This Custom-House is constructed by the government of the United States. I suppose most of my readers know the use of a custom-house; but for the benefit of those who do not, I will explain its object. It is a place where the customs, or duties, laid on goods brought into port by ships from foreign countries, are paid and received. The course of the business is this. When a vessel from England, or France, or any other place, comes into port, a person from the custom-house, called a boarding officer, goes into her, and receives from the captain the ship’s papers. These consist of--1. The _Manifest_, which is a paper setting forth the cargo, and signed by the master of the vessel. 2. The _Register_, which is a paper signed by an officer of the treasury at Washington, and countersigned by the collector of the port where she belongs--giving a description of the vessel, with her name, her size, who her owners are, and where she was built. 3. The _Roll of Equipage_, which contains the names of the ship’s company, that is, the captain, mate, and hands; and, 4. _A list of the passengers._ These papers are taken by the boarding officer to the collector of the port, and the captain is required to enter his ship at the custom-house within twenty-four hours after his arrival. Then, if all the papers are right, the goods brought in the vessel may be entered at the custom-house by the several persons to whom they belong. These persons must make oath that the invoices are correct, pay the duty or tax on the goods, and then take them away. There are public stores attached to the custom-house, to which goods may be sent, if the master applies for the privilege, or if they are not called for in five days. During the unlading of a vessel, an officer of the custom-house, called a tidewaiter, remains on board, and takes an account of the cargo, so as to see that it corresponds with the manifest and the entries made by the owners. The great object of all this is to get money to support the government with. The tax on some goods is twenty-five per cent., and on some it is thirty per cent., and on some there is no tax. The amount of goods received at the Boston custom-house is immense. You may judge of this by considering that several millions of dollars are taken there every year. About eighty persons are employed at the custom-house in Boston. The superintendent of the whole business is called the Collector. The old custom-house of Boston, now used, is inconvenient; the new one will be much larger and better.