and moreover, that at least fifty good fruit trees for every like quantity of land shall be planted on the Premises. Any persons inclinable to settle on these lands may be more fully informed of the terms by applying to the subscriber, near Alexandria, or in his absence, to Mr. LUND WASHINGTON; and would do well in communicating their intentions before the 1st of October next, in order that a sufficient number of lots may be laid off to answer the demand. As these lands are among the first which have been surveyed in the part of the country they lie in, it is almost needless to premise that none can exceed them in luxuriance of soil, or convenience of situation, all of them lying upon the banks either of the Ohio or Kanhawa, and abounding with fine fish and wild fowl of various kinds, so also in most excellent meadows, many of which (by the bountiful hand of nature) are, in their present state, almost fit for the scythe. From every part of these lands water carriage is now had to Fort Pitt, by an easy communication; and from Fort Pitt, up the Monongahela, to Redstone, vessels of convenient burthen, may and do pass continually; from whence, by means of Cheat River, and other navigable branches of the Monongahela, it is thought the portage to Potowmack may, and will, be reduced within the compass of a few miles, to the great ease and convenience of the settlers transporting the produce of their lands to market. To which may be added, that as patents have now actually passed the seals for the several tracts here offered to be leased, settlers on them may cultivate and enjoy the lands in peace and safety, notwithstanding the unsettled counsels respecting a new colony on the Ohio; and as no sight money is to be paid for these lands, and quitrent of two shillings sterling a hundred, demandable some years hence only, it is highly presumable that they will always be held upon a more desirable footing than where both these are laid on with a very heavy hand. And it may not be amiss further to observe, that if the scheme for establishing a new government on the Ohio, in the manner talked of, should ever be affected, these must be among the most valuable lands in it, not only on account of the goodness of soil, and the other advantages above enumerated, but from their contiguity to the seat of government, which more that probable will be fixed at the mouth of the Great Kanhawa. GEORGE WASHINGTON. W. S. P. Two INTERESTING LETTERS Fac-simile of Autograph Letter of Governor George Clinton in 1753. [From the collection of Ferguson Haines.] I have had the Favour of yours of the 100% of May, with a Copy of Capt: Trents to your Honour inclosed, which I communicated to His Majesty's Commit it cames in good time for me to lay it before the Asembly which mett the so of May, as I did also the inclosed Letters from Lient: Holland and Cap Hodder! від which the French reem determined determined to fix their on བ་་~ Bromidvin Jean not find that the Assembly have done my thing yet in the Affeur, the the preservation of the Indians is of such Im sortance, but I shall domy ༨་ self the Honour immediately to aequambyou, as as Jean tell what They will determine orit I am of the sance Primion with you, that eeps the neighbouring Provinces will n པའ་ unite, and act jointly with spirit, we shall never curb the Insolences and Artifice of the French from withdrawing all our Indians to their fatores entirely. I am with very great Freeth h General Peter Muhlenberg to Colonel Richard C. Anderson, in 1794. (The circle and the word "FREE" were evidently stamped on the letter by the Post Master. It was folded, and sealed with wax, and addressed on the back of the sheet as common before the days of envelopes, to Colonel Richard C. Anderson, Jefferson County, Kentucky.) Dear Sir, Philadelphia June 7th 1794. I am Honored with your favor of the 13th of March and am much oblig'd to you for the information it contains-I wrote you on the 11th of Febr' and enclosed a reported Bill to enable the Officers and Soldiers of the Virga Line on Continental establishment, to obtain Patents for Lands on the West side of the Ohio-with great difficulty this Bill pass'd the House, and was then sent to the Senate, where it lay dormant until this Morning, and as the Session continues but one day longer there is scarcely time to give it due consideration-The Senate have returned the Bill with amendments, in a very questionable shape, which will probably be decided on this day; and I mean to keep my letter open until I can give you full information-I should not have delayd so long my writing to you, had I not been in daily expectation the Bill would pass, and I should have it in my power to transmit it. Since Col Greenup left us, our political situation has not varied much; only in this―That it now appears beyond a doubt, that Great Brittain at the time when they were successful ag the French, meant to break with us-this appears from the conduct of their Officers in Canada and elsewhere, who are now acting agreeably to the principles adopted at that time, because the British Government have not had time to countermand their former Orders—The Authentic News from Europe is That the King of Prussia has seceded from the combined powers— That Spain is wavering-The French Navy rapidly increasing-The people of Great Brittain murmuring-Denmark, Sweeden, and America Growling, all this combined renders it more than probable that the French Republic will obtain that Freedom and Independance for which they have so nobly fought. Col Greenup has been good enough to promise me, that what money is wanting for Col Croghan He will supply until I reimburse Him the next session- as to yourself I hope to see you in the fall, and tho' I do not live in the city, I can always find time enough to accompany you--Be pleased to present my best Respects to your Lady and to Col Croghan and Family-On State Affairs of Kentucky I dare not trust my thoughts to paper. The Bill I alluded to has just pass'd with the amendments proposed by the Senate as it now stands tis neither Fish or Flesh-I can not get a copy but M'. Orr will bring it with Him. I am Dear Sir Your most Obed'. Serv'. VOL. XVIII.-No. 5.-30 NOTES HARVARD CATALOGUE-It is not generally known probably that as late as 1810 the Catalogue of Harvard University was printed on a broadside. The Catalogue of that year is before me, on a sheet of coarse paper, 16 x 20 inches. It gives simply the names of the Faculty and the students, the residences and rooms of the latter. It seems almost like the record of a past age to read the names of Rev. John Thornton Kirkland, D. D., as president, and of Rev. Henry Ware, D.D., as professor of theology. The names of Edward Everett, Nath. L. Frothingham and Harrison E. Otis appear among the "Senior Sophisters;" those of Franklin Dexter, Charles G. Loring and Peleg Sprague among the "Junior Sophisters; that of Elbridge Gerry among the Sophomores; and those of Martin Brimmer, Francis W. P. Greenwood, and Pliny Merrick among the Freshmen. The whole number of students was two hundred and eighteen. Most of these came from Boston and eastern Massachusetts; sixteen were from Salem; a very few from New Hampshire and Connecticut (Maine was then a part of Massachusetts); two from Vermont, one each from New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Virginia, Mississippi, Georgia, Canada, St. Croix and Jamaica, West Indies, and the extraordinary number of twelve from Charleston, South Carolina.* The buildings in which students roomed were Stoughton Hall, * Is this one of the proofs of commercial and social alliance between Massachusetts and South Carolina, which made Boston, especially in later years, so obtuse to the wrong of slavery? Hollis Hall, Massachusetts Hall and College House. D. F. L. MANCHESTER, MASSACHUSETTS. HONORABLE MARK SKINNER OF CHICAGO-In the death of this eminent jurist we are stricken with a sense of personal bereavement. He was one of the warm friends of THE MAGAZINE OF AMERICAN HISTORY, and for many years familiar with its every page. He was the son of Richard Skinner, of honored memory, who was chief justice of the Supreme Court of Vermont, a member of Congress and governor of that state. The son, following in the father's footsteps, became also a jurist, and embodied in his life and personality abilities, aims and sentiments which made him a power for good in the city of his adoption. No citizen of Chicago maintained a more secure hold on the respect of her people, while those who came into close relations with Judge Skinner were bound to him by ties of peculiar strength. Receiving his education at the East, he settled in Chicago in 1836, so that he shared in all her municipal history, exercising a large influence in public affairs, and doing much to perpetuate therein his own high ideals. He served with credit on the Circuit Court bench, and after the expiration of his judicial term he became the financial agent for the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company, and other large Eastern organizations, in the placing of loans on local real estate. He was without a superior as a real estate lawyer, and his judgment has been confidently relied upon for a |