Religion. On this subject the constitution declares, that no person shall be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshipping God according to his own conscience, or be compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his own faith and judgment, or to pay tithes, taxes, or other rates for the maintenance of ministers, contrary to his belief or voluntary engagement; that there shall be no establishment of one religious sect in preference to another; that all persons professing a belief in the faith of any Protestant sect, and demeaning himself peaceably, shall be capable of being elected into any civil office, and shall freely participate of every privilege and immunity.

Until the year 1810, the Presbyterian churches of New Jersey belonged to the Presbytery of New York. In 1811, there were sixty-four Presbyterian churches, but the number of clergymen was only forty-two, besides eight licentiates. The Dutch Reformed church includes thirty-three churches, with twenty-one clergymen. The Episcopalians twenty-four churches, and ten clergymen. The Baptists, according to the report of a general convention held in Philadelphia in May 1717, have twenty-four churches, including 1741 members. The number of communicants of the Methodist persuasion was 6739, of whom 500 were people of colour. There are nine Congregational churches, with with five clergymen. The Friends or Quakers have forty-four meeting houses.

Education.

Of late, attention has been awakened to the importance of education, which had formerly been much neglected. Grammar schools have been

established in the different towns.

There are sixteen

incorporated academies, and two colleges, one at Princeton, named Nassau-Hall; the other at Bruns wick, named Queen's College. Princeton College, or Nassau-Hall, founded in 1738, has been endowed with contributions from different provinces. It is under the direction of twenty-four trustees, one of whom is the governor of the state, and another the president of the college. The number of students is about eighty. The professors are, 1. Of moral philosophy, theology, history, and eloquence. 2. Mathematics, natural philosophy, and astronomy. 3. Chemistry, and its application to medicine, agriculture, and manufactures. The lower classes are instructed by tutors; and there is a grammar-school for the elements of the Latin and Greek languages, writing, and arithmetic. The students, before they receive their first degree in the arts, are examined publicly in April and in August. The - annual income of the college is about 1000 pounds sterling, exclusive of certain funds for the education of poor and pious youth destined for the church, given by Mrs Esther Richards of Rahway, to the amount of 10,000 dollars, and by the late Mr Hugh Hodge, who bequeathed, for the same purpose, an estate in Philadelphia, yielding from 200 to 300 pounds a-year. The college library and philosophical apparatus, which were almost wholly destroyed, first by the British army during the revolutionary war, and afterwards by fire in 1802, have been since re-established by donations, chiefly from Scotland. The actual number of volumes is between 2000 and 3000. Queen's College, in New

Brunswick, founded by free donations of the ministers of the Dutch church, for the education of their own clergy, was incorporated in 1770, but the American revolution so retarded its growth, that it has never since acquired strength. In 1815, a donation of 14,500 dollars was made to this college, for the purpose of founding a professorship, by Mr Benschauten, a citizen of the state of New York. This seminary is under the direction of a board of twenty-nine trustees, of which number are the president, the governor, and chief justice of the state. Lectures are delivered on theology by the president; on moral philosophy and belles lettres, by the vice-president; on mathematics, natural philosophy, and astronomy, by a professor. There is but one tutor. A grammar-school is connected with the college.

Of the sixteen incorporated academies, there are two at Elizabethtown; two at Morristown; one at Newark; one, Jersey; one, Hackensac; one, Bloomfield; one, Camptown; one, Springfield; one, Perth Amboy; one, Mindham; one, Trenton; one, Bordenton; one, Salem; one, Burlington.

Medical Profession.-Except in extraordinary cases, the women, in many parts of this state, have always administered to the sick, particularly in the county of Cape May, where no regular physician has yet been able to find support. The profession of medicine, however, is now under the charge of a medical association of about thirty regular physicians, who are authorized by the legislature to grant certificates to per sons duly qualified, without which no person can obtain a licence to practise.

Law.-No person can practise as an attorney without a licence from the governor, which is granted on the following conditions: The candidate for admission must be twenty-one years of age, four of which he must have served with a licensed attorney, and if not previously possessed of a college degree, the period is extended to five years. The examination takes place before three of the most eminent counsellors of the state, in presence of the judges of the supreme court. A counsellor is subjected to a similar examination, and must, besides, have practised three years as an attorney. In 1810 there were ninety-five attorneys and counsellors in the state.

Agriculture.-Farming is the great business of most of the inhabitants. The common crops are wheat, rye, Indian corn, oats, barley, buck wheat, flax, and potatoes. The buck-wheat is here in very general cultivation. About a bushel and a half of seed is sown on an acre, of which, in many parts, the produce is thirty bushels. Bread or cakes are made of it, which is a favourite food. The grain is also employed to fatten hogs and fowl. The straw is fit only for manure. Rye is also sown, and the produce is about twenty from one of seed. Barley is also cultivated, and the produce is from thirty to fifty bushels. The bread corn of this state is more than sufficient to feed its inhabitants. The interior and hilly parts produce a fine natural herbage. The herd-grass, (Agrostis stricta,) now in use, gives four tons an acre of excellent hay, which the cattle prefer to clover or Timothy. The white winter cabbage is found to thrive well. In the

gardens, orchards, and open fields, are cultivated apples, pears, peaches, plums, and cherries. The climate is very favourable to fruit. Saffron was formerly cultivated in the southern parts; but, owing to want of care in the culture and manufacture, the drug was inferior to that of Flanders and Cambridgeshire. * The Jersey cider is famed for its superior quality. The peaches are of a fine flavour. In 1815, M. Brouning raised 120 water melons, the average weight of which was nearly fifty pounds. They were sold at the Philadelphia market. In the mountainous parts and salt meadows, near the sea coast, great numbers of cattle are raised. Some of the marshes yield three tons an acre of coarse hay, which is mown twice a-year, in the latter end of May and beginning of September. The meadows on Maurice river are drained by means of ditches and sluice-gates. The return made for the year 1814, shows a rapid increase in the number of sheep. There were, Merinos, 3807; mixed blood, 25,826; common show, 204,729. Total, 234,362. A flock of full-blooded Merinos was shown at Elizabethtown, in June 1815, the fleeces of which weighed nearly 7 pounds each. Two fine Arabian horses were lately imported into this state by M. Coxe, late consul at Tunis. The agriculture of New Jersey is, upon the whole, not equal to that of Massachusetts, but improvements are gradually introduced. By the application of gypsum as a manure, the quantity of hay has been greatly increased. Four tons of herd-grass from

American Husbandry, Vol. I. p. 138.