fit Hi; J m imiA m m hm I i mm }U\ ^\i\m: m !r) m ill '♦ nfi.j^ iiiiiii rilh'iii m H>< \\mmm fiii !^!;!Hi;ii iiilliiif ilB m tmtut LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON RIVER VICINITY WRITTEN IN 1835 & 1836, A chiels amang ye taking notes, And faitli he'll prent iu— Burns. BY A CITIZEN OF NEW YORK. NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY FREEMAN HUNT & CO. BOSTON :— OTIS, BROADERS, & CO, 1836, 5^'-" .>■ ^1 Entered, According to Act of Congress, in the year 1836, by FREEMAN HUNT, In the Clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern District ;>f New York, STEREOTYPED BY FRANCIS P. RIPLEY, NEW YORK. TO JOSEPH C. HART, Esq. OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, IN TESTIMONY OF THE HIGH APPRECIATION IN WHICH HE IS HELD BY HIS FRIEND, THE AUTHOR PREFACE. The following letters were originally writ- ten for the American Traveller. They were commenced without the remotest expecta- tion of their obtaining a circulation beyond that print. They have, however, been cop- ied into other journals, and it has occurred to the writer, that their publication in a con- nected form, might prove interesting and use- ful to the thousands who travel for business or pleasure in the steamboats that daily navi- gate the Hudson River. The letters, he is aware, possess no pecu- liar merit. They are plain, matter-of-fact epistles ; embracing, however, a variety of geographical, historical, statistical, and other matter, connected with the noble river, and the flourishing villages on its borders. As several important villages and towns on the river have been very briefly noticed, or altogether passed by, it is the purpose of the writer to continue his epistles to the Edi- 1* VI tor of the Traveller ; and should the present collection meet with encouragement, a second series, a volume of corresponding size and appearance, will, in the course of the coming fall, or ensuing spring, be published. The writer would not omit this opportu- nity of acknowledging his obligations to Capt. Lathrop of the North America, A. J. Downing, Esq., P. Potter, Esq., and several other gentlemen, for the facilities afforded by them, severally, in procuring much valuable information. New York, July 25th, 1836. CONTENTS. Page Letter 1 11 Poughkeepsie— Location— Products of Dutchess County- Population of Poughkeepsie— Sidewalks— Churches— Enterpri- sing men— Education— CoUege and Academies— Remarkable rise of real estate— Cause of it— A place for mechanics— Pros- pect from Mansion Square— Hatch's Hotel, etc. Letter U 1^ Col. Stone's description of the view from College Hill— Streets —Reservoir— Whaling Companies— Manufacture of Silk— New Whale Ship— Anecdote— Good Wives. Letter m 20 Peekskill— High tide— East winds— High-School— Paulding's Monument— Visit to Gen. Van Courtlandt— Antony's Nose— Bank — Rehgious Societies— Hotels— Capt. TuthiU— Steamboat Union. LetterIV '^ Dobbs' Ferry— Tarrytown— Population— Washington Irving— Churches— Circumstances at a Hotel, or treatment of travellers —The place of Andre's capture— An old Dutcli Church— Rev. Mr. Smith— Schools— Road to White Plains— Inscription on Van Wart's Monument— White Plains— Imprisonment for debt. 37 Letter V Put up at the Mansion House-Troy a prominent point of inter- est-Visit to Mrs. WiUard's Female Seminary— The Amateur Vocalist— Mrs. WiUard's zeal in the cause of Education, etc. Vlll CONTENTS. Page Letter VI 43 l/ocation and plan of Troy — Public Buildings — View from Mount Ida— Original proprietor of the City— Historical notice- Religious Societies — Banks and Insurance Companies — Water Works — Fountains — Washington Square — Legrand Cannon's Building — Causes of prosperity — Self-made men — Gov. Marcy an Attorney. Letter VII 51 Revolutionary Reminiscences — Tree near the Academy— Ex- ecution of Strang and Palmer— Gen. Putnam's memorable Let- ter—Circumstances which led to the capture of Major Andre- Vignette on the bills of Westchester Bank, etc. Letter VIII ..•-•• 60 Origin of "Sing Sing"— Statistics— Description of Sing Sing Prison — The Chaplain — System of Discipline — The Lynd System — Folger and Matthias — Mount Pleasant Academy — FrEmklin Academy — The Newspaper — Public House, etc. Letter IX , 69 Views of the Hudson— Historical Items— The Hudson a Lake — The old man's story. Letter X 77 The Travellers' Home— Mansion House, and its new proprie- tor — Troy House — Washington Hall — Apology — The Rail Road Cars — Description of Troy Bridge, etc. — Route to Balston and Saratoga Springs— Revolutionary Reminiscence — Battle at Be- mis' Heights — Distance to Balston — " Sans Souci" — Balston — Re- turn to Troy — Henry Burden — His residence— His genius, etc. — Reading Room, Troy--West Troy —Its business— M'Adamized road to Albany— Stages, etc. Letter XI 96 Revolutionary Reminiscences of the Hudson— Fort Edward- General Lyman— Story of the fate of Miss Jane M'Crea. CONTENTS. IX LetthrXH ^^ Master Lipsey's Boat— Revolutionary Incident— The Boat Club —The passing of a Steamboat— Cold Spring— Col. George P. Morris's Mansion— Scenery— Old Cro'-Nest- Magnificent Site- Description of Col. Morris's House— The Gardener of an English Earl— Mischief of Ignorance— Our Lady of Cold Spring— Lines for Music, etc. Letter XIII 1^~ Strictures on Albany— The Clergy— Historical sketch of Al- bany— Head-Quarters of Gen. Layfayette— Mrs. Grant's descrip- tion of Albany in olden time— Manner of living there— Hermit- age— Gentle treatment of slaves among the Albanians— Conse- quent attachment of domestics, etc. Letter XIV • ^^ Academies and Common Schools— Albany Academy for Boys —Dr. Beck— The Female Academy— Introduced by Mr. Critten- ton to the Different Departments— The plan of Instruction— Dr. Barber's Systemof Elocution— "The Language of the Flowers," a poetical eflFusion from a young Lady of the Academy-Descrip- tion of the Building-Location, etc.-The Baptist Church-The old Capitol-Architectural description of the new State Hall- Of St. Paul's Church— South Dutch Church-The Old Stone Pulpit— North Dutch Church. Letter XV • Revisit Poughkeepsie-Rapid Progress of Improvement-New Silk Factory- Inventive genius of Gen. Harvey-Patent Screw Company-Coining Money-Patent Saw for felling trees-Patent Stock Frames-Advantages of Poughkeepsie, etc.-Report of the Inspectors of Grain-Dutchess Plains-Scenery-Poetry- Ride to Hyde Park-Derivation of the name-The late Dr. Ho- sack's place-Churches and population-Cultivated grounds- Death of Dr. Hosack, etc. * CONTENTS. Letterxvl ^^ Iw How the writer obtained the History of the Military Academy at West Point-Lt. Roswell Park-West Point a place of inter- est-Hallowed by Washington, Kosciusko, Lafayette, etc.-View of West Point after entering the Mountain Gap above-The Monuments-Links of the chain broken by the British vessels m 1777-Early History of the Academy-The Officers-Practi- cal considerations which should influence those who are seek- mg or who may gain admission to the Military Academy, etc. Saratoga Springs 2^. LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON, &c. LETTER I. Poughkeepsie — Location — Products of Dutchess County — Population of Poughkeepsie — Sidewalks — Churches — En- terprising men — Education — College and Academies — Re- markable rise of real estate — Cause of it — A place for me- chanics — Prospect from Mansion Square — Hatch's Ho- tel, etc. Poughkeepsie, N, Y., Sept. 5, 1835. Dear P. — In my last from New York city, I promised the disclosure of some facts relative to this interesting and flourishing village. But the peculiar advantages of its location, its rapidly in- creasing population, the public spirit of the citi- zens, the great advance of real estate, and the in- troduction of new sources of improvement and wealth, have been of late so generally the subject of newspaper remark, that I am fearful I shall not be able to add much that is new or interesting to the general stock. But to begin. — Poughkeepsie may justly rank with the first villages in New York or New England. Indeed, I am not ac- quainted with a single village which in some im- portant particulars equals it, and but few that will 12 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON, bear a favourable comparison. It is situated on the east bank of the Hudson, midway between Albany and New York. It is the court town of the rich- est county save one in the " Empire State," and as a highly cultivated agricultural county, it is, I ap- prehend, unsurpassed by any other in the Union. The gross products of the county, from its soil, its mines, and its manufactories, are believed by per- sons best qualified to judge, to approach very near to five millions of dollars per annum. The pro- ducts of Dutchess and Ulster counties, and a por- tion of the western towns of Connecticut, are brought to this village, where they are shipped for the great commercial market. The village is very compact — the streets numerous, spacious, and well paved. The sidewalks too are neatly paved, and give the traveller a very favourable impression of the public spirit of the corporation. The popula- tion of the village in 1830 was 5022, and the town about 7000; now the population of the village exceeds 7000, and the town contains well nigh 10,000. The assessment of real estate in the cor- poration in 1834 was $1,099,085; of personal, $937,700. There are seven places of public wor- ship : one Baptist, two Friends, one Episcopal, one Methodist, one Presbyterian, and one Dutch Re- formed. The Episcopal church is a beautiful Gothic edifice. It was built in 1833. A second LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 13 Episcopal church is about being erected. A se- cond Presbyterian church is now going up, and another Baptist and Catholic church are, I un- derstand, to be commenced without delay. The public spirit of such men as Cunningham, Tal- madge. Potter, Oakley, Vassar, Hatch, and a few others, gentlemen of intelligence and liberality, will not stop till it has given the place not only a beautiful external appearance and a business char- acter, but endowed it with the means of education and intellectual improvement. They have project- ed, and are making rapid efforts for building a large and commodious academy for girls and boys ; and a lofty and one of the most beautiful sites in the county has been purchased, on which an im- posing edifice is to be built, to be occupied as a collegiate school of the highest order. Another is to be erected and liberally endowed for young la- dies. These advantages of general education, will unquestionably hold out inducements of the most powerful kind, to wealthy gentlemen with families to settle in this healthy and delightful village. At a recent sale of land, quite a number of persons of this description were present, and one hundred and eighty-three lots of ground, suitable for house lots, together with a farm of one hundred and three acres, situated two miles south of the courthouse, were sold for $79,279. Lots which were sold 2 14 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. eighteen months since for $600, have been sold for $4000. A plot of fourteen acres in the suburbs of the village, which v^^as purchased ten months since for $4000, was recently sold for $14,000. An- other plot, which could have been purchased nine months before for $10,000, was sold a few days since for $24,000. A farm in the vicinity, which was offered twenty months since for $22,000, has lately been sold for $68,000. A lot in the village, purchased sixty days since for $2000, has been sold for $5000. This enumeration of facts I have from the most unquestionable authority. Some view this rise as the result of the " speculating ma- nia," which exists all over the country at this time. But I must, I confess, concur with an intelligent gentleman of New England, whom I have just seen, in the opinion, that the primary cause of this advance is to be found in the enterprise and public spirit manifested by the gentlemen alluded to above, and which now seems to prevail with the whole population. Few places in the country afford better oppor^ tunities for ingenious and industrious mechanics. The enterprising gentlemen who are labouring with laudable zeal to promote the growth of Pough- keepsie, have struck out a course which cannot fail of success, that of introducing new branches of business; hence every ingenious mechanic is ta- LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 15 ken by the hand, and every facility afforded him for starting and prosecuting his business. I have, perhaps, already extended my letter be- yond the limits allotted a correspondent; but I consider the general diffusion of the statistical, commercial, and geographical knowledge of inter- esting portions of our wide-spread republic, of vast importance to enterprising Yankees; and as your paper has an- extensive circulation, and particu- larly in our best hotels, where such information is eagerly sought for by the traveller, I feel per- suaded that the space occupied will not be thrown away, and therefore, with your permission, I shall devote one or two letters more to this place. The delightful prospect from Mansion Square, and the neighbouring hill, which affords the most extended view of hill and dale, cultivated to a charm, the courteous and intelligent society, and the comforts of one of the best hotels in the country, have ren- dered my tarry very pleasant, and induced me to linger much longer than I anticipated on my ar- rival. It is scarcely necessary, but in justice I am induced to mention, that the hotel alluded to, is now kept, and has been for the last seven years, by Messrs. A. S. Hatch & Son — and a more airy, comfortable, and commodious house, or more cour- teous and gentlemanly hosts, I have seldom met with in my journeyings. LETTER II. Col. Stances description of the view from College Hill- Streets— Reservoir— Whaling Companies— Manufacture of Silk— New Whale Ship— Anecdote— Good Wives. Pougbkeepsie, Sept. 25, 1835. Dear P. — Since writing my last from this place I have seen the letters of Col. Stone, the elite edi- tor of the Commercial Advertiser, written while "luxuriating" on the delicacies of the Mansion House, and although I alluded to the splendid views afforded from the hill in the vicinity of " Mansion Square," whose brow is to be crowned with the classic temple of learning, I cannot re- frain from introducing a passage from the Colonel's graphic description. He says : — " It is neither of steep nor of diffi- cult access, and is sufficiently elevated to afford a landscape of great extent, and of mingled grandeur and beauty. It will be studded with villas on all sides to its base. On the south, it will overlook the town of Pougbkeepsie and the beautiful district of country, thence to the Fishkill range of mountains and the highlands. On the west and the north, the Shawangunk and the Catskill mountains rear their azure crests in the distance, — the Hudson si- LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 17 lently rolling his mighty volume of waters through the vale below ; while on the east the prospect is only hounded by the mountainous regions of west- ern Connecticut and Massachusetts. And on all sides, within the circle I have thus indicated, the landscape is of surpassing beauty — composed of fertile villas and gently swelling hills — of farms, orchards, and gardens, in a high state of cultiva- tion, studded with villas, and ornamented with for- ests of various timber — among which are the oak and the locust. Such will be the position of the Poughkeepsie University — the eye resting, on which soever side it falls, upon a country resem- bling an immense garden — rich, fertile, beautiful !" Since 1831, more than $100,000 have been ex- pended in opening, regulating, and paving streets. A reservoir has been built on an eminence about half a mile from Hatch's Hotel, for supplying the village with water for the extinguishment of fires, at an expense of from 25 to $30,000, showing a degree of liberality on the part of the corporation, not surpassed, if we take into the account the rela- tive means, by the city of New York, in their pro- ject for bringing spring water to that city. Two whaling companies, with a capital of $200,000 each, have been established. A company for the growing and the manufacture of silk, with a capi- tal of $200,000, has commenced the erection of a 2* 18 LETTERS ABOLfT THE HUDSON. brick factory, thirty-six by one hundred feet, four stories high. The silk factory will be in opera- tion before the close of the present season. One of the ships now building in the extensive shipyard of Messrs. Tucker & Height, is to be called the Nathaniel P. Talmadge, a compliment to that gentleman, as merited as it is just; for to his liberal and enterprising spirit, in a great meas- ure, belongs the present prosperity and future pros- pects of the village. And here I cannot refrain from relating an an- ecdote of one of the gentlemen who have been very active in every laudable effort to promote the good of Poughkeepsie. Possessed of ample resources, but a heart much larger than his ability, his libe- rality was scarcely circumscribed by his means ; his purse and his credit were never solicited in vain. His resources, however, in time failed, and he became a bankrupt ; but in order to provide for his family, he commenced the business of a broker, and as usual, before the traffic was prohibited by law, sold lottery tickets. At the drawing, half a ticket was left on his hands, and that ticket came out a prize of $50,000 ; and although he had ta- ken the benefit of the insolvent act, and was not of course legally obliged, he very magnanimously paid every creditor to "the uttermost farthing." He had something left. Fortune has continued to LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON, 19 smile on the liberal soul, and he is now once more independent, actively engaged in advancing the public good. Such men are an honour to human nature. Would to God we had them in every vil- lage throughout our wide spread country. By the way, friend Porter, if you have any young men in your goodly city in want of wives, and good ones I have no doubt — -some of the fair are certainly very beautiful — I advise you to send them on forthwith to the care of our gallant young friend of the Poughkeepsie Hotel, as there are in the village, according to a census just completed, one thousand one hundred and thirteen unmarried young ladies, ready, doubtless, to enter into the blissful estate of matrimony. Hatch takes the best care of all visiters, whatever may be their business, when put under his protection. Adieu for the present. Yours, &c. LETTER III. Peekskill—High tide-East winds— High -school— Paulding's monument— Visit to Gen. Van Courtlandt— Antony's Nose- Bank— Religious societies— Hotels— Capt. Tuthill— Steam- boat Union. Peekskill, Sept. 1835. Friend P.— Here I am, at Peekskill, com- pletely hemmed in by the overflowing tide of the Hudson. The street in front of the house is cov- ered with water ankle deep, and still increasing-. The water has nearly reached the window where I sit writing, which overlooks the river to Cald- well's Landing, and the noble Dunderberg but two miles distant, yet scarcely visible in consequence of the dense state of the atmosphere. Peekskill is about forty-five miles from New York, containing well nigh fifteen hundred inhabit- ants, and with a little more enterprise would, from its pleasant and healthy location, and its proximity to the city of New York, become a place of consid- erable mercantile importance. The high tide, al- luded to above, is not an uncommon occurrence at this season of the year on the river. The east winds are not one half so unpleasant in their eflfects upon the system here as in your city. They be- LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 21 come somewhat softened in their passage over the country; and the highlands of the north stand up as an impregnable barrier to keep off these " down east" intruders. But for Peekskill. The most interesting evi- dence that there is a spark of public spirit ex- isting in this ancient settlement, which will sooner or later burst into a flame, is to be found in the establishment of a high-school, and the erection of a very neat, spacious and appropriate edifice for that purpose, on a most delightful eminence; where the healthful and invigorating breeze from the tow- ering mountains in the vicinity, pours forth its " medicinaV^ influence ; and where the soul alive to the sentiments of beauty, variety, and sublimity, can view with rapture the variegated and pictur- esque scenery, the beautiful and expansive bay, the towering and gigantic Dunderberg, the " race," and the opening of the majestic highlands. But my pen affords an altogether inadequate descrip- tion of the scene. Peekskill is certainly well sit- uated for purposes of education ; furnishing, as it does, facilities for communicating daily, nay almost hourly, with the great city; and from my own per- sonal inference, as well as the testimony of others, I doubt whether there is a place in the whole range of the Hudson, where health can be more con- veniently sought, or more surely gained. The 22 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. academy was built with a capital stock, divided into shares of five dollars each, and taken up princi- pally by the inhabitants of the village. The prin- cipal, Mr. Thompson, is a very worthy, intelligent teacher. The present number of pupils is about sixty. Board is furnished in the same building to scholars, whose parents do not reside in the vil- lage. It should not be forgotten that this is the birth- place of John Paulding, the American farmer, who intercepted Andre, the British spy, at TarrytOAvn, some fifteen miles below this place. I rode out to his monument a few days since. It is situated about two miles to the west of the village. The monument is of marble, a pyramid, about fifteen feet high, running to a point. It is enclosed in an iron railing about twelve feet square. The main inscription is on the south side, and runs thus :— " Here reposes the mortal remains of John Paulding, Who died on the 18th day of February, 1818, in the 60th year of his age. On the morning of the 23d of September, 1780, Accompanied by two young farmers of the county of Westchester, (Whose names will one day be recorded on their own deserved monuments,) LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 23 He intercepted the British Spy, Andre. Poor Himself, He disdained to acquire wealth by sacrificing His Country. Rejecting the temptation of great rewards, He conveyed his prisoner to the American camp, And By this act of noble self-denial, The treason of Arnold was detected; The designs of the enemy baffled ; West Point and the American Army saved, And these U. S. Now by the grace of God free and independent^ Rescued from imminent peril." On the opposite side is written — "The Corporation of the City of New York Erect this tomb as a memorial Raised to Public Gratitude." On the east side is a beautiful wreath engraved on the marble with the word "Fidelity." The inscription on the other side I have forgotten. On the way to the monument, and but a few rods this side, is the residence of Gen. Pierre Van 2-1 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. Courtlandt, an old gentleman of sixty. I called on him and spent an hour very pleasantly. He was reading " Horse Shoe Robinson," and remarked, as he laid it down, that he was not a little inter- ested with it, as he liked every thing which rela- ted to the revolutionary war. His father was an officer in that war, and his grandfather was the first Lieutenant Governor of this State; an office which he held for more than twenty years. The place where he lives, and all his real estate, he holds by the will of his father ; and the original grant of the British King to his grandfather. Gen. V. is the oAvner of Antony's Nose, (on the river,) as it is called. He gave me the origin of that name. Before the revolution, a vessel was passing up the river, under the command of a Capt. Hogans j when immediately opposite this mountain, the mate looked rather quizzically, first at the mountain, and then at the captain's nose. The captain, by the way, had an enormous nose, which was not un- frequently the subject of good-natured remark ; and he at once understood the mate's allusion. " What," says the captain, " does that look like my nose ? call it then if you please Antony's nose." The story was repeated on shore, and the mountain thenceforward assumed the name, and has thus be- come an everlasting monument to the memory of the redoubtable Capt. Antony Hogans and his nose. LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 25 The elevation of Antony's Nose is one thousand two hundred and twenty-eight feet from the level of the river, and directly opposite Fort Montgomery Creek. Washington Irving supposes hs name to be derived from the nose of Antony Van Corlaer. It differs from the origin given me by Gen. V. The christening of the mount is described in the story of the Dutch governor's first voyage op the Hudson, as follows : " Just at this moment the illus- trious sun, breaking in all his splendour from be- hind one of the high cliffs of the Highlands, did dart one of his most potent beams full upon the re- fulgent nose of the sounder of brass. The reflection of which shot straightway down, hissing hot into the water, and killed a mighty sturgeon that was sporting beside the vessel ! When this astonishing miracle came to be made known to Peter Stuyve- sant (the governor,) he, as may well be supposed, marvelled exceedingly ; and as a monument thereof, gave the name of Antony's Nose to a stout prom- ontory in the neighbourhood, and it has continued to be called Antony's Nose ever since." From here to Fort Montgomery, which is now in ruins, on the opposite side, a large boom and chain was extended during the revolutionary war, which cost about seventy thousand pounds sterling. It was partly destroyed by Gen. Sir Henry Clinton, in Oc- tober, 1777. 3 26 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. Gen. V. gave me the time from a small bull's eye gold watch, which he drew from his fob, and which he said must be at least one hundred and fifty years old, as it was the property of his great- great grandfather, and had come down regularly to him. After drinking the hospitable General's health, in a glass of fine old Madeira, I took my depar- ture. The residence of Gen. Van Courtlandt . is antique, but the grounds around are in the highest state of cultivation. A Bank, with a capital of $200,000, was established in Peekskill about two years since, and General V. was elected President. It is in a flourishing condition. The stock has sold at almost as great an advance as ever the United Stales Bank stock did. There is a bust of Gen. Van Courtlandt's father in the bank. The produce of many towns in Westchester, and most of the towns in Putnam county, is shipped in the Peekskill sloops for New York. There are seven which are constantly in motion, with produce of various kinds for the New York market. There are six religious societies in Peekskill — two Friends or Quakers — one Presbyterian — one Dutch Reformed — one Methodist — one Universal- ist — and an Episcopal Church is about being erect- ed. With a portion of the funds of the Trinity corporation, it will doubtless flourish. LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON, 27 The Hotels in Peek skill are not remarkable for the splendour of their construction, or their commo- diousness, neither are they managed with remark- able liberality or comfort. I would, however, ex- cept the house kept by Col. Williams, who, by the way, is a very gentlemanly, worthy man ; and has the reputation of keeping a good house, al- though I have had no opportunity of judging. He is about removing into a neat and spacious build- ing, which is nearly finished, and then I hope to speak more understandingly of his establishment. A new hotel is soon to be erected on Antony's Nose, as a summer house. Although I have "spun out" this epistle to a great length, I cannot forbear the present opportu- nity of alluding to the fine little steamer Union, which plies between New York and this village daily, landing passengers at Greenburgh, Yon- kers, Tarrytown, Sing Sing, Grassy Point, and Caldwell's. Capt. Tuthill, of the Union, is an af- fable, courteous officer. He unites these qualities with great experience, having been connected with the Hudson River steamboats for more than twelve years. A few days since, a party of gentlemeq presented him w^ith a splendid silver pitcher, as a token of their respect for his private worth, and excellent conduct as a steam navigator. But I must close. Adieu for the present. LETTER IV. Dobbs* Ferry — Tarrytown — Population — Washington Ir- ving — Churches — Circumstances at a Hotel, or treatment of travellers — The place of Andrews capture — An old Dutch Church — Rev. Mr. Smith— Schools — Road to White Plains — Inscription on Van War^s Monument — White Plains — Imprisonment for debt. New York. Oct. 20, 1835. Friend P. — On Wednesday I left New York in the good steamer Union, " not knowing the things that would befall me." # # # # I, however, landed at Dobb's Ferry, about twenty miles up the Hudson, and lingered about the place two hours, viewing the thrifty orchards and highly cultivated grounds of Livingston and Constant, and then took private conveyance to Tarrytown. Dobb's Ferry and Tarrytown are two small villa- ges in the tov^rnship of Greenburgh, both market and steamboat landings, situated about five miles apart on the east side of the Hudson. The popu- lation of the whole township does not exceed fifteen hundred. There are a number of delightful, picturesque, and extensive prospects, and several wealthy gen- tlemen farmers reside in the vicinity. On our road to Tarrytown we passed the elegant man- LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 29 sion of a Mr. Hamilton, son of Alexander Hamil- ton, the distinguished statesman, who fell in a duel with the ambitious Burr. A quarter of a mile from the main road towards the Hudson, about midway between Dobbs' Ferry and Tarrytown, is the residence of Oscar Irving, a nephew of our distinguished countryman, Washington Irving, who is erecting a cottage near that of his relatives, where he intends to pass his life in rural retire- ment, and the pursuit of literature and learning. His elegant and graphic pen, and his chastened and classic imagination, will add new charms to the noble, the majestic, the exquisite scenery of the Hudson. With a heart alive to the emotions of benevolence, and with habits congenial to the genius of domestic bliss, 1 am not a little surprised that one who has portrayed with grace and delicacy, and has in his works rendered the most exalted tribute to the female character, should so long re- main in "single-blessedness," as a certain condition is sometimes falsely called. But the busy tongue of rumour says, that the charm of celibacy will soon be broken, and that the best of WTiters, will become the best of husbands. So mote it be. At Dobbs' Ferry there are two places of public worship. A Presbyterian meeting house, a small wooden building; and a neat little Episcopal church, built of stone, in the gothic order. There are two so LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. public houses, and a post-office. On the land of Livingston, are the remains of an old fort thrown up in the war of the revolution. Harvey, the painter, resides here. The village has a " newness,''^ which indicates improvement. Building lots, and farms I am told, advance with the general rise all over the country. On my arrival at Tarrytown, Iput up at a place purporting to be a Hotel ; but unlike any thing I ever before visited ; and God forbid that I should ever "see the like again." It was towards sun- down when I arrived. My small baggage I took to my lodgings, and coming down, I inquired of a young woman, a daughter of " mine host," the hour of tea. " Oh," said she, " some time after dark, when the folks come in from picking apples." This answer sounded rather queer and indefinite, but I let it pass. Appearances were much in fa- vour of the house: it was neat — the beds were com- fortable, and every thing around had an air of cleanliness. The next morning, at breakfast, " mine host" was repeating a quarrel which took place be- tween him and a lodger during the night. He said " he would not entertain these d d Yan- kees — he was rich enough to live without keeping a public house, and those who stopped with hinx must behave themselves and do as he wished them, or he'd kick them out quicker than they came in.'^ LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 31 He was, however, very civil to me that day. In the evening, I called on a reverend gentleman, and returned about nine, when I found the house closed and barred, and not the glimmer of a light to mark the mansion of the living. A few gentle taps, however, brought " mine host," in the condition so delicately and so graphically described by Tom Cringle. The door opened, and the mouth of "mine host" at about the same time, in tones of corresponding harmony — (vocal and instrumental) — " What are you out so late for .'*" said he. I made no reply, but took the light from the " impu- dent varlet's" hand, and made my way to bed. The next morning I arose at half past 7, and seeing no indications of approaching breakfast, I sallied forth in pursuit of a barber, which not finding, I return- ed, and inquired if breakfast was ready. "We have been to breakfast," said the hostess. "Been to breakfast! — why didn't you call me, madam?" said I. " We have other business to attend to with- out calling folks up to breakfast," said she. " Well then," said I, "you may attend to it — give me my bill, if you please, madam." I paid my bill, two shillings and sixpence a meal, including, boiled pork and cabbage, and exclusive of any thing else, same and except potatoes, turnips, and onions, in one miscellaneous dish of salmagundi. I related my sufferings to the good people of 33 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. Tarry town, and excited no little commiseration, and the most courteous and friendly proffers of kindness and hospitality ; but as I intended leaving town that day, I declined the invitations. I found, however, that the host and his house were well known, and that scarce a traveller stopt there with- out having- some difficulty with the ignorant booby who pretends to keep a hotel. Indeed, many trav- ellers go four or five miles out of the way, to avoid stopping at this house. I have related these cir- cumstances for the benefit of your numerous sub- scribers in this State, and those who may chance to pass through this place, and hear the name of Smith of the " Tarrytown Hotel." Tarrytown is a still, quiet village, famed in the history of the first American war, as the place where Andre was captured by Paulding and his associates. No monument marks the spot where this scene occurred, although it is pretty accurately ascertained. The inhabitants of the village made the attempt some years ago, but for want of energy and spirit did not accomplish the design. It was a memorable event, and one of great importance to our national liberty, and some monument should tell the place and record the circumstances. It is said that the tree, under which Andre was taken, was struck by lightning on the very day the news of Gen. Arnold's death was received at Tar- LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 33 rytown. Singular coincidence this ! It was a white- wood tree, and uncommonly large, being twenty- six feet in circumference and forty-one high. There is a " Dutch Reformed Church" at Tar- rytown, one hundred and sixty-two years old, and a very ancient burying ground, supposed to be older than the church. The pulpit and the communion table are of oak, and were brought from Holland. The bricks were made in Holland. The Rev. Thomas T. Smith, the present pastor of this church, is a Scotchman, but was an American patriot in the revolutionary war. He is a worthy, intelli- gent, and hospitable old gentlemen, of upwards of seventy, and has been the spiritual pastor of the flock for more than thirty years. There are two excellent private boarding schools in this village, one for boys and the other for young ladies. The former is under the superintendence of a Mr. See, and the latter is managed by two Quaker ladies. On Friday, I hired a conveyance to White Plains, seYQii miles east of Tarrytown. The route is a per- fect zigzag, and I can assure you that we headed every one, at least, of the cardinal points of the compass. And for roughness, the passage of the Green Mountains does not even vie with it. This is all absolute matter of fact, and I am prepared to make affidavit to that effect before any justice of the 84 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. peace in Christendom. About midway, we passed the monument of Van Wart, of Andre memory. I alighted, and taking out a pencil, took down the sev- eral inscriptions on the four sides. On the North — Here reposes the mortal remains of Isaac Van Wart, An Elder of the Greenburgh Church, who died on the 23d of May, 1828, in the 69th year of his age. Having lived the life, he died the death of the Christian. On the South side it is written — The Citizens of the County of Westchester Erected this Tomb, in testimony of the high sense they entertained for the Virtuous and Patriotic conduct of their fellow citizen, and as a memorial sacred to Public Gratitude. LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 35 On the East side we have — Vincit Amor Patrias. Nearly half a century before this monument was built, The Conscript Fathers of America had, in the Senate Chamber, voted that Isaac Van Wart was a faithful Patriot — one in whom the love of Country was Invincible, and this Tomb bears testimony that the Record is true. On the West side the inscription reads after this manner — "Fidelity. On the 23d of Sept. 1780, Isaac Van Wart, accompanied by John Paulding and Daniel Williams, all Farmers of the county of Westchester, intercepted Major Andre on his re- turn from the American lines in the character of a Spy, and notwithstanding the large bribes offered them for his release, nobly disdained to sacrifice their country for gold, secured and carried him to the commanding officer of the district, whereby the dangerous and traitorous conspiracy of Arnold was brought to light, the insidious designs of the ene- my baffled, the American army saved, and our be- loved country free," &c. Paulding was, unquestionably, the master spirit d6 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. of the trio. He is represented by those who knew him, as a brave man and a good soldier. White Plains is a small village, with about five hundred inhabitants, and is the county town for Westchester. The Court House and the Jail, of course, have their location here. Thank God, however, the poor debtor is not incarcerated for pov- erty, in the prisons of New York. I blush for the attempt making in my native State to restore that relic of barbarism to the code. Continue in the same fearless way you have commenced, to advo- cate the cause of the poor and the oppressed, in opposition to a few interested enemies of popular rights, and the " inglorious twenty"* will hide their diminished heads, and retire to the obscurity they deserve. I had intended to notice the last named village more fully, but the foregoing digression fills the second sheet of your New York Traveller. * Mr. Porter, the editor of the American Traveller a paper which he has conducted with ability for the last ten or twelve years, has ever fearlessly advocated the abolishment of im- prisonment for debt. The " inglorious twenty," is a term he applied to twenty Senators, who voted for the perpetuation of this barbarous law. LETTER V. Put up at the Mansion House— Troy a prominent point of interest — Visit to Mrs. WiUarcTs Female Seminary — T%e Amateur Vocalist— Mrs. Willard's zeal in the cause of Education, tf-c. Mansion House, Troy, N. Y., November 13, 1835. Friend P. — My epistle, in one respect at least are " like angels visits, few and far between," but on that account may, I presume, be the more ac- ceptable to that portion of your readers who prefer the sparkling effusions of a brilliant imagination to the jplain matter of fact letters of a jplain man, like your humble servant. I arrived here two days since, and find myself so pleasantly located under the protecting care of the worthy Doctor, who presides over the destinies of the transient re- sidents of the Mansion House, that my tarry will be somewhat protracted, and you may expect to hear from me several times before I take up the line of march. Troy may be considered a prominent point of interest as the mercantile head of navigation on the noble Hudson ; and its enterprise and public spirit, as well as its topographical situation, entitle it to more than a passing notice. I have just returned from a visit to Mrs. Willard's Female Seminary^ 4 38 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. and it affords me unfeigned pleasure to be able to give some account of one of the most interesting establishments of the kind in the Union. The principal of this Institution is a lady of no ordi- nary mind, and possesses in an eminent degree all those traits of character which add to the dignity of the sex. Mrs. Willard has been engaged in the cause of female education more than fifteen years past. In 1819 she established a Female Academy at Waterford, and obtained an act of incorporation from the New York Legislature, without, however, receiving any aid from the State. The plan of her institution, at that time unmatured by the ex- perience of years, met the decided approbation of the intelligent, and gave to the female sex advan- tages in point of solid mental acquirements, and general improvement, in branches of taste, utility, and science, much beyond what they had previously enjoyed in this ^/icinity. Encouraged by the liber- ality of a few gentlemen at Troy, she was induced to remove hither, in May, 1821; when she entered a new building erected for that purpose. Since that time her school has increased in importance and favour with the public, and has now probably a larger number of boarding scholars than any Female Academy in the Union. The building was enlarged in 1824. and in )828 an additional edifice "was erected, fifty by thirty-seven feet, con- LETTERS ABOUT THE HDDSON. 39 nected by a sort of out-door-chamber entry. An- other addition to the main building- was made in 1833. The several alterations have all been made without affecting the unity of the original design, and the main structure is now one hundred and thirty feet by forty. There are at present about two hundred and sixty young ladies, from every state in the Union, from the Canadas, the West Indies, one from Scotland, one from London, and two from Paris. The last came over with Mrs. W. on her return from Eu- rope, a few years since. Her family consists of one hundred and sixty persons, one hundred and ten of whom are boarding scholars. Mrs. Willard, as principal, is assisted by two " vice principals," and twenty-two teachers and officers, two only of whom are gentlemen. Were I a Benedict, I should have hesitated about accepting the pressing invitation of the hospitable head of the institution, to take tea with her numer- ous and attractive family. But the courtesy was extended so sincerely and frankly, and being anx- ious to learn something of the domestic arrange- ments of the institution, I cheerfully complied, al- though I confess I felt somewhat abashed, on en- tering a dining-room with one hundred and thirty blushing and beautiful maidens. My worthy host- ess, however, by her ease of manners and arree^- 40 I,ETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. ble conversation, soon displaced this feeling. There were six tier of tables. We sat down at the head of the middle tier. Sweet home-baked Avheat bread, with butter, hasty pudding and molasses, and an excellent cup of black tea, was the simple, but wholesome fare, set before us. Here, perhaps, I should remark, that the " National dish" alluded to is only served up occasionally. At breakfast, tea and coffee, with bread or toast, and meat, form the meal. The dinners are uniform, all alike ; but one dish of meat is served, be it roast beef, lamb, or poultry: with, however, the usual and appropriate variety of vegetables. After tea I accompanied my hostess to the lecture- room, directly over the dining-room, and listened with great pleasure to the vocal and instrumental performances of several young ladies. A sweet- toned piano of your Boston Chickering, "discoursed most eloquent music." I imagined myself listen- ing to the masterly performance of some great pro- fessor, instead of a girlish amateur of sixteen. And, O ye powers of Jove, not to speak profanely, if the melody of that holy and happy world beyond the spangled sky, partakes of the exquisite harmony of the blooming beauty whose rich soft notes fell upon my ears, then is heaven worth all the miseries, suffer- ings, toils, and privations of life, aye, and the pains of martyrdom. I have heard our best theatrical LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 41 singers — I have heard those who possessed more power and compass of voice: but for rich, soft, silvery, exquisite, inexpressible sweetness, the fair pupil of the Troy Female Academy, in my estima- tion, is without a superior. At least, I have never listened to melody more fascinating. Put this down as a burst of enthusiasm. — It is, I assure you, an honest expression of feeling, enrap- tured by the entrancing music of the fair lady's voice. I never before experienced the full fower of mu- sic. But enough of what I can but poorly express. Few women have laboured more arduously or more successfully in the cause of female education, than Mrs. Willard. Her zeal seems only to have been controlled by circumstances. Her plan of in- struction is before the public. It has received the approbation of some of the wisest men of Europe. Dr. Combe quotes it in his essay on education, with unqualified approbation. Her academy furnishes every year more than thirty teachers, who scatter over the remotest parts of the Union. Her efforts in the cause of education in the once classic Greece, are, I believe, pretty well known. Through her instrumentality, a school has been established at Athens, " for the more especial purpose of instruct- ing female teachers." During one single quarter, as far back as 1833, twelve female teachers went out among the Georgians, the Carolinians, the 4* 42 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON, Michiganians, the Vermonters, New Yorkers, &c. prepared under her auspices for the noble purposes of education. The fact, that Mrs. Willard's insti- tution is applied to for teachers, induces young wo- men who desire to devote themselves to the busi- ness of instruction, to turn their eyes hither, not only as the place for preparation, but as the start- ing point for enterprise. A large portion of this class are of New England descent, from the mid- dling class of society: "They come to us," says Mrs. W., " with all that we could desire in the frame-work of their moral, intellectual, and phys- ical character. Thirsting for knowledge, physi- cally able to endure the labour of study, feeling the necessity of improving the time — they are pupils whom it is delightful to teach ; and the seed of in- struction, while we are yet sowing it, buds, springs forth, and blossoms before our eyes. Thus they cheer our labours, and they increase our reputation, by their decisive evidence of improvement. They go forth to do good to others, and they throw it back to us." But Mrs. Willard's pupils are not confined to the middling class. The daughters of the rich are with her, and many of them, she assures us, rank among the first in moral dignity and intel- lectual elevation. The management is purely repub- lican, and illustrates the beauty of that form of gov- ernment when directed by intelligence and energy. LETTER VI. Location and plan of Troy— Public Buildings— View from Mount Ida — Original 'proprietor of the City — Historical notice — Religious Societies — Banks and Insurance Compa- nies — Water Works — Fountains — Washington Square — Legrand Cannon's Building — Causes of prosperity — Self- made men — Gov. Marcy an Attorney. Mansion House, Troy, Nov. 23, 1835. Dear P. — In my last, I briefly alluded to the location of Troy, as the head of navigation — as a place of great enterprise and public spirit — and gave a somewhat minute account of the Female Semi- nary. My present epistle will be chiefly confined to a brief historical sketch of the city, with perhaps an occasional digression. Troy then, to begin, is handsomely situated upon the east bank of the Hudson, and with a foresight seldom observed, is laid out with a view of its ulti- mately becoming a place of considerable magni- tude ; and Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, (with the exception of River street, whose course is guided by that of the river, and which, as it re- curves towards the east, receives the other streets running north and south, as well as those in the opposite direction,) with its regular squares and rectangular avenues, was selected as its model, by 44 LETTERS AV.nVT THE HUDSON. the advice of a gentleman, who had made a then rare visit to that celebrated city. In the course of a few years, stores and dwellings sprang up in abundance, principally in River and First streets. The stores indeed are now generally confined to River and Congress streets. Nearly all the busi- ness is transacted there. River street is, in fact, the Pearl, the Front, the Water street, and the Broadway of Troy. The stores in River street are very spacious, and extend nearly a mile and a half The remainder of the city exhibits the tran- quil aspect and noiseless quiet seldom found but in the country. Many of the buildings, public and private, particularly those erected within the last five years, are spacious and elegant, while all dis- play a neatness and propriety of construction, une- qualled by those of any city of its size with which I am acquainted. The Court House, built of Sing Sing marble, is a splendid edifice after the Grecian model, perfectly chaste and classic in all its parts. The new Presbyterian Church, nearly completed, displays taste and liberality in its constructivon ; and St. Paul's (Episcopal) will vie with any Gothic edi- fice of its class in the United States. It was erect- ed some eight or nine years since. It is one hun- dred and three feet by seventy ; and the walls are of a dark coloured limestone, hammered and laid in mortar. At the west end of the building, a tower LETTERS ABOL'T THE HUDSON, 45 projects twelve feet, and is one hundred feet in iieight. There is a basement of nine feet, and the walls of the main building rise thirty-eight feet above it. The window over the altar is large, be- ing forty feet by twenty. On each side of the building there are five windows, and three on each end. The galleries and ceilings are supported by clustered columns; the wood work is painted in imitation of oak. The cost of the church and lot amounted to about $50,000. There are in Troy twelve places of public wor- ship — three Presbyterian, two Episcopal, one Qua- ker, two Methodist, one Scotch Presbyterian, one Roman Catholic, one Universalist, and an African Church, with a coloured preacher. One of the Methodist churches is of brick, and its architecture manifests good taste and judgment. East of the plain upon which Troy is built, and not more than a quarter of a mile from the river, Mount Ida rises abruptly to the height of three or four hundred feet, from whose summit every house and store may be seen with perfect distinctness, while the eye is likewise gratified by a very eX'^ tensive view, north and south, embracing nine locks at the junction of the great western and northern canals, Waterford, Lansingburgh, and Al- bany. The greater part of the land where the city of 46 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. Troy now stands, was formerly owned by three farmers, relatives, of the name of Vanderheyden. That which now forms the most compact part, con- taining nearly two thirds of its population, belong- ed to the late Jacob D. Vanderheyden, long and well known in this vicinity under the appellation of " the PatroonP Public worship was first per- formed here in a small school house in 1792. The place was for some time called Vanderheyden, un- til, with reluctance, the proprietors consented to change it for the more brief and classic name of Troy. It was incorporated as a village in 1801, with a population of near two thousand inhabitants. In 1810, it contained a population of three thousand eight hundred and ninety-five. The legislature in 1816, granted it a charter, creating it a city, and vesting it with the usual powers and privileges of such corporations. In 1820, the population in- creased to five thousand two hundred and sixty- four; in 1825, to seven thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, and in 1829, to ten thousand eight hundred and forty. The present population is about eighteen thousand, showing an increase, du- ring five years, at the rate of 40 per cent., and more than half that of any equal time preceding. For this it is indebted, in part, to the opening of the Grand Canal, whose beneficent waters reached the Hudson in 1824. Troy has reaped a liberal share LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 47 of the boundless benefits diffused by that great un- dertaking, as it has opened her markets to the im- mense, the fertile regions of the west, from which they had been previously almost entirely excluded. The name of Clinton, the wise projector of this noble enterprise, should be had in everlasting re- membrance by the citizens of this justly styled "em- pire state." Two streams, affording immense water facilities, empty into the Hudson within the limits of the city, and one of them rolls down a beautiful cascade, about a mile from the Court House, well worth visiting as a curiosity. They already move the machinery of numerous mills and factories. There are four Banks, the Merchants and Me- chanics, Farmers, Troy City, and Bank of Troy, with an average capital of about $350,000 ; and two Insurance Companies, the Rensselaer and Sa- ratoga, and Troy. There is also one of those ex- cellent institutions — a Savings Bank. The city of Troy is abundantly supplied with excellent water from the neighbouring hills, at an expense of $150,000, on the Philadelphia plan, ex- cept, that in that city it is raised by artificial means, and in this by its natural head, being seventy-five feet above the level of the city. On the corner of every street there are hydrants, and a hose placed on these, sends the water up higher and with much 48 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. greater force than a fire engine ; consequentlj^ their use has been superseded. The squares and private gardens are ornamented with perpetual water fountains. There is one of Italian marble, chaste, classic, and of course, of beautiful construction, directly in front of the Man- sion House ; it sends up the water ten or fifteen feet, and in its descent resembles the weeping wil- low. The noise produced in the fall sounds like the continually pelting rain. Indeed, strangers, who put up at the Mansion House, not unfrequently, in passing the morning compliments with the affa- ble Doctor, allude to the last night's shower. Washington is one of the finest squares in the city. The Mansion House, belonging to Dr. Huddleston, facing the south, has quite an impo- sing appearance. On the east side, Legrand Can- non, Esq. a gentleman of enterprise and spirit, has nearly completed a block of stores that will vie with any I have ever seen in New York, Philadel- phia, or Boston. There are eight of them, four sto- ries high, with freestone fronts, making altogether a noble, business-like appearance. Troy is indebted for its wealth and population, to its advantageous situation for commercial pur- suits, and to the enterprise and economical habits of its citizens. Many, aye, most of the leading men in Troy, commenced life penniless. But industry. LETTKRS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 49 energy, perseverance, and the smiles of that kind Providence, whose dews descend alike on all, have produced a mighty change. Three of the leading men in particular, nearly related to each other, came here in early life from one of the New Eng- land States, humble mechanics, and in time amassed princely fortunes. Two of them have departed this life, leaving their children an abundance of this world's goods, and the inheritance of a name, more valuable than gold. Their loss was deeply felt, and lamented by the whole population. The remain- ing individual stands high in the esteem of the citi- zens, and is at the head of several institutions. The present Mayor of Troy was once a day labourer- he is now one of the most wealthy and influential men of the city. These are but a few of the many examples of the kind, even in this city. The state is full of such instances. In a " Troy Post" of 1822, I saw the other day the advertisement of W. L. Marcy, stating that he, in company with another individual, had taken an office, and would be happy to wait upon the public as attorneys at law. Step by step he has risen to the Chief Ma- gistracy of the " Empire State." But to return to the causes of prosperity in this city. The great Western and North Canals empty into the Hud- son directly opposite the centre of business, while she administers to an extensive country, east and 5 50 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. north, in the most minute articles of daily use by retail. With great natural facilities, and the in- vincible enterprise of the citizens, the prosperity of Troy must go on, increasing with a rapidity equal to that, at least, of the last ten years. LETTER VII. Revolutionary. Reminiscences — Tree near the Academy — Ex- ecution of Strang and Palmer — Gen. Putnam'' s memora- ble Letter — Circumstances which led to the capture of Major Andre — Vignette on the bills of Westchester JBank^ d^c. Peekskill, December 4th, 1835. Dear P. — In September, while on a visit to this place, I gave a few rambling sketches of men and things. Among other matters, I alluded to the Academy, and its beautiful and commanding loca- tion; gave the inscription from Paulding's monu- ment, etc., but neglected noticing the many inter- esting revolutionary associations connected with the place. Now as every thing relating to the re- volution, that resulted in the establishment of our Independence, possesses an interest entitling it to attention, I cannot, while on the very spot so fraught with these reminiscences, forego the plea- sure of alluding to what can never become dull to the ear of patriotic Americans. But two miles from the village stands the dwell- ing occupied by Washington, while the American army were encamped in this place. The majestic tree near the Academy, on which Strang was hang- ed for some misdemeanour, still remains; and here 52 LETTERS ABOL'T THE HUDSON. too is the place where Palmer, the American tory, was executed, by order of Gen. Putnam, whose memorable reply to Gov. Tryson, who wrote for his release, threatening- vengeance if he were ex- ecuted, deserves an enduring record. It briefly — emphatically unfolds the true character of that dis- tinguished hero. The note runs thus : — "Sir — Nathan Palmer, a lieutenant in your service, was taken in my camp as a spy ; he was condemned as a spy; and you may rest assured, sir, he shall be hanged as a spy. I have the honour to be, &c. " Israel Putnam. '• P. S.— Afternoon. He is hanged." Not the threats of the British Governor, or the entreaties of Palmer's wife, could change the pur- pose of the determined General. I am informed by an old inhabitant of Peekskill, that the man who led Palmer to the gallows afterwards married his widow, and that a child of this union still survives. I have before alluded to the capture of Andre, by Paulding and his associates; but there is a tra- ditionary circumstance, which occurred in Peeks- kill, or rather in Courtland, of which Peekskill is the principal village, that placed Major Andre in the path of the captors. For the facts connected with this tradition, I am indebted to R. E. Ward, LETTERS ABOUT THE FIUDSON. 53 Esq. It seems that in the autumn of 1780, a far- mer of this village was making- cider, having been for a few days released from his country's service to follow his agricultural pursuits. The mill in which he was at work was situated on the east bank of the Hudson, near that part of Haverstraw bay, called " Mother's Lap." While busily em- ployed in the manufacture of his cider, two young men (Sherwood and Peterson) with their muskets, (the usual accompaniment in those days,) approached the farmer, and after passing the usual salutations, and refreshing themselves with the new cider, seated themselves upon a log that lay near the mill. The farmer observing them in close conversation, and looking very intently on some distant object asked them the cause of their alarm and anxiety. " Hush," speaking low, says Sherwood, " the red coats are about us." "Where?" asked the farmer, in a whisper. " Yonder, yonder, just within the Lap," answers Peterson, pointing at the same time to a spot where was an English gun-boat, with twenty-four men laying upon their oars. " Return to your mill,' he added ; and addressing himself to Sherwood, " w€ will crawl to the bank of the river, and give the rec boys a shot." Peterson and Sherwood drew near the margin o: the Hudson, and placed themselves behind a large 5* 54 lettehs about tiik Hudson. rock, which Avas directly between them and the gun-boat. Here, after reconnoitring- the situation of the gun-boat, and examining their guns, they fired upon the crew, and killed two persons. The soldiers that manned the gun-boat belonged to tho British sloop of war Vulture, which lay at anchor in the Hudson, off Teller's Point. Not expecting to meet with the enemy, they had prepared them- selves with no weapons of attack or defence, except a blunderbuss. This they hastily fired towards the shore, but without giving it any particular direc- tion, and of course, without producing any effect. Quickly perceiving that all their efforts to defend themselves must be unavailing, as they were con- tending with a hidden foe, they put their boat about as speedily as possible, and proceeded towards the Vulture, presuming that its heavy arms would secure to them a far better protection from rebel out- rage, than their own small blunderbuss. In pro- ceeding back to the Vulture, they kept a proper distance from the shore, for the purpose of evading all further annoyance from the rebel muskets. The retreat was made good, and as the sun was just losing himself behind the towering mountains that border the Hudson in the vicinity of Haverstraw bay, the disappointed sailors might have been seen lifting themselves up the side of the Vulture. Peterson and Sherwood remained in their place LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 55 of concealment, until some time after the crew of the gun-boat had reached their vessel, expecting that a reinforcement might probably be sent on shore to reconnoitre. But no movement of the kind was made, and they abandoned the rock, and rejoined th-e old farmer at the mill. "What luck with the red coats'?" inquires the farmer, hastily. " Good luck and bad luck? if it is a possible thing," replies Peterson. ♦'How can that be?" says the farmer. "Easy enough," answers Peterson. "We had the good luck to come ofT unhurt, and tlie bad luck to kill two of the sailors in the gun-boat, whose only *crime was being engaged in arms against us." While Sherwood and Peterson were informing 'the farmer of the result of the skirmish, a man was observed coming down the east bank of the river, just below Collabergh landing, and cautiously ex- amining every thing around him. The stranger had gained the spot nearly opposite where the gun- •boat had been stationed, before he observed the men at the mill ; upon discovering them, he retraced his steps for a few rods, and took an easterly course ■towards Croton River. That man was no less a personage than Major Andre, bearing the traitor Arnold's despatches to the British General. The ^'■un-boat was to have received him at the point 56 I.ETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON, where it had been stationed, and conveyed him in safety on board the Vulture. The Vulture was to have conveyed him and his despatches to New York. He had conferred with the traitor the even- ing previous, a few miles below West Point, justly considered as the key of the Hudson. After all the necessary and proper arrangements had been made between the traitor and the spy, they separated, the one for his camp, and the other for the Vulture. The course of the latter lay along the west bank of the Hudson, about three miles below Caldwell's landing, and opposite Verplank's Point. At that place he crossed the river, and followed its course until he arrived at the particular spot in "the Lap," where the gun-boat had been stationed to receive him. Having heard the firing, and perceiving that the gun-boat had been forced or frightened from the place of assignation, he was compelled to alter his course, and proceed towards the interior of the county of Westchester. About eleven o'clock on the evening of that day, he found himself approach- ing Crumpond. At that place he remained through the night with a Mr. Smith. Early on the morn of the ensuing day, having procured a horse, he started for New York, determining to travel the distance by land. He crossed the Croton river at Pinesbridge, and at the time of his capture, was passing the Beekman woods, the largest forest in LETTERS ABOUT THE IIUDSON. 57 Westchester county, and adjacent to the old Dutch Church alluded to in my letter about TarrytowTi. So you will perceive, friend P., that West Point owed its safety in part to those who were instrumen- tal in putting the Spy in the way of being captur- ed ; and while therefore the proper meed of praise is awarded to Paulding, Williams, and Van Wart, and monuments erected to their memory for the agency they had in the capture, the part acted by Sherwood and Peterson, and the agency they had in enabling the capture to take place, should not remain " unhonoured and unsung." By the way, on the bills of the " Westchester Bank," established in Peekskill about two years since, there is a beautiful vignette picture, repre- senting the arrest of poor Andre. He is in the act of supplicating his captors to let him escape ; the discovered papers are in the hands of one of them, and the stern eyes of the others evince the deter- mination to listen to no suggestions but those of patriotism. The form and features of Andre are admirably depicted — a miniature hangs in his bo- som, exquisitely finished. The worthy editor of the " Westchester and Putnam Republican," printed in this village, has furnished me with some stanzas, suggested by the vignette I have above described, and with them I conclude this epistle, as I leave here to-day in the good steamer Union, for the city. 58 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. Before their country's foe they stand, Each with a stern and searching eye ; Grasped with a firm and honest hand, The hostile records open lie : They read, and as each noble brow Wears the quiet shadow of resolve. The true and just exhibit now The secret which they dared to solve. Away with gold! it has no power To turn the true heart from its quest; The ordeal of this solemn hour Gives firmness to the patriot's breast : And as the tempter's art is tried, He finds each supplication vain ; The weary prisoner turns aside, To hide his labouring bosom's pain. Tumultuous thoughts upon his mind In quick succession wildly crowd, As urged by the resistless wind, Spreads o'er the sky the tempest's cloud; Why bends his sad and languid glance Where, near his heart, that picture lies, Affection's fond inheritance. With sunny smile, and loving eyes ! Alas ! upon that face no more The eager gaze of hope can turn, The dream of early love is o'er. And ne'er again its fires will burn j A shade is gathering o'er each tress, A gloom is lingering on the brow, And all its budding loveliness Is stained with tears of anguish now. LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 59 Brave, yet devoted ! On thy head The bolt, by others forged, shall fall; And history on thy name shall shed Of fate, the wormwood and the gall ! Yet wert thou noble — and thy soul The battle and the storm withstood, Till bending to a stern control, 'Twas by a traitor's lure subdued. Peace to thy shade, ill fated one! Though in the abbey's lengthened aisle^ Scarce lit by day's meridian sun, Thy marble bust may sadly smile. Yet is there darkness on thy name, Though gentle pity mourns for thee', While patriots bless the holy flame Which kept thy captor's spirit free. Yours, &c. LETTER VIII. Origin of " Sing Sing^' — Statistics — Description of Sing Sing Prison — The Chaplain — System of Discipline — The Lynd System — Folger and Matthias' — Mount Pleasant Academy— Franklin Academy — The Newspaper — Public House, d^c. Sing Sing, Mount Pleasant, Feb. 6, 18S6. Dear P. — " Sing Sing" is the principal village of the town of " Mount Pleasant," and is situated 34 miles north of New York, on the east side of the Hudson river. The name is derived from the Chi- nese, Tsing Sing, the title of a celebrated governor in China, of a city so called. It is said to be brought to this country by a Dutch settler who had traded with China. The whole town, the largest in point of population in Westchester county, con- tains by the state census of 1835, four thousand seven hundred and fifty-eight souls, and more fe- males than males by one hundred and twenty-eight. There are, it also appears, in this to^\^l, three hun- dred and ninety -eight soldiers, nine hundred and seventy-three voters, forty-nine aliens, one hundred and twenty-four natural abolitionists, or to speak more significantly, people of colour ; five hundred and sixty-seven married females under the age of LETTERS .ABOUT THE HUDSON, 61 45 ; four hundred and thirty unmarried females be- tween 16 and 45; and one thousand and sixty-nine unmarried females under 16. The township con- sists of 23,605 acres of land, the largest number ol 21 towns in the county, except Cortlandt, which contains 33,315 acres. So much for statistics. Sinsr Sing is pleasantly situated on an elevation gradu- ally rising from the river to the height of 300 or 400 feet. The principal objects of interest or cu- riosity here is the State Prison. Through the courtesy of R. Wiltse, Esq. the agent, and Col. Sing, I visited the various departments, and was much gratified with the neatness, order, and regu- larity which prevailed in the several shops and workhouses. The prison is situated on the east margin of the Hudson river, ten feet above high water mark. — The prison grounds contain one hundred and thir- ty acres, and may be approached by vessels draw- ing twelve feet of water. The prison-keeper's house, workshop, &c., are built of rough dressed stone, or " Sing Sing marble." The prison is four hundred and eighty-four feet in length, running north and south, (parallel with the river,) and forty- four feet in wadth, fronting westerly on the Hudson river, and communicating with the west yard by two doors, which open at the extreme north and south ends of the prison. The west yard is enclos- 6 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. ed by two buildings forty feet wide and two stories high, which are occupied as the kitchen, hospital, chapel, workshops, storehouses, &c. ; these build- ings extend from the prison westerly to the edge of the dock ; the south wing adjoins the prison, but has no communication but from the hospital. The north wing is connected with the prison by a wall twenty feet in height, running north and south ten feet, thus enclosing an area of four hundred and ninety-four by four hundred and twelve feet. This yard communicates with the east yard of the prison, which is enclosed, by an open arch-way through the centre of the prison, and an arched gate-way through the wall at the north end. There is no door leading from the prison into the east yard. In the centre of the west yard is a range of shops forty feet wide, fronting on the Hudson, and running parallel with the prison two hundred and seventy- six feet, having wings which extend easterly to- wards the prison one hundred and forty feet, occupied as stone shops. The guard house is on the bank, on the east side of the prison, about 170 feet above the level of the yard, and commands a perfect view of the east yard, and most of the west. The prison is five stories high. There are two hundred cells on each floor, in all one thousand. There are at this time about seven hundred and eighty prisoners, and not more than ten or twelve LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 63 sick in the hospital. The largest number in this prison at one time, the keeper informed me, was nine hundred and forty. The present chaplain of the institution, the Rev. Jonathan Dickinson, of the Presbyterian order, has the reputation of being well qualified for the purpose of imparting religious instruction, and im- pressing upon the minds of the convicts the duty they owe to their God and to society. And if any situation in which men could be placed, who have discarded every virtuous principle, is calculated to soften the heart and render them susceptible of re- ligious reformation, it is when confined to the soli- tude of their cells, where they cannot escape the reproof of their own reflections, and where their duties as men and Christians are clearly pointed out by their religious teacher. Mr. Dickinson re marked to me that he never preached the gospel with more pleasure than he had here, nor indeed with equal interest. Here men in general have not been in the habit of hearing it; it therefore comes to them with the advantages of novelty ; and their peculiar condition helps and even urges them to its consideration. I found the chaplain a very affable, humane, and intelligent gentleman. He politely favoured me with a glance at his unpub- lished report to the inspectors of the prison. "From what I have been led to observe," says Mr. D. "it 64 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. seems to me that while there is no absolute security in education against crime, yet it must be admitted that it imposes a certain amount of restraint on the predominant passions and propensities, which, though broken through in some instances, remains useful afterward as a means of throwing light up- on the darkness of a person's criminal course, and when brought into this state for reflection, he is the better able to see and to weigh the follies of his life." Several instances have come under Mr. D.'s observation, where men had prostituted the privi- lege of early pious education ; but at this distant day, after a series of transgressions, its early influ- ences seem to have arisen from a long sleep, and are now in this secluded state exerting a most salu- tary, reclaiming effect. The system and discipline of the Sing Sing Prison at the present time owe their origin to Elam Lynds, for man^^ years the agent of the Auburn prison. His system combines solitude and the ad- vantages of profitable employment. The convicts are shut up in separate cells at night, and on Sun- days except when attending religious exercises in the chapel. While at work, the prisoners are not allowed to exchange a word with each other under any pretence whatever, nor to communicate any intelligence to each other in writing; not to ex- change looks, winks, laugh, or motion, with each LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 65 other, nor make use of any signs, except such as are necessary to convey their wants to the waiters. This system was established at Auburn in 1824. Capt. Lynds assembled the convicts together, and giving the rules by which their conduct must be governed, told them they must henceforth labour diligently, and in perfect silence; that for every infringement of the rules which he had then giv- en them, severe corporeal chastisement should be inflicted. The convicts were at first mclined to receive this as a mere threat, but they were soon con- vinced, from the energy of will and firmness of character exhibited by Captain Lynds at this cri- sis, that submission was inevitable. The adoption of this system of confining each convict in a separate cell at night, rendered the Auburn prison (which at this time, 1824, contained but five hundred and fifty cells) insufficient to ac- commodate all the convicts in the state. An act was therefore passed by the Legislature, author- izing the erection of a new prison. Sing Sing was selected as the location, and Captain Lynds as the agent to build and conduct it. He was directed to take from the Auburn prison one hundred convicts, to remove them to the ground selected for the site of the new prison, to purchase materials, employ keepers and guards, and commence the construc- tion of the prison. The reasons for taking the 6* 6G L£ ;T£US AEOCT the HUDSON. convicts from Auburn, and transporting them so great a distance, instead of from New York, were, that the convicts at Auburn had been more accus- tomed to cutting and laying stone, and had been brought by Capt. Lynds into the perfect and regu- lar state of discipline he had established at Auburn, and which was justly deemed indispensably neces- sary to their safe keeping in the open country, and the successful prosecution of the work. The Auburn prisoners arrived at Sing Sing without accident or disturbance in May, 1825, with- out a place to receive or a wall to enclose them. On the same day a temporary barrack was erected to receive the convicts at night ; they were then set at work, building the prison, making of each one a carpenter, mason, &c. and having no other means to keep them in obedience but the rigid en- forcement of discipline by Capt. Lynds. During several years, the convicts, whose numbers were gradually increased, were engaged in building their o\vn prison, and finally completed it in 1829. It then contained eight hundred cells. In 1831, an- other story .was added, and the number of cells in- creased to one thousand. What a commentary this on the Lynd system! That it has a tendency to restrain crime, will be seen by the following statistics, given in one of the reports of the prison. In 1831, 199 convicts were LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 67 received; in 1832, 188; in 1833, 151— total, 538, which shows a gradual decrease in three years, notwithstanding the great increase of population. Thus much for the Sing Sing prison. Mount Pleasant, you know, is famous as being the scene of Matthias' impositions. Folger and his wife still reside in the village. He is a gentleman in his appearance and manners, and apparently not more than thirty-two or thirty-three years of age. They hope to live down the prejudices which have been created against them by their connexion with that fiend in human shaYte— Matthias. The Mount Pleasant Academy, under the su- perintendence of Albert Wells, Esq. is in a flour- ishing and prosperous condition. The academy edifice is a spacious building of Sing Sing marble, sixty by eighty feet, three stories high, standing en a lot of four acres, delightfully shaded with fruit trees, on one of the most retired streets of the vil- lage, commanding too an extensive prospect of the river and adjacent country. In its internal arrange- ment, there is every desirable convenience for the principal's family and instructors, and the several departments of the school. The remarkable heahhi- ness of the place, the beauty of the scenery, and the facility of communication with both city and coun- try, conspire to render this one of the most delight- ful retreats for a literary institution. This academy 68 LKTTKRS A20UT THE HUDSON. is under the direction of the " Regents." Boys are boarded and educated for $150 per annum. A fe- male seminary is about to be erected here on a lib- eral and extensive plan. The Franklin Academy, a boarding school for young ladies in this village, is in high repute. It is under the management of Mr. and Mrs. Bleeker. There are seventy-five young ladies who board in the family, and receive instruction in the solid and ornamental branches. There is also a male de- partment, entirely unconnected as to location, in which about eighty young gentlemen are instructed in the various branches of English and classical education. There are on Mount Pleasant a Presbyterian, an Episcopal, a Baptist, and a Methodist church. One newspaper, the " Westchester Herald," conducted v/ith considerable ability by a Mr. Roscoe. In re- gard to public houses, I can only say that the best is now, and has been for the last thirteen years, kept by Mr. E. Crosby, a son of him of "Spy" memory, where may be obtained very comfortable accommodations. But I have not yet found in my travels, the house that will compare with your "American" and your " New England." Brigham and Gould of the former, and Coleman of the latter, are my heau ideal of publicans. LETTER IX. VieiBSofthe Hudson— Historical Items— TVie Hudson a Lake — Tke old man's story. New York, March 10, 1836. Friend P. — The congealed waters of the Hud- son at this season of the year, totally exclude my ramblings, and 1 must content myself with the re- collections of past journey ings and the reminiscences of other writers. Yes, I must draw in part upon the resources of abler pens, for facts wherewith to fill up my attempted illustrations of the noble North. Disturnell of this city, has you know, com- menced a series of views from original drawings, under the cognomen of " Picturesque Beauties of the Hudson River and its vicinity ;" and Samuel L. Knapp, Esq. has undertaken to give historical and descriptive illustrations. Two numbers have already appeared, and should adequate encourage- ment be afforded, it is the publisher's intention to issue a number every two months. Each number contains three splendid engravings on steel; and the letter-press illustrations, though brief, are credit able to the taste and genius of the author. The vignette in the title page, presenting a view of the Palisades, is exquisite — decidedly the best in the 70 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. immber. The Danube or Rhine, does not furnish more beautiful or picturesque views than our own beautiful Hudson ; and the illustration of these beauties are worthy of the efforts of our most gifted painters, poets, and historians. The name of Henry Hudson, the discoverer of the noble river which bears his name, and " who is identified with its his- tory," will be had in remembrance while its smooth Avaters roll on to the ocean's depth. — Hudson, says Col. Knapp, was the friend of Capt. John Smith, of Pocahontas memory. He entered the southern waters of New York on the 3d of September, 1609, and was the first navigator who visited them. Tra- dition says, that he landed at Long Island and traded with the natives. He next discovered the mouth of the river which has ever since been called by his name. He spent a week south of the Nar- rows, before he entered the bay, watching the na- tives, but at the same time holding a friendly traffic with them. He was not then aware, that the pres- ent site of the city and county of New York was an island. On the 14th, he proceeded through Tap- pan arid Haverstraw bays, and anchored during the night near West Point. At times, Hudson and his men amused themselves in catching fish, which were found in abundance in the river, and of a fine flavour. The natives appeared more mild and so- cial than those he encountered while entering the LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON, 71 river. On the 16th, he anchored at a place which now bears his name, Hudson. It is not certain how much further up he sailed. Antiquarians be- lieve that he reached Albany, and that some of his men in boats proceeded still further, to the conflu- ence of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers. His ves- sel was very small for such an exploring voyage, a mere ''fly boat" as some have called her, not larger than a small sloop used for the coasting traffic at the present time. Hudson's ship was called the Half Moon, and if not made for comfort, was better calculated for running into bays and harbours than larger boats. It is the opinion of some, that the Hudson was originally a lake. Mrs. Phelps, late Vice Princi- pal of the Troy Female Seminary, in her " Female Student," an excellent series of lectures delivered before the young ladies of that institution, expresses a similar opinion. She thinks it impossible to pro- nounce with certainty respecting the changes which may have taken place in the region watered by the Hudson and its branches ; but that while passing down its current, and observing the adjacent coun- try on each side, she has been strongly impressed with the belief, that the valley of this river was once a vast lake connected with the lakes on our northern border; that the highlands and palisades were the southern boundary of this lake. The 72 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. waters forcibly operating upon these barriers might, by degrees, have worn them away, until opening for itself a passage, this mighty mass rushed on- ward to the ocean. This, however, is mere hy- pothesis. She seems inclined to the opinion, that the region about Troy was once covered with wa- ter, and that Mount Ida and Mount Olympus were islands in this great lake. About two miles from Troy, on the east, there is a beautiful valley; — by following its course, you will find it winding its way toward the Hudson, resembling, in appear- ance, the bed of a river whose channel has been turned, or whose waters are dried up. On the west side of the Hudson there is a sin- gular ravine, often called the Dry River ; this, in- stead of sloping banks like the beautiful vale on the eastern side, has abrupt and rugged shores, and a rocky, uneven bed: a little rill yet lingers among the rocks, convincing us, if farther evidence were necessary, that there has been a noble arm of the Hudson. Although on the eastern side, the vale of which Mrs. Phelps has spoken, bears less incon- testible marks of its having been the bed of a river, there is but little doubt, that too was covered with water tributary to the large river. Referring then to the supposition, that the Hudson river is but the remains of a great lake, which suddenly discharged its waters into the Atlantic, we might suppose that LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 73 when this event took place, many rivers were form- ed by the inequalities of the surface, and that these rivers in time have changed their channels, or gradually subsided into dry land. But a truce to geographical speculations about the changes of the " Hudson and its vicinity ;" and now for an interesting revolutionary reminiscence, related to me by a gentleman who some time since visited your state. He put Up at a house in Green- field, and during the evening, while he sat in the bar room, heard a sensible old man relate the sub- stance of what follows. On retiring to his room, he sat down and made a transcript ; and gave it to the editor of the Greenfield Mercury, with whom he was acquainted. But for the " Old Man!s story. ^^ " During the revolutionary war," said he, "there was a point of land on the Jersey side of the Hud- son River, and not far distant from Ncav York, which was the scene of a bloody conflict There were about three hundred acres next to the river, from which the wood and timber had been cleared off; back of this was a heavy forest. On this ele- vated point, a large number of fat cattle, destined to supply the American army, were placed. Four or five miles distant, in New Jersey, there were three thousand light infantry, under the command of Lafayette. I was one of that detachment. Our business was to see that the cattle were not taken 7 74 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. from the point by the enemy. One morning, in- telligence was brought into the camp, that several vessels had approached the point, and that a large body of British soldiers were landing. My regi- ment was ordered to march immediately for the Point. Rufus Putnam, a nephew of the old Gene- ral, was our Colonel. He was well stocked with the Putnam mettle. He was a brave officer. I could never discern that he was not just as cool and self-possessed when going into battle as when sitting in his tent. We made a hurried march, and upon approaching the edge of the woods, the Col- onel ordered the Adjutant to go forward and see where the troops were, and what was their num- ber. The Adjutant soon returned, and reported they were forming upon the shore in three columns, and he should think the columns contained about one thousand each. ' Then,' said the Colonel, ' ride back to the camp as quickly as possible, and tell Lafayette to come on.' When the Adjutant had gone, Col. Putnam rode up to my Captain, who was Daniel Shays, of insurrection memory, and, said he, ' well, Capt. Shays, shall we be playing with them until the General comes V ' That must be as 1/ou please,' replied Capt. Shays. " Orders were soon given to advance to the open land upon the point. We now stood face to face with our foes. Firing very soon commenced. LETTEIIS ABOUT THE HUDSON, 75 Cannon from the shipping in the river poured forth their volleys ; and small-arms did fatal execution. Col. Putnam rode back and forth in front of the regiment, as calm as a man at home, though the balls were whistling past him in every direction. We worked very fast, and for one regiment made a great noise. The corporal at my right hand, received a ball through the body, and fell, dying. I was young, and a dying man at my feet, bleeding and gasping, might perhaps cause my colour to fade a little. Capt. Shays stepped forward — ' George,' said he, 'never mind it, I will take his place;' and he was as good as his word ; he took the cor^ poral's gun and used it. Shays was the best Cap- tain I ever served under. He was bold and kind. I will give him his due, though he has done un- worthily since; we stood shoulder to shoulder in that day of peril. I was loading my gun the twenty- second time, when General Lafayette, with the main body of the light infantry, issued from the wood. Never shall I forget the feeling of that mo- ment. Wellington was hardly more pleased to see Blucher in the battle of Waterloo, than we were to see our brother in arms. The main body formed at once, upon our left. Lafayette rode forward, (an elegant officer, and never did he fill my eye so entirely as at that moment;) though a mere strip- ling in appearance, in action he was a man — and 76 LEtTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. had Cornwallis seen him as we then saw him, he would not have called him ' the boy.' As he ap- proached, 'Col. Putnam,' said he, 'how dared you fire before I arrived V ' Oh,' said the Col- onel, ' I thought I would be playing with them a little.' Lafayette at that moment seemed full of energy and fire — turning towards the line, and with a loud and distinct voice, marked by his French accent — said he, 'We fire no more — the whole line charge bayonets — rush onward, and drive them, where the devil drove the hogs.' The effect of his presence and his words was astonish- ing; every heart beat quick and full. We did rush on, and such a scene of carnage my eyes never saw. At first the British force charged to meet us, but they could not stand against us, and fled from the shore ; we followed them, and drove them in the water ; of the three thousand, about fifteen hundred got aboard the vessels. The rest were slain, and most of them at the point of the bayonet. " I have described to you the most painfully in- teresting and horrid scene which I had ever wit- nessed, I never enjoyed killing men. I fought because I thought it to be my duty." Yours, &c. LETTER X. Che Travellers^ Home — Mansion House, and its new jn-o- prietoi — Troy House — Washington Hall — Apology — T7».e Rail Road Cars — Description of Troy Bridge, etc. — Route to Balston and Saratoga Springs — Revolutionary Reminiscence — Battle at Bemis' Heights — Distance to Balston — " Sans SoucV^ — Balston — Return to Troy — Henry Burden — His residence — His genius, etc. — Reading Room, Troy — We^t Troy — Its business — IVTAdamized road to Albany — Stages, etc. Mansion House, Troy, May 11, 1838. Friend P. — There was an old fashioned virtue, called hospitality — of which we have still extant some records in the history of the patriarchs, and recent traditions of its existence in some later gen- erations. Perhaps there is yet a by-corner of the world, where traces may be found of it, and cer- tainly there is still extant a command to exercise it. •' Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." The discontinuance of this virtue, must be as- cribed to the numerous artificial wants, created partly by the whims of fashion, and partly by the regular progress of society — increasing the ex- pense of good house-keeping. We cannot welcome a guest, but at the sacrifice of some money, or time, i,K:Ti:ns aeout the Hudson. or 'pride — and, therefore, we close the door, and deny the obligation to open it. Fortunately for the stranger, the same march of civilization has prepared another home, whose doors are always open to all who can pay for the enter- tainment. Many, even amidst the unpaid for cour- tesies of a private dwelling, sigh for the liberty and comfort of that "travellers' home." How often has the truth of these lines been felt, by every way faring man who has read them : — " Whoe'er has travell'd life's dull round, Where'er his changes may have been, Musi sigh to think, how oft he's found The kindest welcome at an inn." But prosing and poetry aside. The " Mansion House," so deservedly popular under the adminis- tration of Dr. Huddleston, has become the very ne plus ultra of " inns," since it passed into the hands of Mr. Henry Hull, long and favourably known by the bon tons who have for the last ten or twelve years resorted to the medicinal *' Springs of Leba- non" for health, or fashionable recreation. Mr. H. possesses in an "eminent degree" all the requisites of a good publican. Affable, courteous, and intel- ligent, with twenty years' experience, he never fails to render his guests easy, comfortable, and happy. In a word, the whole tout ensemble of his establish- ment is just what it should be. LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 79 There are several other very good houses in Troy. The Troy House, by Mr. Kidd, is pleas- antly situated, and is favourably spoken of by those vi^ho have visited it. Washington Hall, by Messrs. E. & P. Dorlon, is also an excellent house. The building is spacious, the table well supplied, and the beds comfortable ; and what is of importance to many, the prices are moderate. To the traveller for business, and especially for pleasure, the character of a hotel is of paramount importance. It is, in fact, one of the " little things" on which the comfort and pleasure of his journey depends. This, therefore, must be my apology for saying so much about "inns and innholders." Yesterday, I took a seat in one of the passage cars, on the nev^^ rail road, for Balston. The road now extends to Saratoga, and will, I venture to pre- dict, become the most fashionable route, as indeed it is the most interesting, to the " Springs." The arrangements for carrying passengers are quite ex- tensive. There are twenty-four cars belonging to the company — at once spacious, elegant, and con- venient. They are twenty-four feet in length by eight in breadth, and sufficiently high within for the passengers to stand erect, the whole divided into three apartments ; the seats of which are cush- ioned and backed with crimson morocco, trimmed 80 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. •with coach lace; each apartment is surrounded by moveable panels, thus affording the comforts and facilities of either a close or open carriage, to suit the convenience of the passengers. The outside of the cars is painted of a beautiful fawn colour, with buff shading, painted in "picture panels," with rose, pink, and gold borders, and deep lake shading ; the small mouldings of delicate stripes of vermilion and opaque black. Within the panels are " transferred^^ some of the most splendid pro- ductions of the ancient and modern masters, among which are copies from " Leonardo da Vinci," "Ho- race Vernet," " David," (the celebrated painter to Napoleon,) " Stuart," and many more of the mod- ern school. The whole number of the subjects of the twenty-four cars, cannot fall far short of two hundred, as each car averages from six to ten subjects: among which may be enumerated, sev- eral copies from the antique. Napoleon crossing the Alps, the two splendid scenes in Byron's Mazeppa, the Hospital Mount St. Bernard, portraits of most of the distinguished men of our own country, among whom Washington (from Stuart's original) stands conspicuous, the wounded tiger, the avalanche, portraits of distinguished women, views of several of our popular steamboats, the rail road bridge near Philadelphia, and several views in the south. The ''lout ensemhleP is more like a moveable gal- LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 81 lery of the fine atts, than like a train of rail road cars. The springs of the cars are of Philadelphia make, and bear evenly. The "journals" are on a new plan, obviating* all previous objections. The wheels are of cast iron, with patent rolled iron tire, well annealed and wrought, being put on the cart wheel while hot. The cooling of the tire, and the contraction of the iron, render it impossible to de- viate from its place. The whole is then turned in a steam lathe by machine tools, thus rendering the circle of the wheel perfect from its centre, which is a great desideratum. The cars were made in Troy by those famous coach builders, Gilbert, Veazie and Eaton, aided by Mr. Starbuck, a scientific machinist. Connected with the cars are two beautiful locomotives called the " Erie" and the " Champlain." The rail road bridge, over which the cars cross the Hudson from Troy to Green Island, on their route to the Springs, is certainly a noble, substan- tial specimen of this kind of architecture. It is one thousand five hundred and twelve feet in length, thirty-four feet in width, and seventeen feet to the eaves. It is supported by stone abutments and piers. The sides are double lattice work, covered with boards on the outside. The floors of plank, and the roof shingled. It has thirty-two sky-lights or scuttles. The roof is supported in the centre 82 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON, by a tier of pillars. The draw on the east end is one hundred and four feet long, twenty-four feet wide, and ten feet high. The side draw is fifty -two feet long and twenty-four feet wide. A cast iron pipe for conveying water from the main pipe of the Troy Water Works Co. extends along under the roof, the whole length of the bridge. It has six- teen hydrants, one being placed at every other sky- light. After crossing this bridge, before reaching the village of Waterford, you pass three bridges besides the main one. The first crosses the Mo- hawk from Green Island to Vanschaick Island, and is four hundred and eighty-two feet long, the second crosses another sprout of the Mohawk from Vanschaick Island to Hawver Island, and is two hundred and two feet long. Three hundred and sixty feet further north, the third or minor bridge crosses the upper sprout of the Mohawk to Wa- terford, and is three hundred and twenty-six feet long. On Hawver Island may be seen the remains of an old fort thrown up in the Revolutionary war. On the Troy bridge there is a side walk for foot passengers, the rail road track, and a passage for common carriages. A bridge is shortly to be thrown across the Hudson from Green Island to West Troy, and the miserable horse-boats which now convey travellers across the Hudson will eventually fall into disuse. LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON, 83 The passage over the islands to Waterford, and indeed the whole route to Balston and Saratoga Springs, is really delightful. Then, too, the agents on the rail road are civil to the passengers, and at- tentive to the locomotives. The engineers are ex- perienced, and, although " flying as it were on the wings of the wind," one feels perfectly safe from accident. A few miles above Waterford, we pass on our rio-ht Mechanicsville, a flourishinsf little manufacturing village ; and within a mile or two of Bemus' Heights, rendered memorable as the scene of battle. A brief historical sketch of this battle will not 1 presume, friend P., be uninteresting to your read- ers. It is at all events in place ; and perhaps con- tains some facts not mentioned in the history af the American Revolution, It seems that Gen. Burgoyne crossed the Hud- son on the 13th and 14th of Sept. 1777, and on the 1 8th encamped in two lines, about two miles from the camp of Gen. Gates, " his left resting on the river, and his right extending at right angles to it across the low grounds about six hundred yards, to a range of steep and lofty heights occupied by his elite, having a creek or gully in his front." The camp of Gen. Gates was in the form of a segment of a great circle. His right resting on the brow of the hill near the river, with which it 84 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. was connected by a deep entrenchment. The ex- tremities were strengthened by strong batteries, and the interval by a breastwork constructed of trees, logs, and rails. The approach to the right, was almost impassable, and the left could not be reached without great difficulty. The above sketch will give the reader something of an idea of the two armies on the day preceding the bloody and hotly contested action of the 19th. The action of the 19th of September on Bemus' Heights, was accidental. Lieut. Col. Colburn, of the New Hampshire line, was detached, with a light party, to the west side of the river, for the pur- pose of observation. He reported about 8 o'clock, that the enemy had struck the greater part of their tents, and were ascending the heights in the direc- tion of the American line. Col. Morgan was im- mediately directed to march with his rifle corps, to hang on their front and flank, and retard their march as much as possible. At about half past 12 o'clock, the report of small arms announced that Morgan had fallen in with the enemy. The firing was of short duration. It was occasioned by falling in with a British picket, which was immediately forced. Pursuing the fu- gitives, he suddenly and unexpectedly fell in with the British line, and was instantly routed, with the loss of several officers and men taken prisoners. LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. S5 An anecdote of Morgan, the rough but intrepid commander of the rifle corps, may be interesting in this place. Col. (afterward General) Wilkinson, was at this time acting as Adjutant General of Gates' army, and attracted by the fire, he entered the wood. The first person he fell in with was Major Deai- born, who, with "great animation and a little warmth, was forming thirty or forty file of his in- fantry ;" on turning to gain the camp, his ears were saluted by an uncommon noise ; following the di- rection of the sound, he approached Col. Morgan, who, attended by only two men, was endeavouring with a turkey call to collect his dispersed troops. On coming up and accosting him, he burst into tears, and exclaimed, " I am ruined ; Major M. ran on so rapidly with the front, that they were beaten before I could get up with the rear, and my men are scattered." Two of the New Hampshire regiments (Cilly's and Scammel's) Avere then ordered out, with direc- tions to fall too on the left of Morgan. This was done, and the action was renewed with considera> ble spirit till about 1 o'clock, though subject to oc- casional pauses, as the troops on either side shifted their ground. Five other regiments were succes- sively brought on to the field, and about 3 o'clock the action became general, and from this period 86 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. until nightfall, the roar of musketry was incessant. Gen. Scammel's brigade was ordered out towards the close of the action, together with Marshal's regiment of Patterson's brigade and the Massa- chusetts line. Had they been brought out at an early hour, it is supposed that something decisive would have taken place. The force engaged in this action on the part of the Americans amounted to about 3,000 men : on the part of the British, as it appears from Burgoyne's own statement, about 3,500 men. Our loss in killed was reported at about 80, and 218 wounded, while that of the Brit- ish, according to the statements of Lieut. Col. Kings- bury, (Burgoyne's Adjutant General,) amounted to 600 killed and wounded. This action, it appears, was entirely accidental, and originated in a misconception of Gen. Gates of a movement of the enemy, which had reference merely to taking new ground on the heights in front of the great ravine. Thus closely contested, it was more remarkable for the cool determination and gallantry displayed by the American soldiery, than for any other exhi- bition of tactical skill on either side. Says General Wilkinson : "The theatre of action was such, that although the combatants changed ground a dozen times in the course of the day, the contest terminated on LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 87 the spot where it began. This may be explained in a few words. The British line was formed on an eminence in a thin pine wood, having- before it Freeman's farm, an oblong field stretching from the centre towards the right ; the ground in front sloping gently down to the verge of this field, which was bordered on the opposite side by a close wood ; the sanguinary scene lay in the cleared ground, between the eminence occupied by the enemy, and the wood just described. The fire of our marks- men from this wood was too deadly to be withstood by the enemy, in line, when they gave way and broke ; our men rushing from their covert pursued them to the eminence, where, having their flanks protected, they rallied, and charged in turn, drove us back into the wood, from whence a dreadful fire would again force them to fall back ; and in this manner did the battle fluctuate, like the waves of a stormy sea, with alternate advantage for hours, with- out one moment's intermission. The British ar- tillery fell into our possession at every charge, but we could neither turn the pieces upon the enemy, nor bring them off. The wood prevented the last, and the want of a match the first, as the lint stock was invariably carried off^ and the rapidity of transi- tions did not allow us to provide one. "The morning after the action I visited the wounded prisoners, who had been dressed, and dis- 88 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. covered a charming youth, not more than sixteen years old, lying among them, feeble, faint, pale, and stiff, in his gore. The delicacy of his aspect, and the quality of his clothing, attracted my atten- tion, and on inquiry, I found that he was Ensign Philips, He told me he had fallen by a wound in his leg or thigh, and as he lay on the ground, was shot through the body by an army follower, a mur- derous villain, who avowed the deed ; the moans of this helpless youth aflfected me to tears; I raised him from the straw on which he lay, took him in my arms, and removed him to a tent, where every comfort was provided for him; but his wounds were mortal, and he expired." One fact in this place is worthy of notice, as showing on what a trivial circumstance the fate of an army or a nation sometimes depends. On the morning of the action, a deserter from the enemy's camp came in, and stated that the en- tire British army was under arms, and that Gen. Burgoyne had given orders for the immediate at- tack of our lines, which, in consequence, were promptly manned, as well as circumstances would admit. An hour was passed in great anxiety, in expectation of the threatened attack ; none however was made, and the troops were dismissed. Yet it appears that the information of the deserter was substantially correct. After the surrender of Bur- LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. goyne, it was stated by General Phillips that Bur- goyne had determined to attack the left of the American line, with his whole force, on the morn- ing preceding the action ; that the army was formed, only waiting for the dispersion of the fog to com- mence, when General Frazier observed to General Burgoyne, that "the grenadiers and light infantry, who were to lead the attack, appeared fatigued by the duties of the preceding day, and that if he would suspend the operation until the next morn- ing, he was persuaded they would carry the at- tack with more vivacity." This induced Burgoyne to defer it, and the order was countermanded. The same day a spy from Sir Henry Clinton reached Burgoyne, informing him of his expedition against the Highlands. This determined Gen. Burgoyne to postpone the attack, and wait for events. Had he carried his meditated attack into execution, it is very probable that the result Avould have been highly disastrous to the American arms, as our troops were quite exhausted from the operations of the preceding day; besides, our lines w^ere not completed, and what was worse, the left wing, ow- ing to some mismanagement, had been prevented from drawing ammunition. In point of numerical force, the two armies were about equal, but the ad- vantage was decidedly with the British, as their troops were composed of veterans, while our men 90 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. were badly equipped, and were defective in disci- pline. Under these circumstances, we may well suppose, had the attack been made, that Burgoyne would have gained a decided victory, and that the convention of Saratoga, by which, a short time af- terwards, he surrendered himself and army as pris- oners of war, would not have taken place. But to leave the field of action. The distance from Troy to Balston is about twenty-five miles-. "We left Troy at half past 2, and arrived at Bals- ton at half past 4 P. M. Abating hinderances, the distance is, I am informed, usually performed in an hour and a half Determined to return the same evening, my tarry at Balston was necessarily short. I however visited the " Sans Soucir the fashion- able house for visiters to the Balston Springs. Mr. Waters, the worthy proprietor of the establishment, I found busily employed in preparing for the sum- mer campaign. The house is one of the largest, airiest, and most convenient in the country. It is three stories high, one hundred and sixty feet in length, with two back ranges of one hundred and fifty feet, and capable of accommodating one hun- dred and twenty-five to one hundred and fifty per- sons. There is a beautiful garden attached to it. Mr. W. is not wanting in capacity or disposition to ca- ter for the hundreds who flock to his house du- LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 91 ring the summer. As an instance of this it may- be mentioned, that he has made arrangements, in connexion with Mr. Hull of the Mansion House in Troy, to procure fresh from the lakes, perch and other choice fish. Balston is rather ancient in its appearance. It contains about one thousand five hundred inhabit- ants. There are several churches, an Academy, a Female Seminary ; and a weekly newspaper is published here. There are also two or three woollen manufactories in operation. The village was chartered in 1807, and is di- rected by three trustees, who are chosen annually. The Balston Lake is situated about six miles from the village. It is five miles long and one in width. This beautiful lake, and the jaw-cracker creek, " Kayaderosseras," which flows along the east end of the village, is a great resort for sportsmen in the summer season. But to return to Troy, (as I did after partaking of the medicinal waters of Balston.) We arrived at the Mansion House before dark, having since half past 2 P. M. travelled fifty miles, and enjoyed the varied beauties of a romantic and interesting section of country. You have heard, friend P., of the *'name and the fame" of Henry Burden. Well, his residence is about two miles from the city. Delightfully situ- LETTERS ABOUT THE HTJDSON. ated upon an eminence, which affords a view of a large extent of country, the most romantic and picturesque imaginable. By the taste of his amia- ble and accomplished lady, and the skill of a Eu- ropean gardener, the grounds adjacent to the Man- sion House have been transformed from a barren waste, such as it was when Henry Hudson " Frightened the Indian in his wild retreat," to an enchanting garden, where the roses of Eng- land, the thistle of Scotland, and the lilies of France, are taught to luxuriate together. At the bottom of the hill rolls, or rather leaps, by a succession of foaming cataracts, a rapid and narrow stream, which discharges its waters into the Hudson. It is here that the most extensive iron works, which are to be found in the vicinity of the Hud- son, during its whole course, are established. The manner in which the nails are manufactured, dif- fers in no respect from similar establishments in New England. But the process by which spikes are produced is the invention of Mr. Burden, and it was this important improvement which first brought him into notice, and greatly augmented his pecuniary resources. The next effort of his genius was the construction of the far-famed steamboat ; the result of which is well known. This discouraging circumstance, to- LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 93 gether with the loss of time and money, which were very great, would have been sufficient to have entirely disheartened an ordinary mind. But in a single week, after the wreck of his steamboat, Mr. B. produced the model for the manufacture of horse shoes, which promises soon to yield an im- mense profit. Mr. Burden is now on a voyage to Europe, to procure letters patent for the exclusive use of his inventions there. Success attend every effort of his inventive cleverness. While in Troy, 1 enjoyed the privilege extended to all strangers, of visiting the well-regulated and extensive reading rooms of the " Troy Young Men's Association." This association is composed of five hundred and fifty young men between the ages of fourteen and forty. Persons over forty are admitted as honorary members by paying $5 per annum. The regular members pay $2. The reading rooms are furnished with about one hun- dred and fifty principal newspapers and magazines, from every state in the Union, as well as from for- eign countries. There is also connected with it a library of about twelve hundred volumes. Lec- tures are delivered before the members of the asso- ciation from December to March, on moral, lite- rary, and scientific subjects, A part of the mem- bers have formed a Debating Society. The asso- ciation is incorporated, and can hold property to the 94 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. amount of $30,000. Ladies are introduced, and not unfrequently visit the rooms in pleasant weather. West Troy, directly opposite the city on the west side of the Hudson River, has but little to at- tract the attention of the traveller. The United States Arsenal, however, is located here, and there are several articles manufactured pretty extensively, such as stone-ware, steam engines, etc. There is a fine smooth Macadamized turnpike on the west side of the river, from West Troy to Albany. This road was completed in 1831, and cost about $100,000. An excellent line of accom- modation stages leave Troy and Albany every half hour during the day. Passengers with their bag- gage are taken up and put down in any part of either city, for the trifling sum of twenty-five cents. The distance over the turnpike is six miles, and it runs parallel and in sight of the river and the great canal all the way. A steamboat, the John Ma- son, plies between Troy and Albany three or four times a day. But travellers generally prefer the pleasant route over the turnpike. There is a very neat public house on the road, where the stages stop, known as the half-way house. In the sum- mer season, the citizens of the two cities find this a delightful resort or stopping place. The facilities of travelling from Troy are quite numerous; besides the steamboats and the rail road, LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 95 Stages leave for Castleton, Rutland, Manchester, Chester, Bennington, Brattleborough, Greenfield, Worcester, Lebanon Springs, Pittsfield, Boston, and for Whitehall via Sandy Hill, every day; and for Union Village to Whitehall, three times a week LETTER XL Revolutionary Reminiscences of the Hudson — Fort Edward — General Lyman — Story of the fate of Miss Jane M^Creaf etc. Troy, May 12, 1836. Dear P. — In my last from this place, I intro- duced a brief account of the battle of Bemus' Heights. No section of the country is, perhaps, more fraught with reminiscences of war than the •' Hudson and its vicinity." Following the river about fifty miles north of Troy, you reach the vil- lage of Fort Edward. The fort was raised during the memorable war of 1775, for the defence of this point of the Hudson. It was originally called Fort Lyman, after General Lyman, a brave but neglected officer. About half a mile above Fort Edward stands the old pine tree which marks the spot where Miss Jane M'Crea was murdered by the In- dians. The story of her fate, related by an anony- mous pen, will bear repeating in this place. For it *' has been a theme which eloquence and sensibility have alike contributed to dignify, and which has kindled in many a breast the emotions of a respon- sive sympathy. General Gates's sympathy in his letter to Burgoyne, although more ornate than for- cible, and abounding more in bad taste than sim- LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 97 plicity or pathos, was suited to the feelings of the moment, and produced a lively impression in every part of America; and the glowing language of Burke, in one of his most celebrated speeches in the British Parliament, made the story of Jane M'Crea familiar to the European world." This young lady was the daughter of a clergy- man who died in New Jersey before the Revolu- tion. Upon her father's death, she sought a home in the house of her brother, a respectable gentle- man residing on the western bank of Hudson River, about four miles below Fort Edward. Here «he formed an intimacy with a young man named David Jones, to whom it was understood she was engaged to be married. When the war broke out, Jones took the side of the royalists, went to Canada, received a commission, and was a captain or lieu- tenant among the provincials in Burgoyne's army. Fort Edward was situated on the eastern mar- gin of Hudson River, within a few yards of the water, and surrounded by a plain of considerable extent, which was cleared of wood and cultivated. On the road leading to the north, and near the foot of the hill, about one third of a mile from the fort, stood a house occupied by Mrs. M'Neil, a widow lady, and an acquaintance of Miss M'Crea, with whom she was staying as a visiter at the time the American army was in that neighbourhood. The 9 98 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. side of the hill was covered with a growth of bushes, and on its top, a quarter of a mile from the house, stood a large pine tree, near the root of which gushed out a perennial spring of water. A guard of one hundred men had been left at the fort, and a picket under Lieutenant Van Vechten was stationed in the woods on the hill a little beyond the pine tree. Early one morning this picket guard was at- tacked by a party of Indians, rushing through the woods from different points at the same moment, and rending the air with their hideous yells. Lieut. Van Vechten and five others were killed and scalp- ed, and four were wounded. Samuel Standish, one of the guard, whose post was near the pine tree, discharged his musket at the first Indian he saw, and ran down the hill towards the fort ; but he had no sooner reached the plain, than three Indians who had pursued him, cut off his retreat, darted out of the bushes, fired, and wounded him in the foot. One of them sprang upon him, threw him to the ground, pinioned his arms, and then pushed him violently forward up the hill. He naturally- made as much haste as he could, and in a short time they came to the spring, where several In- dians were assembled. Here Standish was left to himself, at a little dis- tance from the spring and the pine tree, expecting LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 99 every moment to share the fate of his comrades, whose scalps were conspicuously displayed. A few minutes only had elapsed, when he saw a small party of the Indians ascending the hill, and with them Mrs. M'Neil and Miss M'Crea on foot. He knew them both, having often been at Mrs. M'Neil's house. The party had hardly joined the other Indians, when he perceived much agitation among them, high words and violent gestures, till at length they engaged in a furious quarrel, and beat one another with their muskets. In the midst of this fray, one of the chiefs, apparently in a par- oxysm of rage, shot Miss M'Crea in the breast. She instantly fell and expired. Her hair was long and flowing. The same chief grasped it in his hand, seized his knife, and took off the scalp in such a manner as to include nearly the whole of the hair ; then springing from the ground, he tossed it in the face of a young warrior, who stood near him watching the operation, brandished it in the air, and uttered a yell of savage exultation. When this was done the quarrel ceased ; and, as the fort had already been alarmed, the Indians hurried away as quickly as possible to Gen. Frazier's en- campment on the road to Fort Anne, taking with them Mrs. M'Neil and Samuel Standish. The bodies of the slain were found by a party tliat went in pursuit, and were carried across the 100 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. river. They had been stripped of their clothing, and the body of Miss M'Crea was wounded in nine places, either by a scalping- knife or a tomahawk. A messenger was despatched to convey the afflict- ing intelligence to her brother, who arrived soon afterward, took charge of his sister's remains, and had them interred on the east side of the river about three miles below the fort. The body of Lieut. Van Vechten was buried at the same time, and on the same spot. History has preserved no facts by which we can at this day ascertain the reason why Miss M'Crea should remain as she did in so exposed and un- protected a situation. She had been reminded of her danger by the people at the fort. Tradition relates, however, and with seeming truth, that through some medium of communication she had promised her lover, probably by his advice, to re- main in this place, until the approach of the British troops should afford an opportunity to join him, in company with her hostess and friend. It is said, that, when they saw the Indians coming to the house, they were at first frightened, and attempted to escape; but, as the Indians made signs of pa- cific intention, and one of them held up a letter in- timating that it was to be opened, their fears were calmed and the letter was read. It was from Jones, and contained a request that they would put them- LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 101 selves under the charge of the Indians, whom he had sent for the purpose, and who would guard them in safety to the British camp. Unfortunately, two separate parties of Indians, or, at least, two chiefs acting independently of each other, had uni- ted in this enterprise, combining with it an attack of the picket guard. It is incredible that Jones should have known this part of the arrangement, or he would have foreseen the danger it threatened. When the prize was at their hands, the two chiefs quarrelled about the mode of dividing the rewards they were to receive ; and, according to the Indian rule of settling disputes in the case of captives, one of them, in a wild fit of passion, killed the victim and secured the scalp. Nor is it the least shocking feature of the transaction, that the savage seemed not aware of his mission. Uninformed as to the motive of his employer for obtaining the person of the lady, or not comprehending it, he regarded her in the light of a prisoner, and supposed the scalp would be an acceptable trophy. Let it be imagined what were the feelings of the anxious lover, waiting with joyful anticipation the arrival of his intended bride, when this appalling proof of her death was presented to him. The innocent had suffered by the hand of cruelty and violence, which he had un- consciously armed; his most fondly cherished hopes were blasted, and a sting was planted in his soul, 9* 102 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. which time and forgetfulness never could eradicate. His spirit was scathed and his heart broken. He lived but a few years, a prey to his own sad recol- lections, and sunk into the grave under the burden of his grief The remembrance of this melancholy tale is still cherished with a lively sympathy, by the people who dwell near the scene of its principal incidents. — The inhabitants of the village of Fort Edward, have lately removed the remains of Miss M'Crea from their obscure resting place, and deposited them in the public burial-ground. The ceremony was solemn and impressive. A procession of young men and maidens followed the relics, and 'wept in silence when the earth was again closed over them ; thus exhibiting an honourable proof of sensibility and of respect for the dead. The little fountain still pours out its clear waters near the brow of the hill, and the venerable pine is yet standing in its ancient majestj/, broken at the top and shorn of its branches by the winds and storms of half a cen- tury, but revered as marking the spot where youth and innocence were sacrificed in the tragical death of Jane M'Crea.* * Sparks Life of Gen. Arnold. LETTER XII. Master lApsey's Boat — Revolutionary Incident — Tlie Boat Club — The passing of a Steamboat — Cold Spring — Col. George P. Morrises Mansion — Scenery — Old Cro'-Nest — Magnificent Site — Description of Col. Morris's House — Tfie Gardener of an English Earl — Mischief of Ignorance — Our Lady of Cold Spring— Lines for Music, etc. New York, 1835. Dear P. — In one of my excursions last summer upon the Hudson, 1 stopped at West-Point, but must now postpone a description of that place, as I immediately took possession of Master Lipsey's (the Charon of these parts) boat — a personage and a craft well knoVvn to all the sojourners at West- Point, and in which many a gay party from the south, and, in fact, from all quarters of the world, has sailed in the shadow of old Cro'-Nest, and danced over the glad waters of the "green and glassy Hudson. In passing through the gorge, across which in the revolutionary war a chain was stretch- ed to prevent the incursions of the British light vessels of war, and where reposes the rock hurled from its bold and threatening eminence by the giant arm of old Putnam himself, we encountered one of the airiest pleasure boats I have recently seen. It was manned by a crew in uniform white jackets, ^^ LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. and was, altogether, a neat and tasty affair. It is called the Auriel, and belongs to a club composed of the professors and officers of West Point, and the gentlemen of the vicinity. The exercise' is con- ducive not only to the health of the members, but to the cultivation of good fellowship, and a gene- rous and cordial hospitality. The river was dive with vessels of every description, and it was no easy matter to wind our way among the small-craft and sloops, beating and tacking under what is nau- tically termed a " cracking breeze." I counted more than sixty of these trim river craft between West- Point and Newburgh, in a distance of eight miles The passing of the steamboats is an amushio- scene and the landing always creates a sensation\mon^ the " natives" and visiters. So many arrivals and departures constantly taking place, meetings of friends, and salutations from the passengers to those they recognise on the wharf, and the bustle of the porters, render it one of the liveliest incidents of the day. We crossed the wake of the North America, which is one of the most agreeable op- erations in the world to a person of steady nerves but not so amusing to those who do not affect the chance, or, at all events, the apprehension of a cap- size, inasmuch as the undulating motion occasioned by these large vessels, in the narrow pass of the Highlands, is mighty uncomfortable, and seems LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 105 never to subside. Escaping this peril, I arrived safe at Cold Spring, a little villagfe that owes most of its prosperity to the foundry belonging to Mr. Gouvernier Kemble, at which nearly one hundred individuals are constantly employed. This gentle- man is famed for his hospitality, which however I did not have an opportunity of enjoying, as I had determined on a visit to my old friend Col. George P. Morris, the editor of the New- York Mirror, a gentleman of whose friendship any one might be proud. Col. Morris's house is built upon a plateau just above the village, and commands a picturesque, and lake-like view of the noble Hudson to the north, with the blue range of the distant Catskills bounding the horizon. In front you have old Cro'-Nest and his subject mountains, with their map of living verdure crowning their brows and sides — the scene of Rodman Drake's exquisite poem of the " Culprit Fay." To the south, it en- joys one of the finest and most uninterrupted views imaginable of West-Point, the plains, buildings, and Fort Putnam ; and on a clear day, the parade of the cadets may be distinctly seen from the por- tico ; and their music, echoed by a hundred hills, falls soothingly and pleasantly upon the ear. Altogether, this is one of the most magnificent sites for a summer residence in the United States. 106 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. It possesses, in many respects, advantages even su- perior to those of West-Point; and if a good hotel or comfortable boarding-houses were established here, it would vie with that spot as a summer re- treat. I believe that it is or was contemplated by Mr. Samuel Gouverneur, one of the largest land- holders in the neighbourhood, to build a^ house of this description on the bluff just below Cold Spring, which forms the narrowest part of the Highland!' I am not going, after the manner of letter-wri- ters in general, to furnish you with a catalogue of the exquisite paintings and busts, costly boolfs, and luxurious appliances to the noble mansion of Col. Morris, nor do I intend to discuss the excellence of the ragouts, to dilate upon the unexceptionable qualities of the chateau mar gout, and least of all to retail, a la WilHs, the agreeable conversation that took place there among the hospitable and intellectual people, by whom the place was made so attractive to me. But I suppose it is no en- croachment upon the canons of good breeding, to give you an idea of the house itself, briefiy^and succinctly. I understand it was built by John C. Hamilton, one of the sons of the late Gen. Ham- ilton, and the biographer of that illustrious man; and is one of the most conveniently constructed,' spacious, and elegant mansions, within and with- out, above and below, that the skill of the architect LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 107 could have devised. The entrance hall is on a novel plan, and has excited much attention, for, like Washington's head-quarters in the immediate neighbourhood, (Newburgh,) it possesses multi- tudes of doors, and but one solitary window, yet it is light and airy and cool as a garden bower. The drawing-rooms and saloon front the river, and the ever-moving panorama of the Hudson is right be- fore them, while on a moonlight evening the por- tico is one of the pleasantest stations to be conceived. The grounds are well disposed, and susceptible of the highest improvement, and if the plan which the Colonel showed me on paper be carried into effect, his residence at Cold Spring will be a little nook stolen out of Paradise. I can't resist narra- ting a circumstance here, which shows the incon- ceivable stupidity of a foreign beautiiier and layer out of grounds, who came here for that purpose, recommended as a man of taste, and as the ex- gardener of an English Earl. Reliance being im- plicitly placed upon his tact and skill, he received orders to exercise his accomplishments in his pecu- liar line to the best advantage— things were left to his discretion and responsibility, and he had un- controlled and ad libitum authority to plant, to lay out, and dispose, as he listed, for two months last spring. Judge, friend P., of his employer's sur- prise and mortification, when he found that this time 108 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. had been employed by his beautifier and radical reformer in cuttiog down and laying waste almost every thing in the shape of a tree about the premises ! It is really astonishing how much mischief may be done in a little time by an ignorant person, even though he be the " gardener of an Earl," and the growth of years prostrated in one hour. The only consolation left for the proprietor was, that the trees, although lofty, were only cedars, and that the cir- cumstance afforded opportunity for the display of his taste in arboriculture, by replacing them with others of a more ornamental, choice, and elegant description. At the present time, they are busy in transplanting full-grown and large-sized oaks, ma- ples, and other forest trees, on the plan suggested and practised by a Scotch baronet named Stewart, and I have no doubt of the complete success of the experiment. In this event, the "Earl's gardener," without intending it, has unconsciously done good ; and out of much evil, benefit will have been de- duced, as all transplanters of trees will have a model before them, how most safely and judiciously to manage their operations. But to leave the garden, the trees, and Col. Mor- ris's hospitable mansion, which we did, at the time, most reluctantly, I will conclude this discursive and rambling epistle with some observations which I made upon this part of Hudson river, as adapted LETTERS' ABOUT THE HUDSON. 109 more particularly for villas and country-seats. This river, it is useless again to state, is the great- est thoroughfare of the union. Its scenery through- out is magnificent, and in this particular region sublime. Health and happiness dwell among its hills, and every luxury that the earth can yield is wafted by its waters. It is within a few hours' journey to New York, and the facilities of access are unexampled in convenience, economy, and op- portunity. The day is not distant, when the entire banks of the Hudson will be dotted v/ith villas of the refined and elegant, but "up among these rocky cliffs," the Highlands, there are a few acres of ta- ble ground which ought to be improved, and which must soon be appropriated for the purpose I have mentioned, as the eye of " chaste and classic" taste could not select a more delicious and consummate position for the display of its elegant and graceful designs. " Our Lady of Cold Spring," is the name of a classical and beautiful little Catholic edifice, situated on a high rock overhanging the Hudson. The traveller, passing by in the steamboats, cannot but be struck with its romantic beauty. Surrounded as it is by majestic mountains, and the beautiful Hud- son, its location seems peculiarly well calculated to awaken sentiments of devout adoration. But I conclude this letter abruptly (as, unless I 10 110 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. do SO, I could linger for ever among tliose quiet and heavenly haunts of love and poetry) by transcribing a little metrical effusion, which I accidentally met with, and the authorship of which I understood is attributed to Col. Morris. It is "Lines for Music," and evidently written in the earthly paradise which I have attempted to describe. O would that she were here, These hills and dales among, Where vocal groves are gayly mocked By echo's airy tongue, — Where jocund Nature smiles In all her gay attire, Amid deep-tangled wiles Of hawthorn and sweet-brier. O would that she were here, That fair and gentle thing, Whose words are musical as strains . .. Breathed by the wind-harp's string, O would that she were here, Where the free waters leap, Shouting in their joyousness, Adown the rocky steep, — Where rosy Zephyr lingers All the livelong day, With health upon his pinions, And gladness in his way. O would that she were here, Sure Eden's garden-plot Did not embrace more varied charms Than this romantic spot. LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. HI O "would that she were here, "Where frolic by the hours. Rife with the song of bee and bird, The perfume of the flowers, — Where beams of peace and love, And radiant beauty's glow, Are pictured in the sky above, And in the lake below. O would that she were here — The nymphs of this bright scene, With song and dance and revelry, Would crown Bianca queen. Yours. LETTER XIII. Strictures on Albany— Tlie Clergy— Historical Sketch of Al- bany — Head- Quarters of Gen. Lafayette — Mrs. Grant^s de- scription of Albany in olden time — Manner of living there — Hermitage — Gentle treatment of slaves among the Alba- nians — Consequent attachment of domestics, etc. Albany, May 20, 1S36. Friend P. — Albany, the crack city of the Hud- son, is the oldest settlement save one in the United States.* Considering its age and importance as a seat of government, the traveller expects to find a lion, but is soon undeceived, it being little more than a lion's whelp. There is an aristocracy founded upon two of the most contemptible of the instruments of power — money and party politics. Of the latter, I, as an administration man, would never complain, were it permitted to hold its ap- propriate place. But it is here the leaven affect- ing the whole lump. I object to it when it influ- ences, in the least degree, the courtesies of life. Political opinion ought never to be the only pass- port to hospitality. The manners of the better classes are, at first, uniformly of the non-committal * Jamestown, in Virginia, was settled in 1607, while Albany dates its origin in 1010. LETTERS. ABOUT THE IIUOSON. 113 sort. They appear to suspect you of an intention to pick their pockets, or take sides with their po- litical opponents. Coming as I did, from New York, where hearts, like the merchandise, are out of doors, it operated like a cold bath in the month of December. But, thank Heaven, they are as jeal* ous of each other as of strangers. The starting of a new project is the alarm for a whole swarm of little big men to look out for their rights, that is, in the vernacular language, to hold on upon their carefully accumulated stock of money and political power. There would be more pale faces at the loss of a vote, or a few dollars, than could be pro- duced in New York by a tenth exhibition of the great conflagration. The step from the sublime to the ridiculous has long since been taken on every subject. Even re- ligion, which ought to be free from every foreign influence, and be permitted to move unconstrained in her own simple dignity and grace, is made to minister to the men in power. The manner in which the Rev. is showed up, renders him a complete ****. To have heard and praised him, is the test both of your good sense and po- liteness. I have heard strangers, more than once, smart under the chafing given them on the subject, by a certain distinguished gentleman's family. Of the denomination to which he belongs, he is a truly 10* 114 LETTE.-^S ABOUT THE HUDSONf. devoted minister. He possesses a simple and fear- nest piety, that always commands respect and es* teem. His prayers, for fervour and directness, ex- ceed any I have ever heard. But having said thus, you have said all. His eloquence is like a river of oil flowing on before a thirsty man. He may please, but never satisfies. He does not possess what his admirers claim, originality of mind. His store- house is well supplied, by his indefatigable indus- try, from the arguments of abler men. He has eloquence, but it is not classical. It has been spoiled by fondling, till it has almost lost, what I think it once possessed, the freedom and boldness of nature in her wildest mood. The Rev. Dr. S— — , both in and out of the pul- pit, is a truly interesting man. Had his temper- ance defamer in Boston, tiiat renowned purifier of the "Pio-ean Stables," and of acrostic memory, known the Doctor here, he would have restrained his powerful, but slanderous and malignant pen.* He has the artlessness of a child, with the learning that classes him with our most distinguished men. His contributions to our stock of religious literature are invaluable. ♦ This gentleman, who has lately distinguished himself as the reformer of Dr. S. and other as good men, is no novice in the business, as the Roxbury Pigery, removed by his elo- quence, can testify. LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 115 The Rev. Mr. P., the Rector of St. Paul's church, is an excellent preacher. The productions of his pen display the " ripe and good scholar." His style is at once chaste and classic, and at the same time condensed and pungent. Modesty, and a want of confidence in the powers of his mind, are great barriers to his fame. But with preachers and preaching, and with fault finding, I have done. Looking over the first directory of Albany, I gather some items of the history of this city, which it may not be amiss to introduce. It seems that the first fort was built on an island below, but was abandoned in consequence of the frequency and height of the river floods. Fort Orange was erected in 1617, and a person by the name of Sebastian Croll, was the first commissary of the fort. In 1629, a charter of liberties and exemptions for patroons, masters, and private individuals, who should plant colonies in New Netherlands, was granted by the States General of Holland. Un- der this charter, a purchase of lands was made in August, of the same year, for Kilian Rensselaer, a merchant of Amsterdam, the ancestor of the present Patroon's family. The consequence and power of this individual, as a patentee, may be gleaned from the Dutch rec- ords in the secretary's office. He had a small fort of his own, and on one occasion lent some cannon 116 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. to the military commanders at Fort Orange. He had his sheriffj a fort at Bear Island, and his com- mandant there was known to have fired at the sloops which passed without saluting the fort. His residence, called the Rensselaerburg, was first at the island below the city* The commerce of Albany was principally with the savages, for beavers, in exchange for strouds, leggins, and rum. Brokers were employed by the inhabitants to purchase the skins, and they were natives or savages, as the demand or the competition made it necessary to obtain their aid. A court was held in the fort, consisting of the commissary and as- sociates, duly appointed in Holland; and these had the exclusive jurisdiction in matters civil and criminal. In 1664, it was captured from the Dutch by a force under Major Cartwright. Kalm, who visited the city after the charter had been granted by the English Governor Dongan, describes its appear- ance as being that of a small town, with two prin- cipal streets crossing each other, in one of which was placed all the public buildings. This will ac- count for the great width of State street. It then contained the fort, a regular though slight stockade, the English church, the guard-house, the town- house, the Dutch church, and the market. It had a very rural appearance ; each house having its LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 117 garden and shade trees. The situations on the water side were beautiful. There were three docks — the lower, middle, and upper. The lower was called the King's dock. The vessels were unloaded by the aid of canoes lashed together, and having a platform built upon them, where the goods were placed. The alterations in the city have been astonish- ing. Where Fox street now crosses Pearl street, was a deep ravine, crossed by a bridge, and the de- scent to it was quite sudden. Other ravines crossed the streets running parallel to the river. These are now no longer visible. State street was much steeper. The road to Schenectady ran round the fort to the south and west, where the state offices now stand ; and where the elegant mansions of two of the mayors are now situated, were banks of earth reaching up as far as the third story. Chapel street was full of stores and warehouses, and there the principal business was done. Then it was Barrack street. The Pasture was literally such, and now where Lydius street is laid out, was the regular encamping ground of the British armies, commanded by Amherst and Abercrombie. Albany, during the revolutionary era, presented a singular appearance. It was stockaded ; had its north and south gates ; was a military post ; was commanded by the gallant Layfayette, and Col. 118 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON, Van Schaick, a disting-uished officer and native of Albany ; and was considered one of the most im- portant stations in the United States. It was the key to the north and west, the point from which our armies threatened Montreal and Quebec, or the British posts on the lakes. General Schuyler's, General Ten Broeck's, and the Patroon's mansions, convey to us a good idea of the taste of the builders, and the elegance of the modes of living among the wealthy and distin- guished families of the olden time. A house in North Pearl street, near General Westerlo's resi- dence, is distinguished as having been the head- quarters of Lafayette, which, on his recent visit to the United States, he recognised as he passed rapidly through the town, from the circumstance of its having a curious brass knocker, an animal hanging down by its hind legs. Mrs. Grant, in her " Memoirs of an American Lady,"* gives, in her quaint but interesting style, the following description of Albany, the manner of living there in olden time, etc. * The work was first published in London, in 1808, Mr. George Dearborn, of Gold street, has just published a new and beautiful edition of the work. Southey pronounced " her description of the breaking up of the ice in the Hudson" as "quite Homeric." Its "re- appearance must be a welcome event in the marshalling of American literature now in pro- r-ress." LETTERS .ABOUT THE HUDSON, 119 " The city of Albany was stretched along- the banks of the Hudson ; one very wide and long street lay parallel to the river, the intermediate space between it and the shore being occupied by gardens. A small, but steep hill rose above the centre of the town, on which stood a fort, intended (but very ill adapted) for the defence of the place, and of the neighbouring country. From the foot of this hill, another street was built, sloping pretty rapidly down till it joined the one before mentioned that ran along the river. This street was still wider than the other ; it was only paved on each side, the middle being occupied by public edifices. These consisted of a market-place, or guard-house, a town hall, and the English and Dutch churches. The English church, belonging to the Episcopal persuasion, and in the diocess of the bishop of Lon- don, stood at the foot of the hill, at the upper end of the street. The Dutch church was situated at the bottom of the descent where the street termi- nated; two irregular streets, not so broad, but equally long, ran parallel to those, and a few even ones open between them. The town, in proportion to its population, occupied a great space of ground. This city, in short, was a kind of semi-rural estab- lishment ; every house had its garden, well, and a little green behind ; before every door a tree wag planted, rendered interesting by being coeval with 120 LETTEKS ABOUT THE HUDSON, some beloved member of the family ; many of their trees were of a prodigious size and extraordinary beauty, but without regularity, every one planting the kind that best pleased him, or which he thought would afford the most agreeable shade to the open portico at his door, which was surrounded by seats, and ascended by a few steps. It was in these that each domestic group was seated in summer even- ings to enjoy the balmy twilight, or serenely clear moonlight. Each family had a cow, fed in com- mon pasture at the end of the town. In the even- ing they returned all together, of their own accord, with their tinklinfjf bells huno- at their necks, aloni^ the wide and grassy street, to their wonted shelter- ing trees, to be milked at their masters' doors. Nothing could be more pleasing to a simple and benevolent mind, than to see thus, at one view, all the inhabitants of a town, which contained not one very rich or very poor, very knowing or very ig- norant, very rude or very polished individual ; to see all these children of nature enjoying in easy indolence, or social intercourse, " The cool, the fragrant, and the dusky hour," clothed in the plainest habits, and with minds as undisguised and artless. These primitive beings were dispersed in porches, grouped according to similarity of years and inclinations. At one door LETTERS- ABOUT THE HUDSON. 121 young matrons, at another the elders of the people, at a third the youths and maidens gayly chatting or singing together, while the children played round the trees, or waited near the cows, for the chief in- gredient of their frugal supper, which they gener- ally ate, sitting on the steps in the open air. This picture, so familiar to my imagination, has led me away from my purpose, which was to describe the rural economy and modes of living in this patri- archal city. At one end of the town, as I observed before, was a common pasture, where all the cat- tle belonging to the inhabitants grazed together. A never-failing instinct guided each home to her master's door in the evening, where, being treated with a few vegetables and a little salt, which is in- dispensably necessary for cattle in this country, they patiently waited the night ; and after being milked in the morning, they went off in slow and regular procession to their pasture. At the other end of the town was a fertile plain along the river, three miles in length, and near a mile broad. This was all divided into lots, where every inhabitant raised Indian corn, sufficient for the food of two or three slaves, (the greatest number that each family ever possessed,) and for his horses, pigs, and poul- try: their flour and other grain they purchased from farmers in the vicinity. Above the town, a long stretch to the westward was occupied first by 11 122 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. sandy hills, on which grew bilberries of uncommon size and flavour, in prodigious quantities ; beyond, rise heights of a poor hungry soil, thinly covered with stunted pines, or dwarf oaks. Yet in this comparatively barren tract, there were several wild and picturesque spots, where small brooks, running in deep and rich bottoms, nourished on their banks every vegetable beauty ; there, some of the most industrious early settlers had cleared the luxuriant wood from these charming little glens, and built neat cottages for their slaves, surrounded with little gardens and orchards, sheltered from every blast, wildly picturesque, and richly productive. Those small sequestered vales had an attraction that I know not how to describe, and which probably re- sulted from the air of deep repose that reigned there, and the strong contrast which they exhibited to the surrounding sterility. One of these was in my time inhabited by a hermit. He was a French- man, and did not seem to inspire much veneration among the Albanians. They imagined, or had heard, that he retired to that solitude in remorse for some fatal duel in which he had been engaged; and considered him as an idolater, because he had an image of the Virgin in his hut. I think he re- tired to Canada at last; but I remember being ready to worship him, for the sanctity with which my imagination invested him, and being cruelly LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. l^S disappointed because I was not permitted to visit him. These cottages were in summer occupied by- some of the negroes, who cultivated the grounds about them, and served as a place of joyful liberty to the children of the family on holy days, and a nursery for the young negroes, whom it was the custom to rear very tenderly, and instruct very carefully. " In the society 1 am describing, even the dark as- pect of slavery was softened into a smile. And I must, in justice to the best possible masters, say, that a great deal of that tranquillity and comfort, to call them by no higher names, which distinguish this society from all others, was owing to the rela- tion between master and servant being better un- derstood here than in any other place. Lot me not be detested as an advocate for slavery, when I say, that I think I have never seen people so happy in ser- vitude as the domestics of the Albanians. One rea- son was, (for I do not now speak of the virtues of their masters,) that each family had few of them, and that there were no field negroes. They would remind one of Abraham's servants, who were all born in the house, which was exactly their case. They were baptized too, and shared the same re- ligious instruction with the children of the family ; and, for the first years, there was little or no differ- ence with regard to food or clothing, between their children and those of their masters. 124 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON, " When a negro woman's child attained the age of three years, the first New Year's day after, it was solemnly presented to a son or daughter, or other young relative of the family, who was of the same sex with the child so presented. The child to whom the young negro was given, immediately presented it with some piece of money and a pair of shoes ; and from that day, the strongest attach- ment subsisted between the domestic and the des- tined owner. I have nowhere met with instances of friendship more tender and generous, than that which here subsisted between the slaves and their masters and mistresses. Extraordinary proofs of them have been often given in the course of hunt- ing or Indian trading, when a young man and his slave have gone to the trackless woods together, in the cases of fits of the ague, loss of a canoe, and other casualties happening near hostile Indians. The slave has been known, at the imminent risk of his life, to carry his disabled master through trackless woods with labour and fidelity scarce cred- ible ; and the master has been equally tender on similar occasions, of the humble friend who stuck closer than a brother ; who was baptized with the same baptism, nurtured under the same roof, and often rocked in the same cradle with himself These gifts of domestics to the younger members of the family were not irrevocable ; yet they were LETTERS ABOUT TlIE HUDSON. 125 Very rarely withdrawn. If the kitchen family did not increase in proportion to that of the master, young children were purchased from some family where they abounded, to furnish those attached ser- vants to the rising progeny. They were never sold without consulting their mother, who, if ex» pert and sagacious, had a great deal to say in the family, and would not allow her child to go into any family with whose domestics she was not acquaint- ed. These negro women piqued themselves on teaching their children to be excellent servants, well knowing servitude to be their lot for life, and that it could only be sweetened by making themselves particularly useful, and excelling in their depart- ment. If they did their work well, it is astonish- ing, when I recollect it, what liberty of speech was allowed to those active and prudent mothers. They would chide, reprove, and expostulate, in a manner that we would not endure from our hired servants ; and sometimes exert fully as much authority over the children of the family as the parents, conscious that they were entirely in their power. They did not crush freedom of speech and opinion in those, by whom they knew they were beloved, and who Watched with incessant care over their interest and comfort. Affectionate and faithful as these home- bred servants were in general, there were some in- stances (but very few) of those who, through levity 126 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. of mind, or a love of liquor, or finery, betrayed their trust, or habitually neglected their duty. In these cases, after every means had been used to re- form them, no severe punishments were inflicted at home. But the terrible sentence, which they dreaded worse than death, was passed — they were sold to Jamaica. The necessity of doing this was bewailed by the whole family as a most dreadful calamity, and the culprit was carefully watched on his way to New York, lest he should evade the sentence by self-destruction. " Amidst all this mild and really tender indul- gence to their negroes, these colonists had not the smallest scruple of conscience with regard to the right by which they held them in subjection. Had that been the case, their singular humanity would have been incompatible with continued injustice. But the truth is, that of law, the generality of those people knew little ; and of philosophy, nothing at all. They sought their code of morality in the Bible, and there, imagined they found this hapless race condemned to perpetual slavery ; and thought nothing remained for them but to lighten the chains of their fellow Christians, after having made them such. This I neither " extenuate," nor " set down in malice," but merely record the fact. At the same time, it is but justice to record also a singu- LEftERS' ABOUT* T«E HUCSON. 137 lar instance of moral delicacy, distinguishing this settlement from every other in the like circum- stances, though, from their sittiple and kindly modes of life, they were from infancy in habits of famil- iarity with these humble friends, yet being early taught that nature had placed between them a bar- rier, which it was in a high degree criminal and dis- graceful to pass, they considered a mixture of such distinct races with abhorrence, as a violation of her laws. This greatly conduced to the preservation of family happiness and concord. An ambiguous race, which the law does not acknowledge; and who (if they have any moral sense, must be as much ashamed of their parents as these last are of them) are certainly a dangerous, because degraded part of the community. How much more so must be those unfortunate beings, who stand in the pre- dicament of the bat in the fable, whom both birds and beasts disowned ? I am sorry to say that the pro- gress of the British army, when it arrived, might be traced by a spurious and ambiguous race of this kind. But of a mulatto born before their arrival, I only remember a single instance; and from the regret and wonder it occasioned, considered it as singular. Colonel Schuyler, of whom I am to speak, had a relation so weak and defective in ca- pacity, that he never was intrusted with any thing of his own, and lived an idle bachelor about the 128 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. family. In process of time, a favourite negro wo- man, to the great offence and scandal of the family^ bore a child to him, whose colour gave testimony to the relation. The boy was carefully educated ] and when he grew up, a farm was allotted to him well stocked and fertile, but ' in depth of woods em^ braced,' about two miles back from the family seat. A destitute white woman, who had somehow wan" dered from the older colonies, was induced to marry him ; and all the branches of the family thought it incumbent on them, now and then, to pay a quiet visit to Chalk, (for so, for some unknown reason, they always called him.) I have been in Chalk's house myself, and a most comfortable abode it was J but considered him as a mysterious and anomalous being. " I have dwelt the longer on this singular in» stance of slavery, existing devoid of its attendant horrors, because the fidelity and affection resulting from a bond of union so early formed between mas* ter and servant, contributed so very much to the safety of individuals, as well as the general com- fort of society, as will hereafter appear. " The foundations, both of friendship and still tenderer attachments, were here laid very early, by an institution which I always thought had been peculiar to Albany, till I found in Dr. Moore's View of Society on the Continent, an account of a LETTERS' ABOUT THE HUDSON. 129 similar custom subsisting in Geneva. The chil- dren of the town were all divided into companies, as they called them, from five or six years of age, till they became marriageable. How those companies first originated, or what were their exact regula- tions, I cannot say ; though I, belonging to none, oc- casionally mixed with several, yet always as a stran- ger, though I spoke their current language fluently. Every company contained as many boys as girls. But I do not know that there was any limited num- ber ; only this I recollect, that a boy and girl of each company, who were older, cleverer, or had some other pre-eminence above the rest, were called heads of the company, and, as such, obeyed by the others. Whether they were voted in, or attained their pre-eminencp by a tacit acknowledgment of their superiority, I knew not ; but however it was attained, it was never disputed. The companies of little children had also their heads. All the chil- dren of the same age were not in one company ; there were at least three or four of equal ages, who had a strong rivalry with each other ; and children of different ages, in the same family, belonged to different companies. Wherever there is human nature, there will be a degree of emulation, strife, and a desire to lessen others, that we may exalt ourselves. Dispassionate as my friends compara- tively were, and bred up in the highest attainable 130 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. candour and innocence, they regarded the company most in competition with their own, with a degree of jealous animosity. Each company, at a certain time of the year, went in a body to the hills, to gather a particular kind of berries. It was a sort of annual festival, attended with religious punctu- ality. Every company had a uniform for this purpose ; that is to say, very pretty light baskets made by the Indians, with lids and handles, which hung over the arm, and were adorned with various colours. One company would never allow the least degree of taste to the other in this instance ; and was sure to vent its whole stock of spleen in decrying the rival baskets. Nor would they ever admit, that the rival company gathered near so much fruit on these excursions as they did. The parents of these children seemed very much to en- courage this manner of marshalling and dividing themselves. Every child was permitted to enter- tain the whole company on its birthday, and once besides, during winter and spring. The master and mistress of the family always were bound to ffo from home on these occasions, while some old o domestic was left to attend and watch over them, with an ample provision of tea, chocolate, preserved and dried fruits, nuts, and cakes of various kinds, to which was added cider or a syllabub, for these young friends met at four, and did not part till nine LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 131 or ten, and amused themselves with the utmost gayety and freedom, in any way their fancy dic- tated. Other children or young people visit occa- sionally, and are civilly treated, but they admit of no person that does not belong to the company. The consequence of these exclusive and early inti- macies was, that, grown up, it was reckoned a sort of apostacy to marry out of one's company, and in- deed, it did not often happen. The girls, from the example of their mothers, rather than any compul- sion, became very early, notable and industrious, being constantly employed in knitting stockings, and making clothes for the family and slaves : they even made all the boys' clothes. This was the more necessary, as all articles of clothing were ex- tremely dear. Though all the necessaries of life, and some luxuries, abounded, money as yet was a scarce commodity. This industry was the more to be admired, as children were here indulged to a degree that, in our vitiated state of society, would have rendered them good for nothing. But there, where ambition, vanity, and the more turbulent pas- sions were scarc-e awakened ; where pride, founded on birth, or any external pre-eminence, was hardly known; and where the affections flourished fair and vigorous, unchecked by the thorns and thistles with which our minds are cursed in a more ad- vanced state of refinement ; affection restrained pa^ 132 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. rents from keeping their children at a distance, and inflicting harsh punishments. But then they did not treat them like apes or parrots, by teaching them to talk with borrowed words and ideas, and afterward gratifying their own vanity by exhibit- ing these premature wonders to company, or re- peating their sayings. They were tenderly cher- ished, and early taught that they owed all their enjoyments to the divine source of beneficence, to whom they were finallj'- accountable for their ac- tions ; for the rest, they were very much left to na- ture, and permitted to range about at full liberty in their earliest years, covered in summer with some slight and cheap garb, which merely kept the sun from them, and in winter with some warm habit, in which convenience only was consulted. Their dress of ceremony was never put on but when their company assembled. They were extremely fond of their children ; but, luckily for the latter, never dreamed of being vain of their immature wit and parts, which accounts, in some measure, for the great scarcity of coxcombs among them. The children returned the fondness of their parents with such tender affection, that they feared giving them pain as much as ours do punishment, and very rarely wounded their feelings by neglect, or rude answers. Yet the boys were often wilful and giddy LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 133 at a certain age, the girls being sooner tamed and domesticated. " These youths were apt, whenever they could carry a gun, (which they did at a very early period,) to follow some favourite negro to the woods, and, while he was employed in felling trees, range the whole day in search of game, to the neglect of all intellectual improvement, and contract a love of savage liberty, which might, and in some instances did, degenerate into licentious and idle habits. In- deed, there were three stated periods in the year, when, for a few days, young and old, masters and slaves, were abandoned to unruly enjoyment, and neglected every serious occupation for pursuits of this nature." 12 LETTER XIV. Academies and Common Schools— Albany Academy for Boys —Dr. Beck— The Female Academy — Introduced by Mr. Crittenton to the different Departments — The plan of In-f struction — Dr. Barber^ s System of Elocution — " The Lan- guage of the Flowers,^' a jjoetical ej'usion from a young Lady of the Academy — Description of the Building— Lor cation, etc. — The Baptist Church— The old Capitol— Arch- itectural description of the new State Hall— Of St. Paul'^ Church— South Dutch Church— The Old Stone Pulpit- North Dutch Church. Albany, June 1, 183G. Friend P. — No state in the union surpasses New York, in the liberal provisions made for pri- vate education. There is scarcely a town or vil- lage, on the borders of the Hudson, that is not pro- vided with one or more Academies, High Schools, or other institutions of learning, which are libe- erally supported, and generally well managed. It is in the common school system that we are deficient. The rich and the middling classes are provided for, while the poor are passed by, or almost entirely neglected. In New England, and particularly m Massachusetts, the common schools are of an ele^ vated character, and are attended by all classes, The children of the rich and the poor meet to- gether ; they enjoy similar privileges and advari- LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 135 tages. In New York, no person of ordinary means would think of sending his children to a free school. The number is small in proportion to the popula- tion ; and were he ever so republican in his views, he would feel that he was depriving others, less able than himself, of the means of education. He therefore sends them to an Academy, and takes lit- tle or no interest in the management of the free schools. But efforts, I am happy to say, are being made to improve our common school system; and as New York is behind no state in splendid private institutions of learning, it will not, I trust, be long before she will at least equal any, in the number and excellence of her common schools. There are in Albany two Academies, one for boys, and the other for girls, which, I honestly be- lieve, are unsurpassed by any sinlilar institutions in the country. The Boys' Academy has been under the management of Dr. T. R. Beck, since 1817. It has been justly remarked of this institu- tion, that, in every thing but the name, it is on an equality with many of the colleges of our country. The building is considered the finest proportioned of any in the state. Dr. Beck, the principal, has dis- tinguished himself as an author. His address, de- livered in 1813, before the Society of Arts in Al- bany, contains the earliest systematic account of the 136 LETTERS ABOUT TUE HUDSON. minerals of our country. This address was pub- lished, and obtained for the author the meed of well earned praise. His work on the " Elements of Medical Jurisprudence," on its appearance some years since, created considerable excitement in England and America ; it aroused public attention to a long neglected subject, and was noticed in terms of high commendation in the "Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal." It has been trans- lated into German, and become the text-book on this subject, in the various Medical Colleges of Great Britain. Dr. Beck is one of the founders of the Albany Institute, " a scientific and literary as- sociation, which has already published the first volume of its transactions, highly creditable to it- self and its members."* A few days since I visited the Female Academy, and was politely introduced to the different depart- ments by the worthy principal, Mr. Crittenton, and his assistant, the Rev. Robert McKee. Mr. C. has grown up with the institution, and appears to be enthusiastically devoted to it. The Academy is divided into six departments-, exclusive of the classes composed of those scholars from each of the higher departments, who are pursuing the study of the French and Spanish languages. Natural History, * See " National Portrait Gallery," the editor of which has very properly introduced a portrait of Dr. Beck. LETTliRS ABOUT THE HUDSON, 137 Chemistry, and Botany. It appears to be of a use- ful and practical character. The studies pursued, and the arrangement of the departments, contribute to this end, as the proficiency of the great number of young ladies amply demonstrates. The text- book of the science taught, is the basis of the in- struction to be communicated, and the students are required to give extemporaneous illustrations of every important principle in the science under con- sideration, and also to give a general as well as a particular analysis of the author. The general direction of the Institution is com- mitted to a Principal ; besides, to each department there is attached a permanent teacher ; and when- ever the number of pupils renders it expedient, the department is divided, and a teacher appointed to each division. The teachers of Penmanship devote their time to the departments in rotation. Lectures are given in the winter terms on Chemistry and Experimental Philosophy ; in the summer terms, on Botany and Geology, by the Professor of Chem- istry and Natural Philosophy, and on Biblical An- tiquities, by the President. Instruction in Rhetoric and Composition, and in Sacred Music, is given by the respective Professors of these branches. Dr. Jonathan Barber, of Harvard College, has ^-^tely been appointed Professor of Elocution and 12* 138 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. Composition in this institution. He has endeav- oured, and with success I am informed, to impress upon the minds of the young ladies, the importance of correct and impressive reading. Dr. Barber holds a high rank as an Elocutionist, but I advise him by all means to abandon Phrenology, a sci- ence which he is but illy adapted to teach. 1 con- sider his system of elocution really excellent, and I agree with the Regents in their report, that his mode of instruction is calculated to ensure a distinct and impressive utterance, and is not chargeable, as conducted by himself, with any tendency to pro- duce unnatural or affected reading ; that it is adapted to improve the physical powers of the voice, and give a distinct enunciation, which are particularly insisted on as necessary preliminaries to the higher grace of expression at which it aims ; that it in- volves also an analysis of the meaning and spirit of written language, with a view to its expression by the voice, by which an intelligent and attentive pu- pil may improve at the same time his powers of criticism and compositiori, thus exercising an im- portant influence in the improvement of the mind as well as of the voice. The principal, Mr. Crittenton, read to me spe- cimens of prose composition, which would have been creditable to a practised and even classic wri- ter. The muses, too, find worshippers among the LETTERS' ABOUT THE HUDSON. 139 fair daughters of this temple of learning. The effusions of two or three, at least, of the scholars, add to the value and interest of a literary period- ical* published here. The principal favoured me with two articles of poetry from a beautiful girlf in her sixteenth year. One of these pieces pos- sesses so much of the true spirit of poetry, that I cannot (especially as it has not been published) re- sist the temptation of introducing it in this place. The thoughts, if not original, are pure, and the lan- guage is simple and beautiful. The fair author has studied nature attentively, for one of her years, and with a poet's feelings ; like the bee, she educes good from the flowers. It is called " THE LANGUAGE OF THE FLOWERS." How is the book of Nature filled With lessons that we all may learn ! What precious precepts are instilled As each successive page we turn ! I love to walk at dawn of day, With open eye, and ear, and heart; To list to what the flowers say, And learn the lessons they impart. * The Zodiac, a monthly Magazine, conducted with ability bv Mr. Bloodgood, and published by Erastus Perry. tMissM. E. Gould. 140 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. For flowers have a voice for me ; They many a holy lesson teach ; And better surely I should be If I but practised all and each. The fragrant herb on which I tread, Although I crush it to the ground, Will, as it raises up its head, With incense strew the air around. And thus I learn that Gratitude Should always in my heart abound ; And, that for evil^ greater good Should always in return be found. The violet, with azure eye, Says, strive not in this world to shine ; Far from its vain allurements fly, And let humility be thine. The daisy, with its velvet leaf, Its rays of purple, disk of gold. Says, " I am glorious, yet how brief! " In me a type of life behold." A flower has language in its bloom. And when it withers, droops, and dies, It says, You hasten to the tomb ; Prepare for death— Be early wise. Few cities in our country have more splendid edifices than Albany. It is a matter of consolation, after my perhaps too harsh delineation of character in a former epistle, to find something to praise. The Female Academy of which I have been LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 141 speaking-, is really a beautiful and classical edifice. Its location is upon the west side of North Pearl street, nearly equi-distant from Maiden lane and Steuben street. It commands a capital view of the eastern part of the city and opposite shore of the Hudson. The plan of the building is about sixty-five feet by seventy-seven, including the portico, and the height about fifty-five feet, containing in all four stories and a cellar. The four stories are divided into sixteen spacious rooms ; with halls sufficient for the accommodation of the staircases, and com- munications to the several apartments. The front faces to the east, and is ornamented with a beau- ful Hexastyle portico of the Ionic order, which for sublimity of effect, and taste in arrangement, is not surpassed by any in the United States. The pro- portions of the columns, capitals, bases, and entab- lature, are taken from the temple on the Ilissus, the most beautiful example of the Ionic among the remains of antiquity. A flight of six steps of mar- ble supports the colonnade ; and this elevation, the great length of the columns, (which are forty feet,) the bold and lofty entablature, so well adapted to this order, give a majesty and effect to the front which can only be duly appreciated by a critical examination. The angles are finished with anta) ; and the ceiling of the pronaos or vestibule formed i42 LfeTTERS ABOUT THE IIUDSOjj. into a single panel, surrounded with an appro- priate entablature. The arransfement of the front windows, dividinf^ the front into two stories instead of four, is judi- cious. If the front had been perforated for four tiers of windows, its architectural beauty would have been much impaired ; but by lengthening the windows, so that one serves to light two stories, as has been done, and throwing a transom across them at the intermediate floors, ornamented with Grecian fret, the beauty of the whole has been in- creased. The principal entrance into the interior, is from the vestibule above mentioned. The door is quite plain, no ornament being admitted which does not strictly accord w^ith the general character of the front. The entrance is, nevertheless, spacious and convenient, and corresponds well with the Venitian windows above. A bold, well constructed stair- case, ascending to the fourth story, is presented im- mediately on entering the lower hall, and though divested of all fantastic ornament, it will be much admired on account of its strength and convenience, and the durable quality of the materials with which it is constructed. The finish of the rooms (the Exhibition room excepted) is plain, and of Grecian detail; and while all superfluous ornament has been studiously avoid- * LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 143 ed, strength, boldness, and propriety have been kept steadily in view. The Chapel exhibits a slight departure from that plainness of style which is a marked feature in the general finish of this edifice. But this slight variation creates no confusion. It seems in har- mony with the rest ; and while the shade of differ- ence is so small as scarcely to be noticed, you are presented with the most classically finished room in this city, and one probably not surpassed by any in the state. This room is thirty-seven by sixty- one feet, the ceiling about seventeen feet high, and the entrance by two spacious doors on the east side, Xt is lighted by a range of windows along the west side ; and the walls of the opposite side and end have recesses corresponding in number and loca- tion with the windows, which preserve a rigid sym^ metry as regards the various openings. The doors, windows, and recesses, are finished with plain ca- sings, having pedimental lintels crowned with carv- ed mouldings. The plainness of the face of the ca- sings is relieved by patteres, or rosettes, a fashion- able and judicious ornament much used by the architects of antiquity. The antaes and entablature with which this room is ornamented, are in imita- tion of those of the Erectheum, and cannot fail to attract particular attention. They exhibit a highly finished specimen of the Grecian Ionic, and display ^ 144 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. judicious use of ornament without profusion; and if this specimen of the Ionic order be contrasted with that used in the front portico, it will be readily con- ceded, that though the latter, on account of its bold- ness, should have preference in external decoration, it must yield the palm to the former for internal finish. The Baptist Church, on the same side of North Pearl street, and but a few doors from the Academy, gives a fine appearance to North Pearl street. The pediments of both buildings projecting at suitable distances from each other, enhance the effect, by relieving the monotony of the long line of dwelling houses in the neighbourhood, without materially obstructing the view of the whole, while they give to them the appearance of one construction. The Capitol is situated one hundred and twenty feet above the level of the Hudson. It cost $ 120,000. It is a substantial stone edifice of one hundred and fifty feet in length, ninety feet in breadth, fifty feet in height, consisting of two stories and a base- ment. The east part is adorned with a portico of the Ionic order, having four columns, three feet and eight inches in diameter, and thirty-three feet in height. In the hall of the Representatives and the Senate chamber, I noticed portraits of Washington, and of several of the governors of the state. The State Hall, which is to supply the place of the old Capitol, now nearly completed, will be a LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 145 magnificent edifice. It covers an area of one hun- dred and thirty-eight by eighty-eight feet ; and con^ tains four stories : the largest sides running nearly north and south, and the principal front facing west, towards the Academy park, and separated from it by Eagle street. The materials used in the construction are brick and stone, and the exterior is to be faced with cut stone from Mount Pleasant. The ceilings are to be arched with brick, which arches are to support the floors of the several sto- ries, rendering the whole fire-proof The roof is to be covered with copper. The walls are made unusually thick, in order to resist the pressure of the internal arches and floors; and additional strength is gained by strong iron anchors at each floor, running longitudinally and transversely, and firmly leaded into the external walls. The principal and second stories are ornamented, externally, with Grecian antes, which rests upon the projecting die of the building, and extends up- wards to the attic story, and which supports the entablature extending round the building at the up- per termination of the two principal stories. The west front is to be ornamented by a well proper tioned portico, comprising six Grecian Ionic col- umns, supported by the steps and platforms at the principal entrance, and surmounted by suitable pro- portioned entablature and pediment. 116 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. The east side will be ornamented by a similar pediment, supported by antoe. A neat cornice ter- minates the attic story, surmounted by the parapet, which is intended to conceal the roof. A hemispherical dome, of forty feet diameter, containing the sash through which the light passes to the rotunda, terminates the upper part of the building. The basement story is to contain six rooms of twenty-two by thirty-three feet, and two dark rooms of the same dimensions, suitable for wood and coal ; also, two halls of twenty-two by thirty-three feet, and two of ten by fifteen feet, and an area under the rotunda in the centre of the building, of thirty- three feet diameter. The basement story is four- teen feet high, including the arches and floors. The principal story contains six rooms of twenty- two by thirty-three feet, one room thirty-three by forty-seven feet, two rooms of thirteen by twelve feet, two halls ten by forty-five feet, and a hall of twenty-two by thirty-three feet ; which latter is at the principal entrance, and contains the staircases, and the rotunda, which is thirty-three feet diam- eter. The second and third stories each, contain nine rooms of twenty-two by thirty-three feet, a hall of twenty-two by thirty-three feet, and two halls of ten by forty-five feet, and the rotunda of thirty- LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 147 three feet diameter. The principal and second sto- ries, including the floors and arches, will occupy twenty-two feet each in height ; the attic story wiH be fourteen feet in the clear. The whole height of the building, above the side-walk at the west front, will be about sixty-five feet ; the declivity of the ground eastward, will increase the height of the east side to about seventy-four feet. I am not aware that any appropriation of the rooms has been made as regards the different public offices ; it is probable, however, that the large room, and two of those of twenty-two by thirty-three feet, will be required by the comptroller, for the business connected with his office ; two will be required by the secretary ; the attorney-general, the treasurer, surveyor- general, the adjutant-general, register in chancery, and the clerk of the supreme court, will each require one ; leaving four for future exigen- cies of the state. The interior is to be furnished in a plain style, in all respects suited to the purpose of public of- fices. The rotunda will have an estrade or gallery, ex- tending round it at the second and third story floors, and enclosed by iron railings, to afford the neces- sary communications between the hall, which cen- tre at that point. It is probable that iron, in place of stone, will be used in constructing the principal 148 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. Staircases, which commence at the right and left of the hall, near the principal entrance, and termi- nate in the third story. St. Paul's Church, at the corner of South Ferry and Dallias streets, is a fine specimen of the Gothic style of architecture. It is eighty-four feet long, sixty-two wide ; the height of the walls to the cor- nice is thirty-two feet, with a semi-octagonal ves- tibule projecting sixteen feet, and rising to the front pediment of the main roof The building is of rough unwrought stone, (from two to three and a half feet thick.) The design is from an ancient Gothic temple. The original plan embraces the erection of a stone tower in the rear, of twenty-two feet square, elevated two sections above the belfrj'- ; to be surmounted with turrets to correspond with those on the main building. There are five win- dows on each side, and two in front, supported by centre ends, diverging at the head, so as to form three distinct Gothic arches to the casements and frames of each window. The mullions are diag- onally disposed, and contain glass of five and a quarter inches square. The angles of the walls, and the partition wall at the landing of the gallery stairs, are supported by buttresses of two feet square; having in each three abutments, capped with cut stone, and surmounted with quadrangular Gothic pinnacles. The nave is finished with a LETTER? 4B0UT THE HUDSON. 149 deep Gothic frieze and cornice, and the parapet carried up in the form of battlements. On the right and left of the entrance way, are niches prepared for statuary. The front door is ten feet wide, on each side of which are columns supporting- the arch of a window above the impost of the door. The naves of the vestibule roof are finished with cornice and chain work, and the an- gles surmounted with pinnacles. The interior finish is also Gothic, painted in im- itation of oak. Below are one hundred and twenty- eight lens, and sixty-six in the gallery. The screen is twenty-four feet wide, supported by four octa- gonal Gothic columns, in panel work, and rising about eighteen feet from the chancel floor. The columni5 are finished at the top with pinnacles, or- namented and enriched with carved leaves and vines ; in the centre of the screen, and immediately over the pulpit, there rises a pediment supported by clustered columns and an arch ; the pediment is also surmounted with a richly ornamented pinnacle ex- tending to the ceiling, and standing in relief, in a niche prepared to receive it. The top of the screen and basis of the pinnacle are finished with castellated battlements, and the panel rests in quatre foils. The South Dutch Church, situated between Hudson and Beaver streets, is a superb edifice, ex- 13* 150 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. hibiting one of the finest specimens in the art of building to be found in Albany. It cost about $100,000, and is the property of the Dutch Re- formed congregations. The entire pulpit of the old stone church of this society, founded in 1656, was brought over from Holland, and though the edifice is demolished, yet that identical pulpit is still in existence. It serves the same purpose in our day that it did upwards of a century and a half ^go. The North Dutch Church, on the west side of Pearl street, has been erected many years, and be- longs to the same congregation. It is a large Greek edifice, well proportioned ; it has two stee- ples, and cost about $50,000. Yours, &c. LETTER XV. Revisit Poughkeepsie— Rapid Progress of Improvement-- New Silk Factory— Inventive genius of Gen. Harvey- Patent Screw Company— Coining Money— Patent Saw for felling trees— Patent Stock Frames— Advantages of Poughkeepsie, etc.— Report of the Inspectors of grain— Dutchess Plains— Scenery— Poetry— Ride to Hyde Park- Derivation of the name— The late Dr. Hosack's place- Churches and population— Cultivated grounds— Death cf Dr. Hosack.^ etc, Foughkeepsie, June 2, 1836. Friend P. — It is some months since I visited this most thriving village ; and the progress of im- provement has been so rapid since, that it seems years rather than months. Accompanied by my intelligent young friend, Hatch, of the Foughkeep- sie Hotel, I rode over almost every part of the vil- lage, and was surprised at the number of new streets and squares, which were being laid out and graded under the eye of the " improvement party," as it is aptly termed. Preparations appear to be ma- king for a constantly progressive, and even rapid in- crease of population ; and the plans for manufac- turing companies seem to warrant it.* The ex- * The following remarks from the Foughkeepsie Eagle, give a pretty correct idea of the disposition of the inhabitants generally, to receive new-comers. It speaks, at least, the 152 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. tensive silk factory, owned by a company with a capital of $200,000, is completed, and nearly ready to commence operations. Gen. Harvey, a skilful machinist, and the inventer of some half score of " Yankee contrivances," has got up a screw com- pany, with a capital of $200,000, which promises not a little towards the future prospects of the place. *rhe screws are made by the machinery of Gen. H.'s invention, and with astonishing facility. The whole being accomplished by three rapid applica- tions of the machinery. The first cuts the screw language and sentiments of the "improvement party" on this head. "We repeat this remark, that a hearty welcome should be extended to every new-comer, whatever be his business or calling. We do so because, in this respect, our town has got the name, whether justly or not we will not pretend to say, of being rather chary in our favours ; and because, if true, it does not tend to any public advantage. A stranger meeting with a cold salutation, or with silent neglect, and who has to encounter those narrow and aristocratic prejudices which circumscribe the social circle and exclude him from its enjoy- ments, will not find his situation so pleasant as to make it an object to remain here, if there are other places where he can do as well in business. When a stranger settles among us, there should be no waiting for this family or that family to Inake his acquaintance, which, being done, gives time for the growth of discontentment or disgust, but the hand of friend- ship should be immediately extended, and that respect offered which merit claims. Our true policy therefore is, to do all things to encourage the settlement of strangers among us, and to use every means to make their residence both agree- able and profitable." LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 153 from the wire, and forms the head; the second forms the groove, and finishes the head; and the third makes the screw, and turns out a highly pol- ished and beautiful article, far superior to the Eng- glish screws made by hand. It is expected that this establishment will manufacture not less than twenty thousand gross per week, and give steady employment to three hundred hands. I saw in the same establishment a machine for coining money, made for the government mint—the model of a saw for felling trees, invented for the express benefit ot a "down east" company of speculators — a machine for turning out horse-shoes, perfect, with only one speedy operation — and a large number of machines for weaving stock frames were in the " full tide of successful operation," all productions of Gen. Har- vey's fertile genius. The admirers of mechanical skill, and the curious generally, who visit Pough- keepsie, should not pass this repository of the " use- ful arts" by. Mr. Goodell, the partner of the in- venter, is a most intelligent, affable gentleman, and appears to take pleasure in exhibiting and unfold- ing the mysteries of the place. With a rich and fertile country around— the fa cilities of communication with the commercial em- porium of the country — the invincible spirit of en- terprise legitimately belonging to the "improve- ment party," but now leavening the whole lump, it 154 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. were difficult to trace, even in imagination, the des- tined prosperity and greatness of this village and its vicinity. Notwithstanding there is but liftle water power here, it is estimated by shrewd, care- ful calculators, that any branch of manufacturing can be carried on by steam to any extent, with far greater economy than in your Manchester of America, Lowell.* The annual report of the inspector of grain in the city of New York, furnishes some interesting official evidence of the " conspicuous rank occupied by old Dutchess among her sister counties." From * At this time there are twenty-three cotton and woollen manufactories in the county of Dutchess, the annual value of the manufactured articles in which is $621, 102 61 ; the value of the raw material $2S4,235 ; and the number of yards of cloth manufactured 2,396,803. There is one dying and print- ing factory, consuming of the raw material $6.50,000, and yielding manufactured articles to the value of $750,000 annu- ally. Of iron works there are six, consuming of the raw ma- terial $116,330, and yielding the value of $233,500. There are five trip-hammers, which consume $'4,740, and yield $12,700. Of grist mills, saw mills, fulling mills, carding machines, clo- ver mills, paper mills, and tanneries, there are two hundred and fifty-four, the value of the raw material consumed annu- ally in which is $807,386, and the annual product $979,918 16. There is also one brewery, which consumes of the raw ma- terial $65,000, and yields $92,000. There are, therefore, in this county at the present time, of the various kinds of manufac- tories and hydraulic works, two hundred and ninety ; which annually consume in the raw material, the value of $1,927,410, and yield a product of $2,689,521 57. LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 155 this report it appears, that the whole quantity of grain received in the city during the year amounts to 3,350,788 bushels. Of this quantity 2,309,307 bushels were received from the several counties of this state, and 1,041,481 bushels from the other states of the union, and from foreign countries. Of the 2,309,307 bushels received from the sev- eral counties of this state, 838,043 bushels, or con- siderably more than one third of the whole, was furnished by Dutchess county. From all parts of the state, except the three counties of Dutchess, Columbia, and Rensselaer, there were received 734,522 bushels, being less by more than 100,000 bushels than was received from Dutchess alone. It further appears, that of all the grain received into the city from every place, one quarter was sup- plied by the county of Dutchess. By turning to the inspector's report for 1833, we find the whole quantity of grain received in the city from Dutchess was 479,532 bushels, from which it will appear that the surplus of grain sent to market from the county, has very nearly doubled in two years. But the quantity of grain as shov\m by the in- spector's report, falls very far short of showing the entire surplus grain product of the county. A 156 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON, great many thousand bushels are annually sent di- rectly from Poughkeepsie to the several towns on the New England seaboard. Large quantities of corn and rye are ground, and sent to New York in the meal — and still larger quantities of oats and corn are ground, and sent to New York as feed for horses, cows, &c. And nearly all the grain of the several towns bordering on Connecticut, finds a market in the manufacturing districts of that state. Not a bushel that is shipped direct to New England, or goes to the city as meal, or as feed, or that is sent to Connecticut, is embraced in the in- spector's report ; if it were, Dutchess county would probably be found, instead of 838,043 bushels, to have sent abroad during the past year, not less than 1,300,000 bushels. The " Dutchess Plains," two miles below the village, furnishes some delightful sites for country seats, where the wealthy and the refined may re- tire in the summer season, from the "din and dust" of the city, and enjoy the magnificent, the soul- enlivening scenery, which meets the eye in every direction. Indeed, there are on the borders of the Hudson, from its rise to its mouth, localities of un- rivalled beauty, — where the good man may breathe into the ear of heaven, the devout adorations awa- kened in his soul by all "above, around, and below him;" where the invalid may court and wir^ LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 157 smiling health; where the botanist may walk ia the garden of the flowers, and cull the sweets of rural science; and the philosopher, and the devotee of pleasure, may, alike, gratify the desires of the heart and the eye. The Hudson, with its romantic, its diversified scenery, rendered interesting by rev- olutionary reminiscences, furnishes inexhaustible materials for the poet and the painter. I have passed up and down its waters a hundred times ; I have repeatedly wandered along its shores for miles, and every time I find some new prospect to ad- mire, or some new incident to interest. One of the most graphic descriptions of some of the appear- ances of this noble river, recently appeared in the " Knickerbocker ;" it is so pertinent to the train of my thoughts at this time, and possesses so many evidences of true poetry, that I cannot forbear quo- tmg it entire ; and this I do the more cheerfully, under an impression that it may, perchance, atone for my common-place thoughts or crude remarks. THE HUDSON. Proud stream ! the birchen barks that wont of old From cove to cove to shoot athwart thy tide, The quivered nations, eloquent and bold, Whose simple fare thy shores and depths supplied, Are passed away ; and men of other mould Now o'er thy bosom their wing'd fabrics guide, 14 158 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. All white with sails thy keel-thronged waters flee, Through one rich lapse of plenty to the sea. Beauty and Majesty on either hand Have shored thy waters with their common realna; Here pasture, grove, and harvest-field expand, There, the rough boatman veers his yielding helm From the sheer clitf, whose shadow broad and grand Darkens his sail, and seems his path to whelm With doubt and gloom ; till through some wild ravine, A gush of sunlight leaps upon the scene! I love thy tempests, when the broad-winged blast Rouses thy billows with his battle call, When gathering clouds, in phalanx black and vast, Like armed shadows gird thy rocky wall, And from their leaguering legions thick and fast The galling hail-shot in fierce volleys fall. While quick, from cloud to cloud, darts o'er the levin The flash that fires the batteries of heaven ! How beauteous art thou, when, at rosy dawn, Up from thy glittering breast its robe of mist Into the azure depths is gently drawn. Or softly settles o'er thy bluffs, just kiss'd By the first slanting beams of golden morn ; Gorgeous — when ruby, gold, and amethyst Upon thy tasselated surface lie — The wave-glassed splendours of the sun-set sky I And when the moon through wreaths of curdled snow, Upon thee pours a flood of silver sheen, While the tall headlands vaster seem to grow, As on thy breast their giant shadows lean. There is a mournful music in thy flow ; LETTERS. ABOUT THE HUDSON. 159 And I have listened mid the hallowed scene, Until lov'd voices seemed, in murmurs bland, Hailing me softly from the spirit land. The deep Missouri hath a fiercer song, The Mississippi pours a bolder wave, And with a deaf 'ning crash the torrent strong. From the linked lakes, leaps to Niagara's grave ; Yet when the storm-king smites his thundering gong, Thy hills reply from many a bellowing cave ; And when with smiles the sun o'erlooks their brow, He sees no stream more beautiful than thou. The ride to Hyde Park, about six miles north of Poughkeepsie, is very pleasant. The elegant mansions, the extended plains, and the highly cul- tivated grounds you pass, render the route really delightful. The village or town of Hyde Park, derived its name from the place owned by the late Dr. Hosack. Dr. Bard, the original proprietor, gave it that name ; and when the town of Clinton was divided into three separate villages, this town assumed the name of Hyde Park. The mansion and grounds of the late Dr. Ho- sack, occupy a space of about seven hundred acres. It is a princely place, extending a mile from the village north, and about the same distance from the river east. The mansion is built on an extensive plain, and surrounded by trees and shrubbery of every variety. The grounds along the Albany IGO LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. river road, on either side, are shaded with large lo^ cust trees. A retired spot of the grounds of this great estate is occupied with a neat little Episcopal chapel, and the mansion of the rector. This was given to the society by Dr. Bard. Its location is quite rural There are three other churches in the town, a Methodist, a Dutch Reformed, and Quaker or Friends. The population of the town is about two thousand six hundred ; but in the vil- lage there are perhaps not more than five hundred inhabitants. Judge Pendleton, Hamilton Wilkes, Thos. Williams, and E. Holbrook, Esqrs., have all beautiful mansions, and highly cultivated grounds. Dr. Hosack's place is to be sold, and will probably be divided into lots, and furnish ample space for a dozen mansions as summer residences for our New York city gentry. The New York and Albany boats land at Hyde Park, about half a mile from the village. The "American National Portrait Gallery" con- tains a portrait, and brief biographical sketch of this distinguished medical practitioner and author. The author of the sketch says, that in 1830, Dr. Hosack concluded to retire from practice, and with that view purchased the elegant estate of his patron. Dr. Bard, at Hyde Park, on the banks of the Hud- son, where he resided from May to November, en- gaged in cultivating his farm, and improving and LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. l61 beautifying his pleasure grounds, and extensive bo- tanical garden. His extensive and practical know- ledge as a florist, connected with wealth and a re- fined taste, has rendered his garden second to none in the union ; and here, in the bosom of his family, he enjoyed in retirement the bright reward of un- sullied renown, which he had earned by a life of unceasing activity, in developing the hidden virtues, and administering the efficient power of a science which is of the first importance to his fellow-men. But the mighty conqueror, whose hand is stayed not by worldly grandeur or moral worth, broke in upon his repose, and on Tuesday night, the 29th of December, 1835, he expired at his residence in New York, at the age of sixty-six years. On Tuesday, of the preceding week, he remarked to a friend, that his health was most excellent, and had been so for some time. On Friday morning he felt rather unwell, but after taking his breakfast he went out a short distance, transacted some busi- ness, and returned to ride out in his wagon. He was suddenly seized with fainting, and soon after an apoplectic shock, attended with paralysis, from which time he lingered until Tuesday evening, the period of his demise. He had been anticipating the event for more than a year, akhough his health was good; but there were symptoms wliich, as a skilful physician, he could not mistake. 14* 162 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON, As a physician and man of science, his name was universally honoured as the first ; as a citizen, his many virtues and excellences of character have made a deep impression upon the hearts of thou- sands, and he has left a blank in the scientific and social world, which few men can supply with equal ability. " He was always observant of the strict, est punctuality in the performance of his numerous and various engagements, having scarcely ever been known either to omit the performance of his duty, or to be absent five minutes after the time pre- scribed for his attendance." It was an observation of his, that the more a man has to do, the better he does it, and the more punctual he is in the perform- ance. His habits of early rising and strict tem- perance, have been the most effectual means in en- abling him to perform the many arduous tasks which he has so successfully accomplished. Soon after he retired from practice, he was invi- ted by some of his friends to enter the political arena, and attach himself to one of the political par- ties then existing, but he declined by thus express- ing his sentiments : " If a party could be formed favourable to the interests of education, of agricul- ture, and the commercial character of our state; to the development of its natural resources and promotion of internal improvements; to such a party I could not hesitate to avow my allegiance, LETTERS ABOUT THE HtlDSON. 163 and to devote the best exertions of which I am ca- pable, to advance the interests of my native state and country : but under existing dissensions, I must decline all connexion with our political institu* tions, and devote myself to the cultivation of the vine and the fig-tree, as more conducive to my own happiness and that of my family.' LETTER XVI. How the writer obtained the History of the Military Academy at West Point — Lt. Roswell Park — West Point a placi of interest — Halloxced by Washington, Kosciusko, Lafay- ette, etc. — View of West Point after entering the Moun- tain Gap above — 77ie Monuvfients — Links of the chain broken by the British vessels in 1777 — Early History of the Academy — The Officers — Practical considerations which sJwuld influence those who are seeking or who may gain admission to the Military Academy, etc. West Point, June 10, 1836. Friend P. — In 1834, 1 was associated with two gentlemen in the editorial management of a monthly magazine ; in soliciting contributions for the pages of the work, I applied to an early and intimate friend,* for a description and some account of West Point and the Military School. The desired in- formation was cheerfally furnished, and published. It was drawn up with the accustomed ability of the writer, and from his perfect familiarity with the scenes described, as well as the facts introduced, i\ was considered the most full and accurate account of the institution that had ever appeared in print. * Lt. Roswell Park, a graduate of West Point Academy, who has since distinguished himself not only as a gentleman of general intelligence, but especially as a lecturer on civil engineering. LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 165 I have mentioned these circumstances as an apol- ogy for using the facts, and occasionally the lan- guage, contained in this account. These facts, to- gether with what I have been able to gather from a hasty visit to the place, will form the materials of my present epistle. West Point is a spot of peculiar interest. It has been hallowed by the footsteps of a Washington, a Kosciusko, and a Lafayette ; it is consecrated by a nation to the Spartan-like training of a few devo- ted sons from every state of our wide spread union J nor less sacredly secluded by nature as the scene of retirement and study: it seems alike calculated to please the pensive sage and the aspiring youth- ful soldier ; while even female loveliness vouch- safes to paint its memories in lines of hope and brightness, as '• the boast of a glory hallowed landP " Bright are the moments link'd with thee, Boast of a glory hallowed land ; Hope of the valiant and the free, Home of their youthful soldier band. The view of West Point as you enter the Moun- tain Gap, after you leave Newburgh, is delightful. In the fore ground is the new spacious hotel ;* be- * An excellent well-managed house, by Mr. Cozzens, a gen- tleman highly esteemed by all visiters at West Point. 166 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON, yond it are the academic halls, the barracks, chapel, and mess house, appropriated to the cadets ; and on the right, are the comfortable dwellings occupied by the officers of the academy. On the left, at the angle of the plain, are traces of Fort Clinton ; and on the right, towering far above Camptown, the suburb occupied by soldiers and citizens, stands Fort Putnam, on mount Independence, venerable in its ruins — "stern monument of a sterner age," which survived the attempts of treason and the as- saults of bravery, only to yield its hallowed mate- rials to the desecration of a rapacious owner.* Of the three monuments which now meet your eye, the one on the right and nearest to you, on a pro- jecting tongue of land bordered with thick groves, is the Cadet's Monument, erected to the memory of the deceased officers and cadets of the academy. It cost $12,000. The centre one, near the flag- staff, is a cenotaph, erected by General Brown to the memory of Colonel Eleazar D. Wood, an early and distinguished graduate of the academy, who fell at the sortie of Fort Erie, in 1814. And the monument on the left, over the levelled redoubt or citadel of Fort Clinton, is sacred to Kosciusko. It * Some years ago, the owner of the land on which Fort Putnam was located, proceeded to demolish the fort, using the materials for fences, &c. to compel the government to purchase it at an exorbitant price. This was finally done. LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON, 167 was completed in 1829, by the corps of cadets, at an expense of near $5000. Just beyond the wharf, is the rock alluded to in my letter 'about' Cold Sprmg, from which the chain was stretched across the river in time of the revolution, to prevent the passage of British vessels. They broke it, how- 3ver, in 1777, when they forced the passage of the highlands; and some links of it, near three feet [ong, and of bar-iron near two inches square, are still preserved in the statehouse as a revolutionary relic. The Military Academy was contemplated at an 3arly period of our national existence, with a view ;o the preservation of military knowledge, and the enforcement of a uniform discipline in our army. A.S early as 1790, General Knox, then secretary Df war, in a report on the organization of the mi itia, says : " Either efficient institutions must be established for the military education of youth, and ;he knowledge acquired therein be diffused through- )ut the country by the means of rotation ; or the nailitia must be formed of substitutes, after the man- ler of the militia of Great Britain. If the United States possess the vigour of mind to establish the first institution, it may be reasonably expected to pro- iuce the most unequivocal advantages. A glorious [rational spirit will be introduced, with its extensive train of political consequences." In 1793, General 168 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. Washington, in his annual message to Congress, suggests the inquiry, " whether a material featu-re in the improvement" of the system of military de- fence, " oug'ht not to be, to afford an opportunity for the study of those branches of the art, which can scarcely ever be attained by practice alone." And in his annual message of 1796, he says: " The institution of a military academy is also re- commended by cogent reasons. However pacific the general policy of a nation may be, it ought never to be without an adequate stock of military knowledge for emergencies. Whatever argument may be drawn from particular examples, superfi- cially viewed, a thorough examination of the sub- ject will evince that the art of war is extensive and complicated ; that it demands much previous study ^ and that the possession of it, in its most improved and perfect state, is always of great moment to the security of a nation. This, therefore, ought to be a serious care of every government ; and for this purpose, an academy, where a regular course ot instruction is given, is an obvious expedient, which different nations have successfully employed." On the 7th of May, 1794, Congress passed an act providing for a corps of artillerists and engineers, to consist of four battalions, to each of which, eight cadets were to be attached ; making it the duty of the secretary of war to procure, at the public ex- LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. pense, the necessary books, instruments, and appa- ratus, for the use and benefit of said corps. This was the first introduction of cadets as a grade of officers in the army of the United States. The term cadet, derived from the French, signifying a younger son, was previously applied in England to those young gentlemen who, seeking the situa- tion, were trained for public employment, particu- larly in the service of the East India Company. In our own army it signifies an officer ranking be- tAveen a lieutenant and a sergeant 5 this grade hav- ing been confined to the pupils of the military academy since its establishment. In 1798, Congress authorized the raising of an additional regiment of artillerists and engineers, and increased the number of cadets to fifty-six. In July of the same year, the President was empowered, by another act, to appoint four teachers of the arts and sciences, necessary for the instruction of this corps. Thus, although the cadets were not col- lected in one point, nor buildings erected for pur- poses of education ; still, the principle upon which the present institution rests was fully sanctioned ; a new grade was created in the army to which young men were exclusively entitled to be admitted ; and means were provided for their education in the sci- ence of war, that they might be fitted for stations of command, 15 170 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. The military academy was established by an act of Congress, of March 1 6th, 1802, by which the military peace establishment was determined. By this act, the artillerists and engineers were made to constitute two distinct corps. To the corps of en- gineers were attached ten cadets. The 27th sec- tion provided, that the said corps, when organized, "shall be stationed at West Point, in the State of New York, and shall constitute a military acad- emy." It is also provided, that the senior engineer officer present shall be superintendent of the acad- emy ; and authorized the purchase of the necessary books, implements, and apparatus, for the use and benefit of the institution. In the following year, another act, dated February 28, 1803, empowered the President to appoint one teacher of the French language, and one teacher of drawing. Six years after, Mr. Jefferson, then President, and who had previously expressed some doubts of the constitutionality of the academy, thus calls the attention of Congress to the subject of its Avelfare : " The scale on which the military academy at West Point was originally established, is become too lim- ited to furnish the number of well instructed sub- jects in the different branches of artillery and en- gineering, which the public service calls for. The chief engineer, having been instructed to consider ihe subject, and to propotjc an augmentation, which LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 171 might render the establishment commensurate with the present circumstances of the country, has made his report, which I now transmit for the considera- tion of Congress. The plan suggested by him of removing the institution to this place, (Washington,) is also worthy of attention. Besides the advantage of placing it under the immediate eye of the gov- ernment, it may render its benefits common to the naval department; and will furnish opportunities of selecting, on better information, the characters most qualified to fulfil the duties which the public service may call for." The proposal to remove the academy to Washington, like several subsequent ones, was promptly negatived ; but on the above recommendation, an act was passed, increasing the corps of cadets by one hundred and fifty-six addi- tional members. And in 1812, after the favourable notice of Pres- ident Madison, Congress passed an act, dated April 29, which declares that "the military academy shall consist of the corps of engineers, and the fol- lowing professors and assistants, in addition to the teachers of French and drawing already provided for, viz. : A professor of experimental and natural philosophy ; a professor of mathematics ; a professor of the art of engineering ; with an assistant for each." A chaplain was also to be appointed, and required to officiate as professor of geography, eth- 172 LETTERS ABOUT THE HU&SON. ics, and history. The number of cadets was lim- ited to two hundred and sixty; the prerequisites for admission, the term of study and service, and the rate of pay and emoluments were prescribed. Such were the essential provisions for establish- ing the military academy; and notwithstanding- repeated efforts to change them, they still remain unaltered. The documentary history above given, is extracted from Col. Johnson's able report to the House of Representatives, dated May 17, 1834; a document, Avhich shows in detail how fully this in- stitution has received the sanction and support of all the great statesmen of our nation, from the first establishment of our federal government. It also shows how unfounded are the prejudices which have been localljr excited against the academy ; and how substantial have been the benefits by which it has sought to repay the country for her maternal care and support. The old buildings first occupied by the academy are long since gone to decay, and demolished. In 1812, the jurisdiction of two hundred and fifty acres of land, was ceded by New York to the Uni- ted States; and an appropriation of $12,000 hav- ing been made for the erection of quarters, the mess-hall, chapel, and south barracks, were begun, and completed in the following year. The three brick edifices nearest the mess-hall, were erected in LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 173 1815-16, and the other three nearest the flag-staff^ on the same line, in 1820-21. The north bar- racks were built in 1 8 1 7. Of the three stone dwell- ings west of the flag-staff, the farthest was erected in 1821; the others in 1825-26. The hospital and hotel were built in 1828-29; and the ordnance or gun-house, in 1830. Appropriations have been made for a gymnasium and a chapel, Avhich are now under construction. The water- works, for supplying all the buildings with water, or extin- guishing fire, were completed in 1830, at an ex- pense of $4,500. The annual expense of the acad- emy is stated at $115,000; averaging about $425 for each cadet. This is one fourth less than the average cost of each cadet, prior to 1817, which was not less than $550 per annum. The library is well selected, of military, scientific, and historical works, containing nearly ten thousand volumes. The philosophical apparatus lately received from France is extensive, and constructed with the latest improvements. Our biographical history of the academy shall be brief Its superintendence was intrusted, in its early stages, to General Jonathan Williams, ex- oflcio, as chief of the corps of engineers. During this period, from 1802 to 1812, the number of ca- dets was small, and the total number of graduates was only seventy-one. This may satisfactorily 15* 174 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. answer the question, why do we not find more of them among the distinguished men of our country. The only professors recorded during this period, are George Barron, and afterward Francis R. Hassler, professors of mathematics; Francis De Masson, teacher of French, and Christian E. Zoel- ler^ of drawing. Mr. Hassler is now employed by the government on a trigonometrical survey of our coast. From 1812 to 1815, the academy was placed un* der the direction of the succeeding chief engineer, General Joseph G. Swift. Among the professors, Were the Rev. Adam Empie, chaplain; Andrew Ellicott, professor of mathematics; Col. Jared Mans- jfield, professor of natural philosophy; and Capt. Alden Partridge, professor of engineering. In 1815, Capt. Alden Partridge was appointed superintendent of the academy ; the chief engineer being, as at present, its Inspector, ex-officio. The only new professor appointed was Claudius Be* rard, teacher of French. Some traits of Capt. Partridge's character ren- dering a change desirable, he was relieved from his station in 1817; and succeeded by Col. Sylvanus Thayer, of the corps of engineers ; a gentleman every way qualified by nature and by acquirements, both at home and abroad, for this responsible duty. Under his superintendence, an improved system of LfiTfERS AT50UT TlIR ItL^DSON. 1*75 disciplirle was introduced; the course of studies much extended, so as to compare favourably with that of foreign military schools; and the studies required came to be thoroughly taught. Colonel Thayer assiduously devoted all his resources to the advancement of the academy, until 1833, when, at his own request, he was honourably relieved from this station, and appointed to direct the erec* tion of fortifications in Boston harbour. He was succeeded in the superintendence of the academy by Major R. E. De Russey, of the corps of engi- neers, a gentleman of amiable character and exten- sive acquirements. The chief professors of the academy not yet men* tioned, are: chaplains, Rev. T. Picton, 1818, Rev^ C. P. Mcllvaine^ 1825, n.ow Episcopal Bishop of Ohio, and Rev. Thos. Warner, J 828 ; professors of engineering, Claude Crozet, 1817, since chief civil engineer of Virginia, Major David B. Doug lass, 1823, now civil engineer, and Dennis H Malan, 1831 ; professor of natural philosophy, Ed ward H. Courtenay; professor of mathematics Charles Davis, 1821 ; acting professors of chemis' tryi Dr. James Cutbush, 1820, Dr. John Torrey 1824, and Lieut. W. Fenn Hopkins, 1828; teach- ers of drawing, Thos. Gimbrede, 1819, Charles R. Leslie, R. A. 1833, and Robert W. Weir, 1834. The total number of graduates, from its estab- 176 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. lishment to July, 1834, inclusive, is seven hundred and eighty-five. Of this number, four hundred and thirty-four were in the service at the latter date, as officers of the army ; nine have been killed in battle; eighty-four died in service; two hundred and eight have resigned ; and the remainder are disbanded or otherwise dismissed from the service. Of those who sleep on the battle-field, Col. Wood, Col. Gibson, and Capt. Williams, fell at the sortie of Fort Erie; Rathbone at Queenston Heights; Hobart at Fort George; Ronem at Chicago; Burch- stead and Wilcox at Fort Mimms : and Smith at Christler's farm in Canada. " Our whole army possesses now far more of the public respect and confidence, than it did not many years since. It is the great distinction of the acad- emy at West Point, that has contributed largely and effectually to this elevation of the character of the military establishment. And it has accom- plished a nobler service, by sending forth numbers annually, competent to superintend the construction jf those chains of internal improvement, which are to be the eternal bonds of our national union. The rail-roads which connect the capital of Massachu- setts with the heart of the state, and with important harbours in Rhode Island and Connecticut ; the im- proved facilities of communication afforded to the ^hole country by the Susquehannah and Balti- LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 177 more, Baltimore and Ohio rail-roads : and the sim- ilar construction between Charleston and Ham- burg, S. C. ; the new roads which have augmented the wealth of the territories of Michigan and Ar- kansas, by opening new channels of transportation ; and the securities extended to the internal and for- eign commerce of the nation, by important harbour improvements upon the shores of the lakes, and upon the sea coast ; — these are some of the endur- ing memorials of the usefulness of the military academy, and of the returns it has made for the care, and time, and money, which have been be- stowed upon it. Other testimonials, and other re- wards, have been accorded to it, by the literary in- stitutions of our land, which have invited its gradu- ates to fill important professorships. The presi- dent and one of the professors in the college of Louisiana ; the president of Hamilton college, and the vice-president and the professor of mathematics in Kenyon college, in Ohio ; the professors of mathematics in the college of Geneva, and in the university of Nashville ; the professors of chemis- try in the universities of Pennsylvania and Vir- ginia, have all been members of the academy, and have resigned their commissions in the army, upon receiving these honourable appointments. And very recently, two second lieutenants have accepted vacant chairs in the university of New York. No 178 LETTERS AEOUT THE HUDSON. v/ords can demonstrate with one half the force and impressiveness, the beneficial influence of the mili- tary academy upon the characters of its members, and upon the national reputation. Within the short period of thirty years, this institution, whose own high reputation is now sustained by professors, all of whom, with but one exception, have been edu- cated within its walls, has not only furnished to the army gallant and accomplished officers, and to the country skilful engineers, but has sent forth principals and professors, to ornament and sustain colleges and literary seminaries. To this list of those who have been thus distinguished, m.ight be added the name of Ritner, who graduated with a highly respectable rank, in possession of his com- rades' aflection and confidence; and became the professor of civil and topographical engineering in Washington college in Pennsylvania ; and died at the moment when the prospect of serving his na- tive state dawiied upon him, and when his native state began to rejoice in the anticipation of his use- fulness and success." In this complimentary sum- mary, extracted from Colonel Johnson's report, may now be included the distinguished professor of mathematics and philosophy, in the university of Pennsylvania. But while we would thus award honour where honour is due ; and show that, esti- mated accordin2f to her contribution of national sci- LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 179 ence, the military academy is " not a Avhit behind the chiefest," — far be it from her sons to monopolize distinction, or to say that she has done any more than a national academy ought to have done, in re- turn for all her advantages. The argument, that it is supererogatory to edu- cate young men at the national expense, while so many who are self-educated volunteer their ser- vices, loses its force, when it is considered that the cadets are not merely scholars, but an active and efficient part of the army; a grade of officers on duty, as much as if they were dispersed through all the posts and garrisons : but learning that duty ten times as well as they could thus learn it; and at still less expense than if instructed while holding the commission of second lieutenants, correspond- ing to the old grade of ensigns. They learn it too, far more uniformly and thoroughly than if taught at private schools, military or civil ; as the experi- ence of more than one rival institution abundantly testifies. No fewer than thirty-four gentlemen, all with one exception similarly educated at the acad- emy, are employed in the discipline and instruction of two hundred and sixty cadets. Who but the most wealthy, could afibrd to pay for a similar amount of instruction for their sons, during four years of preparatory study ? The other argument raised against the academy. 180 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. that only the sons of. the influential and wealthy, gain admission to its advantages, is untrue in point of fact. Were it true, the blame would still rest, not on the academy, but on the members of Con- gress, on whose recommendations the appointments are generally made. Those who complain, there- fore, have only to elect more impartial representa- tives. Or if the fault be in the secretary of war, who makes the appointments, still it would not be remedied by abolishing the academy. The appoint- ment of officers still resting with the executive, it would then appoint as lieutenants those whom it now appoints as cadets; or rather, it would ap- point a more favoured class, already well educated. But as regards the administration at the academy itself; it is admitted by all who know the truth, even by its most violent opponents on the official boards of visiters, that nothing can be more just and impartial, than the promotion or rejection of the candidates for its honours. As about two ca- dets are rejected, for every one who graduates, it is not strange that many of the disappointed should find fault with the strictness of its requisitions. But in educating candidates for the highest offices of the army, it is surely just that the country should select those who are deemed best qualified; and not be required to educate and commission all who may be admitted to the academy on the recommen- LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. ISJ dation of partial friends. Even though many of the rejected may possess latent talents, undeveloped or dimmed by idleness; though they may after^ ward rise and shine in another sphere; still the academic staff had no right to presume that they would thus acquit themselves, without some present evidences of future promise. The number of applicants is so great, that the youth must be very presumptuous, or must feel his claims to be transcendent, who can sanguinely cal- culate on admission. This may be said without imputation; because the wealthy and influential are by no means the only candidates. As the ra- tio of appointments is about three for each con- gressional district in four years, the candidate may generally learn, upon inquiry, whether there is a vacancy in his district. Or if not, it may be useful to forward his application and have it registered at Washington ; as priority of application is one ground of preference. In selecting candidates for admission, the descendants of revolutionary officers, and of those who were in service during the last war, are considered as having peculiar claims to notice ; since their fathers perilled life itself for the preservation of their country. There is no other distinction between the candidates ; save their ac- credited talents and abilities to be of public service, The age of admission is now limited from sixtcerj 16 182 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. to twenty-one years; as that is supposed to be the most suitable period for completing, or rather com- mencing a military education. The acquirements necessary for admission, are, an acquaintance with reading, writing, and the elementary rules and principles of arithmetic. Efforts have been made, and it has been recommended by some boards of visiters, to raise the standard of admission, requiring a knowledge of grammar, geography, and the French and Latin languages, as a prerequisite. The decisive objection to this proposition, is, that it would close the doors of the academy against many who have not the pecuniary means of making these acquirements. But let it not therefore be supposed that those acquirements are the less val- uable or necessary. On the contrary, as geogra- phy, history, and the Latin language, are not now taught in the academic course, it is so much the more important that young gentlemen should be well versed in them before entering the academy ; otherwise, they are obliged to acquire them by pri- vate study, or else remain ignorant of these essen- tial branches of a liberal education. Many candi- dates fail of being admitted at the initiatory exam- ination, because, although they can give the rules of arithmetic, they cannot explain the principles on which these depend. As opportunity is afforded for gratuitous instruction on this subject at the LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON, 183 academy, from the 1st of June, until the examina- tion of candidates near the close of the month, they who are anxious for success, would do well to avail themselves of this assistance. The months of July and August in each year are devoted solely to military exercises ; for which purpose the cadets leave the barracks and encamp in tents on the plain, under the regular police and discipline of an army in time of war. For this purpose, the cadets are organized in a battalion of four companies, under the command of the chief instructer of tactics and his assistants. The cor- porals are chosen from the third class, or cadets who have been present one year; the sergeants from the second class, who have been present two years ; and the commissioned officers, or captains, lieutenants, &c., are selected from the first class, oi* highest at the academy. All the other cadets fill the ranks as private soldiers, though necessarily acquainted with the duties of officers. In rotation they have to perform the duty of sentinels, at all times, day or night, storm or sunshine, in camp^ and evenings and meal-times, in barracks. Cadets who have been present two encampments, are al- lowed, if their conduct have been correct, to be ab- sent the third, on furlough. The drills or military exercises, consist in the use of the musket, rifle, can- non, mortar, howitzer, sabre and rapier, or broad 184 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON, and small sword; fencing, firing at' targets, <&c,j evolutions of troops, including those of the line ; and the preparation and preservation of all kinds of ammunition and materials for war. The per- sonal appearance of the corps of cadets cannot fail to attract admiration ; especially on parade or re- view. The uniform is a gray coatee, with gray pantaloons in winter, and white linen in summer. The dress cap is of black leather, bell crowned, with plate, scales, and chain. The splendid band of music, which, under Willis, made hill and valley ring with notes of " linked harmony long drawn out," though changed, still pleases ; and under its new leader, promises soon to deserve its former re- nown, as the best in our country. The cadets return from camp to barracks on the last of August, and the remaining ten months of the academic year are devoted to their arduous studies. The ceremony of striking the tents and marching out of camp is so imposing, as to be well worth an effort of the visiter to be present on that occasion. On the previous evening, the camp is brilliantly illuminated ; and enlivened with musicj dancing, and bevies of beautiful strangers, it pre- sents quite a fairy scene. For the sake of more full instruction, each clasg is divided into several sections, each having a sep- arate instructor. Thus each cadet is called upon, LETTKRS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 185 at almost every recitation, to explain a considerable portion of the lesson ; for the morning recitations generally occupy two hours each. The written or delineated demonstrations, are explained on a black board in the presence of the whole section. The studies of the first year are algebra, geome- try, descriptive geometry, trigonometry'-, and the French language. All the mathematical studies are practically taught and applied to numerous problems not in the books; on the resolution of which greatly depends the reputation and standi ing of each rival candidate for pre-eminence. The studies of the second year, are the theory of shades, shadows, and perspective, practically illustrated ; analytic geometry, with its application to conic sec- tions ; the integral and differential calculus or sci- ence of fluxions ; surveying and mehsiiration ; the French language, and the elements of drawing, embracing the human figure, in crayon. This completes the course of mathematics, and also of French ; which the cadets learn to translate freely as a key to military science, but which few of them speak fluently. The third year is devoted to a course of natural philosophy, including mechanics, optics, electricity, magnetism, and astronomy; together with chem- istry, and sketching landscapes with the pencil, and IG* 186 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. topography with the pen, which complete th6 course of drawing. The fourth and last year is appropriated to the study of artillery and infantry tactics ; the science of war, and fortification, or military engineering ; a course of civil engineering, embracing the con- struction of roads and bridges, rail-roads and canalsj with the improvement of rivers and harbours ; a Course of mineralogy and military pyrotecting ; to- gether with the elements of rhetoric, moral philoso- phy, and national and constitutional law. To test the progress of the cadets in these studies^ semi-annual examinations are held, commencing ori the first Mondays of January and June ; at the lat- ter of which a board of visiters, appointed by the secretary of war, is present, to make a critical offi- cial report of the state of the academy. The ex- amination of all the classes usually occupies about a fortnight, and is very severe ; but still is not con- sidered the full test of individual proficiency. Each instructer makes a weekly class report, on which is recorded the daily performance of each cadet; those who excel being credited 3, and those who fail entirely marked 0. These marks are accessi- ble to the cadets from week to week, and stimulate their exertions : finally, they are summed up at the end of the term, and laid before the academic stafT, and visiters ; so that the standing of each cadet is LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 18t influenced not only by his examination, but by all his previous recitations. A certain prescriptive proficiency being required of the cadets in each branch, those who fall below this limit are neces- sarily discharged from the service. Averaging the last ten years, where a class of one hundred enters the academy, it is reduced to about seventy at the end of six months, sixty at the end of one yearj fifty at the end of two years, and forty at the end of three years ; not more than about thirty-five grad- uating. There is a general merit roll of every class, made out at the end of each academic year; the merit of each cadet being expressed by a nutnber denoting his proficiency or acquirements. But the final standing of each cadet, on which depends his rank in the army, is determined by the sum of his merit, in all the different branches ; and this de- pends not only on his actual proficiency in any branch, but also on its relative importance. This latter is thus estimated at present by the academic stafi^ viz. : Conduct 300 ; engineering 300 ; math- ematics 300 ; natural philosophy 300 ; chemistry and mineralogy 200 ; rhetoric, ethics and law 200 ; infantry tactics 200; artillery 100; French 100; and drawing 100. Hence the individual who should excel in all the branches, would be credited with 2100 on the final merit roll; but no mord 188 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON, than three or four such instances liave ever occur* red at the academy. The cadet in each class hav- ing the greatest sum of merit is placed first on the roll, and so onward; and he who is deficient in only one single branch is discharged, or else turned back another year to receive a second probation. The graduates of the military academy are enti^ tied by law to a preference over other applicants for commissions in the army. As the average number of vacancies is only about twenty-five an-^ nually, the army would soon be more than filled, did not a considerable nuniber of the graduates voluntarily resign, in order to embrace other pro- fessions, particularly that of civil engineering. Al- though feeling under a moral obligation to offer their services to the country in case of any future emergency, they deem it right, as it is freely per- mitted, in time of peace, to embrace other profes- sions in which they may seek to be still more use- ful. Those who remain in the army, are attached as brevet second lieutenants to the difTerent corps, until they may receive higher rank on the occur'* rence of vacancies. Letter xvii. Settlement of Newburgh — Location — Population— Shovyif appearance from the River — Place of business — Steam- boats — Extensive manufacture of Bricks in Newburgh and vicinity — Iron Foundry — Newburgh Brewery — Col. Crawford's extensive Storehouse — Business crowded into one street — Botanic Gardens and Nursery of the Alessrs. Downing — Description of the same — J. W. Knevels' collec- tion of exotic Plants, the most extensive in the country — View from Beacon Hill — Splendid Scenery — Reasons for supposing the Hudson was once a Lake — Washington's Head- Quarters — TTie United States Hotel — Walden, a manufacturing village on the Walkill—Its resources, etd Newbutgh, June 10th, 1836. Friend P. — Newburgh was originally settled by a few emigrants from Palatine, in 1708. It is beautifully located on the east bank of the Hudson, sixty miles north of New York, and contains a population of 7683, according to the state census of 1835. Situated as it is, on th-e declivity of a hill) it makes a fine appearance from the river, although^ if we except a few elegant mansions on the hillj little taste is displayed in the architectural view. It is a place of considerable business. The pro- ducts of Orange county are principally shipped from this village to New York. Five steam* boats, the Washington, the Superiorj the William 190 LETTERS ABODf THE HUDSON, Young", and the Highlander, are constantly erii' ployed in transporting produce to the city, and an- other boat, the Baltimore, runs between Newburgh and Albany with freight or passengers. Bricks are manufactured in Newburgh, and the immediate vicinity, on a pretty extensive scale. Three establishments make yearly, I am informed, an average of three millions each ; one four and a half millions; and six smaller establishments, a short distance north of the village, about fourteen millions. With what are made on the opposite shore, the aggregate number manufactured by all IS upwards of thirty-six millions per annum. These bricks, at an average of $6 per thousand, amount to the enormous sum (dug from the clay hills as it \vere) of upwards of two million dollars. There is also a large Iron Foundry, owned by J. W. "VVellsj at which various kinds of machinery and castings are made. The brewery of J. Beveridge & Co. is very extensive, and the ale is, I think, without ex- ception, the best manufactured on the river. At least, it is superior to any with which I am ac- quainted. More than tw^enty thousand barrels of this excellent beverage are turned out annually. Some of the storehouses are very extensive ; that owned by Col. D. Crawford, is two hundred and fifty feet long, and the amount of produce shipped by the house with which this gentleman is connected, LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. J91 during the navigation, amounted to something like two hundred thousand dollars. Nearly all the business is crowded into one street, running paral- lel with the river. And a large number of the in- habitants are huddled into the chambers over, or in the rear of the stores. The Botanic Gardens and Nurseries of the Messrs. Downing, a little north of the village, in a charming situation sloping gently towards the shore, and looking out from among the bright flow- ers and the fresh foliage, over one of the sweetest of views, are by no means the least attractive por^ tion of the suburbs of this place; and I suspect, from the celebrity which this establishment is attaining, as a commercial garden, throughout the Union, that many strangers are drawn hither by the in^ creasing taste for horticulture, to view the improve- ments in cultivation, or to draw from the rich re- sources of fruit and ornamental trees collected here, for the improvement and embellishment of their own estates. Although the proprietors mentioned to me that their establishment was new, and com- paratively in its infancy, yet from the vigorous man- ner with which it is conducted in the various de- partments, it must become the source of great ad- vantages to the whole country. The proprietors appear to possess a profound knowledge, both theo^ retical and practical, of their profession, and a con' 192 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. Stant correspondence is maintained Avith scientifio individuals and establishments of the same kind in Europe, by which means all the new fruits, and every thing rare and valuable to the amateur, is obtained as soon as it comes into notice. The va^ riety of fruits cultivated in the nurseries is quite as- tonishing : I can only recollect one hundred and fifty kinds of apples, and more than two hundred of pears — Avhat a treasure for the farmer and horti- culturist! The proprietors pay the most minute attention to the genuineness of the sorts, and bear- ing trees are planted to test all the varieties. As a proof of the advantages of, and the perfection to which grafting is carried, I was shown several trees which bear annually twenty-five or thirty va- rieties of fruit upon the different branches. In the lower parts of the grounds we observed an extensive walk just formed, exhibiting a complete botanical circuit of plants arranged in a scientific manner — a rockwork for alpine plants, and a pond for aquarian, in which the water-lilies and a number of other aquatic plants were tfiriving admirably. In this way the establishment will, when completed, comprise every thing desirable in its way to the botanist, the amateur, and the agriculturist. I no- ticed large plantations of the celebrated Chinese mulberry, grape vines, and the rarer and more deli- cate shrubs and plants — and among the tre^sqros LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 193 )f Flora, rich collections of roses, dahlias, and other >rnamental plants. In the hot-house, among a va- iety of curious vegetation, I was struck with the ize of a huge aloe, one of those wonders of nature vhich bloom but once in two of the ordinary life- imes of the human race. This specimen has, I lelieve, achieved more than one half its centennial leriod. From the hasty glance which I took firough the establishment, I was unable to note aore particularly those minutiae of such an estab' ishment which, after all, must be seen to be appre- iated — but I was delighted with the greenness of lie hedo;-es, of which I saw four or five kinds 2"row- Qg here to test their comparative merits in this limate. Every foreigner is justly offended with lur unsightly fences — why should we not appro- iriate to ourselves the beautiful materials which lature seems to have armed with thorns, and deck- d with foliage, for that special purpose. And then, vhat a discord between rail fences and green mead- iws, and what a harmony in live hedges and equally 'erdant fields ! I encountered, in my rambles in the suburbs, a ^ery rich private collection of exotic plants at the iemesne of J. W. Knevels, Esq., who, as I under- tand, is a zealous amateur, and has recently de- )rived Philadelphia of some of her boasted floral md botanical treasures to enrich this neighbour- 17 194 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. hood. There are many superb tropical plants in his range of hot-houses, more than one hundred feet in length, which I had never before seen, and many of which I had never observed specimens so fine. The large variety of camellias — the noble orange trees — the stately palms — the breadfruit tree — the coffee, camphor, guava, and other West Indian fruits, were thriving here apparently as if in their natural zones. If I had first seen the light of heaven in some southern clime, beneath the shade of a palm or a plantain, I might, like the Hottentot whose story is upon record, have wept at the sight of our compatriot trees ; but as it was, I contented myself with admiring that refinement of mind which led a country gentleman to in- dulge and cultivate a taste at once so innocent, so delightful, and so instructive, as the collection and preservation of those beautiful and delicate produc- tions, which the great Creator has scattered with a bountiful hand over the different climates and coun- tries of the earth. The stranger, who w^ishes to carry away a dis- tinct impression of this section of the Hudson, will not fail to visit Beacon Hill, opposite Newburgh, the last summit of the Highlands of any altitude, as the range dips off to the northeast. An hour's ride on horseback from Fishkill landing, partly through the fine arable lands of Dutchess, and LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 195 partly through the luxuriant over-hanging foliage of the mountain road, brings you to the summit. A few occasional glimpses through the tufts of trees, with now and then a broader opening at some curve of the wood, beautiful though they be, give you but a slight foretaste of the magnificent coup d'oBil in reserve for you upon the summit. This summit — a rounded peak of the primitive granite, bare, or only tufted here and there with a few groups of small trees, with no habitations or traces of cultivation upon it, affords a Yiew of a landscape, at once one of the grandest and most beautiful that can be found in the union. Risino- as it does, rather abruptly from the plain on the east bank, the spectator, gazing from its height upon the scene before him to the west and north, is placed as it were upon the boundary — the frame or setting of a magnificent panorama — which is continued by the Highlands in the south, the hills of the Shawangunk range in the west, and the Catskills in the north, quite round the picture. In this fine setting — high, rugged, and frowning on the range where you stand — softer, but still strongly marked as it breaks against the horizon opposite you — faint, indefinable, and shadowy, where it melts in the clear blue sky to the north- ward — in this fine setting, the materials of the beautiful and the picturesque are arranged with all 196 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. the grandeur, the softness, and beauty of detail, that the most fastidious connoisseur of fine scenery can desire. Before you lies the Hudson, swollen into a lovely expanse or bay of ten miles in length — afterward narrowing, and meandering away to the north, until it is lost to the eye in the distance — sprinkled through its whole course with the white sails of the numberless vessels that float upon its surface. Sloping away from, its banks, rise the fine cultivated lands of the rich old river counties ' — the clustered villages — the neat farm houses, " and hamlets low, With whose thick orchard-blooms the soft winds play," arid its elegant villas gleaming through the tufts of foliage that surround them. The soft green of the meadows — the deeper teints of the forest masses, scattered here and there through the cultivated lands — the golden hue of the grain fields in mid- summer — and the sparkling lustre of the river and the two small lakes west of Newburgh, which shine like sheets of silver in the rays of the de- clining sun — all these, with a thousand variations in the grouping of the details, produced by the art of man in a tract of country which yields a luxu- riance of vegetation to correspond with its noble river and fine hills — form a picture, such as we LETTERS ABOUT THE HtDSOH. .Ili7 nay suppose greeted the eyes of Moses when he looked down upon the promised land. The valley before us is also interesting to those i\^ho are fond of studying the wonderful mutations md revolutions that have taken place upon the ace of our continent, as being the supposed hed of I lake of large dimensions, the southern boundary )f which was once the Highlands, through which he mass of waters having burst, found their way o the ocean, leaving the bed of the lake dry, and brming the present channel of the river. Besides he proofs which the man of science finds in the brmation of this valley — the various deposites — the >rganized remains— and the abruptly waved roll- ng surface in many places — it is remarkable how he idea of its having been the bed of an original ake, impresses itself upon even a general observer )laced upon Beacon Hill. The very chain of nountains which meet the horizon, looking in ivery direction from this point, were, undoubtedly, he banks of this vast body of ivater — the abrupt, orn passage through the hills below bearing wit- less to a sudden convulsion — ^the rounded boulders )f stone scattered over the level plains, and those )lains themselves having in their soils all the char- LCteristics of a deposited surface — all powerfully lerve to the conviction, that you are looking upon he dry bed of a lake of noble dimensions. 17* 198 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON, Beacon Hill was a station for the display of bon- fires in the revolution, which, from its elevated po- sition, denoted the movements of the enemy to the inhabitants for a great distance through the sur- rounding counties. During my visit to Newburgh, I visited Wash- ington's Head-Gluarters — the old Hasbrouck house — occupied by him and his family in the revolu- tionary war. It is now occupied by a son of Wash- ington's host. Veneration, if I may be allowed the use of a phrenological phrase, does not appear to be a very prominent development, or bump, on the cranium of the present proprietor, as the improve- ments made in various parts of this "time hon- oured" and Washington hallowed mansion melan- cholily demonstrate. The sleeping apartment of Washington and his lady were pointed out to me, as was also the chair belonging to him, which has^ I regret exceedingly to say, been newly bottomed and painted. The United States Hotel is a well contrived and spacious building of brick. It looks out upon the Hudson from thirty-six windows and doors. It is now under the management of Mr. Gilbert, and will compare with the best hotels on the river; Daily mail stages leave this hotel for Goshen, Bing- hampton, Owego, Ithaca, Geneva, Buffalo, &c. All the New York and Albany steamboats land and LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON. 199 receive passengers at the dock directly in front of the hotel. Eleven miles west of Newburgh, there is a fine little manufacturing village called Walden. This village is said to contain the greatest water power of any village in the state of New York, within eighty miles of the city. The district of country around it is remarkable for beauty, fertility, and salubrity of climate. The village is situated at the Falls of the River Walkill. The river passes through the village, where it has an average width of two hundred feet ; a cascade of thirty -two feet fall, and rapids of eighteen feet, in that distance, giving facilities for working the water three times from so many levels, with over-shot wheels of twenty, eighteen, and twelve feet diameter, and on both sides of the river. The Walkill has it source in the numerous ponds in the mountains on both sides of it, and also receives all the springs in a course of fifty miles before it reaches the Falls at Walden. It is considered a powerful and perma- nent stream i and will probably continue so from circumstances connected with it. The river has never been known to rise by freshets over threeJ feet at Walden, which is accounted for from the fact of its passing through a narrow outlet after leaving the drowned lands, over which any sudden influx of water diffuses itself without occasioning 900 LETTERS ABOUT THE HUDSON, any disastrous flood below the outlet. The village was commenced in 1823, when the canal was com- pleted, and the first factory erected, since which it has acquired a population of twelve hundred. Its water power alone is capable of sustaining a popu- lation of ten thousand inhabitants. But the bell on the dock announces the steam- boat in sight, and I must away, without saying the half I intended. So farewell for the present. SARATOGA SPRINGS. The writer of the foregoing letters made a flying ex- cursion to Saratoga Springs, and intended to have given a particular description of the place, but has been com- pelled by circumstances beyond his control, to omit an original account of matters and things relative to this fashionable resort. As these letters, however, will proba- bly fall into the hands of many a traveller on the Hud- son, who contemplates a visit, he would introduce from Mr. Davison's " Traveller''s Guide through the Middle and Northern States, and the Provinces of Canada,^' the fol- lowing account, with a few alterations, rendered neces- sary by changes which have occurred since the appear- ance of the last edition of that valuable work, Saratoga Springs is situated north-easterly from Ballston Spa 6 1-2 miles, and 36 1-2 miles from the city of Albany. The village is located on an elevated spot of ground, sur- rounded by a productive level country, and enjoys, if not the advantage of prospect, at least the "advantage of a salu- brious air and climate, contributing much to the health and benefit of its numerous visitants. The springs, so just- ly celebrated for their medicinal virtues, are situated on the margin of a vale, bordering the village on the east, and are a continuation of a chain of springs discovering themselves about 12 miles to the south, in the town of Ballston, and extending easterly in the form of a cres- cent, to the GLuaker village. In the immediate vicinity are 10 or 12 springs, the principal of which are the C'on- gress, the Hamilton, the High Rock, the Columbian, the Flat Rock, the Washington, and the President. About a mile east, are found a cluster of mineral springs which go by the name of the Ten Springs. THE CONGRESS SPRING Is situated at the south end of the village, and is owned by Doct. John Clarke ; to whose liberality the Q02 SARATOGA SPRINGS, public are much indebted for the recent improvements that have been made in the grounds adjoining the foun- tain, for the purity in which its waters are preserved, and for an elegant colonnade erected over the spring, aifording a convenient promenade to visitants. The spring was first discovered in the summer of 1792, issuing from a crevice in the rock, a few feet from its present location, flere it flowed for a number of years, until an attempt to improve the surface around it produced an accidental obstruction of its waters, which afterward made their appearance at the place where they now flow. It is enclosed by a tube sunk into the earth to the dis- tance of 12 or 14 feet, which secures it from the water of a stream, adjoining which it is situated. From an analysis made by Doct. Steel, it appears that a gallon of the water contains the following substances : chloride of sodium, 385 grs. ; hydriodate of soda, 3 1-2 grs. ; bicarbonate of soda, nearly 9 grs. ; bicarbonate of magnesia, nearly 96 grs. ; carbonate of lime, a little more than 98 grs. ; carbonate of iron, upwards of 5 grs. ; silix, 1 1-2 grs.; carbonic acid gas, 311 cubic inches; atmos- pheric air, 7 do. To this spring perhaps more than any other spot on the globe, are seen repairing in the summer mornings, before breakfast, persons of almost every grade and con- •dition, from the most exalted to the most abject. The beautiful and the deformed — the rich and the poor — the devotee of pleasure and the invalid — all congregate here for purposes as various as are their situations in life. To one fond of witnessing the great diversity in the human character, this place affords an ample field for observation. So well, indeed, has it been improved by the little urchins who dip water at the fountain, that an imposing exterior is sure to procure for its possessor their services; while individuals less richly attired, and whose physiognomy in- dicate a less liberal disposition, are often compelled to wait till it is more convenient to attend to their wants. Most persons soon become fond of the water ; but the effect on those who taste it for the first time is frequently unpleasant. To such, the other fountains are generally more palatable, having a less saline taste than the Con- gress. The High Rock is situated on the west side of the val- SARATOGA SPRINGS, 203 ley, skirting the east side of the village, about half a mile north of the Congress. The rock enclosing this spring is in the shape of a cone, 9 feet in diameter at its base, and 5 in height. It seems to have been formed by a con- cretion of particles thrown up by the water which for- merly flowed over its summit through an aperture of about 12 inches in diameter, regularly diverging from the top of the cone to its base. This spring was visited in the year 1767 by Sir William Johnson, but was known long before by the Indians, who were first led to it, either by accident or the frequent haunts of beasts, attracted thither by the saline properties of the water. A building was erected near the spot previous to the revolutionary ■war ; afterward abandoned, and again resumed ; since which the usefulness of the water has, from time to time, occasioned frequent settlements within its vicinity. The water now arises within 2 feet of the summit, and a common notion prevails that it has found a passage through a fissure of the rock occasioned by the fall of a tree ; smce which event it has ceased to flow over its brink. This opinion, however, may be doubted. It is probable that the decay of the rock, which commenced its formation on the natural surface of the earth, may have yielded to the constant motion of the water, and at length opened a passage between its decayed base and the loose earth on which it was formed. This idea is strengthened from the external appearance of the rock at its eastern base, which has already been penetrated by the implements of curiosity a number of inches. Between the Red spring in the upper village, and the Washington in the south part of the lower village, are situated most of the other mineral springs in which this place abounds. At three of the principal springs, the Hamilton, Monroe, and Washington, large and conve- nient bathing houses have been erected, which are the constant resort for pleasure as well as health, during the warm season. The mineral waters both at Ballston and Saratoga are supposed to be the product of the same great laboratory, and they all possess nearly the same properties, varying only as to the quantity of the different articles held in so- lution. They are denominated acidulous saline and acidulous chalybeate. Of the former are the Congress, 204 SARATOGA SPRINGS. (which holds the first rank,) the Hamilton, High Rock, and President, at Saratoga ; and of the latter are the Columbian, Flat Rock, and Washington, at Saratoga, and the Old Spring and San Souci, at Ballston. The waters contain muriate of soda, hydriodate of soda, carbonate of soda, carbonate of lime, carbonate of magnesia, oxide of iron, and some of them a minute quantity of silica and alumina. Large quantities of carbonic acid gas are also contained in the waters, giving to them a sparkling and lively appearance. The Congress, in particular, the moment it is dipped, contains nearly one half more than its bulk of gas ; a quantity unprecedented in any natural waters elsewhere discovered. Doct. Steel, in his geological report of the county of Saratoga, published a few years since, remarks, that " the temperature of the water in all these wells is about the same, ranging from 48 to 52 degrees on Fahrenheit s scale ; and they suffer no sensible alteration from any variation in the temperature of the atmosphere ; neither do the va- riations of the seasons appear to have much effect on the quantity of water produced, " The waters are remarkably limpid, and when first dipped, sparkle with all the life of good champaigne. The saline waters bear bottling very well, particularly the Congress, immense quantities of which are put up in this way, and transported to various parts of the world ; not, however, without a considerable loss of its gaseous property, which renders its taste much more insipid than when drank at the well. The chalybeate water is like- wise put up in bottles for transportation, but a very tri- fling loss of its gas produces an immediate precipitation of its iron ; and hence this water, when it has been bot- tled for some time, frequently becomes turbid, and finally loses every trace of iron ; this substance fixing itself to the walls of the bottle, " The most prominent and perceptible effects of these waters, when taken into the stomach, are cathartic, diuretic, and tnnic. They are much used in a great variety of complaints ; but the diseases in which they are most ef- ficacious are jaundice and bilious affections generally, dyspepsia, habitual costiveness, hypochondriacal com- plaints, depraved appetite, calculous and enphritic com- plaints, phagedenic or ill-conditioned ulcers, cutaneous SARATOGA SPRINGS. 205 eruptions, chronic rheumatism, some species or states of gout, some species of dropsy, scrofula, paralysis, scor- butic affections and old scorbutic ulcers, amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, and chlorosis. In phthisis, and indeed all other pulmonary affections arising from primary dis- eases of the lungs, the waters are manifestly injurious, and evidently tend to increase the violence of the disease. " Much interest has been excited on the subject of the source of these singular waters ; but no researches have as yet unfolded the mystery. The large proportion of common salt found among their constituent properties may be accounted for without much difficulty — all the salt springs of Europe, as well as those of America, being found in geological situations exactly corresponding to these ; but the production of the unexampled quantity of carbonic acid gas, the medium through which the other articles are held in solution, is yet, and probably will re- main, a subject of mere speculation. The low and regu- lar temperature of the water seems to forbid the idea that it is the effect of subterranean heat, as many have sup- posed, and the total absence of any mineral acid, except- ing the muriatic, which is combined with soda, does away the possibility of its being the effect of any combi- nation of that kind. Its production is therefore truly un- accountable." In addition to the springs already enumerated, a valua- ble SULPHUR SPRING was discovcrcd a few years since in the vicinity of the Hamilton Spring, in the rear of the Congress Hall, It rises from a depth of about twenty feet, in a tube of about 4 feet in diameter, and affords an ample supply of water for the bathing establishment with which it is connected. It has already proved highly ef- ficacious in many cases of salt rheum, scrofula, and other cutaneous eruptions ; and were it generally known, would undoubtedly be resorted to more frequently by persons afflicted with these complaints. The boarding establishments of the first class at Sara- toga Springs are the Congress Hall and Union Hall at the south end of the village, the Pavilion at the north, and the United States Hotel in a central situation be- tween them, Besides these, there are a number of other boarding houses on a less extensive scale, the most noted of which are Montgomery Hall and the York House 18 306 SARATOGA SPRINGS. in the south part, and the Columbian Hotel and Wash- ington Hall, in the north part of the village ; Prospect Hall, also kept by Mr. Benjamin R. Putnam, is beau- tifully located about one mile northwest of the village, and is a very respectable establishment. The Congress Hall, kept by Mr. Mungen, is situated within a few rods of the Congress spring, to which a handsome walk, shaded with trees, has been constructed for the convenience of guests. The space in front of the building is occupied by three apartments, each of which is enclosed by a railing, terminating at the front entran- ces of the piazza, and each used as a flower garden. The edifice is 200 feet in length, 3 stories high, besides an attic, and has two wings extending back, one 60, and the other about 100 feet. In front of the hall is a spacious piazza, extending the whole length of the building, 20 feet in width, with a canopy from the roof, supported by 17 massy columns, each of which is gracefully intwined with woodbine. There is also a back piazza, which opens upon a beautiful garden annexed to the establish- ment, and a small grove of pines, affording both fra- grance and shade to their loitering guests. The Con- gress Hall can accommodate from 250 to 300 visitants, and is justly ranked among the most elegant establish- ments in the union. The United States Hotel, kept by Seaman and Mar- vin, with its gardens and out-buildings, occupies a space in the centre of the village of about five acres. The main building is composed of brick, 125 feet long and 34 wide. It is four stories high, and has a wing extend- ing west 60 feet, three stories high. A building 34 by 60, appropriated to drawing and lodging rooms, has also been added on the south, and is connected with the main edifice by broad piazzas in front and rear, extending the whole length of both buildings. The ground in the rear and south of the hotel is handsomely laid out into walks, terminating on the west in a garden belonging to the es- tablishment, and the whole is tastefully ornamented with trees and shrubbery. The front of the edifice is enclosed by a delicate circular railing into three apartments, each containing a choice variety of flowers and shrubs, and shaded by a row of forest trees extending the whole length of the building. The hotel is situated equally dis.- SARATOGA SPRINGS. 207 tant between the Congress and Flat Rock springs, and commands a view of the whole village, and from its fourth story a distinct view is had of the surromiding country for a number of miles. This establishment can accommodate nearly 250 visitants, and is one of the lar- gest and most splendid edifices in the United States. The Pavilion, kept by John Robson, is situated in a pleasant part of the village, immediately iii front of the Flat Rock spring. The building is constructed of wood, 136 feet in length, with a wing extending back from the centre of the main building, 80 feet, and another (which has been recently added) e^xtending along Church street, of 200 feet, affording numerous private parlours, com- municating with lodging rooms, for the convenience of families. The main building is 2 1-2 stories high, with the addition of an attic, which, with the handsome porti- co in front, sustained by delicate colonnades, renders it, in beauty and proportion, one of the finest models of archi- tecture this country can produce. The large rooms of the Pavilion are so constructed that by means of folding doors the whole of the lower apartments may be thrown into one — an advantage which gives much additional in- terest to the promenade and cotillion parties, which fre- quently assemble on this extensive area. A large gar- den, to which is added a fish pond, is connected with the establishment. The Pavilion is calculated for the ac- commodation of about 250 visitants Mr. Robson, the present manager of this establishment, is a gentleman of great experience in the business, and will increase the popularity of the house. The Union Hall is one of the earliest and most re- spectable establishments in the vicinity, and is situated directly opposite the Congress Hall. It has, within a few years, been much improved in its appearance, and en- larged by considerable additions to the main building. Ii now presents an elegant front, 120 feet in length, three stories high, with two wings extending west 60 feet. It is ornamented in front by 10 columns, which rise to nearly the height of the building, and support the roof of a spacious piazza. A garden in the rear of the building, together with a beautiful flower garden on the north open- ing to the main street, are among the varieties which con^ tribute to the pleasantness of the establishment; It is QOB SARAT0C3A SPRINGS. now kept by Mr. W. Putnam, a son of the original pro^ prietor, and ranks in point of elegance and respectabili- ty with the most favoured establishments in the vicinity. The Reading Rooms. There is in the village a print- ing office and bookstore, with which is connected a read- ing room, a mineralogical room, and a library, under the superintendence of the same proprietor. These roomSj a few doors north of the U. S. Hotel, are contained in the same building with the library and bookstore; but have their separate apartments. That appropriated for the reading room, is large and airy. It is ornamented with a variety of maps and charts, and is furnished by the daily mails with about 100 papers, from different parts of the United States and from the Canadas, besides several periodical publications. The mineralogical apartment is on the second story, to which stairs lead from the reading room. This apartment contains specimens of all the minerals discovered in this vicinity, together With a va- riety from ditTerent parts of the union, and from Europe. They are very handsomely arranged in glass cases, have been much augmented of late by Dr. J. H. Steely of this place, to whom the proprietor is principally indebted for their collection and arrangement. An apartment adjoin- ing the reading room, contains a library of about 2000 volumes, which are well selected, and receive constant additions from the most fashionable productions of the day. There is also kept at the rooms a register of the names of visitants at the Springs, their residence and places of board. The names thus entered frequently number from 6 to 8000 in the course of the season. These rooms afford a pleasant retreat from the noise and bustle of the boarding establishments, and are much frequented by ladies and gentlemen of taste and fashion. The terms are reasonable, and are scarcely an equivalent, considering the extent and usefulness of the institution. At both the villages of Ballston and Saratoga Springs, there are always sufficient objects of amusement to ren- der the transient residence of their summer guests pleas- ant and agreeable. Those whose taste is not gratified at the billiard rooms, which are annexed to most of the boarding establishments, can always enjoy a mental re- creation at the reading rooms ; a ride on the rail road, carriages for which leave both villages several times a SARATOGA SPRINGS, 209 ^ay ; or a short excursion in the neighbourhood, where sufficient beauty and novelty of scenery are always pre- sented to render it interesting. The amusements of the day are usually crowned with a ball or promenade. The respective apartmentsappropriated for these occasions are calculated to accommodate from 150 to 300 guests: but they often contain a much greater number. The spacious areas of the cotillion rooms are between 80 and 90 feet in length, and when enlivened by the asso- ciated beauty and gayety resorting to the springs, present a scene of novelty and fascination seldom equalled. About two miles east from Saratoga Springs there is also a small fish pond, situated on the farm of a Mr. Barhyte, Parties often resort thither, as well to enjoy the amusements of fishing as to partake of a repast on trout the proprietor reserving to himself the exclusive privilege of serving them up. 18* THE END. VALUABLE WORKS PUBLISHED AND SOLD BY FREEMAN HUNT & CO. 141 NASSAU-ST., NEW YORK. NEW AND BEAUTIFUL PREMIUM ATLAS. Freeman Hunt &, Co. receive subscriptions for Bradford's Comprehen- sive Atlas. It is believed tx) be the most full, comprehensive, and splendid work of the kind, ever published in this country. It forms a quarto volume, and combines about one hundred elegant and correct maps, plans, and charts, and a vast amount of Geographical, Statistical, Historical, and Com- mercial information in immediate connexion with the maps. At the late fair of the American Institute, a diploma was awarded for this Atlas. The following are a fev/ extracts from the many favourable opinions expressed by those fully competent to judge of the merits of the work. From the Right Rev. B. T. Onderdonk, Bishop of the Protest- ant Episcopal Church in the State of New-York. _ '_' I have no hesitation in regarding it as a most valuable ad- dition to the means of useful information. I think it contains a greater variety of such information than I have before seen imbodied in the same compass, or placed within the reach of 80 moderate a price. The execution, too, is high recomm.cn- dation. On all these accounts I hesitate not to hope that the work will be extensively patronised." From J. R. Bartlett, Esq. Librarian Providence Athenaeum. "To give mj^ individual opinion of your Atlas, I must say that it is superior to any thing of the kind ever published in this country, and is not excelled by similar English Atlases, which cost from twenty to thirty dollars." Extract from a letter from the Hon. Judge Thompson, of Poughkeepsie. "It is seldom that such a vast amount of information is found condensed in so small a compass, and to be procured at so moderate a price. The arrangement is judicious." From Rev. Geo. Bush, Professor of Hebrew and Oriental Lit- erature, in New- York University, New- York City. " Having devoted some time to an examination of the gen- eral plan and execution of the ' Comprehensive Atlas,' I am happy to express my full conviction of the superior merits and Value of the work. Though designed mainly, (as indicated by the title,) as an Atlas, yet it contains in addition, a vast amount of informa' tion, Geographical, Statistical, Political, and Scientific, se- lected, condensed and arranged with great judgment, and marked by a character o^ authenticity and accuracy which en- titles it to the viost implicit conjidence. It is, in fact, a kind of Topographical Encyclopedia, con- taining a storehouse of just that sort of knowledge which no person of general information can do without." From Rev. Robert W. Harris, Rector of Grace Church, White Plains, N. Y. " From the completeness of its design and the excellence of its execution, it seems calculated to supersede publications heretofore in use. Every economist of time, and every friend to the diffusion of useful knowledge, should give the sanction of his name and patronage." From Prof Potter, and President Noti, of Union College. . " Having examined the Comprehensive Atlas of T. G, Bradford, I cheerfully express the opinion, that it imbodies art unusual mass of useful information, judiciously selected and well arranged. It is calculated to be extremely serviceable lo the man of business as well as the student. I hardly know where such valuable matter may be found within so small a compass and at so cheap a rate." " In the opinion above expressed I cheerfully concur. ELIPHALET NOTT." From Rev. B. T. Welsh, D. D., Albany. " It is a most admirable work, and excels every thing of the kind I have ever seen." From Joseph H. Price^ Rector of St. Paul's Church, Albany. " Bradford's Comprehensive Atlas appears to possess merit of a high order. It imbodies a vast amount of geographical, historical, statistical, and commercial information. The maps, charts, and plans, are at once correct and beautiful. There is no class of men to whom it may not be useful. For families and merchants, it must prove invaluable. The price I con- sider very reasonable." We make a few extracts from the many notices which have appeared in the journals of the day. From the New- York Knickerbocker. " Whether regarded in reference to the great arnount of geographical, historical, commercial and statistical informa- tion which it contains— perspicuous arrangement and conve- nience of reference — or excellence of execution, pictorial, illus- trative or typographical— this Atlas excels all others that have borne under our observation." From the New- York Evening Star. 'The Comprehensive Atlas, of which we have seen a speci- men, is, without- exception, the most splendid, useful, anci comprehensive work ever pubhshcd in this country. No mer- chant, bank, insurance office, or family, should be witliottt it.'^ From the New-York Daily Gazette. " It is a \vork of no ordinary magnitude, and possessing a value and interest altogether beyond the many ephemeral publications of the day. We have no hesitation in saying that as a universal and comprehensive Atlas, of historical facts, and geographical, statistical, and commercial informa- tion, this Atlas is unsurpassed by any similar American work. Indeed there never has been one published in this country, which can lay claim to the title of similar, if we except the bare name of 'Atlas.' " From the New-England Magazine. "The arrangement possesses great advantages, and the work is executed in a style to render it in every respect ac- ceptable to the public. The Editor has had rare advan- tages for the preparation of such a volume, and no one can make better use than he, of his opportunities." From the New- York Christian Intelligencer. " We know of no other work of the size and price, at all to' be compared with this work in real solid worth, on this in--, teresting branch of the sciences. The numerous maps and^ plates are finely executed. We recommend this new, beauti- ful, and admirable Atlas, to our readers, as the most compre- hensive, convenient, and best executed of any with which we are acquainted." From the New Yorker. "We have seen no American publication which for thorough, practical, universal utility and fidelity of execution, can com- pare with this. It forms a complete encyclopedia of geo- graphical and natural science — more perfect as well as com- prehensive, than any which has fallen under our observation."' From the Parlour Magazind "We are free to say, and that too without fear of contra- diction, that a more splendid, useful, and comprehensive work never emanated from the American press. It would do credit to the advanced state of the arts in Europe. To the library of the merchant, mechanic, traveller, and general reader, we should consider it an indispensable addition. The price, when the amount of useful matter, and the nimiber of elegant steel alates are taken into account, we consider extremely low. It, ;n fact, contains more matter than Atlases heretofore pub- lished at betvveen twenty and thirty dollars " From the Liverpool (Eng.) Journal. " These comparative charts are invaluable, and we must say :hat such a multum in parvo of general and useful informa- lidri we have never before seen collected, or in a form so con* venienl for reference. The maps, beautifully engraved, are worthy the immense fund of information which the letter- press affords. It is the only work of the kind in the world !" 0° The price of the Atlas is but 10 dollars. . PARLEY'S CYCLOPEDIA, to be published. by Freeman Hunt & Co. It is proposed to issue this work in a series of volumes, with a view to furnish a cheap, convenient, familiar, and useful Library of every day reference. It will be designed for family use, and especially for the young, and will consist of twelve volumes arranged on the following plan, with such variations and improvements, as may be suggested in the progress of the work. Vol. 1. A Familiar Dictionary of History of all ages, in- cluding not only the histor^r of countries and places, but the history of institutions and events, such as Chivalry, the Cru- sades, &c. It will also contain the History of each of the United States. Vol. 2. A Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 3. A Dictionary of Geography. Vol. 4. A Dictionary of Astronomy. Vol. 5. A Dictionary of the Animal Kingdom. Vol. 6. A Dictionary of the Mineral Kingdom and Geology. Vol. 7. A Dictionary of the Vegetable Kingdom — as useful and interesting trees, Howers, shrubs, and plants. Vol. 8. A Dictionary of Chemistry. Vol. 9. A Dictionary of Commerce. Vol. 10. A Bible Gazetteer. Vol. 11. A Dictionary of the Bible, illustrative of its Natural History, Manners, Customs, &c. Vol. 12. A Familiar Dictionary of things important to be understood, including such words as Poetry, Fables, Proverbs, &c. with specimens of each. This work will be got up in an elegant and attractive style, and will be carefully adapted to promote the important objects to which it is devoted. It will be richly embellished with il- Justrations and engravings, and will comprise a variety of Tales, Sketches, and Anecdotes, designed to render the vari- ous subjects at once easy lo be understood, and agreeable to Study, Each volume of this w^ork will contain on an average, 175 large well-printed pages, and will be issued as nearly as pos- sible, one volume a month. They will be neatly done up in printed covers, and will be delivered to subscribers at 50 cents a volume, payable on delivery. The publication of the work will be commenced as soon as the encouragement is sufficient to justify it. As thjs work is to be prepared under the direct supervision df the Author of Peter Parley's Tales, it is believed that the public will not require any further guarantee for its faithfql execution. POPULAR CYCLOPEDIA OF HISTORY. Freeman Hunt & Co. are now publishing a Popular Cyclopedia of His- tory, Ancient and Modern, forming a copious Historical Dic- tionary of Celebrated Institutions, Persons, Places, and things; with notices of the present state of the principal Cities, Coun- tries and Kingdoms of the known World ; to which is added a chronological view of memorable events, as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, storms, contiagrations, diseases, famines, inventions, discoveries, battles, treaties, settlements, origin of religious sects, &c. by F. A. Durivage, illustrated by engrav- ings. RECOMMENDATIONS. From Peter S. Du Ponceau, LL. D. President of the Amer- ican Piiilosophical Society. "I have examined Mr. Durivage's Popular Cyclopedia of History, &c. and am free to recoiumend it as a useful work for spreading general knowledge of the subjects treated of. The States of South America, (for instance,) are described according to their latest political divisions. On the other liand, several faults which disfigure some of the most popu- lar Enghsh works are judiciously avoided. On the whole, I with pleasure recommend it to tbe patronage of the public. PETER S. DU PONCEAU." Philadelphia, Feb. 4, 1836. From the Rev. James Abercrombie, D. D. " Being requested to give my opinion with respect to a re- cent publication in New- York, entitled, a Popular Cyclopedia )f History, Ancient and Modern, forming a copious Historical Dictionary of Places, Persons, and Celebrated Institutions, fee. &c. illustrated by engravings, by P. A. Durivage ; and laving carefully examined the plan and execution of the work. consider it a very useful addition to the circle of General literature, and particularly adapted to the private library of he student. The condensation of information upon the va- ious subjects it embraces renders it a volume of pecuhar in- erest and value. JAMES ABERCROMBIE, D. D." Philadelphia, Jan. 30, 1836. ii'rom Walter R. Johnson, Professor of Mechanics and Nat- ural Philosophy, in the Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania. "Philadelphia, Feb. 1, 1836. Having examined with much interest the plan of Mr. Duri- 'age's Popular Cyclopedia of History, and compared some of 6 its details with corresponding articles in the larger standard works heretofore published, I am satisfied that much care and judgment have been exercised in the preparation of this work. The author has compressed into the compass of a single volume of 700 pages, a vast amount 9f the most interesting and important truths of History, Biography, Topography, Chronology, the Rise and Progress of Inventions, Discoveries, and useful Institutions. I think the M'ork better adapted to the purposes of a manual of reference for the general scholar and literary reader, than any other single volume with which 1 am acquainted. WALTER R. JOHNSON, Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, in the Frankhn Institute of the State of Pennsylvania." From Job R. Tyson, Esq. " I have examined with some care, the Popular Cyclopedia of F. A. Durivage, of Boston. It embraces a vast circle of knowledge, and in those great and attractive departments, History, Biography, Belles Lettres, Accounts of Inventions, Discoveries, &c. A single book of 700 pages cannot certainly be so minute in its information, as performances of many volumes and thousands of leaves like the Encyclopedias of Rees, Brewster and Leither, but it maybe rendered, by judi- cious compression, more extensively useful than either. The historical and literary articles, many of which 1 have read, are very satisfactory, considering the space which they occupy. In truth, many excellent articles on topics not treated in the voluminous productions referred to, are con- tained in this work. Under these impressions I do not hesitate to express my belief that the Popular Cyclopedia, as a manual, to be con- sulted by general readers, deserves to be held in very high estimation. J. R. TYSON." Philadelphia, Feb. 1, 1836. The memorable events which have transpired, are illus- trated and described with graphic skill, and with an elegance of diction unsurpassed by any historian of the present age at least. The engravings which illustrate the volume, are neat and numerous, having reference to events in history of en- during permanency. We can, therefore, and do most cheer- fully commend the volume to the attention of all, as possess- ing an unusual portion of value and interest. — [Literary Gaz. The "Historical Cyclopedia," containing more than 700 pages, and illustrated with numerous beautiful engravings. Pnce 3 dollars per copy. FREEMAN HUNT & Co., No. 141 Nassau street. J 9 28