USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress Vol. III > Part 40
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The Seneca Chief bore two elegant kegs filled with Lake Erie water, painted green with gilded hoops, and adorned with devices and inscrip- tions. Clinton lifted one of these kegs high in the air and in full view of the assembled multitude poured its contents into the briny ocean, saying : " This solemnity, at this place, on the WATER first arrival of vessels from Lake Erie, is intended to indicate and commemo- rate the navigable communication which has been accomplished between our mediterranean seas and the Atlantic OF Ocean in about eight years, to the ex- tent of more than four hundred and twenty-five miles, by the wisdom, pub- lic spirit, and energy of the people of ekerMe the State of New York; and may the God of the heavens and the earth smile most propitiously on this work, and render it subservient to the best inter- ests of the human race." The keg, pre- Keg from which Clinton poured the water of Lake Erie into the Atlantic. [From the original in possession of the New York Historical Society.] served as a precious memento of the interesting ceremony, is now in pos- session of the New York Historical Society. From the original the
accompanying sketch has been made for this work. Dr. Mitchill, follow- ing Clinton, proceeded to pour the contents of a number of bottles, con- taining water from all parts of the world, into the sea, as emblematical
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of our commercial intercourse with all the nations of earth, and made a learned and remarkable address. Ex-Mayor Cadwallader D. Colden, ap- pointed to write a memoir on the subject of canals and inland navigation in general, presented his manuscript to Mayor Paulding, thus concluding the public ceremonies of the day upon the billows.
The fleet returned to the city in the same order as it went out to the sea, and while passing the Narrows amid the roar of artillery, the passen- gers on board the different boats were summoned to elegant collations. The corporation of New York prepared and sent to Buffalo by the Seneca Chief a superb keg containing " water of the Atlantic"; it bore the arms of the city painted in brilliant colors, over which were the words, in letters of gold, "Neptune's return to Pan."
Medals of very beautiful design and workmanship were given to all the invited guests of the corporation, both ladies and gentlemen. Upon one side Pan and Neptune were in loving embrace with the cornucopia, showing the fruits of the land and sea, and the motto-"Union of Erie with the Atlantic." The reverse showed the armorial bearings of the State -the sole agent in the great work - and a section of the canal representing its locks and aqueducts, with a view of the harbor and city of New York; also the words, " Erie Canal, commenced 4th of July, 1817, completed 26th October, 1825. Presented by the city of New York." Fifty-one gold medals were struck and sent to the different crowned heads of the world and eminent men. Several hundred were of silver, but the larger number were of white metal. The gold medals were inclosed in elegant square red morocco cases ; the silver, in boxes made from logs of cedar brought from an island in Lake Erie. Recorder Riker, John Agnew, Thomas Bolton, and William A. Davis were the committee who presented with appropriate letters the higher testimonials. The aged John Adams wrote, in acceptance : "I rejoice that the city of New York has taken the lead in striking medals on important events. The Hollanders have a history of their country engraved on gold and silver medals, the most permanent history of any. The great canal in New York is the pride and wonder of the age, and deserves to be commem- orated by every effort of art." Thomas Jefferson said : "This great work will immortalize the authorities of New York, and bless their descendants with wealth and prosperity "; and from President John Quincy Adams came the golden words : "The event is among those most worthy of commemoration in the progress of human affairs; an event equally credit- able to the enterprise and perseverance of New York, by the accomplish- ment of which, in honoring themselves, they have reflected honor upon the age and country to which they belong."
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The marvelous order attending the magical movements of the fleet was the source of unceasing delight to the spectators upon the shores. Steam- boats, canal-boats, pilot-boats, ships, and barges were thrown at pleasure into squadron or line, into curves or circles, by pre-arranged signals. Reaching the Battery about half past two in the afternoon, the corpora- tion and guests were received by an immense procession five miles long, which had been parading the streets since ten o'clock in the morning, and thence proceeded to the City Hall. The procession was fashioned after the great Federal pageant of 1788, embracing all the various societies and industries of the city - including fifty-nine different bodies of men. Bands of music were in scarlet and gold, and enormous cars or stages were fitted up in the most ingenious and unique manner. Four beautiful gray horses drew the tin-plate workers' and coppersmiths' car, bearing the five double locks at Lockport, represented in copper, with boats ascending and descending through the locks continually as the procession moved ; twenty-four tin stars on each side of the locks represented the States of the Union. One of the fire-engines was mounted on an elegantly car- peted car drawn by four handsome horses led by four colored grooms dressed in Turkish costume, the American flag floating from the smoke- pipe of the engine as a flag-staff. Following the printers and booksellers were the students from the various educational institutions ; Columbia College appeared one hundred strong, the young men as well as the pro- fessors in their collegial robes; they bore a banner with an allegorical representation of the meeting of the waters of the lake and ocean. Deco- rations and banners through the procession were of the greatest beauty and significance, and the image of Clinton was borne aloft, as was that of Hamilton in the rejoicings over the newly formed Constitution.
The festivities of this memorable day were concluded in the evening by an illumination of the city, together with one of the most novel pyro- technic displays ever witnessed on this continent. The City Hall was the center of attraction. It was lighted by upwards of two thousand lamps and wax-candles ; thus fire-works must necessarily be prepared to eclipse their brilliancy - and never was success more complete.
The arrangement was such that the fiery spectacle seemed to emanate from the roof ; fifteen hundred fire-balls, with innumerable rockets, were sent into the air like some great volcanic eruption, and the rays, diverg- ing from a common center, crossed and intersected each other at different angles, forming portions of concentric circles ; the effect of the combina- tion was 'singularly magnificent - sparks formed themselves into willows, adorned with countless stars, then into poplars, and other distinct shapes, accompanied with showers of gold and silver rain.
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The committees from the West were entertained the next day at a sumptuous dinner served in their honor on board the Chancellor Livings- ton. The most generous hospitalities were extended to them in other directions, and they were shown all the institutions of the city. Tickets for a grand canal cele- ANALI CELEBRATION BAL NOM 7TH 189, bration ball had been issued by the militia officers and citizens, headed by a pictorial view of a canal, with locks, and boats towed by horses,and aglimpse of the ocean with a light-house upon a dis- tant point of land - as reproduced in the accompanying sketch. This fête took place Design upon Ball Ticket. on Monday, the 7th, in the Lafayette amphitheater, the largest room of the kind in the
United States. It was instituted on a grand scale. Some three
Nov. 7.
thousand persons were present, including Governor and Mrs. Clinton. At one end of the dancing-hall was hung an immense mirror consisting of thirty pier-glasses without frames, accurately fitted together ; at precisely twelve o'clock drapery was lifted from the other end, dis- closing a supper-table covered with a profusion of delicacies, in the middle of which a miniature canal-boat made of maple sugar floated fancifully in a large vase.
" We met the world and his wife; military heroes, noble statesmen, artificial and natural characters, the audacious, the clownish, the polished and refined," wrote one of the young lady participants upon returning home from the ball at a late hour; " but we were squeezed to death, are sleepy, and heartily tired."
The common council of the city bestowed unqualified praise upon General Augustus Fleming and Charles Rhind for their admirable man- agement of the processions upon land and water, the festival, as a whole, having transcended all anticipations.1 Rhind publicly expressed his acknowledgments to Commodore Chauncey, and the officers of the navy,
1 The members of the common council in 1825 were, Henry I. Wyckoff, Elisha W. King, William H. Ireland, Samuel Cowdrey, John Webb, Asa Mann, Matthew Reed, Jacob B. Taylor, William A. Davis, Gideon Ostrander, Thomas Bolton, Samuel St. John, Philip Hone, John Agnew, William Burtsell, Josiah Hedden, Jameson Cox, Daniel E. Dunscomb, Effing- ham Schieffelin, William P. Rathbone.
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MODERN NEW YORK.
for efficient service rendered in the conduct of the fleet. Dr. Alexander Coventry, of Utica, wrote to Mayor Paulding in behalf of the Nov. 10. committees from the West, saying : "The Erie Canal insures to us a reward for industry, to our posterity an antidote for idleness - nor is it the least valuable of our acquired privileges, to have in the future our prosperity closely identified with that of the city ; our connection with which has always been our proudest boast." He also said : " A visit to your admirably conducted philanthropic institutions filled us with ad- miration. We have seen your delinquents, as it were, snatched from perdition and restored to a society, to which, instead of being a curse, they may yet become valuable members. We are now fully convinced that the judicious philanthropist may convert a dense population (too often only the sinks of depravity) into the chosen abode of science, in- dustry, and virtue." In allusion to the canal, General Morton said, " While the statesman views with pride the sources of wealth which will be opened, and the interesting ties of common interest with which the citizens of other States will be connected with us, thereby enhancing our political importance, the philanthropist and the retired citizen will con- template with delight the effects which this great work will produce in the abodes of domestic comfort and social refinement." Philip Hone ex- pressed the feeling of New York in saying, "That this great work should have been accomplished through the enterprise and resources of a single State, is the best basis for our future glory." It was not forgotten at this exciting moment that eighteen years only had elapsed since the first suc- cessful experiments in steam navigation ; and one of the most significant toasts (given standing) by the corporation, as the twenty-nine steamboats were returning from the ocean on the day of the jubilee, was - "The memory of Robert Fulton, whose mighty genius has enabled us to com- memorate this day in a style of unparalleled magnificence and grandeur."
At this epoch the history of modern New York properly begins. The prediction that new combinations favorable to the growth and prosperity of a great community would take their rise from the magnificent work just accomplished was speedily fulfilled. The impetus given to business of every description and the increase of commerce and of wealth exceeded all expectations. The rapid building up of towns and villages in the great grain-growing valleys of the West was only equalled by the surface ex- tension of New York City northward, and its marvelous development in altitude. The daring schemes of architects, who literally built castles in the air where the land was costly, excited less and less wonder as the years rolled on. From three and four stories business edifices soon sprung to seven and eight, and then, after a short pause, to twelve and fourteen.
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Philip Hone was the mayor-elect of 1826. On the 16th of January
1826. he was conducted to the council chamber of the City Hall by Effingham Schieffelin, Pierre C. Van Wyck, and John Yates Cebra, the committee detailed for that duty, and introduced to ex-Mayor Paulding, who administered the oath of office, and after delivering a short speech retired. The new mayor was a noble specimen of the New York merchant at this period of progress. He was forty-five years old, of elegant personal ap- pearance, gentlemanly ad- dress, studious habits, sterling integrity, sound sense, and irresistible social attractions. He had already been associated with the most eminent men of his time in found- ing important and useful institutions, and held va- rious offices of trust and AWEDEL Neber . responsibility. He was devoted to the rising for- Portrait of Mayor Philip Hone. tunes of the city, being a genuine New-Yorker by birth, feeling, principle, and ambition ; and evi- dences of his good taste and public spirit soon appeared in number- less directions. It was the era of ornamentation, and he gave prompt attention to every change suggested, from the widening of an avenue to the elaboration of a church portico. He is justly classed among the most competent and useful mayors New York ever produced.
Mayor Hone was one of the enlightened founders of the Mercantile Library, which at the time of his induction into the mayor's office had just passed its fifth birthday, with a collection of twenty-two hundred volumes. The first movement of the merchants towards founding a read- ing-room for their clerks was on the 9th of November, 1820. The germ of the present valuable library was opened with seven hundred volumes in the winter of 1821. For a long time its benefactors were obliged to contend against the bitter hostility of a class of merchants who feared the books would engross too much attention from their employees. But in
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FOUNDING OF THE MERCANTILE LIBRARY.
1823 the association was incorporated under the general law of 1796, and received from the Chamber of Commerce a gift of two hundred dollars. When its membership had reached four hundred, and its useful- ness was every day becoming more apparent (in the spring of 1826), it was removed from its limited accommodations in Fulton Street to more spacious apartments in Cliff Street ; the following year lectures were commenced, and it was resolved to raise money and erect a building. De Witt Clinton presented the first book to the library - a History of Eng- land - hence the structure when completed on the corner of Beekman and Nassau Streets, in 1830, was named Clinton Hall in his honor. It was dedicated to literature and science in November of that year, with twelve hundred members and six thousand well-chosen volumes. Co- lumbia College granted to the association perpetually two free scholarships. Courses of lectures were established, classes were formed for the study of French, German, and Spanish languages, chemistry, drawing, and penman- ship. In 1850 the institution had advanced in wealth and power for good to such a degree that it looked for a new home. Its circulation had reached one hundred thousand volumes. Clinton Hall was sold to the Nassau Bank for one hundred thousand dollars, and the Astor Place Opera House purchased and remodeled for the use of the library at a cost of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. It was opened April 19, 1854, with interesting ceremonies, and addresses from Horatio Seymour, then governor of the State, John Romeyn Broadhead, the eminent histo- rian, and Charles King, the president of Columbia College from 1849 to 1864. The Mercantile Library now holds the fourth place among Amer- ican public libraries as to the number of volumes upon its shelves, which are, in 1880, one hundred and eighty-three thousand.
The New York Athenaeum, founded in 1824, was largely indebted to Mayor Hone for its early prosperity ; its object was to furnish opportunity for the highest culture, and to advance science, art, and literature. It consisted of resident and honorary members, the former either associates, patrons, governors, or subscribers ; the funds were to be derived from the contributions of these four classes, two hundred dollars constitut- 1826. ing a patron, one hundred dollars a governor, and lesser sums associates and subscribers. Its library was to comprise, when complete, all the standard elementary works of science and literature of every age and nation. Monthly lectures were open to both ladies and gentle- men. The scheme for the year 1826 ran thus : "Roman Literature, Professor. Charles Anthon ; 1 Phrenology, Dr. Charles King; Taste and
1 Professor Charles Anthon, born in New York City in 1797, was a classical scholar of great celebrity. He was the fourth of six sons of Dr. George C. Anthon, a German by birth,
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Beauty, Professor John Mc Vickar ; the Revival of Classical Literature, Mr. Richard Ray; Chemistry, Professor James Renwick; Commerce, Mr. John Hone, Jr. ; Painting, Professor Samuel Finley Breese Morse ; Political Economy, William Beach Lawrence ; Poetry, William Cullen Bryant ; Oriental Literature, Rev. Dr. John Frederick Schroeder ; Anni- versary Discourse, Rev. Dr. James M. Mathews." The Athenæum, after performing a work of immense value in the growing city, was, in 1838, merged into the New York Society Library.
Bryant had already laid the foundation of his poetical fame, and entered upon his journalistic career as editor of the New York Review in 1825, and the New York Evening Post in 1826. James Fenimore Cooper was in the noontide of his renown as the author of The Spy. Gulian Crommelin Verplanck had risen to eminence in law, letters, the- ology, and politics. And the gifted Robert Charles Sands was wielding his pen continually in the production of essays; from 1827, until his death in 1832, he was the associate editor of the New York Commercial Advertiser, and from the same year he was, with Bryant and Verplanck, one of the joint authors of The Talisman - an excellent specimen of fine writing and professional execution, but discouraged for want of patronage -to which he contributed one of his longest poems, The Dream of the Princess Papantzin. But poetry and fiction at this decade were more or less formal in their art, and following classic models afforded meager scope for real originality.
Cooper originated, in 1824, the " Bread and Cheese Club," which met fortnightly at Washington Hall. Its membership included conspicuous professional men, scholars, and statesmen, of whom were Professor Ren- wick, William A. Duer, Judge John Duer, Fitz-Greene Halleck, Philip Hone, James DeKay the great naturalist, and Verplanck, Bryant, Sands, and Charles King. The selection of members for nomination rested with Cooper himself ; bread and cheese were the ballots used, one of cheese who attained the rank of surgeon-general in the British army, serving from the commence- ment of the French War until the final surrender of Detroit in 1784. He then resigned his commission and settled in New York City. Charles Anthon studied law, but in 1820, at the age of twenty-three, became Professor of Languages in Columbia College, subsequently- becom- ing the head of the classical department of that institution, and producing upwards of fifty volumes, chiefly editions of the Latin classics and aids to classical study. His works have been republished in England and extensively used in schools. He was an accurate and thorough scholar, and an acute and ingenious critic of the ancient languages. His elder brother, John Anthon, LL. D. (born 1784, died 1863), practiced law with great assiduity in New York City, and is said to have tried more causes than any man that ever lived. (Drake.) He was instrumental in establishing the Law Institute, of which he was president. He was the author of many legal works of great value. Rev. Henry Anthon, D. D. (born 1792, died 1861), rector of St. Mark's Church, was also a brother of Charles. It was a remarkable family of men of intellect.
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deciding adversely to admittance. The meetings were often swollen to quite a formidable assembly by members of Congress and distinguished strangers. Daniel Webster was a frequent guest, and William Beach Lawrence, Henry R. Storrs, and the French minister, De Neuville. The " Sketch Club " was originally intended as an artistic fraternity, but it soon widened, welcoming gentlemen of other professions if interested in art. Its meetings were held at the members' homes during the winter. Among its founders were Bryant, Verplanck, and Sands. Clubs had long been one of the features of New York life, but prior to 1825 they were small, and attained no special publicity. Nor did they multiply rapidly for still another decade, notwithstanding New York is now the second city in the world - London standing first - in the number and membership of its clubs, there being in operation within the city limits upwards of one hundred, with a membership in the aggregate of not less than fifty thousand.1 The Hone Club was projected by Philip Hone in 1836, the same year that the Union Club came into existence ; and both were constructed upon social principles. The Union represented the old families - the Livingstons, Van Cortlandts, Van Rensselaers, Schuy- lers, Suydams, Griswolds, Stuyvesants, and others of similar pedigree - their names filling up the list of membership with a sort of aristocratic monotony ; the Hone was circumscribed in numbers, was rarely permitted to include more than twenty members, abjured discussions on theological dogmas, party politics, and individual personalities, and represented the wealth and talent of another element of the ancient quality of the city. Moses H. Grinnell, Simeon Draper, and James Watson Webb, the editor of the Courier and Enquirer, were among its chosen few ; and Daniel Webster and William H. Seward were honorary members. At every meeting of the Hone an elegant dinner was served. " A Devonshire duke might have been astounded at the amplitude of the repasts and the rich- ness and style of the entertainments," wrote Dr. Francis. Philip Hone was one of the committee of formation of the Union; thus it appears there was perfect harmony between the two clubs. Two years later the Kent Club was founded, which uniquely represented the cream and tal- ent of the New York bar. Its membership included such legal lions as Francis B. Cutting, Peter Augustus Jay, Charles O'Coner, and Ogden Hoffman - the latter a bald-headed, dreamy-eyed man, whose learning was profound, and fervid eloquence historical ; for upwards of a score of years he was employed in all the most important criminal trials of the city. He was also one of the founders of the Union Club. He was a brother of Charles Fenno Hoffman, associated with Charles King in the editorship
1 The Clubs of New York, by Francis Gerry Fairfield.
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of the New York American, who in 1832 founded the Knickerbocker Maga- zine, and subsequently edited the New York Mirror. The brothers were both men of charming social qualities and chivalrous personal character. For a few years these three clubs were the only associations of the sort that thrived, although many others were formed, had a brief existence, and disappeared from public view.
During the mayoralty of Philip Hone his residence was in Broadway, opposite City Hall Park. It was a deep, roomy, cheerful dwelling, with a broad entrance-hall, wainscoted walls, high old-fashioned carved side- boards, enormous mirrors, tall silver candlesticks, the finest of cut glass, and the rarest of ancient and costly porcelain. It was adorned with many
AMERICA
OTHER
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PEABODY&CO.
Residence of Mayor Philip Hone. [From a rare old print.]
subjects of foreign art collected in Europe, Hone having traveled exten- sively, and it contained a well-chosen and costly library. His entertain- ments were princely. He took special delight in extending hospitalities to strangers of distinction, and could always summon to his aid the genius, wit, beauty, and fashion of the metropolis. Mrs. Hone was a lady of many gifts and graces. Her sister, Miss Dunscomb, married Robert Swartwout, and the wedding-party given by the Hones was mentioned by the newspapers as brilliant in the extreme. The accompanying illus- tration of the Hone mansion, copied from an old print, shows the Peabody
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