Where is Waltham, and what is said of the cotton factories there? What is a bleachery? Where is Lowell? and what is said of it? What is said of Middlesex canal? How much more can a horse draw on a canal than in a wagon? How many towns and how many people in Middlesex County? LETTER XXV. THE County of Suffolk contains much less land than any other county in the State. It consists of only two towns, Chelsea and Boston. Chelsea is small, containing only about eight hundred inhabitants. A considerable part of the town is salt marsh, the rest consists of well cultivated farms and woodland. There is a large hospital in this town belonging to the United States, called the Marine Hospital, where sick seamen may be taken care of. It is a handsome building of gray granite, and beautifully situated. From it there is a fine view of Boston harbour. Chelsea is entirely separated from Boston; it is joined to Charlestown by a very long bridge across Mystic river. Boston is the metropolis of Massachusetts, that is, it is the largest and richest town in the State. It is called a City, because the people of Boston do not choose selectmen to manage town affairs, as the people of other towns do; but instead of selectmen, they choose a Mayor, eight Aldermen, and a Common Council. The Mayor and the Aldermen meet in one room, and the fortyeight Councilmen meet in another; all together they are called the City Council. The City Council meet commonly once a week. This Council have much more power than the selectmen of the other towns; for they appoint many officers, and make many regulations; vote taxes, and do a great many other things which in the other towns can only be done in a town-meeting. The City is divided into twelve parts, called wards; and the voters in each of these wards meet together once a year, to choose Mayor, Aldermen, Common Councilmen, Overseers of the Poor, School Committee, and other officers, just as the voters of the other towns meet to choose town officers. The voters of each ward choose an officer, called a warden, to govern their meetings. Several ward meetings are held in the course of the year. What is said of the county of Suffolk ? What large building in Chelsea? Why is Boston called a city? LETTER XXVI I HAVE already told you that Charles river, as it approaches the sea, spreads out into a bay. This bay washes Boston on the western and northern sides; on the eastern side Boston is washed by the sea. Boston is almost surrounded by water; it joins the main land only on the southern side. The peninsula on which it is built, is about two miles long and one mile wide. Where it joins the main land it is very narrow; this narrow piece of land is called the Neck. South Boston, however, is separated from the other part of the city by an arm of the sea- and appears like a different town. It is connected with the peninsula by two bridges, one called South Boston Bridge, and the other, Boston Free Bridge. For a hundred and fifty years after Boston was first scttled, there were only two principal ways of getting into it, one by land over the neck, and the other across the water in a ferry boat from Charlestown. But now Boston is joined to Charlestown by two fine bridges, each of them more than a quarter of a mile long; to Cambridge by two more bridges, each about half a mile long;* and to Brookline by the Mill Dam, called also the Western Avenue, which is about a mile and a half long. All the bridges are of wood. The piers are made of large oak timbers driven into the mud, and fastened strongly together. All the bridges, with the Avenue, have lanterns placed at equal distances on both sides, which are lighted every night, during that part of the month, when there is no moon. Two of the bridges, one of them leading to Charlestown, called the Warren Bridge, and the other to East-Cambridge, called Cragie's Bridge, have their floors covered with gravel, so that when you are passing over them, you seem to be riding upon a road. The gravel is put on to. keep the planks from wearing out. All the bridges have side walks on both sides for foot passengers; and toll is taken at each from the people who pass over. What washes Boston on the west and northern sides? What on the east side? What is said of South Boston? How many bridges join Boston to Charlestown? How many bridges join Boston to Cambridge? What are these bridges built of? What is said of the Mill Dam? An arm of Cragie's bridge extends to Prison Point in Charlestown. So that Boston is connected with Charlestown by three bridges. LETTER XXVII. BOSTON harbour is very large. If you look land bends at the map, you will see, that the in a considerable way to make it. It contains many islands. There are more than a hundred, large and small. Some of them are large enough to make valuable pastures for sheep and cattle; but most of them are very small, and many are bare rocks. By means of islands, the harbour is divided into two parts, called the inner and the outer harbour. The inner harbour is that part of the harbour which is next to the city. There is water enough in the inner harbour for five hundred of the largest ships to lie at anchor in safety. The entrance of the outer harbour is between two islands, and very narrow. Scarcely two ships can come in side by side. Governor's Island and Castle Island, between which is the entrance of the inner harbour, are both fortified; that is, have strong forts on them, with very large cannons mounted, in order to defend the city against enemies. The fort on Governor's Island is called Fort Warren; that on Castle Island is called Fort Independence. Nearly the whole peninsula of Boston is sur |