spears' have, although without a date and almost without a certain name, been immortalized by the Father of Poetry; and who, probably, in still earlier times, constructed the Cloaca under ancient Rome, which have been absurdly enough ascribed to one of the Tarquins, in whose time the whole population of Rome would have been insufficient for a work, that would, moreover, have been useless when finished. Of this Great Race, who founded cities and empires in their eastward march, and are finally lost in South America, the Romans seem to have had a glimmering tradition in the story of Evander.

"But we rather incline to the belief that the remains found at Fall River belonged to one of the crew of a Phoenician vessel.

"The spot where they were found is on the sea-coast, and in the immediate neighborhood of 'Dighton Rock,' famed for its hieroglyphic inscription, of which no sufficient explanation has yet been given; and near which rock brazen vessels have been found. If this latter hypothesis be adopted, a part of it is, that these mariners-the unwilling and unfortunate discoverers of a new world-lived some time after they landed; and, having written their names, perhaps their epitaphs, upon the rock at Dighton, died, and were buried by the natives."

FREETOWN.

THIS town was first settled about 1659, and incorporated in 1683. The principal village in the town is Assonett, situated at the head of an inlet from Taunton river, 8 miles from Taunton, 8 from Fall River, 16 from New Bedford, and 26 from Boston. The village consists of about fifty dwelling-houses and 2 churches, 1 Congregational and 1 Baptist. Ship-building is carried on in the village. Population of the town, 1,779. There are in the town 2 nail factories, 2 air and cupola furnaces, 1 axe manufactory, 1 manufactory of cutlery, and I for shovels, spades, &c. Eight vessels were built in five years preceding 1837, tonnage 636; value of the same, $36,200; hands employed in building, eleven.

MANSFIELD.

THIS town was formerly a part of Norton; it was incorporated as a distinct town in 1770. The central part of this town is 12 miles from Taunton and 28 from Boston. Population, 1,444. Col. Ephraim Leonard was one of the most distinguished of the first settlers of this place; he built his house about two miles eastward of the Congregational church in the center of the town. The Rev. Mr. White, the first minister, lived about one mile south of the meeting-house. Nathan Williams, another of the first settlers, located his house where the tavern now stands. A number of families, by the name of Wellman, had their houses about half a mile south of the meeting-house; Deacon Abial Leonard lived at the distance of about three miles. Benjamin, brother to Nathan Williams, lived about a mile north of the meeting-house; these brothers owned lands extending to the old colony line. A family of Deans settled in the south part of the town; Deacon Skinner in the western part. Families by the name of Grover were among the early inhabitants.

This town is well watered by three principal branches of Taunton river, called Rumford, Cocasset, and Canoe rivers; the two

first mentioned are valuable streams. There are in the town 6 cotton mills, running 3,412 spindles. In 1837, there were 680,971 yards of cotton goods manufactured, the value of which was upwards of $40,000. There is a woollen mill, and 2 nail factories. In the same year 30,000 straw bonnets, valued at $30,000; 1,500 palm-leaf hats, valued at $382, and $4,000's worth of baskets, were manufactured.

NEW BEDFORD.

The

THE Indian name of New Bedford was Acchusnutt or Acushnet. It was incorporated as a town in 1787, previous to which it formed a part of the town of Dartmouth. At what time and by whom the first settlement was commenced in the limits of the town, does not distinctly appear. It is supposed, however, that the Friends or Quakers were the first white inhabitants. first settled minister appears to have been the Rev. Samuel Hunt, who died about the year 1735; it is supposed he was ordained here about 1700. The next minister was Rev. Richard Pierce; he was settled in 1735, and was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Cheever. Mr. Cheever was dismissed in 1759, and was succeeded by Rev. Samuel West, D. D., who was settled in 1761. The villages of New Bedford and Fairhaven, on the opposite side of the river, were settled about the same time, 1764. The first house in New Bedford village was built by Mr. John Louden, of Pembroke. The land on which the place is built was owned by a Mr. Russell. This being the family name of the Duke of Bedford, Mr. J. Rotch, one of the principal purchasers and settlers, declared that the place where they built should go by the name of Bedford. It afterwards received the prefix New, on account of there being another town of the same name in the limits of the commonwealth. Mr. Rotch, a member of the society of Friends, was a man of sagacity and enterprise. He speedily built a house, stores, and wharves; and was joined by several associates. By his previous knowledge of the whaling business which he had acquired in Nantucket, Mr. Rotch and his friends were able to carry on this business to great advantage, which has been a great source of great wealth and prosperity to the place to the present time. "By his peculiar address he procured first from the government of France, and then from that of Great Britain, the privilege of exporting oil to those countries, duty free; and was thus enabled to carry on his own business with the highest profit, and essentially to befriend that of his neighbors."

New Bedford is a half shire town of Bristol county and port of entry, on the west side of the Acushnet river, or, more properly, an inlet from Buzzard's Bay. The ground upon which the town is built rises beautifully from the water, and as the town is approached from the water or from the Fairhaven side it presents a fine appearance. The harbor, though not easy of access, is capa

cious, and well secured from winds. A wooden bridge and causeway, the whole of which extends about three fourths of a mile, connects the town with the village of Fairhaven. The almost entire business of the place is the whale fishery and other branches of business connected with it: this business was commenced before the revolutionary war, and has gradually risen to its present importance. In 1838, the number of vessels belonging to New Bedford, engaged in the whale fishery, was one hundred and seventy, employing four thousand hands. There are seventeen candle houses and oil manufactories. In 1837, there was imported into the United States 181,724 bbls. of sperm oil, and 219,138 bbls. of whale oil: of this quantity 75,675 bbls. of sperm oil, and 85,668 bbls. of whale oil, was imported into the New Bedford district. There are 4 banks. The Bedford Commercial Bank, with a capital of $400,000, was incorporated in 1816; the Merchants Bank was incorporated in 1825, with a capital of $400,000; the Mechanics Bank incorporated in 1831, capital $200,000; and the Marine Bank, incorporated in 1832, with a capital of $300,000. There are three insurance offices, whose united capitals amount to 350,000 dollars. The "New Bedford Institution for Savings" has an amount invested of about 220,000 dollars. There are 14 churches: 3 Baptist, 2 of which are Christian societies; 3 Congregational, 1 of which is Unitarian; 2 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Episcopal, 1 for Friends, 1 Universalist, 1 Bethel, 1 African and 1 Catholic. Few towns in Massachusetts have increased more rapidly than New Bedford. By the census of 1790, the population of the village was about 700; in 1820, it was 3,947; in 1830, it was 7,592; and in 1836, it was 11,113; making an increase of nearly 47 per cent. in six years. Distance 52 miles S. of Boston, 52 N. W. of Nantucket, 24 from Taunton, and 214 north-easterly from New York.

During the revolutionary war New Bedford was a place of resort for American privateers. In order to destroy them, 4,000 British troops, under Gen. Gray, landed upon Clark's Neck, the western boundary of the river at its mouth. From this point they marched to the town, and burnt houses, wharves, &c., to the amount of £11,241. They also destroyed English and West India goods, provisions, naval stores, shipping, &c., to the amount of £85,739; amounting in the whole to £96,980, or $323,266.

NORTON.

NORTON was incorporated as a town in 1711. It was originally a part of Taunton, and when incorporated included in its limits. the present towns of Easton and Mansfield. The first settler within the limits of the town was a cabin-boy, named William Witherell, who received a tract of land by the gift of his master, and built a house upon it in 1670.* A settlement was made in 1696, by

* Spofford's Gazetteer of Massachusetts.