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 THE 
 
 Topography I Physical Resources 
 
 OF THE 
 
 State of New York, 
 
 
 AN ADDRESS 
 
 Delivered by E Gr B E R T L . VIELE, before the 
 
 AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, 
 
 Of) 
 
 ^pril 29, 18ft. 
 
 E.S.Dodge & Co., Printers, 12 Warren Street, N. Y. 
 
The regular monthly meeting of the American Geographical 
 Society was held April 29th at Association Hall, at Twenty-third 
 Street and Fourth Avenue. The chair was occupied by Chief 
 Justice Daly, President of the Society. Col. F. A. Conkling, 
 Vice-President, read the following names, which had been added 
 to the list of members : Mayor Wickham, George Wilkes, Charles 
 Francis Stone, Gen. Alfred H. Terry, United States Army ; Gen. 
 James H. Kuger, United States Army ; Gen. John Pope, United 
 States Army ; James P. Carson, District Attorney Phelps, John 
 
 A. Davenport, E. M. Daniels, George M. Curtis, Justice Kasmire, 
 Justice Otterbourg, Alderman Monheimer, Edward Oothout, 
 P. Roessle, of Washington, and Lawrence D. Kiernan. The fol- 
 lowing were elected corresponding members : Rev. J. P. De 
 Haas, United States Consul at Jerusalem, and E. Greenville, 
 Murray, Paris. 
 
 Among those present were Rev. Dr. William Adams, Samuel 
 
 B. Ruggles, Gen. George W. Cullum, United States Army ; Wil- 
 liam H. H. Moore, Francis A. Stout, Col. F. A. Conkling, Wil- 
 liam Remsen, Elial F. Hall, Alexander McL. Agnew, and Isaac 
 Bernheimer. 
 
 The President, in a few remarks, referred to the remarkable 
 features in the physical geography of the State of New York, 
 and introduced to the Society, General Egbert L. Viele, who 
 delivered the following 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 Topography and Physical Resources of the 
 State of New York. 
 
 Mr. President and Members of the Geographical Society : 
 
 Several years have elapsed since the subject of a topographical 
 survey of the State of New York was made a matter of special 
 report by a committee of the American Geographical Society, 
 consisting of Mr. John Jay, Mr. F. A. Conkling and myself, 
 This report, which is found in the Bulletin of the Society for 
 
1856, Vol. 2, presents a clear statement of the great value of such 
 a survey, and was followed by a memorial to the State Legisla- 
 ture ; but, as the object sought to be attained was more general 
 than local in its character, it did not receive that individual at- 
 tention which seems to be requisite to success in all legislative 
 action. Hence, this important public measure was suffered to 
 pass unnoticed, and has remained unacted upon to this day. 
 
 As a member of the committee referred to, the subject awak- 
 ened in my mind a very deep interest, increased by a natural feel- 
 ing of State pride, eventuating, through the coincidence of pro- 
 fessional proclivities, in the accumulation of a large amount of 
 data pertaining to it, and at length resulting in the preparation 
 of a topographical map of the State, which, while making no 
 claim to the accuracy of a Geodetic survey, has nevertheless, the 
 merit of general truthfulness, and on the scale to which it is 
 drawn, renders unappreciable many unavoidable errors of detail, 
 while at the same time, it furnishes a clear exponent of those 
 grand physical developments, which constitute the wealth of the 
 State and excite the just pride of its citizens. 
 
 A complete description of the natural features of the State, and 
 its vast mineral and industrial resources, would furnish mate- 
 rial for many interesting volumes. In fact, a score of volumes 
 upon this subject already exist, the results of careful and pro- 
 longed examinations, extending through a period of many years, 
 and embracing nearly all the branches of natural History. These 
 pages, while reflecting the highest degree of credit upon the sci- 
 entific skill and assiduity of their authors, are deprived of much 
 of their value by the absence of accurate topographical maps, upon 
 which the information acquired could be graphically delineated. 
 
 While the map now executed may not entirely suffice for all the 
 purposes of this delineation, it exhibits nevertheless, the physical 
 characteristics of the State in their relative proportion, while the 
 gradual changes of its natural features, through the successive 
 stages of continental development, can be traced in no uncertain 
 lines. 
 
 THE INDIVIDUALITY OF THE STATE. 
 
 No other one of the United States possesses such a marked 
 individuality as the State of New York. Whether we regard the 
 magnitude and extent of its rivers and lakes, the grandeur and 
 beauty of its scenery, its broad and productive valleys, its lofty 
 mountain chains, its successful plans of internal improvement, 
 
3 
 
 or its teeming population and busy industry, we find it in its ex- 
 panse of territory, its fertile soil and genial climate, in the general 
 distribution of its enormous aggregate of water-power, and in all 
 its vast accumulation of material resources, an " imperium in 
 imperio," without an equal, and without a rival. 
 
 Possessing the natural highway to the populous and luxuriant 
 West, and the gateway to the Canadas, it has acquired a promi- 
 nent position in the confederacy of States, and its metropolis has 
 become the commercial entrepot and financial centre of the con- 
 tinent. Its position in the Past has been no less commanding 
 than it is in the Present. 
 
 Its annals form a complete chapter in the history of American 
 civilization. Its statesmen and soldiers have been pre-eminent 
 in the council and the field ; and the fires of patriotism have 
 always burned brightly upon the altars of its people. "While 
 in the more remote past, those early days of conquest and set- 
 tlement, when life was a daily and hourly struggle to subdue at 
 once the wilderness and its savage inhabitants, the history of 
 the State is but one long record of self-sacrifice and heroic deeds, 
 worthy of any race and nation that has ever lived. No less re- 
 markable is the history of the aboriginal tribes who occupied the 
 State from the ocean to the Lakes, when the European landed on 
 its shores. The Iroquois or Six Nations, ranked the first among 
 the Red Men of America. They were far in advance of all their 
 barbarian compeers. They had a confederation for offence and 
 defence, and possessed the elements of a rude civilization. They 
 welcomed the white man when he came, and shared with him 
 their substance, while their rude industry became the first wealth of 
 the colonists. By their skill and superior intelligence, and their 
 bravery, they dominated over all the tribes east of the Alle- 
 ghanies, and south to the Gulf of Mexico, and have been not 
 inaptly termed the Romans of the Western world, for their ora- 
 tors were as eloquent as Cicero, and their warriors as brave as the 
 legions of Ceesar. Yet .this once powerful race, these chieftains 
 " to the manner born," whose council fires were as numberless as 
 the stars in Heaven, have passed from the face of the Earth, and 
 left no monument to tell of why they lived, or how they died. 
 Over their graves, powerful nations have disputed for the mas- 
 tery of the soil, and in the progress of events, all vestiges of the 
 aborigines have been obliterated. In a single century the race 
 has disappeared from its borders, and in that short period of time, 
 the homes and temples of a new civilization have filled all its lim- 
 
its. The wilderness has been made to blossom as the rose ; op- 
 ulent and populous cities rise up on every hand, while nearly 
 five millions of people, representing the arts and industries of 
 every nation, have under the eegis of a free government and sal- 
 utary laws, achieved a degree of general prosperity heretofore 
 unknown among any people. That this prosperity is due in a 
 large measure to the geographical position occupied by the State, 
 and in a still greater degree to the topographical configuration 
 of the surface, is clearly shown by an examination of those physi- 
 cal characteristics, the principal features of which it is the object 
 of this paper to delineate. 
 
 THE GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OF THE STATE. 
 
 The geographical limits of the State extend from 71° 50' to 70° 
 of longitude west from Greenwich— and from 40° 29' 40" to 45' 0' 
 42" north latitude, embracing 8° of longitude, and 5° of latitude, 
 being 320 miles long and 312 miles broad, and containing 47,156 
 square miles, or 30,179,840 acres. On the north is Lake Ontario, 
 containing 6,900 square miles, and the St. Lawrence River and 
 Canada. On the east are Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecti- 
 cut. On the south are New Jersey and Pennsylvania. On the 
 west Lake Erie, containing 7,800 square miles and a portion of 
 Canada. The area included within these limits is in many re- 
 spects the most remarkable portion of the American Continent. 
 Geology tells us that of all the land now in existence, the first 
 that rose above the waste of waters in the earliest periods of 
 creation, lies within these borders ; that long ere the crags of 
 Jura, the heights of Chimborazo, or the lofty Cordilleras were 
 created, the sun shone here upon the shore of a vast ocean, whose 
 limits were the great globe itself. That while yet the sites of 
 Babylon and of Tyre, of Carthage and of Rome, were hidden 
 beneath the sea, created life moved along the old silurian beach, 
 whose tidal lines across the State are as distinctly marked to-day 
 as they were when the waves of the primitive ocean beat upon 
 the shore. The successive geological evolutions which have been 
 wrought out during the long ages that since then have come and 
 gone are inscribed upon these mountains, hills and valleys as upon 
 the pages of a book where science reads the history of the material 
 world. On no other continent and in no other spot are the 
 records of the past so clearly defined or so easily read. In seek- 
 ing a key with which to analyze and describe the topographical 
 characteristics which have thus been developed, we find that the 
 
mountain system of the State is the extension and m part the 
 termination of the great Appalachian chain which forms the east- 
 erly range of the continental system of mountains. This broad 
 series of parallel ridges, with intervening valleys, which extends 
 from near the Gulf of Mexico on the south, to the Gulf of St 
 Lawrence on the north, having a mean elevation of 2,500 feet 
 (at one point rising as high as (3,000 feet), forms an almost insur- 
 mountable barrier between the Atlantic coast and the interior of 
 the continent. As it enters the State of New York from the 
 south, this mountain range, which in some places is 200 miles 
 broad, becomes narrowed and depressed, and while a portion of it 
 sinks beneath the later sedimentary formations which overlie the 
 greater part of the State, another portion, passing to the east 
 li the Hudson River and across the State of Massachusetts, forms 
 in ^continuation the Green Mountains of Vermont and the 
 White Mountains of New Hampshire. At West Point on the 
 Hudson, where this formation is developed in all its grandeur, 
 the mountain chain is riven asunder, and the lordly river whose 
 deep channel would float the navies of the world, passes on ma- 
 jestically to the ocean. No scenery on the continent can rival 
 the Highlands of the Hudson at this point ; and when we consider 
 that this is the only spot where the thousand miles of rocky 
 barrier is broken, giving to the State of New York the key with 
 which commerce has opened the treasure house of the West, and 
 brought from thence the willing tribute of its abundance to this 
 great city of the sea ; when we find a similar result although 
 on a scale less grand and imposing, produced by the remarkable 
 erosion of the valley of the Mohawk, thus extending the facilities 
 of commerce to the great lakes-we no longer wonder at the 
 events which one century has brought about. Eighty years ago 
 there were more people living in Massachusetts than m New 
 . York, also in Pennsylvania and even in North Carolina, and 
 Virginia had double the population of this State; whi e 
 to-day New York has a million more inhabitants than the whole 
 
 country had at that time. 
 
 To understand more fully the influence of these topographi- 
 cal lines of lowest level, we have only to compare the gradients 
 oi the railways which extend from the Atlantic to the West 
 All the railways south of this line extending from the sea coast 
 to the lakes and Mississippi Valley, pass the mountain range 
 at various elevations; the Erie Road at an elevation of ^800 
 feet with grades of 90 feet per mile ; the Pennsylvania Road 
 
at an elevation of 2,200 feet with grades of 125 feet to the 
 mile ; the Baltimore and Ohio at an elevation of 2,600 
 feet, with grades for 15 continuous miles of 116 feet ; and the 
 Chesapeake Road in Virginia at 2,000 feet, with corresponding 
 grades ; while from the Hudson at or near Catskill to the Mohawk 
 a distance of 53 miles, the entire ascent is but 220 feet, which can be 
 overcome by grades not exceeding 30 feet to the mile, and the 
 highest summit thence to Lake Erie of 193 feet is overcome at 
 grades not exceeding 20 feet to the mile, while the remainder of 
 the line is characterized by a generally level grade. Now, as the 
 cost of draught on a railway is nearly as the power employed, so 
 that it costs twice as much to carry a load with an ascending 
 grade of 24 feet as to carry it on a level route, and as this element 
 of railway construction increases in importance with the increase 
 of traffic, the value to the State of its low level line of transpor- 
 tation is apparent. 
 
 THE RIVER SYSTEM OF THE STATE. 
 The river system in its influence on the general prosperity of 
 the State is even more remarkable than its mountains, whether 
 we view it as a system of drainage, for this widely extended ter- 
 ritory, or regard it as the local and concentrated source of a semi- 
 continental river system, whose waters wash the borders of half 
 the States of the Union ; or whether we contemplate its wonder- 
 ful adaptability in nearly all its wide-spread ramifications to the 
 industrial interests of the inhabitants of every section of the 
 State, and the transportation facilities it affords for internal 
 commerce. It may almost be said, that every drop of water 
 that falls upon the surface is conserved for a useful purpose. 
 Wherever a stream ceases to be navigable it becomes a mill- 
 power, and the great value of those inequalities which at first 
 glanca give a rugged aspect to the surface, becomes apparent. 
 The estimated number of interior lakes is 648, and the area of 
 lake surface 466,550 acres. The average height of these natural 
 reservoirs, above the level of the sea, is 1,000 feet ; one of the 
 fine lakes in the Adirondack, is 3,000 feet above the sea, and in 
 that region the average height is over 1,500 feet, while the rivers 
 and streams that emanate from them, fall with great rapidity of 
 descent towards the sea level. The amount of water-power 
 which is thus developed, is simply enormous. If all the motive- 
 power of this kind existing in the State, were properly utilized, 
 it would be greater than that of all the rest of the United States, 
 
excluding the State of Maine. The principal rivers of the State 
 are the Hudson, the Mohawk, the Delaware, the Susquehanna, the 
 Chenango.the Chemung, the Genesee, and the Alleghany,each hav- 
 ing distinct valleys of drainage, while the Adirondack region is 
 drained by the Black, the Rackette, the Grass, the St. Regis, the 
 Au Sable, the Saranac, and the Sacondaga. The Hudson drains all 
 of the Appalachian region of the State, and with the Sacondaga 
 drains the south-easterly portion of the Adirondack region. 
 The Mohawk, although lying along the southerly base of the 
 Adirondack and having a very broad natural valley, has a limited 
 area of drainage. Its principal affluent being the Schoharie, 
 which drains the southerly and westerly slope of the Catskill 
 Mountains. The Delaware drains the counties of Delaware and 
 Sullivan, and a large portion of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 
 The Susquehanna which takes its rise in Otsego Lake, in Otsego 
 County, drains, together with its branches, the Chenango and 
 Chemung, most of the southern tier of counties. While the 
 Genesee, the only river flowing directly north, drains a com- 
 paratively limited area beyond its own immediate valley. The 
 Alleghany with its branches, drains the south-western portion of 
 the State. 
 
 THE DIVIDING VALLEYS. 
 
 The area of the State is trisected by the valleys of the Hud- 
 son and the Mohawk, which intersect each other at right angles, 
 and constitute the key to its topography. 
 
 These valleys were the hunting trails and the war-paths of the 
 aboriginies ; the strategic lines of contending armies of Euro- 
 peans ; and are now the broad avenues of a peaceful commerce, 
 the bond of a perpetual unity, and the exponent of the increasing 
 prosperity of the nation. 
 
 The three divisions which are thus formed, are each peculiarly 
 distinct, both in their topography and their geology. Each seems 
 to have separate epochs of existence, each is a separate volume 
 of the earth's great legends of antiquity. 
 
 THE FIRST DIVISION. 
 
 The first division is that portion of the State which lies east of 
 the Hudson river. Although constituting but seven of the sixty 
 counties into which the commonwealth is politically divided, its 
 population is larger than any of the States of the Union with 
 the exception of five, and there are two States whose combined 
 
8 
 
 area does not equal it in extent, while one other is but a little 
 larger. Geologically, this district is almost entirely composed 
 of the remnant of a continent which is no longer in existence. 
 Itself the crystallized and metamorphosed sediments of wasted 
 mountains, it became in turn the rocky shore of avast sea in 
 which the present continent had its origin. The rocks, minerals 
 and metallic deposits of this region, have been the study and 
 puzzle of geologists for years, while even now it periodically 
 vibrates and trembles with the earthquake-shock that tells of 
 dormant life or slumbering fires beneath it. The topographical 
 descriptions of this district begin with the island of Manhattan 
 which forms the lower portion of the city of New York. This 
 island is twelve miles long and from one-half a mile to two miles 
 and a quarter broad. The basic rock is Gneiss, with the excep- 
 tion of a deposit of limestone at the northern extremity. The 
 strata have been turned up to a vertical position, and an elevated 
 ridge extends nearly the whole length of the island, varying in 
 height from seventy to one hundred and twenty-five feet. The 
 ridge is broken at the northern end of the Island, admitting the 
 passage of the waters of the Hudson river, but rises again in 
 Westchester County, and continues northward at an increasing 
 elevation. At the northeast point of the island are extensive 
 alluvial flats, a portion of which are overflowed by the tide. For- 
 merly a number of running streams of water existed on the 
 island, the general course of which was north and south, empty- 
 ing into the adjacent waters, where breaks in the rocky formation 
 would admit. These streams have nearly all been filled up and 
 their flow obstructed to the manifest detriment of health. 
 
 No metalliferous deposits have been found,but excellent building 
 stone of granite and limestone have been quarried in several 
 localities. 
 
 The original topography is rapidly disappearing in the grading 
 of avenues and construction of buildings. 
 
 Passing northward to the main land we find the same basic 
 rock. The single elevated ridge of the island gives place to a 
 succession of nearly parallel ridges with intervening valleys. A 
 section across "Westchester County at Hastings, twenty miles 
 from the City Hall, shows six of these ridges. There are, however, 
 two predominant lines of elevation in this county attaining an 
 elevation of 1,500 ft., one along the Hudson, and the other on the 
 easterly border. They all become merged into the high lands of 
 Putnam County. These Highlands consist of several steep rocky 
 
9 
 
 targes extending in a northeast and southwest directiottj 
 separated by deep narrow valleys. Numerous lofty peaks tower 
 above the surrounding mountains, from which are views of great 
 extent and picturesque beauty. As far as the eye can reach a 
 continuous series of rocky summits extend to the farthest 
 horizon. Interspersed between the ridges and sometimes 
 attaining very great elevations are many fine lakes, some of them 
 very extensive sheets of water, a large number being often visible 
 from a single point of view, sparkling in the sunlight like jewels 
 in a diadem of mountains with which nature has crowned a 
 glorious landscape. The deep shadows of the narrow valleys 
 serve to heighten the beauty of the scene by increasing the relief 
 of the mountains, while the rivers, which meander at their base, 
 appear like tortuous threads of silver. The low intervening hills 
 of gravel and sand, formed in the whirling torrents of an early 
 period, are clothed in emerald verdure or covered with luxuriant 
 forests. Geologically, the Highlands of Putnam County as well 
 as those of Orange County on the opposite side of the Hudson 
 river, are the continuation of the primitive rocks of the Appa- 
 lachian chain. In Dutchess County the Mattewan mountains 
 form the northern limit of " the Highlands " in this State. Its 
 highest summits attain the elevation of 1,700 feet. Next to these 
 mountains on the east, and separated from them by a broad 
 valley, are the Taghanick mountains, which extend along the east 
 border of Dutchess County and northerly through Columbia, 
 Rensselaer and Washington Counties into Vermont, forming 
 the foot hills or easterly slope of the Green Mountains. This 
 formation is entirely distinct from that of the Highlands, being 
 composed of Metamorphic limestone and slate. Parallel to this 
 range in the west are the Petersburgh mountains, which, com- 
 mencing in an elevated plateau in the northern part of Columbia 
 County, extends through Rensselaer and Washington Counties. 
 These mountains belong geologically to what is known as the 
 Hudson river group, composed of shale, slate and limestone. 
 In some places they rise as high as 2,000 feet above the sea. The 
 declivities are usually steep. Nearly parallel to this and still 
 farther to the west, there is in Washington County a range 
 known as the Palmerstown mountains which forms a portion of 
 the Adirondack system. They consist principally of gneiss, 
 granite sandstone and impure limestone. Their sides are very 
 precipitous and broken, and their summits are wild, irregular 
 masses of naked barren rocks. The valleys between them are 
 
10 
 
 narrow and rocky, often bordered by precipices many hundred 
 feet high. These, in brief, constitute the chief topographical 
 features of this division of the State. 
 
 Hydrographically, the Hudson Eiver forms the entire eastern 
 border, and between all the ranges and lines of elevations even 
 down to the lesser ridges, there are drainage streams of greater 
 or less extent ; some are rivers of no inconsiderable volume, sup- 
 plying with their numerous branches a large aggregate of water- 
 power, which is made available for the use of innumerable mills 
 and factories. The general course of the streams is southerly, 
 and nearly all of them empty into the Hudson. The principal of 
 these are the Bronx, the Nepperhan, and the Croton, which, rising 
 in Dutchess County and passing through Putnam and the northern 
 part of Westchester, constitutes with its branches the chief source 
 of water supply for the City of New York. Three large storage 
 reservoirs constructed in Westchester and Putnam Counties, 
 holding many millions of gallons, retain these waters for dis- 
 tribution and use when the ordinary flow of the River fails to 
 meet the demand. The Sawkill, Fishkill, and Wappinger's Creeks, 
 the Claverack and Kinderhook, the Hoosick and Baten Kill, are all 
 noted streams which drain the principal valleys. Besides these, 
 are numerous and beautiful lakes throughout the entire division, 
 the resort of many thousands of people in the summer months. 
 The economic resources of all this region are varied and valuable, 
 embracing many varieties and extensive deposits of granite, 
 marble, serpentine steatite, slate and iron ore. 
 
 GRANITE. 
 
 Granite occurs abundantly in New York, Westchester, Putnam 
 and Dutchess Counties. It presents all varieties of texture, from a 
 very coarse grained rock to one almost perfectly compact. In color 
 it varies as much as in texture. It is white, red, gray, yellowish, 
 and bluish gray, according to the color of the minerals forming it. 
 The color of the feldspar usually determines that of the mass. 
 It occurs in beds, in veins, in interstratified masses, and in 
 knobs, knots and protruding masses, in which no connection 
 with beds or veins have been traced. The more common mode 
 of its occurrence is in beds ten to one hundred feet thick, inter- 
 stratified with gneiss. 
 
 The materials are of the best quality, easily quarried in large 
 blocks suitable for columns, cornices, etc., easily dressed, endur- 
 ing as time, which the naked crags themselves will testify. 
 
11 
 
 MARBLE. 
 The granular limestone or marble of this region, especially that 
 found in Dutchess, Columbia and Westchester Counties, is very- 
 extensive, and does not yield to any other mineral deposit in 
 those counties in prospective value. Marble quarries are exten- 
 sively worked in many portions of this limestone range. It extends 
 through the greater part of the length of these counties and 
 crops out with a variable breadth from a few hundred yards to 
 several miles. The marble business is one that will always em- 
 ploy much labor .and capital, and as this valuable material is 
 inexhaustible in any definite period of time, it will always be an 
 unfailing source of wealth. 
 
 SERPENTINE. 
 
 The Serpentine quarries of Putnam County, are sufficient to 
 supply the market, not only of our own country but the world, 
 with this kind of ornamental marble for a long period of time. 
 It is a beautiful material when polished, is exceedingly rare in 
 Europe. In ancient times it was used in some of the Spanish 
 palaces with fine architectural effect. 
 
 STEATITE. 
 
 Steatite, commonly known as soapstone, is very abundant in 
 
 Putnam and Dutchess Counties. It is quarried in large blocks, 
 
 beautifully spotted and colored. Good quarries of this rock are 
 
 very valuable, and the use of the material is steadily increasing. 
 
 IRON ORE. 
 The iron ore of Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess and Columbia 
 Counties is very abundant and of the best quality. It exists in 
 extensive beds in the form of Hematite, and also in immense 
 deposits as Magnetic Oxide. Many mines are in active opera- 
 tion, and numerous furnaces have been constructed along the 
 Hudson river and iu the interior. The quantity of pig-iron 
 manufactured is increasing every year, employing many men and 
 a large capital. 
 
 SILVER AND LEAD. 
 Deposits of silver and lead have been found in Dutchess County, 
 and have been worked with more or less success. Recent explor- 
 ations and analysis indicate extensive and valuable veins of sil- 
 ver, and arrangements for deep mining are now being projected. 
 
12 
 
 INTERIOR COMMUNICATION. 
 
 Extensive lines of railway both longitudinal and transverse 
 with numerous lateral branches, have been constructed through- 
 out the whole of this region. Along the east bank of the Hud- 
 son, and through the valleys of the Nepperhan, the Bronx, the 
 Croton, the Hoosick, and Baten Kill, railways have been built 
 connecting this section with all the New England States. In 
 the north, through Washington County, the Chaniplain Canal 
 connects the waters of Lake Champlain with those of the Hud- 
 son. Large and populous cities, prosperous towns and villages, 
 an active, intelligent and enterprising population engaged 
 in the industrial pursuits of commerce, agriculture, mines and 
 manufactures, exhibit throughout the length and breadth of this 
 area unrivaled evidences of energy and thrift. 
 
 Properly speaking, Long Island and Staten Island, with the 
 smaller insular territory in the Harbor of New York, as well as 
 the Harbor itself, belong topographically to this Division. 
 
 Long Island, 120 miles long by 10 broad, is of drift alluvial origin. 
 
 Staten Island, 14 miles long by 8 broad, is a granitic forma- 
 tion interspersed with serpentine steatite. There are valuable 
 deposits of hematite iron ore and fire- clay on this island. The 
 quality of the iron ore and the advantages of its proximity to 
 tide water are attracting the attention of ironmasters, and it is 
 stated that iron can be manufactured here at an expense much 
 less than at any other locality. 
 
 HARBOR OF NEW YORK. 
 The Harbor of New York consists of the harbor proper and an 
 outer roadstead, called the Lower Bay. The latter being parti- 
 ally protected from the sea by the island of Sandy Hook (almost 
 a peninsula), which stretches out from the coast of New Jersey 
 in a northerly direction, about six miles in length and three- 
 quarters of a mile broad. The main channel into the bay 
 passes near the extremity of Sandy Hook, between which and 
 the coast of Long Island, a distance of seven miles, is an im- 
 mense shoal, through which pass three lesser channels into the 
 harbor. The bar to the entrance lies three miles off Sandy Hook. 
 On it there is a depth of water of from 21 to 23 feet. The Lower 
 Bay contains one hundred square miles of water surface, receiv- 
 ing from the West the waters of the Raritan river, which is 74 miles 
 in length, passing through the red sandstone formation of New 
 Jersey. The outer bay connects with the harbor proper at the 
 
13 
 
 Narrows, a strait formed by the approximation of the shores of 
 Long Island and Staten Island. There is also another connec- 
 tion formed around the western shore of Staten Island, by the 
 Staten Island Sound, as it is called, which meets at Newark Bay 
 the united waters of the Passaic and Hackensack rivers. The 
 former is 70 miles in length, passing through the New Eed 
 sandstone formation, and having at one point a fall of 70 
 feet. The latter is 10 miles in length, passing through red sand- 
 stone and conglomerate. Newark Bay is also connected with the 
 Harbor by the Kill von Kull, a narrow strait. 
 
 The principal affluent of the harbor is the Hudson River, which 
 rises in the mountains of Hamilton and Essex counties, New 
 York, is 350 miles long, passing through granite and calcareous 
 formations ; the principal tributary being the Mohawk, 155 miles 
 long, with a fall of 75 feet, two miles from the junction. The 
 Hudson is navigable for large ships a distance of 118 miles. It is 
 connected with the Great Lakes by the canal at Albany, and with 
 Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence river by the Northern 
 Canal. The river divides at the northern extremity of Manhat- 
 tan Island, forming what is called the Harlem Biver, which 
 empties into the East River, an arm of the sea connecting the 
 harbor with Long Island Sound — thus forming a second opening 
 to the ocean. The harbor contains 21 miles of water surface. 
 The harbor thus formed is the finest on the continent, if not in 
 the world. The navies of all nations can ride in safety within 
 its limits, and the largest vessels ever constructed can enter 
 without difficulty, and yet it is but one of the many lavish gifts 
 bestowed by Nature on this favored State. 
 
 THE SECOND DIVISION. 
 
 The second division comprises that section of the State lying 
 south of Lake Ontario and the M^liawk river and west of 
 the Hudson. It contains forty-one c mnties. With the ex- 
 ception of a small portion occupying the south-easteni corner, 
 this division belongs to the great paleozoic basin, which extends 
 from the Appalachian range to the Rocky Mountains, constitut- 
 ing the great part of North America. Formed in the ocean's 
 bed from the ruins of a wasted continent, and of a succession of 
 vast deposits during alternate periods of elevation and subsi- 
 dence, the whole series of stratified rocks that underlie this por- 
 tion of the State, from the magnesian base of the lower silurian 
 to the storm-worn cliffs of red sandstone that crown the highest 
 
14 
 
 peaks of the Catskill Mountains, tell in unmistakable language, 
 the history of the material world through unnumbered ages of 
 time. The several formations have a general geological des- 
 ignation as the Lower and Upper Silurian and Devonian sys- 
 tems, while the more detailed divisions, embracing many suc- 
 cessive and distinct epochs of creation, have received a no- 
 menclature in accordance with the localities where they are most 
 clearly shown. There are twelve of these divisions, having an 
 entire thickness in this State of 13,000 feet, but which it is not 
 necessary for the purposes of this paper to enumerate. They 
 are characterized by the circumstances of alternate elevation and 
 depression under which they were formed. Sometimes in the 
 bed of an open sea, and again in a land-locked basin of fresh water, 
 while at other times the waters were limited to the area of a salt 
 lake or great dead sea, whose bitter and saline waters were des- 
 titute of animal life, leaving, however, for future ages a deposit 
 which is now one of the most productive sources of industry in 
 the State. The salts of the rocks formed at this period are 
 found in solution in waters issuing from the strata. The salt 
 wells at Salina, in the county of Onondaga, are from 150 to 300 
 feet in depth, and at Syracuse, in the same county, ihey are be- 
 tween 250 and 350 feet deep. Thirty-five to forty-five gallons of 
 this water afford, on evaporation, a bushel of salt ; while it takes 
 350 gallons of sea-water to produce the same result. The salt- 
 works of this section are on a large scale and of great import- 
 ance. 
 
 In consequence of the deep erosion of the river valleys, all of 
 the geological formations are exposed to view in one place or 
 another ; while the two uppermost, that are known as the 
 Chemung group and the Catskill group, predominate over all 
 the surface of that portion of the State now under consideration. 
 Through the central part of this division stretches, from east to 
 west, an extensive plateau, rising to the west and south, but 
 broken through by many transverse valleys, and descending by a 
 series of terraces to Lake Ontario. In those transverse valleys 
 lie embedded that wonderful chain of lakes which make the 
 topography of this part of the State so remarkable. 
 
 THE LINES OF ELEVATION. 
 
 The first and most easterly line of elevation in the second 
 division is the extension into the easterly part of Kockland 
 County of the Palisades or basaltic ridge from New Jersey 
 
15 
 
 along the west bank of the Hudson. This is a volcanic 
 intrusion of trap rock through the red sandstone formation. 
 The Highland range which is parallel to this, is composed 
 of a great number of mountain ridges, occupying a belt 
 of country 20 miles in width, extending through Kockland 
 and Orange Counties in a north-easterly direction to the 
 Hudson, being the continuation of the Appalachian range. 
 These are not long unbroken lines of elevation, but a succession of 
 ridges, which are not really in line with each other. The scenery 
 in this region is grand and imposing. Numerous lakes are nestled 
 in the hollows of the mountains. Vast deposits of iron ore are 
 found throughout this range, as well as quarries of excellent 
 granite. 
 
 Along the northwest portion of Orange County, the Blue 
 mountains extend in a high unbroken range, known as the 
 Shawangunk mountains, to the height of 2,000 feet. Its long 
 unbroken crest is clothed with forests, and which with the 
 highly cultivated slopes form a pleasing and beautiful landscape. 
 Between the Blue mountains and the Highlands lies the broad 
 undulating valley which is a part of the great valley of the 
 United States, extending from Canada to Tennessee, known 
 in New York as the valley of Lake Champlain and the Hudson 
 River, in New Jersey as the Kittany Valley, in Pennsylvania and 
 Maryland as the Cumberland Valley, in Virginia as the Shenan- 
 doah and Great Valleys, and in Tennessee as the Valley of East 
 Tennessee. It is everywhere noted for its rural beauty and 
 agricultural wealth. 
 
 This is in fact the true extension of the valley of the Hudson. 
 Through it vast, deep, and rapid torrents of water coming from 
 the Champlain valley, have more than once passed southward to 
 the sea, bearing in their currents much of the original surface 
 which now forms the rich alluvial lands of the Atlantic border. 
 
 The next line of elevation to the west of the Blue ridge is 
 composed of the sedimentary deposits which form the Catskill and 
 Helderberg range of mountains. Unlike the Appalachian Chain 
 to which it is contiguous, which originated in the violent and 
 convulsive throes of nature, and are upturned in wild confusion, 
 the Catskills were formed in calm, untroubled waters, and with 
 the exception of a gradual and gentle elevation of wide extent, 
 these rocks have remained comparatively undisturbed, save by 
 the erosive action of water, since their first creation. The area 
 covered by this old red sandstone formation was very much 
 
1(1 
 
 greater 4 than it is now, probably extending over a large portion of 
 the lower half of the State, but by glacial and aqueous action it 
 has been removed, leaving for the uppermost rocks the shales 
 and sandstones of the Chemung group. 
 
 THE GREAT PLATEAU. 
 The rocks of the Chemung group overlie the principal portion 
 of the plateau of the southern tier of counties. In this wide 
 region there is a total absence of those rich mineral deposits, 
 which characterize the Archean rocks of the eastern portion of 
 the State. The scenery of its lakes and its long river channels 
 is varied and beautiful. Its valleys and its hill tops are fertile, 
 and their sides are clothed with verdure which tells of a wealth 
 in the soil, greater, perhaps, than the mines and the marbles of 
 the eastern side. This is the granary of the State ; the quiet 
 peaceful homes of her yeomanry, where smiling fields and se- 
 questered woodlands tell of cheerful toil, of domestic comfort, 
 and of industry rewarded. Let us look for one moment at the 
 results accomplished in this agricultural district. 
 
 New England and New York. 
 
 New England, the synonym of thrift and prosperity, contains 
 
 13,000,000 more acres of land than New York. The last census 
 
 gives us the following figures. The six New England States have 
 
 an area of 13,742,323 acres, New York has 30,080,000 acres. 
 
 New England. New York. 
 
 Acres of Improved Ground 11,997,540 15,627,206 
 
 Value of Farms 585,169,472 1,272,359,966 
 
 Farm Implements and Machinery 22,553,059 45,997,612 
 
 Value of Live Stock 100,521,907 175,881,712 
 
 Value of Farm Products 154,026,300 253,526,153 
 
 Bushels Wheat ; 1,000,693 12,178,462 
 
 Corn 7,347,666 16,462,825 
 
 " Oats 9,169,504 35,293,625 
 
 Rye 703,379 2,478,225 
 
 Buckwheat 1,189,413 3,904,030 
 
 Barley 1,075,059 7,434,621 
 
 Grain ground 20,918,415 45,663,123 
 
 Value of Products 26,474,435 60,237,220 
 
 Orchard Products 3,819,206 8,247,417 
 
 Value of Leather Tanned 18,452,970 26,988,320 
 
 Lbs. Butter..: 49,662,275 107,147,526 
 
 Gals. Milk sold 21,044,175 1,135,771,919 
 
 Lbs. Hops 987,409 17,558,681 
 
 " Wool 6,043,863 10,599,225 
 
 " Flax 19,741 3,670,818 
 
 These statistics are given not for the purpose of drawing an 
 invidious comparison, but because it is only by such a compari- 
 son that the true extent of the resources of the State can be cor- 
 
17 
 
 recfcly understood or appreciated, and to enable us to see what the 
 great Western plateau of our State can produce, and no one will say 
 that more than a fraction of our true resources have yet been devel- 
 oped. 
 
 THE LAKE REGION. 
 
 The Lake chain which occupies the centre of the plateau, 
 has always been a source of wonder and admiration to the stu- 
 dent of natural history as well as to the lover of the beautiful in 
 nature — the remarkable manner in which their united waters 
 seek the same outlet into Lake Ontario ; the part these waters 
 are made to play in the grand system of internal communication ; 
 the strange freak of nature which has strung them together like 
 a necklace of gems ; the historical associations which surround 
 them ; the euphonious titles which recall the memories of the 
 once powerful races of men who, vanishing forever from the earth, 
 left nothing behind them save only their tribal appellations, in- 
 scribed upon the beautiful sheets of water they loved so well and 
 around whose shores their lives were passed. Truly it is fitting 
 that Lakes Seneca, Cayuga, Oneida and Onondaga should be 
 united in a natural chain which shall forever symbolize the links 
 of friendship that bound those gallant clans whose names they 
 bear in bonds of amity that death alone could sever. 
 
 From the shores of these lakes the land slopes beautifully and 
 evenly upward to the summit of the ridges which form their water 
 sheds. The waters are clear and sparkling, and the whole lake 
 region presents some of the finest landscapes in the country — 
 Cayuga Lake is 38 miles long, Seneca Lake 35, Oneida 20, Can- 
 andaigua 18, Chautauqua 18, Crooked Lake 14, Owasco 11, and 
 Skaneateles 13. The origin of these lakes has been ascribed to 
 glacial action. Naturalists, however, disagree as to the manner in 
 which this action took place. On the supposition that the land 
 was elevated previous to the ice period, when a large portion of 
 the continent was covered with an immense ice cap, it has been 
 suggested that the valleys of the lakes were groves worn out by 
 the abrasion of the advancing glacier. Again it is surmised that 
 the valleys were formed under water by the movements of im- 
 mense icebergs over a plastic surface. Agassiz infers that they are 
 the result of cracks or fissures made in the contraction of the sur- 
 face, by exposure to the heat of the atmosphere, on the elevation 
 of the land from beneath the waters which at one time covered it. 
 But the topographical position which they occupy with relation to 
 
18 
 
 each other, would seem to indicate an uniformity in the cause which 
 has produced them that cannot be accounted for on any of the sup- 
 positions named. Assuming as established that the glacial move- 
 ment was from the northwest to the southeast, the receding 
 of the glacier would take the opposite direction. In its dissolution 
 an immense volume of water would be discharged from the melt- 
 ing ice and would naturally descend in channels to the foot of the 
 glacier, where being impinged with great force upon the earth, it 
 would wear a deep channel which would be prolonged as the 
 mass of ice receded. 
 
 Looking at the location of the lake valleys we can readily con- 
 ceive the torrents of water discharging themselves from the re- 
 ceding glacier at the head of Cayuga and Seneca lakes,and a smaller 
 one at the head^of Crooked Lake. This last lake is only 14 miles 
 long, but simultaneously with its termination, the size of Seneca 
 Lake is materially increased, as if the stream that formed it had 
 been enlarged by having added to it the one that was forming 
 Crooked Lake. Cayuga Lake is also increased in volume. And 
 the heads of a number of smaller lakes appear on the same line, 
 indicating a great increase of temperature and a consequent 
 increase in the number of torrents discharged from the melting 
 and receding ice-field. All of these lakes, large and small, ter- 
 minate on nearly the same line, where the erosion of the Mohawk 
 Valley begins, as if the glacier having reached that line, the 
 volume of water, caused by its rapid dissolution was discharged 
 through that valley. In connection with this lake system, there 
 is one feature which, although less striking than any other, and 
 affording to the casual observer nothing to impress or interest, is 
 nevertheless an object of deep concern to every citizen, not only 
 in its economical aspects, but also in its influence upon the general 
 welfare. I refer to the enormous area of saturated soil caused 
 by the level character of the upper lake terrace. From Buffalo 
 to Utica there is very little of this terrace, ten miles wide and 
 more than a hundred miles long, that is entirely free from 
 the blighting influence of the immense swamp district that is 
 there formed by the want of a sufficient outlet for the waters that 
 accumulate on the surface. In times of excessive rain, all the 
 lakes in consequence of their connection with each other, are 
 under the influence of this excess of water. So that the cities of 
 Auburn, Ithaca, Syracuse and Utica, as well as the smaller towns 
 and villages, and all the inhabitants of this otherwise beautiful 
 and highly favored region, are sufferers to a degree that[is almost 
 
19 
 
 incredible. And all this for the want of an outlet for the super- 
 abundant waters, which can be readily and economically con- 
 structed. 
 
 THE THIRD DIVISION. 
 
 The third division of the State, or that part lying north of the 
 Mohawk, and east of the Champlain valley, is comprised almost 
 entirely of the Adirondack region. This wild and picturesque 
 mountain elevation is composed of rocks of the Archean or 
 primitive period. It was an island while all the rest of the State 
 was under the sea. Its magnificent and picturesque scenery 
 makes it one of the most inviting spots in the world. Vast stores 
 of mineral wealth and geological wonders abound on every side. 
 The beauty and grandeur of the mountains, lakes and forests, 
 have given it the name of the American Switzerland. Volumes 
 could easily be written in the detailed description of this section. 
 It embraces twelve of the largest counties, and occupies one- 
 third of the area of the entire State. Although a large portion 
 of it is totally unfit for cultivation, yet it is a region of great 
 value. Its stores of iron are enormous. In one spot a large 
 river has poured its torrents for ages over a dam of native iron. 
 
 What is known as the Adirondack Mountains,consists of several 
 distinct and nearly parallel ranges, although the spans which 
 are thrown off from the different ridges, interlock each other to 
 such an extent as to give the whole the appearance of a confused 
 and irregular upheavel. The highest summits are attained in 
 the county of Essex, which lies in the eastern part, bordering 
 on Lake Champlain, the wildest portion of this wild region. 
 Lofty peaks, immense mountain masses, broken crags and high 
 precipices, deep gorges and narrow ravines, characterize the en- 
 tire landscape. The several ranges have received so many dif- 
 ferent local names that it is difficult to describe them. Dix's 
 Peak, the highest point of which is called the Bouquet Range, is 
 5,200 feet above tide, Mount Marcy, the highest point in the 
 Clinton range, is 5,4G7 feet above tide, and the point of greatest 
 elevation. 
 
 Mounts McMartin, Mclntyre and San-da-no-na, belonging to 
 the same range, are all upwards of 5,000 feet high ; Mount Sew- 
 ard of the Au Salle range, is 5,100 feet above tide. In the valleys 
 between the mountain ranges, are several remarkable chains of 
 lakes, generally long and narrow and bordered by the steep moun- 
 tain sides. Indian Lake, Lake Pleasant, Schrone Lake, St Regis 
 
20 
 
 Lake and others to the number of several hundred, form most 
 interesting features in the landscape. The centre of the region 
 forms an irregular mountain plateau, tilled with innumerable 
 lakes and swamps, from which many of the rivers take their rise. 
 Of late years the lakes and forest of the Adirondacks have be- 
 come a popular resort for tourists and pleasure seekers, so that 
 much that was previously unknown is becoming familiar ; a rail- 
 way penetrates to the heart of the iron district, and numerous 
 summer hotels have been erected in different sections. 
 
 The chief value of this area to the people of the State consists 
 in the vast natural reservoirs of water which the large and nu- 
 merous lakes of this region constitute. The necessity for storing 
 and husbanding the water supply of the Adirondacks as a means 
 for increasing the volume of the Hudson river in times of drouth, 
 have become so apparent, that the State has taken active steps to 
 carry out the plans requisite to secure this object. The destruc- 
 tion of the forest along the watershed of that river, has natur- 
 ally injured its navigation, and the remedy proposed for this evil 
 cannot be too soon or too fully accomplished. 
 
 It is impossible in a brief paper to give anything more than 
 a mere outline of the remarkable resources of the State. To the 
 early recognition of their importance and value is due the pre- 
 eminent position it now occupies. 
 
 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 In the last century, at the close of the war of the revolution, 
 General Washington's anxious solicitude for the welfare of the 
 country led him to a thoughtful consideration of the means by 
 which its newly formed bonds could be more firmly secured. 
 He saw the necessity of uniting the east and west by artificial 
 means of communication and by the improvement of the natural 
 channels. To this end he made a personal and careful examin- 
 ation of the topography of the State of New York. Having 
 been an engineer, he was competent to understand the relations 
 which topography bore to transportation. And, in a letter to the 
 Marquis of Chastellux, written at the time, he says: "I have 
 lately made a tour through the Lakes, George and Champlain, 
 as far as Crown Point — then returning to Schenectady, I pro- 
 ceeded up the Mohawk river to Fort Schuyler, crossed over to 
 Wood Creek, which empties into the Oneida Lake, and affords 
 the water connection with Ontario. I then traversed the country 
 to the eastern banks of the Susquehanna, and viewed the Lake 
 
21 
 
 Otsego and the portage between that Lake and the Mohawk river 
 at Canajoharie. Prompted by these actual observations I could 
 not help taking a more contemplative and extensive view of the 
 vast inland navigation of the United States, and could not but 
 be struck with the immense diffusion and importance of it, and 
 with the goodness of that Providence who has dealt His favors 
 to us with so profuse a hand. Would to God we may have wis- 
 dom enough to improve them. " 
 
 The natural advantages thus graphically outlined by General 
 Washington, became a subject of careful investigation under the 
 authority of the State, resulting in the successful execution of those 
 plans of internal improvement, which are at once the pride and 
 glory of the State. These public works have, in their ultimate 
 results, exceeded the most sanguine anticipations of those states- 
 men, to whose wisdom and foresight, their conception is due, and 
 to them, the City of New York is chiefly indebted for its pre-em- 
 inence as a commercial City. The Erie Canal is a monument of 
 skill and enterprise, of which the citizens of the State may be 
 justly proud. Its construction was authorized in 1817, and it was 
 completed in 1825, at a cost of $7,113,789.86. Its completion was 
 an era not only in the history of the State, but also an era in 
 the history of the country, for by it, a commercial highway was 
 opened to the Great West, along which has moved the silent but 
 resistless tide of immigration, which has spread itself through the 
 valley of the Mississippi, creating States, erecting cities, and de- 
 veloping the wonderful resources of a vast country, which but 
 yesterday was a wilderness in the undisputed possession of savages 
 and wild beasts. Every five years adds more than a million re- 
 cruits to the great industrial armies, which, while creating homes 
 for themselves, return here the product of their labor, and thus 
 pay constant tribute to the commercial emporium. Thus the 
 wonderful growth of the City of New York has become the ex- 
 ponent of the rise and progress of the Republic, while its pros- 
 perity dates from the completion of the Erie Canal. There are 
 many yet living who heard the exulting shouts that went up from 
 the Atlantic to the Lakes, when on the 26th day of October, 1825, 
 the signal guns, placed at intervals for five hundred and thirteen 
 miles from Buffalo to New York, announced to listening thou- 
 sands, that the first boat from Lake Erie, had entered the west- 
 ern canal, to be conveyed to the ocean ; and who saw also that 
 triumphal procession as it moved through the streets of the city, 
 
22 
 
 in which all the trades and industries vied with each other in 
 testifying in the most appropriate manner their joy at the com- 
 pletion of a work, to them the dawn of a new prosperity. 
 
 It was a coronation day ! for Industry was that day crowned 
 King in the Metropolis of free America. Not Westminster, nor 
 Rheims, nor pagan Rome, ever witnessed so grand a scene. 
 There were no gilded Chariots, nor purple robes, but simply a 
 long line of artisans working at their trades, exhibiting their joy 
 by asserting in their pride of manhood the dignity of labor. 
 None who were present can ever forget the simple grandeur of 
 the occasion. Just half a century has passed since that day of 
 exultation, and the solemn questions have been asked of the cit- 
 izens of the State and city — Have we been true to the high trust 
 which was that day imposed upon us ? Has the gift that day be- 
 queathed to posterity been kept untarnished, to be handed down 
 in its purity t© future generations ? If official corruption and 
 private greed have impaired the value of this great public boon 
 and blessing, let us see to it, that such a stain be thoroughly 
 erased from the otherwise fair escutcheon of our State. 
 
 Besides the Erie Canal there are twelve so called Lateral Canals, 
 some of which were constructed to supply the main Canal with 
 water. The total cost of all the canals was $64,710,836.94. Most 
 of the lateral canals were built to open up the forest lands of the 
 State, and as the forests have been in a great measure removed 
 these canals have ceased to be a source of revenue, on the contrary, 
 are a tax upon the State. It is proposed to dispose of them, or 
 discontinue them as State, works, and to concentrate the resources 
 and energies of the government upon the maintenance and im- 
 provement of the Main Line. This is a measure of such clear 
 and just policy that there should be no delay or hesitation in 
 adopting it. For so long as the revenues of the trunk line are 
 diverted to the useless maintenance of the lateral lines, so long 
 will the commerce of the State be taxed by high rates of transpor- 
 tation. The effects upon the grain trade are too apparent to 
 need discussion, and the permanent diversion of this trade to 
 other channels will be the inevitable consequence of a persistence 
 in the present course. 
 
 Time will not permit me to dwell further upon the interesting 
 subject of the resources of the State of New York. This brief 
 review is a mere indication of what they are. 
 
 I am sure, however, that no citizen can contemplate its wonder- 
 
23 
 
 ful advantages and its great prosperity without a feeling of deep 
 pride in the Present — a profound respect and veneration for 
 those who guided its councils in the Past — and a strong hope 
 and fervent faith in the Future. 
 
 At the close of the address, which commanded the close atten- 
 tion of the large audience to the end, the Eev. William Adams, 
 D.D., moved that the thanks of the Society be tendered to Gene- 
 ral Viele, and that a copy of the paper be requested for publica- 
 tion. Dr. Adams stated that the subject was one of great inter- 
 est to every citizen, and that he had felt deeply impressed by the 
 exhibit which had been presented of the resources of the State. 
 And referring to the suggestion which had been made by a 
 member of the Society, that the Governments of Europe were 
 more liberal to science than the United States, he expressed the 
 belief, that through the graduates of the Military Academy at 
 West Point, of which the speaker of the evening was one, the 
 United States had conferred more benefit on the cause of science 
 than any appropriation of money could accomplish. 
 
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