Aggregate of 66 Banks, $20,420,000 14,747,784 987,210 471 583,125,000 The Bank of the United States has an Office of Discount and Deposit at Boston. EDUCATION. The principal literary institutions are Harvard University in Cambridge, connected with which there are medical, theological, and law schools; Williams College at Williamstown; Amherst College at Amherst; Massachusetts Medical College in Boston connected with Harvard University; Berkshire Medical Institution connected with Williams College; the Theological Seminaries at Andover and Newton; Round Hill School at Northampton, Berkshire Gymnasium at Pittsfield, and Mount Pleasant Classical Institution at Amherst. There are also 56 incorporated academies, of which Phillips Academy at Andover, the oldest and best endowed, was incorporated in 1780, and has educated 2,025 scholars. Common schools are well supported throughout the state. The laws require that every town or district, containing 50 families, shall be provided with a school or schools equivalent in time to six months for one school in a year; containing 100 families,12 months; 150 families, 18 months; and the several towns in the state are authorized and directed to raise such sums of money as are necessary for the support of the schools, and to assess and collect the money in the same manner as other town taxes. Each town is also required to choose annually a school committee of 3, 5, or 7 persons, to take the general charge and superintendence of the public schools. According to the report of the school committee of Boston, in November, 1829, the number of public schools in that city was 80; pupils 7,430; expense for tuition, fuel, &c. $52,500; the estimated rent of school houses, $10,000; making the whole expense amount to $62,500. Private schools in the city, 155; pupils 4,018; expense of tuition $107,702 Total number of schools 235; pupils 11,448; expense for tuition, fuel, books, &c. $196,829 25. V. RHODE ISLAND. THE settlement of this state was commenced at Providence, in 1636, by the celebrated Roger Williams, a minister who was banished from Massachusetts on account of his religious opinions; and in 1638, the settlement of the island of Rhode Island was begun by William Coddington, John Clarke, and others. In 1643, Mr. Williams went to England, and obtained, in 1644, a Charter, by which the settlement of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations were united under one government, and which continued in force till 1663, when a new Charter was granted by Charles II., which has ever since formed the basis of the government. Government. The government of this state is founded on the provisions of the Charter granted to the colony by Charles II., in 1663; and this is the only state in the Union which is without a written Constitution. The legislative power is vested in a General Assembly, consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The House of Representatives consists of 72 members, 6 from Newport, 4 from each of the towns of Providence, Portsmouth, and Warwick, and two from each of the other towns in the State; and they are elected semiannually in April and August. The Senate consists of 10 members, who are elected annually in April. The executive power is vested in a Governor, who is elected annually in April. A Lieutenant Governor is also elected, on whom the executive duties devolve in case of the office of governor being vacated. The General Assembly meets four times a year; at Newport on the first Wednesday in May (the commencement of the political year), and by adjournment, at the same place, in June. It meets on the last Wednesday in October, alternately at Providence and South Kingston; and by adjournment, in January, at East Greenwich, Bristol, or Providence. The judges are appointed annually by the General Assembly. Government for the Year ending on the first Tuesday in May, 1831. Each of the senators and representatives receives $1,50 a day during the There are Courts of Common Pleas established in the several counties. The judges of these courts have no salary, but are paid by entries. |