National gazette. — Philadelphia [Pa.], 1793-03-30 00:00:00, page 4

[Inserted ly defirc.~\
CIRCULAR LETTER of the Hifto-
Tic.! Society, in IvJ .flichufetts
Rc/prlfu/'y addrejjed to every Gentleman oj
, Same: in the Continent and IJlands oj
winter ica.
SIR,
\ SOCIETY has lately been inftitu
ted in tills slate, called the Hillori
cal Society ; the profeffed design of which
if, to collect, prcferve and communicate,
materials for a complete hillory of this
country, and accounts of all valuable es
s rts of human ingenuity and indullry,
from the be<jinnin<r of its fettlemenr. In
pursuance of this plan, they have already
amassed a large quantity of books, pamph
lets and manuscripts ; and are Hill in
search of more : A catalogue of which
will be printed for the information of the
public.
They have a!fo encouraged the publi
cation of a monthly pamphlet in which is
given the refidt of their inquiries, into
the natural, political and ecckfialtical hi
story of this country. It is requeued
that you would contribute to its value and
importance, by attention to the articles
annexed. The Society beg leave to de
pend on your obliging answer to thtfe
heads of inquiry, when leisure and oppor
tunity will p.rmit.
Your letters addressed, free of expense,
to the fubferiber, will be gratefully receiv
ed, and duly noticed in the Society's pub
lications; and you will have the fat isfacti
on of contributing to the general (lock of
knowledge, with which they hope to en
tertain the public.
In the name, and by order of the Society,
JEREMY BELKNAP,
Corresponding Seeretary.
Botlon in Massachusetts.
November I, I 791.
Articles on which the Society requejl infor
mation.
1. The time uhen yourtown or city
was incorporated : its Indian name j
when the fetrlement began ; whether it
was interrupted, and by what means ; tc
what colony or country it was firfl: anntx
eJ ; and if there have been any alterations)
what they are, and when made. .
2. The exploits, labours and fuffering!
of the inhabitants in war ; particular ac
counts r f devaltations, deaths, captirit es
and redemptions.
3. Divifrins of your town or city in
parifhts and precindis, or the erection ol
new towns within the former limits.
4. Time of gathering churches of every
denomination ; names of the several
minders ; tie times of their fettle
ment, removal and death; and their age
at the time of their death.
5. Biographical anecdotes of persons
in your town, or within your knowledge,
who have been remarkable for ingenuity,
enterprise, literature, or any other valua
ble acomplilhment ; an account of their
literary productions, and if poflible, copies
of them.
6. Topographical description of your
town or coun:v, and its vicinity; moun
tains, rivers, ponds, animals, vegetable
produ&ions ; remarkable falls, caverns,
minerals, stones, foffils, pigments, medici
nal and poisonous fubltances, their uses
and antidotes.
•7. The former and profent slate of cul
tivation, and your thoughts on farther
improvements, either in refpedt to agri
culture, roads or canals.
o. Monuments and relieks of the anci
ent Indians ; number and present Hate of
anv remaining Indian's among you.
9, Singular inllances of longevity and
fecundity from the full fettlenitnt, to
the present time.
10. Obf.rvations on the weather, diseases,
and the influence of the climate, or of par
ticular Camions, employments and ali
jncnts, especially the effedt of spirituous
liquors on the human constitution.
11. Accurate bills of mortality, fpeci
fying ages and cafualtits, the proportion
of births and deaths ; and the incrsafe or
dccreafe of population.
12. Accounts of manufaflures and
fifheries, and thoughts 011 the farther im
provement of them.
13. Modes of education, private or pub
lic ; what encouragement is given to
schools and colleges, and what is done to
advance literature ; whether you have a
facial library,what u the numbercf books,
and of what value.
74- What remarkable events have be
fallen your slate, count)-, town, or parti
cular families or persons at any time.
P.S The corresponding members of
this society are requeiled to transmit to
the Corresponding Secretary, any hii" ori
cal information of which tJv.v may be
pjfiefied, refpe&ing- any p-.irt cf the A
merican continent and islands, together
• - . .
with prmted adls and jcur.sals of aiTem
blies a n'l conventions whether civil or ec
clesiastical. Ar.d the society will grate
fully receive from them and from all o
ther persons whatever, any books, pam
phlets, manuscripts, maps or plans which
may be uleful in forming an hiltorical
colledlion—and any natural or artificial
produ&ions which may enlarge the Mu
feum,
The Library and Mtifeum are depofi
ted in an apartment of Faneuil Hall.—
Any person desirous of making- a search
among the books or manuscripts, may
have access to them under such regulati
ons, as may be known by applying to any
one of the members.
Oil Giants—From a Correfpondcnt.
That a race, or nation of Giants have
formerly exilled on this earth, has been
generally allowed by all who have relied
upon the faith of ancient hillory. Their
univerLlchara&er was fierce, cruel, murde
rous, tyrannical, and poflefllng llrength
and power only to turn it tothevileft pur
poses. In corroboration of the exiflence
of this monstrous species of human be
ings, as aflerted in history, lkeletons are
said to have I een dug up in many coun
tries, particularly Sicily (:he ancient
refiderce of the Cyclops) at leafl four
or five yards in length. Notwithflanding
all this, however, I have conflantly enter
tained doubts of the reality of the former
exiflence of these beings, either as a dif
tindl race, or as inhabiting at some remote
age, any considerable portion of the ter
re/lrial fuperficies of this globe. Should
we suppose the latter to have been the
Cafe, and that Giants were the predecelfore
of the present race of mankind, we mull
behold in ourselves a degenerated species,
tho' in fame degree of an ameliorated and
improved nature.
Tho' it would be rash to fay that no
Giants have everexifted on this earth, yet
from a close and candid consideration of the
fubjedt, one would be inclined to think
their existence has been only in figure
and metaphor.
It is remarkable that the charaßeriJlic at
tributes of kings, despots, andg ants, are the
fame. There is therefore good reason to
conclude, that when ancient hiflory, or
poetry, entertains us with tales of giants,
or men 5 or 6 yards high, it means no
more than the despotic heads of nations,
who by means of their unlimited power,
and the bad use they commonly made of it,
were aptly enough styled giants, or great
men, who exijied by [pilling the blood of na
tions, and making the world a theatre of car
nage and desolation.
What considerably flrengthens this o
pinion is one or more passages in the He
brew Scriptures, where after mentioning
that giants had exilled in the earth, they
are called the sons or children of Anak.
From this Hebrew word, in all probabili
ty. was derived the Greek word Anax, in
English a king ; so that when the Hebrew
hi dorian talks of Anak, and the children o)
Anak, he can mean no other than certair
ancient kings and tyrants of Asia, a ract
of despots, whose crimes were at length
the cause of their deflru&ion, and out oi
which grew the Jewish and other theo
cracies, from an aversion in the people
(from what had pasTed) to be governed by
one of their own species, altho' this refor
mation was quickly the cause of nearly as
bad a tyranny in the persons of the priests,
who were a long time admitted as vice
gerents of the deity.
But after all that has been fa'd, if giants
have really lived in the world, there can be
no doubt but their numbers mull have
been comparatively few with the reft of
mankind. Their tyranny and oppressions
produced an opposition : and the inferior
ftatnre of men were compelled to unite in
their own defence ; they warred again!!
these monllers, and by degrees extirpated
them, male aad female, from this terres
trial globe.
The fame necefiity of union exifls in
this late age of the world to root out those
figurative giants, called hereditary kings
and emperors. Power was not made fcr
one man ; it can only, in the nature of
things, belong to colle&'ve bodies. Is it
not worse than madness then, to confer
unlimited authority upon any individual,
especially ;:s allhiflory has taught us, that,
with but very few exceptions, it never fails
to make even a virtuous mail a fiend of
darkneis, and an inveterate enemy to the
temporal happiness of his species.
From the NewTorl Magazine.
In the funimer of 1791, fcveral gentle
men (of diftin&ion) in the ltate of New.
York, made a tour through its wefteru ter
ritory. In their progress along tlie eall
bank of the Scneca river, fix miles foutf
of Grass and Salt lakes, and forty jnUc
south of the fore at Ofwego, they disco
vered a remnant of ancient Indian de
fence, unequalled perhaps even by the
celebrated vestiges at Muflcingum.
The principal fortification ij 220yardi
in length, and 55 in breadth. The ban!
and corresponding dilch are remarkably
entire, as are two apertures oppolite eac!
other in the mddle of the parallelogram,
one opening to the water, and the othei
facing the fore,ft.
About half a mile south of the grcatei
work, is a large half moon, fuppoled to bt
an out-work ; but attended with this fin
gularity, that the extremities of the ere
scent ai e from the larger fort. The bank
and ditch, both of this and the firft for
tress, are covered with trees which exhibi
extremity of age.
Over a fmali elevation in the great fori
the gentlemen observed a flat flone, fiv<
feet in length, and three and a half ir
breadth, and fix inches thick, which wai
evidently a sepulchral monument. Then
were a number of figures engraven upot
it, by being funk with a chifTel near hal
an inch lower than the general ftirface o
the (tone Upon removing the stone, om
of the gentlemen with his cane dug up'i
piece of an earthen veflel, which fiom th<
convexity cf the fragment he fuppofec
might contain twog.llons: it was verj
well burned—looked red, and had its up
per edge indented, as with the finger in it:
imprefiionable state.
It is remaikable, that in the enquiries
the travellers made concerning these fingu
lar conftrudtions, among the furroundinp
Onandagoes and other nations, they weri
so far from receiving any information tra
ditionary or otherwise, that the native!
themselves had never noticed it.
Perhaps the day is not far distant, wher
foitu American Gabii or Herculaneuir
cvill astonish the world with a western liif
tory, great, important, and interesting ai
the oriental,
Inventions and Improvements.
The science of Mechanics, is much in
debted to the ingenuity of Mr. Roltr,
Lejlie of the city of Philadelphia. Th:
following is handed to us as a lift of a
few of the inventions and improvements
not including those on time-pieces, &c.
which he has made during his residence
lere. Their merit will no doubt bring
:hem soon into general life.
A machine for threshing wheat, on a
lew plan.
A horizontal tide-mill, to work with
30th tides.
A boat to fail directly againll the wind,
)r in an) other dire&ion.
A horizontal wind-mill, so conftru&ed,
hat the wind adts on both fides of the
j'heel at the fame time.
An improvement on the common
Wheat-Fan, by which it is made to pro
luce more wind with less labour-
An apparatus for blowing the fire of
iny kind of furnace by a stream of water
without a bellows. The power of this
rontrivance may be increased to a greater
degree with a given quantity of water,
than the fame quantity could produce
if applied to giving motion to a common
bellows.
A machine for measuring a ship's way.
An improvement on carriage springs.
A flandard of invariable length, by
means of a cylindrical rod of iron of such
length as to perform its vibrations in one
fec»nd of mean time.
A method of continuing the impref
lions in dyes for coining and other pnr
pofes, uniformly the fame as long they
may be wanted.
Several ufeful discoveries in tfiills &e.
[Ft cm a. •ch paper.]
It mud appcai -i/hing 'to philofo
phcrs that, uader ll; French govern
ment, prejudice {hoi Viave impressed a
chara&cr of difjrace upon the profttTion
of a comedian, whilst it highly honoured
other occupations of a kindred nature, but
far beneath it in dignity, such as those of
preacher and orator. We will not so far
disgrace the charadifer of a good comedian
as to contrail it with that of an crator, in
point of requisites of genius, which would
be like c< roparing a fkilful physician to a
drug-pounding apothecary. Our new re
public cannot too 11 inch honour a profeffion
which, if we wou:d hasten a regeneration
morals, will conllitute an eflential part
of public inltru£uon.
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATION ).
March 1793.
D. llißar. \T\n. W; n i. 'Wcatlu,.
Tut/Jay, 10. 7 29. 85 53 W. 'Fair
2 ro- c to do. | do
'Yednejday, 20. 7 3c. 2 <s ■■. i\ L. TaiT. ,
I<>>. 16 61 S. S. E. do.
iburjday, at. 7 .9. S 41 i. t. 1 • ui)i.
I ■ 4■, ..N\v vdy.
Vnauy, 22. ; 30. c 3 .\l .\Fj.~r~
2 c .1 ' do.
Saturday, 23. 7 30. ci 3. N.
I 20 ' , 7 5 V,'. do.
Sunday, 24. 30. t ;7 ~ Fair.
: _VJ_ J- do.
Mvndtiy, *5. TI i -3-1 3 5 • • ■' -tr.
■I 1° 3S' 59 J
The Barracks in Perth Amboy,
Late the pvperty of Major Richard Lloyd,
Deceajcd,
'ry ILL he. xpofed to public sale on Monday
the firlt day of April next at the house of
John '1 h"mpfon in I'erch Amboy aforefairt .• fajj
barracks are an elegant large brick building,
:<>nraining about 30 rooms, ilie middle house of
kvhich ia three ftoriefc high—They are finely situ
ated commanding a beautiful profpedt of the
town and (urrounding waters—the lot on which
they stand, contains about one acre and an half in
ivhich are two wells of excellent water—At the
fame time and place wilt be fold a water lot
and dock lot King in Perth Amboy aforefaid
for all which good titles (by virtue of an order
jf the Orphan court of the county of Midclefcx)
will be given by
WILLIAM LLOYD.
NA I HANIEL KER.
Al minijirators.
Allentown, Monmouth county, Feu. 25, 1793.
4:. law.
FOR sale.
THE Subfcribcr wishes to fell the HOUSE
and LOT :n Princeton, now in the tenure
of William Worth , it is an eligible stand, either
for a private family or a trai*!cfroan, being situated
on the North liJc of the ftieec, near the centre of
the town, and a little tall of the market house—
rhe lot contains forty-two feet in front, and up
wards of two hundred feet in depth j on the prc
mifes is creeled, and in good tenantable «rder, a
two florv dwelling house, twenty feet front by 26
m depth j two rooms on the lower floor, whh an
entry fix feet wide j three rooms on the second
floor, and a room in (he garret, lathed and pjal
tered. In the irar of the houle, and adjoining
thereto, is a large kitchen, ano the cellar extends
under the wnole of the house. in rhe yard, there
is a well of excellent the yard and garden
are enclosed with a gooo pale fence. This »oufc
and lot iTvght be an objedi to fume gentleman *ho
might wish to educate his children either at the
College or rhe Latin or Englifn fc'.iools, which
are conduced upon an improved plan—The title
i* indifputabJe, and pofTelTion may be had the firft
of April. For terms apply to the fublcriber in
Princeton. JARED SEXTON.
PRINCETON, Feb. 28. 4W2av/
I Have claims to about two hundred and
fifty thousand acres of LAND in the state of
Kentuckey, in different parts of that country,
Tome of which 1 know to be equal to any ; all
which I am inclined to dilpofe of, either by
"ntire fair, or by admitting one, or two partners,
to whom the agency on the whole will be com
mitted.
One fourth of the contrafl will be required in
hand, either in ca/h, merchandise, or such aflets
as may be converted to a&ive use, the relidue
may be apportioned in convenient instalments.
The pure hafers to give security, on the land,
)r otherways,as suits them.
Knowing that there is a prejudice against the
titles of land in that (!ate, which is more general
than just, I am willing to stipulate in the con-
that a discount, or d-du&ion, shall be
madr, where any land may be loft, by reason of a
defective title.
Any person inclining so such a purchase, is re
quested to write to me by pert, in answer to
whom, more particular information will be given.
HENRY BANKS.
Richmond March 20, 1793. 2a w tf.
PRINTED BY
CHILDS and SWAINE,
AT THEIK OFFICE NO. 209, KICU-STK E S T",
N EAR F IFTH-STBFST,
P H_ U- A J) ! L P II I A.