New Hampshire, originally so called by the early settlers, who wished to perpetuate the memory of the county from which many had emigrated, is now known as the Granite State, its mountains being largely composed of that material.

New York, once known as New Amsterdam, under Dutch rule, then assuming its present name as an English colony, assumes in the Union the proud title of Empire State, as surpassing all others in wealth and population, and thus forming an Empire of its own. The motto, "Excelsior," upon its coat of arms has made it also known as the Excelsior State.

North Carolina, producing from her immense pine-forests large quantities of valuable products, derives from one of them the name of the Turpentine State.

Ohio owes to the Buck-Eye, one of the most beautiful trees of America, and poetically so called from the resemblance its chestnut-like fruit bears to a deer's eye, the name of Buckeye State, as its inhabitants also are familiarly known as Buckeyes.

Pennsylvania is proud of the name of the Keystone State, derived from the fact of its being the central State at the time when the Union was formed. The names of the States, arranged in the form of an arch, according to their geographical position, leave Pennsylvania in the centre, where the keystone would be placed. The great importance of the State, due to its extent, wealth, and immense manufacturing interests, make the name quite appropriate also in a higher sense of the word, and Pennsylvania is not loth to claim the full meaning.

Rhode Island, the smallest State in the Union, is therefore affectionately called Little Rhody.

South Carolina is indebted for her name as Palmetto State to the valuable tree growing abundantly on its shores, and hence furnishing the emblem in her coat of arms. A palmetto is carefully kept growing in the streets of Charleston, and the Palmetto Flag earned a sad distinction in the late Civil War by its ill-fated connection with Fort Sumter.

Texas, once a province of Mexico, then an independent republic, bore a single star in its coat of arms, and being for a time left to struggle unaided against the whole power of her formidable enemy, became then honorably known as the Lone Star Statea name which she has ever since retained.

Vermont is generally, by simple translation of the original name given by the French settlers, called the Green Mountain State, the principal ridge of mountains within its boundaries being known by that name.

Virginia retains to this day her name of the Old Dominion, honorably earned in times of great peril by her loyalty to her legitimate sovereign, Charles II.

Wisconsin, abounding during early days in badgers, has ever since retained the name of Badger State.

Among the names given to the prominent cities of the United States, the following are most familiar:

Baltimore, in Maryland, appears as the Monumental City, having had, for a long time, alone monuments in her squares before other towns had followed the example, and boasting still of the oldest and largest monument erected in honor of Washington. (Richmond, in Virginia, has, however, recently finished the finest monument found in this country, an equestrian statue of General Washington, surrounded by a number of colossal statues.)

Boston, in Massachusetts, rejoices in a number of nicknames. Now she is called the Classic City, in appreciation of the high culture of her inhabitants, whose proverbial modesty, however, ́has claimed for their native town the name of the Athens of America. The sarcastic Virginia statesman, John Randolph, hearing Daniel Webster use this term, remarked: "Boston may be the Athens of America, but it has never been my good fortune to meet with any of the Athenians." Less appreciative outsiders indulge in calling it the City of Notions, the latter furnishing the staple of the native trade in mercantile goods as well as in matters of mind and thought; while one of her own most gifted sons, the poet Holmes, nicknamed her, good-naturedly, the Hub of the Universe, a term which has become by far the most popular of all her names. An older designation, Trimountain City, has been almost entirely lost, although the three mountains upon which the city is built, and which gave rise to the epithet, still survive in Tremont-street and Tremont House.

Brooklyn, in New York, a city of marvellous growth, and

promising soon to have half a million inhabitants, enjoys the enviable name of City of Churches, which it well deserves, on account of the unusual number and superior beauty of its churches.

Buffalo, in New York, derives, from its vast commerce on the great lakes, the name of Queen City of the Lakes.

Chicago, in Illinois, famous for the number and beauty of its gardens, is hence known everywhere as the Garden City, while Cincinnati, in Ohio, unparalleled in rapidity of growth and extent of wealth, is called the Queen City.

Cleveland, in Ohio, is known as the Forest City, her streets being bordered by beautiful forest-trees-in the same manner in which Portland, in Maine, also has earned this name by her stately elms and numerous shade-trees.

Detroit, in Michigan, translates the French name given by the early settlers, into City of the Straits, in allusion to the Strait connecting Lake St. Clair with Lake Erie, on which the city is situated.

Duluth, one of the youngest cities of the Union, claims, according to Bayard Taylor's experiences, the remarkable name of Zenith City of the Unsalted Seas!

Galena, in Illinois, owing its first name to the galena, a species of lead ore found in abundance in the neighborhood, is indebted to its remarkably quick growth for the familiar name of Crescent City of the Northwest.

Hannibal, in Missouri, is known as the Bluff City, being built on high bluffs overhanging the river.

Hartford, in Connecticut, derives the name of Charter Oak City, from a large oak-tree, now no longer in existence, in the cavity of which the Charter of the Colony of Connecticut was concealed by the Legislature when King James II., in 1686, sent over Sir Edmund Andros to resume the charters granted to the colonies.

Indianapolis, in Indian a, has the perfectly modern title of RailRoad City, being the central point from which radiate an unusual number of railways.

Keokuk, in Iowa, situated at the foot of the Lower Rapids of the Mississippi River, is hence poetically called Gate City, since here opens to navigation the largest river of the Union.

Louisville, in Kentucky, is in like manner called Falls City,

because it lies at the head of the Louisville Falls of the Ohio River.

Lowell, in Massachusetts, famous for its immense cotton factories, which it owes to the carefully-improved water-power of the Pawtucket Falls in the Merrimac River, is hence known as Spindle City. Montpelier, in Vermont, derives its name of Green Mountain City, from the name of the State, of which it is the capital.

Nashville, in Tennessee, situated on an elevation of 460 feet above the sea, deserves its descriptive name, City of Rocks.

New Haven, in Connecticut, is known throughout the United States as Elm City, from the number and magnificent size of the elm-trees that adorn the public squares and most of the principal streets.

New Orleans, situated on a bend of the Mississippi River, which assumes the form of a crescent, is hence called Crescent City, a name now no longer appropriate, as the buildings have long since extended far beyond the original half-moon.

New York, the largest city in the Union, is not inaptly called Empire City, in appreciation of its size, wealth, and political influence. W. Irving, in his Salmagundi, is said to have been the first to apply to the true metropolis of the United States the derogatory name of Gotham, in allusion to the town of Gotham, in Northamptonshire, England, as famous there as Abdera was once in Greece, and noted for the lack of wisdom manifested by its citizens on many occasions.

Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, owes to the meaning of its Greek name, the epithet, City of Brotherly Love, while the religious associations of its founder, W. Penn, and the number of Quakers still residing there, have procured for it the additional name, Quaker City.

Pittsburg, in Pennsylvania, derives, from its enormous iron manufactories, the name of Iron City, by which it is universally known.

Rochester, in New York, rejoices in the double name of Flour City and Flower City, being as famous for her love of flowers and unrivalled nursery-trade, as for the peculiarly fine flour made in her numerous mills, for which the rich valley of the Genesee furnishes the grain, while the falls of the river supply the water

power.

Savannah, in Georgia, is the third city claiming the name of Garden City, in virtue of the numerous and beautiful parks with which it is adorned.

Springfield, in Illinois, in like manner derives from the countless gardens, in which most of the houses are embowered, and from the beauty of its surroundings, the name of Flower City.

Saint Louis, in Missouri, is known as Mound City, being built upon numerous mounds, believed to have been burial-places of the former owners of the soil, the Indians.

San Francisco, in California, the youngest among American cities of that size, finds compensation for the curt way in which it is treated by Western men, who call it simply Frisco, in the highsounding name, Golden City, under which it is elsewhere known.

Washington, the capital of the Union, still deserves the hollowsounding title, City of Magnificent Distances, as the superb public buildings and stately private residences in which the city abounds, are still separated from each other by wide, waste tracts, or clusters of wretched hovels. Washington is also known as Federal City, from its metropolitan character in the Union.

We append a list of the noms de plume, under which some of the principal American writers are even better known than by their own, while in the case of some others, not included here, the real name is more frequently mentioned.