The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1855-08-23
From the National Intelligenber.
Mason and Dixon's Line.

:. y
n past more familiar in mems mouths thar
q even the distinguished of the gallant banC
r who shed their blood with Prince Hal OF
+ the memorable "feast of Crispian;" bu
we doubt whether one in ten thousand O.
those who have been in the habit Of re.
n peating them over ever took the trouble
of inquiring how they originated or what
they meant This was task for the Gu
rous seeker into musty records and the
!. forgotten annals of our colonial history {;
and the knowledge Of them which has been
recently unveiled, is one of the happy re-
suits of the many Historical Societies scat
tered over our union. Their learned and Ia
borious researches have already illustrated
many obscure passsgcsin our earl history;
for, young as our nation yetis, the country is
old enough to bear within its bosom many
monuments of a race infinitely superior in
all the arts of life to the aborigines found
here by Columbus, Cabot, or Smith, show
ing antecedents Of nature and character
to excite the interest not only of Ameri-
cans, but of the world; which but for their
profound investigations might have re-
mained, like the origin of the Gipsies, un-
known to the present day. If it had been
made a penal offence IN any one to utter
a phrase or a word of which he could not
interpret the meaning, what multitude
Of culprits would "Mason and Dixon's
Line" have caused 10 be called before the
tribunal Of justice And what crowd
of mingled feelings must the repetition Of
them awaken in those who can remember
the evil uses made of them by the lovers
and promoters of excitement for excite
ments sake! Those words, we verify be-
lieve, had as much to do in bringing about
our first sectional disputes and jealousies
as any other taunt, or all other irritating
taunts together, ever uttered by North or
South against each other. They were
the war cry of Round Heads aud Cavil-
iers; the tocsin that invited demagogues,
/ in and out Of Congress to civil discord-
the menace of separate and independent
empire. And yet there never were words
Of more harmless import in their origin
and meaning. If the venerable meu
crossed the Atlantic for the sole purpose
Of laying down this invisible and inno
cent line, which has given Immortality to
their names, could have forseen ''to what
base uses it would be brought, we are
persuaded, little as we know Of their char
acters, that even a royal mandate would
have failed in moving them to undertake
it.
For our attention being brought at this
time to the geographical significance of
this famous line we are indebted to the
researches Of John II. B. Latrobe, of Bal
tinore, a gentleman whose profound &C.
quirements and literary taste have con-
tributed much to enrich the common stock
of knowledge. The subject was chosen
by him for an address before the Histor-
ical Society of Pennsylvania; and, as we
presume but very limited number af CO.
pies were printed for distribution, We shall
not subject ourselves to the charge of car
rying figs to Athens if we quote few
passages from it for the benefit Of our
readers. Speaking Of the political turn
given to purely geographical question,
be says:
"a consequence Of this state OF these
things has been to perpetuate the memory
of the old surveyors who established it
a rare good fortune as regards their fame;
for, while the engineers who located the
road across the Simpleton have been for
gotten in the all-absorbing renown of the
master whom they served while, of the
thousands who sail past the Eddystone,
not one perhaps knows who it was that
erected, on a crag in the midst of the sea,
the wondrous lighthouse that has now
defed the tempests of century; while
oblivion has been the lot Of other benefac-
tors of mankind, whose works, of every
day utility, should have been their endur-
ing monuments. Charles Mason and Jer-
emiah Dixon, who, eighty-six years ago,
ran line through the forest, until the In
dians forbade the further progress Of chain
and compass, and whose greatest merit
seems to have been that of accurate sur
veyors, have obtained notoriety for their
names as lasting as the history Of our
country"
1t was in 1868 that the proPrietaries
of Pennsylvania and Maryland agreed
with Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixson
to survey the boundary between their re-
spective grants; and these 1.-TWO matbem "a
ticians or surveyors" landed in Philadel-
phia in November of the same year, and
entered atonce upon the work agreed upon.
According to their own account their new
line did not vary an inch eastward OF west
ward of that which had been established
by previous surveyors; $50 that, after al" ="
says Mr.. Latrobe, the sighting along
poles and the rude chain measurements of
I76I and 1862 would have answered
every purpose, had the proprietors only
thought So"
He gives a minute account of the pro-
oress of this work from time to time, and
thus continues:
"The lines whose history has thus been
given were directed to be marked in par
tcular manner, both by the agreements
of the parties and the decree OF Lord
Hardwicke; and the surveyors according
ly planted, at the end of every fifth mile,