and irresponsible authority. Especially is this the case, at this late period, when its publication will be useful to people generally for reference rather than for information. The Titles and Abstracts of the Public Laws and Joint Resolutions have been carefully prepared, and are sufficiently full, except for professional use. Among those this year of special interest are the acts relative to the new coinage, -to the fees and costs in the Courts of the United States, to prevent frauds on the Treasury, to establish the Territorial Government of Washington, -to the classification of Clerks in the Departments at Washington, to surveys of Public Lands in California and Oregon,- to offences against the Post-Office Laws, and to the printing and binding the returns of the Seventh Census. The tabular view of the railroads in the country is continued from the last volume; and the comparative view of the debts, property, and general financial condition of all the States, has been corrected with great care from the latest official returns. The list of Senators and Representatives in Congress from 1843 to 1853 inclusive, will be found correct and valuable for future reference. The information concerning the Individual States is as full as in former years. It is believed that nowhere else can be found such full details respecting the Executive and Judiciary, the finances, schools, charitable institutions, and pauperism and crime, of the several States. Should any one note inaccuracies or deficiencies therein, he is urgently requested to correct them. The European part of the work, revised from the best authority to late dates, gives the several States of Europe, with their form of government, the name, title, and date of accession of the reigning sovereigns, the area and population of the several countries. It also gives the Royal Family, the Ministry, and the Judiciary of England. The Ministry of France is added. A Foreign Obituary for 1851 and 1852 is given, which it is intended to continue hereafter. The obituary notices and Chronicle of Events have been prepared with care. The space is so limited, that many names and events which otherwise would be given are necessarily omitted. The thanks of the Editor are particularly due to the heads of Department at Washington, and to his many contributors and correspondents, to whom the work is indebted for a great part of its value. A continuance of their favors is respectfully solicited. A work embracing such a multitude of facts must necessarily contain errors; persons who may detect any are earnestly requested to communicate them to the Editor. It is particularly desirable that these communications should not be anonymous. It is frequently a source of regret to the Editor, that he cannot suitably acknowledge the valuable hints and assistance of anonymous correspondents. It is a matter of some public interest, that a periodical which circulates so widely, both in Europe and America, and which is so universally trusted as a manual for reference, should be rendered as accurate as possible; and this end can be obtained only by the coöperation of many individuals. Communications should be addressed to the Editor of the American Almanac," Boston. Boston, Mass., October, 1853. 203 Foreign Goods imported............165-169 180 130 California Land Claims, Commission .... 100 Foreign Mail Service... Capitals of States... Census of U. States (Seventh) Census, Seventh, Printing and Binding, &c. Chargés d'Affaires of U. S. in 1853..... Church Festivals Circuit Courts. ........ Cities, Principal, Population of.... 196 Foreign Ministers, &c., in U. S..... 3 Foreign Trade, Countries of ..... 337 ....... 171 126 France. 325 120, 121 202 Geologists, U. S., with Land Office.... Clerks of Circuit Courts, U. S........... 123 Georgia Clerks of District Courts of U. S......... 123 Government, Seats of, in different States. 196 Colleges, Annual Expenses in .......................... Consuls, Foreign, in U. S.................. 175 Indian Superintendents and Agents...... 107 Costs and Fees in U. S. Courts......... Countries whence Goods are brought ..... 171 Judiciary, U. S. Darkness of the Nights.. Debt of the United States Debts of the States Delaware. .......... ................. 8 Jupiter's Satellites, Eclipses of............. 198 Land-Office, Registers, Receivers, &c. 99 5 Department of the Interior.................................. 99 Lands, Public, Act granting Right of Way Department of State 98 through, in certain cases. ....139, 140 Departments, Officers in the ........ 98-100 Latitude and Longitude of Observatories 46 Michigan 298 Religious Denominations 205-211 Meteorological Information.......... 83-92 Receivers and Registers of Land-Office.. 105 Military Commands....................... Militia Force of the U. S. ..... 196 Ministers of U. S. in Foreign Countries.. Mint, Officers of, Coinage, &c. ........ Naval Officers................ Navy Department. Navy List ............... Navy Officers, Pay of......... ............... 307 School Fund of States.... Navy, Vessels of War in................................. New Hampshire ....... New Jersey. New Mexico Territory ........... 99 Senate of the U. S. 116 Senators, State, No. of, and Terms.. 118 Smithsonian Institution.. 109 South Carolina... 116 Southern Railroads 154 163 243 45 Newspapers, Postage on............185-189 State Elections, &c..... 325 Supreme Court, U. S......... Observatories, Latitude and Longitude of 46 Texas.... Occultations ........... ....... Pamphlets and Magazines, Postage on.... Pension Agents, Army and Navy.... 108, Pole Star, Apparent Places of the Population of the Globe..... Population of the U. S......... 41 Theological Schools.. ...... ..172-176 294 Tides, Height of Greatest, in 1854........ 7 58 United States, Seventh Census.... Population of Chief Cities in U. S....... 202 Vermont.... 171 98 3 Treasury Department. ..... 98 201 199, 201 Venus and Mars, Discs of.............. 316 ........ 43 182 Vessels and Tonnage from 1815-1852 172-176 233 118 ..... 267 Postage to Oregon and California, Foreign 185 Virginia ...... Post Office Distributing Offices......100-103 West Indian Governments............................. 179 Young's Refractions............................................. |