USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress Vol. III > Part 39
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and becoming tribute of respect to a statesman whose extensive agency in the grandest public work of the age was beyond dispute.1
Clinton welcomed the committee warmly, and in reply said : “ From the extinguishment of open hostility to the present period I have not been without serious appre- hensions that events might occur to prevent the consum- mation of this work; and I have rejoiced at the termina- tion of each year of its pro- gress, and watched over it with indescribable anxiety." He thanked the gentlemen with much emotion for their "condescending kindness " in presenting the resolutions in person. They had but just departed when another com- mittee, representing the sci- entists and scholars of the city, was ushered into his presence, with a similar series of resolutions adopted at a private meeting in the even- ing, of which the distin- Dr. Samuel Mitchill. [From the painting by John Wesley Jarvis.] guished Dr. Mitchill was chairman : he had figured conspicuously in the celebration at Albany of the completion of the Champlain Canal and the Eastern section of the Erie Canal, in October, 1823, making a brilliant address on the festive occasion. In the unjusti- fiable movement, which, contrary to the wishes of a million and a half of
1 The committee consisted of General Matthew Clarkson, Thomas Addis Emmet, Colonel Nicholas Fish, William Bayard, Thomas Eddy, Stephen Whitney, Philip Hone, Cadwallader D. Colden, Charles Wright, Thomas Hazard, Jr., James Lovett, General Joseph G. Swift, Robert H. Bowne, Abraham Ogden, John Rathbone, Jr., Lockwood De Forrest, Preserved Fish, General Robert Bogardus, Thomas Freeborn, Peter Crary, Lynde Catlin, James Oakley, Mansel Bradhurst, Benjamin Stagg, Eli Hart, Thomas Gibbons, Noah Brown, Thomas Herttell, and Campbell P. White. General James Benedict was the only member of the legislature in 1824 who was returned by his constituents when the revolution of public senti- ment made De Witt Clinton governor in 1825. He was a descendant of Thomas Benedict - see Vol. I. p. 204 - and married in 1812, at the age of twenty-eight, Deborah, daughter of James Coles of New York City. He was in the War of 1812, and continued in the State military service, after the peace, as a brigadier ; in 1826 he was made a major-general.
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LAFAYETTE'S ARRIVAL IN NEW YORK CITY.
people, deprived Clinton of a post in which there was no emolument, Dr. Mitchill failed to see one extenuating circumstance.
Nor was there anything spasmodic in the expression of public senti- ment. The more the subject was agitated the greater appeared the enor- mity of the wrong committed. As a direct result, Clinton was nominated for governor by a State convention at Utica, and re-elected by a majority of nearly seventeen thousand votes. The Whig party chose six of the eight senators, and secured a majority of three fourths of the Assembly. The tide was overwhelming. Nearly every man was swept out of office the State through who had directly or remotely, audibly or silently, con- tributed to the injury inflicted upon Clinton.
It is worthy of remembrance that during the eight years in which the State of New York was expending between nine and ten millions of dol- lars in constructing canals, the amount collected in the New York City custom-house and paid into the treasury of the United States, for duties of impost and tonnage, was upwards of sixty-four millions; and within the same period the State raised and applied to the support of common schools over nine millions, together with very large sums be- stowed upon colleges, and for the advancement of science and literature.
It was during the summer of 1824 that Lafayette visited the United States by invitation of the government, arriving in New York City on the 15th of August. He had no suspicion of the warm Aug. 15. welcome that awaited him. As the French packet upon which he was a passenger neared the Narrows, two gentlemen came on board from a row- boat, and after holding a private conference with the captain departed. No one except the commander himself knew the object of their mission. But to the surprise of all on board, the vessel anchored alongside Staten Island. Presently a long line of vessels appeared in sight, coming down the bay with flags flying. They approached and encircled the French ship. The mayor of New York, General Jacob Morton, and other eminent personages, presently reached the deck of the Cadmus and paid their respects to America's illustrious visitor - whose tears fell like rain as he received their unexpected congratulations, and learned of the plan for his public reception in the city next morning. It being the Sabbath, he was conducted to the seat of Vice-President Tompkins on Staten Island, where he spent the remainder of the day.
On Monday the bells rang in one merry din from twelve to one o'clock, business was suspended, and no carriages or horses were
permitted below Chambers Street except those attached to the Aug. 16. military or procession. The corporation of the city, the Chamber of Com- merce, the society of the Cincinnati, and the officers of the army and
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navy proceeded at nine o'clock to Staten Island to meet and escort Lafayette into New York. The naval procession was one of exceptional beauty and interest. When it moved from Staten Island the guns from shore were answered from Fort Lafayette, from the steamship Robert Fulton, and from the forts in the harbor. The escorting vessels, adorned in the most fanciful manner, were alive with ladies and gentlemen. At Castle Garden Lafayette landed upon a carpeted stairway arranged for the occasion, under an arch richly decorated with flags and wreaths of laurel. He was greeted with a prolonged shout from the assembled thousands, and the roar of artillery echoed far away over the blue waters. The troops were drawn into line by General James Benedict, and, after the review, Lafayette entered a barouche drawn by four horses and was driven up Broad- way to the City Hall; he was welcomed to the common council chamber by Mayor William Paulding in an appropriate speech. In reply, Lafay- ette said : " It is the pride of my life to have been one of the earliest adopted sons of America. I am proud, also, to add that upwards of forty years ago I was particularly honored with the freedom of this city." After further ceremonies upon a platform in front of the City Hall he was conducted to the City Hotel, where elegant rooms had been arranged for his occupancy, and where a sumptuous dinner was prepared. At evening the City Hotel, City Hall, and other public buildings were gor- geously illuminated, the theaters and public gardens displayed transpar- encies, and fire-works of every description blazed from one' end of the city to the other. An immense balloon arose from Castle Garden repre- senting the famous horse Eclipse mounted by an ancient knight in armor.
On Wednesday Lafayette visited the navy-yard, dining with the commandant and a few invited guests. In the evening he was Aug. 18. tendered a reception by the New York Historical Society. He was escorted by the president of the Society, Dr. Hosack, and General Philip Van Cortlandt to the chair that had once belonged to the unfortu- nate Louis XVI. - presented by Gouverneur Morris. Dr. Hosack in a graceful address announced to Lafayette his election as an honorary mem- ber of the Society; he responded with the warmest expressions of grati- tude, adding, "The United States, sir, are the first nation in the records of history who have founded their constitution upon an honest investi- gation, and clear definition of their national and social rights." His stay in New York was one perpetual ovation. He saw nothing but prosperity and good order. The growth of the city and its ripening institutions filled his mind with wonder and admiration. "Do you expect Broadway will reach Albany ?" he asked, facetiously, when the prospective street improvements above Madison Square were pointed out to him.
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LAFAYETTE'S TOUR THROUGH THE COUNTRY.
He departed from the city on his famous tour through the country, Friday, the 20th. He was accompanied by his son, George Washington Lafayette, a fine-looking, graceful man, approaching middle life, and by General Philip Van Cortlandt. Seated in a coach drawn by four white horses, he was escorted as far as Harlem by the mayor, aldermen, celebrities, and citizens in carriages, and an imposing cavalcade com- manded by General Prosper M. Wetmore, then brigade-major. The streets on the route were thronged with people; Lafayette rode with his head uncovered, acknowledging their perpetual huzzas with bows.
The year 1825 dawned upon a nation in anxiety. It had long been foreseen that a choice of President would not be effected by the people. The campaign had been more spirited and exciting than any which had taken place since the first election of Jefferson. Strictly 1825. speaking it could not be called a party contest. Monroe's prudence had obliterated party lines, and left a general unanimity of sentiment on polit- ical principles and measures throughout the Union. The candidates, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, and William H. Craw- ford, all subscribed, substantially, to the same political creed. The struggle was a personal and sectional one, more than of a party nature. The result was as predicted. Neither of the candidates Feb. 9. received a majority in the electoral colleges, and the election devolved on the House of Representatives.
On the morning of the 9th of February the members assembled at an earlier hour than usual ; the galleries, the lobbies, and all the adjacent apartments were filled to overflowing with spectators from every part of the country to witness the unusual scene. The Senate entered at noon precisely, and retired after the votes had been counted, and the announce- ment made that no person had received a majority. The three candidates with the highest vote were then balloted for by the House. The Speaker directed the roll to be called by States, the delegations taking their seats accordingly, each provided with a ballot-box. When the ceremony was concluded, and the ballots counted, Daniel Webster announced thirteen for John Quincy Adams, seven for Andrew Jackson, and four for William H. Crawford. John C. Calhoun was declared elected Vice-President.
Stephen Van Rensselaer, the patroon, had the honor, by giving the casting vote, of determining the election of John Quincy Adams to the Presidency of the nation. He was a member of Congress from 1823 to 1829, and at the same time a Regent of the University of the State of New York, and subsequently its Chancellor. He established during the year of the Presidential campaign a scientific school at Troy, incorporated in 1826 as the Rensselaer Institute, bearing fully one half of its current
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expenses. It was under Van Rensselaer's direction and at his expense that Amos Eaton, senior professor in the institution, made geological surveys of New York in 1821.
One of the earliest acts of President Adams after his inauguration was to offer the post of Minister to England to Governor De Witt Clinton, who declined, preferring to serve New York at home, and Rufus King
received the appointment. On the 4th of July, forty-nine years July 4. after the Declaration of Independence, Ohio was to commence her great work of connecting Lake Erie by canal with the Ohio River. Gov- ernor Clinton's presence was desired, and he made the journey in June, accompanied by Judge Alfred Conkling, General Solomon Van Rens- selaer, and several other distinguished gentlemen. They reached Newark on the 3d, and as soon as Governor Clinton's carriage appeared on the public square, the many thousands of persons present rent the air with their loud shouts of welcome to " The Father of Internal Improvements." The next morning the party moved to the ground prepared, and Governor Clinton and Governor Jeremiah Morrow each excavated a few shovelfuls of earth in the presence of the assembled multitude. After the cere- monies and speeches, and when a hundred guns had announced to the world that the Ohio canal was begun, the company dined under the shade of wide-spreading beeches. Clinton traveled through Ohio as the guest of the State, even into Kentucky, everywhere receiving public honors of the most flattering character.
Lafayette was the guest of the nation, and his travels through the country resembled one continuous triumphal procession. He visited every State, and everywhere the same welcome and the same festiv- ities awaited him. The history of his progress, minutely related, would introduce the reader to all the distinguished men of America at that time, and present an exhibition of education, arts, industry, agri- culture, manufactures, and the condition of affairs in general. On the 17th of June, the fiftieth anniversary of the battle, he laid the corner-stone of the Bunker Hill Monument, and Daniel Webster pro- nounced an oration to an immense concourse of people. From Boston he went to Portland, thence to Albany, and arrived in New York City in time to share in celebrating the 4th of July. It was a source of deep regret to him that he could not participate in the ceremonies of that same day in Ohio. There was something grand, to his mind, in the open- ing of a navigable inland communication between the Bay of New York and the Gulf of Mexico ; and his predictions of the riches to be created by thus stimulating the powers of productive industry have been abundantly realized. Upon his way from Albany to New York he spent the Sabbath
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THE VAN CORTLANDT MANOR-HOUSE. 695
at Clermont, the seat of the Livingstons. He was also entertained at the old Van Cortlandt manor-house on the Hudson at the mouth of the Croton, the seat of General Philip Van Cortlandt, who had been the com- panion of his journeyings.1 He visited Mrs. Alexander Hamilton ; and he was fêted by many of the New York families in the most superb man- ner. A public fête was also given him surpassing anything of the kind before witnessed in New York. Congress, in consideration of his sacri- fices and his services, voted him two hundred thousand dollars and a township of land. He carried with him to his native country the pres- tige of his importance in America, was re-elected to the Chamber of Deputies, and in the Revolution of 1830 was the popular leader, and might have been made president of a republic. He chose, however, for the sake of peace and order, to place Louis Philippe on the throne.
1 The Van Cortlandt manor-house is still standing and well preserved. The main portion of the edifice was the original block-house built by Governor Dongan in the early part of his administration as a rendezvous for fishing parties and conferences with the Indians. See Vol. I. 90, 300, 305. Stephanus Van Cortlandt, who in 1683 was appointed by the king of England one of Dongan's privy council, usually accompanied him on these expeditions, and subsequently purchased the land thereabouts of the Indians - eighty-five thousand acres, extending to the Connecticut line. This great property was erected into a manor by royal charter, and the block-house with its solid stone walls_three feet thick, and loop-holes for musketry provided for the emergencies of ness, was converted dwelling. Its situa- and the structure it- romance of two cen- ly carved wainscot- tiles are relics of Hol- antique treasures of andfurniture, are of the esting character. The sketch was brought Stevenson Van Cort- I.) and has been since tions. The gold watch longed to Stephanus the sugar-sifter of solid both are at least two The solid silver tea- life in a savage wilder- into a commodious tion is picturesque, self teems with the turies. Its handsome- ing and old-fashioned land industry ; and its plate, china, jewelry, most varied and inter- christening bowl of the from Holland by Oloff landt (see p. 90, Vol. used in all the genera- of the illustration be- Van Cortlandt, and silver graced his table; Silver-ware of the Van Cortlandts. [From originals at the Manor-house.] hundred years old. kettle and gold pap-spoon with bells to amuse an infant were brought to New York by Johannes De Peyster about 1650 (see Vol. I. p. 225, 420, 421), whose granddaughter, Catha- rine, took them with her to the manor-house when she married its proprietor, Philip Van Cortlandt, in 1710. Pieces of table-ware imported some two hundred and fifty years ago are still in use. The dining-table itself came from Holland in the time of Oloff Stevenson Van Cortlandt ; also a curious clock, the carvings of which represent the Queen of Sheba going to see Solomon ; and the sleeve-buttons of the same ancestor, in cone-shaped gold with a pearl at the apex, are among the precious antiquities of this historical mansion.
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
1825-1835.
PROGRESS OF THE CITY.
PREPARATIONS FOR CANAL CELEBRATION IN NEW YORK CITY. - OPENING OF THE ERIE CANAL. - THE FIRST CANAL-BOATS REACHING THE METROPOLIS. - THE AQUATIC DIS- PLAY. - THE CEREMONY OF UNITING THE WATERS OF LAKE ERIE AND ATLANTIC OCEAN. -- PROCESSION IN THE CITY. - THE ILLUMINATION. - THE BALL. - THE MED- ALS. - MODERN NEW YORK. - MAYOR PHILIP HONE. - FOUNDING OF THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY. - THE NEW YORK ATHENEUM. - LITERARY MEN. - EARLY CLUBS OF NEW YORK. - RESIDENCES OF PROMINENT NEW-YORKERS IN 1826. - PUBLIC BUILDINGS ERECTED. - DEATH OF ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. - THE TWO GREAT NEW YORK RIVALS. CLINTON'S RE-ELECTION. - THE LEAKE AND WATTS ORPHAN HOME. - JOHN WATTS. - ALBERT GALLATIN. - DEATH OF CLINTON. - THE APPRENTICES' LIBRARY. - RIGHT REV. JOHN HENRY HOBART. - EPISCOPAL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. - UNIVERSITY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK. - WASHINGTON SQUARE. - THE UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMI- NARY. - INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND. - FIRST HORSE-RAILROAD IN THE CITY. - STEAM LOCOMOTIVES. - RETURN OF WASHINGTON IRVING FROM EUROPE. - RIOTS AND DISTURBANCES. - THE GREAT FIRE OF 1835.
THE Erie Canal was completed on the 26th of October, 1825. Thus the longest canal in the world had been constructed within a period of eight and one third years. The manual labor had not ceased 1825. for a day since July 4, 1817.
A celebration of the great event was proposed, to be conducted under the auspices of the corporation on a scale worthy of the charac- ter of the city. William Paulding was then mayor, and Richard Riker recorder. The members of the common council were nearly all detailed on important committees. The merchants and citizens met and resolved to co-operate ; William Bayard presided over the meeting, John Pintard was the secretary, and William Walton Woolsey offered the resolutions ; a committee was appointed, including Bayard, Pintard, and Woolsey, also ex-Mayor Cadwallader D. Colden, George Griswold, John Rathbone, Silas Richard, Mordecai M. Noah, Joseph G. Swift, and Campbell P. White, to secure a full expression of public feeling. While the various societies were perfecting arrangements, a committee, consist- ing of General Jacob Morton, John Pintard, and Thomas R. Mercein
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repaired to Albany to concert upon measures which should give uniform- ity and effect to the jubilee through the State. From the common council, Elisha W. King and William A. Davis journeyed to Buffalo to extend the hospitalities of New York City to the committees along the whole line of the canal; Henry I. Wyckoff and Philip Hone were sent to meet King and Davis with the city's guests as they should enter the Hudson at Albany, and provide facilities for their passage down the river. Samuel Cowdrey, John Webb, Josiah Hedden, and John Agnew comprised an- other committee from the corporation to receive the party from the lakes upon its arrival in the New York City waters.
The entire State of New York was in commotion. For several days prior to the 4th of November, the day fixed for the grand consummation of the union of waters, strangers from every quarter, and from the South- ern and the New England States, were crowding into New York City to witness the ceremonies. Buffalo was intensely excited on the morning of the 26th of October. At ten o'clock precisely the waters of Lake Oct. 26. Erie were admitted into the canal, and the news was transmitted
to New York City in an hour and thirty minutes, by the discharge of cannon posted along the route at intervals ; New York replied in the same manner, the sound occupying a similar length of time in passing through the air to Buffalo. The canal-boat Seneca Chief led off in fine style, drawn by four gray horses fancifully caparisoned. Governor Clin- ton, Lieutenant-Governor James Tallmadge, Stephen Van Rensselaer, the patroon, General Solomon Van Rensselaer, Jacob Rutsen Van Rens- selaer, Colonel William L. Stone, the delegation from New York City, and numerous invited guests formed the traveling party. One of the canal boats, Noah's Ark, was a novelty. Its cargo was like that of its namesake of old, having on board two eagles, a bear, two fawns, and a vari- ety of other " birds, beasts, and creeping things," with two Indian boys in the dress of their nation - all products of the great uncivilized West. Each boat was gorgeously decorated. Along the entire route to Albany, day and night, the inhabitants were assembled to greet the travelers. As the flotilla crossed the Genesee River at Rochester, by a stone aque- duct of nine arches, each of fifty feet span, it was hailed from a little boat stationed ostensibly " to protect the entrance " with, " Who comes there ?" " Your brothers from the West on the waters of the Great Lakes," was the quick reply. "By what means have they been diverted so far from their natural course ?" continued the questioner. "Through the channel of the Grand Erie Canal." " By whose authority, and by whom, was a work of such magnitude accomplished ?" was asked. "By the authority and by the enterprise of the people of the State of New York," cried a chorus of
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voices from the Seneca Chief; and the pert little craft gave way, and the boats proudly entered the spacious basin at the end of the aqueduct, welcomed with a salute of artillery, and the most uproarious applause, the committees standing under an arch surmounted by an eagle, and an immense concourse of people extending as far as the eye could reach on every side. At Utica, arriving late on Sunday morning, a deputation from the town waited upon the governor and his party and conducted them to church in the afternoon. Albany outdid herself. The whole Oct. 30. city, apparently, multiplied by Vermont and the towns to the north even into Canada, came out in procession to escort the victorious projectors of the canal to the capital, where exercises of the most inspiriting character were opened and closed with prayer. Philip Hone, in behalf of the city of New York, made an elegant con- gratulatory address, and invited the corporation of Albany to accom- pany the party down the Hudson and accept the hospitalities of the metropolis. The Albany celebration terminated with a grand public din- ner and illumination, and a canal scene exhibited at the theater, in which Nov. 2. locks, canal-boats, and horses actually moving, with their various appurtenances, were represented in the most admirable manner. A fleet of all the steam-vessels on the Hudson towed the canal-boats from Albany to New York, the flag-ship Chancellor Livingston having in charge the elegant Seneca Chief.
The sun rose in a clear sky on the morning of the 4th of November, and New York City was awakened at its rising by the ringing of Nov. 4. bells, martial music, and the thunder of cannon. The fleet with its illustrious passengers had arrived. The committee of reception from the common council went out upon the Washington to meet the guests ; this new and handsome steamboat bore the banner of the corporation, and when within hailing distance of the Seneca Chief, inquired where she was from and what was her destination. The reply came ringing over the waters, " From Lake Erie, and bound for Sandy Hook." A few moments later the gentlemen stood in the presence of the governor, and Alderman Cowdrey performed his duty in a graceful and appropriate speech of welcome.
The aquatic procession, comprising twenty-nine steam-vessels, besides ships, schooners, barges, canal-boats, and other craft, moved towards the ocean at nine o'clock. The Washington took the lead, bearing the mayor and corporation of New York, the clergy, the society of the Cincinnati, army and navy officers, foreign magnates, and other distinguished guests. The ship Hamlet, dressed for the occasion with the flags of all nations, and crowded with marine and nautical societies, was taken in tow by the
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Oliver Ellsworth. The safety barges Lady Clinton and Lady Van Rens- selaer were attached to the steamboat Commerce, and crowded with ladies in elegant costumes. The former, graced by the presence of Mrs. Clinton, was superbly decorated from stem to stern with evergreens hung in fes- toons, and intertwined with bright-colored flowers. The British armed vessels in the harbor saluted and cheered the squadron, which immedi- ately passed round them in a circle, the bands playing "God save the King," in courteous response to " Yankee Doodle " from the British musi- cians. The military and the forts saluted the vessels as they passed. The pageant was the most magnificent which America, and perhaps the world, had ever beheld. It was like a bewildering fairy scene. On reaching the ocean a national schooner, sent down the night before for the purpose, appeared as a "deputation from Neptune," to know who the visitors were, and the object of their coming. The whole fleet then formed a circle of about three miles in circumference.
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