the same business had stopped at the bridge near Bethlehem, where they were met by a deputation from the marshal, to advise them to return home; they agreed to halt there, and send three of their number to declare to the marshal their demand: during this period Fries and his party came up, but it appears when they came, Fries took the party actually over the bridge, and he arranged the toll, and ordered them to proceed. With respect to the proof of the proceedings at Bethlehem, it cannot be mistaken; he was then the leading man, and he appeared to enjoy the command. With the consent of his people he demanded the prisoners of the marshal, and when that officer told him that he could not surrender them, except they were taken from him by force, and produced his warrant for taking them, the prisoner then harangued his party of the house, and explained to them the necessity of using force; and that you should not mistake his design, we will prove to you that he declared, that was the third day which he had been out on this expedition, that he had had a skirmish the day before, and if the prisoners were not released he should have another that day.' 'Now you observe,' resumed he, ' that force is necessary, but you must obey my orders. We will not go without taking the prisoners. But take my orders, you must not fire first; you must be first fired upon, and when I am gone you must do as well as you can, as expect to be the first man that falls.' He further declared to the marshal that they would fire till a cloud of smoke prevented them from seeing each other, and executing the office of command of the troops, which at that time overawed the marshal and his attendants. He harangued the troops to obey his orders, which they did. The marshal was really intimidated to liberate the pri soners; and then the object was accomplished, and the party dispersed amid the huzzas of the insurgents. After this affair at Bethlehem, the prisoner frequently avowed his opposition to the law and justified that outrage; and when a meeting was afterwards held at Lower Milford to choose assessors, the prisoner refused his assent, and appeared as violent as ever."

Most of the above statements were proved, including a variety of other details. Fries, after two trials, in both of which he was found guilty of treason, was sentenced to be hung, but was subsequently pardoned by John Adams.

Several others from the same vicinity were tried, and generally found guilty of the subordinate crimes of sedition, insurrection, and riot; they were imprisoned for a time, and heavily fined, and held to bail for good behavior. George Gittman and Frederick Hainey were also condemned for high treason. Among the disaffected who had been taken prisoners by the marshal, and who were rescued by the insurgents, was one Jacob Eyerman, a German minister, recently arrived from Germany. He seems to have exerted nearly as much influence as Fries in stirring up the people in Chestnut Hill and Hamilton townships to opposition. History does not state to what sect he belonged, but the testimony would seem to show that he strongly favored the "church militant."

One of the assessors testified that while on his round of duty in Chestnut Hill township, "the prisoner (Eyerman) came in and began to rip out in a violent manner against this taxation, saying that Congress had made laws which were unjust, and the people need not take up with them; if they did, all kinds of laws would follow, but if they would not put up with this, they need not with those that would come after, because it was a free country; but in case the people admitted of those laws, they would certainly be put under great burdens. He said he knew perfectly what laws were made, and that the President nor Congress had no right to make them. That Congress and the government only made such laws to rob the people, and that they were nothing but a parcel of damned rogues or spitz bube,' [highwayman or thieves."]

"Were the people of the township much opposed to the law?” "Yes, they were so violent that I knew but one man on the same side as myself." "Would this have been so if it had not been for the parson?" "I am fully convinced it would not." "Did Eyerman appear to be a simple sort of man, easily to be led astray or deluded?” “No, he was not thought so: he was always a very good preacher."

Prisoner." Did I not pray for the government, president, and vice-president?" "Yes, you did when in the pulpit; but when you were out, you prayed the other way."

John Sneider deposed, that he lived in Hamilton township, and knew the prisoner-as much as he understood, the prisoner meant to take arms against it. He said if we let that go forward, it would go on as in the old country, but that he [Eyerman] would rather lay his black coat on a nail, and fight the whole week, and preach for them Sundays, than that it should be so. "How long has this man been at Hamilton?" "About 18 months."

"The township was always peaceable, I suppose, before he came among you?" "Yes, and I believe if he had not come, nothing would have happened of the kind."

Another witness said that the prisoner came to his house, where conversation began about the house tax, whereupon he said he did not care whether they put up with it or not, for he had no house to tax. A person present answered, But you have a great quantity of books to tax. The prisoner answered that "if anybody would offer to tax his books, he would take a French, a Latin, an Hebrew, and a Greek book down to them, and if they could not read them, he would slap them about their ears till they would fall to pieces." The prisoner continued preacher to that congregation until he was taken up.

After the rescue, he fled to New York state, but was apprehended and brought back, and

Sound guilty of conspiracy, &c., &c.; was sentenced to be imprisoned one year, pay fifty dollars fine, and give security for his good behavior one year.

About 30 others were convicted, and fined and imprisoned according to the degree of crime.

ALLENTOWN, the county seat, is situated at the junction of the Jordan and Little Lehigh creeks, about half a mile west of the Lehigh river. The town is situated upon high ground, commanding a fine view of the surrounding country. The annexed view was taken from a road east of

Jordan cr. It shows in the centre the splendid stone bridge across the Jordan, with the town on the hill in the distance. The two large buildings on the hill, apart from the rest and from each other, are those of the Homœopathic Medical School. The clump of trees on the left in the distance conceals the elegant mansion of Mr. Livingston, one of the heirs of the original founder of the town. Mrs. Greenleaf's house is on the left of the road leading into town. The town is regularly laid out, with the streets at right angles, and a public square in the centre. It contains an elegant courthouse, a spacious prison, Methodist, Presbyterian, German Reformed, and German Lutheran churches, and a church free to all denominations, called a "free hall;" an academy and boarding-school, two libraries, a splendid water-works, erected in 1828, about half a mile from town, by means of which cool spring-water is forced to the height of 160 feet, and distributed in cast-iron pipes through the town; several valua ble mills; a foundry; the Northampton Bank, incorporated in 1814, and became utterly bankrupt in 1843; and the Homeopathic college; although the latter institution never went into successful operation, as it was designed to do, under the administration of two eminent professors from Philadelphia. The Mauch Chunk company's canal (Lehigh Nav. Co.) has opened the trade to Philadelphia and New York, and produce to the amount of $200,000 per year is sent from Allentown to those cities. Elevated above the surrounding cities, Allentown has been remarkably healthy; and it is a fact worthy of notice, that during the prevalence of the yellow fever of 1793 and '99, and cholera in 1832-33, there was not a single case of either in that place. The natural curiosities are well worth

seeing. The springs of Messrs. Martin, Smith, and Worman are justly admired by all who have seen them, while a walk to the Big Rock on the Lehigh mountain amply repays the adventurer, by the extent and novelty of the scenes which are there spread out before him on every side. A thousand feet below are seen well-cultivated farms, stretching away as far as the eye can reach, except on the north, where vision is bounded by the Blue mountain, after forcing its way through which, the river may be traced meandering through a country beautifully variegated. The population in 1830 was 1,544; in 1840, 2,493. Allentown derives its name from its founder, William Allen, Esq., chief-justice of the province, who laid it out. Mr. Allen was a particular friend of the Penn family, from whom he derived his large grants of land. Gov. John Penn married his daughter. James Allen, a resident of Philadelphia, was a son of the founder, and became heir to the town site. He died about 1782, leaving the property to his children, James and William, Mrs. Greenleaf, Mrs. Tilghman, and Mrs. Livingston. Several of these heirs still occupy their elegant mansions in or near the town. The place began to be settled before the revolutionary war, but sparsely. The old German Reformed church was used during the revolution as a safe depository of valuables brought up from Philadelphia. Here the bells which "chime so merrily" on Christ church in Philadelphia were concealed. The Mauch Chunk Courier of 1834 says—

Allentown is one of the oldest settlements on the Lehigh, and in the different wars of America was the scene of many a brave and bloody deed. It was here that Col. James Bird displayed such heroism in the early wars with the aborigines; and it was here, at a still later period of our national existence, that the insurrection, in which the notorious John Fries bore so conspicuous a part, was fomented, and, happily for us all, smothered in its birth.

Inhabited by a few wealthy Germans, and cut off for many years from the different post-routes by the influence of the neighboring towns, it remained inactive a long time. Its great elevation, too, rendering it difficult to procure the necessary supply of water, had the effect of retarding its progress in the march of improvement, and it remained as at first, " unnoticed and unknown," until the year 1811, when, by the division of Northampton county, it became the seat of justice of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, was incorporated, and called Northampton borough, (a name which by the way has occasioned innumerable mistakes.) Since that period it has improved rapidly, and bids fair to eclipse its neighbors in trade and wealth, as it has already done in point of beauty.

The ambiguous name of Northampton was changed by the legislature of 1838 to Allentown. There was formerly a chain-bridge at this place across the Lehigh. It was taken away by a flood, and is replaced by a superstructure of wood on the common plan. Quite a flourishing village has grown up on the flats west of the bridge, fostered by the business of the canal. About three miles above Allentown, where Beary's bridge crosses the river, is situated the very extensive Crane iron-works. A successful experiment has been made here in reducing iron ore with anthracite coal.

The citizens of Allentown were very much startled and surprised a few Sundays ago by a strange occurrence which happened at the Lutheran church of that place. While the Rev. Mr. Yeager was about administering the sacrament, and had just left his pulpit to come down to the altar for that purpose, two large blacksnakes emerged from the wall, and, unseen by the congregation below, commenced gambolling and chasing each other upon the top of the sounding-board (as it is called) which projects over the pulpit. Those persons who were in the gallery had a fair view of them, and observed that they did not retire until the communion was over. After service the place was examined, and a hole found, which, to judge from its size, must apparently have caused considerable compression before it admitted of the animals' passage. How the snakes

could have made their way through a comparatively new wall to such a height, remains still a mystery.-Easton Sentinel, 1832.

EMMAUS is a Moravian village, containing about 100 to 150 inhabitants, situated at the foot of the South mountain, about five miles S. W. of Allentown. The land on which the town is erected was bequeathed by two members of the society, for the maintenance of a clergyman and the promotion of missions.

MILLERSTOWN is a small village about nine miles S. W. from Allentown, at the foot of the South mountain, containing about 20 or 30 dwellings. SEGARSVILLE, Containing about 100 inhabitants, is on the head-waters of Jordan creek, about 18 miles N. W. of Allentown.

NEW TRIPOLI, LINNVILLE, FOGLESVILLE, TREXLERSTOWN, and FREYBURG, are smaller villages in different parts of the county.

LUZERNE COUNTY.

LUZERNE COUNTY, formerly a part of Northumberland, was established by the act of 25th September, 1786, and named in honor of the Chevalier de la Luzerne, the minister of France to the United States. It then included a part of Bradford, and the whole of Susquehanna and Wyoming counties, Its present area is 1,427 square miles. The population, by estimate, in 1790 was 4,904; in 1800, 12,839; in 1810, still including part of Bradford and all of Susquehanna, 18,109; in 1820, without those counties, 20,027; in 1830, 27,379; in 1840, including Wyoming, 44,006; exhibiting, in the last ten years, an astonishing increase, ascribable, doubtless, to the opening of the coal mines.

The county is very mountainous; but notwithstanding its broken surface, it boasts many beautiful and fertile valleys, and great mineral wealth. The mountain-chains range from southwest to northeast. The main chain of the Allegheny, here broken into high knobs, irregular spurs, and broad table-lands, crosses the northwestern part of the county, passing the Susquehanna about the mouth of Tunckhannock cr. Across the centre of the co. runs the Shawnee and Lackawannock range; and parallel with it, and about six miles distant, is the chain of the Wyoming and Moosic mountains. Between these four mountains, which form but two ranges, lies the long, narrow valley of Wyoming, famous in story and song, and not less noted in modern days for its agricultural and mineral wealth. The Nescopeck mountain, a sharp, well-defined range, and Bucks mountain, cross the southern part of the county.

The Susquehanna river, entering at the N. W. angle of Wyoming co., pursues a S. E. course directly across the great mountain-ranges until it has broken through the Shawnee mountain, at the mouth of the Lackawannock cr. Here, as if beguiled by the beauty of this lovely region, it ceases for a time its struggle with the mountain-barriers, suddenly changes its course, and meanders with a gentle current for 18 miles through the broad meadows of the Wyoming valley. It then breaks through the Wyoming mountain, and flows away with a similar gentle current through

Columbia co. The other principal streams are the sources of the Lehigh, on the S. E. boundary; Tunkhannock cr., Falls cr., Lackawannock cr., Wapwallopen cr., Nescopeck cr., tributaries on the east side of the Susquehanna; and, on the west side, Huntingdon, Green, Shickshinny, Harvey's, Toby's, and Bowman's creeks, and several smaller streams. Harvey's lake, at the base of the Allegheny mountain, 10 miles N. W. of Wilkesbarre, is a beautiful sheet of water, surrounded with romantic scenery, and stored with excellent fish. Chapman's, Upper and Lower Crystal lakes, are smaller sheets of water in the N. E. corner of the co. There are some splendid waterfalls in the co., though in late years they have lost much of their picturesque beauty by being directed to the ordinary but useful duty of turning mills. The most conspicuous are Buttermilk falls, on Falls cr., at its mouth; Solomon's, near Wilkesbarre; Falling Spring, above Pittston; and Wapwallopen falls.

The principal anthracite coal formation of Luzerne county lies in a long narrow trough, between four and five miles wide, extending from Carbondale on the N. E., to Knob mountain, near Beech Grove, on the S. W., some twenty miles below Wilkesbarre, underlying the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys. The length of the basin is about 50 miles. The southwestern end of the basin is ascertained, by the recent investigations of the state geologists, to be exceedingly contorted and disturbed by subterranean forces. The coal beds of this region vary from 1 to 30 feet in thickness, and are generally more accessible than those of other fields, being exposed by deep ravines, abrupt precipices, and small streams, and in some places forming the bottom of the Susquehanna and Lackawannock. This coal region is also remarkable for being one of the most productive agricultural districts in the state. The same acre of land may furnish employment for both the agriculturist and the miner. The coal, for some years after its first discovery, was wrought at the surface by