in this nation, have made such
rapid progress in population, man-
ufacturing and wealth, for the past
thirty years, as Manchester. It
ranks, in its value of cotton and
woolen cloths manufactured, as
the fourth city in the United States,
and as the first in New-Hampshire.
Forty years ago, where the city
now stands, there was but a ham-
let, and the only noise to break
the stillness of the quiet, was the
waters of the Merrimack, as they
thundered over the falls, and for
ages had been waiting to assist
man to do its part in the great
drama of creation’s work; is now
a great city of nearly thirty thous-
and people, and the busy hum of
life is heard through the buzz of
its 200,000 spindles, the clatter of
its 5,000 looms, and the bustle of
business through its crowded
streets, from mom till night. Un-
like Lowell, Lawrence, and many
other cities in the vicinity of Bos-
ton, it is far enough away from
that commercial metropolis, as
not to destroy its mercantile trade,
and there is no city outside of Bos-
ton, Providence and Worcester, in
the eastern section of New-Eng-
land, which shows the business life
in the streets, like Manchester.

The surface is generally level,
but the soil of a considerable part
of the town is light and sandy.
The intervals on the river are lim-
ited, but of easy cultivation, and
fertile, while the swells afford
many excellent farms, under high
cultivation.

Lake. Massabesic Lake, in the
eastern portion, towards Auburn,
lies partly in this town. It is a
handsome sheet of water, with
many islands, and presenting some
of the finest scenery in this section
of the State. It has an area of
twenty-three hundred and fifty
acres—about twenty-five miles in
circumference; and is divided into
two equal parts by a narrow strait
crossed by a bridge. Each of these
parts is about three miles in length
by one mile in width. Lying with-
in four miles of the city proper, it
has become quite a public resort
for pleasure. The Massabesic
House, on the shore of the lake, is
a fine hotel, and receives a good
share of the public patronage.

Rivers and Streams. The Mer-
rimack River passes along the
western part of the city; Amos-
keag Falls is the largest on the
river. In the ordinary stage of
the water, the fall to the foot of
the locks is forty-seven feet and
the whole fall in the space of a
mile is fifty-four feet. One of the
most substantial stone dams on
the river is built at the head of
these falls, capable, at the average
flow of water, to turn the whole
river into a spacious basin connect-
ed with the upper canal, for the
use of the mills. The Amoskeag,
or lower canal, was first construct-
ed for navigation around the falls,
and was connected with the Mid-
dlesex in 1816, and at that date
was the most expensive canal in
New-England, with the exception
of the Middlesex. The Hon. Sam-
uel Blodgett, who died here many
years ago, was the founder of this
canal and expended a large for-
tune in its construction without
reaping any benefit therefrom—his
death occuring about the time of
its completion. He was a man of
intelligence and enterprise and a
Judge of the Court of Common
Pleas, soon after the Revolution.
The upper canal is 4,950 feet long,