The delegates attended, and, after their return, received a unanimous expression of thanks for their services. From that period until the close of the war, Mr. Rodney, with his two associates first named, continued to be the most conspicuous and influential men in Delaware, in opposing the policy of Great Britain, and in sustaining the cause of America. Several circumstances rendered their situation very difficult and dangerous. The country was exposed to invasion, especially by the ships of the enemy, and a large proportion of the people were either favorable to the British government or undecided in their preference for the American. Among other creditable exertions made by him in the legislature of Delaware, he introduced an amendment into a bill, designed to prohibit the slave-trade, which was lost by only two votes. An attack of cancer in the cheek compelled him to seek medical aid by a residence in Philadelphia, after he had abandoned a previous design of going to Europe. He was made speaker of the house of assembly in 1769, and held that office several years; and he also performed the duties of chairman of the committee of correspondence, formed to promote harmony of views and action throughout the country. received the appointment of brigadiergeneral of Delaware, and not long afterward appeared in the field, at the time of an invasion of the territory. Though the presence of Mr. Rodney was deemed highly necessary at home, in the midst of the important and trying scenes of the day, he was present in congress at the time when the question of independence was decided, and was one of its most ardent advocates. On his return, his conduct again received the approbation of the legislature. In the autumn of that year (1776), however, by the exertions of his opponents, his reëlection to congress was defeated, as well as that of Mr. M'Kean; and he spent the succeeding year at home, attending to his private affairs and to the duties of the committees of inspection and of safety, to which he belonged. Colonel Haslet, who belonged to his brigade, having fallen at the battle of Princeton, General Rodney set out to join the Delaware troops in New Jersey, but on his way was ordered by Lord Stirling to remain at Princeton to forward troops to the army; after the performance of which duties he was permitted to return home, by a highly complimentary letter from General Washington. He was then appointed a judge of the supreme court, under the constitution of Delaware, which he declined; and was soon after called into the field to quell an insurrection in the county of Sussex. On the 1st of August, 1774, an assembly of delegates met at Newcastle, in compliance with an invitation sent by him, as speaker of the house of delegates, to determine what measures to adopt in the existing crisis; he was The invasion by the British army a chosen chairman of the meeting; and little later again occupied him, and he then, in company with Messrs. M'Kean marched with the militia of his county, and Read, was appointed to constitute and stationed himself south of the Amerthe Delaware delegation to the Ameri-ican line, at the command of Washingcan congress at Philadelphia. ton, to intercept the way between the enemy and their fleet. But his raw troops, in a few hours, returned to their homes in spite of his efforts. He took his seat in that body on the fifth of September, and the next day was made a member of the grand committee, whose business it was to state what were the rights of the colonies, and when and how they had been violated. The conduct of the Delaware delegation received the unanimous approval of their legislature on their return, and Mr. Rodney was appointed a delegate to the succeeding congress. He soon after of | After this he was elected governor the state, and held the office four years, although the fluctuations of parties were frequent and strong. After that period he declined public offices, as his health had become greatly impaired; and he fell a victim of the cancer early in the year 1783. The following extract from the pre-servations of intelligent physicians; to amble to the constitution of the Medical confer honorary rewards on the efforts society of Delaware, published in 1789, of genius and industry; to superintend is interesting on account of its early the education of medical students, and date :connect with the elements of medicine an adequate knowledge of all the kindred and subservient sciences; to enlarge our sources of knowledge, by imparting and disseminating the discoveries and publications of foreign countries; to correspond with learned societies and individuals; to appoint stated times for lit- | erary intercourse and communications; to cultivate harmony and liberality among the practitioners of medicine; and, finally, to promote regularity and uniformity in the practice of physic." "The physicians of the Delaware state had long regretted their unconnected situation. Despairing to obtain some of the most important objects of their profession while thus detached from one another, and convinced that experience has uniformly attested the advantages of literary association, they lately presented a memorial to the honorable legislature on that subject. Af ter duly considering the application, the general assembly, for the liberal purpose of fostering the interest of science, granted a charter of incorporation to a number of the said physicians and their successors for ever, and the name and style of the president and fellows of the medical society of the Delaware state.' A quorum of the fellows of the society having assembled at Dover on Tuesday, May 12, 1789, the constitution was adopted, and the following officers were appointed :— James Tilton, M. D., president. censors. The following brief but honorable remarks on the condition and prospects of Delaware, were published in the American Museum, in 1789, under the head of an Epitome of the present "The object of this society is to animate and unite its respective members in the arduous work of cultivating the science of medicine, and its auxiliary branches; with an especial view to its practical use, the alleviating of human misery, the diminution of mortality, and the cure of diseases. To accomplish this interesting purpose, they will direct their endeavors to investigate the endemical diseases of our country; to trace their effects on its aboriginal in-state of the Union :habitants, and the successive changes "Delaware, ninety-two miles in length they have undergone, in the progress and twenty three broad by a census in of society from rudeness to refinement; 1790, contained fifty nine thousand to remark the general operations of po- inhabitants. This state, though circumlitical, moral, and natural causes on the scribed in its limits, derives great imhuman body and its diseases; and, par-portance from its rank in the Union. ticularly, observe and record the effects of different seasons, climates, and situations, and the changes produced in diseases by the progress of science, commerce, agriculture, arts, population, and manners; to explore the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, and every accessible department of nature, in search of the means of enriching and simplifying our materia medica; to extend the substitution of our indigenous for exotic remedies; to rescue from oblivion, and collect for public view, the fugitive ob Attached to the new constitution, and having the honor to take the lead in its adoption, there is no doubt of its giving efficacy to its righteous administration.' This state is, as we have before remarked, the smallest in the Union with respect to population; and also in territory excepting Rhode Island. According to the last census, the population of Delaware was 91,407; that of Rhode Island 147,543. The area of Delaware is 2,120 square miles; that of Rhode Island, 1,360 square miles. northern boundary) that it leaves but a narrow belt, giving the map a peculiar appearance. It lies between latitude 38° and 39° 43′, and longitude 1° 56′ and 2° 24' west from Washington. The whole area of the state, notwithstanding the length of its tortuous outline, is only 9,356 square miles, of which the eastern shore contains 3,084. The chief part of the population-with the cities, commerce, and improvement—is west of the Chesapeake. The state, in 1850, contained 582,922 inhabitants. The eastern shore, by its situation, is cut off from intercourse and connexion with the neighboring regions, almost as effectually as if it were an island. The surface is sandy and but little elevated above the ocean, and destitute of hills and of most other advantages. Those portions of the territory near the ocean and the bay are generally level and low; but the surface rises in the interior, and the middle and western parts are crossed by the Allegany ridges. Of these the Blue ridge is most easterly, and forms a long, uniform, and gentle, | numbers in the autumn, and are in great but elevated, swell across the state. demand, even in the markets of PhilaGrain and grass grow well in the west- delphia and New York. ern counties. Valuable mines of iron and coal are wrought in several places; manufactures are carried on with success along some of the streams; the fisheries in the bay and its tributaries are valuable; and commerce is rendered very active by the aid of railroads, steamboats, and vessels of all descriptions. The building of swift-sailing vessels has been carried to the highest degree of perfection, especially in Baltimore. Pocomoke bay is a cove of the Chesapeake, lying below the mouth of Nanticoke river. Northwest from it lie Tangier island and Tangier sound, leading into Fishing bay. Above the mouth of Nanticoke river a peninsula projects far into the Chesapeake, forming the county of Dorchester; and on the opposite side this is bounded by Choptank bay, which, in its turns, separates it from Talbot county. This county is much The Potomac river, which forms so cut up by several coves, inlets, &c., as large a part of the southern boundary of Treadhaven bay, Broad bay, and St. this state, is five hundred and fifty miles Michael's bay. Beyond lies another of in length, and navigable for ships of the these remarkable arms of the Chesalargest size to Washington. The canal, peake, viz., Chester bay, which separates which extends from the falls at George- the county of Queen Ann from that of town almost to its head, makes it navi- Kent. Long as is this line of bay-coast, gable for boats through a great part of which we have thus described following its length, and approaches near the west-its sinuosities, the whole of it is comern states. The Susquehanna empties in Maryland, and is connected with Baltimore by artificial means. prehended in a single degree of latitude, lying between thirty-eight and thirtynine degrees. The Patapsco is a small river, but of Proceeding north from this latter great importance, being navigable four-point, Kent county is a peninsula of a teen miles, and having the city of Baltimore at the head of navigation, where its waters form a fiue harbor, with shores on one side sloping conveniently for streets and wharves, and on the other high and precipitous, and well adapted for defence. The Patuxent is one hundred and ten miles lɔng, and navigable fifty miles for vessels of two hundred and fifty tons. Beside these are the Elk river, the Sassafras, Chester, Choptank, Nanticoke, and Pocomoke. Chesapeake bay is two hundred and seventy miles in length, and differs in breadth from seven to twenty miles, suddenly expanding from one to the other. It contains numerous islands, and is remarkable for the number of coves, inlets, and sinuosities of its borders, which afford access to the water in a thousand places. There is abundance of fish and wild-fowl; and among the latter canvassback duck is most celebrated, being justly esteemed and preferred above all other water-birds for its rich and delicate flavor. These birds are shot in great semicircular form, lying between the rivers Chester and Sassafras; and next Sassafras bay lie the two rivers North and Elk, beyond which we find the mouth of the Susquehanna, and the northern boundary of the state. All this part of this state, known as the eastern shore, may now be called an island, since the Delaware and Chesapeake canal opens a complete, although an artificial, water-channel across the neck of the peninsula. It is remarkable that a much greater difference of climate exists on the eastern shore than the mere difference of latitude is sufficient to account for. The lower part is so warm, that even cotton may be cultivated. The western part of the state is quite cold for so southern a parallel; but this is very easily accounted for, as its elevation is sufficient to render the temperature in winter equal to that of the Atlantic coast as high up as latitude forty-four degrees forty-three minutes. The elevated valleys in Allegany county, although very fertile, have a climate too cold for wheat. and the area 4,900 square miles. The surface is generally flat or gently undulated. The eastern border has a succession of low, sandy islands and beaches, with shallow sounds, opening by narrow channels, and is destitute of considerable streams. The west side of the peninsula, on the contrary, has a number of rivers, of some size and depth, navigable for greater or less distances, and adding to the facilities afforded by the coves and inlets. The want of intimate communication | breadth of the whole about twenty miles, between these two parts of Maryland, and the semi-isolated situation of the counties and many of the towns of the former with respect to each other, are unfavorable to improvements of almost every kind. The productions of every neighborhood are brought to the shore of one of the innumerable little streams, inlets, or coves, which scollop the winding coast of the Chesapeake, and shipped in small vessels running to different places; while the habits of the people, as well as the nature of the country, thus interrupted by water every few miles, render roads few and short. Intercourse among the inhabitants is limited; there are no large towns; and intelligence languishes, with public spirit and enterprise, under the absence of the ordinary motives. Manufactures are not encouraged by any natural facilities; and all these causes combined give the eastern shore of Maryland its marked characteristics. The surface of western Maryland has a general and gradual rise from the shores of Chesapeake bay to the sources of the Potomac, about two thousand feet; but the intermediate regions are in several places diversified by hills and mountainous elevations, chiefly the ridges of the Alleganies. The Blue ridge, however, like some of the others, presents a uniform swell, generally so gradual as to leave the ground unbroken and covered with soil. In some other western parts of the state the rocks protrude, and considerable tracts are unfit for cultivation. There, however, the mineral treasures of iron and coal abound, to such a degree as to make great amends for the want of arable soil. The following results of observations made at the White cottage, near Sandy spring, in 1829 and 1830, will show the solstice to the vernal equinox, 28.39; vernal equinox to summer solstice, 58.22; summer solstice to autumnal equinox, 69.21; autumnal equinox to winter solstice, 46.96. The following year the mean temperature at the corresponding periods was as follows: 35.63; 58.14; 71.46; 49.23. Of the three geographical sections into which Maryland is naturally divided, the eastern shore forms the first; and this, as before remarked, has some peculiar features. The Chesapeake peninsula, of which it forms the western slope, from Pocomoke bay to the mouth of the Susquehanna, is a remarkable piece of land, lying between the Chesapeake and Delaware bays, with a portion of its south-mean temperature: From the winter eastern border washed by the ocean. The narrow isthmus which naturally connects it with the continent has been artificially cut through by the Chesapeake and Delaware canal, and thus the whole of this singular cape, or rather peninsula, may be said to have become an island. Measured from that point to its southern extremity-Cape Charles-it is one hun- HISTORY.-The first permanent setdred and eighty-two miles in length; tlement was made in the territory of this and the general form is that of an oval, state at St. Mary's, in the year 1631, unacuminate leaf, with numerous and ir- der William Claibourn, on Kent island regular lobes and indentations on its The charter granted to Lord Baltimore margins. The south part, seventy miles (Cecilius Calvert) was dated June 20, long by eight or ten wide, belongs to 1632. He was a convert to the church Virginia; the middle section belongs of Rome, and early proclaimed religious wholly to Maryland; and the upper is toleration, although in direct opposition divided between this state and Dela- to the doctrine and practice of the The widest part, near the mid-popes and governments under their indle, is seventy miles across, the mean fluence down to the present day. ware. |