil are favorable to agriculture. The flouring mills on the Brandywine are very important. At Wilmington there are extensive manufactories of steam machinery, railroad cars, and steamers; and many vessels of various descriptions are built and fitted out. The commerce of the State is not large.

MARYLAND.

This State is bounded north by Pennsylvania, east by Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean, south and south-west and west by Virginia and West Virginia. It contains 11,124 square miles, or 7,119,360

acres.

By the constitution of Maryland, the governor is chosen by a plurality of votes, for a period of four years. There is no lieutenantgovernor. The senate consists of three members from the city of Baltimore and one senator from each county in the State, who are chosen for four years. The house of delegates, now eighty in number, may vary with the population. The treasurer is chosen by the General Assembly; the comptroller by the people; the secretary of state is

appointed by the governor. The judges of the Court of Appeals and the Circuit Courts are elected by the people for fifteen years, or until they shall reach the age of seventy years. Other judges for a less period; and justices of the peace for two years. Sheriffs and constables are chosen for two years. County attorneys are chosen in cach county by the people for four years.

The first settlement of Maryland was made by a party from Virginia in 1631; the next year a charter was granted to Lord Baltimore by Charles I., and under this the colony was permanently established. The first colonists were nearly all Roman Catholics, as was Lord Baltimore, the proprietary. In 1642, a company of Puritans from Virginia, who had been expelled from that State for their religious opinions, settled at what is now Annapolis, in Maryland, and before long endeavored to resist Lord Baltimore, the proprietary. The two parties maintained a conflict with each other, with varying success; and in 1649, when a governor appointed by the proprietary had recovered possession, an act was passed introducing a principle which had never before been recognized as a public law in the history of mankind, but which is now the law, not only in Maryland, but through the whole country. For by this act it was declared that Christians of all sects might worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience, and make a public profession of their faith in safety. The opposite parties, Puritans and Catholics, continued the conflict, which was attended at times by actual hostilities. King William, when he came to the throne of England in 1688, assumed the government of the colony, in disregard of the rights of all parties among the colonists. But in 1714, the Lord Baltimore of that day having been educated as a Protestant, his rights and authority as proprietary were restored to him, and were not again disputed until the Revolution. Annapolis was the seat of government, Baltimore not being laid out until 1729; and it was to the Congress assembled at Annapolis that Washington resigned his commission in 1783.

In agriculture and its products this State holds a respectable but not an eminent position. Much the same thing may be said of its manufactures; although it has many prosperous manufacturing establishments, of which the flouring-mills are the most numerous. Its commerce is very large, including both its foreign and coasting trade, Baltimore, the principal port of the State, having a great amount of tonnage, and an extensive and varied commerce.