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■^.rooKlyTi. CitiievVs. 
 
 PROCEEDINGS AT THE DINNER 
 
 GIVliN 111- TUE 
 
 CITIZENS OF BROOKLYN 
 
 AT THE MANSION HOUSE, 
 
 ON THE 5TPI OF AUQUST, 1857, 
 
 HON. HENllY C. MUItPHY, 
 
 PKEVIODSLY TO 
 
 HIS DEPARTURE ON HIS MISSION AS MINISTER TO THE NETHERLANDS. 
 
 BROOKLYN : 
 
 1. VAN ANDEN, TRINTER, 30 AND 32 EUl.TON STREET. 
 MDOCCLVII. 
 

 PRINTED FOE PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION. 
 
COMPLIMENTAlir DINNER 
 
 HON. HENRY C. MURPHY 
 
 Previously to the departure of the Hon. Henry 
 C. Murphy, on his mission to the Hague, a number 
 of his fellow-citizens of Brooklyn decided to testify, 
 by a public dinner, their appreciation of his charac- 
 ter and qualifications for the high duties, to the 
 fulfilment of which he had been called. They met 
 to mingle congratulations on his receiving such a 
 mark of the confidence and esteem of the Chief 
 Magistrate of the Union ; and on tlie advantages to 
 the commerce and friendly relations of the country 
 abroad, to result from his selection, with regrets at 
 losing, even temporarily, a citizen whose absence 
 would leave a blank in the circles of public and 
 private life. His fellow citizens among whom his 
 whole life had been spent, exhibited a universal 
 desire to participate in the festival ; and leading 
 citizens of all parties united to honor the occasion. 
 
The dinner was given at the Mansion House, and 
 in every respect exceeded the anticipations of its 
 promoters. A goodly company of the most dis- 
 tinguished citizens of Brooklyn assembled ; all 
 differences of opinion on political or other topics 
 were merged for the time in the general sentiment 
 in honor of intellectual capacity and moral worth. 
 Spontaneous and genuine expressions of regard 
 emanated from all quarters, and the proceedings at 
 the dinner were characterized by good feeling and 
 propriety, and passed off to the eminent satisfac- 
 tion of all present. 
 
CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 THE COM^riTTEE AND MR. MURPTTY 
 
 Brooklyn, July 15, 1857. 
 
 IToN. Henry C. Murphy 
 
 Dear Sir — A large number of your fellow citizens, entertaining, 
 in common -with the community of whicli you have been from birth 
 a resident, a high respect for your public and private character, and 
 bound to you by the stronger ties of long personal friendship, are 
 desirous of testifying their regard for you in some appropriate and 
 piiblic manner, prior to your departure on the honorable mission to 
 whioh you have been called. 
 
 "With this view the undersigned, who have been appointed a Com- 
 mittee for that purpose, respectfully and earnestly invite you to favor 
 them with your company at a Dinner, to be given at such time as 
 may be most convenient to you. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 Your friends and fellow citizens. 
 
 N. B. MORSE, 
 C. P. SMITH, 
 JOHN GRKENWOOD, 
 E. W. FISKE, 
 .lOHN T. RUNCIE, 
 DANIEL EMBURY, 
 EDMUND DIUGGS, 
 SAMUEL E. JOHNSON, 
 WILLIAM HUNTER, Jns. 
 AVILLI.\M M. HARRIS, 
 WILLIAM WALL, 
 
 L VAN ANDEN, 
 IIENUY A. KENT, 
 T. f!. liEliGEN, 
 JAMES I1U^HMIREY, 
 DANIEL VAN VOORHIS, 
 ABR'M B. BAYLIS, 
 ROLLIN SANFORD, 
 NICHOLAS WYCKOFF, 
 JOHN W. MAN LEV, 
 BARNET JOHNSON, 
 HECTOR MORRISON, 
 CHARLES WILSON. 
 
 WILLIAM MARSHALL, 
 S. L. HUSTED, 
 J. CARSON BREVOORT, 
 HENRY R. PIERSON, 
 JOHN W. HUNTER, 
 JOHN A. CROSS, 
 WILLIAM H. PECK, 
 JOHN IL PRENTICE, 
 WILLIAM H. CARY, 
 J. S. T. STRANAHAN, 
 DANIEL CHAUNCEY. 
 
Brooklyn-, July 20, 185T. 
 
 Gentlemex: — 
 
 I liave the honor of receiving, this day, your letter of the 15th 
 inst., and beg, in reply, to return you my sincere acknowleclginents 
 for tlie kind manner in which you have been pleased to extend to 
 me the invitation on behalf of my fellow-citizens whom you represent. 
 
 Although, under ahnost any other circumstances, I should be 
 compelled to decline such a public testimonial, I do not feel at 
 liberty to deny myself the pleasure of meeting those who have so 
 strong a personal claim upon my regard, as the valued friends and 
 fellow citizens who have made this call. 
 
 In the exercise of the privilege accorded me in j^our letter, I name 
 the 5tli of August as the time Avhich will suit my engagements for the 
 proposed entertainment. 
 
 With grateful sentiments towards those Avith whom you act, and 
 with many thanks to you, gentlemen, for the acceptable manner in 
 wliich you have made known tlieir wishes, 
 
 I am yours truly, 
 
 HENRY 0. MURPHY. 
 
 To the Hons. N. B. Morse, C. P. Smith, 
 ,T. Greenwood and others, Committee. 
 
PROCEEi:)INas 
 
 In accordance with the preceding invitatiou 
 and acceptance, the complimentary dinner to Mr. 
 Murphy, prior to his departure for the Hague, in 
 the honorable character of Minister from the United 
 States of America to the Netherlands, was given 
 at the Mansion House in Hicks street, Brooklyn, 
 on the evening of the 5th day of August, 1857. 
 The spacious dining room was appropriately deco- 
 rated and brilliantly lighted; the tables were 
 spread with all the luxuries of the season, and 
 exhibited many triumphs of the cuisinary art. 
 Bouquets and other floral ornaments were liberally 
 distributed. 
 
 Daniel Embury, Esq., presided, assisted by 
 Teunis G. Bergen, William Hunter, Jr., Samuel 
 E. Johnson, Edwards W. Fiske, Wm. M. Harris, 
 John W. Hunter, John T. Rungie, I. Yan Anden, 
 Daniel Van Voorhis, Esquires, as Vice Presidents. 
 
 The company, about two hundred in number, 
 sat down to dinner at half-past seven o'clock. The 
 guest of the occasion was seated on the right of 
 the president, in a chair elegantly festooned with 
 
flowers ; next to him in order sat the Honorable 
 Fernando Wood, Mayor of the City of New York, 
 the Honorable Gdlian C. Verplanck, the Rev. Dr. 
 Geo. W. Bethune, the Honorable George Wood ; 
 and on the left of the President sat the Rev. Evan 
 M. Johnson, the Honorable Samuel S. Powell, 
 Mayor of the City of Brooklyn, the Rev. Dr. John 
 Kennedy, the Honorable Judges Amasa J. Parker, 
 and Lucien Birdseye. Other distinguished gen- 
 tlemen, among whom were the ex-Mayors of the 
 City of Brooklyn, Edward Copeland, Samuel 
 Smith, and Cyrus P. Smith, Judges N. B. Morse 
 and John A. Lott, the Honorables John Kelly, 
 M. C, John Cochrane, M. C, George Taylor, M. 
 C, Aug. Schell, Collector of the port of New 
 York, James Humphrey, Esq., &c., were present. 
 
 The Divine blessing on the repast was invoked 
 by the Rev. Evan M. Johnson, and after an elegant 
 and sumptuous dinner had been disposed of, and 
 the dessert served, the first regular toast was 
 announced by the Chairman : 
 
 " The President of the United States," 
 
 which was received with enthusiastic cheers. 
 
 James Humphrey, Esq., read a letter of apology 
 from the President of the United States, in response 
 to an invitation to attend. (The letter, with the 
 other correspondence, will be found annexed.) 
 
 " The Governor of the State of New York" 
 
 followed, and was also drunk with all due honors. 
 
Daniel Embury, Esq., the Chairman, in announ- 
 cing the next toast, said : 
 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 We assemble this evening to perform a very 
 grateful duty — to testify our sincere regard for 
 our friend and fellow-citizen, the Hon. Henry C. 
 Murphy, who is about to leave our shores for a 
 temporary residence in a foreign land. His claims 
 to this tribute of our respect are manifold. His 
 name is identified with all the prominent mea- 
 sures undertaken for the improvement of this rap- 
 idly growing city. He has filled ably many of the 
 higher offices within her gift, and he has justified 
 her choice by his untiring devotion to her interests. 
 If we contemplate for a moment the personal quali- 
 fications and past career of our honorable guest, we 
 shall see the peculiar propriety of the appointment 
 he has received as Minister to the Netherlands. Im- 
 bued by his profession with a profound knowledge 
 of the laws of this land, no less learned in the laws 
 of nations, and, as a recent member of Congress, 
 intimately acquainted with the domestic and for- 
 eign policy of our Government, versed in the 
 language of the country to which he is accredited 
 — well read in its literature and its history — by no 
 means ignorant of those secret workings of the 
 human heart, through the agency of which masses 
 as well as individuals are moved, he may well be 
 considered a fit representative of this great Repub- 
 lic at the Hague. It is appropriate, too, that such 
 a representative should go forth from this ancient 
 Dutch village of Breukelen, his native place, settled 
 
10 
 
 by the old Hollanders and Walloons in their first 
 visit to New Netherland, and the birth place of 
 their first descendant. It is a remarkable fact, and 
 one highly honorable to the city of Brooklyn, that 
 two of its Mayors have made accessible to the Eng- 
 lish reader four of the rarest works relating to New 
 Netherland. They were Avritten in the Dutch lan- 
 guage by eye-witnesses, and are replete with in- 
 teresting information. To our guest, Mr. Murphy, 
 we owe a translation of the voyages of that hardy 
 old navigator, De Vries, who published his book at 
 Hoorn, in the year 1655 ; and it has now become so 
 rare, that a perfect copy of the original is worth 
 several times its weight in gold. We owe to him, 
 likewise, a translation of the "Representation from 
 New Netherland," ascribed to Adrian VanderDonck, 
 and of the " Broad Advice to the United Nether- 
 land Provinces," attributed to Cornelius Melyn. It 
 is quite probable that his venerable Alma Mater, on 
 the other side of the river, who had instructed him 
 in the massive language of the noble Roman and 
 the polished idiom of the ancient Greek saw, Avith 
 a smile of approbation, one of her talented sons 
 cultivating with assiduous care that vigorous, if not 
 most euphonious of modern languages — the verna- 
 cular tongue of the Hollander. To the late General 
 Jeremiah Johnson — a descendant and genuine type 
 of the honest, brave and intelligent old Hollanders, 
 who first settled Nieuw Amsterdam and the neigh- 
 boring parts of Long Island — a man whom we all 
 knew and all loved — for 
 
 " None knew him but to love him, 
 None named him but to praise." 
 
11 
 
 to him we are indebted for a translation of Van- 
 der Donck's "Description of New Netherland," — a 
 primitive work of inestimable value. In the gallery 
 of our City Hall, among the portraits of the chief 
 magistrates of our city, may be seen faithful like- 
 nesses of both these mayors — the one of venerable 
 age, his manly features expressive of the overflow- 
 ing benevolence of his heart — the other radiant 
 with intellect and comparative youth. But my 
 love for the dead, and my friendship for the living, 
 are betraying me into prolixity. I will only add, 
 that when our friend shall have departed from his 
 native land, the City of Brooklyn will feel sensibly 
 the absence of one of her most useful and distin- 
 iguished citizens. I wish him God-speed, and I pro- 
 pose to you, gentlemen, this toast and sentiment : 
 
 "Our disti ngnshed guest, the Hon. Henky C. Murphy, eminently 
 fitted, by education, ability and experience in public afiairs, for the 
 high duties ^^'ith which he is intrusted. He carries with him, upon 
 his honorable^ mission to a foreign court, equally the merited confi- 
 dence of the- Government, and the aft'ectionate regard of his fellow- 
 citizens." 
 
 Mr, I^luRPHY, in rising to respond, was greeted 
 with deafening peals of applause. In response to 
 the sentiment, he spoke as follows, being frequently 
 interrupted with manifestations of approval : 
 
 Mr. PresiE'ENT and Gentlemen — Most sincerely 
 do I acknowledge your kindness. Conscious, as I 
 am, that it is far beyond my merits, words fail me 
 to exprcjss my sense of the obligation Avhich you 
 have imposed. To have the good wishes of my 
 
12 
 
 friends and neighbors — of those with whom I have 
 always lived," and to whom, if a merciful Providence 
 sjDares me, I expect to return to spend the remnant 
 of my life — is my great ambition. For the cordial 
 manner in which you have met me on this occa- 
 sion, I offer you the homage of a heart deeply 
 touched by your generous sympathy. 
 
 Let me add the expression of the gratification 
 which I experience in meeting the citizens of 
 Brooklyn upon one common platform of social 
 brotherhood, when political differences are forgot- 
 ten, and personal rivalries unknown. With many 
 of you I have myself had warm political contests, 
 carried on, upon my part, at least, with all the zeal 
 and energy of the most determined convictions of 
 right. To meet you under the circumstances of 
 this night affords me the great consolation of be- 
 lieving, that in those controversies I have not vio- 
 lated your rights, or forgotten the respect due to 
 your characters. The asperities of the moment 
 have disappeared with the excitements which gave 
 them birth. They were 
 
 " Like snow-flakes on the river, 
 
 A moment white, then lost forever." 
 
 You have made this the proudest incident of my 
 life. Companions of my boyhood, friends of my 
 manhood, associates in many private enterprises 
 and public employments, my fellow-citizens who 
 have given character and importance to our city — 
 for so short is our municipal history — who have 
 framed its institutions, who have established its 
 credit, who have answered to the call of humanity 
 
13 
 
 within its limits, who heave provided for the educa- 
 tion of its youth and the support of its unfortunate 
 and its infirm — in a word, who have cared for botli 
 its physical and moral wants — have united in a 
 mark of esteem to me personally, whicli has sunk 
 deep into my heart, and which I will cherish, not 
 only during my sojourn in the distant land to which 
 I am about to go, but wherever I may be, as long 
 as things of earth shall interest my mortal sense. 
 
 The realities of this scene awaken the memories 
 of the past, and open visions of the future. Here 
 were the play-grounds of my youth, and on humble 
 porches, now displaced for grander mansions, sat 
 the fathers whose words to me were oracles of wis- 
 dom. They have gone ! — the patriarchs have been 
 gathered to their fathers — and we, "in our turn, 
 will follow them." The hamlet of a hundred 
 houses now takes rank among the first cities in the 
 land. The change is marvellous. 
 
 Its spacious docks and warehouses, its spires and 
 buildings, now challenge the admiration of the 
 stranger, as he passes up our noble bay ; and it vies 
 in all the elements of material greatness with the 
 great city beside it. It requires no spirit of pro- 
 phecy to foretell the union of the two at no distant 
 day. The river which divides them will soon cease 
 to be a line of separation; and, bestrode by the 
 colossus of commerce, will form the link which will 
 bind them together. With you rests, in no small 
 degree, this destiny. I doubt not that the same 
 spirit of advancement, and the same enterprise 
 
14 
 
 wliicli lias hitherto distinguished the citizens of 
 Brooklyn, will mark their future action. You have 
 established institutions which require your foster- 
 ing but discriminating care. You have gained a 
 character for public faith and honor which it be- 
 hooves you to maintain untarnished. You have 
 engaged in a Avork of great magnitude, and of the 
 utmost importance to your growth and prosperity. 
 Citizens of unblemished reputation, and of great in- 
 telligence and industry have devoted themselves 
 to its completion. When done, it will not only be 
 a monument to your enterprise and foresight, and 
 a fresh impetus to your progress, but truly a foun- 
 tain of health to the people.^'' 
 
 Let me not, in speaking of the living, omit to do 
 justice to the dead, to whom the honor is due of 
 forming, in a great degree, the character and shap- 
 ing the destiny of the city. When Brooklyn first 
 assumed the habiliments of a city, like the stripling 
 when he first takes the garb of a man, she imagined 
 that she had the power and ability which belong 
 to maturer years. Extravagant projects of public 
 improvement were begun, but they were beyond 
 both the requirements and means of the time. The 
 embarrassments of 1836-7 found her with a depleted 
 treasury, and a large floating debt. The depression 
 in trade Avhich followed, and the stagnation in real 
 estate, rendered the most rigid economy necessary 
 in the management of her affairs. 
 
 There have passed from among us two, and only 
 two, of those who have held the chief magistracy 
 
 * Mr. Murphy here alludes to the Water Works now in progress. 
 
15 
 
 of the city. They, however, occupied the mayor.- 
 alty chair at the crisis to which I have referred, and 
 they were the men for tlic time. Both were re- 
 markable for their knowledge of niimicipal affairs. 
 The first, glorying in his Dutch descent, possessed 
 that strong sense of commercial honor which cha- 
 racterized the people from which he claimed his 
 ancestry. He made his mayoralty distinguished 
 by satisfying the claims of all the public creditors, 
 and established the credit of the city on a founda- 
 tion which has never been shaken. 
 
 The other coming early in life from New Eng- 
 land, like many others who have added character 
 and wealth to the city, brought with him here 
 those habits of economy and accountability, of 
 which our affairs were then in want. He set the 
 example of a personal supervision of every depart- 
 ment of the city government, and relieved the pub- 
 lic burdens by his frugal administration. I need 
 say no more. I could say no less of Jeremiah John- 
 son and Joseph Sprague. 
 
 Nor let me pass by the brothers Graham. They 
 have gone to their reward, but their noble chari- 
 ties live after them, to bring down blessings upon 
 their name, as long as there will be misfortune in 
 our city to relieve. 
 
 You have been pleased, sir, to refer to my new 
 career in the country which first sent settlers to this 
 portion of our Republic. It is more, perhaps, from 
 courtesy to an ancient ally, than to any actual ne- 
 
16 
 
 cessity, that Congress has provided for a Minister 
 to the Hague. Time was when the relation between 
 the two countries was very different from what it 
 is at present. We were then a mere dependency 
 of that power — a mere trading post of a commer- 
 cial company, subject to the government of a board 
 of directors and its rapacious agents. The Govern- 
 ment at home could give little heed to the com- 
 plaints of the people here. They were engaged in 
 a strife for the dominion of the seas. Their naval 
 heroes, Van Tromp and De Ruyter, were engaged 
 in battling the fleets of the Commonwealth of Eng- 
 land, and of the ungrateful Charles, whom they had 
 protected in his exile. 
 
 The Belgian lion, emblemized in their geography 
 with his jaws upon the very heart of France and 
 his tail sweeping the provinces of the Zuyder Zee, 
 was then holding at bay the lion and the unicorn of 
 Britain. 
 
 By their neglect they lost their dominion over 
 this country forever. The people, chagrined at 
 their abandonment, soon became reconciled to the 
 new dynasty, and even the last of the Dutch Gov- 
 ernors became a subject of the British crown. But 
 in our Revolution, as if to atone for its former fault, 
 the Dutch Republic was the first to follow France 
 in acknowledging our independence, while yet the 
 contest was undecided. She had failed us. when 
 she might have profited by her succor, but she 
 nobly sustained us in our greatest need, when we 
 could no longer be of service to her. She encour- 
 
17 
 
 aged and supported our drooping cause, and nerved 
 the arms of the patriots to further exertion, until, 
 finally, we took our position co-equal with herself 
 in the family of nations. For three quarters of a 
 century our relations of peace and friendship have 
 been undisturbed, and nought but the ordinary 
 claims of commerce have engaged the attention of 
 the two countries. 
 
 I do not, therefore, expect that the matters with 
 which T will be charged will be of such interest as 
 to attract general attention ; but 1 will endeavor so 
 to represent the country, as to prove that the con- 
 fidence of the Government in me has not been mis- 
 placed, and that your partiality, my friends and 
 neighbors, has not been unworthily bestowed. 
 While T regard the distinction which 1 have re- 
 ceived at the hands of the President, as receiving- 
 additional honor from the favor with which you 
 have received it, I will regard his approval of my 
 labors, when I shall have surrendered my trust, as 
 a most fortunate event, if they shall meet yours 
 also. 
 
 I esteem it a happy circumstance, that from here, 
 where first the skipper Hudson navigated a Euro- 
 pean craft, and where were laid the foundations of 
 the New Netherlancl, I will be able to carry to 
 Fatherland the kind remembrances of the children. 
 I will bear testimony that the same habits of indus- 
 try, the same high sense of commercial honor, and 
 the same unconquerable love of liberty which dis- 
 tinguished their fathers, characterize their descend- 
 ants, 
 
 3 
 
IS 
 
 With a heart overflowing with thankfuhiess for 
 your cordial sympathy, and Avith most fervent pray- 
 ers for your individual happiness, I bid you fare- 
 well. 
 
 The next toast was — 
 
 " The Senate of the United States — a true Congress of the nation, 
 where imperial sovereignties meet on equal footing, for the peaceful 
 adjustment of all questions of policy, of riglit, and of national honor." 
 
 The President observed that it was expected 
 that the Hon. Zachary Chandler would have been 
 present to respond to this toast, but he had been 
 unavoidably detained. 
 
 The next toast was — 
 
 " The House of Representatives of the United States — si)eaking the 
 voice of the people, and reflecting every movement of the great 
 fountain of power." 
 
 Hon. John Cochrane was called upon to respond, 
 and spoke as follows: — 
 
 Mr. President — I am much at a loss for the rea- 
 son which prompts the call for me to respond to the 
 toast just drunk. 
 
 I arise from the midst of my colleagues to that 
 Congress you applaud, and feel great diffidence in 
 speaking to a subject they are so much better quali- 
 fied to discuss than I am. Yet, aware that physical 
 afflictions temporarily disqualify them for speaking, 
 I undertake for their relief what I should decline 
 as a distinction. Your toast refers to the faithful 
 reflection, hj the House of Representatives, of the 
 popular opinion. Yes, sir; they Avho have trod 
 
19 
 
 the rugged path ol' polities can speak advisedly of 
 the close observance, by the Representative in Con- 
 gress, of the fluctuations of pul)lic sentiment. They 
 are his political guide ; to mistake them is political 
 error, and to disregard them is political death. T 
 think it must be clear to those familiar with the 
 hopes and fears which beset the modern politician, 
 that there is no danger of the opinions of the peo- 
 ple being either misunderstood or opposed by the 
 aspiring Legislators who constitute the House of 
 Representatives. (Laughter.) However illustra- 
 tive the fact may be, of the care with which the 
 candidate for popular favor studies the popular 
 mind, it has a more grave significance. In it is to 
 be found the greatest security to a constituency 
 against misrepresentation. The doctrine, I believe, 
 has come to be generally accepted, that the repre- 
 sentative is bound to observe the opinions of his 
 constituents on all subjects of political importance, 
 and to enforce them by his efforts, and to support 
 them with his vote. That he should be suftered to 
 act in this connection, regardless of the general 
 sense, would involve the most alarming conse- 
 quences attendant upon the violation of a public 
 trust. As special agent, to whom has been dele- 
 gated certain specific powers, he can no more ex- 
 ceed them than can the ambassador transcend his 
 instructions. The breath of his life is the popular 
 voice, and to the note which it sounds should his 
 be trained. 
 
 The field of research which the toast indicates 
 cannot be occupied on an occasion like this. Too 
 
20 
 
 many and important are the considerations whicli 
 belong to it, to be pressed into the compass of an 
 after-dinner speech. All that I can hope to attain 
 must necessarily be but an imperfect and faint 
 sketch of the growth and office of popular repre- 
 sentation. A very general mistake obtains in the 
 comparisons frequently run between the modern 
 Republic and the ancient Democracy. The colle- 
 gian, fresh from his classics, sees in his own Repub- 
 lic the reproduced glories of Athens and Rome. 
 We all are apt to confound the deliberative bodies, 
 which characterize American institutions, with the 
 popular assemblages which presided over the liber- 
 ties of Greece. While the measure of general 
 liberty enjoyed by each body is not unequal, its 
 relative permanency is, without doubt, qualified by 
 the method of attaining it by each. The patriot- 
 ism of the Greek was stimulated by his personal 
 assistance at the deliberations of the Pnyx. His 
 interests were absorbed by the state questions sub- 
 mitted to his decision. As he listened and judged, 
 war or peace was determined, treaties were made 
 or refused, nations were accepted or crushed. The 
 war which he declared in the council, he conducted 
 in the field; the peace which he chose, he person- 
 ally enforced ; the nation which he regarded, he 
 visited, and he invaded that which he doomed. It 
 was the government of the people in person — that 
 which prevailed on the continent of Greece. The 
 arts flourished, eloquence was cherished, and all that 
 could administer to military ardor was fostered and 
 encouraged. These contributed to the national glory, 
 and the national glory was the glory of every citizen. 
 
21 
 
 Pericles was emblazoned with the trophies of Athens, 
 and the humblest Greek was clothed with the glory 
 of Pericles. There was no private pursuit, no do- 
 mestic life, for the citizen. The glory of the acts 
 of life he appropriated, but of their usefulness he 
 was ignorant. The consequence was inevitable. 
 His liberty was as evanescent as it was attractive. 
 It lacked the basis of the individual virtues requi- 
 site to its endurance, and, with the first danger, it 
 sank into night. But the glories with which it was 
 decorated survive. The arts and the refinements, 
 the patriotism and the genius, of Greece are still 
 the admiration of the world ; her liberties were the 
 prey of her weakness many centuries ago. Nor, can 
 more be declared of that colossal government, which 
 overshadowed the world, and made all the world 
 Rome. The genius of her councils was conquest, 
 and the instrument she employed was the people. 
 Assuredly were the appointments of freedom pro- 
 cured and guarded with the jealousy of freemen. 
 But they served but to invigorate the armies with 
 which she subdued nations ; they were employed 
 for the protection of the citizen in a brief and fitful 
 life of interior liberty, soon to be overwhelmed by 
 those very cohorts, in whose strength lay the glory 
 of Republican Rome, and the security of the 
 Roman citizen. There was no real liberty enjoyed 
 in the Roman Republic as in Greece ; its object 
 was the glory of the Government, rather than the 
 happiness of the people. So, we read of her con- 
 quests, of her firmness, of her virtues and her lite- 
 rature, but never of the prosperity of her people. 
 •She fell, as all must and ever will fall, whose foun- 
 
22 
 
 dations do not rest on the prosperity of the people, 
 — as all must and ever will fall who do not seek 
 their own glory in the elevation of the masses. The 
 storm swept over Rome and her dependencies. 
 Night fell upon Europe Away, in the dim depths 
 of German forests, was at length perceived the faint 
 efforts of the coming day. Their rude natives had 
 not been educated to the glories of the antique. 
 They were neither refined by classic art, nor civil- 
 ized to the standard of Roman liberty ; but they 
 were instinct with a just appreciation of human 
 rights. The glory which their deeds reflected upon 
 their rulers was little worth, if it did not secure the 
 rights, when establishing the power of the people. 
 While engaged with the first consideration — the 
 prosperity of their private relations — they delegated 
 to the wisdom of their associates the care of the 
 public good. The inconvenience of numbers, in 
 the constitution of popular assemblages, conduced 
 to the delegation of popular powers, and so, in 
 the Witennagemote of the German forest, are we 
 taught to look for the earliest seed of that repre- 
 sentative liberty which blesses this land. Its strug- 
 gle into life, however, has not been unattended by 
 vicissitude and danger. The contests Avhich troub- 
 led Europe at the downMl of the Roman Empire 
 shook fearfully the recesses of the ancient Germania 
 — with a terrible impetus her wild tribes swayed ; 
 nor was it till after the calm of exhaustion, that, 
 during the middle ages, the representative principle 
 began again to assert for itself the protectorate of 
 human rights. Preparatory steps had to be taken, 
 however, before this assertion could be heard. The 
 
23 
 
 people were to be rescued from the low social scale 
 in which want and poverty had placed thein. The 
 exigencies to which the Crusades had reduced the 
 powerful barons engaged in them, compelled a re- 
 course for relief to the patient accumulations of the 
 citizen. Accompanying such applications came the 
 impetus given to industry, Ijy the demands of a re- 
 viving commerce. The beneficial effects were first 
 felt by the Italian cities. Venice, Yerona, Genoa, 
 acquired wealth, representation, liberty ! The cities 
 of Lombardy soon after imitated their example. The 
 enjoyment of wealth furnished the means of asserting 
 independence. Soon the spirit of popular freedom 
 passed the l^ounds of private security, and individual 
 considerations, for the more public theatre of national 
 freedom. The genial and liberalizing influences 
 of commerce were sought for. Luljec, Cologne, 
 Brunswick and Dantzic combined for the common 
 liberty, and, together with eighty other cities, 
 formed that cele])rated Ilanscatic League which 
 extended a commercial republic through Europe. 
 Thus were the incipient approaches made towards 
 that great principle of popular representation, which 
 is the l)urdon of the toast you have drunk. The 
 peculiar feature of this period consisted in the care- 
 ful attention of the burgher to the pursuits of pri- 
 vate life, and the culture of individual virtues, com- 
 bined with the potency of his voice, in a represen- 
 tative capacity, in tlie puljlic councils. But it was 
 reserved for the united provinces of tlie Netherlands 
 to develop, against bitter civil and religious oppres- 
 sion, the representative principle to its just propor- 
 tions. The severity of S])anisli tyranny had prob- 
 
24 
 
 ably been an inadequate cause of their rebellion, 
 had not a fierce religious persecution been added. 
 The combination was sufficient to produce a war, 
 in which the civil and religious liberty of the citi- 
 zen was successfully maintained. Europe saAV the 
 result, and the lovers of constitutional liberty all 
 over the world have faithfully adhered to an ex- 
 ample which, thus far, has furnished to man the only 
 institutions which successfully establish and protect 
 his rights. It is unnecessary, Mr. President, that 1 
 should pursue further this theme. You can readily 
 perceive how full of interest and information its dis- 
 cussion must be. The march of constitutional liberty 
 has indeed been, from distant ages, in perilous ways 
 down to the present. Hardly had it been relieved 
 of the dangers of general ignorance, ere it was im- 
 perilled by the confederated powers of local and 
 national tyrannies. Happily rescued from these, 
 and the combined powers of superstition and cleri- 
 cal oppression bore heavily against it. Yet has it 
 survived. Founded upon the inalienable right of 
 representative legislation, from century to century 
 has it moved steadily along the path of human pro- 
 gress, armed with the destinies and protecting the 
 riffhts of the race. It is to be observed, that the 
 liberty of the world of the Nineteenth Century does 
 not consist in the liberty which accumulates gran- 
 deur upon the ruler and glory upon the nation. 
 This was the liberty of the ancient world—of the 
 Greek and the Roman. The liberty of to-day is 
 that which dwells with the citizen in his workshop, 
 with the man at his fireside ; which bestows itself 
 upon his pursuits to utilize them, and upon his 
 
25 
 
 thoughts to ennoble them ; and ^Yhich too, while 
 thus constructing broadly the basis of permanency 
 and duration, secures to every individual his proper 
 legislative iunetion, by ortlaining forever his right 
 of representntion. This, j\lr. President, is con- 
 stitutional liberty. You have, therefore, done well 
 to remember, on this occasion, the House of Repre- 
 sentatives of tlie United States. It is the fortress of 
 Our Kberty; while it stands, our li'eedom will stand; 
 when it fells, the hope of the world will be extin- 
 guished. Guardian of the people's rights, may its 
 purity never suffer. Representative of the people's 
 thoughts, may it never reflect them improperly. 
 
 The next toast was — 
 
 "Tlie City of New York — representing in tier vast population every 
 language and country of the earth; closely connected by commercial 
 ties, and seeking always amicable infercourse with all nations, she 
 regards with a peculiar interest a friendly mission to that state to 
 which she owes her origin." 
 
 Hon. Fernando Wood, Mayor of New York, was 
 called upon to "respond. He spoke as follows: — 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen — This is a most unex- 
 pected call, and it is not the first time I have felt 
 my inability to represent the City of New York. 1 
 will say, however, that it gives me personally a 
 great deal of pleasure to be present upon this occa- 
 sion, and to say for New York, that she responds, 
 so far as I am capable and have authority to speak 
 for her, fully to the sentiments which have been 
 expressed here to-night, in honor of your distin- 
 guished fellow-citizen. (Applause.) New York 
 congratulates her sister of Brooklyn upon this pro- 
 
26 
 
 motion, if it be promotion, of her distinguished son. 
 She congratiilates the Administration upon its judg- 
 ment, upon its discretion, in the selection of her 
 Minister, and she congratulates the whole country, 
 that by him the interests of the Union will never be 
 betrayed — its flag will never be dishonored. (Re- 
 newed applause.) Mr. President, this sentiment 
 which you have just drunk says that New York 
 must regard with a peculiar interest a missioli to 
 that State from whence she derives her origin. Sir, 
 this sentiment is as truthful as it is beautifully and 
 forcibly expressed. 
 
 "New York must ever regard — dependent as she 
 is upon friendly relations with the whole world — 
 all peaceful and friendly missions, the harbingers 
 and safe-guards of commerce ; but, sir, in this case 
 she cannot forget that Holland was her ancient 
 mother. She cannot forget that she was once New 
 Amsterdam, and that New Ajiisterdam owes its 
 origin, its foundation, to the enterprise, the energy 
 and industry of the sons of Holland, " .Therefore, 
 sir, it is that New York entertains a regard for Hol- 
 land ; and I may say, in passing, that much of her 
 prosperity is owing to that industry, to those strong 
 principles of probity and commercial integrity, 
 which have, from the establishment of the Govern- 
 ment of the Netherlands, characterized her people 
 at home and abroad, in her colonies and elsewhere. 
 It is a singular fact, that at this present time some 
 of the provisions of the orignal Dutch code (if I 
 may be allowed the expression) of our city are 
 now in existence, almost letter for letter, as they 
 
27 
 
 were known at the time ol" the conquest of New 
 Amsterdam by the British Government. There 
 have been transmitted through tlic two centuries 
 which have intervened many provisions of local 
 government, many views of local municipal 
 independence, many customs and practices, and 
 references to the administration of the Government, 
 which are still referred to occasionally by public 
 officers, regarding the City of New York, and are 
 those most easily enforced, and with the present 
 population of New York, so little Dutch as it is, are 
 those most generally acquiesced in. 
 
 Mr. President, there is one feature of this even- 
 ing's entertainment that to nie is exceedingly grati- 
 fying. It is gratifying to find so large a collection 
 of persons, brought together, not by any party or 
 political consideration, to do honor and respect to 
 a gentleman who has been one of the most promi- 
 nent, as "well as the most distinguished members, of 
 a political party. I say it is gratifying to see this 
 toleration, to find that here, without reference to 
 the political or religious feelings of any man, you 
 have met to do honor to a distinguished fellow- 
 citizen. It is not to promote his political advance- 
 ment, or to advocate or maintain the doctrines of a 
 party, or a faction, or a section, or to carry out any 
 scheme or enterprise of personal aggrandizement, 
 that you are here ; but to pay that homage due to a 
 fellow-citizen who has grown up among you, Avhose 
 life has been one of probity, and who, from his pure 
 personal character and the distinguished positions 
 which the favoritism of his fellow-citizens have 
 
2S 
 
 conferred upon him, — you are here ; in short, to pay 
 that respect which his merit and genius demand. 
 (Loud applause.) 
 
 In conclusion, gentlemen, I can only say that I 
 can condole with you upon the loss you have to meet 
 with. Well do I know the value of an enterprising 
 public citizen. Well do I know, from experience 
 in the position Avhich I have the honor to hold, 
 the fact, that one public spirited, energetic, enter- 
 prising private man, who commands the public con- 
 fidence, is most useful, not only in developing the 
 mechanical, the financial or commercial advantages 
 of a city, but in standing by the public officers in 
 enforcing the laws, and maintaining the preserva- 
 tion of the public peace. Therefore it is, that 
 knowing as I know, and appreciating as T appreci- 
 ate, from many years acquaintance, the gentleman 
 we are about to lose — I know, if it be his gain to 
 go abroad, it is your loss. You will feel the loss of 
 his counsels, the loss of his sage advice, his indus- 
 try, his assiduity, his vast experience in public 
 affairs, particularly in reference to the City of 
 Brooklyn. All I can say to you and to him is, that 
 wherever he goes, not only the hearts of the people 
 of Brooklyn will be Avith him, and w\atch over him, 
 so far as they have the power, but I speak for the 
 City of New York, when I say thexe is not a heart 
 but will beat in unison with your own. 
 
 Mr. Wood sat down amid peals of deafening 
 applause. 
 
29 
 
 Tlie next toast was — 
 
 " The City of Brooklyn — tlio little Dutch hnnilot i)]anted on ijie 
 edge of Nassau Island, now sends from Ikt two hundred thousand 
 citizens, to the Fatherland, a KepTcscntative of thirty millions of 
 people." 
 
 ^Iayou Powkll was called upon to respond. He 
 said — Mr. Chairman, [ discover tlie faces of many 
 citizens of Brooklyn, and those not very far ad- 
 vanced in the vale of years, who remember the City 
 of Brooklyn when she was little better than the 
 little Dutch hamlet spoken of in the toast — when 
 the Village of Brooklyn was an insignificant place. 
 I think that you, with me, must feel a pride when 
 we traverse our streets, and see the monuments of 
 the industry of our people — the works of art, the 
 extent of accommodations in the shape of railroads, 
 and all the other appliances that go to make up a 
 great and l)eautiful city : I say we must feel a 
 pride that we are the residents of so fair an inheri- 
 tance. I behold around me gentlemen by whose 
 industry, energy and enterprise these great changes 
 have been brought about, yet, as I said in the be- 
 ginning of my remarks, they are not far advanced in 
 the vale of years. We have sprung from a village to a 
 large and populous city; and yet the young men who 
 are sitting around this board are among the foun- 
 ders of this prosperity. Among the most energetic, 
 the most useful, and most tried of those Avho laid 
 the foundation of this prosperity, is the gentleman 
 who has been called to act in another sphere of life ; 
 and I think when he is gone, when his services are 
 lost to the associations and institutions and organi- 
 zations from which have sprung the present pros- 
 
• 80 
 
 perity of Brooklyn, he will be missed more than we 
 can at present conceive. As you arc all aware, he 
 has occupied in this city a leading position in all 
 public enterprises, and he at present occupies that 
 same position ; and it has always been a matter of 
 surprise to me, that the citizens have not risen ea 
 masse, and refused to allow him to depart on this 
 mission. In the language of the little song, fre- 
 quently heard in our parlors, 
 
 " We will mif^s liim at home." 
 
 I remember the gentleman, in whose honor we 
 have met to-night, in the commencement of his 
 career as a politician, and I suppose, in some in- 
 stances, we might have been regarded as rivals ; 
 but I am very glad, at the present time, to say, 
 that there is no man who rejoices more profoundly 
 at his success thftn the humble individual who now 
 addresses you. 
 
 Mayor Powell resumed his seat amid repeated 
 plaudits. 
 
 The next toast was — 
 
 " The Judiciary — its salutary authority rests upon its independ- 
 eace, and will contiuue so loug as it administers the law alike 
 unseduced by the influences of jiower, and unterrified by popular 
 clamor." 
 
 Judge Parker, of Albany, being called from 
 different parts of the room, rose and spoke as 
 follows : 
 
 I hardly know, Mr. Chairman, why I should be 
 expected to respond in behalf of the Judiciary, 
 
31 
 
 when there is a gentleman sitting by my side, who 
 now belongs to that department of the government, 
 and who is so much better qualified than myself to 
 take a Birdseye view of tlie subject. ])ut, though 
 my connexion with tlie bencli has ceased, I shall 
 always be ready to express my thanks for a com- 
 plimentary allusion to those Avho serve in that 
 laborious and ill-requited, but most important 
 branch of the public service. 
 
 I concur, fully, Mr. Chairman, in the sentiment 
 you have just read. Our judiciary is distinguished 
 no less for its integrity, than for its learning, and 
 is entitled to our sincere respect. It may some- 
 times happen that we may differ from it in its inter- 
 pretation or application of the law ; but such 
 difference of opinion warrants no imputation either 
 upon its learning, integrity or ability. Upon the 
 judiciary of the general government, is devolved 
 the high duty of interpreting the Federal Constitu- 
 tion, and of deciding between the States of this 
 wide-spread confederacy, as well as between indi- 
 viduals of distant localities and differing prejudices. 
 Without a cheerful acquiescence in the decisions 
 of that high tribunal, we can hardly hope for a 
 continuance of a system of government combining 
 so many diverse elements as our own. In our 
 state government also, most important and delicate 
 duties are devolved ippon the judiciary. First 
 among these, is that of deciding upon the constitu- 
 tionality of a statute — a duty of frequent recurrence 
 in a state so cliaracterizcd as ours by hasty legislation. 
 The Courts are thus uiade the sliield to pi'otect the 
 
32 
 
 citizen against unwarranted legislative action. If a 
 statute is in conflict with the Constitution, under the 
 decision of the Courts it will be inoperative and 
 void. If not in conflict, but otherwise objection- 
 able, the remedy is by repeal, and if the Constitution 
 as interpreted is defective, the people have -the 
 power to amend it. In a country where the widest 
 latitude of discussion exists, it is expected that the 
 decisions of the judiciary, as well as the acts of all 
 other departments of the government, will be 
 freely canvassed, and in some cases closely criticised. 
 But upon these subjects, as well as upon all others, 
 of public interest, there should be forbearance, 
 respect for the opinion of others, and a sincere 
 desire to promote the public good. 
 
 There are times, and I regret that they do not 
 occur more frequently, when partisan animosities 
 are laid aside, when the kindlier feelino's of our 
 nature triumph, and when all seem wilUng to unite 
 in some act of patriotism, of duty, or of friendship ; 
 and such, Mr. Chairman, is the noble example set 
 by this large assemblage upon the present occasion. 
 Such a gathering as this is, without distinction of 
 party, to do honor to your distinguished guest, 
 about to represent this country at a foreign Court, 
 is a triumph of justice and of liberality of senti- 
 ment over partisan prejudice, and cannot fail to 
 exert a happy influence throughout our land. 
 
 The occasion, j\Ir. Chairman, is certainly one of 
 great interest. It was eminently proper that our 
 Representative at the Court of the Netherlands 
 
33 
 
 should be fitted for his high trust, as he is, by a 
 thorough knowledge of the language and literature 
 of the country to which he is accredited — that he 
 should be able to represent, as he will most faith- 
 fully, the kind feeling towards that country which 
 exists throughout the whole extent of our land, 
 and particularly among the large portion of our 
 population that is of Dutch descent. In our people 
 are combined the best elements of all the European 
 races. The richest blood of each flows in our veins. 
 The ready wit and generous heart of the Celt — the 
 indomitable and self confident spirit of the Anglo- 
 Saxon, and the incorruptible integrity and plodding 
 industry of the Hollander, are by no means among 
 the least valuable qualities of our mixed race, which, 
 improved by these best selections from the choicest 
 races of the Old World and combining their excel- 
 lences, will yet demonstrate the full extent of its 
 capabilities and its power. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, I can claim the honor of no Dutch 
 blood in my own veins, but I should be untrue to 
 myself and to my own ancestry, if I failed to express 
 my gratitude to that country which received and 
 sheltered our Puritan fathers before they sought an 
 abiding place on this side of the Atlantic — if I 
 failed to acknowledge our many obligations as a 
 nation to that same country, and to admire the 
 virtues which distinguish its inhabitants. We can 
 never cease to wonder at the spectacle of a country 
 rescued from the sea by the industry and perse- 
 verence of its people. Holland, wnth its thousand 
 windmills all trained to daily toil, — its lakes pumped 
 dry and converted into farms, rewarding an hun- 
 
34 
 
 dred fold, the labors of the husbandman — its cities, 
 its universities, its canals and its commerce, — who 
 that has seen it, can ever forget it or cease to won- 
 der at the magic change that industry has there 
 accomplished ? Who that has visited the village 
 of Brock will fail to award the palm for neatness 
 to the Dutch housewife ? And who can ever cease 
 to admire the patriotism of a people ready to tear 
 open their dykes and surrender their beautiful 
 country again to the dominion of the sea, rather 
 than submit to be conquered by a foreign invader ? 
 We may Avell be proud that we are bound to such 
 a country by ties of blood and affection, and that 
 the virtues of the people of the parent land are 
 perpetuated here among their posterity. 
 
 I am proud, Mr. Chairman, to stand here to-night, 
 as the representative of that ancient City, the 
 Capital of our State, originally settled by the Hol- 
 landers, and still, to a great extent, occupied by 
 their worthy descendants — the city of the Bleeck- 
 ers, and Lansings, and Gansevoorts — the Yan 
 Rensselaers and Van Vechtens and Van Schaicks — 
 the Pruyns and Ten Eycks and Ten Broecks ; and 
 I rejoice that the gentleman who has been selected 
 to represent them at the fjither-land, Avhile he Avill 
 seek to preserve the most amicable national rela- 
 tions, will also strive to increase the mutual respect 
 and good will, which should always subsist between 
 the people of the two countries. 
 
 In conclusion, I beg leave, sir, to propose the 
 following toast: — 
 
 " The Citizens of Brooklyn — Distinguished alike for their enter- 
 prise, their justice and their liberality of sentiment." 
 
Judge BiRDSEYE, being also called upon, spoke 
 as follows : — 
 
 Mr. President : — It lias pleased my eloquent and 
 learned friend, who has just taken his seat, to allude 
 to names. Having set the example, he cannot 
 complain if I follow it. While he was speaking, 
 there occurred to my mind, in spite of myself, a 
 little verse in regard to one Counsellor Parker. 
 To what particular Counsellor of that name it 
 referred, I am not able positively to state. I had 
 not the pleasure of knowing my good friend who 
 sits here at my right hand, when he was simply 
 Counsellor Parker. My acquaintance with him 
 began some years later, when from being a Coun- 
 sellor he had risen to the Bench, and was illustrating 
 by his life the toast to which he has just responded 
 so eloquently. I was then just commencing the 
 practice of my profession, and tried, as I well 
 recollect, my first case before him. But, from what 
 I then saw, and have ever since seen, I am disposed 
 to think the song was not made about him, but of 
 some other excellent Counsellor belonging to the 
 family of Parkers. You, sir, and all who have 
 heard him, will be able to judge of the applicability 
 of the lines to him, when you hear them. They 
 run, sir, somewhat in this wise : 
 
 "Counsellor Parker made that darker, 
 Which was dark enough without ; 
 Counsellor Cook cited his book, 
 And the Judge remarked, ' I doubt.' " 
 
 I shall not attempt to state by what law ; not of 
 association, but rather of the very reverse ; of con- 
 
36 
 
 trast and dissimilarity, this description should have 
 recurred to my mind. I can only put the question 
 to him. If he cannot throw light upon it, it will 
 be the first time I have ever known him to discuss 
 a point without making it clearer. 
 
 But, sir, owing, as I am conscious I do, the 
 honor of being called upon on this occasion to the 
 accident of my position, 1 shall endeavor to put 
 in practice some of the lessons learned during my 
 brief experience on the bench. One is, that it is 
 the duty of the Judge rather to be listener than a 
 speaker. It is very rare, however, that the per- 
 formance of that duty is as pleasing as it has been 
 this evening. And it is to be regretted that, just 
 when the duty is the pleasantest, I am compelled 
 to cease the observance of it, and become a tres- 
 passer on your patience. But, I shall be brief, for 
 I have also learned on the bench that the shortest 
 speeches are, in general, not only the most pleasing, 
 but the most effective. 
 
 But there is another lesson which the Judge, 
 especially if he be a young Judge, must learn. 
 When a just decision has been rendered, and a 
 good reason for it given by the presiding Judge, 
 the other members of the Court should be satisfied 
 with concurring both in the result and the reasoning. 
 
 So, sir, I may content myself with concurring, 
 as I most heartily do, in the eloquent tribute which 
 has just been paid to the independence of the 
 Judiciary. 
 
 But, sir, if I desired to say more than my friend 
 has said on that subject, I need but to mention the 
 
iianies of those euiiiicuL Judges in the State and 
 the Nation, whose whole lives were but a continued 
 illustration of wliat yonr toast describes : — the 
 names of Marshall and Washington, and Livingston 
 and Thompson, of Kent and Spencer, and Van 
 Ness and ]\Iarcy, and many others of the honored 
 dead ; not to mention the equally honorable names 
 of many others who happily yet survive. 
 
 The lives and labors of such men have secured 
 the enlightened, fearless and impartial administra- 
 tion of justice. They have vindicated public 
 justice, and awarded to crime the punishment it 
 merited. They have guarded the property, the 
 character, the liberty and the life of the citizen. 
 And in the public confidence and respect which 
 they and their associates obtained and preserved, 
 you may find an explanation of the real powers of 
 the Judiciary, and a guaranty of their continuance. 
 
 By following in their footsteps, and emulating 
 their example, may the integrity, the impartiality 
 and the independence of the Judiciary be best 
 preserved. For it should never be forgotten that 
 the character of the Court, and to no small extent, 
 of the law which it administers, takes its hue from 
 the individual character of the Judge who presides. 
 So long as he is quick and clear to perceive what 
 is just and true, and firm of will to pursue that, so 
 long will he command, for he will deserve, the un- 
 shaken confidence of his fellow citizens. In this 
 latter quality, the fixedness of purpose to do what 
 is true and right, unswerved by passion or prejudice, 
 not shrinking through fear or fiivor, not knowing 
 
38 
 
 any obligation so sacred as that of duty, nor any 
 pleasure so sweet as that of duty fulfilled, is found 
 the crowning excellence of the judicial character. 
 There are many minds that are clear enough and 
 strong enough for the discharge of all the duties 
 of the Bench, however delicate or responsible. 
 But who would select for the performance of those 
 duties the greatest human intellect, if confi.dence 
 were lacking in the uprightness of motive, and the 
 resoluteness of purpose which were to impel and 
 control it. 
 
 The Bench will be recruited hereafter, sir, as it 
 has been hitherto, from the ranks of the Bar. And 
 in the learning, the firmness and the integrity of 
 the Bar, is another great guarantee for the inde- 
 pendence and impartiality of the bench. 
 
 The absence, even for a limited period, and for 
 sufficient reasons, of such a lawyer from our Courts, 
 is to be regretted. While others present have 
 spoken of our honored guest, as the kind friend, 
 the good neighbor, the public spirited citizen, the 
 zealous promoter of every enterprise which tended 
 to the growth and prosperity of our City, it re- 
 mains for me to speak of him, as the good lawyer 
 and the able advocate, prompt to defend every just 
 right of his client, ready and correct in his learn- 
 ing, never speaking but to instruct, and while 
 asking nothing wrong, giving up nothing that is 
 right. 
 
 The departure of such a man, I do, as I properly 
 may, regret. But his absence will, I trust, be but 
 
39 
 
 temporary. He goes to return a<^ain, with an en- 
 larged experience, a Avider knowledge of mankind, 
 and increased capacities for usefulness. 
 
 The first and greatest of poets, in describing the 
 character of his wisest hero, gives j^rominence to 
 the fact that lie had visited the cities of many 
 nations, and studied their cliaracters. 
 
 Our friend is departing, with the good wishes of 
 us all, to do the same. I know few men better 
 fitted to profit by the experience. 
 
 And when he shall return, laden with its fruits, 
 Avith his powers expanded and invigorated, and 
 his affection for home and friends made warmer 
 and deeper by his wanderings : — then, sir, in the 
 exercise of his profession ; in the part which, as a 
 lawyer, he may take in the administration of justice, 
 he may find ample and fit employment for his 
 loftiest energies. 
 
 I beg leave, in conclusion, to propose the follow- 
 ing sentiment : 
 
 "The Return of onr Friend — We send hiui fortli witli pride; we 
 shall welcome him home again with pleasure." 
 
 The next toast was — 
 
 " The 01(1 :uul New Netherlands. — We hail with that grave compla- 
 cency which becomes our Dutch descent, the continuance of amicable 
 relations between tliose two great kindred commonwealths." 
 
 The Hon. Gulian C. VERrLANCK replied on the 
 call of the chair: — - 
 
 He observed that he presumed that he owed the 
 honor of l)eing s})ecially invited to respond to this 
 
40 
 
 toast to his Holland name and blood, and to his 
 representing on this occasion the St. Nicholas 
 Society of New York, as one of its former Presi- 
 dents, The subject itself was one which filled his 
 mind and Avarmed his heart, and he had much more 
 to say upon it, than the time and the claims of 
 others would now permit him to express. He con- 
 gratulated the Union and the State of New York, 
 as well as the beautiful city in which we were 
 assembled, on the selection of this favorite son of 
 Brooklyn, aa the Diplomatic Representative of the 
 United States to the Fatherland of so many of us; 
 for he was one eminently fitted to bear to that old 
 Fatherland, the warm good wishes, the cordial 
 sympathies of hundreds of thousands — -nay, it was 
 no exaggeration to say, even millions of American 
 citizens who boast of the old blood of Holland, and 
 feel a grateful sense of the numerous benefits, 
 political, individual and intellectual, which Holland 
 has bestowed upon these United States, We have 
 no occasion to undervalue those who have of late 
 years represented our Government at the Hague; 
 for the public interest and national honor have been 
 safe in their hands; but still, with the exception of 
 the late excellent and honored Harmanus Bleecker, 
 they were not specially fitted to convey the sym- 
 pathies and sentiments of the sons of Holland on 
 this side of the Atlantic, to tlieir cousins in Europe, 
 It was time, then, — to borrow an expressive phrase 
 of Indian diplomacy, often used by the orators of 
 the Six Nations in their negotiations with our old 
 Governors, — it was "time to brighten the chain 
 of friendship." 
 
41 
 
 The President's judicious selection for this station 
 of one so well fitted by his early and local associa- 
 tions, and his knowledge of the language, history 
 and literature of Holland, will brighten this chain, 
 so that, as the Indian diplomatists sometimes said, 
 "it will shine like silver." 
 
 I have often been surprised, said Mr. V. to find 
 that men high in position in Holland, even some- 
 times the diplomatic representatives of her govern- 
 ment, were hardly aware how widely diffused are 
 the blood and lineage of the Netherlands through- 
 out our Union, and that they scarcely knew that 
 the language of Holland had been preserved in 
 familiar use to the third and fourth, and even the 
 ninth and tenth generation from the original settlers 
 of the banks of the Hudson. 
 
 About five years ago, as many here will remem- 
 ber, the old tri-coloured flag of Holland floated in 
 our harbor, over a noble frigate, admirably equip- 
 ped and, I must add, admirably oflicered. The 
 St. Nicholas Society of New York entertained 
 those officers at a banquet as brilliant as the 
 luxury of New York could make it, and more bril- 
 liant from the presence and participation of many 
 distinguished persons. Some remarks of my own 
 which were called forth by the occasion, excited no 
 little surprise and even doubt, when I said that the 
 ancient blood of the United Netherlands had, on 
 this side of the Atlantic, nearly or quite as many 
 descendants as owned the allegiance of the Mother 
 country in Europe. This may seem a wild exagge- 
 ration, yet the comparison of regular tables of our 
 
42 
 
 several censuses National or State taken every ten 
 and five years, with the less precise, but yet suffi- 
 ciently reliable tables of our colonial population, 
 will show the correctness of this assertion. The 
 magnitude and the rate of this increase are easily 
 explained by the arithmetical puzzle which per- 
 plexes school boys, in the problem of one shilling for 
 the first nail in the horse's shoes, two for the second, 
 and so doubling to the last, when it swells to a 
 startling amount. Thus it was with the ten or 
 twelve thousand Dutch colonists of New York and 
 New Jersey, who became British subjects in 1664. 
 These, with some additions, when William of 
 Orange became William III. of England, and some 
 more from time to time afterwards, had at the date 
 of the Declaration of Independence, one hundred 
 and twelve years after, swelled to a majority, pro- 
 bly — certainly to the most numerous race in two 
 of the original Thirteen United States. The same 
 rate (at least) of progression has doubtless gone 
 on, with this thriving and industrious race, as 
 amongst their neighbors, so that they, like their 
 Yankee neighbors, have swarmed all over our 
 continent, making the names, the usages, the 
 traditions and even the vestiges of the language 
 of Holland familiar in Iowa and Wisconsin, and 
 the still further West. Thus it is no exagger- 
 ation at all to say, that we of Dutch descent, — 
 many indeed not of pure Dutch blood, but mixed 
 with other races to the great advantage of both, 
 as has just been eloquently shown (by Judge 
 Parker) — are fast approaching to, if we have 
 not already outnumbered, the present census of 
 
43 
 
 the Kingdom of Holland. I should trespass too 
 much on your patience, if I were to expatiate (as 
 I am tempted to do,) on our obligations to the 
 venerable Fatherland in our civil policy, and in 
 our intellectual acquisitions, for these are subjects 
 familiar to many about me. 
 
 Thence it was that we learned the value of local 
 municipal institutions, combined with provincial or 
 State sovereignties, all united in the stability, dig- 
 nity and power of a Federative Government. I 
 could show the evidence of other obligations, not 
 less marked, in our revolutionary history, in our 
 diplomacy, in the details of our frame of govern- 
 ment. But the great lesson of all was that, which, 
 by j^recept and example, taught us to combine the 
 freedom and adaptation of local administration with 
 the energy and dignity of a national existence. 
 It was this principle which the old States of the 
 United Netherlands felt to be the source of their 
 independence, and their internal prosperity, amidst 
 the mighty and hostile nations around them. This 
 principle they embodied in their ancient national 
 motto, '■'•Eendraglit Maakt MagliV'' "Union makes 
 strength." That is the common and the dictionary 
 translation of the motto, but to the ear of an old 
 fashioned Dutchman it was expressive of something 
 stronger and more vivid than this mere abstraction 
 however wise and true. Their language, though 
 it is thought not "euphonious," is peculiarly ex- 
 pressive and often picturesque, if the phrase may 
 be allowed. It preserves in its compounds and 
 derivatives, the natural symbol or figure under 
 
44 
 
 which abstract ideas were originally represented, 
 resembling, in this respect, the ancient Greek and 
 the modern German. The Eendraglit expresses 
 the scriptural idea of "bearing one another's bur- 
 dens," and the spirit may be well given by para- 
 phrasing it in our colloquial phrase of " a puTL al- 
 together ^ Those who first applied it in its national 
 sense, carried out fully the spirit of our own good 
 idiomatic phrase and made it for many a year " a 
 long pull, and a strong pull, and a pull altogether." 
 
 The other motto which you have before you, in 
 the decorations of this hall, emblazoned with the 
 lion-supported flag of the Netherlands, has also 
 another forcible meaning, and especially so in con- 
 nexion with the other national motto. It is, "Je 
 Maintiendraiy This was the old armorial bearing 
 of the house of Orange, and perhaps had originally 
 only a feudal meaning of a stern resolve to main- 
 tain the rights and honor of the Prince who bore 
 it. But it acquired a nobler and broader sense 
 under the first and greatest of the Stadtholders, 
 the elder William of Orange — the national hero of 
 Holland, the Washington of the Seven United 
 Provinces ; for there is a very remarkable resem- 
 blance between these two great men, in their 
 history, their achievements and their personal 
 character, in their solid and unpretending virtues 
 and talents, in the slow but sure and powerful 
 operation of their minds, in their Avisdom, their 
 practical sagacity, their resolute perseverance, their 
 power of converting even defeat into eventual 
 victory, and making the loss of a battle conduce in 
 
40 
 
 its rcsuUs to the triiim[)li of their cause. The 
 resembhincc extended even to secondary personal 
 qualities and peculiarities, sucli as the general 
 gravity and silence of both. On his lion-crested 
 banner, aiid that of his worthy successors, this 
 motto of " Je Maintiendrai," was borne, associated 
 with the broad stripes of the Federative Republic, 
 and its " Eendra-ght Maakt Maght," and floated 
 for many a year, and in many a field of peril and 
 of glory. Thus that motto expressed to the whole 
 nation the noble idea of a pledge of resolute main- 
 tenance of the liberties and honor of their country, 
 of their faith and their Union. It was a constant 
 pledge (to borrow the poet's words) to 
 
 " Stand by their country's honor fast, 
 
 And nail her colors to the mast." 
 
 This pledge was faithfully observed for many 
 glorious years. I have already said that Holland 
 has given to our own country many precious 
 lessons, but none of the teachings of her history 
 are more impressive than those of these two old 
 national mottoes — may they sink deep into our 
 hearts and be long illustrated in the future history 
 of these United States. 
 
 Mr. Verplanck concluded by asking the company 
 to join in the following sentiment: — 
 
 ''The tAVO national mottoes of the United Netherlands, '■EendragM 
 Maakt MaghV and '•Je Maintiendrai^'' both teaching great lessons of 
 political wisdom and of patriotic resolution, long and nobly exempli- 
 fied in the history of the lion-crested flag of the Netherlands. They 
 claim the emulation and generous rivalry of all who honor the Star- 
 spangled Banner of our Union." 
 
40 
 The next toast was — 
 
 " Tlie Reformed Clergy — let them not quite despair of us, their 
 sadly unreformed people." 
 
 To this sentiment the Rev. Dr. Bethune respond- 
 ed, but as his remarks were wholly extemporane- 
 ous, they are given, with slight emendations, from 
 the report in the Brooklyn Eagle : — 
 
 I need not say, Mr. Chairman, that it gives me 
 great pleasure to be present this evening, but may 
 be permitted to add, that I have given a proof of 
 it from the fact that my being here has involved 
 the necessity of travelling some hundred and eighty 
 or two hundred miles. (Applause.) My duties in 
 some relations of life required me to be absent 
 since I received the invitation of the Committee, 
 but I did, upon sober reflection, consider it was 
 also my duty to be here. I rise to express, in 
 common with all who have gone before me, — for 
 the idea must be uppermost in the mind, — the 
 gratification which every honorable spirit must 
 feel in contemplating this assemblage. In the first 
 place, to see so many honorable gentlemen from 
 abroad, who sympathize with us in this our hour 
 of pride and pleasure ; and also to meet so many 
 of the solid men of Brooklyn upon an occasion 
 which, while it was intended to do honor to our 
 eminent fellow-citizen, does equal honor to those 
 who projected it. This is not a political meeting, 
 and yet, as I look around me, I see the representa- 
 tives of every party ; — a clear proof that in this 
 land there is a real freedom of opinion, and that 
 
47 
 
 the man who, like our friend, has never hesitated 
 openly to declare his honest sentiments, never lost 
 in the estimation of any honest man. There may 
 be those who, straining the proprieties of religion to 
 asceticism, may frown upon a festival like this ; but 
 I remember, sir, in the most beautiful parable of 
 sacred writ, which more than all presents the cha- 
 racter of our Father who is in Heaven, that when 
 the prodigal son returned, his father made a feast 
 for him ; and shall we not make a feast when we 
 send forth one of our most honored sons upon a 
 most honorable mission ? (Applause. ) 
 
 As to the reference to the Reformed Clergy, I 
 cannot but say I am called upon to represent them, 
 for that term descends with the family of churches 
 who carried the banner of the Reformation along- 
 side of the Lutheran host on the Continent of Eu- 
 rope ; and here it is my privilege to represent not 
 only the Reformed Church, but that branch of it 
 which is one of the richest legacies which the 
 Dutch fathers of this portion of the country have 
 left to their children. It is fitting, sir, that some 
 blessing should go forth with our friend to that 
 honored land from the Church which uses — except 
 so far as translation may have altered them — the 
 religious forms, and creeds, and sacred songs in 
 which the Christian men of Holland have wor- 
 shipped since the Reformation. I do not recognize 
 all the gentlemen here as belonging to my flock, 
 nor do I feel so responsible for them, that I shall 
 undertake to defend them altogether from the 
 charge of being unreformed. All I can say upon 
 
48 
 
 this subject is, that, if they will put themselves 
 under my care, I will do the best I can to reform 
 them, though I certainly do not undertake impossi- 
 bilities. 
 
 It may at first seem strange that, when we are 
 called to part with a friend so learned, and a pub- 
 lic servant so useful, that we make it a season of 
 congratulation; but we are obliged to stifle any 
 sentiment of personal regret by the thought of the 
 honor that has been conferred upon him, and the 
 honor which he will certainly render to his country 
 when abroad. I say the honor which has been 
 conferred upon him ; and, while I speak thus, and 
 with all respect to the eminent citizen at the head 
 of this Republic, I do not hesitate to say that 
 the Administration has been as much honored by 
 the appointment as our friend has been. (Ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 It is a pleasure to attend on any occasion that 
 brings together Brooklyn men. Our great fault 
 as Brooklyn men is, that we do not come to- 
 gether more. I call every one of you to witness, 
 who has been present on any occasion resembling 
 this — in a faint degree, for I have never seen such 
 an assemblage of Brooklyn men — that, whenever 
 we have met and talked of Brooklyn, we have gone 
 home with our heads higher, and with a firmer tread, 
 and with a stronger sense of love for the city in 
 which we live. I cannot, therefore, sympathize in 
 the sentiment of our fellow-citizen, that Brooklyn 
 may some day be lost in another city. I remember 
 
49 
 
 once to have heard of a woman who had a quarrel with 
 another, and that other called her an "individual," 
 when she burst into tears and said, " Have I lived 
 so long to be called an individual ?'' And I cannot 
 help thinking that, although we have the repre- 
 sentatives of two cities before us, some of us must 
 feel in the same category. Born in New York, 
 and a resident from choice in Brooklyn, honoring 
 my native city, and faithful to the city of my adop- 
 tion, I have often been happy when making the 
 union of affection in my heart, and never until lately 
 have I seen a cause of regret or unpleasantness from 
 this source.* But here we are, New York and Brook- 
 lyn, and I do not know how many other parts, in- 
 dividualized into a Metropolitan District. (Laugh- 
 ter and applause.) I beg pardon, sir, if I have 
 trespassed on the harmony of the meeting by the 
 introduction of party politics. But my only excuse 
 is, that that is a kind of politics to which I am not 
 a party. (Renewed laughter and applause.) 
 
 Our friend goes from Brooklyn, and it is right, 
 as I had the honor of saying in my note of accept- 
 ance to the Committee who did me the honor of 
 inviting me, that on his departure from the home 
 of his youth, and* the theatre of his public services, 
 he should be complimented by a testimonial from 
 his fellow-citizens of all parties, that Brooklyn 
 should say to him, as the Spartan mother said to 
 her son, buckling on 
 
 " tho shield— 
 
 Return tcith it and victory, 
 Or on it, from the field." 
 
 7 
 
50 
 
 So we now give to him the shield of our respect 
 and onr good wishes. Let him bear them with 
 him, and, when he comes back, we shall honor him 
 more because he shall have honored us abroad. And 
 when he reaches that honored fatherland from which 
 came the early settlers of this part of the land, let 
 him tell them what he left here behind him. Yes, 
 sir, (turning to Mr. Murphy,) tell them there, that 
 the descendants of the original settlers of Brooklyn 
 are here now, although centuries have passed away, 
 and that the virtues of the fathers flourish more 
 vigorously in the virtues of the descendants, I 
 look around this table and see living proofs of 
 what I say — and pardon me if I mention the 
 names of the Lotts, Yan Brunts, and Polhemuses. 
 We can say to you, and you can say to them, that 
 neither in physical stature, in intellectual power, 
 nor moral worth, has there been any degeneracy. 
 Notwithstanding the Oriental incursions which we 
 have had among us, I will back the descendants of 
 the Dutch in this community as men who will out- 
 weigh all the rest. Tell those old Hollanders, 
 also, — what I fear they do not sufficiently remem- 
 ber, — that to the foresight of their fathers is OAving 
 the establishment of the noble city at the confluence 
 of those two rivers ; and of this, which is destined, 
 in time, to rival, if not exceed it in magnitude. 
 Yes, sir, that that city, with all its commerce, its 
 learning, religion, and multitude of honest men, 
 with all its force of character and wealth, — this 
 community, every pulse of whose heart is felt 
 throughout all the ramifying veins of this vast 
 Confederacy, and tells upon the remotest portion 
 
51 
 
 of the civilized earth, — that this great metropolis, 
 so stupendous in its size and importance, is- built 
 upon the foundation which the Hollanders laid. 
 It is easy to hea}) up stone and mortar, Init unless 
 the foundation be firm, the whole superstructure 
 must soon fall away ; and I believe that nothing 
 less tlmn the virtues, the industry, the example, 
 and the blood of Holland, would have been suffi- 
 cient as a foundation, to sustain the immense 
 weight imposed upon what was once New Nether- 
 land. I have but one word more, (cries of "Go 
 on — go on,") and that is, that this country, com- 
 posed, as it is, of all bloods, owes much of its 
 spirit to such mixture of races ; for I believe that 
 crossing the breed improves the stock, and that 
 one reason why New York takes the lead in the 
 Union is, .that she has the largest admixtures of the 
 best blood of all nations ; but the strong blood of 
 Holland was the first. 
 
 This country owes to Holland that species of 
 filial gratitude and respect which is due to great 
 precedents and high examples. No man ever de- 
 voted himself to the study of the history of Hol- 
 land without becoming an enthusiastic admirer of 
 that history, — finding in it the seeds of all free 
 principles of modern times, — and feeling in his 
 heart a sentiment of gratitude to Almighty God 
 for enabling noble men to rescue from the sea that 
 land, and make it the cradle in which the modern 
 liberties of the world have been rocked. In the 
 union of her trades, the absence of nobles, and a 
 brave democracy to keep out the sea, and keep 
 
52 
 
 back the feudal tyrants that would have crushed 
 her muiiicipahties, we discover the principles of 
 that system of constitutional government under 
 which we now rejoice. Her States were for a 
 time, indeed, distracted and belligerent against 
 each other, but soon learning that division among 
 free neighbors was death, she presented a front 
 which the power of Spanish cruelty and arms 
 could not break, and formed, for the first time 
 in the history of the world, the league of in- 
 dependent sovereignties, — the Union which typi- 
 fied our own. This we owe to Holland, the best 
 gift of all ; for what were our municipalities, our 
 States and our institutions, if it were not for this 
 Union, which, like the attrac-tion of the sun over 
 the planetary bodies, also holds us in our harmoni- 
 ous relations? 
 
 In Holland were first uttered the words of reli- 
 gious liberty, as we understand it; for as early 
 as 159G Hooft declared that in a free State no man 
 should be troubled or hindered on account of his 
 religious opinions. Give to Lord Baltimore, the 
 Pilgrim Fathers, or Ptoger Williams what honor 
 you may, it was Holland that first heard the noble 
 sentiment that no human authority should come 
 between a man and his God. Nor let it be forgot- 
 ten that it was, after long struggles of absolutism 
 with dissent in politics and religion, and after the 
 failure of Puritanism, that both civil and religious 
 liberty were established in Great Britain, when a 
 Dutchman, one trained in the political system of 
 Holland, and a member of the Reformed Dutch 
 
53 
 
 Chiircli, ascended the throne. Go to iliat luiid, my 
 frieud, and tell them you come from a community 
 which represents the virtues of their iatliers; and 
 tliat their cliildren here arc grateful for the legacy 
 which has come down to them for centuries. If 
 you find that the liberties of Holland have suffered 
 some decrease — tliat tlie King sits where once the 
 Stadtholder sat — that there is some deviation from 
 her ancient toleration, — remember that Holland is 
 but a little country among the vast populations of 
 Europe. Her population never quite reached 
 three millions, yet she once had five universities, 
 and her fleets doubled that of all Europe. But 
 surrounded by despotisms and strong govern- 
 ments, weakened by her departure from her sys- 
 tem of free trade, which made her Avhat she was, it 
 was not possible that she should still maintain the 
 power and dignity she once possessed. To us was 
 granted that boundless space and diversity of soil, 
 climate, temperament, and culture, which enables 
 us to mature the ideas of liberty that were trans- 
 planted from Holland. But for sucJi a large and 
 enlarging sphere, we too might have failed. Tell 
 them, too, that our great nation is faithful to the 
 system we derived so largely from their original 
 example, and faithful to the Union of our States, 
 the more glorious repetition of their own — that, 
 though murmurs of disaffection may be occasion- 
 ally heard from extreme extravagances, the vast 
 bulk of our people are bound together by links in- 
 dissoluble — nay, that rather than live under any 
 other system, we would die amidst its ruins. 
 
54 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Kennaday, having been called for, 
 arose and said — 
 
 Mr. President : — The lateness of the hour would 
 be sufficient to restrain me from indulging in any 
 extended course of remarks, even had we not been 
 so amply entertained by the many sentiments of 
 high regard so eloquently expressed in farewell to 
 our distinguished fellow-citizen. Still, in obe- 
 dience to your request, I will append a few 
 remarks. 
 
 The sentiment last announced, and to which 
 I likewise am desired to respond, expresses the 
 hope that " the Reformed Clergy ivill not despair 
 of you^ their unreformed 2^Qopley Whatever may 
 be the despondence to which others may yield, or 
 whatever may be the sentence which others may 
 pronounce, it is very certain, I'rom the proffer of 
 our worthy friend. Dr. Bethune, to take you under 
 his watchtul care, and from his able and eloquent 
 address, that you are not to be executed '■^without 
 benefit of clergy ^ Allow me to say, that I fully 
 concur in the confidence expressed by him, and am 
 no less hopeful of your reformation. The evi- 
 dence which you have this night given of a gener- 
 ous forgetfulness of political predilections, when 
 the claims of private and public Avorth are consid- 
 ered, is a strong and encouraging indication that, 
 whatever differences may agitate the public heart, 
 such differences cannot subdue the nobler emo- 
 tions of our nature. My confidence in the purity 
 and permanency of our Government, has always 
 
55 
 
 rested, in a great degree, upon my confidence in 
 the integrity and patriotism of our public men ; 
 and this assurance is not a little strengthened 
 when the amenities of friendship rise superior to 
 the prejudices of party, as men of every variety of 
 sentiment upon public questions unite in evincing 
 their appreciation of a worthy man. 
 
 Sentiments are of most importance in their influ- 
 ence upon actions. It is to the deportment of men 
 that we must look for the more effective illustra- 
 tion of political theories. Men who maintain their 
 integrity in the service where the public conli- 
 dence has placed them, are worthy of all commen- 
 dation. Nothing can be more disastrous to public 
 virtue than indifference to political purity. The 
 approval of those most familiar with their charac- 
 ter, is ever to be considered as one of the strongest 
 incentives by which men in positions of confidence 
 and responsibility are to be governed. It is, I 
 conceive, in respect to these sentiments that we 
 mingle in the farewell, yet gratulatory, expressions 
 of the evening. 
 
 The honor which the President of the United 
 States has conferred upon Mr. Muiiphy is, as 
 has been well remarked, an honor conferred no 
 less upon ourselves. To-night he is surrounded 
 by many who have found him a zealous com- 
 peer in promoting those interests which have 
 tended to the prosperity and character of our 
 city. The present is, in many respects, Mr. 
 President, a time in the history of Brooklyn, when 
 
50 
 
 her citizens may feel more than ordinary gratifica- 
 tion. Besides sharing in the diplomatic honors of 
 Government, we have given, from one of our sub- 
 urban villages, a Governor to our Empire State. 
 In addition to this, two of our fellow-citizens 
 are at this time among the distinguished men of 
 the globe. I allude to Captain Hudson, and his 
 colleague, Captain Sands — gentlemen distinguished 
 in our naval service, and highly esteemed as our 
 own fellow-citizens. Their absence from us this 
 evening is because of their sharing in the honora- 
 ble work of laying the submarine telegraph cable. 
 These gentlemen are uniting with their British 
 compeers to give to science the more perfect do- 
 minion of the sea. The two countries, with the 
 power of Niagara and the grasp of Agamemnon, 
 are struggling in harmony to bind the ocean with 
 a chain of lire. Surely, Mr. President, Brooklyn 
 may be allowed to indulge in some little self- 
 complacency when all the world admits that in 
 Captain Hudson, one of our own citizens, we have 
 one of the greatest '■'■ wire-pullers'''' of the age. 
 When that great achievement is effected, the re- 
 joicings resulting therefrom would be greatly 
 enhanced could we receive a salutation from our 
 new Minister to Holland, greeting us in good old- 
 fashioned, honest Dutch. 
 
 Allow me, Mr. President, to repeat my confi- 
 dence in the reformatory capabilities of public 
 men. When I see men of all parties stepping 
 down from their narrower platforms, and coming 
 together in all the kindly blendings of a common 
 
67 
 
 brotherhood, I am encouraged to believe that we 
 are one in the love of an nnbroken country. Not 
 that political distinctions are to be deemed unim- 
 portant, nor that men are to be indifferent to their 
 convictions upon great public measures ; but that 
 there are interests before which party barriers 
 should sink, and every line of separation be lost. 
 
 When Alcibiades was at the head of the Athenian 
 government, he was, at one time, in the presence 
 of Socrates, boasting of the magnitude of his pos- 
 sessions, which were mostly within the precincts of 
 the city. Intending to moderate his vanity, the 
 philosopher asked for a nuip of the world. The 
 world, as then known, in its broad expanse, was 
 spread before them. "Where is Achaia?" in- 
 quired Socrates. "There it is," said Alcibiades. 
 "And where is Athens?" This, though but a dimin- 
 ished spot, was soon perceived. "Where, Al- 
 cibiades, are thy possessions?" They could not be 
 found. They were lost amid the entire of Athens, 
 included in the greatness of Achaia, and merged 
 in the magnitude of the world. 
 
 Thus should it be witli our party distinctions. 
 In the broad and ample outlines of our noble 
 country, the lesser outlines should fade away. 
 
 In conclusion, let me assure our honored friend, 
 that I most heartily concur in the sentiments of 
 respect so ardently tendered him by his numerous 
 friends. 1 remember, when, in tlie commencement 
 of his public career, it devolved upon him to de- 
 
 8 
 
58 
 
 liver a Fourth of July onation before the citizens 
 of Brooklyn, in the church of which I was pastor, 
 it became my duty to open the ceremonies by 
 prayer. Still shall my most devout wishes go 
 with him, that his career may be one of continued 
 usefulness and integrity ; and in bidding him fare- 
 well, I will say, "The Lord preserve thy going 
 out and thy coming in from this time forth, and 
 even forevermore." 
 
 " The Army and Navy — The ultimate arguments, when all other 
 reasons fail to convince, and all other eloquent appeals are ex- 
 hausted." 
 
 General Aaron Ward, of Westchester County, 
 being called upon, responded as follows : — 
 
 Mr. President: — You and the gentlemen present 
 have my thanks for the kind manner you have 
 been pleased to second the call upon me, to re- 
 spond to the sentiment just read. In rising at this 
 late hour of the night, my reply to it must neces- 
 sarily be brief. I take unusual pleasure in stating 
 that, in accepting the invitation of your Committee 
 to this dinner, I feel gratified that I have thus 
 been favored with the privilege of uniting with 
 you on this interesting occasion, in taking leave 
 of your honored fellow-citizen, my much valued 
 and esteemed friend, Mr. Murphy, who is so soon 
 to take his departure from among us. 1 have long 
 been personally and intimately acquainted with, 
 him ; we served together in the Constitutional 
 Convention in this State in 184G, in which he took 
 a most active and conspicuous part. Our political 
 
59 
 
 sentiments have always aecorded with each other, 
 and I can truly say that, in the numerous speeches 
 which he made in the Congress of the United 
 States, ill the (Constitutional Convention of our 
 own State, and in the other political Conventions 
 in which we have acted together, 1 have never 
 heard him speak disrespectfully, in- the • slightest 
 degree, of a single political opponent. (Immense 
 applause.) He established this creed for his own 
 government at an early period of his political life, 
 namely : "To exercise his elective franchise fear- 
 lessly, in his own way, and to allow others, without 
 reproach, the same invaluable privilege." (Great 
 applause.) This excellent trait in his character, 
 the eminence to which he has arrived, his moral 
 worth, his intellectual attainments, and his pure 
 and unsullied character, have attached to him a 
 host of ardent friends in every section of our 
 country, who, though not here in person, are, I am 
 sure, with us to-night, in spirit and kind wishes. 
 (Tumultuous applause.) 
 
 In your letter of invitation tendering to him this 
 testimonial of your respect, you pay a just tribute 
 to his merits ; and this banquet is not less honor- 
 able to yourselves, than to the patriotic gentleman 
 who has been called to a distinguished mission. 
 (Cheers.) Our hearts will go with him over the 
 seas ; our prayers will follow the ship that bears 
 him away ; and although his eyes may moisten 
 with regret at parting, he will be soothed with the 
 reflection that he leaves behind him those who 
 love him, and those who will greet his return to 
 
60 
 
 his native shores, with the same deep aifection in 
 which they will bid him " God-speedy (Applause.) 
 Those who know Mr. Murphy as I do, will have 
 no apprehension of the success of his mission. 
 The honor of the country is in safe hands, entrust- 
 ed to his care ; and that he will discharge his high 
 official duties to the satisfaction of the country 
 and the people, admits not of a single doubt, 
 (Applause.) 
 
 The sentiment to which I am requested to re- 
 spond, " The Army and Navy — the ultimate argu-. 
 ment, when all others fail of convincing, and all 
 appeals are exhausted," expresses my own feelings 
 and the feelings of the whole American people ; 
 and I trust Mr. Murphy will present it to the 
 Government to which he is accredited, that it may 
 be fully understood, that it is the desire and the 
 settled policy of this Republic to remain at peace 
 with all the world, (great applause,) and that nei- 
 ther the President nor the Congress of the United 
 States will at any time involve our country in a 
 war with any foreign power without just cause, 
 (Applause.) While our present enlightened Chief 
 Magistrate and "all others in authority" will cautious- 
 ly avoid giving any just cause of offence to other na- 
 tions, we will never submit to any act of aggression 
 from any other power in the world, without re- 
 turning blow for blow. (Loud and reiterated 
 applause.) It is now nearly three-quarters of a 
 century since we achieved our independence and 
 took our station am6ng the nations of the earth ; 
 since then we have been, much to the regret of 
 
61 
 
 our people, twice involved in Avar. That of 1812, 
 with Great Britain, was in defence of free trade 
 and sailors' rights. ( Long and continued ap- 
 plause.) That nation, with its powerful navy, 
 impressed our seamen on board of our merchant 
 vessels on the high seas, and committed other acts 
 of violence against the commerce of our country, 
 which drove us to the necessity of a declaration of 
 war against her. The other war was with Mexico, 
 wdiich was brought about by reason of that Gov- 
 ernment's undertaking to wrest, witli an armed 
 force, a portion of our territory from us, and 
 that, too, without any previous declaration of hos- 
 tilities. 
 
 Thanks, however, to an overruling Providence, 
 in both instances, peace was restored by honorable 
 treaty stipulations ; and it is a source of gratifica- 
 tion to know, that our gallant Army and Navy 
 nobly discharged their whole duty in both strug- 
 gles. There is no man that hears me that does not 
 only remember, but glory in, the services of our 
 Army and Navy in these memorable wars ; there 
 is not a true-hearted, whole-souled American liv- 
 ing, who will not join me in saying that they were 
 such as to merit the eternal gratitude of the people, 
 and to add to our national fame both at home and 
 abroad. (Loud cheering, and long continued.) 
 The names of Scott, Taylor, Wool and Worth, who 
 served in both wars, with Jackson, Brown, Hull, 
 Decatur, Perry, Mac Donough, Bainbridge, Porter, 
 Lawrence, Morris, and a host of other army and 
 naval officers who served in the war of 1812, have 
 
62 
 
 funiislied materials for glorious pages in the history 
 of our country. Winfield Scott, who has been de- 
 servedly promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General 
 for his brilliant successes in these wars, is still at 
 the head of our Army, and is, beyond all doubt, 
 the greatest Captain of the age. His enemies 
 have said this, and his friends may be proud to 
 reiterate it. (Enthusiastic apjolause.) 
 
 But while it is, as I have said, the earnest desire 
 of the Government to remain at peace with all the 
 world, it is the part of sound wisdom to be at all 
 times prepared for war, as the best means of pre- 
 serving peace. No nation can be safe from insult 
 or injury that is unable to resist them. To be un- 
 prepared for war is the surest way to provoke it. 
 Weakness often invites insult. The arts of peace, 
 which enrich and embellish nations, are incapable 
 of defending them; and wealth, without the power 
 of protecting it, is ever the prey of violence. 
 
 We must, therefore, encourage military habits, 
 military skill, and a military spirit among our peo- 
 ple. But it is not necessary that we should main- 
 tain, at all times, a large standing army to eat out 
 the substance of the people ; all that is required, 
 in order to keep alive this military spirit, is our 
 present Army, organized, as it is, with the West 
 Point Institution forming a component part. That 
 Institution now supplies our Army with a class of 
 highly-educated and scientific officers, who will 
 compare favorably with any similar body of men 
 in the world. (Loud applause.) While our Gov- 
 
63 
 
 ernment continues to maintain an efficient army to 
 fortify our coast and frontiers ; to construct mili- 
 tary roads where necessary ; to continue the or- 
 ganization of the militia force, which now numbers 
 between two and three millions of men, fully 
 armed and equipped, and ready for any service ; 
 and, above all, to continue the gradual and steady 
 increase of our Navy, tlie increase of which should 
 never be lost sight of, so long as other nations keep 
 up a large navy, and so long as our commerce ex- 
 tends to every part of the globe, which requires 
 protection, peace may be preserved. (Great ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 But to ensure that blessing, as our territory ex- 
 tends from ocean to ocean, it is necessary, in my 
 opinion, to construct a railroad to connect the 
 Atlantic with the Pa.cific seas. It is a gigantic 
 undertaking, 1 grant, but it is one that is calcula- 
 ted to advance the prosperity and happiness of 
 our people far beyond any other measure of the 
 present day ; it is one of the few great works 
 which the Government of the United States may 
 undertake without any fear of encroaching upon 
 the provisions of the Constitution, for military 
 roads are as necessary as a means of defence as 
 fortifications on our seaboard or inland frontier. 
 The framers of the Constitution foresaw the neces- 
 sity, not only of authorizing Congress to provide 
 for the common defence, but to establish post- 
 offices and post-roads ; and consequently, under 
 certain circumstances. Congress may appropriate 
 funds ("or their construction. Tliis road, when 
 
64 
 
 finished, will be the great military road of the 
 country, and will enable the Government, within 
 six days' time, to transport an army from the 
 Atlantic side to aid our brethren in the golden 
 region to repel any threatened attacks which may 
 be made upon them. Such a military road, with 
 our army, navy, and militia forces, would enable 
 our Government, as it is our earnest desire, to 
 maintain peace with all nations. (Great ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 With these imperfect and hurried remarks, I 
 thank you, gentlemen, for your patience ; and, 
 wishing our guest a flowing sail, a smooth stream, 
 a clear sky, and a safe arrival, I take my seat. 
 
 (The speaker resumed his seat amid deafening 
 cheers.) 
 
 The next toast was — 
 
 "The Press,"— 
 
 To which Mr. Swackhamer, being called upon, 
 made the following response : — 
 
 Mr. President : — While I appreciate the compli- 
 ment of being called on to respond to the senti- 
 ment just read, permit me to inquire whether this 
 honorable distinction should not have been confer- 
 red on some other or older member of the press. 
 Having no voice, however, in this matter, I pro- 
 pose to advert to the early struggles of the press 
 
66 
 
 ill this coimtiy, and trace its rise and progress 
 from infancy to manhood, — from the period while 
 yet weak, it defied despotism, until the present 
 time, when, in its strength, it guides the destinies 
 of a free and powerful nation. Much has been 
 said during the evening of the patriotism of tlie 
 State of New York, and of the heroic achieve- 
 ments of a race — the German — from whom I am a 
 descendant. However just this may be, it is none 
 the less true, that other people and other colonies 
 are entitled to equal credit for early devotion to 
 sound governmental principles. 
 
 The American Press was born in the Colony of 
 Massachusetts, although the fetters that bound it 
 were first broken in the Colony of New York, 
 which event Governor Morris regarded as the 
 germ of American freedom, — the morning star of 
 that liberty which subsequently revolutionized 
 America. 
 
 I have said the first newspaper was established 
 in Massachusetts: — this was at Cambridge, in the 
 middle of the seventeenth century, and it was de- 
 voted to literary and scientific subjects. About 
 the year 1700, three newspapers were published in 
 Massachusetts, one in Pennsylvania; and in 1725, 
 one was also commenced in New York, — the 
 "New York Gazette," — by William Bradford. For 
 expressing certain sentiments regarded as sedi- 
 tious by the Government, concerning a public 
 controversy, Bradford, and Macomb his associate, 
 was tried before Justice Cooke, who used all his 
 
 9 
 
06 
 
 influence to convict liim ; bnt tlie jury, after re- 
 maining out over sixty hours, disagreed, and were 
 discharged. George Keith, who wrote the article, 
 Avas, however, condemned without a hearing. The 
 second newspaper established in the New York 
 Colony was the " New York AVeekly Journal," in 
 1733. It opposed the administration of Governor 
 Cosby with great vigor, and its publisher, John 
 Peter Zenger, was harshly treated by the Governor 
 and Council in consequence. By his order, Zenger 
 was confined for several months, deprived of pen, 
 ink and paper, and denied the intercourse of his 
 friends. But the jury, after a lair hearing of the 
 case, found a verdict of Not f/uilti/ of the charge of 
 sedition. This, in connection with the acquittal 
 of Bradford and Macomb, laid the foundation of 
 the American Press, by the vindication and main- 
 tenance of its primary rights. 
 
 It is worthy of remark, that the freedom of the 
 press found, at this early period, able advocates in 
 the legal profession : among whom was Andrew 
 Hamilton, of Philadelphia, Avho successfully de- 
 fended Zenger, generously refusing all compensa- 
 tion for his laborious services. 
 
 Only a little over a hundred years have been 
 numbered with the past, since these struggles were 
 made by the press ; and yet, what amount of good 
 or evil has it not accomplished within this brief 
 period V Or rather, what amount of good has it 
 not secured to the mass of mankind ? For what- 
 ever of evil that may, and perhaps does, attend 
 
67 
 
 the freedom of tlie press, is a thousand tunes com- 
 pensated in the benefits it confers upon society. 
 
 1 have referred to tlie two pioneers in the cause 
 of the free(h)ni of tlie })ress in America. In tliis 
 connection it is pro[)er to say that, at tin) com- 
 mencement of the RevoUition, only four newspa- 
 pers were published in New York, — the first bear- 
 ing the remarkable title of, '' Rivington's New 
 York (Jazetteer, or the Connecticut, New Jersey, 
 Hudson's River and Quebec Weekly Advertiser." 
 Whether the circulation of this paper ever reached 
 the extent of territory iiulicated by its comprehen- 
 sive title, is not known. The three others were, 
 "Gaines' Mercury," ''Loudon's Packet," and "Holt's 
 Journal." The two last sustained the Revolution- 
 ary cause with great energy and ability, while 
 Rivington and Gaines defended the interests of the 
 Royalists. Besides those specified, because of their 
 locality, there were thirty-five other newspapers 
 published in the American Colonies at the begin- 
 ning of the Revolution, all of which were very 
 limited in their scope and size, averaging only 
 about half a page of foolscap. None of these at- 
 tained more than a weekly issue, until the close of 
 the Revolution, when they rapidly increased in 
 numbers and daily issues, amounting, in the year 
 1810, to three hundred and sixty, and at this day 
 to as many thousands as then hundreds ; and it is 
 said that one New York jouriud circulates more 
 copies daily than the entire Colonial press did 
 weekly during the Revolutionary struggle, and, in- 
 deed, for some time subsequent to its determination. 
 
68 
 
 It is a commou practice for those who, on occa- 
 sions like the present, are called upon to speak of 
 the press, to eulogize it in extravagant and un- 
 measured terms. But this is no part of my pur- 
 pose ; on the contrary, I can discern many abuses 
 growing up in the conduct of the press, that need 
 reform. It is a matter of astonishment to notice 
 the course pursued at times by the leading news- 
 papers of this country and of Europe on subjects 
 of National policy ; but being mainly correct on 
 the great interests of man, no exceptions can justly 
 be taken on this head. There is, however, another 
 feature in tlie newspaper business of the day, 
 against which I conceive there are serious objec- 
 tions. This consists in the constant efforts of a 
 portion of the press, generally known as the 
 "Sensation" press, to create or augment excitement 
 in the public mind, and often at the expense of 
 justice, truth, and good morals. 
 
 The virulence and abuse, personal and political, 
 that characterizes the party press, — especially of 
 America and England, — derogatory to the charac- 
 ter of the institution itself as it is baneful to socie- 
 ty, is not, in my opinion, half so prejudicial as the 
 other practice to which reference has been made. 
 The publication in detail, and in exaggerated col- 
 ors, of criminal conduct and of the proceedings in 
 criminal courts ; the disposition to incite disorder- 
 ly conduct; to influence the passions of the populace ; 
 to augment the multifarious difficulties incident to 
 popular forms of government, is in the highest de- 
 gree reprehensible and dangerous, and should be 
 
69 
 
 reprobated by every honorable member of the 
 press. Obviate this impediment to its success, 
 and the Press at once stands fortli the champion of 
 human rights and of National virtue ; reflecting, 
 like the rays of a cloudless autunmal sun, its genial 
 warmth upon mankind. It has already achieved 
 much for the human race. Whenever and where- 
 ever the sons of toil have raised their voices in the 
 cause of Freedom, tliere the Press has taken up 
 and echoed their declarations in tones as astound- 
 ing to the ear of despotism, as it invariably has 
 been encouraging to the hearts of the oppressed. 
 It has condemned ignorance, promoted education, 
 art and science. With all its errors, it is yet the 
 beacon light of truth and liberty. Though tram- 
 melled by infirmities, it is the base and bulwark of 
 the civilized world. Without it, all would be mist 
 and darkness ; — with it, the day-star of religion 
 and civilization is penetrating the darkest recesses 
 of barbarism ; and through it. Democracy will yet 
 envelop within its far-reaching panoply, and pro- 
 tect inviolate, the rights of every people against 
 all forms of oppression, emanating either from the 
 devices of tyranny or the bondage of superstition, 
 — hitherto the prolific source of the misery and 
 destitution that has borne down and consigned to 
 lasting oblivion so many millions of mankind. 
 
 The company separated between one and two o'clock, A. M., 
 after Laving spent an evening characterized by manifestations of 
 pleasure and good fellowship, and by mutual expressions of kindly 
 feeling. 
 
APrENDIX. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 Bedford Spuixgs, Penx., 1st August, 1857. 
 Gen'tlemex : — 
 
 I have received j'onr kind invitation to be present "at a dinner 
 to be given to the Hon. Henry C. Mukpuv, by liis friends, at the 
 Mansion House," on the 5th inst., "prior to his departure on his 
 Mission to Holland." I reL^rct that it is impossible lor uie to accept 
 it; because I entertain a warm regard for Mr. Muri)iiy, and should 
 rejoice to meet the friends wlio propose to do him honor. 
 
 Witli my grateful thanks, 
 
 I remain yours, very respectfully, 
 
 JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 Messrs. N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske, James Humphrey, C. P. Smith, Ed. Driggs. John 
 Greenwood, Tunis G. Bergen, Committee. 
 
 Washixgtox City, July 27, 1857. 
 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 I thank you for the invitation to attend the dinner proposed to 
 be given to Mr. Mcrpht, prior to his departure on his Mission to 
 Holland, and I should accept it with pleasure were I not prevented 
 by public business. 
 
 I am gratified at this mark of esteem and regard shown by his 
 friends who best know him, to an able and patriotic citizen about to 
 leave his country on such a service. It is a tribute which has been 
 ably earned, and is well bestowed. 
 
 I am, gentlemen, respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 LEWIS CASS. 
 
 To N. B. Morse, Ed. W. Fiske, J as. Humphrey, C. P. Smith; Edmund Driggs, John 
 Greenwood, and Tunis G. Bergen, Esqs., CoMMiTTKa. 
 
 10 
 
74 
 Washington City, July 31, 1857. 
 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 I regret to say that ifc will not be in my power to be present at the 
 proposed dinner to your wortliy fellow citizen, Hon. IIeney 0. 
 Murphy. It was my good fortune to l)e associated with Mr. Murphy 
 in my early Congressional life, and tlien learned to appreciate his 
 talents, and admire the many sterling qualities of his character. In 
 liim the people of his district ahvays found an able and efficient 
 representative, and the country at large a wise and patriotic legisla- 
 tor. He is now called by his Government to a new field of action, 
 and in the success of his past life we have the most satisfactory 
 assurance that his future career will l)e equally successful and 
 honorable. 
 
 I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 HOWELL COBB. 
 
 To N. B. Morse, Ed. W. Fiske, Jas. Humphrby, C. P. Smith, Edmund Driggs, Jodjj 
 Greenwood, and TcNrs G. Bergen, Committee. 
 
 Albany', Aug. 3, 1857. 
 Gentlemen :— 
 
 Yoiirs of the 28d nit., I found at my home at Balston Spa, last 
 evening, on my weekly visit there. 
 
 I regret extremely that the absence of my Deputy confines me to 
 the duties of my office, without the cessation of a single day ; as it 
 would afford me great pleasure to meet the friends of tlie Hon. Henry 
 C. MuEPHY", as well as yourselves, upon the occasion referred to in 
 your note, particularly so from the estimation formed of the charac- 
 ter and abilities of the gentleman, in whose honor the dinner of the 
 5th is given, during the sitting of the Constitutional Convention of 
 1846, of whicli he, as well as myself, Avas a member. 
 
 Please convey to him my regrets at not being able to attend on the 
 5th to brighten the chain of our friendship, and express my Avishes 
 for his success in the responsible, honorable and important position 
 which he is soon to occupy. Accept for yourselves my regards for 
 your attention, and believe me. 
 
 Yours, truly, 
 
 JAMES M. COOK. 
 
 To N. B. Morse and E. W. Fiske, Esqs. 
 
75 
 
 Wasiiingtox, Aug. 3d, 1857. 
 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 I liave the honor to acknowledgo your invitatiou to T)0 present at 
 the dinner to ])e given to the lion. Henry C. ^ftTRpnY, at the Man- 
 sion House, in Brooklyn, on tlie 5th of the ])resent iiiontli. 
 
 It would give me great pleasure to participate in this testimonial 
 of regard to tlie new Minister to Holland, l)y uniting with his friends 
 on the occasion, but, I regret to say my engagements will not permit. 
 
 I am, gentlemen, with much respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 ISAAC TOUCEY. 
 
 Messrs. N. B. Mohse, Edward W. Fiskk, and others, Committee. 
 
 BiNouAMPTON, August 8, 1857. 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 It would afford me great satisfaction to [iartici[)ate in the festive 
 honors i)roposed to be extended to tlie Hon. Henky 0. Murpuy, on 
 the 5th, pursuant to your kind invitation, but professional engage- 
 gagements of long standing will prevent. The occasion is appropri- 
 ately chosen, and the compliment worthily bestowed. I have long 
 known Mr. Murphy and whether in social life, pursuing the duties of 
 his profession, or representing his district in the councils of his nation, 
 he has discharged his duties in a manner becoming the cultivated 
 gentleman, the sound lawyer and the upright and able statesman. 
 In his selection to represent the country abroad, the President has 
 conferred honor upon the government and people, as well as upon 
 the incumbent, and the most gratifying results may be anticipated 
 from a mission so replete with elements of fitness. Begging you to 
 pi-esent for me the annexed sentence, 
 
 I have the honor to be, sincerely, yours, 
 
 D. S. DICKINSON. 
 
 To Messrs. N. B. Morse, E, W. Fiske, J. Uumpurey, C. P. Smith, Edmund Driggs, 
 John Greenwood, Tunis G. Bergen, Esqs., Committee. 
 
 " Our Foreign Ambassadors— May they in all cases be true representatives of the 
 government of the United States, and in the discharge of their personal and political 
 relations elevate the country which has elevated them." 
 
Gentlemen : — 
 
 76 
 
 Albany, July 29, 1857. 
 
 I regret that my engagements for the montli of August will pre- 
 vent my acceptance of your invitation to be present at tlie dinner to 
 be given to the Hon. Henry C. Murphy, by his friends, on the 5th 
 of August next, prior to his Mission to Holland. I regret it the more 
 as it would have afforded me the opportunity of adding the tribute 
 of my respect for the character and qualifications of Mr. Murphy, 
 Avhose love of letters, combined with the knowledge of our own, 
 and the principles of pubhc law, eminently fit him to represent his 
 country at a foreign Court. 
 
 With great respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN A. KING. 
 
 To HONS. N. B. Morse, Ed. W. Fiske, Ja^ Humphrey, C. P. Smith, Edmund Driggs 
 John Greenwood, and Tunis G. Bergen, Committee. 
 
 LooKPORT, July 29, 1857. 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 I have received your letter invithig me to attend the dinner to be 
 given to the Honorable Henry 0. Morphy, prior to his departure on 
 his Mission to Holland, I regret that my engagements will not permit 
 me to accept the invitation. It would afford me no ordinary pleasure 
 to unite with you in this appropriate compliment to a gentleman 
 possessing so just a title to public confidence and regard. 
 
 It was my good fortune to be associated with Mr. Murphy for some 
 years in the public councils, and while we differed in opinion on 
 many political questions, his patriotism, ability and manly spirit 
 inspired me with high respect for his character. My best Avishes 
 will attend him on his Mission to the Dutch Court. He is peculiarly 
 qualified to strengthen the friendly ties between the United States 
 and Holland, resulting from cherished historical recollections. It is 
 gratifying to me to know that we are to be represented there by one 
 whose learning, accomplishments and elevated views will reflect 
 honor upon our national reputation. 
 
 With great regard, your obedient servant, 
 
 WASHINGTON HUNT. 
 
 N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske, J Humphrey, C. P. Smith, Eomunp Pkicgs, John 
 Greenwood, Tunis G. Bergen, Esqs., Committee. 
 
Gextlemen :- 
 
 77 
 
 Albany, Jul}- 31, 1857. 
 
 I am in I'cceipt of your letter inviting nic to ;i dinner, whicli tlio 
 friends of tlio Hon. Henry C. Murimiy are to give tliiit estimable 
 citizen before his departure on liis Diplomatic Mission. 
 
 Entertaining a higli sense of Mr. Murphy's public worth and per- 
 sonal virtues, it would ati'ord me extreme pleasure to unite with his 
 fellow citizens in this very ap[)ropriate manifestation of their regard 
 for a gentleman wlio has, in his professional, political, personal and 
 social relations, exerted a healthful and benign influence u[)on the 
 prosperity and happiness of your comparatively youthful, but great 
 and beautiful City. Hut a previous engagement will deprive me of 
 all this enjoyment. 
 
 Very respectfully aud truly yours, 
 
 THURLOW WEED. 
 
 To Messrs. Morse, Fiske, IIumphkey, Sjiitu, Dkigg.s, Greenwood, and Bergen. 
 
 Allow me to submit, if a fitting occasion otiers, the following sen- 
 timent : 
 
 The Hon IIenrv C. Murpuy — In his home-life aud character, the country has a sure 
 guaranty for the wisdom and fldelity that will distinguish his official career abroad. 
 
 Oswego, July 8U, 1857. 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 I am at this place on a professional engagement, which will pro- 
 bably occupy me most of next week, and will therefore prevent the 
 acceptance of your kind invitation to a complimentary dinner to be 
 given to Hon. Mr. Murphy', on the 5th of August. I thank you, 
 gentlemen, for the honor of the invitation, and should be most happy 
 to accept, and thus have an opportunity to meet Mr. Murphy and his 
 Brooklyn friends and testify to him personally my respect for his 
 character, and my gratification at his selection for the important 
 trust confided to him. But it seems probable now that the circum- 
 stances to which I have referred will render it impracticable for me 
 to be at Brooklyn on the 5th, and I am compelled, reluctantly, to 
 decline the invitation. 
 
 I am, gentlemen, with great respect, your obd't serv't, 
 
 SAM. BEARDSLEY. 
 
 Messrs. N. B. Morse, E. W Fiske, James Humphrey, C. P. Smith, Edmund Driqgs, 
 John Greenwood, Tunis G. Bergen, Committee. 
 
78 
 
 New Yoek, July 31st, 1857. 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 I am houored by your invitation to attend the banquet to be given 
 by the friends of the Hon. Henry C. Murphy, on the 5th August, 
 and regret tliat a prior engagement out of the city will deprive me 
 of the gratification of sharing personally in this deserved tribute to 
 distinguished personal and public worth. 
 
 Able and qualified as have been the representatives of our govern- 
 ment at tlie Court of the Netherlands, we know with what confidence 
 we may look, in the appointment of our eminent fellow citizen, for 
 a renewed exhibition of these qualities. We know also hoAV fully 
 the results of his Mission will confirm the wisdom of President 
 Buchanan's selection from this State, and with Avhat ample fidelity 
 and patriotism the interests and honor of the country Avill be 
 maintained. 
 
 If a feeling of regret can be allowed to mingle with such an occa- 
 sion as this, we may indulge it in the reflection that we are soon to 
 be deprived of the personal association of one whom we have been 
 long led to regard as identified with our social happiness and the 
 public well-being, and Avho will carry with him our best wishes and 
 expectations. 
 
 Permit me to ofter a sentiment for the dinner, and to subscribe 
 myself. 
 
 Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 EDWAPvD OPvOSWELL. 
 
 To N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske, James IIoiiPHREy, C. P. Smith, Edmund Driggs, John 
 Greenwood, and Tunis G. Bergen, Committee. 
 
 The Ambassadorial Character of a Countrv. — Best illustrated by its best talent aud 
 its highest personal worth — characteristics which we recognize in the American Minister 
 tj the Hague. 
 
 New York, July 27, 1857. 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 I have your invitation to the dinner to be given to the Hon. Henry 
 0. Murphy, prior to his departure on the Mission to Holland, and 
 regret that the necessity of leaving the city before the appointed 
 day will deprive me of the pleasure of being present. 
 
 I am, very respectfully and truly yours, 
 
 GREENE C. BEONSON. 
 
 Messrs. N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske, James Humphrey, C. P. Smith, EdmuxNd Driggs, 
 John Greenwood, Tunis G. Bergen, Committee. 
 
Gentlemen :- 
 
 79 
 
 Huntington, 29th July, 1857. 
 
 It would afford me very great pleasure to be with you at the 
 complimentary dinner to our friend, the Hon. Henry C. Murphy, 
 prior to liis departure for the Hague ; but I regret that I shall be 
 deprived of that pleasure by an indispensable engagement. 
 
 1 am, Willi jrreat respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 C. C. CAMBRELING. 
 
 Messrs. N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske, James Hcmphret, C. P. Smith, Edmund Driocs, 
 Jons Greenwood, Tunis G. Bergen, Committee. 
 
 New York, -Tuly 28, 1857. 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 I am in receipt of your note of the 23d inst., inviting mo to a 
 dinner to be 'given to the Hon. Henry C Murphy, on the 5th of 
 August. I regret exceedingly that engagements out of the city will 
 prevent my being present on the occasion. I regard the compliment 
 which you intend paying Mr. Murphy as a most deserving one. The 
 Administration has done itself lionor in his appointment as Minister 
 to the Court of Holland, and nothing can be more fitting than that 
 his friends and townsmen should tender him, on his departure, their 
 best wishes at the time and in the manner proposed. 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 HENRY NICOLL. 
 
 Messrs. N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske, James nuMPHREv, C. P. Smith, Edmund Driggs, John 
 Greenwood, Tunis G. Bergen, Committee. 
 
 Buffalo, N. Y., Aug. 3, 1857. 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 Contrary to my expectations, and much to my regret, I find it will be 
 impossible for me to be present at the dinner to be given to the Honor- 
 able Mr. MuEPHY, on the 5th instant, prior to his departure on his Mis- 
 sion to Holland. It is a fitting compliment to a distinguished citizen. 
 
 Hoping that nothing may occur to mar the joyousness of the occa- 
 sion, and that the future of Mr. Murphy may be as brilliant and 
 successful as his political course hitherto has been consistent and 
 honorable, 
 
 I remain, with much consideration and respect. 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 HENRY M. ROGERS. 
 
 Hon. N. B. Morse and others. Committee, &c. 
 
80 
 
 Oystee Bat, August 3, 1857. 
 
 Gentlemen 
 
 I have to acknowledge the receipt of your invitation to a dinner 
 to be given to Mr. Muephy, on the 5th instant, on the occasion of his 
 departure to Holland. The public compliment which you thus pur- 
 pose to pay to your distinguished fellow citizen, is one which he is 
 well entitled to receive; and from my long acquaintance with him, 
 and the friendly relations which have always existed between us, I 
 could wish it were in ray power to unite with you in showing him 
 this mark of respect, but I have made it a rule of late years to abstain 
 entirely from any participation in such festive occasions. I must, 
 therefore, beg you to excuse my non-attendance. 
 
 I am, with great respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 W. 0. M'COUK 
 
 To Messrs. N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske, James Humperey, C. P. Smith, E. Driggs, John 
 Greenwood and Tunis G. Bergen, Committee. 
 
 New Yoek, July 30, 1857. 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 I regret that a previous engagement will deprive me of the pleasure 
 of attending the proposed dinner to Mr. Murphy, on the 5th prox. 
 It is gratifying to see the friends of Mr. Murphy, without distinction 
 of party, availing themselves of the occasion of his approaching 
 departure on a foreign Mission, to testify their high sense of his pub- 
 lic and private worth. In tlie various important offices he has tilled, 
 his intelligence, ability and courtesy have been conspicuous ; and I 
 do not doubt he will bring to the new sphere of service assigned to 
 him by the General Government the same valuable qualities ; add to 
 these a gentlemanlike bearing, which has won him so many friends, 
 and an unusual amoiint of information, not only of the country he is 
 to represent, but of that to which he accredited ; and I think even 
 those who, like myself, regard Holland as their fatherland, and are 
 thus interested in both countries, Avill have every reason to be satis- 
 fied Avith the American Eepresentative at the Hague. Wishing you 
 all manner of enjoyment, 
 
 I am very truly yours, 
 
 J. VAN BUREK 
 
 Messrs. Morse, Fiske and others, Committee. 
 
81 
 
 South Oyster Bat, Aug. 1, 1857. 
 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 I beg to acknowledge, with many thanks for your kind rcmeia- 
 hrance of me, the receipt of a very poHte invitation from you to 
 attend at a dinner to be given by his friends to tlie Hon. IIenky C. 
 Murphy, on the 5tli inst. I liave delayed answei-ing your letter, in 
 the liope of being able to accept the invitation ; but circumstances, 
 I fear, will render it impossible for me to do so. I deeply regret 
 this, for I should liave derived much gratification from being present 
 on an oecasiou designed to do lionor to one of your distinguislicd 
 townsmen, whose public sj)irit, intelligence and worth have made 
 him so deservedly ])opular with all classes of his follow citizens, and 
 for Avhom no one can entertain a higher personal regard tlian 
 
 Your friend and servant, 
 
 1). R. FLOYD J0:N'ES. 
 
 To Hon. N. B. Morse, Ed. W. Fiskb, Jas. Homphret, C. P. Smith, Edmund Driggs, Joun 
 Greenwood, and Tpnis G. Bergen, Committee. 
 
 Plattsbugh, Aug. 3, 1857. 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 I regret that business in another direction prevents me from accept- 
 ing your invitation to dinner, given in honor of our learned and 
 estimable friend. As I cannot be witli you, please accept the follow- 
 ing in place of part of what I would be glad to say if present : — 
 
 Hon. Henry C. Murphy — When intercourse with foreign nations is entrusted to capable 
 men like him, the country feels safe. His Mission will be prosperous ; we hope it may be 
 pleasant to him and his family, and their return sure. 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 L. STETSOX. 
 
 N. B. Morse, Ed. W. Fiske, Jas. Humphrey, C. P. Smith, Edmund Driggs, John 
 Greenwood and Tdnis G. Bergen, Committee. 
 
 11 
 
82 
 
 New York, Aug. 5, 1857. 
 
 Genti-emen : — 
 
 Yoiir invitation to partalie of a dinner, to be given to the Hon. 
 11. C. MuEPHY, at the Mansion Honse, this evening, is received. I 
 thank yon for yonr kindness, and hope to be present. 
 
 Believing the remembrance of one whose moral worth challenges 
 the admiration of all, will not cease with the entertainment you pro- 
 pose to give him, and that, while absent, his friends would be pleased 
 to retain his likeness, I beg you to accept, for each of those present, 
 a copy prepared for my Magazine. 
 
 Respectfully yours, 
 
 C. SWACKHAMEK. 
 
 To Hon. N. B. Mop.sk, Ed. W. Fiske, James Humpbret, C. P. Smith, Edmund Drtggs, John 
 Greenwood and Tdnis G. Bergen, Committee. 
 
 Albany, July 30, 1857. 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 I am much obliged for your kind invitation to the dinner to be 
 given to the Hon. Heney C. MtrnrnY, prior to his departure for 
 Holland ; but I regret to say that my engagements are such, that I 
 cannot be present on the day named. Please to present to Mr. 
 Murphy my l)est wishes, as well for his personal welfare Avhile 
 abroad, as for the success of the honorable mission he has under- 
 taken. 
 
 I remain, gentlemen, with great respect, yours very truly, 
 
 ERASTUS CORNING. 
 
 Sfessrs. N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske, James Humphrey, C. P. Smith, Edmind Diuogs, John 
 Greenwood and Tunis G. Bergen. Committee. 
 
Gentlemen : — 
 
 83 
 
 New York-, July ol, 1857. 
 
 I liiive received your I'avor inviting iiio to :i dinner to be j^iven to 
 the Hon. IIenky V. Miki'iiv, prior to Ids departure on his Mission to 
 Holland, and I much regret that J am unable to be present. I have 
 known Mr. Murphy many years; we were members of the same Con- 
 gress; and I liave not only a sincere respect for him as a man of 
 talent and attainments, but a great regard for him pereonally. Be- 
 yond the circle of his family and intimate friends, none, I am sure, 
 can have been more gratified than myself by his api)oiutment. It 
 seemed to me on all accounts appropriate, and especially from his 
 familiar acquaintance with the language of the people among whom 
 his duties are to be discharged — always a desirable qualification in a 
 Minister, thougli certainly not always to be attained. 
 
 The delicate relation in which a ^Minister stands to his own Gov- 
 ernment, is not often sufficiently appreciated. It is emhiently of a 
 confidential nature, and for this reason the Executive should enjoy 
 the largest liberty of choice! With wliatever eagerness or impor- 
 tunit}' other official posts may be sought, it seems to me that there 
 is a pecidiar indelicacy in pressing for diplomatic appointments, or 
 even in holding them by the sufferance of a reluctant Executive. 
 Every Administration has its own system of policy, or at least its 
 special views, to enforce in its intercourse with foreign states, and, 
 in carrying them out, it is entitled to the utmost freedom in the 
 choice of its agents. 
 
 The relation in whicli a Minister stands to the Government to 
 which he is accredited is scarcely less delicate. He is not only the 
 official representative of his own Government, but he is naturally 
 regarded as the personal exponent of his countrymen ; and the latter 
 are sure to suffer if lie does not come u[) to the standard of respecta- 
 bility, in regard to character and capacity, by which ])ublic men are 
 usually measured. These appointments deserve, tlierefore, to be 
 made with a far more scrupulous care than those Avliich are to be 
 exercised at home. It is easy for us to distinguish between an individ- 
 ual and the great body of his countrymen. But, for foreigners, who do 
 not see us in mass, it so much more difficult to make the distinction. 
 
 Under all these aspects, Mr. Murphy's appointment is creditable 
 to the country and the Administration; and he will carry with him my 
 best wishes for his health, and the successful discharge of his Mission. 
 
 I am, pentlenien, truly yours, 
 
 JOHN A. DIX. 
 
 To N. B. Morse, K. W. Fiske, Jas. UrMPiiiiKy, C. P. Smith, Kdmcnd Driggs, Joun 
 GuEKNwooK, and Trxis G. Bergen, Comuiittec. 
 
84 
 
 Washington, August 3, 1857. 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your invitation to "a dinner, 
 to be given to the Hon. Henky C. Mukphy, by his friends, at the 
 Mansion House, Brooklyn, on the 5th inst., prior to his departure on 
 liis Mission to Holland ;" and I cannot but express my regret, that 
 a necessary absence from the city will deprive me of the privilege of 
 participating*with you on an occasion so interesting, and so credit- 
 able to all concerned. You will enjoy that pleasure, which, I believe, 
 is always felt by those who are engaged in an object about which 
 there is no diversity of opinion, and Avhich is in itself eminently 
 becoming and laudable. 
 
 A public dinner to a public man is no new thing in our country. 
 On the contrary, this form of compliment has been so often indiscri- 
 minately bestowed, or Avith reference to ulterior objects, that its value 
 has become proportionably impaired, as any certain criterion of public 
 confidence and regard. But when the account of your meeting shall 
 have been committed to the press of the cities of ISTew York and 
 Brooklyn, there will not be one of its myriad readers who will not 
 admit, that there was nothing in the occasion which was unbecoming, 
 either in you to bestow or in your guest to receive. Those who will 
 meet with you will assemble, not merely to honor an individual, but 
 certain principles, and a course of conduct Avhich have commended 
 themselves to their judgment, and in Avhich they desire to proclaim 
 their concurrence. ' 
 
 Splendid gifts of intellectual endowment, noble qualities of mural 
 Avorth, large measures of practical Avisdom, devoted appliances of 
 industry, high attainments in mental and moral culture, extensive 
 acquisitions in useful knoAvledge, and eminent success in any honor- 
 able profession or laudable avocation of life, Avhen abstractly con- 
 sidered, challenge the admiration of all men everywhere, irrespective 
 of any national or social distinction. 
 
 But Avhen these excellencies are combined, embodied and exempli- 
 fied in the life and character of an individual, they become invested 
 with tenfold attraction, and men pay homage to them or to their 
 possessor as if by instinct, or by the higher impulses of intuition. 
 Where lives the man, Avho, unprejudiced by the predilictions and 
 repugnances of party strife, and unbiassed by the deeper impressions 
 of education, feels no admiration for men of superior worth ? 
 
 Such admiration is the legitimate oftspring of a constitutional laAv 
 of our nature — a law Avhich results from no local cause or transient 
 
85 
 
 tendency, but which extends to every nation, triijc and family 
 throughout all time; which stands out in bold and Iteantiful relief 
 upon the mind of the learned and the uidearned; which is prominent 
 among the fundamental procepts of the philosopher and the maxim 
 of the moralist, and wliicli is deeply engraved upon the talik-t of 
 every human lieart. 
 
 We pay even to intellectual greatness the involuntary trilmte of our 
 adniiration and awe ; but the homage of our love and reverence is 
 due to it only when associated with moi*al worth. 
 
 For h 
 
 While he 
 
 " Who wickedly is wise, or madly brave, 
 Is but the more a fool, the more a knave." 
 
 " Who noble ends by noble means obtains, 
 Or failing, smiles in exile or in chains, 
 Like good Aurelius, let him reign or bleed, 
 Like Socrates, that man is great indeed." 
 
 The observance of this great i>riiiciple is the only right road to 
 eminence and honor. There may be instances of teniporaiy advance- 
 ment, through some adventitious circumstances, without such real 
 merit. The means of individual promotion may sometimes be found 
 in personal favoritism, interest or intrigue; and they may secure to 
 the aspirant, for a short time, some degree of fame, without any 
 intrinsic excellence of character and conduct. But unmerited fame, 
 like ill-gotten gain, seldom survives the occasion which gave it birth. 
 N^ot so with the destiny of one who rises by the reHex-intluences of 
 his own excellence. His course is determined by the elements of 
 his being; it is certain as the circuit of the sun. 
 
 It is in obedience to this great principle of our comnum humanity 
 that you will meet on the occasion proposed, to pay your respects to 
 our honorable and honored fellow citizen, lie has long stood forth 
 before your community as the architect of his own fortune,- having 
 advanced by his own efforts from the ignorance of childhood to the 
 varied accomplishments of a liberal education in the arts and 
 sciences, the useful and ornamental, the practical and the tasteful ; 
 having attained an honorable standing in the highest rank of 
 one of the most difficult professions ; luxving been successively 
 chosen by his fellow citizens over Avorthy competitors to the 
 chief magistracy of your city and the Congress of the United 
 States, Avith various other offices of trust and responsibility; 
 having risen by the fruits of his own lionest industry to affluence ; 
 
86 
 
 having, ill all these places and circumstances, ac(|uitted hiniselt' with 
 distinguished success and high honor, and heing now selected, out of 
 all the public men in these United States by the Cluef Magistrate of 
 the Nation, to till one of tlie most honorable posts among the foreign 
 ministers of this Republic — this man deserves well of his country, 
 and merits the respect of his fellow citizens, who are themselves 
 highly honored by the distinguished honors conferred on. him. In 
 him we have the embodiment and the exemplitication of those i)rin- 
 ciples, qualities and acquisitions, Avhich so naturally challenge 
 our admiration, and so richly deserve all the honor which it is in 
 your power to bestow by your festive demonstration. 
 
 Very respectfully-, your obedient servant, 
 
 WM. H. MACLAY. 
 
 To N. B. Morse, Euward W. Fiske, James Humphbey, 0. P. Smith, Edmund Driggs, John 
 Grbeuwood, and Tunis G. Bergen, Committee. 
 
 New York, August 3, 1857. 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of 3'our invitation to 
 unite with the friends of Hon. IIenky C. Murphy, in a dinner to be 
 given on the 5th inst. to that gentleman, prior to his departure on 
 his Mission to Holland. 
 
 The selection by the President of Mr. Murphy as one of the Min- 
 isters of the United States in Europe, i-s not only a just tribute to 
 the talents and political integrity of Mr. Murphy, but a compliment 
 to the State of New York, whose faithful servant in the Councils 
 of the Union Mr. M. has proved himself. 
 
 I regret that absence from the city Avill i)revent my joining with 
 you in the mark of respect you propose to show to your fellow- 
 citizen. 
 
 Returning you my sincere thanks for the invitation, 
 
 I remain, with great respect, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN McKEON. 
 
 Messrs. N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske, James IIumphrey. 0. P. Smith, E. Driggs. 
 
87 
 
 DiNGiiAMTON, August ."(1, 1857. 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 It would uflbrd me great jileasure to accept your invitation to be 
 present at the dinner proposed to be given to the lion. IIenuy C. 
 MuRi'iiY, our newly appointed Minister to Holland, on the 5th 
 instant, but 1 find my engagements sncii that I am compelled to 
 .decline it. 
 
 I should feel a double gratification in meeting Mr. Murphy, with his 
 immediate friends and neighbors, on that occasion. The high regard I 
 entertain for him personally, is e(|ualled only by my admiration for 
 tlie Democracy of your city and county, for their unwavering fidelity 
 to the Constitution and tlie Union. 
 
 • Besides the pleasure of ;i long personal acijuaiutance with your distin- 
 guished townsman, so soon to engage in a new sphere of high and 
 responsible duties abroad, it has been my fortune to be associated 
 with him for a brief period in the public service ; and I can bear 
 witness to his superior attainments, his unyielding fidelity to Demo- 
 cratic principles, and his devoted patriotism. His selection by the 
 Administration as the representative of this country at the Hague, 
 was eminently fit and proper ; evincing that clear-sighted wisdom 
 which has ever distinguislied the present Chief Magistrate of the 
 Nation. 
 
 With the hope that the occasion may be one of unalloyed enjoy- 
 ment, I have the honor to subscribe myself, 
 
 Your humble, obedient servant, 
 
 AUSBURN BIRDSALL. 
 
 To N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske, James Homphret, C. V. Smith, and Edmind Driggs, 
 Committee. 
 
 Captain Stringham presents liis com|)liments to the Committee, 
 and aclcnowledges the honor of their invitation to the dinner to be 
 given to the Honorable Henry C. Murphy. 
 
 Captain Stringham regrets extremely that his duties compel him 
 to pray to be excused, instead of participating in tlie merited com- 
 pliment to our distinguished fellow-to^ynsman. 
 
 Captain Stringham begs leave to otter his sincere wishes that the 
 Mission of the iionorable guest maV prove as agreeable to himself as 
 it will be honorable to our country. 
 
 Navy Yard, New York, I 
 
 Tuesday, 4th Aug., 1857. i 
 
88 
 
 Albany, August 4th, 1857, 
 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 I greatly regret that other engagements deprive me of the plea- 
 sure of accepting your invitation to a dinner to be given to the 
 Honorable IIeney 0. Mci:piiy, prior to his departure on his. Euro- 
 pean Mission. Apart from the genial spirit which I know will pre- 
 vail there, I should be gratified in an opportunity of showing my 
 sincere respect and regard for Mr. Murphy, both as a politician and 
 a man. 
 
 Thanking you, gentlemen, for remembering me among his numer- 
 ous and well-earned friends, I am. 
 
 Very respectfuUy, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 W. W. PECKHAM. 
 
 To Messrs. N. B. Morse, Edward W. Fiskb, James IIumphrey, C. P. Smith, Edmund 
 Driggs, Committee. 
 
 Geneseo, August 3d, ] 857. 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 Pressing business engagements, I regret to say, will prevent my 
 accepting your kind invitation to be present at the dinner proposed 
 to be given to the Honorable Henry 0. Murphy, on the 5th inst., at 
 Brooklyn, prior to his departure to the new field of public service 
 to which the President has assigned him. 
 
 The proiFer of a public entertainment to your distinguished fellow- 
 citizen is a well-deserved compliment, alike creditable to liim and the 
 citizens of your important city. 
 
 The newly-appointed Minister to the Netherlands is highly es- 
 teemed throughout the State for his talents and accomplishments, 
 and for his public services and i)rivate worth ; and it is peculiarly 
 gratifying to his many personal friends in this section of the State 
 to find that where he is best known, he is the most honored and 
 este'emed. 
 
 With great respect, I have the honor to be 
 
 Your friend and obedient servant, 
 
 B. F. ANGEL. 
 
 To N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske, James Hcmphrbt, C. P. Smith and Edmund Driggs, Esqrs., 
 Committee, &c., &c. 
 
Gentlemen : — 
 
 89 
 
 Newbubgh, August 3(], 1857. 
 
 I thank yon for the invitation to the dinner to be given at the 
 Mansion House, on the 5th instant, to the Hon. Henky C. Murphy, 
 prior to his departure on his Mission to Holland; and I beg to 
 express my regret at my inability to bo present. I should liavo 
 much pleasure in uniting with his friends in Brooklyn in their con- 
 templated mark of respect, for I have known Mr. Murphy inti- 
 mately for many years. I have seen him in situations of much 
 responsibility, requiring knowledge, learning, and more than usual 
 ability; and I am sure as a lawyer, a legislator, a scholar, and a gen- 
 tleman, he is in every way worthy of the distinction which the Gov- 
 ernment has conferred upon him. 
 
 I am, very resiiectfully, 
 
 Yours, &c., &c., 
 
 JOHN M. BROWN". 
 
 N. B. Morse, Edwahd W. Fiske, James Hcmphrey, C. P. Smitu, Edmi-kd Dricgs, 
 Esquires, Committee, &c. 
 
 xVuGUST 3, 1857. 
 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 Regarding the selection of our friend and fellow-citizen, the Hon. 
 Heney C. MuEPiiY, for the Mission to Holland, as a compliment to 
 my own city as well as yours — both being socially one — it would 
 afford me great pleasure to unite with you in the tribute of respect 
 for his virtues and talents, intended to be paid by the public banquet 
 to be given at Brooklyn, on Wednesday next. But I regret that 
 circumstances not under control compel my absence. 
 
 In private life and public station, it has been my good fortune to 
 enjoy an intimate association with Mr. Murpliy, and rarely have I 
 met a gentleman so judicious in his aims, and so successful in their 
 accomplishment. If earnest fidelitj', skill iu the selection of means, 
 and persevering energy in the effective employment of them, can 
 ensure an adequate viudication of our national honor and interests 
 in the sphere of official action now assigned to Mr. Murphy, that 
 result will certainly be attained. 
 
 Tendering you my grateful acknowledgments for your kind 
 invitation, 
 
 I am, Gentlemen, witli great respect, yours truly, 
 
 CH. O'CONOR. 
 
 Hon. Nathan B, Mouse and otliers. Committee. 
 
 12 
 
Gentlemen- :- 
 
 90 
 
 Washington-, August 4th, 1857. 
 
 Your note of invitation to attend a public dinner, tendered to the 
 Hon. Henry 0. Murphy by his friends, has been received. 
 
 It -would afford me great pleasure, did my engagements permit it, 
 to join in offering to Mr. Murphy this well-deserved tribute, and 
 give personal assurance of my best wishes for his prosperity. An 
 acquaintance of long standing with Mr. Murphy justifies the confi- 
 dence reposed in him. A man of heart as well as of intellect, 
 shrinking from no responsibility patriotism can impose, industrious, 
 energetic, equal to all emergencies, he goes abroad the fitting repre- 
 sentative of our country. 
 
 But public duty denies me the indulgence of tlie personal gratifi- 
 cation I should derive from accepting your polite invitation, which I 
 am compelled to decline. 
 
 -With great respect, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 J. THOMPSON. 
 
 Messrs. N. B. Morse, E. W. Fiske and others, Committee. 
 
 POTTGHKEEPSIE, AugUst 4, 1857. 
 
 Gentlemen : — 
 
 I have delayed until this late hour answering your invitation to 
 the festival to-morrow — not knowing but that I might be able to 
 escape from my engagements and occupations, so as to join you. 
 But I find it will be impossible. It always affords me pleasure to 
 meet and associate with the citizens of Brooklyn, and it would be a 
 great satisfaction to join you in your well-deserved tribute of respect 
 and regard for your fellow-townsman, Mr. Mttrphy. There will be, 
 however, such troops of friends to speed him on his departure for 
 the honorable and responsible post he goes abroad to fill, that my 
 absence will not be noticed or felt. I must beg you and him to 
 accept this unavoidable apology; and wishing him a prosperous 
 voyage, a pleasant sojourn in old Holland, and a successful Mission, 
 I pray you to believe me, 
 
 Very truly, 
 
 Your friend and servant, 
 
 JAMES EMOTT. 
 
 Hon. N. B. Morse and others, Committee. 
 
1 
 
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