town every year. There is also a great deal of chocolate made here. Chocolate is made of a sort of nut called cocoa. The cocoa is brought in ships from countries that lie a great way off to the south.

In the south part of Lynn is Nahant. Nahant is a high, rocky piece of land almost surrounded by the sea, but joined to the shore by a narrow ridge of sand and pebbles, a mile and a half long. On one side of this ridge where the sea breaks, is a fine, hard, smooth beach, very pleasant to ride and walk upon. A great many people go to Nahant, to enjoy the sea breezes, to walk and ride on the beach, and to see the great waves roll up and break upon the sand, or dash into white foam against the rocks. On the northern side are about twenty neat houses with piazzas, and made extremely convenient for a summer residence. There is also a very large public house, beside several other houses of entertainment. Only eight or ten families remain at Nahant during winter.

Where is Newburyport? on what river? and what is said of it What is said of Ipswich?

In what part of Essex county is Salem?

How large is Salem?

How many meetinghouses? How many inhabitants?

How many shire towns in Essex county, and which are they?
For what is Lynn famous?

What is said of Nahant?

LETTER XX.

BESIDES the towns which I have already described, there are several others in the county of Essex, about which, I dare say, you will be pleased to know something. Andover is a beautiful town, in the western part of the county, twenty miles north from Boston. The soil here is very good, and there are many fine farms and neat houses. In Andover there are two famous schools; one is called Phillips Academy, and the other, the Theological Seminary. Phillips Academy is the richest Academy in the State, and the oldest but one. About fifty years ago, Mr John Phillips and Mr Samuel Phillips, two worthy gentlemen, gave a large sum of money to establish this Academy. Boys at the age of ten or twelve years, if they behave well, can go to it, and study Latin and Greek, and be fitted for college. About a hundred boys and young men commonly belong to the Academy. Those who are so poor, that they cannot pay for board and instruction, but are good young men and excellent scholars, are assisted with board, and receive instruction without paying for it.

The oldest Academy in the State was established more than seventy years ago, at Byfield, about four miles from Newburyport, by Mr William Dummer. It is called Dummer Academy. The first person who kept school in it was Master Moody; he was a very good master, and many of the boys who went to school to him, when they grew up, became famous men.

The Theological Seminary at Andover is on a hill, presenting a delightful prospect. There are three large brick buildings standing in a row, and before them is a green yard planted with trees. Over a hundred young men belong to the Seminary. They spend three years in study, in order to qualify themselves to be ministers of the gospel. They have four learned men to teach them, who are called Professors. They do not pay anything for instruction, and many who are poor, have their board given them. At Andover considerable business is done in the manufacture of woollen cloths.

Bradford and Haverhill, thirty miles north. of Boston, one on the north, and the other on the south side of the Merrimack, are pleasant towns. They are joined together by a fine wooden bridge of three arches. This bridge

is covered with a roof like a long shed. Vessels sail up the Merrimack as far as Haverhill. On Cape Ann, in the castern part of the county of Essex, is Gloucester. This is a very rocky town. It is almost surrounded by the sea, and affords many beautiful water prospects. There are more than seven thousand people here; but they are scattered in three or four different villages. The principal village is called the Harbour; it is quite thickly settled, and has four meetinghouses. At the farther end of the Cape is a village, called Sandy Bay. It has no harbour; but the people have built great stone walls, which run out into the sea and form a shelter for their vessels. These walls are built of large stones. In a storm the waves dash against them very terribly. There are large quarries of granite in Gloucester; and a great deal of it is split and carried to Boston, and to other places. But the town is chiefly known for its cod and mackerel fisheries. Gloucester is thirty miles northeast from Boston.

The towns of Beverly and Marblehead, one about two miles north, and the other about four miles southeast from Salem, are also famous for their fisheries. Danvers, which joins Salem on the west, has important iron works, tanneries

and other factories; and Amesbury and Salisbury on the Merrimack, have extensive factories for cotton and woollen cloths. In the towns on the Merrimack, many excellent ships are built. In Essex county there are twentysix towns, and nearly eightythree thousand inhabitants.

What is said of Andover?

What famous schools at Andover?

Where is the oldest academy in the State?

What is it called?

Where are Bradford and Haverhill?

What is said of Gloucester ?

What business is followed at Beverly and Marblehead ?

For what is Danvers famous ?

For what are Amesbury and Salisbury famous ?

How many towns and how many inhabitants in Essex County?

LETTER XXI.

THE largest town in Middlesex county is Charlestown. It is in the southeast part of the county, and is built on a peninsula between the mouths of Mystic and Charles rivers. A peninsula is a piece of land almost surrounded by water. Charles river is not large, and Mystic river is small, but as they come near the sea, both of them spread out to a great width. There are extensive salt marshes on their banks.