Excerpt from The Historical Magazine, and Notes and Queries, 1865, Vol. 9: Concerning the Antiquities, History and Biography of America In 1718 he settled in the city of New York, where his mathematical knowledge procured him the appointment of surveyor general of the colony from Governor Hunter, the friend and correspondent of Swift, from whom he soon after received the additional appointment of master in chancery. The state of society in this country, which did not yet allow of the regular subdivision either of labor or of professional study, ' ren dered this last appointment less remarkable than it might otherwise appear to a reader of the presentday. Dr. Colden's general knowledge and habits of business soon qual ified him for the able discharge of this office. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.