or Haunts, a county of England, bounded on the west by Dorsetshire and Wiltshire, on the north by Berkshire, on the east by Surrey and Sussex, and on the south by the English channel. It extends 55 miles in length from north to south, and 40 in breadth from east to west, and is about 220 miles in circumference. It is divided into 39 hundreds, and contains 9 forests, 29 parks, one city, 20 market-towns, 253 parishes, above 36,000 houses, and by the most modern computation 180,000 inhabitants, who elect 26 members of parliament, two for the county, two for the city of Winchester, and two for each of the following towns, Southampton, Portsmouth, Petersfield, Lymington, Newport, Stockbridge, Andover, Whitchurch, Lymington, Christchurch, and Newton.

The air is very pure and pleasant, especially upon the downs, on which vast flocks of sheep are kept and bred. In the campaign part of the county, where it is free of wood, the soil is very fertile, producing all kinds of grain. The country is extremely well wooded and watered; for besides many woods on private estates, in which there are vast quantities of well-grown timber, there is the new forest of great extent, belonging to the crown, well stocked with venerable oaks. In these woods and forests, great numbers of hogs run at large, and feed on the acorns; and hence it is that the Hampshire bacon so far excels that of most other countries. The rivers are the Avon, Anton, Arle, Test, Stowre, and Itchen; besides several smaller streams, all abounding in fish, especially trout. As its sea-coast is of considerable extent, it possesses many good ports and harbours, and is well supplied with salt-water fish. Much honey is produced in the country, and a great deal of mead and metheglin made. Here is also plenty of game, and on the downs is most delightful hunting. The manufacture of cloth and kerseys in this county, though not so extensive as that of some others, is yet far from being inconsiderable, and employs great numbers of the poor, as well as contributes to the enriching of the manufacturers by what is sent abroad. The new intended canal in this county, from Basingstoke to the Wye in Surrey, and from thence to the Thames, cannot but be a great advantage to the county in general, and the parishes it is to pass through in particular; to carry which into Hampshire, execution above £86,000 have been raised amongst 150 proprietors in 1789, and it will extend 53 miles when completed.

NEW HAMPSHIRE, a province of North America, in New England. It is bounded on the north by Quebec; north-east by the province of Maine; south-east by the Atlantic Ocean; south by Massachusetts; west and north-west by Connecticut river, which divides it from Vermont. The shape of New Hampshire resembles an open fan; Connecticut river being the curve, the southern line the shortell, and the eastern line the longest side. It is divided into five counties, viz. Rockingham, Stafford, Hillsborough, Cheshire, Grafton. In 1776, there were 165 settled townships in this state. Since that time the number has been greatly increased. The chief town is Portsmouth. Exeter, 15 miles southwesterly from Portsmouth, is a pretty town on the south side of Exeter river. And Concord, situated on the west side of Merrimack river, is a pleasant flourishing town, which will probably, on account of its central situation, soon be the permanent seat of government. There are two great rivers, the Piscataqua and the Merrimack. The former has four branches, Berwick, Cocheco, Exeter, and Durham, which are all navigable for small vessels and boats, some 15 others 20 miles from the sea. These rivers unite about eight miles from the mouth of the harbour, and form one broad, deep, rapid stream, navigable for ships of the largest burden. This river forms the only port of New Hampshire. The Merrimack bears that name from its mouth to the confluence of Pemigewasset and Winnipiseoakee rivers; the latter has its source in the lake of the same name. In its course, it receives numberless small streams issuing from ponds and swamps in the valleys. It tumbles over two considerable falls, Amoskeag and Pantucket great falls. From Haverhill the river runs winding along, through a pleasant rich vale of meadow, and passing between Newbury Port and Salisbury empties itself into the ocean. The land next to the sea is generally low; but as you advance into the country, it rises into hills. Some parts of the state are mountainous. The White mountains are the highest part of a ridge which extends northeast and southwest to a length not yet ascertained. The whole circuit of them is not less than 50 miles. The height of these mountains above an adjacent meadow, is reckoned to be about 3500 feet, and the meadow is 3500 feet above the level of the sea. The snow and ice cover them nine or ten months in the year; during which time they exhibit that bright appearance from which they are denominated the white mountains. From this summit in clear weather is exhibited a noble view, extending 60 or 70 miles in every direction. Although they are more than 70 miles within land, they are seen many leagues off at sea, and appear like an exceeding bright cloud in the horizon. These immense heights, being copiously replenished with water, afford a variety of beautiful cascades. Three of the largest rivers in New England receive a great part of their waters from these mountains. Ammonoosuc and Israel rivers, two principal branches of Connecticut, fall from their western side. Peabody river, a branch of the Ammonoosuc, falls from the northeast side; and almost the whole of the Hampshire. Saco descends from the southern side. The highest summit of these mountains is about latitude 44°.

The air in New Hampshire is serene and healthful. The weather is not so subject to change as in more southern climates. This state embracing a number of very high mountains, and lying in the neighborhood of others whose towering summits are covered with snow and ice three quarters of the year, is intensely cold in the winter season. The heat of summer is great, but of short duration. The cold braces the constitution, and renders the laboring people healthy and robust.

On the sea coast, and many places inland, the soil is sandy, but affords good pasturage. The intervals at the foot of the mountains are greatly enriched by the fens, which bring down the soil upon them, forming a fine mould, and producing corn, grain, and herbage, in the most luxuriant plenty. The back lands which have been cultivated are generally very fertile, and produce the various kinds of grain, fruits, and vegetables, which are common to the other parts of New England. The uncultivated lands are covered with extensive forests of pine, fir, cedar, oak, walnut, &c. This state affords all the materials necessary for shipbuilding.

No actual census of the inhabitants has been lately made. In the convention at Philadelphia, in 1787, they were reckoned at 102,000. There is no characteristic difference between the inhabitants of this and the other New England states. The ancient inhabitants of New Hampshire were emigrants from England. Their posterity, mixed with emigrants from Massachusetts, fill the lower and middle towns. Emigrants from Connecticut compose the largest part of the inhabitants of the western towns adjoining Connecticut river. Slaves there are none. Negroes, who were never numerous in New Hampshire, are all free by the first article of the bill of rights.

In the township of Hanover, in the western part of this state, is Dartmouth College, situated on a beautiful plain, about half a mile east of Connecticut river, in latitude 43° 33′. It was named after the right honourable William Earl of Dartmouth, who was one of its principal benefactors. It was founded in 1769, for the education and instruction of youth, of the Indian tribes, in reading, writing, and all parts of learning which should appear necessary and expedient for civilizing and christianizing the children of Pagans, as well as in all liberal arts and sciences, and also of English youths and any others. Its situation, in a frontier country, exposed it during the late war to many inconveniences, which prevented its rapid progress. It flourished, however, amidst all its embarrassments, and is now one of the most growing seminaries in the United States. It has in the four classes about 130 students, under the direction of a president, two professors, and two tutors. It has 12 trustees, who are a body corporate, invested with the powers necessary for such a body. The library is elegant, containing a large collection of the most valuable books. Its apparatus consists of a competent number of useful instruments, for making mathematical and philosophical experiments. There are three buildings for the use of the students. Such is the salubrity of the air, that no instance of mortality has happened among the students since the first establishment of the college.

At Exeter there is an academy; at Portsmouth a Hampton grammar school; and all the towns are bound by law to support schools. The inhabitants of New Hampshire are chiefly congregationalists. The other denominations are Presbyterians, Baptists, and Episcopalians.

The first discovery made by the English of any part of New Hampshire was in 1614, by Captain John Smith, who ranged the shore from Penobscot to Cape Cod; and in this route discovered the river Piscataqua. On his return to England, he published a description of the country, with a map of the coast, which he presented to Prince Charles, who gave it the name of New England. The first settlement was made in 1623.

New Hampshire was for many years under the jurisdiction of the governor of Massachusetts, yet they had a separate legislature. They ever bore a proportionate share of the expenses and levies in all enterprises, expeditions, and military exertions, whether planned by the colony or the crown. In every stage of the opposition that was made to the encroachments of the British parliament, the people, who ever had a high sense of liberty, cheerfully bore their part.

HAMPTONSTEAD, a pleasant village of Middlesex, four miles north-west of London, stands in a healthy air, on a fine rise, at the top of which is a heath of about a mile every way, that is adorned with several pretty seats, in a most irregular romantic situation, and has a most extensive prospect over London, into the counties all round it, viz. Bucks and Hertfordshire, and even Northamptonshire, Essex, Kent, Surrey, Berks, &c. with an uninterrupted view of Shooter's Hill, Banstead-Downs, and Windsor-Castle. Its church was anciently a chapel of ease to Hendon, till about 1478. This village used to be referred to formerly for its mineral waters, which have lately been neglected; but the wells are still frequented. It is now crowded with good buildings, even on the very steep of the hill, where there is no walking six yards together without meeting a hillock; but in the reign of Henry VIII. it was chiefly inhabited by the landreftes who washed for the Londoners. Its old ruinous church, the lord of the manor's chapel, was lately pulled down, and a new one erected in its room. There is, besides, a handsome chapel near the wells, built by the contribution of the inhabitants, who are chiefly citizens and merchants of London.