a corporation town of Lincolnshire in England, which sends two members to parliament. It is commodiously seated on both sides the river Witham, over which it has a handsome high wooden bridge; and, being near the sea, enjoys a good trade. It has a spacious market place, and the largest parish church without crosia aisles in Europe, the steeple of which serves for a land-mark to sailors. Boston is a barony in the Irby family. E. Long. o. 15. N. Lat. 53° 3'.

capital of New England in North America, built in 1630, in a peninsula of about four miles in circumference, at the bottom of Massachusetts bay, in a very convenient situation for trade. The following is a description of this capital before the commencement of the late American war. "The town stands in W. Long. 71° 5'. N. Lat. 42° 24', about nine miles from the mouth of the bay. At the entrance of this bay are several small rocks which appear above water, and upwards of a dozen of small islands, some of which are inhabited. There is but one safe channel to approach the harbour; and that so narrow, that two ships can hardly sail through abreast; but within the harbour there is room for 500 sail to lie at anchor in a good depth of water. On one of the islands of the bay stands Fort William, the most regular fortress in British America. This castle is defended by 100 guns, 20 of which lie on a platform level with the water, so that it is scarce possible for an enemy to pass the castle. To prevent surprise, they have a guard placed on one of the rocks, at two leagues distance, from whence they make signals to the castle when any ships come near it. There is also a battery of guns at each end of the town. At the bottom of the bay is a noble pier near 2000 feet in length; along which on the north side extends a row of warehouses for the merchants; and to this pier ships of the greatest burden may come and unload without the help of boats. The greatest part of the town lies round the harbour in the form of a half moon, the country beyond it rising gradually and affording a delightful prospect. The neck of land which joins the peninsula to the continent is but 40 yards over; which situation, if properly improved, might render the town impregnable on the land side. Boston contains only about 18,000 inhabitants. They were more numerous 50 years ago; but the surprising increase of Newburyport, Salem, Marblehead, Cape Ann, Plymouth, Dartmouth, and the island of Nantucket, checked the growth and trade of the capital. The trade of Boston, however, was so considerable, that, in 1768, 1300 sail entered and cleared at the custom-house there. The predominant religion is the Independent; though there are other persuasions, and ten churches serve for them all, but the Independents have six." Boston has frequently suffered by fire, but the houses that were thus destroyed have always been rebuilt to advantage. The late American war began here by the attack at Bunkers-hill, when many brave men lost their lives."