University of South Carolina Libraries
i?f I.lFE'i DISASTROUS SCEN1-S, TO OlHl.KS DO, t C A M DEN Number 32^ CAMDKN, S . C. ^J*rVrED by WHAT YOU WOULD \\ b H h\ OTIILK-; DON/ To VOL! * D A K V IK .? Vnhtme I. Terms. THf. firiec tQ Sui*criier? it TBMKB DOL Lars per annum , for fifty-lroo number sy ex clusive of postage ; and in all ca.es where paprrs shall be delivered at the expense of the publiahcrs (he ftnee will be Tumeu dollars ^ ce*Ts a year , to be / laid six months af.er subscribing. : It is ex fleeted^ hoxtrver^that subscribers li ving' at a distance % from the inconvenience of collection, will pay in advance . Term# oi advertising in this Gazktte. Advertisements not exceeding eight lines will be printed for fifty cknts, /or the first publications and half that fit ice for every subsequent insertion . Largtr advertise ments "will be charged in proportion . %? A liberal discount mnlt be made on the | bills of those who are constant or consider bit cus'omers in thin line, tit If no directions are giwn with an ad ver'isementy it will be continued till for bid, October 3, 1 8 1 G. From Mies' Weekly Rcgis'er. PROGRESS OF THE U. STAT I S IN LITERATURE. ? Concluded. r In 170 t, a college was erecred at Savbrook, (Connect) which was ' afterwards called Yale College, in iumor iifLgovernor ThonusJ^tv (formerly governor in India,) on account of his repeated acts of gen erosity, to the institution. The philosophical apparatus is thought to be equal to any in this country, and , the library Contains above 5?ooo volumes. It is attended by a great nunmber of students, and tn? funds are said to be large. In 1746, a college was founded at Ejizabe thtown, (New-Jtrr.-ey ) called Nassau-Hall. The next year it was removed to New-Ark and in i?57 to Princeton its pre sent situation. In 1 802 it was~ burnt, but was immediately rebuilt in a superior style. It has, we be 'he. best reputation of any college in America, particularly for classical learning, and polite litera ture. The philosophical apparatus is excellent and the libiary is be coming respectable. In 1753 was founded the college of Philadelphia, through the influ ence and efforts of Dr. Franklin. The rapid extension of learning in 1 ennsylvania can easily be traced to the impulse given to the public mind by the discoveries and exer tions of that valuable man It is impossible to do justice here to the zealous, unwearied assiduity with whicly he devoted himself to the ' stablishment of usetul institutions ' -^-to the duty of awakening in the conntry a taste for science, litera KSi"? nartS* h '79' the I hiladelphia college was placed un ? .erTr? 4rrangements, and entitled the University of Pennsylvania. Its rnedical school has been, for a lone time incomparably the best in Ame rica; but of late, on account of the <lrath of doctor Rush and Barton, and through the great reputation of , doctor Mitchell and some other professors at New- York,? meat 1 numbers of students have been drawn to tin nnivcrsiry there The college of Columbia' in the city of New- York was founded in 1 7 5 4 > a"d was called frig's Col lege, until the time of the revolu tion. ? Its chief distinction is the valuable botanic garden that has I lately been added to it, Jcs philo. sophical apparatus is thought by -ome to be the best in the' Unired States. The college of Rhode-Is land was chartered in 1764, but1 th? edifice was not erected until 1 770 This institution is not in a I good condidon, as its funds are in adequate, and the state itself is wanting in regard to literary taste. Having briery described the principal colleges in the several states, we shall just give the names of as many of the remaining ones as we can rind at present. Two remain to be mentioned belonging r? Massachusetts; Williams' CoU lege in Williamstown, Berkshire,, founded in 1793; and Bowdoin: College at Brunswick in Maine,' j founded in 1 94 ?Dartmr nth Col lege in New Hampshire, was found ed in 1769 Maryland contains five, St Mary's College and Bald-7! more College in the city of Balri j more, St. John's at Annapolis, founded in 1784, Washington Col lege at Chestertowtv founded in r *7^2, and Coke burv, or the Me thodist College ar Abingdon, f jund in 1785. Pennsylvania contain# four, besides the University. Dick-> inson College, founded in 17$^ i Franklin College, founded in r. 87 -9 j Jefferson College, founded in iboi, j and Washington College founded j in 1802. South- Carouna has' Win 1 nesborough College, founded in *794> a,)d Charleston, Cambridge .and Beaufort Colleges, ail founded about the same time The coileoe of Charleston having been discon tinued, Columbia College has been institucd in its Head. In Virginia there was a collrge established in _?rince Edward county, about 774, named Hampden Sydney College. The Cathonc College at Cieorge town, District Columbia, was found ed in 1782; the University of Georgia in 1 J85 ; the University of North-Carolina at Chapel Hill, in corporated in 1795 ? Greenville College in Tennessee, in 1794, Transylvania College in Lexington, Ky. in 1 79^? Middlebury College in Vermont in 1 8oo. A college has existed at New-Orleans for a long period, but we do not know the date of its establishment. In Loujsiana state there is great atten tion paid to # education ; ? parish schools, similar to those of Mas sachusetts and Connecticut, being supported from the state treasury ; for each parish 4008 peranum are appointed to maintain a teacher. A similar arrangement has taken place in Tenne^se, which at present has two colleges and several academies. We do not know the number of colleges in Kentucky or Ohio, but wc arc assured that learning is much attended to there, and that upon the whole, the new states have, for sev- j eral years, shewn more zeal for its encouragement than the old states have lately done. In Pennsylvania eat h has an academy, except fhose that have colleges ; but the esta blishment of township schools, en joined by their constitution, and re peatedly recommended by their piesent governor, has, notwith standing, been hitherto neglected. The Lancastei ian schools, which must fore- 0 new era in the history of learning ail over the world, will probably be a_d opted through the United States in a shore time ; but old systems (perhaps fortunately i for mankind ) aie not easily abolish I cd. There is one school conduted upon Lancaster's plan at George town; Columbia; oneirr phia ; two in Baltimore; one in | Cincinnati ; and one established in Pittsburg, but we do iv t know whe [ :her it has been continued; and an edifice for one is erecting at Rich mond. We do not at present re j collect to have seen any notice of I existence of any others, but bciieve there is one in New-York. > ^Xh^rrrxt mosr striking feature in r tl# history of American literature [ ' ^nis to be the progress of their j. lkciary journals. Tne first news paper printed in America was the Boston News- Letter, esrablihed in 4^rii 1704, in the town of Boston, bf one Mr Greene. The next w^ 1, Boston 1 gazette, commenced in *T2l> by J^rnes Franklin, brother o t Benjamin Franklin 1 his \*a t^i^o Boston 1 he first news , paper pi inted in Penn>y vania wa I he A me 1 1 can VVeekiv IVlercury, Cotniiicijced in Dec. 1 y 1 ^ |)y ^ _ Biadsuiil. Xfic hr c in New- York was the New- York Gazette, com menced in Oct 1725, by Wm. Bt afford. '1 he first 111 Rhode Is land was the Rhode Lland Gazette, , by James franklin, mentioned be f re. l i.is wai jft i^j2. The tii it in Connecticut was in 17 cc by a Mr. Parker. - Arter this the increase has been extremely rapid : in 1771 the num ber in die United States was twen ty- hvc , in 1 bo 1 it amounted to one nundred and eighty; and 18 10 it 1 ,ud m*. Teased to three hundred and sixty- lour. lhe amount of the newspapers at that period, in this country and in England ; is to be found in tne Register vol. I. p. 1 16 1 he 1 e does not appear to have Been that progr essive attention paid to literary societies which might have been expected j we arc rather disputed to buieve that tiio-e now established are in comparative de cline. J he first institution of this kind in the United States, was the American Philosophical society, by the exertions of" Dr. rranklin Dr. Bond, Mr Ewin-r, Dr. Snmh, and Mr David Ritten nouse, at Philadelphia in th; year 7+3' In 1766 another was esta b.ished there, called the American ciety ior the promotion ai d pro pagating useiul knowledge in Phi - lailciplna. In ,7^ b ^ wer(. uni,ed and have since remained so 1 he American Academy of Arts and Sciences, was establi-hed at Boston in 17G0; and the Connec ' ticut Academy of Arts and Sciences at New-Haven in 1799. The His torical Socicty in Massachusetts, was formed in 1791. There is al so an historical society in New York. Medical societies are very numcrous? an^ the science of me dicine appears to be better attended to at present than it has been at any former period in this country. A few years ago there was instituted in | Philadelphia, principally by the ex ertions of Dr. Barton, a society for the cultivation of natural history, and entitled the Ljnnean Society1*! and similar ones have been'ioi mcci in orhcr places, but we understand they have not been, even tokrably, successful. In almost every state is an Agricultural Socicty. Of this class the chief ones are those in Massachusetts, N. York, and Phi ladelphia. It may be well to tiake a brief view of the American literati of early times in order to shew the great compara tive deficiency of the present period. T owards the conclusion of the seven teenth century we notice two Amer ican vvriiers' Cotton Mather, author of the Maghalia Americana, and Mr, J. Blair, author of several sermons in d religious tracts. Of the suc ceeding period is Mr. Logan, the bot anist, from Lungm in Ireland, gover p.or of the Loganian library now con tained in the city library of Phila delphia, authox of the Experimtnta c!-M*U?emata de Plantar-urn Genera tion* , a desertation upon light, a translation of Cicero de Senectute , &c. 1 he next of consequence was Or. Benjamin Franklin, so well 'cnown as a politician, a philoso pher and as the c* first in America a ho cultivated an ea-^r, unaffected, polished style j of writing" He began hiscarecra^ a writer in 1732. In 1752 he made his grand discov eries in electricity, and since that ha* had a ruore general reputation dian any literary man of his coun try, notwithstanding the high merit of some of his rivals. The Rev.' Mr. Jonathan Edward?, the theo logian and metaphysician, was bora about the same timfe with Franklin, but died in 1758. His <c Inquiryin to the Freedom of the human will,** has, by European writers, been pro nounced <c one of the gratest efforts of the human mind." Dr. Berke ley, the author of the Minute Phil osopher, can hardly be numbered among American authors, though his generosity to the cause of litera tuie during his residence here, gives him a strong claim upon American gratitude. Dr. Wm. Smith, for merly president of the college of Philadelphia, and who died in 1803, was an able and voluminous writer* Uffon divinity and different bran-* ches o( science. Di. S imut 1 Johnson, the first president ? ?f K n^'k college in New Yoik, is known h* the author of u system ot lo^.c and one of ethics ; and also of* a Hebrew .? rammar , bin these have been sn^csed ed by better works of ihe late \\ ue. I liomas Cl formerly president of Yale rollt^.. ? and John Winthrop, ate known chiefly as profound scholar* t though the Utter is sa?d to h?ive written an excellent w<?rk l)e Cometis. Dr* Moultrie *vas the ? ithor of a work De l*\b e Flava ; and Dr. I tinning, in the year 1753, published a History of the Yellow Fever. Dr. Chal mers wrote oti the Weather and Di&eascs of South-Carolina. but his most valuable work is an < ss.^y on fevi i s ??Mark t ateshy was a learned bontauisi of t tie same ixrriod 1 He explored a vrreat portion of the Atlan tic states, the Florida*, Sec. and published the Natural History of Caiolina, Florid? and the llahama Islands. Governor Cold en, of New York, was at that lime, a de voted botanist, and a writer on medicine, bo; any and hisioiy. Hut he who of that a^e stood next to Linneus himself ; and 1 whom that incomparable naturalist pro nounced ?? the greatest natural botanist in the world/' was Mr. John Uartiam, boru in Chester county. Pennsylvania, 1701. Dr. John M i tctfdl, of Virginia* wrote on a variety of subjects natural philosophy, natural history, history, polities, husban dly, &c. He was a native of Kngland. Dr. Clayton, who w,i?? born in Virginia, wrote several winks, about the same time,