196. Counties and Towns. This ftate is divided into fix counties-Rockingham, Strafford, Hillsborough, Chefhire, Grafton and Cohos. It contains nearly two hundred incorporated townfhips, befides other districts called locations. The chief towns are Portsmouth, Exeter, Concord, Amherst, Keene, Charlestown, Walpole,. Haverhill and Plymouth..

197. Portsmouth. Portsmouth the largest town in New-Hampshire, and a feat of the courts in Rockingham-county, is fituated on the fouth bank of the Pifcataway,. about two miles from the fea, fixty-three miles north-eaft of Boston, in latitude 43. 5 north. It is the only commercial town and sea port in the tate, and is a place of confiderable trade. Its buildings are chiefly of wood, and a large quarter of the town was laid in afhes by a fire in December 1802. Its public buildings are a courthouse, a market-houfe, a bank, a work-house, three congregational churches, one epifcopal, and one for univerfalits. Its inhabitants in 1800 were five thousand three hundred and forty. In this town are two banks.

198. Exeter. Exeter lies upon the Swamfcot, a branch of the Piscataway, at the falls, fifteen miles fouth-west of Portsmouth. It is one of the feats of the courts in Rockingham, contains a court-houfe, a jail, two congregational churches, a handfome academy and a bank. It lies. at the head of navigation, contains a number of mills, and is remarkable for fhip-building. Its inhabitants by the cen fus of the year 1800, were feventeen hundred and thirty.

199. Concord. Concord is a handfome town, on the weft bank of the Merrimac, about fifty-five miles northwefterly from Portsmouth. It contains a congregational church and an academy, and is the feat of government.. Jult below the town it an elegant toll bridge across the Merrimac.. In the year 1800, the inhabitants were two thousand and fifty..

200. Other confiderable Towns. Amherst, the fhire town of Hillsborough county, on a branch of Souhegan. river, fixty miles weit of Portsmouth, contained in the year 1800, two thousand, one hundred and fifty inhabi

tants, and an academy. Keene, in Cheshire county,. contained in the year 1800, fixteen hundred and fifty in-habitants, and has a bank.. Charlestown,, on the Connecticut, in the fame year, contained thirteen hundred and fixty inhabitants. Walpole, in the fame year, contained feventeen hundred and fifty inhabitants. Plymouth, a feat of the courts in Grafton county, on Baker's river, at its junction with the Pemigewaffet, forty-five miles north of Concord, contained in the year 1800, feven hundred and fifty inhabitants. Hanover, the feat of Dartmouth. college, contained in the fame year, nineteen hundred and twenty inhabitants. At this place is a bridge over the Connecticut, confifting of a fingle arch of one hundred and forty feet chord. At the falls in Walpole, there is alfo a bridge over this river. Haverhill, on the Connecticut, is a confiderable town and has a bank.

201. General Face of the Country. The state of NewHampshire, like all the northern region of the United: States, is hilly or mountainous; except fome plains and marshes on the fea fhore or the banks of rivers. The meadows and intervals are of a rich mold, and free from ftones; but the foil of the upland is gravel, fandy loam, clay or a mixture.

202. Chief Mountains. A range of mountains runs between the Connecticut and Merrimac; beginning with the Monadnock, near the fouth line of the ftate, and run-ning north, it is diftinguifhed by the Sunnapee, and Moofhelock, or Moofehilloc, and finally it terminates in the most lofty elevations in New-England, the White Mountains. There are other mountains on the east of the Merrimac, but lefs elevated.

203. Chief Rivers. The Connecticut washes the weft border of the ftate: the Merrimac penetrates a confiderable part of it from north to fouth, and with its tributary ftreams, waters the interior of the ftate. The Pafcataway, with its tributary ftreams, waters the eastern parts of the ftate; the Sauco and Androscoggin the. northern parts,

204. Ponds and Lakes. Winipifiogy lake, twentytwo miles in length. Umbagog, in the northern part of the ftate; Squam, Sunnapay, and great Offapy, are the principal bodies of ftanding water; but the smaller ponds are numerous.

205. Population. The number of inhabitants in New Hampshire in the year 1767, was eftimated at fiftytwo thousand-in 1775, at eighty-two thousand—and by actual enumeration in 1790, the number was one hundred and forty-two thousand. In 1800, the number had increased to one hundred and eighty-four thousand.

206. Exports. The chief articles of export are ships,. lumber, fish, beef, port and other provifions, horfes, pot. and pearl afhes, and flax-feed. Ship building has always been the employment of the towns on the Pafcata-way and its branches. Lumber and fish are carried to the West-Indies, Spain, or the Azores and Canaries ; horfes, beef and pork to the Weft-Indies; pot and pearl alhes to Great-Britain, and flax-feed to Ireland.

207. Courfe of Trade before the War. Before the revo-. lution, the king claimed the pine trees fuitable for mafts,. and his navy was furnished from America with mafts and: spars, a great part of which were cut in New-Hampfhire. Ships were built and loaded for the West-Indies; and there they took freight for England, where they were fold; or they were freighted with timber and fpars directly for England, and fold. With the proceeds, the: merchants paid for their British goods.

208. Fishery. A confiderable number of boats and fchooners are employed in the cod fishery. The boats take the fish about the ifles or shoals, within two or three leagues of Portsmouth. The fish taken in February and March is cured with little falt, and being kept alternately above and below ground, becomes mellow and of a red color. This is called dumb fish, and is of the first quality. The fchooners fish on the banks of Newfoundland,. and the fish taken, is fent to Spain and the Weft-Indies.

209. Ports of Export. New-Hampshire has not more than eighteen miles of fea-coaft, and no port on the coaf

except Portsmouth, which is a port of entry, and from this is exported a confiderable part of the produce of the state. But by means of the fituation of the ftate, no fmall portion of commodities is exported by other channels. The lumber that paffes down the Merrimac, goes to Newburyport-a part of the trade of the western towns is by the Connecticut to Hartford and New-York-while the northern towns more eafily communicate with the feaports in Maine, than with Portsmouth.

210. Value of its Exports. The exports from NewHampshire for several years after the national government was established, fell short of two hundred thoufand dollars a year; in the year 1800, their value 10fe nearly to four hundred and thirty-two thousand dollars. But a great part of the produce of this ftate is fhipped from ports in other ftates.

211. Manufactures. The principal manufactures are those of coarse cloths in private families; but not fufficient for the inhabitants. Pot and pearl afhes, iron, lether, faddles, fhoes, potters' ware, and a few other articles, are alfo manufactured.

212. State of Learning. An old law of the colony directed every town, containing one hundred families, to provide a grammar fchool in which alfo was to be taught, reading, writing and arithmetic. This law was not well executed. Since the revolution, a law of the ftate has directed the maintenance of schools in the feveral towns under certain penalties. There are alfo focial libraries in fome towns; and news-papers circulate in almost all parts of the state.

213. Academies. At Exeter an academy, founded by John Phillips Efq. and called after his name, was incorporated in 1781. At Atkinfon, an academy, founded by Nathaniel Peabody Efq. was incorporated in 1790.-Academies are all founded at Amhert, Charlestown and Concord.

214. Dartmouth College. At Hanover, in Grafton County, is a college founded by Doctor Wheelock in 1769, with afpecial view to the inftruction of young Indians.

Altho this object has in a great meafure failed; the inftitution is profperous and highly ufeful. The number of students is feldom lefs than one hundred and fifty; its funds confifting of new lands are increafing in value; its library and apparatus are tolerably complete; its fituation is pleasant and advantageous. It takes its name from a principal benefactor, the Earl of Dartmouth.

215. Government of New-Hampshire. The conftitution lodges the power of making laws in a General Court, confifting of a fenate and a house of reprefentatives, the concurrence of which is neceffary to a law. The senate confifts of thirteen perfons, chofen in certain districts by the freemer or electors. To qualify a man for a fenator he must be poffeffed of a freehold of the value of fix hundred and fixty-feven dollars, he mult be thirty years of age, an inhabitant of the diftrict for which he is chofen, and must have been an inhabitant of the ftate for feven years preceding.

216. Reprefentatives. Every town containing one hundred and fifty rateable males, of twenty one years of äge, may send a deputy to the general court. Three hundred additional rateable males entitle a town to an additional reprefentative. A reprefentative must have eftate in the district to the value of three hundred and thirtyfour dollars, one half of which must be freehold. -He must have been two years an inhabitant of the ftate, and when chofen, must be an inhabitant of the town or district for which he is elected.

217. Electors. All the male inhabitants in the state of twenty-one years old and upwards, excepting paupers and perfons excufed from paying taxes at their own requeft, have a right to vote for fenators and representa tives. If the electors do not give a majority of votes to any one person for fenator, the two houfes of the legiflature, by joint ballot, elect one of the two who have the greatest number of votes.

218. Executive Power.

The fupreme executive power chofen annually in March by the electors; but if no perfon has a majority of votes, the

is vefted in a governor,