In the state of Ohio, the United States holds the whole of the unsold lands, with the exception of the Connecticut Reservation, on lake Erie; the Virginia military lands, between the Scioto and Little Miami rivers; and the Northwest section, where the Indian title is not yet extinguished, and of which the United States, hold the pre-emption right. † In Indiana, the United States hold all the unsold lands below the Indian boundary-line, exhibited on the map accompanying this work; and they hold the pre-emption right of all above it. In the Illinois territory, they hold all the unsold lands beyond the Indian boundaries, as marked on the map; and the pre-emption right of the remainder. In the Michigan territory, they hold all the unsold lands within the Indian boundary-line, distinguished on the map and the pre-emption of the rest. In the North-west territory, they hold all the unsold lands ceded by the Sac and Fox Indians, as shown on the map; and the pre-emption right of the remainder. In the state of the Mississippi and Alabama territory, they hold all the lands within the Indian boundary-line on the south, and a considerable portion in the northern part; and they hold the pre-emption right to all the remainder. This preliminary step is absolutely necessary for it is expressly declared, that "such certificate shall be exhibited to the court by every alien who may 'arrive in the United States, after the passing of this act, on his application to be naturalized, as evidence of the time of his arrival in the United States.". As it is obvious from hence, that no person can be admitted a citizen sooner than five years after making this report; those who wish to avail themselves of the inestimable privilege of becoming a citizen of the United States, should not delay the report a single day. The next necessary step is, to make oath, or affirmation, that it is the real intention to become a citizen of the Union, and to renounce allegiance to every foreign power. This oath or affirmation can be made either before the supreme, superior, district, or circuit court of any one of the states or territories; or a circuit or disirict Court of the United States: and it must be done three years at least before the person can be admitted. The best method is, for the person making the application, to make the oath or affirmation at the same time that he declares his intention; and in this way no time will be lost.---The foregoing steps being taken, the person is entitled, at the end of five years, from the date of the registry of his intention, (having taken the oaths within the time prescribed by law,) to claim the right of citizenship. This is to be obtained from any of the courts aforesaid; but before it is granted, the court must be satisfied that the person has resided five years at least in the United States, (and mark well, that in addition to other proofs, it is necessary to produce the record of registry aforesaid,) and one year at least, in the state or territory where such court is held. They must also be satisfied, "that he has behaved as a man of good moral character, that he is attached to the principles of the constitutions of the United States; and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the same." He must also declare on oath, or affirmation, that he will support the constitution of the said States: and that he renounces allegiance to every foreign power. †The pre-emption right, is the exclusive right to purchase from the Indians. In the state of Louisiana, they hold a very considerable portion of lands; and in the Missouri territory they hold the whole of the unsold lands, with the exception of those grants made by the court of Spain before they obtained the sovereignty. It may be remarked here, that Spain never allowed the Indian claims to any part of the country; a conduct dictated by policy, but which cannot be defended by any principle of justice. From the general practice of the United States towards the native Indians, it is certain that their rights will be duly regarded; but it certainly never was intended by Providence, that two or three hundred men should claim and hold waste a space capable of supporting millions. The right which a man has to appropriate any portion of the earth to his exclusive use, arises entirely from his having expended labour in its improvement. As population and power overspread the land, the Indians must of necessity betake themselves to agriculture and virtuous industry. It is the interest of both the white people and themselves that it should be so; and this doctrine cannot be too frequently or too strongly inculcated. In estimating the resources of the country in the year 1808, with a view to the execution of a plan for its internal improvement, it was stated in the report of the then secretary of the treasury, that " Exclusively of Louisiana, the general government possessed in trust for the people of the United States, about 100,000,000 of acres fit for cultivation, north of the river Ohio, and near 50,000,000 south of the state of Tenessee. Although considerable sales have been made since that time, yet there have also been considerable acquisitions by purchase from the Indians, so that the quantity is not really diminished.* There are at least 150,000,000 of acres of excellent land, belonging to the public, east of the Mississippi; and there is every reason to believe that as much more will soon be surveyed, and ready for sale and settlement beyond that river. Here then, to say nothing of the more remote part of the country, are 300,000,000 of acres, fit for cultivation, the property of the government, held in trust for the nation, in one of the finest climates, watered by the noblest rivers, and possessing natural advantages second to no country on the face of the earth. In remarking on this subject, the secretary of the treasury, in his report before • An account of the lands purchased from the Indians by the United States at different periods, with the sums paid and annuities granted to them for such purchases; and also an estimate of the public lands remaining unsold by the latest official report, will be found in the Appendix to this work quoted, states, "For the disposition of these lands, a plan has been adopted, calculated to enable every industrious citizen to become a freeholder, to secure indisputable titles to the purchasers, to obtain a national revenue, and, above all, to suppress monopoly.” The reader will naturally be desirous of learning how these land sales are carried on by the American government, and how the vast tracts of territory at its disposal are parcelled out to new settlers. The plan is this: the country is divided into counties of about twenty miles square, and townships of six miles square; which is again divided into sections of a mile square, and these further subdivided into half and quarter sections, and, in particular situations, into half-quarters. Each township, therefore, being thirty-six square miles, contains 23,040 acres, and a section, 640 acres. The townships are numbered in ranges from north to south, and the ranges are numbered from east to west; and lastly, the sections in each township are marked numerically. All these lines are well defined by the axe in the woods, by marks on the trees. When this is done, public notice is given, and the lands in question put up to auction, excepting the sixteenth section in every township, which being near the centre, is uniformly destined for the support of one or more schools for the use of the township; and the three adjacent sections are reserved by the government, for charitable and other purposes. There are also sundry reserves of entire townships, for the support of seminaries of learning upon an extended scale, such as academies, colleges, &c. and sometimes for other objects of general interest. No government lands are sold under two dollars per acre; indeed they are put up at that price, in quarter sections, at the auction, and if there be no bidding, they are passed over. The best lands, and most favourable situations, are sometimes run up to ten or twelve dollars, and in some late instances much higher. The lots which remain unsold, are from time to time open to the public, at the price of two dollars per acre, one-fourth to be paid down, and the remaining three-fourths to be paid by instalments in five years; at which time, if the payments are not completed, the lands revert to the state, and the advances already made are forfeited. When a purchaser has fixed upon one or more vacant quarters, he repairs to the land-office, pays eighty dollars for each quarter, and receives a certificate, as the basis of the complete title, which will be given him when he pays all this he may do immediately, if convenient, and receive eight per cent. interest for prompt payment. If the whole is paid in cash, the price is only one dollar and sixty-four cents per acre. The sections thus sold are marked on the general plan, which is always open at each land-office to public inspection, with the letters A. P. "advance paid." There is a receiver and a register at each land-office, which are checks on each other, and are remunerated by a per centage on the receipts. These landoffices are distributed as follows; viz.: In Ohio, at Wooster, Steubenville, Marietta, Zanesville, Chillicothe, and Cincinnati.-In Indiana, at Jeffersonville, and Vicennes.-In the Michigan territory, at Detroit. In the Illinois territory, at Shawnee-town, Kaskaskias, and Edwardsville.-In the Missouri territory, at St. Louis. In Louisiana, at New Orleans, and Opelousas. --In the state of Mississippi, at Washington, twelve miles from Natchez; and in the Alabama territory, at St. Stephens, east of the Pearl river, and Huntsville, Madison county. All these offices are under the direction of the surveyor-general, who makes periodical returns to the commissioner of the land-office at the city of Washington, In this chief office all the surveys and records of the public lands are deposited; and all titles are issued from thence, signed by the president of the United States. When a person has, in the manner above described, obtained possession of a portion of land, with part of it a prairie, it only wants fencing, and water for the live stock, to make at once rich pasture land; and from this to arable land the transition is easy, expeditious, and profitable as it proceeds. The whole cost of purchase, fencing, and watering, that is, of buying the land, and then making it begin to yield a profit, is only eighteen shillings sterling an acre. The cost of building and stocking is of course more difficult to estimate; but it has been calcu, lated by a distinguished writer on the subject, that 2,000 * Prairie is the American name for a natural meadow, destitute of trees. There are two kinds of these meadows; the river and upland prairies: the first are found upon the margins of rivers, and are level bottoms without any timber; most of these exhibit appearances of former cultivation. The last are plains, from thirty to 100. feet higher than the bottoms, and are far more numerous and extensive; but are indefinite in size and figure; since some are not larger than a common field, while others expand beyond the reach of the eye, or the limits of horizon. One of these prairies, between the river Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains, is not less than 1,250 miles in length, and above 1,000 in breadth! They are usually bounded by groves of lofty trees; and sometimes adorned with copses and clumps of small trees, affording an agreeable shelter to man and beast. In spring and summer they are covered with a luxuriant growth of grass and fragrant flowers, from four to eight feet high, through which it is very fatiguing to force one's way so as to make any progress. The soil of these immense plains is often as deep and fertile as that of the best bottoms. sterling would suffice for 640 acres: so that for 3000l. an English farmer who was but indifferently off on a farm of six or 7001. a year rent, may find himself owner of a fine estate of six or 700 acres in America, capable of almost unlimited improvement, and in the neighbourhood of rich cheap land, in which he may invest his surplus profits. In a work of this description, and under the article agriculture, the following observations of an American citizen on the progress of population, husbandry, manners, &c. transcribed from the Columbian Magazine, are too important to be omitted. These remarks were written with a view to the settlers in Pennsylvania; but they are equally applicable to the improvement of settlements in all the new countries of the United States. "The first settler in the woods is generally a man who has out-lived his credit or his fortune in the cultivated parts of the state. His time for migrating is in the month of April; and his first object is to build a cabin of rough logs for himself and family. The floor of this cabin is of earth, the roof of split logs; the light is received through the door, and in some instances, through a small window made of greased paper. A coarser building adjoining this cabin affords a shelter to a cow, and a pair of poor horses. The labour of erecting these buildings is succeeded by killing the trees on a few acres of ground near his cabin; this is done by cutting a circle round each tree, two or three feet from the ground; which is then ploughed, and Indian corn planted in it. The season for planting this grain is. about the 20th of May. It grows generally on new ground, with but little cultivation, and yields in the month of October following, from forty to fifty bushels an acre. After the first of September it affords a good deal of nourishment to his family, in its green or unripe state, in the form of what is called roasting-ears. His family is fed during the summer by a small quantity of grain, which he carries with him, and by fish and game. His cows and horses feed upon wild grass, or the succulent twigs of the woods. "For the first year he endures a great deal of distress, from hunger, cold, and a variety of accidental causes; but he seldom complains, and seldomer sinks under them. As he lives in the neighbourhood of Indians, he soon acquires a strong tincture of their manners. His exertions, while they continue, are violent; but they are succeeded by long intervals of rest. His pleasures consist chiefly of fishing and hunting. He loves spirituous liquors, and he eats, drinks, and sleeps, in dirt and rags, in his little cabin. In his intercourse with the world, he manifests all |