CHAPTER LXXXVI.

Mason and Dixon's Line.

1. SHOULD any reader say that this is not pertinent to the subject treated of in this work, he would not be far out of the way; for, strictly speaking, it has nothing to do with it. But the phrase "Mason and Dixon's line," has been used in connection with the political sayings and doings of the country so often that it would be very natural for any one to ask, "What is it?" and "What is meant by it?" To answer the question, we reply as follows: Mason and Dixon's line is not a myth nor an imaginary line, with no particular location. It was a real line, and a boundary line, located between Maryland and Pennsylvania; between which two colonies there had been much contention and many hostile acts, amounting at times almost to a civil war. This arose from a dispute respecting the boundary lines between them. Maryland had been granted to Lord Baltimore, and Pennsylvania to William Penn.

2. This was long before the Revolutionary war. But the boundary line was not accurately defined. These disputes caused so much trouble between the contending parties, that commissioners were appointed in England to make an accurate survey, and to determine, from the language used in the charters or grants, as they were called in that day, the exact boundary line between them. Messrs. Mason and Dixon were selected in England to run this line; which they did. These men were eminent mathematicians and astronomers, and had the confidence of all parties. They performed their work so much to the satisfaction of all

parties that the line drawn remains to this day. Thus was ended a long continued quarrel of more than seventy years' standing.

3. But these facts did not give this line its great notoriety. It arose from the circumstance that Pennsylvania and all the States north of it became free States, while Maryland and all the States south of it remained slave States. Mason and Dixon's line, without any intention of making it such, became the boundary between the free and slave States.

The line run by these men went no further west than those States extended, and was a straight line running east and west. But as new States were created and added to the original thirteen, some utterly refused to admit slavery, while others did admit it. Ohio, Illinois and Indiana, on the north side of the Ohio river, refused to admit, while Kentucky eagerly embraced it. Hence the Ohio river became a sort of Mason and Dixon's line; that is, it became the line so far as these States were concerned. The phrase by this time came to mean the boundary line between slavery and freedom, instead of the line run by Mason and Dixon between Pennsylvania and Maryland. Thus, like many other terms in our language, it became far more comprehensive in its significance than in the original meaning. In the latter sense, Mason and Dixon's line ran whereever the boundary lines ran between free and slave States, whether east and west, north and south, or any other points of the compass. But the late civil war sponged out this famous line. It has no existence now excepting that part of it which originally and at present forms the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland.

CHAPTER LXXXVII.

Political Divisions.

1. WHEN We wish to understand the geography of our country, we take a map and notice its boundaries, its mountains, lakes, rivers, towns, &c.

And if we wish to understand its government we must notice how it is divided for political purposes; first, into States, and then into a variety of districts. We shall find Congressional districts, judicial districts, collection districts, land districts, and light-house districts. All these have their uses, and are parts of the machinery by which the government is operated. If it were not for the necessity there is of frequently changing the boundaries, numbers and localities of these districts, it would be useful and interesting if the United States were mapped out so as to show all these political divisions at a glance, in the same manner as the States and counties are now shown.

2. The first great division is into States. These have particular reference to the constitution of the Senate and House of Representatives. Each State is entitled to two Senators, regardless of its size or population; and to as many Representatives as its population will admit. Each State is really a Senatorial district in its relations to the general government; and as Congressmen are elected by single districts, each State is sub-divided into as many Congressional districts as it has Representatives in the lower House. But when a State has only one Member of Congress,

as is the case with several, the whole State is comprised in one Congressional district.

JUDICIAL DISTRICTS.

3. We now come to another sort of districts, made for an entirely different purpose. For the convenience of the people the United States courts are held in every State, and at different places in the same State. For this purpose the whole country is first divided into judicial circuits. Several States-3, 4, or 5 -are embraced in one circuit. In all these States and at different places in them, a Circuit Court is held.

4. Then comes a lower grade of courts, called the United States District Court. These also are held at different times and places in each State; and for this purpose the whole country is divided into judicial districts, each State forming at least one, but some of the larger ones, two or three. Thus much for divisions for judicial purposes.

COLLECTION DISTRICTS..

5. Another class of districts has been formed, for the purpose of collecting the duties on imported goods. These are called "collection districts." They extend along, and embrace the whole sea coast and the shores of navigable lakes and rivers. In a few instances they are located inland, at points where goods may be brought into the United States by land. Each collection district has a port of entry, and very often several ports of delivery; also a collector of customs, and generally a custom house.

6. Another class of collection districts was formed

during the late civil war. They grew out of the war, and were established for the collection of the tax termed the "internal revenue," which had to be levied to pay the war expenses. These districts differ entirely, both in their objects and in the Territory embraced within them, from those established for the purpose of collecting duties on imports, and correspond as far as practicable with the Congressional districts in each State.

LAND DISTRICTS.

7. Land districts may also be noticed among these divisions. In every State and Territory where there are public lands for sale, after they are surveyed and mapped, they are divided into districts-two, three or four, in each State and Territory-as convenience and economy may dictate. In each district a land office is established for the sale of the lands in said district.

LIGHT HOUSE DISTRICTS.

8. Again, the whole of our sea coasts, both on the -Atlantic and Pacific oceans, together with the shores of the navigable lakes and rivers, are divided into twelve light house districts (or their number must not exceed that), for the purpose of building, repairing, illuminating and superintending the light houses on all the coasts and shores wherever located. These are the principal divisions we have to notice. It is important to have a knowledge of them, for with such knowledge we can better understand how government affairs are conducted.