USA > New York > New York City > History of New York city from the discovery to the present day, V. 2 > Part 2
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* At this time there was a great rivalry between Philadelphia and New York, as to which city should receive the marquis most splendidly. A corre- spondent, writing from Philadelphia to the Commercial Advertiser at this time, says: "The great object here seems to be, to rival the reception given to the General in New York ; and, so far as it respects the military parade, the dis- play of paintings, banners, arches, &c., they will succeed; for the very good reason that we had but twenty-four hours to make our preparations, and they have had more than thirty-four days. But nothing that can be got up here can equal, or come anywhere near, the naval fete in the harbor of New York. " There are many splendid triumphal and civic arches erected here, and the streets through which the General is to pass are lined with spectators. The windows of the houses are filled, and there are thousands of spectators in the. boxes, or temporary stages, which have been erected for the purposes of public accommodation and private gain. These seats are let at from twenty-five to fifty cents each, and not for three or four dollars, as has been reported in New York. And they are not well filled, notwithstanding the trifling expense. There are many societies out to-day, handsomely dressed ; and the procession will be much larger than has ever been witnessed in America.
"It is supposed that the General will arrive at the Hall of the Declaration of Independence at about four o'clock. Here he will be received by the Cor- poration, and presented to the principal citizens, who have the good fortune to be guests. After which he will return to his lodgings at the Mansion House. To-morrow, the General' dines with the Corporation. On Saturday, he attends a Masonic festival. On Monday evening, he attends a Grand Civic Ball, and departs for the South on Tuesday."
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"Such," writes Colonel Stone, in closing an account of the ovation, "is a faint outline of the proceedings of the last few days, which shine proudly in the annals of our country,-proceedings which were more brilliant than any that had ever been witnessed in America, and which will rarely, if ever, be equaled. They were proud days for the cause of enlightened and liberal principles. No fulsome adulation was here extorted by the power or splendor of royalty, but every feeling and every movement were the spontaneous bursts of admiration and gratitude for the character and services of a great benefactor of the whole civilized world, come among us in a private capacity, and in the unaffected attire of Republican simplicity."
It was most fitting that the city which had so nobly supported the project of the Erie Canal from the begin- ning should take the chief part in the ceremonies attending its realization. Probably no project of 1825. internal improvement ever met with such bitter and malignant opposition as that of the Erie Canal; and, great as was the assistance given to the canal project by the Act of the New York Legislature of April, 1811, the obstacles in the way of its successful completion were by no means removed. The same incredulity as to the prac- ticability of the canal, and the same apprehensions as to the capacity of the State, continued to raise a fierce oppo- sition in the Legislature against any appropriation for car- rying out the work which it had itself authorized. Many attempts were accordingly made to arrest, or at least curtail and arrest, the project; and often during the prog- ress of the undertaking it seemed as if it would be utterly abandoned. Party spirit at that time ran high, and the greatest effort on the part of its supporters was required to persuade the people of the State to give it their sup- . port at the polls. In accomplishing this result, the Com-
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mercial Advertiser, the oldest paper of New York city, gave powerful aid. That paper, which had always been the organ of the Federalists, became, upon Colonel Stone's assuming its management, in 1820, a stanch advocate of the Clintonians. A strong personal friendship for Mr. Clinton on the part of its editor, together with a firm con- viction of the necessity for a canal through the interior of New York State, led to the position thus assumed. The . trials and rebuffs experienced by Governor Clinton and his supporters in pushing the canal project, and the energy
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which fought it through to a triumphant end, are matters of history. The Eric Canal was completed in the fall of 1825. At ten o'clock on the morning of the 26th 1825. of October of the same year, the first canal-boat, the Seneca Chief, left Buffalo, having on board Governor Clin- ton, Joshua Foreman, Colonel Stone, Chancellor Livingston, Thurlow Weed, and General Stephen Van Rensselaer ; and the booming of cannon, placed at intervals of a few miles along the entire line of the canal from Buffalo to Albany, and thence along the banks of the Hudson to Sandy Hook, announced the successful termination of the enterprise
Opening of the Eme C
Denite Clindia ·
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In New York city, especially, this event was celebrated by extraordinary civic and military ceremonies, and the citizens gave themselves up to the wildest demonstrations of joy. Nor was this joy ill-timed or excessive. "For a single State to achieve such a victory, not only over the doubts and fears of the wary, but over the obstacles of nature, causing miles of massive rocks at the mountain ridge to yield to its power, turning the tide of error as well as that of the Tonnewanda, piling up the waters of the mighty Niagara as well as those of the beautiful Hud- son ;- in short, causing a navigable river to flow with gentle current down the steepy mount of Lockport; to leap the river of Genesee ; to encircle the brow of Ironde- quoit as' with the laurel's wreath; to march through the rich fields of Palmyra and of Lyons; to wend its way through the quicksands of the morass at the Cayuga ; to pass unheeded the delicious licks at Onondaga ; to smile through Oneida's verdant landscape ; to hang upon the arm of the ancient Mohawk, and with her, after gayly stepping down the cadence of the Little Falls and the Cohoes, to rush to the embrace of the sparkling Hudson,-and all in the space of eight short years,-was the work of which the oldest and richest nations of Christendom might be proud." * Colonel Stone, as one of the most zealous champions of the canal, was appointed to write the NARRATIVE OF THE CELEBRATION, receiving a silver medal and box from the Common Council of New York city, together with the thanks of that body.f
* Stone's Narrative.
t Colonel Stone's narrative of the celebration was published by the Common Council under the title of the GRAND ERIE CANAL CELEBRATION, accompanied by a manoir of the great work by Cadwallader, D. Colden.
In connection with the Erie Canal and its influence in building up the inte- rior towns of the State, Colonel Stone was wont to relate the following anec- dote : In 1820, he visited Syracuse with Joshua Foreman, the founder of that city and one of the earliest and most zealous friends of the Erie Canal. "I lodged for the night," says Colonel Stone, " at a miserable tavern, thronged by a com-
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The naval and land processions in the city on this occasion were so unique, and, withal, were projected and carried out on such a magnificent scale, that we quote the following description from Stone's Narrative, a work which is now rare and difficult to obtain :
"The long-expected fourth of November-a day so glorious for the city and State-with all its 'pomp and cir- cumstance,' came and passed; and the incidents, like the fragments of a splendid vision, are yet floating, in bright and glowing masses, through the imagination. But the pageant was too brilliant, and the scenes too various, for the memory.to retain more than certain vague impres- sions, no less beautiful than indistinct. Those who saw the magnificent scene will at once admit that it cannot be painted in language ; and those who had not that hap- piness must content themselves with the assurance, that the best endeavors of the writer to convey to them an adequate idea of its grandeur will fail. The poet, by giving full sway to his imagination, may perhaps partially succeed in conveying the various impressions imbibed on the occasion, and some detached parts of the scene might possibly be used to advantage by the painter who unites skill with genius. But we repeat, that the narrative, in humble prose, will fall short of a just representation.
"The grand fleet arrived in our waters from Albany before daylight, and came to anchor near the State Prison.
pany of salt-boilers from Salina, forming a group of about as rough-looking specimens of humanity as I had ever seen. Their wild visages, beards thick and long, and matted hair, even now rise up in dark, distant, and picturesque effect before me. It was in October, and a flurry of snow during the night had rendered the morning aspect of the country more dreary than the evening before. The few houses, standing upon low and marshy ground, and surrounded by trees and tangled thickets, presented a very uninviting scene. ' Mr. Foreman,' said I, ' do you call this a village? It would make an owl weep to fly over it.' 'Never mind,' said he, in reply, 'you will lice to see it a city yet !'" Colonel Stone did, indeed, live to see it a city, when he wrote the above in 1840. with a mayor and aldermen, and a population of more than twelve thousand souls
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The roar of cannon from different points, and the merry peals of our numerous bells, greeted the sun as he rose in a cloudless sky. In a few moments afterwards, signals were given by the flag-ship, and the various flags, ban- ners, and other decorations, were run up as if at the sud- den command of a magician. Shortly afterwards, the new and superb steam-boat Washington. Captain E. S. Bunker, bore proudly down upon the fleet, heaving up the foaming billows as though she spurned the dominion of Neptune. In the language of the Noble Bard,
'She walked the waters like a thing of life, And dared the very elements to strife.'
She bore the great banner of the Corporation, representing, in dark figures, the arms of the city upon a snow-white ground. The Washington was an entirely new boat, char- tered for the occasion, of large dimensions, beautiful model, and superbly finished throughout-uniting all the improve- ments in steam-boat architecture. The design of the taff- rail represented the renown of Washington and Lafayette. The center was a trophy of various emblems-the laurel and the olive-standards-swords -- the balance -- the ca- duceus of Mercury, &c. The trophy was surmounted with a bald eagle. Each side of it was decorated with a bust -on the right, that of Washington ; on the left, the bust of Lafayette. The former was crowned with the civic wreath and the laurel-the latter with the laurel only. The genius of America was crowning her hero, and the spirit of Independence, waving the flaming torch, binding the brow of Lafayette. Each of these figures was attended with emblematic medallions of Agriculture and Commerce. The whole was based on'a section of the globe, and the background was a glory from the trophy. The corners of the taffrail were each filled with a cornucopia, which grace- fully completed the design, on which neither painting nor gilding had been spared to enhance the effect. She ran 50
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alongside of the Chancellor, and a Committee of the Cor- poration, with the officers of the Governor's Guard, came on board to tender his Excellency their congratulations on his arrival in our waters from those of Lake Erie. In per- forming this duty, Alderman Cowdrey made a handsome and pertinent address, in behalf of the Common Council, to which his Excellency made a reply in behalf of himself and his associates in the great work, and the several per- sons and bodies who had been welcomed to the shores and waters of New York, and to whom the hospitalities of the city had been so cheerfully tendered. To the officers of the Guards, headed by Colonel Brett, the Governor also expressed his gratitude and thanks for their prompt atten- tion on the occasion.
" This duty having been performed, and there being an hour to spare, the several boats entered their respective docks, and came to anchor at the places assigned them, to give their numerous passengers an opportunity to prepare for the enjoyments of the day, agreeably to their various inclinations.
"The escorting fleet got under way, and passed the British sloops-of-war Swallow, Captain Baldock, and King- fisher, Captain Henderson, dressed for the occasion, and bearing the American flag in company with the cross of St. George. A salute was fired from these ships, which was returned from the fleet.
" Not the least pleasing of this morning scene was the packet-ship Hamlet, Captain Candler, prepared by the Marine and Nautical Societies, appearing at sunrise in the North River, superbly dressed in the flags of various na- tions, interspersed with private signals, and the number- flags of the different members. She made a most splendid appearance during the whole day. At eight o'clock, these societies met on board the steam-boat Fulton, Captain R. Bunker, lying at Fulton Street Wharf (East River), and
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were conveyed on board of the ship, where Captain J. G. Collins, assisted by his officers, took the command. Com- modore Chauncey politely sent an officer and twenty men from the Navy Yard, to assist in the duties of the ship. And before they landed, an excellent collation, prepared for the occasion by the joint committees of the two societies, was spread, of which all on board partook-to the number of one hundred and twenty-five.
" At half-past eight o'clock, the Corporation and their invited guests assembled in the Sessions Room at the City Hall, and at a quarter before nine proceeded to the steam- boats Washington, Fulton, and Providence, stationed at the foot of Whitehall Street. At the same place was also sta- tioned the Commerce, Captain Seymour, with the elegant safety-barge, Lady Clinton. This barge, with the Lady Van Rensselaer, had been set apart by the Corporation for the reception of the invited ladies, with their attendants. The Lady Clinton was decorated with a degree of taste and elegance which was equally delightful and surprising. From stem to stern she was ornamented with evergreens hung in festoons and intertwined with roses of various hues, China asters, and many other flowers alike beauti- ful. In one of the niches below the upper deck was the bust of Clinton, the brow being encircled with a wreath of laurel and roses. Mrs. Clinton, as well as many other distinguished ladies, was on board of the barge, which, though the party was select, was much crowded. Captain Seymour, however, paid every attention to his beautiful charge ; every countenance beamed with satisfaction and every eye sparkled with delight.
"A few minutes after nine o'clock, the entire party being on board, the fleet from Albany, as before men- tioned, led by the flag-ship of the Admiral, came round from the North and proceeded up the East River to the Navy Yard, where salutes were fired, and the sloop-of-war
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Cyane was dressed in the colors of all nations. While here, the flag-ship took on board the officers of that sta- tion, together with their fine band of music. The officers stationed at West Point, with the celebrated band from that place, having been received on board on the preced- ing evening, were likewise on board of the Chancellor Lic- ingston. On returning from the Navy Yard, the steam- boat Ousatonic, of Derby, joined the fleet. The wharves and shores of Brooklyn, the Heights, and the roofs of many of the buildings, were crowded with people to an extent little anticipated, and only exceeded by the thick masses of population which lined the shores of New York as far as Corlær's Hook. The fleet, having arrived between the east end of the Battery and Governor's Island, was joined by the ship Hamlet, before mentioned. While the commander was signaling the various vessels, and they were maneuvering about to take their stations, the spectacle was beautiful bevond measure. Long before this time, however, our city had been pouring forth its thousands and tens of thousands ; Castle Garden, the Battery, and every avenue to the water, were thronged to a degree altogether beyond precedent. The ships and vessels in the harbor were filled, even to their rigging and tops. And the movements in forming the order of the aquatic procession gave opportu- nity to all to observe the several vessels in every advan- tageous and imposing situation. Loud cheers resounded from every direction, which were often returned. Every- thing being in readiness, and every boat crowded to the utmost, the fleet, taking a semicircular sweep toward Jer- sey City, and back obliquely in the direction of the lower point of Governor's Island, proceeded down the bay in the order detailed in the official report of the Admiral, each boat and ship maintaining the distance of one hundred feet apart.
" The ship Hamlet was taken in tow by the Oliver Ells-
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worth and Bolivar, and assumed and maintained its place in splendid style. Four pilot-boats were also towed by other steam-boats, together with the following boats of Whitehall watermen, all tastefully decorated, viz .: The Lady of the Lake, Dispatch, Express, Brandywine, Sylph, Active, and Whitehall, Junior.
" The sea was tranquil and smooth as the summer lake; and the mist which came on between seven and eight in the morning having partially floated away, the sun shone bright and beautiful as ever. As the boats passed the Battery they were saluted by the military, the revenue-cutter, and the castle on Governor's Island; and, on passing the Narrows, they were also saluted by Forts Lafayette and Tompkins. They then proceeded to the United States schooner Porpoise, Captain Zantzinger, moored within Sandy Hook, at the point where the grand ceremony was to be performed. A deputation, composed of Aldermen King and Taylor, was then sent on board the steam-boat Chancellor Livingston, to accompany his Excel- lency the Governor, the Lieutenant-Governor, and the several committees from Buffalo, Utica, Albany, and other places, on board the steam-boat Washington.
"The boats were thereupon formed in a circle around the schooner, preparatory to the ceremony ; when Mr. Rhind, addressing the Governor, remarked ' that he had a request to make which he was confident it would afford his Excellency great pleasure to grant. He was desirous of preserving a portion of the water used on this memorable occasion, in order to send it to our distinguished friend and late illustrious visitor, Major-General Lafayette ; and, for that purpose, Messrs. Dummer & Co. had prepared some bottles of American fabric for the occasion, and they were to be conveyed to the General in a box made by Mr. D. Phyfe from a log of cedar brought from Erie in the Seneca Chief?' The Governor replied that a more pleasing
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task could not have been imposed upon him, and expressed his acknowledgment to Mr. Rhind for having suggested- the measure.
" His Excellency, Governor Clinton, then proceeded to perform the ceremony of commingling the waters of the Lake with the Ocean, by pouring a keg of those of Lake Erie into the Atlantic; upon which he delivered the following address :
" 'This solemnity, at this place, on the first arrival of vessels from Lake Erie, is intended to indicate and com- memorate the navigable communication which has been accomplished between our Mediterranean Seas and the Atlantic Ocean in about eight years, to the extent of more than four hundred and twenty-five miles, by the wisdom, public spirit, and energy of the people of the State of New York; and may the God of the Heavens and the Earth smile most propitiously on this work, and render it sub- servient to the best interests of the human race.'
" Dr. Mitchill, whose extensive correspondence with almost every part of the world enables him to fill his cabi- net with everything rare and curious, then completed the ceremony by pouring into the briny deep bottles of water from the Ganges and Indus of Asia; the Nile and the Gambia of Africa ; the Thames, the Seine, the Rhine, and the Danube of Europe; the Mississippi and Columbia of North, and the Orinoko, La Plata, and Amazon, of South America. . The Hon. Cadwallader D. Colden then pre- sented to the Mayor an able Memoir upon the subject of Canals and Inland Navigation in general.
" Never before was there such a fleet collected, and so superbly decorated ; and it is very possible that a display so grand, so beautiful, and we may even add, sublime, will never be witnessed again. We know of nothing with which it can be compared. The naval fete given by the Prince Regent of England, upon the Thames, during the
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visit of the Allied Sovereigns of Europe to London, after the dethronement of Napoleon, has been spoken of as exceeding everything of the kind hitherto witnessed in Europe. But gentlemen who had an opportunity of witnessing both, have declared that the spectacle in the waters of New York so far transcended that in the metropolis of England as scarcely to admit of a comparison. The day, as we have before remarked, was uncommonly fine. No winds agi- tated the surface of the mighty deep; and during the performance of the ceremonies, the boats, with their gay decorations, lay motionless in beauty. The orb of day darted his genial rays upon the bosom of the waters, where they played as tranquilly as upon the natural mirror of a secluded lake. Indeed, the elements seemed to repose, as if to gaze upon each other, and participate in the beauty and grandeur of the sublime spectacle. Every object appeared to pause, as if to invite reflection and prepare the mind for deep impressions-impressions which, while we feel them stealing upon the soul, impart a consciousness of their durability. It was one of those few bright visions whose evanescent glory is allowed to light up the path of human life -- which, as they are pass- ing, we feel can never return; and which, in diffusing a sensation of pleasing melancholy, consecrates, as it were, all surrounding objects, even to the atmosphere we inhale.
" While the fleet was here at anchor, a deputation from the members of the Assembly from different parts of the State, who were on board one of the steam-boats as guests of the Corporation, preceded by Clarkson Crolius, Esq., their Speaker, paid a visit to the Seneca Chief, to reciprocate congratulations with the Buffalo committee on the completion of the Grand Canal, to which the Legisla- ture, of whom they were members, had made the last and finishing appropriation.
" Everything being made ready for returning to the
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city, salutes were fired from the revenue-cutter, the pilot- boats, several of the steam-boats, and from the 'Young Lion of the West,' who, having prepared himself with a pair of brazen lungs at Rochester, often mingled his roar with that of the artillery with which he was saluted on his passage down. While passing up the Narrows, the passengers on board of the different boats partook of ele- gant collations. The Corporation, with their guests, dined on board of the the Washington, the Mayor presiding, assisted by Aldermen King and Taylor.
" When approaching the British armed vessels before mentioned, the latter fired another salute. In consequence of this compliment, a signal was immediately made from the flag-ship, and the whole squadron passed round them in a circle. The United States schooner Porpoise manned her yards and gave the Britons three cheers, which were returned. While performing this circular maneuver, the British bands struck up ' Yankee Doodle'; in return for which act of courtesy, the American bands, as they passed the other side, successively played ' God Save the King.' Another circumstance connected with these demonstra- tions of good feeling must not be omitted : On board of the Swallow an elegant breakfast was given, in honor of the occasion, by her commander, Lieutenant Baldock, to a numerous company of ladies and gentlemen, on which occasion was tastefully displayed a series of elegant and appropriate drawings, in water-colors, representing Britan- nia, Columbia, the Eagle, the Lion, and an English and American Sailor, Neptune, Liberty, and the flags and shields of both nations, all classically arranged, denoting good feeling, fellowship, and union of sentiment. There were also round one of the devices for a tower two designs of canal-basins, with double locks-one as coming through . Welsh mountains, the other as through American mount- ains of granite; and on their basements were conspicu-
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