FROM THE CENT IN EL. Ms. RUSSELL, The following letter was received by the lajl pojl. The manifejl design of it is to give information to the Citizens oj the United States on points to whith mofl of them mufi be Jlrangers. Ido not know how better to throw it before them t than by requeuing the printers to injert it in their several paperr. B. L. CENTLEMEN, Dec. ?, 1789. f ~P , HE permanent residence of Congress hasfurnifhed so interest- X inga fubjeft for debate, in the late fefliou of that honorable body, as to juitify us in presuming that the individual citizens of each State must feel themselves deeply concerned in the eventual decision. Next to the great constitutional question, which so lately agitated our minds, we conlider it as an object of the great est importance to the present and future welfare of our country, that ever called for a difcuflion in our national councils. Such being the sentiments of the inhabitants of Alexandria and George-Tow n, they have appointed us a committee to communi cate with the principal towns in the Eastern States, on this inter esting fubjeft ; and to give them an impartial and candid detail of those circumstances, which in our estimation, render the Poto mack the moll eligible situation in the Union. In compliance with their wishes, we now beg leave to address you; with the fulleft confidence, that a free and manly difcuflion will never incur the censure of Americans. We are, however, aware of the obje&ionsthat may be made to our representations on the score of felf-intereft ; nor, will candor permit us to disown the many advantages we (hall peculiarly derive from a decision in fa vor of the Potomack—but, if they be found ftri&ly true, we hope they will have their due weight, notwithstanding the motives to which they may be attributed. We presume it will be univerlally admitted as just, that the feat of Federal Government ought to be fixed as near the centre of ter ritory aspoflible ; since population and wealth are circumstances as fluftwating and variable as the winds, and equally undeserving of attention, if permanency is the objett. The expense which will attend the erection of the necessary buildings, makes us hope that this is meant. Some regard then ought to be paid to poster ity, if a perpetual union is the wilh of all ; and to the hiftoryof emigrations, that we may not have a fimiiar expence to encounter in a Ihort time. That the river Potomack is nearer the centre of the Union, than any other considerable river, and is more advan tngeoufly situated for preserving an intercourse with the inhabi tants of the Western Territory, none can doubt; when we recol lect the anxiety the English nation felt thirty years ago, in confe rence of the poffeflion of this extensive ana fertile country by the French, we think ourselves particularly interested, from our great er vicinity, in giving the inhabitants thereof no cause to complain. The fafefy of all the Atlantic States requires the utmost attention to the continuance ofthis intercourse ; as their independence and separation from the Union would beget connexions highly dan gerous to our existence. Presuming that the navigation, extent, and productions of the Potomack are not well known to many of your citizens, it may not be improper to give them a full and just description thereof. The Potomack empties into the bay of Chefapeak in latitude 37* 50* onc hundred miles above the Capes : From the mouth of the river to Grorge-Town—the highest part to which navigation is pra&icable for sea vessels—is one hundred and sixty miles; the depth of water is from three and a half to fifteen fathoms ; the breadth of the river is from one to twelve miles : The navigation is more fafe and easy than that of any other river in the United States, affording every where good anchorage,and fine harbors from its numerous creeks. Aveffel of twelve hundred hogsheads of tobacco burthen has loaded at Alexandria, and one of seven hundred at George-Town. The inland navigation is at present used twenty-four miles above Fort-Cumberland : From thence to the Great-Falls is two hun dred miles ; though it may be made navigable to the mouth of Sa vage-Creek, eieht miles higher. The present land-carriage from the mouth of Savage to Dunkard's Bottom, on Cheat-River, is thirty-seven miles; from thence to the Ohio it is navigable ; but it is very pra&icable to improve the navigation so as to reduce the land carriage between the Potomac and Western Waters to only seventeen miles. As a proof of the facility of the communication, we apprehend the authority of Mr. Wa l pol e and his afTociates in their answer to the report of the board of trade in England will have some weight. Dr Mitchell too, who onoccafionof the war between France and England, on account of the back coun try, was employed by the Ministry to take an accurate survey of all the country, and publifti a map in consequence thereof, accom panied with a defcriptionof the country, agrees with those gentle men, in proving the easy communication between the Eastern and Western Country, when it was Icfs known than at present. Speak ing of the Ohio, they fay, " The country is well watered by se veral navigable rivers communicating with each other, and by which, and a short land-carriage of only forty miles, the produce of the Ohio can even now be sent cheaper to the seaport town of Alexandria, on the river Potomack, (where Gen. Braddock's transports landed his troops) than any kind of merchandize is at this time sent from Northampton to London." And Mr. Jef ferson, in his Notes on the State of Virginia, speaking of the connection between the Atlantic and Western Waters, fays, " The Potomack offers itfelf under the following circumstances tor the trade of the lakes and the waters westward of lake Erie. When it shall have entered that 1 ke, it must coast along its Southern ftiore, on account of the number and excellence of its harbors, the North ern, though shortest, having few harbors, and thole unfafe. Hav ing reached Cayahoga, to proceed on to New-York, it will have 825 miles, and five portages : Whereas it is but 425 miles to A lexandria,its emporium on the Potomack, if it turns into the Cay ihoga, and partes through that, Big-Beaver, Ohio, Yohogany, (or Monongahela and Cheat) and Potomack, and there are but two portages ; the firft of which, between Cayahoga and Beaver, may be removed by uniting the sources of these waters, which are lakes in the neighborhood of each other, and in a champaign country. The other, from the waters of the Ohio to Potomack, will be from 15 to 40 miles, according to the trouble which shall be taken to approach the two navigations. For the trade of the Ohio, or that which shall come into it from its own waters or the Miflifippi, it is nearer through the Potomack to Alexandria than to New-York by 580 miies, and is interrupted by one portage only. There is another circumstance of difference too. The lakes themselves never freeze, but the communications between them freeze, and the Hudson's river is itfelf shut up by the ice three months in the year ; whereas the channel to the Chefapeak leads direttly to a warm climate—the southern parts of it very rarely freeze at all, and whenever the northern do, it is so near the sources of the rivers, that the frequent floods to which they aie liable break up the ice immediately ; so that vessels may pass through the whole winter fubjeft only to accidental and ftiort de jays." From the mouth of Savage to the settlements in the Mhf kingum, weft of the Ohio, is about 140 miles. A good road between these places is now opening, if not completed; from the Great-Falls to tide water, following the course of the river, is fourteen miles, and by land only eleven ; from the Great-Falls to George-Town, is also fourteen miles, and to Alexandria seven teen, with good roads to each. The lands on the lower parts of the Potomack produce tobacco, corn, wheat and cotton plenti fully. The country above the falls is remarkably fertile, and yields large quantities of hemp and flax, with the several articles produced below except cotton ; the streams which empty into the Potomack are many; the principal are Pflttevfon's Creek, which falls into the Potomack ten miles below Fort-Cumberknd, and is navigable twenty miles above its mouth ; the South-Branch, seventeen miles below Cumberland, is navigable one hundred miles : Cape-Capon, iixty miles below, is navigable twenty miles. Conococheague, ninety miles below, is navigable twen ty-four miles. Opecan, one hundred and five miles be ow, is navigable twenty-five miles from its mouth, and within a ew miles of Winchester, a flourifhing inland town. anarx doah, one hundred and thirty miles below, may with a tmall expence be made navigable for one hundred and lixty mites, an is already used for a great part of that distance. The Monoca y, one hundred and fifty miles below Cumberland, is navigable thirty miles above its mouth ; this river is within two miles o Frederick-Town in Maryland ; one of the largest inland towns in the United States ; these several dreams pass through a country not exceeded in fertility of foil or salubrity of air by any in A merica, if any in the world ; perhaps no part of America can boast of being more healthy than the Potomack in general ; and we have been more aftoniftied at the objections which have been made to fixing the feat of government on it, from a iuppolcd de ficiency in khisrefpeCt, than any other ; the country is almott en tirely high and dry, with plentiful streams of pure water through out the whole extent of it: And are not these the principal cir cumstances which conduce to health in every climate ? But we ascribe the imputation to the general idea entertained of a southern clime by the inhabitants of a more northern one, which is only just with respeCt to the country adjacent to the sea-coast ; for it is a faCt we believe well ascertained, that the upper country, even in Georgia, the mod southern State, is extremely healthy. But wc wjfh to refer you on this fubjeCl to numbers of your friends and countrymen fettled amongus ; their health will prove the aHer tion. The Berkely springs, or bath, is situated within a few miles of this river, and frequented by the afflitted from all the States, and much celebrated for its effeCts : Slate, marble, free ftone of the red and grey Portland kinds, and iron ore may be had in great abundance on the banks of the river ; indeed seve ral iron works are already established thereon ; of coal too there is «yi inexhaustible quantity near Cumberland, convenient to wa ter carriage, from whence the towns in future may be tupplied— With regard to fifh the ir plenty is too well known to require a particular description ; fuffice it to fay that large quantities ol herring and white hfli are annually exported to the Weft-Indies. As to the defenfibility of the Potomack, we are of opinion no river in America is capable of being rendered more secure : Iti banks are every where high and bold, with the channel often not more than two hundred yards from the (hore ; Digges's point, about fix miles below Alexandria, and just above Pifcataway creek, is remarkably well calculated for a battery, as all vefTels coming up the river must present their bows to that point, for the distance of three quarters of a mile ; and, after palling, their sterns are equally exposed, for about the fame distance ; the middle of the channel there is not more than two hundred yards from the point. Having now enumerated the particular advantages of the Po tomack, fuffer us to observe that the commerce of the river on which the feat of government shall be fixed, will thereby be greatly encreafed ; and propriety and justice seem to require that the merchants of every part of the Union ftiould partake of the advantages resulting from that circumstances, as equally as the na ture of the cafe will admit. Upon the Potomack are but few merchants of large capital, and but very little shipping; hence the merchants to the eastward would have a fairer chance of sharing in the trade of the metropolis, than could be expeCted, if the feat of government should be fixed either on the Sufquehanna or De laware, where the opulent and comparatively long established towns of Baltimore and Philadelphia, furnifh merchants of large capitals, ready and capable of seizing every advantage themselves, and thus er.grofTing the whole commerce of these rivers. Besides, we apprehend it to be an incontrovertible faCt that your produce and manufactures would meet with a more ready market on the Potomack, than on either of those rivers. The southern States are too much engaged in raising valuable flaple commodities to at tend to manufactures ; it will therefore be a long time before they can rival you in this branch ; while the inhabitants of Pennsyl vania have already made considerable progress in these arts. The preference given by Britain to the commerce of the southern States before the revolution was founded on this policy, that they inter fered least with her manufactures : Ought not the fame motives to influence you, who are anxious to supplant her with refpe&to the articles with which she still continues to furnifh us ? When the greater centrality of the Potomack is considered, we think this circumstance ought to be decisive with you, in giving it the pre ference we contend for. To us it appears evident that the produce, manufactures and shipping of your country would be in much greater demand on the Potomack, than any where else more to the northward. We accordingly request you to take the fubje& into your seri ous consideration, and weigh maturely the merits of a plaee, which besides its other advantages, presents the easiest communi cation with our western brethren. We are, Gentlemen, your obedient Servants, Robert Peter, George Walker Jiejnard 0' Neill, Benjamin Stoddcrt, William Deakins,jun. Gearge Gilpin, John Fitzgerald, Charles Simms, David Stuart., Robert T. Hooe. MR. FENNO, The following was latch received from a gentleman in Bofton —The plan appears to he fimple y and a real improvement —and as it includes a provision for both sexes, its liberality and benevolence must recom mend it to the friends of the rifng generation. THE SYSTEM OF PUBLIC EDUCATION, Adopted by the Town of Boflon, OElober 15, 1789. I. r I there be one School in which the rudiments of A the Latin and Greek, languages shall be taught, and schol ars fully qualified for the Univerfitics. That all candidates for admifTion into this School (hall beat lead ten years of age, having been previously well inftru&ed in Englifti Grammar; that thev (hall continue in it not longer than four years, and thai they have liberty to attend the public writing Schools at such hours as the visiting Committee (hall direst. 11. That there be one writing School at the South part of the town : one at the Centre, and one at the North part ; that, in these Schools, the children of both sexes be taught writing, and also arithmetic in the various branches usually taught in the Town Schools, including Vulgar and Decimal Fractions. 111. That there be one reading School at the South part of the Town, one at the Centre, and one at the North part ; that, in these Schools, the children of both sexes be taught to spell, accent, and read both prose and veife, and also be inftru&ed in English Gram mar and Composition. IV. That the children of both sexes be admitted into the read ing and writing School? at the age of seven years, having previous ly rece/ved the inftruflion usual at Women's Schools ; that they be allowed to continue in the reading and writing Schools till the age of fourteen, the boys attending the year round, the girls from the 20th of April to the 20th of Ottober following ; that they at tend thefeSchools alternately, at such times, and lubjeft to such changes, as the visiting Committee in confutation with the Masters (ball approve. V. That a Committee be annually chosen by ballot, to consist of twelve, in addition to the Sele&men, whose business it (hall be to visit the Schools once in every quarter, and as much oftener as they (ball judge proper with three of their number at least, to consult together in order to devise the best methods for the in ftru&ion and government of the Schools ; and to communicate therefultof their deliberations to the Masters; to determine at what hours the Schools (hall begin, and to appoint play-days ; in their visitations to enquire into the particular regulations of the Schools, both in regard to inftruftion and discipline, and give such advice to the Masters asthey (ball think proper ; to examine theScholais in the particular branches which they are taught ; and by all proper methods to excite in them a laudable ambition to excel in a virtuous, amiable deportment, and in every branch of ufet'ul knowledge WILLIAM TAYLOR, Has for Sale, at his EAST-INDIA GOODS STORE, No. 4, Burlinc-Slip, A General Aflortment: of EAST-INDIA GOODS, Among which are the following Articles : . BOOK Muslins 8-4 6-4 5-4 || HUMHUMS', Jackonet do. ij Long Cloths, Hankerchiefs,of various kinds,|l Calfas, Chintzes, N Seersuckers, Ginghams, H Boglapores. A Variety of handsome painted MUSLINS. With many other Articles, which will be fold by the Piece or Package, low for cash. And a few pair large harrdfome Cotton COUN TERPANES, much warmer than Blankets. January g, 1790. t. f. PROPOSAL, FOR PRINTING BY SUBSCRIPTION, MEMOIRS OF THE BLOOMSGROVE FAMILY. In a SERIES of LETTERS from a gentleman in New-England to a refpettable citizen of Philadelphia. CONTAINING Sentiments on a MODE of DOMESTIC EDUCATION, fuitrd to the present state of Society, Government and Manners in the United States, and on the Importance and Dignity of the Female Character. INTERSPERSED WITH A VARIETY of interesting ANECDOTES. CONDITIONS. They will be printed on a good paper and type—neatly bound and lettered, in two volumes, 12mo. and delivered to fubferibers at three quarters of a dollar per volume. w These Memoirs are dedicated to Mrs. Washi ncton, by her permijfion. Having seen the manuscripts, and approved the plan, " She heartilv wilhes that every laudable effort to improve the *' mode of education in this country may be attended with merit j " ed success." „ FROM the literary chara&er of the reputed author of the above work, and a table of contents left with the printer here of, being eighty-three letters on the most interesting fubje&s of education, life and manners, it is expe&ed these Memoirs will prove a very valuable and interesting performance. Suhfcriptions received by the Editor, at his office, and letters (peji paid J duly attended to. ADVERTISEMENT. EXTRACTS FROM THE JOURNAL OF THE OHIO COMPANY. WHEREAS, in the opinion of the Agents, it is very much for the interest of the proprietors at large, that all the lands of the purchase should be divided and allotted as immedi ately as may be—And in order to accommodate them generally, by the option of clafling as they may think proper, and drawing their rights or (hares (where they may possess more than one) either together in contiguity, or by detaching and annexing them to diftinft claflesor divisions (at their own ele&ion) to give them the greater chance for variety in foil and (ituation—ltisunani moufly refolved,That as foonas the exploring committee (hall have appropriated the lands for donation fettlements,in quantity fuffici ent for all the proprietors,Wi nth rop Sarcent,Joseph Gili - man, and Return J. Meigs, Esquires, who are hereby appoint ed a committee for that purpose,(hall immediately makeout,upon a large fcale,a complete map or plan of the whole purchase from the best information,which they may be then able to obtain,exprefling all the lands of the eight acre, three acre, city lots and commons, one hundred and sixty acre, and donation lots, the reserved lots of Congress, school lots, and lots appropriated for religious pur poses—also, the two townships given by Congress for an univerfi ty,and the towns or situations for towns to be reserved by the com pany for a future allotment.—That, all the residuary lands lhall be, by them, the said committee of three, divided and numbered upon paper, into forty equal grand divisions of twenty-five (hares each, as like in quality as may be: That each grand division be divided into five sub-divisions of five (hares each, and each sub division into fettions of (ingle (hares :—That as soon as the map or plan is completed, the agents will form or class their fubferib ers (who (hall not previously class themselves) by fe&ions or Angle shares, into sub-divisions of five, and grand divisions of twenty five, and immediately proceed to drawing Vy lot for said lands; by grand divisions, sub-divisions and feftions : That in all draughts of sub-divisions (into fe&ions) which may be madeup ot proprietors,holding four,three, or two and single (hares,it (hall be the usage for the greatest proprietor, or holder of the greatest number of (hares, to take his lands in contiguity, by lot, either ia the southern or northern part of the sub-division, where they (hall be numbered from north to south, and in the western or eastern (by lot also) where they may be numbered from weft to east; and. where fub-dirifions maybe made up of two proprietors of two (hares each, and one of one (hare, the two greatest proprie tors (hall receive their fc&ions, by lot, either in the southern or western part of the sub-division. Resolved % Th3t the before na med committee, be dire&ed to prepare the names and numbers, and make all the necelTary arrangements for the intended draught: That previous to the drawing for this ultimate grand division of lands, there (hall be returns of the proprietors, as they may be classed by the agents (or otherwise) lodged in the Secretary's office, and it is recommended in all cases to consult the inclinations and interests of the proprietors in the order of clafling. Rejtlved, That the agents will give public notice of the time and place of drawing, and that there be two perfonsno ways interest ed in the draughts, who (hall be sworn to the faithfully drawing out the names and numbers from the boxes, and who alone shall be employed in this business for the draught of grand divisions, sub-divisions, and feflions. Resolved, That the Secretary cause the foregoing resolutions to be published in the newspapers of New-York, and the New- England States ; to the end that the proprietors at large may have the option of clafling themselves as they may think proper : And they are hereby requested so to do, and to express themselves upon this fubjctl, cither to their refpe&ive agents, or by informa tion in writing addreflcd to, and to be lodged with the Secretary, at his office in the city of Marietta,previous to the firftMonday of March, 1790 —Upon which day it is expe&ed the division will take place. WINTHROP SARGENT, Secretary to the Ohio Company. Marietta, 3d November, 1789. WANTED IMMEDIATELY, AY OUNG LAD, of suitable character, to fervc as an Apprentice to the printing Business. Enquire of the Printer. Published by JOHN FENNO, No. 9, Maiden- Lank, ne«rtheOfwcgo~M*rkct t New-York.—[3dol. pr. an.]
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