CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 3 1924 081 310 512 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924081310512 
 
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 1835. 
 
THE 
 
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 OF THE 
 
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 ILLTSTEATED IN A 
 
 SERIES OF VIEWS, 
 
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 ORIGINAL DRAWINGS, TAKEN EXPRESSLY FOR THIS WORK, 
 
 AND ENORATED ON STEEL, 
 
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 WITH 
 BY 
 
 SAMUEL L. KNAPP, ESa 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY J. DISTURNELL. 
 
 1835. 
 
Entkbed according to Act of Congress, in the year 1835, by J. Distbenell, in the Clerk's Office 
 of the District Court of the Southern District of New- York. 
 
 ONIVEESITSr PRESS. 
 
THE HUDSON RIVER. 
 
 From the days of the Cabots, the discoveries of North America, to the commence- 
 ment of the seventeenth century, the energies of England and Holland had not been 
 directed to this country- ; but this latter era will always be remembered as one of great 
 interest to every native American ; it was then that permanent settlements were made 
 on our soil, the savages reconciled or subdued, and the foundation of a great Republic 
 laid deep in the nature of man, on the principles of freedom. The early navigators 
 were our benefactors. 
 
 When the ages of chivalry had gone forever, the age of discovery followed ; the 
 latter required as much courage and more skill than the former. Guides could lead the 
 crusaders to the Holy Land, and courage in battle is a common virtue, but to traverse 
 unknown oceans in search of new worlds, to encounter the perils of the sea and to con- 
 tend with savages in every clime, required skill, science, bravery, and almost every 
 talent under heaven. From Columbus, " the morning star of discovery" — to Captain 
 Ross, the explorers have held a high rank in the list of men of genius and enterprise, 
 and have been distinguished for valor and an enthusiastic love of glory. Among these 
 bold adventurers who have developed the noblest capacities, and who united invincible 
 fortitude to unwearied assiduity, was Henry Hudson, the discoverer of the noble river 
 which bears his name, and who is identified with its history. 
 
 Hudson was the friend of Captain John Smith, " the bravest of the brave," and 
 seems to have adopted the same motto, " vincere et vivere." For several years Hudson 
 was engaged in the British service, and was employed in attempting to find a north-west 
 passage ; but, although failing in this, he made many important discoveries in the Arctic 
 region. He was the first navigator who advanced beyond the eightieth degree of north 
 latitude. These voyages opened the whale fishery to the English and French. When 
 his reputation was known to all maritime nations, the Dutch East India Company 
 engaged him to take a part in their service, which was then very extensive, rivalling the 
 most commercial nations. This body had seized with a strong hand upon the trade of 
 the East, and were ambitious of grasping the West. In the employment of this Com- 
 pany, Hudson sailed on a voyage of discovery. He left the Texel on the sixth of April, 
 1609, and made his way to the coast of Norway, entered the White Sea, coasted Nova 
 Zembla ; but finding great quantities of ice, he tacked towards Greenland ; but as there 
 was little to be found in that region, he steered direct for the American Coast, and touched 
 at Newfoundland ; he then sailed along our eastern shores by the mouths of the Penobscot, 
 the Kennebeck,the Merrimack, and by his own river to the Potomac ; thence returning 
 on the third day of September, 1609, he entered the southern waters of New- York. 
 He was the first navigator who visited them, as far as our historical knowledge extends. 
 If tradition be true, he first landed at Coney Island and traded with the natives. He 
 next discovered the mouth of the river which has ever since been called by his name. 
 
 Cautious from experience he proceeded slowly. He spent a week south of the 
 Narrows before he entered the bay, watching the natives, but at the same time holding a 
 friendly traffic with them. He was not then aware that the present site of the city and 
 
4 THE HUDSON EIVEE. 
 
 county of New. York was an island. On the fourteenth he proceeded through Tappan 
 and Haverstraw bays, and anchored during the night near West Point. His voyage 
 was not only novel in penetrating so far into the country, but he had an opportunity 
 of enjoying the most picturesque and beautiful scenery that he had ever beheld. On 
 the west, those huge masses of rocks since called the Palisades, which seemed moun- 
 tains piled on mountains, here shooting into the form of a pyramid, and there resembling 
 an extended range of battlements of impregnable strength, arose sublimely to his view. 
 On the east side of the river he saw a level country, crowded with forest trees, whose 
 thick and beautiful foliage had not received the slightest touch of an autumnal frost. 
 At times Hudson and his men amused themselves in catching fish, which were found in 
 abundance in the river, and of a fine flavor. The natives appeared more mild and 
 social than those he encountered while entering the river. On the 16th, Hudson 
 anchored near the place where now stands a city which bears his name, but he had then 
 no visions of futurity floating in his mind. That he sailed above this place, there can 
 be no doubt, but how much farther is not certain. Many antiquarians believe that he 
 reached Albany, and that some of his men in boats proceeded still farther, to the con- 
 fluence of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers. His vessel was very small for such an 
 exploring voyage, " a mere fy loot" as some have called her, not larger than a 
 small sloop used for the coasting trafiic at the present time. Hudson's ship was called 
 the Half Moon, and if not made for comfort, was better calculated for running into bays 
 and harbors than larger boats. 
 
 The whole expedition was managed with great discretion and perseverance, and 
 has left Henry Hudson's name among the most enterprising and skUful of navigators. 
 From this voyage he returned to England probably from necessity — from want of pro- 
 visions, or from a mutinous spirit among his crew. Hudson now returned to the 
 English service, not being allowed by the bigotted and jealous James to continue any 
 longer as a navigator for the Dutch East India Company. His former English employ, 
 ers fitted him out a third time. He sailed the 17th of April, 1610, for new discoveries. 
 On the voyage he saw Mount Hecla casting forth flames. His crew became mutinous, 
 and his mate attempted to discourage the expedition, but like Columbus in a similar 
 situation, he had the address to keep his men within the rules of obedience for some 
 time, for they saw and felt that no one of his officers or men had the ability to lead them 
 safely through fields of ice as he had. In the bay which now bears his name, he 
 experienced a storm that broke down the courage of his crew. His difficulties thick, 
 ened, and it is said that his own resolution for the first time failed, still he left it to the crew, 
 to go farther or return to the south. They were distracted in opinion, but he proceeded, 
 every obstacle notwithstanding, and they found a clear sea. From this depression he 
 arose elastic, thinking that he had found his long desired passage ; but this delusion soon 
 passed like a dream. There was no such passage ; but his heart did not sink within him. 
 He endeavored to restore discipline among his crew, and so far effected his wishes that 
 he wintered in safety in a cove on the west side of the bay, but their sufferings from 
 hunger were intense. The evils which had long surrounded this brave man were now 
 drawing to a crisis. A part of his men seized and bound him and his son, an amiable 
 youth who had been with his father in all his voyages, and thrust them into a small 
 boat with six others, the carpenter entered her as a volunteer with his unfortunate 
 commander. The boat contained a few cooking utensils and a small quantity of 
 provisions. She was towed into the water clear of ice, the rope was then cut, and 
 Hudson and his companions were never afterwards heard of. Most of the mutineers 
 
THE HUDSON EIVEE. O 
 
 were massacred by the savages ; one or more died of hunger — a few, a wretched 
 remnant, reached Ireland the 10th of September, 1611. Thus perished Henry Hudson 
 whose name our noble river bears, a martyr to the passion of discovery, as exalted, 
 pure and beneficial as any one in the human breast. Belknap has done much to 
 preserve some of our early navigators from oblivion, but much remains to be done to 
 fill up the measure of their fame. The present and rising generation will, we trust, do 
 them justice. 
 
 Our political, civil, military and religious history has engaged the attention of some 
 of the first minds in our country, and we shall soon be rich in works upon all these 
 branches, but as yet we have paid but little attention to the history and topography of 
 the numerous and noble rivers of our country from the St. Croix to the Sabine. Their 
 history abounds in incident, as well as their shores with beautiful landscapes, prosperous 
 cities, towns and villages. These rivers are now pouring their currents in peace to the 
 bosom of the ocean, and there is not one of them but has witnessed some scene of war 
 and bloodshed, and have been defended at the expense of human life. Should not their 
 history and topography become subjects of aifectionate inquiry among the tasteful 
 readers of this land ? The rivers of the old world, many of which are now only rills 
 murmuring in narrow channels, have been immortalized in song, and their scenery 
 rendered unfading by the skill of the artist. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OP PLACES ON THE HUnSON. 
 
 The IsLANB OF Manhattan lies at the confluence of the Hudson and East rivers, 
 forming in naval phrase the left, in military the right bank of the former. The extent 
 of the island is thirteen miles in length from north to south, and its average breadth is 
 about one mile and an half. The harbor of New- York is not inferior to any in the 
 world. There are but few that geographers pretend to compare with it. Sometimes 
 the bay of Naples, and the harbor of Constantinople are named as rivals, but neither 
 of them, considering their distance from the Atlantic ocean, have in justice any claim 
 to an equality. The early growth of the city was not rapid. It has suffered from three 
 revolutions. Scarcely had the Dutch traders built a few scanty cabins, when the place 
 was taken by the English, but it was soon given up again to the States-General. In 
 1664, New-Netherlands was again taken by the English, and in 1673, it was retaken 
 by the Dutch, but it was restored in the following year. When it came- into the 
 possession of the EngUsh, the Dutch name was dropped, and the name of New- York 
 substituted, in honor of the Duke of York to whom the country was given by the king of 
 England. An extensive fur trade was early carried on in the city, but in 1745, it ranked 
 the third city only, in a commercial point of view, among the thirteen colonies ; Boston 
 and Philadelphia being before it, and Charleston and Newport following it closely. The 
 city was in the hands of the British from the autumn of 1776, to that of 1783. The 
 inhabitants at the evacuation did not exceed twenty -five thousand. 
 
 The City of New York now contains at least two hundred and fifty thousand 
 inhabitants ; a most unexampled increase since the evacuation of the British in 1783 ; 
 but the increase of the wealth of the city has been much greater than that of the 
 population. It is the great commercial emporium of this country, from the excellence 
 of its harbor, and its central situation. The communication with France and England 
 is regular and frequent, and the accommodations in the packets, so good as to make a 
 voyage across the Atlantic, a pleasure rather than a dread, as it once was. There 
 seems to be nothing to retard the progress of improvement in this city, but what in the 
 
g THE HTTDSON EIVEK. 
 
 course of Providence happens to all places. The style of building has undergone several 
 changes. The old Dutch houses have given place to modern architecture, which 
 affords more convenience, and exhibits a better appearance than the former. Granite, 
 in which our eastern country abounds, is brought into use, and many noble edifices are 
 now being built of it. 
 
 The public buildings— the City Hall, the Eichange, the Colleges, Churches, and 
 Theatres, do credit to the liberality and taste of the people. The old prison has been 
 converted into a Grecian temple, by modern architects, and made the most classical 
 edifice in the city. The new streets have been judiciously laid out, wide and straight, 
 and buildings are rapidly rising on them, extending the comfoi-ts of living with the 
 increase of population. Institutions of learning and benevolence are favored in this 
 day of enterprise. New libraries have been established, and the old ones are more 
 patronized than formerly. The periodicals are rapidly increasing in the city, and now 
 amount to more than an hundred in number. Of these useful vehicles of knowledge, 
 this city has three times the number that the whole country possessed at the commence- 
 ment of the revolutionary war. The manufactures are very extensive, emplo3nng 
 more capital than was engaged in mechanical business, in all the cities and towns on 
 the sea-board in the United States, half a century ago. These mechanics make a good 
 part of the bone and muscle of the population of the city. The great defect in the 
 advantages of the city is now in a fair way to be removed, by supplying the city with 
 " pure and wholesome water" from the Croton river. The water of the city, particularly 
 in the lower part of it, has not been abundant or of a good quality. The want of a supply 
 of this indispensable necessary of life, has produced disease, filthy streets, and raised 
 the price of insurance to an immoderate extent. We trust that the waters of the 
 Croton will soon flow through our streets, as those of the Schuylkill do through the 
 streets of Philadelphia. 
 
 The panoramic view as you pass the city, is extensive and grand, embracing a 
 part of Long Island, Staten Island with the lesser ones in the bay and harbor, exhibiting 
 the Jersey shore on the west, with great distinctness in the picturesque scene. In this 
 mass of architecture and of life composing the city which seems extending as you are 
 gazbg, more than a hundred spires of houses of religious worship, arise, " as so many 
 electrical conductors to convey away the wrath of God for the sins of a people," and with 
 them large mansions for the accommodations of the diseased in body and mind, are seen 
 occupying the eminences and catching the breezes of health. The historical restrospect 
 is great, the prospective greater ; political prophecy pauses, fearful of limping behind 
 the development of years. 
 
 We next on our voyage upward meet the Palisades ; these masses of rock are 
 tastefully named. The definition of a palisade is " pales set out for an enclosure," and 
 these giant rocks stand, and will stand as long as the sea knows its bounds and the 
 earth keeps its foundation, to restrain on one side the mighty waters that are rolling 
 onward to the ocean. They extend to a distance of nearly twenty miles, and are from 
 one to five hundred feet in height. At their commencement where they rise about three 
 hundred feet above the water, is the site of Fort Lee, ten miles north of the city. The 
 Landing and FaUsades in the distance, are finely represented in the Vignette to this 
 work. On a hill on the east side of the river stands Fort Washington. These forts 
 were taken by the British in the campaign of 1776. Tappan Bay, once called the 
 Tappan Zee, commences about twenty -five miles above New-York. It is from three 
 to five miles wide, extending to a length of eight miles or more. It was here that 
 
THE HUDSON RrVEE. 7 
 
 Hudson thought that his voyage must cease, and that he had only been navigating an 
 estuary, but this persevering explorer was not content with a general view, he found the 
 channel of the river and proceeded on his way upward. Tarrytown on the east shore 
 and Tappan village on the west, are memorable from having been the places, the one 
 where Andre was taken, and the other where he was executed. His fate has been 
 a sort of purple flower in the history of our revolution ; it was an event at which pity 
 wept while justice struck the blow. 
 
 Sing Sing is thirty -three miles from the city of New- York, in Westchester county. 
 The ground rises rapidly from the level of the waters of the river, and is a wild but 
 thriving and beautiful country. In this place is situated one of the State Prisons. The 
 buildings are large, the main one five stories high. The inmates of this prison amount 
 to nearly or quite a thousand. The discipline here is severe, but the system is one 
 of modern humanity, and is an experiment in opposition to the sanguinary codes of 
 many European countries. 
 
 Caldwell's Landing is opposite the village of Peekskill. The view is a pleasant 
 one from either side of the river, but increases in interest both natural and historical, as 
 you leave the landing. The river now takes a turn to the left, and the highlands are seen 
 at once to hang over you. This is not only romantic ground from the abrupt elevation 
 of the highlands, but it is all classical. Here, for some time, were to be found some of 
 the great spirits of the war of independence, — Washington, Putnam, Arnold, Kosciiiszko 
 and other heroes of that age, and here too the officers of the American army celebrated 
 the birth of the ill-fated Dauphin of France. The mountains sometimes called Fishkill 
 mountains, are fifteen or sixteen miles in width at the base, and extend a greater dis- 
 tance along the river. Among the most celebrated objects in these highlands is St. 
 Anthony's Nose. It is 1,138 feet above the waters of the river. It is said to resemble 
 a profile of the human face, and from some early legend most of these profiles imagined 
 on rocks or mountains, have been honored by the name of St. Anthony's Nose. On 
 the opposite side of the river is situated the sites of Forts Montgomery and Clinton, both 
 of which are now in ruins. 
 
 West Point is an object of deep interest to all the United States. It has a history 
 full of incident. It is on the western side of the river. The surface of the plain is 
 tW'O hundred feet or more from the surface of the river, and contains within its lines 
 seventy acr6s, before you reach the base of the mountains. It was during the revolu- 
 tionary war considered as the key to the western and northern waters, and held as a 
 strong place of resistance. It is memorable for being the military residence of 
 Kosciuszko, whose fame has since been so widely extended ; memorable also, for 
 being the birth place of Arnold's treason ; and now, for being the site of a military 
 school, whose scholars do honor to the genius of our country, and which as yet flour, 
 ishes, as the pride of the nation, being the only scientific institution, we, as a people 
 possess. Our colleges and universities are from state charters, and are oftentimes 
 supported from individual bounties. On the point where the Hotel has been erected 
 you have a fine view of the river for many miles upward. Fort Putnam stands on an 
 eminence about three quarters of a mile from the centre of the plain westward. It is 
 nearly four hundred feet above the level of the plain below, which is two hundred feet 
 from the level of the waters of the river. The part on the eastern side is difficult 
 of access, but on the western perfectly inaccessible, being a perpendicular natural wall 
 or cliff of more than three hundred feet in elevation. The fort was built by General 
 Putnam to command the plain if ever the Americans should be driven from it. The 
 
8 THE HUDSON RIVER. 
 
 enclosure is small, and the fort was only meant to be used as a last resort. There is 
 water in it, and the springs have never been dry since the fort was erected. It was in 
 some measure repaired by General Hamilton, in 1798, when he expected a war with 
 France, and which, in fact did, in an informal manner, take place. This fort in all 
 probability will never be rebuilt. Modern science has discovered that there are more 
 commanding positions within cannon shot. The scenery at West Point is picturesque, 
 the air is fresh, and the accommodations for the traveller, of the highest order. The 
 officers are gentlemanly and social, and the cadets, as far as strict military discipline 
 will allow, attentive to their friends. The Maitre d'Hote at West Point is an obliging 
 gentleman of the first respectability, whose object is to make all his friends happy. 
 
 Newbttrgh lies nine miles above West Point on the west side of the river, and 
 presents a lovely view. The Catskill mountains make a fine back ground to the 
 scenery about Newburgh. At this place, Washington had his head quarters at the 
 close of the revolutionary war, and here were written and published those famous letters 
 which have ever since gone by the name of the Newbttrgh Letters, and which were 
 considered of a seditious tendency at the time, and whose influences were felt in every 
 grade of the army, but fortunately they were rendered harmless by the ejrtraordinary 
 popularity of the great republican leader. 
 
 FisHKiLL Landing is opposite Newburgh ; the village is nearly five miles from 
 the river. 
 
 PouGHKEEPSiE, holding about an equal distance from the cities of New- York and 
 Albany, is a flourishing village. The public buildings are handsome and convenient, 
 and the surrounding country fertile and well cultivated. 
 
 Hyde Park is about six miles north of Pottghkeepsie, and contains some fine 
 country seats. The most conspicuous belongs to Dr. Hosack. It extends to six or 
 seven hundred acres in a high state of improvement. This distinguished physician has 
 spared no expense in making his a pattern farm. His conservatory and green-house 
 are among the largest in the United States. Foreigners of distinction have spoken 
 of the beauties of this place, as well as our own travellers. 
 
 Catskill, one hundred and eleven miles from New- York, is a flourishing village ; 
 it is situated on a creek well fitted for manufacturing purposes. The traveller as he 
 turns his eye from the labors of industry to the mountains, and marks the ever-changing 
 view of their august summits, can easily imagine himself in one of those vales of 
 Switzerland, which for ages have been the home of the free and the brave. The Pine 
 Orchard, a place of great resort of people of fashion and pleasure, is twelve miles 
 distant from Catskill, delightfully situated on the brow of the mountain, 2,212 feet above 
 the surface of the Hudson river. A spacious Hotel has been erected for the accommo- 
 dation of visitors, on a spot which commands an extensive view of the Hudson river 
 and of the surrounding country. 
 
 The City of Httdson is one hundred and sixteen miles from the city of New- York, 
 and twenty -nine from Albany. It stands on a bluff which extends like a wedge into the 
 river, forming a beautiful plain. It has a flourishing appearance. Within a few years a 
 company has been formed here, for carrying on the whaling business, which has been 
 very successful. Many years since, several families moved from the island of 
 Nantucket to the city of Hudson, and carried with them a love of whaling adventure 
 from whence this prosperous association have grown up. In the United States there 
 are now more whaling ships than the whole world possessed at the close of our 
 revolutionary war. 
 
THE HUDSON EIVEE. 9 
 
 Athens is a beautiful village directly opposite to Hudson, and if it contains no 
 Acropolis, the site is a finer one than the Athens of Greece. 
 
 Albany can boast of an antiquity equal to that of any qjty in the Union : New- 
 York was only a small trading establishment when the fort at Albany was built in 1614, 
 and Jamestown has now hardly a vestige of civilization left. For many years its 
 growth was moderate, but it was an important place in the French wars. Her© the 
 forces of both the English and Provincials destined to protect the frontiers, obtained 
 their supplies, and to Albany they often repaired for winter quarters. The New- 
 England troops on their way to the lakes found it a convenient resting place, and the 
 militia of the more southern states joined them here. For many years Albany had a 
 large sloop navigation, and possessed much substantial wealth, but her wealth and 
 importance have been greatly increased by the Erie and Ohamplain Canals. These life- 
 veins of commerce have quadrupled the value of the whgle country north and west 
 of Albany. It was a great experiment, requiring sagacity and energy to accomplish. 
 The success of this undertaking has not only been beneficial in itself, but has been the 
 cause of making canals throughout the country. Such is the force of example. Had 
 these canals been finished before the last war, it would have saved the United States 
 double the sum that they cost. The Mohawk and Hudson Rail-road commences at 
 Albany and extends to Schenectady, a distance of fifteen miles, where commences the 
 Saratoga and Schenectady Rail-road, also, the Utica and Schenectady Rail-road, which 
 runs parallel with the Erie Canal, a distance of about ninety miles. 
 
 Tkoy is six miles above Albany on the east side of the river, and is a delightful 
 place of residence. This is a flourishing city, and is so situated in respect to the 
 canals, as to reap great advantage from them. The public buildings are good ; some 
 of them remarkable for their beauty and elegance, particularly the court house and 
 several churches. The hotels are well kept, and show it to be a place of great 
 resort. The rapid growth of the city of Troy, which is situated near the con- 
 fluence of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers, is to be attributed to the natural and artificial 
 advantages which it possesses : this being the head of steamboat navigation, all the great 
 improvements in canals and rail-roads centre here and at Albany. The great Erie and 
 Champlaiit Canals form a junction a few miles above Troy, and both united empty their 
 riches into the Hudson, thence to be re-shipped and transported to every quarter of the 
 world. The Rensselaer and Saratoga Rail-road leaves Troy by the aid of a bridge 
 which crosses the Hudson river. The length of the bridge is sixteen hundred feet ; it 
 forms eight arches, exclusive of a capacious draw section. The Rail-road runs along 
 the west side of the Hudson to Mechanicsville ; from thence it verges and runs westerly 
 to Ballston Spa, a distance of twenty-four and a half miles. 
 
 Lansingbtiegh, three miles above Troy, is an old settled place, pleasantly situated 
 on the bank of the river ; it is connected with Waterford by a bridge over the 
 Hudson. 
 
 Wateefoed is situated at the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers, one 
 hundred and fifty-five miles from the city of New- York, and is the head of the natural 
 navigation of the Hudson. The Rensselaer and Saratoga Rail-road passes through this 
 place, also the Champlain Canal, which forms a junction with the Erie Canal, after 
 crossing the Mohawk about two miles south of the village. 
 
 The invention of man by these canals, has opened the navigation to the great 
 waters of the lakes. The possibility of the connection of these waters was conceived 
 many years since, but was not carried into full operation until 1825. We owe a debt 
 
 2 
 
XO THE HUDSON RIVER. 
 
 of gratitude to those benefactors of mankind who conceived and executed this extraor- 
 dinary labor. They had to contend with ignorance, party spirit, parsimony, and above 
 all, timidity, which betrays what it does not oppose. History should make a faithful 
 record of the facts in relation to this noble enterprise, and poetry should adorn the page ; 
 the pencil and the graver must be brought to aid in giving the immortality which is due 
 to those who risked their fame and fortunes on the results of their plans. 
 
 Pulton's reputation is commingled with the waters of every stream, and floats on 
 every wave. He was a martyr in the cause he espoused, and should be held in exceeding 
 honor, not only by his countrymen but by all who are benefited by his exertions. 
 Clinton deserves a proud niche for exerting his intellectual faculties to the utmost, and 
 putting in jeopardy his hard earned fame, for the welfare of his native State. These 
 pioneers sowed the ground for the future harvest ; one enterprize is the mother of a 
 thousand ; one deep thought is the progenitor of a volume of wisdom. The mind of 
 man is brooding over the waters, and the dry land, and producing wonders. We are 
 no longer forbidden to partake of the fruits of the tree of knowledge, but are commanded 
 to rise, pluck, and eat. 
 
 Note.— The present Series of Views of the Hudson river will not extend beyond the confluence of the 
 Mohawk and Hudson ; if encouragement be given, however, a second series vidll appear, illustrating the 
 scenery of the river to its source, embracing the picturesque views of Lake George and its vicinity. 
 
'fi 
 
THE NARROWS. 
 
 " I love thee, Ocean." 
 
 A VIEW of the ocean bounded only by the extreme extent of human vision, rolling 
 its deep and dark blue waves, is truly sublime, and has called forth the poetical powers 
 of the bards of every age and nation. The subject has never, and can never be 
 exhausted. The ocean, seen at rest, with its glassy surface, or lashed into rage by 
 tempests, impresses on the mind the thoughts of immensity, and as space and time are 
 intimately connected, of eternity. The impression of sublimity alone soon fatigues the 
 mind ; it has not the capacity of long sustaining such a weight, but when softened by 
 the beauty of an extended landscape, fringing the vista through which the ocean 
 appears, the impression continues the same forever. These commingled principles, 
 sublimity and beauty, never grow old or pall upon the sense, but become more 
 fascinating as the minutia developes and the eye becomes more accurate in tracing the 
 loveliness of the scene. 
 
 Standing on the elevated ground at the Pavilion on Staten Island, and turning 
 your eye to the pathway of commerce to the ocean, the view is picturesque and grand. 
 On the right, about two miles distant, rises the Bluff, a head-land extending into the 
 ocean, and breaking the waves as they pass in or pass out. Here stands Fort Tomp- 
 kins in ruins ; but near the surface of the water under this Bluff, a battery, called Fort 
 Richmond, has been erected, more efficient and on more scientific principles. On the left 
 of the Narrows is seen Fort Lafayette rising from the bosom of the waters, and connected 
 to no shore. Still farther to the left, on the west end of Long-Island, is situated Fort 
 Hamilton, with a powerful battery ; all, and each prepared " to pour the iron shower of 
 ready vengeance on the approaching foe." These forts command the passage of the 
 Narrows ; — who dares approach ? The engineers of a former age made a great 
 mistake in placing the fortifications of the city in and near to it ; modern science 
 has taught military tacticians the policy of meeting the enemy at a distance from the 
 confusion of a beleaguered city, where soldiers can fight out of the hearing of female 
 shrieks, or the sight of the confusion of distressed citizens. Every mother in our city 
 should be as free as a Spartan dame from the sight of a foe. The Turks taught 
 Europe ages ago this sage lesson of advice. They defended Constantinople at the 
 Dardanelles. However fierce the battle might rage at these Narrows, no Turk in 
 Byzantium was in the least disturbed. 
 
 Running your line of vision sea-wards from the end of Long Island, Coney Island 
 rises to view, a mass of sand extending some distance. This place is famous for its 
 refreshing breezes and fine bathing grounds, so much required in the neighborhood of 
 a populous city, in the summer months. Over and near the island, numberless sea 
 gulls are seen, now skimming the surface of the water, now soaring aloft, enjoying the 
 sunshine and the breeze, and as the eye falls from them it catcKes the countless sails of 
 commerce. Vessels of all sizes, from the news-boat and the fishing-smack to the 
 gallant frigate, which bears our thunders on the flood, spread their canvass to the 
 winds, and guided by science and skill move in every direction. Then comes the 
 
\2 THE NARROWS. 
 
 STEAMER, the last great proof of human genius, racing against wind and tide with the 
 swiftness of the ostrich and the majesty of the war-horse, " whose neck is clothed with 
 thunder ;" and while you gaze upon the wavy line of smoke which is thrown from its 
 furnace, the mighty " thing of life" is upon you, and passes by. 
 
 From this noble scene of admiration and wonder you may turn for relief, to the west 
 and view the wood-crowned heights of Staten Island. A rural landscape whether 
 rugged or level, filled with flowers, or broken by rocks, always contains something to 
 delight the lovers of nature. The humblest bird or the smallest pebble, are not only 
 matters of curiosity, but of philosophical investigation. Not far from the Pavilion is the 
 Quarantine Ground ; and in the warm season, vessels from every part of the world are 
 seen riding at anchor, waiting to fulfil sanatary regulations, in order to prevent the dis- 
 eases of foreign parts from infecting the Commercial Emporium. This road-stead is a 
 safe one, and is so situated as to secure every comfort to the mariner, exhausted by long 
 voyages. Near the water stands an Hospital for those suffering with absolute disease. 
 This attention to the health of mariners, is comparatively of modern date. It had its 
 rise in England, and in our country, is based on true republican principles of indepen- 
 dence. Eveiy mariner pays a tax from his wages to the support of this excellent 
 institution ; and when he is under the necessity from sickness to become an inmate of 
 the Hospital, he is virtually in his own palace, and is attended by his own servants, 
 and while he quaffs the salt-breeze feels that he is a freeman on his natal soil. 
 
 The philosopher, while he looks abroad at this place, contemplates the changes in 
 the affairs of nations since a keeled vessel first ploughed these waters. At that period 
 there was no city on the globe, nor had there been one from Tyre and Sidon to Venice 
 and London, whose commerce even reached the magnitude of that of the city of New- 
 York at the present day. 
 
 The finny inhabitants of this vast expanse of water, have been noticed with phi- 
 losophical precision by the late distinguished American writer. Dr. S. L. Mitchill. 
 His entire enumeration of them amounts to no less than one hundred and sixty-six ; of 
 this number one hundred and forty-seven are distinct species of New- York fishes, and 
 to them he had added nineteen varieties. This is according to his memoir in the Trans- 
 actions of the Literary and Philosophical Society of New- York, published in 1815. It 
 is well known that the icthyological investigations of this able naturalist, were still far- 
 ther pursued on this subject — and that before his labors closed, he had augmented the 
 list of New- York fishes either as natives, or as new or accidental comers, to the extent 
 of somewhat over two hundred. This is perhaps, by far a greater number of fish than 
 is found in any other limited water of the globe. But it is not merely as to the number 
 of its fishes that Dr. M. extolled the bay and waters, of and around New- York. He 
 dwells with enthusiasm on the beauty of many of them, and on their excellence as food 
 with all the feelings of a cultivated epicurean. The Gadus, (Cod,) the Pleuronectes, (the 
 Hallibut,) the Sparus, (the Sheep's head,) the Labrus, (the Black fish,) the Salmo, (the 
 Salmon,) the Perch, (the Perca Mitchelli, so called by the fishermen, after the learned 
 doctor himself,) the Scomber, (the Mackerel.) Of the Black Fish he gives some curi- 
 ous anecdotes. The period of their biting, he observes, is reckoned very favorable 
 until the increasing warmth of the season brings food enough to fill their stomach, and 
 they thereupon afford less pastime to the professed fishermen. The people express 
 this circumstance in these coarse rhymes ; doubtless the poetry of the doctor : 
 
 When chesnut leaves are big as thumb-nail, 
 
 Then bite black fish without fail ; 
 But when chesnut leaves are as long as a span, 
 
 Then catch black fish— if you can. 
 
BAY AND HARBOR OF NEW-YORK. 
 
 " Westward the star of Empire takes its way." 
 
 We have before us a copy of an ancient map, which was engraved in Holland many 
 years ago, exhibiting the confluence of the East and North rivers, with a portion of the 
 Bay and the point of land on which the fort stood. These works were commenced 
 before Van Twiller's time, but finished by him in 1635. The map is a curiosity, and 
 was copied and reduced for the historical sketches made by those enlightened historians, 
 Van Ness and Moulton, who commenced a learned work on the early annals of the 
 State of New-York.- If the style of engraving in this map is not equal to that of the 
 masters of the present day in that art, still it is clear and distinct in its lines, and 
 exhibits every thing naturally. The large and small Indian canoes, filled with men, 
 are seen moving up the Hudson, while the European vessels are lying off the point, 
 now the Battery. The buildings are but few in number, and of a small size. The 
 landscape is relieved by the appearance of a wind-mill on a neighboring eminence,— 
 an edifice without which no view of a village was perfect in former times ; wind- 
 mills having been in use ages before man had discovered that water could turn a 
 wheel. 
 
 The fortifications were slight but sufficient protection against the Indians, who 
 had no means of attacking a fort but by scaling the walls. There were numerous 
 tribes of savages then in the neighborhood of Niew- Amsterdam. The situation was a 
 fine one for these aborigines to find sustenance ; the shell fish were abundant, and 
 oysters and clams are .always sought for by sea-coast Indians. The salmon and shad 
 were easily caught by such means as they had contrived ; the hunting-grounds were 
 not far off, and the game was plentiful. The Dutch soon found that a fur trade might 
 be carried on to great advantage, and they at once commenced the traffic, and took the 
 most effectual course to propitiate the Indians by kind treatment. 
 
 The New-York Bay, as now defined, spreads to the southward of this point we 
 have described, into a beautiful sheet of water, about eight miles long, and from one 
 and a half to five miles wide, having Long Island on the east, and Staten Island and 
 New-Jersey on the west, communicating with Newark Bay through the Kills, and 
 the Atlantic through the Narrows. In the early history of the country, the Great 
 Bay, as it was called, embraced the waters and islands below the Narrows as far as 
 Sandy Hook and the Jersey shore, which body of water is now called the Lower Bay. 
 
 " The Great Bay of New Netherland, so called by Vander Donck, or by way of 
 Hninence, the Great Bay, was bounded on the south by the Ocean, east by Long Island, 
 north partly by the mouth of the Hudson, and partly by the shore of Jersey, and west 
 wholly by this shore. Newark Bay, from its relative situation to the Great Bay, the 
 Dutch called Het Achter Cul, literally the Black Bay ; Cul, borrowed from the French 
 Cul de sac, was also in use with the Dutch to signify a bay. Achter Cul was corrupted 
 to Arthur CuVs Bay. The passage from this into the Great Bay they called Het Kill 
 van het cul, (the kill of the cul) wh,ich was finally expressed by the kills. A reef in the 
 bay, (now Robin's Reef) not far from the mouth of the Kills, they called Eobyn's rift 
 
14 BAY AND HARBOK OF NEW-YORK. 
 
 that is, Seal reef, Robyn being the name of seal, which frequented the bay. The pas- 
 sage from the bay and the river to the sound, was also occasionally distinguished by them 
 as the Great Bay, denoted from its relative situation from the other rivers and inlets to 
 the East river. The island at the commencement of it they called Nooten Island, Nut 
 Island, corrupted to Nutten Island, the name by which it was known until within the last 
 half century, when at times it was referred to as the Governor's Island, being reserved 
 from the beginning for the use of the Governor, and this is now its name exclusively. 
 Staaten Island retains its name with a slight orthographical variation. 
 
 " De Laet calls the bay, as named by the Dutch, Porto May, and he seems to have 
 applied the name indiscriminately to signify the Great Bay, or the bay in its restricted 
 and present limits. 
 
 " When Hudson arrived, the Great Bay, in its more comprehensive designation, 
 embraced ten islands, if we may include those of the vicinity of Long Island, viz. 
 Schryer and Coney Islands ; Staten and Manhattan Islands, and those which were 
 formerly visible within the bay or harbor of New- York. 
 
 " Coney Island, whereon Hudson may have first landed, is derived from Conyn, a 
 Dutch surname. Sandy Hook, within which Hudson anchored and landed, and which he 
 named Coleman's Point, was afterwards generally called by the Dutch Sandt Punt, was 
 mentioned also as Sandt Hoeck, and for some time called by the English Sandy Point, 
 Passing, however, through the Narrows, (called Hoofden by the Dutch, being their 
 name for forelands or literally head-laada) Hudson arrived and anchored in the bay of 
 New-York, as it is now understood. If we include Red Hook as an island, (and it is 
 laid down on charts as surrounded by water so late as the revolution) there were six 
 islands in this bay when Hudson visited it. Nutten or Governor's Island we have 
 already spoken of. De Laet says, that about half a mile within the Hook, or corner 
 of the river next to the east coast lies ' Noten Eyland,' half a mile in area, and con- 
 taining many fine nut trees, and over against this, on the west shore of the bay, are 
 four other small islands. Two of them only, viz. Ellis and Bedlow, are now visible 
 except at very low water, when the rocks of the others, viz. Oyster Island and 
 Robin's Reef, are discoverable. Oyster Island is in the Oyster Banks, at a small 
 distance south-west of Bedlow's Island. Robin's Reef we described. Ellis and 
 Governor's Islands are the nearest of the islands to New- York or Manhattan Island. 
 New- York Island, when Hudson visited it, particularly that part of it now covered 
 by the city, presented a wild and rough aspect : a thick forest covered those parts of it 
 where vegetation could find support ; its beach was broken, sandy, or rocky, and 
 fUU of inlets ; its interior presented hills or sandy alluvion, masses of rock, ponds, 
 swamps and marshes." 
 
 Long Island was early settled by the Walloons, a bold and hardy race of men, 
 who were the last to receive the Roman yoke, and the first to throw it off They 
 fearlessly began their agricultural pursuits, and never were seriously disturbed by the 
 Indians. 
 
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HELL GATE. 
 
 " Here, where we rest the gentlest waters gUde, 
 Inhere, hurry on a strong impetuous tide j 
 But yonder, gods ! with ten-fold thunder's force. 
 Dashing the war-ship in its whirlpool course."* 
 
 Modern fastidiousness, which often, with pharasaical inconsistency, strains at a 
 gnat and swallows a camel, has endeavored to impress us with a belief that our Dutch 
 ancestors were too puritanical to give such a name as Hell-Pot to a natural whirlpool 
 as the one found in the East river, seven miles from the city of New-York. This 
 is not reasoning correctly. The Teutonic nation from which the Dutch descended were 
 possessed of a wild and powerful imagination, and gave poetic terms to every natural 
 phenomenon. The Maelstrom on the coast of Norway, is the name of a whirlpool 
 which varies but little in signification from the one given to the same thing in the East 
 river. Scylla and Charybdis, between Sicily and the main land of Italy, have also a 
 miraculous origin in the legends of Rome ; the former, now a ledge of rocks of great 
 height, was an enchantress changed by Circe, a more powerful and more wicked spirit, 
 to this mass of stone, on which unfortunate voyagers might be wrecked and dashed to 
 pieces when they steered too near her dreadful coast to get rid of Charybdis, now a 
 direful whirlpool, but once an avaricious woman, condemned in her change to a ravenous 
 aad insatiate appetite for devouring her prey. In every nation where a Syrtis is found, it 
 is in the imagination of the people of the country, in some measure, connected with their 
 legends, in its name, at least, with infernal spirits. This is natural. The early Dutch 
 settlers were as likely to indulge their imaginations as other people. It was indeed, when 
 first discovered, a wonder, and is so now. He was a brave man who first ventured to 
 examine Hell Gate and pass it. Washington Irving has told the story in a playful way. 
 His description is a piece of easy and felicitous humor. All the other descriptions of it 
 that we have seen, are sufficiently dull to put one to sleep. SpafTord in his very clever 
 Gazetteer of the State of New- York, says : — " Horll-gate, Hurl-gate, or Hell-gate is a 
 narrow and difficult strait in the East river, eight miles above New- York, formed by 
 projecting rocks that confine the water to a narrow and crooked channel, and causing 
 strong eddy currents." 
 
 The following description from the American Coast Pilot is a brief and business- 
 like account of this singular passage-way. " Hell Gate, and the narrow pass, leading 
 into Long Island Sound, at the time of slack water and with a leading wind, may safely 
 be attempted with frigates ; small ships and vessels, with a commanding breeze pass at 
 all times with the tide. On the flood, bound into the sound, you pass to the southward 
 of the flood rock, which is the southernmost of the three remarkable rocks in the 
 passage. On the ebb you go to the northward of the Mill rock, the stream of the tide 
 setting that way, and forming eddies in the flood passage, which at that time is rendered 
 unsafe. The Pot on which there are ten feet at low water, shows distinctly by the 
 whirlpool, as also the Pan which is a part of the Hog's Back." 
 
 * Schipper Adriaen Block's yacht being at an anchor near the east end of Blackwell's Island, this 
 poetry is supposed to have been written on the occasion. 
 
Jg HELL GATE. 
 
 On the slack of the tide in the strait, the young anglers venture to bring their 
 boat over the chasm, and vi^hile two of them with their oars keep the boat in the position 
 required, others throw out their lines and draw from the depths below, fine, large,.white. 
 nosed black fish, or the striped bass. This sport lasts only about fifteen or twenty 
 minutes at a time. The boat is darted with skill and velocity to the shore, on the 
 slightest indication that the whirlpool is awakening from its momentary repose. 
 
 Vessels are frequently wrecked in this strait. When the artist sketched the 
 view given in this number, there were two stranded vessels in sight, a faithful view of 
 them has been presented by the engraver to give spirit, truth, and nature to the scene. 
 The one in the distance on Rhinelander's reef, is the British Brig Evelina of Halifax, 
 the one in the fore ground is the Schooner Lexington of Hallowell, Me., both ship- 
 wrecked within a few days of each other. The vessels alongside are lighters in the act of 
 removing the cargoes. 
 
 The aborigines had numerous tales of wonder in regard to this whirlpool which 
 they had learned to pass with skill and safety, but not without some superstitious fears 
 of evil spirits. The first European settlers had a difierent, but not a much inferior 
 love of the marvellous, than that which the red men had cherished. They heard the 
 meanings of evil spirits before the storm, and in it their triumphant roar at the havoc 
 they had made, of property and human lives. The drowned of all times, who had 
 found a grave in this rush of waters, added the cry of danger as a warning for those 
 crossing their oozy bed. 
 
 The English frigate Huzza, during the revolutionary war, in attempting to pass 
 Hell Gate to get to sea by the sound, struck the rocks and was so much injured that 
 after sailing a few miles she sunk in deep water. It was supposed that she had a rich 
 military chest on board, destined for some British port. This general impression 
 induced some enterprising men to examine the sunken vessel by means of diving bells 
 but either they were under wrong impression in regard to the money on board of her 
 when she went down, or were not able to make a thorough examination, for they found 
 no money. The better opinion now is, that the treasure was landed before she sailed. 
 Frigates however have passed the strait in safety. Two French frigates were 
 blockaded in the harbor of New-York, by a British squadron during the French 
 revolution. By the aid of a trusty pilot, watching the most favorable winds and tides, 
 they attempted the dangerous navigation with success. One of the vessels struck the 
 rocks once, and the other twice, but neither of them received any essential injury. 
 Thousands were watching this adventurous enterprise with anxiety, but with difierent 
 feelings ; enmity has its hopes and fears, as well as friendship. Party spirit was then 
 raging with more fury than the waters of Hell Gate. 
 
 The shores on either side of the strait are beautiful, and in their sunny quietude, 
 viewed on a summer's morning, form a pleasing contrast to the agitation of the waters, 
 and the roar they make when the tide is low, and the rocks are visible. It is conjectured 
 by some philosophers that Long Island was once a part of the main land, and that in 
 some violent agitation of nature, these rocks which had perhaps been at the head of an 
 estuary, began to give way to the omnipotence of the waters, which went rushing 
 onward, conquering and dividing the heretofore main land. 
 
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View from Jersey CiLy, eugraved on wood by J. a. Adams. 
 
 NEW-YORK, FROM STATEN ISLAND, 
 
 This view, which we present our patrons, is extensive. The first prominent 
 objects are the buildings attached to the quarantine ground, and the city of New- 
 York in the distance. The whole picture is full of interest. Staten Island, from 
 which the view is taken, has an eventful history, and one which should not be 
 forgotten. The island was taken possession of by the Dutch on their arrival in 
 this country ; but the Indians still made it their favourite residence — its situation 
 being so favourable for general fishing, and particularly for obtaining oysters and 
 other shell-fish. It was a desirable territory for the new settlers. In 1630, Michael 
 Paw, a Dutch citizen, purchased the island from the Indians ; but they afl:erward3 
 declared, that the sum they received for the island was not a fair consideration, and 
 refused to quit it. The Dutch had made some few settlements on the island, which 
 were in a defenceless state, and which were attacked by the Indians, and several of the 
 inhabitants massacred. This induced the Council of New- Amsterdam to order a redoubt 
 to be built — -which was done ; but the inhabitants were still in jeopardy. In 1655, 
 another attack was made on them. In 1657, the island was again purchased of three 
 powerful sachems, Warrina, Agriepo, and Minqua. They received a fair compensation 
 at this time for the lands, as trade then was, viz. ten shirts, thirty pairs of stockings, ten 
 guns, thirty bars of lead for balls, thirty pounds of powder, twelve coats, two pieces of 
 duffil, thirty kettles, thirty hatchets, twenty-five hoes, and a case of knives and awls. 
 The Indians still lingered on the island, until 1670, unwilling to desert so pleasant 
 a place; and when they were urged to depart, they set up new claims, and demanded 
 four hundred fathoms of wampum, and a large number of guns and axes, knives, and 
 other articles, their usual wants. Governour Nichols thought it best to pay the demand, 
 
 3 
 
18 NEW- YORK, FEOM STATEN ISLAND. 
 
 rather than resort to arms for the territoj-y. On the 13th of April of that year, the 
 Indians appeared before the Council, ratified the sale, and received the payment ; and 
 on the 1st day of May following, they formally delivered up the island to Thomas Love- 
 lace' and Matthew Nichols, who were deputed by the Governour to receive it ; and the 
 Indians evacuated it forthwith, never to return. The island was then surveyed, and 
 found to be eighteen miles long, and about seven broad, somewhat rough and hilly, and 
 containing some excellent land. Staten Island was in the possession of the British a great 
 part of the revolutionary war, and of course did not appear to prosper much during that 
 period. Still the farmers found a good cash market for their produce in the camp. 
 
 After the last war with England, Governour Tompkins having purchased a large 
 part of the grounds facing the harbour and the city, adjacent to the quarantine ground, 
 set about improving the wharves and landing-places, and established a steamboat to run 
 from thence to Whitehall-slip. This enterprise gave new life to the island, and greatly 
 enhanced the value of the lands in the neighbourhood, and finally extended the effects 
 of his speculation to the whole island. This amiable and zealous patriot, (Governour 
 Tompkins,) filled, in his shprt life, many important offices of distinction. He was a 
 Legislator, Judge of the Supreme Court, Governour of the State of New- York, Major- 
 General in the United States' Army, Commander of the Third Military District, and at 
 length Vice-President of the United States. During the war he discovered the salubrity 
 of the air of the island, which induced him to make his purchases, and to commence 
 his improvements. He was judicious in his choice. When the heat is oppressive in the 
 city, here a refreshing breeze is constantly found. The invalid resorts to the island for 
 health, and the care-worn and studious, to brace up their minds for new exertions. 
 
 The high grounds of the island are about three hundred feet above the level of the 
 sea. From the heights the landscape is extensive and variegated, embracing portions 
 of all that give beauty to such a view — land, water, agricultural cultivation, and city 
 prospects. There is no spot in maritime geography, that has the advantage of this 
 quarantine ground for receiving sickly ships, arriving from distant countries. Every 
 comfort is within reach, and an hourly communication with the city is kept up. From 
 this height you have a view of Long Island, where fields are waving with golden grain, 
 or filled with nodding forests. The battle-field, on which so many gallant freemen fell 
 in the cause of liberty, is in full view. The city of New-York is in sight, stretching on 
 the North and East Rivers. As distance diminishes the magnitude of objects, the scene 
 grows more picturesque and lovely. At a distance, all the irregularities which 
 detract from the beauty of a great city, are lost ; and the bright sun shining on the 
 lofty buildings, and the still loftier spires, give to the eye that exquisite appearance 
 which the painters call the clara-obscura, the management of which in art, is only an 
 approximation of it as it exists in nature. On the left, as you stand, the magnificent 
 Hudson is seen for miles above the city, flowing onward, as it were, from under silver 
 clouds, and along imposing heights. When this gaze has made the senses ache, the eye 
 drops on the countless sails that whiten the expanse of waters, forming a strong, but 
 pleasing contrast to the colour of the ocean. The forest of masts of vessels in the 
 harbour, thick as mountain pines, forms a portion of still-life, in contrast to the motion 
 of the passing craft. 
 
 In the Hudson River, against the Battery, is another noble image. In this extensive 
 view is a ship of war. The mind rests upon her with pride, as a bulwark of national 
 defence, and a monument of national greatness. She is all our own : from our pastures 
 
NEW-YOHK, FROM STATEN ISLAND. 19 
 
 come her oaken sides — from our woods, her tall masts. She was planned and 
 fashioned by our artisans ; her armament and munitions of war are all of native birth ; 
 the hardy seamen who navigate her, were born among us ; and the officers who com- 
 mand them, are brothers of our blood — they were educated in our literary, scientific, 
 and naval schools. When this proud ship spreads her sails to catch the favouring 
 breeze, and reaches the ocean, she represents our Republic in the majesty of power, 
 bearing our thunders o'er the flood, to protect our commerce, and our national dignity 
 and honour, in every clime. How noble a spectacle is a ship of war ! From the plan 
 of the master-builder, until she is ready for sea, the whole presents a combination of 
 purpose and action, embracing invention, science, labour, and perseverance, which is 
 , rarely found in erecting any other structure. Temples and pyramids had stood for ages, 
 before man had reached the point in the progress of science and skill, required to con- 
 struct a ship of war. Formerly, when once committed to the bosom of the waters, she 
 was to remain there until she should fall a prey to winds and waves ; but not so now. 
 By still further invention, man has made dry docks, in which this mighty machine may 
 be repaired as easily as a common utensil, and withovit wetting a foot. 
 
 But what would be this mighty machine, with all its terrors, and potentiality for 
 war, if it did not convey the spirit of freemen in its numerous men and officers ; citizens 
 of a free and an enlightened country, who know and feel their duties, as the constituent 
 parts of a confederated republic 1 
 
 " What constitutes a state'! 
 Not high-rais'd battlement and labour'd mound, 
 
 Thick wall, or moated gate: 
 Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crown'd : 
 
 Not bays and broad-arm'd ports, 
 Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride : 
 
 Not starr'd and spangled courts. 
 Where low-bred baseness wafts perfume to pride. 
 
 No ! men, high-minded men, 
 With powers as far above dull brutes endued, 
 
 In forest, brake, or den, 
 As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude : 
 
 Men, who their duties know, 
 But know their rights ; and, knowing, dare maintain, 
 
 Prevent the long-aim'd blow. 
 And crush the tyrant, while they rend the chain. 
 
 These constitute a state; 
 Arid sovereign law, that state's collected will, 
 
 O'er thrones and globes elate. 
 Sits empress, crowning good, repressing ill." 
 
 Such views as these deserve all the delicacies of the pencil to delineate, and the 
 power of the pen to desCwBe. The hard, too, should call up his minstrelsy to spread 
 their fame abroad. They are the poetry of the eye, and fasten themselves stronger on 
 the muid, than sounds of melody which strike the ear. 
 
 The faithful sight 
 
 Engraves the knowledge with a beam of light." 
 
 « I lingered," wrote a friend, " on the heights of Staten Island, until the sun had 
 
 gone down, and a change had come over the landscape. The distant lights of the city 
 
 seemed little more than the fire-fly lamps suspended in air around me. AH was still as 
 
 the house of death, except the moaning of the sea as it broke on the distant shore. It 
 
20 NEW-YOEK, FROM STATEN ISLAND. 
 
 was an hour for contemplation. Turning my eyes to the heavens, where every eye 
 must rest when earthly visions fade, I repeated the lines of the poetic Darwin : — 
 
 ' Roll on, ye stars, exult in youthful prime, 
 Mark with bright curves the printless steps of time ; 
 Near and more near your beamy cars approach, 
 And lessening orbs on lessening orbs encroach. 
 Flowers of the sky ! ye too to age must yield, 
 Frail as your silken sisters of the field ! 
 Star after star from heaven's bright arch shall rush, 
 Suns sink on suns, and systems systems crush ; 
 Headlong, extinct, to one dark centre fall, 
 And death, and night, and chaos mingle all ! 
 Till o'er the wreck, emerging from the storm, 
 Immortal nature lifts her changeful form ; 
 Mounts from her funeral pyre on wings of flame. 
 And soars and shines another and the same.' 
 
 In such an hour as this, the whole landscape seemed to rest on my head, weightily, but 
 not oppressively. It was the first time I ever understood the fable of Hercules sup- 
 porting the heavens on his shoulders : it was now all clear to me. On Atlas he con- 
 templated the heavens and the Power who made them — and a weighty matter it was. 
 
 " The steamboat bell now rung for the last time for the evening, and I was led to 
 her deck almost unconscious of my whereabouts. As she moved onward, the islands 
 seemed to rest heavier on the bosom of the waters, than they did in the morning when 
 we passed them. The city lights gained upon us every moment, while Staten Island 
 receded as rapidly. The wings of the night seemed spread against the course we were 
 going. Not until I had gained the steps of the City Hotel, and heard the cheerful notes 
 of its inmates, did the poetical reverie pass away. It was one worthy the genius of 
 Byron. What was my surprise, the next morning, to find that neither painter nor poet 
 had glorified the scene !" 
 
HOBOKEN, 
 
 " There the most dainty paradise on ground, 
 
 Itself doth offer to the sober eye, 
 In which all pleasures plenteously abound, 
 
 And none does others' happiness envy : 
 The painted flowers, the trees upshooting high, 
 
 The dales for shade, the hills for breathing space, 
 The trembling groves, the crystal running by; 
 
 And that, which all fair works doth most aggrace, 
 
 The art, which all that wrought, appeared in no place. 
 
 " One would have thought (so cunningly the rude 
 
 And scorned parts were mingled with the fine,) 
 That Nature had for wantonness ensued 
 
 Art, and that Art at Nature did repine ; 
 So striving each th' other to undermine, 
 
 Each did the other's work more beautify; 
 So differing both in wills, agreed in fine : 
 
 So all agreed through sweet diversity, 
 
 This garden to adorn with all variety." 
 
 Spentier's Bcwer of Bliss. 
 
 HoBOKEN has, by the combination of circumstances, become a place of interest to 
 the public. It is situated on the Jersey shore of the Hudson, opposite the foot of Canal 
 street, which runs from the centre of the city of New- York to the river. The Hudson 
 in this part is not quite a mile in vcidth. The banks of the river from which our view 
 was taken, are bold, and easy of approach^ from the depth of water near the shore. 
 Hoboken is a Dutch word, and is the name of a town in Bergen County, in the State 
 of New-Jersey ; it was early settled by the Dutch, whose descendants have changed in 
 their habits, manners, and language, less than any others of the same origin in this 
 country. These Bergeners are industrious, frugal, prosperous yeomen, content with 
 their situation as members of society. It is but a few years since, that the town of 
 Hoboken was thinly peopled ; but, through the enterprise of one family, Colonel Stevens 
 and his sons, the place has flourished in a surprising manner. They have made Hobo- 
 ken a most delightful retreat for a summer's day. On reaching the shore, at Hoboken 
 ferry, you rise a gentle ascent to a lawn in front of a large and commodious inn. The 
 lawn is shaded with noble elms and other wholesome trees, under which the visiter may 
 generally find a fresh and invigorating sea-breeze ; and have choice refreshments 
 brought to his seat. Here, throwing aside all care, people of every grade in society 
 meet to pass the afternoon, when the heat of the city is oppressive. Considering the 
 mixed company found here, the decorum of the place is proverbial. — Some days there 
 are not less than twenty thousand visiters on the ground, from lisping infancy to decre- 
 pitude, all in search of health and pleasure. Within a few rods of this gay retreat, 
 Colonel Stevens has erected machine shops, on a large scale, in which he fabricates 
 steam engines, for boats, mills, and for domestic purposes, as well as the ponderous 
 
 4 
 
22 HOBOKEN. 
 
 locomotives, by which the commerce of the interiour is carried on, over railroads. — 
 Railroads and locomotives are the last great passion of civilized man. Turnpikes and 
 canals, which a few years since occupied the human mind to an immense extent, have 
 now yielded the palm to railroads. It is a magnificent triumph for science and art. 
 The locomotives, massy, and heavy, outweighing the wheels of the car of Jugger- 
 naut, are seen driven along, by the fire of heaven, made a vassal to the genius of man, 
 with a rapidity that " scorneth the horse and his rider," carrying in their trains " loads 
 that would sink a navy." 
 
 Near the lawn, a few rods northerly, a cottage was pointed out to the visiter, which 
 had lately been the residence of one of the first of American poets. In this rural lodge 
 he "built the lofty verse;" but is now wandering in the vales of Arno, among the 
 Florentine muses, where Dante sung, or breathing poetic inspiration over Maro's tomb. 
 Wherever he goes, may the blessings of his country follow him : he has added to her 
 fame, and she will not be unmindful of his glory. Wherever he wanders, or wherever 
 he rests, on the Danube or the Rhine, he will pever find a more picturesque river than 
 his own Hudson. He resided here during the winter as well as summer, and sung to 
 the dying leaf, as it fell on the autumnal blast : 
 
 " Where are the flowers, the fair young flowers, that lately sprung and stood 
 In brighter light and softer airs, a beauteous sisterhood 1 
 Alas ! they all are in their graves ; the gentle race of flowers 
 Are lying in their lowly beds, with the fair and good of ours. 
 The rain is falling where they lie ; but the cold November rain 
 Calls not, from out the gloomy earth, the lovely ones again. 
 
 " The wind-flower and the violet, they perish'd long ago. 
 And the wild-rose and the orchis died amid the summer's glow ; 
 But on the hill the golden-rod, and the aster in the wood, 
 And the yellow sun-flower by the brook, in autumn beauty stood. 
 Till fell the frost from the clear cold.heaven, as falls the plague on men. 
 And the brightness of their smile was gone from upland glade and glen." 
 
 South from the lawn at Hoboken, the view is magnificent and picturesque. If you 
 keep your eye directed along the shore, at the distance of less than two miles you have 
 an imposing view of Jersey City, an old settlement, but one which did not flourish much 
 until steamboats came into use, when the distance of the place from the city of New- 
 York seemed almost annihilated by the use of the invention. This small city, destined, 
 no doubt, to be one of magnitude in no very distant day, is pleasantly situated on the 
 Hudson. The ground rises gradually from the river, and the elevation is favourable 
 to the appearance of the buildings, particularly at a distance. One edifice, seen here, 
 brings a pleasant feature of antiquity to the view ; it is a lofty wind-mill, — an invention 
 of an early age, but one which is now almost entirely superseded by the use of water 
 power, and by the discovery of steam, and the invention of engines, to bring it to the 
 business of life. The early inhabitants of the earth in the East, invented mills to grind 
 their grain for bread. The machine was in one respect the same as grist-mills are 
 now ; for in primitive history we read of the upper and nether mill-stone ; but their 
 machines were turned by manual labour. In a later day the ingenuity of man char, 
 tered the air, and directed the winds, to diminish his labour in getting his bread. The 
 water power for the same purpose is of more modern use. It is said by some historians 
 that this experiment was first made on the great acqueducts which supplied Byzantium 
 with water, and was successful. When the city was besieged, the enemy cut off this 
 
HOBOKEN. 23 
 
 means of facilitating the feeding the inhabitants, but the inventive genius of the great 
 Belisarius put the tide-mill on the Bosphorus, making the waters which passed between 
 two vessels, placed at a proper distance, subservient to his purpose of turning a wheel. 
 It then was, as it now is, that necessity is the mother of invention. Imaginary necessity 
 now produces what absolute necessity once did. The gazer reluctantly turns his eyes 
 from the wind-mill, for there is something in motion, that in our philosophy comes nearer 
 to the heart of man, than a picture of still life, and which seems more readily to awaken 
 his reasoning faculties. The errours of art, corrected by experience, are within the 
 observer's ken, in this very place of his ease. The fortifications at Governor's Island, 
 and at what is now called Castle Garden, were all erected on an exploded military 
 system, and are now rather used for residence and pleasure, than for defence, — but 
 they serve to give relief to the vision, and to awaken reflections on the constancy 
 of change. 
 
 Tired with ease, the visiter withdraws the wanderings nf his sight, and in a few 
 rods north of the lawn finds a gravelled walk, shaded by thick woods, which is a most 
 delightful promenade, to quite an extent. No expense has been spared to make this 
 pathway one of exquisite taste, and full of romantic variety. It is lovely and grateful 
 in the morning, at noontide, and at dew-fall. — In numerous places, as you become 
 enamoured with the beauties of nature, the broad expanse of waters is seen through the 
 openings of the trees and shrubbery, on the northeast, and the City of New-York is in 
 view. At times, portions, and often nearly the whole water line from the Battery to 
 fer up the river, is within the angle of vision, by a slight change of position. The city, 
 in this view, is truly grand, for the humbler portions of the buildings are hid by larger 
 and more magnificent ones. If the visiter feels a disposition to rest for a moment, he 
 will find a seat, on which he may pursue his further contemplations undisturbed. The 
 component parts of a great city are worthy a passing thought, even if we are indifferent 
 to many other things. The riches and poverty it contains, its ignorance and intelli- 
 gence, its mirth and its mourning, its industry and idleness, its peace and discord, its 
 happiness and misery, are all subjects of deep philosophical inquiry, and afibrd a rational 
 repast for an hour, to the philosopher of any school. 
 
 By this gravelled walk you reach the Mansion House of Colonel Stevens, which is 
 surrounded by grounds laid out with great judgement and taste, in the best modern 
 style, and ornamented with a profusion of shrubbery and trees, and perfumed with 
 showers of roses and other flowers of the season, giving the extensive fields the appear- 
 ance of a succession of gardens. 
 
 The possessors of this beautiful seat are men of genius, wealth, and liberality. 
 The senior. Colonel Stevens, was one of the first who hailed the inventions of Fulton 
 with enthusiasm, and threw himself, and the future hopes of his family, into the great 
 work of steamboat navigation. After the death of Fulton, he found that the mantle 
 of that eagle genius had fallen on his shoulders, and it lost nothing of its virtues or 
 honour by his wear. The ferry-boats, seen touching the shore every fifteen minutes, 
 are but the light craft of his steamboat fleet, which ply on the waters of the Hudson or 
 the Sound. He, with his intelligent sons, did not stop with steamboats, but extended 
 their philosophical inquiries and effective exertions to railroads, and all their attendant 
 machinery. In all their undertakings they have been prosperous. Theirs was no 
 feverish spasm of enterprise, that acts a while with fury, and then sinks with exhaustion ; 
 but it was the mild and warm light of mind, that looked back on what had been done 
 
24 HOBOKEN. 
 
 with the spirit of examination, around upon whatever was being done, without wonder 
 or envy, and rose to a determination what to do, with clearness of vision and firmness 
 of purpose. Such men are the great benefactors of a people, and secure their own 
 interests in their own works. They wait for no spontaneous burst of gratitude from a 
 cold and parsimonious legislature, who often grant as a charity to public benefactors a 
 scanty consideration, which they should have quadrupled, as only a partial remunera- 
 tion. It is delightful to see such enterprising men controlling, in a measure, public 
 opinion, and public interest, instead of wasting their time in working to penetrate stupid 
 skulls, or to soften obdurate hearts. There is no other instance in our country of such 
 princely liberality to the public, as this, of devoting tloboken to the health and pleasure 
 of all classes of society, without any tax on them whatever. The proprietors keep the 
 grounds in repair at their own expense. The slightest demand on the privilege of 
 visiting these pleasure grounds, would amount to a greater income than any public 
 functionary in the United States enjoys. The time must come, but may the day be far 
 distant, when, like sweet Auburn, the scene will be changed, and every few rods of 
 ground be occupied by the habitations of men, where are now the sylvan shades for the 
 weary, the sick, and the tasteful. The imagination calls up that future day, when the 
 banks of the Hudson, like those of some of the great rivers in Europe and Asia, will 
 teem with one unbroken line of the race of men, from its source to its ocean. waters. 
 
 It is not a little remarkable, that these groves of Hoboken, which are the favourite 
 haunts of poets, should not have been more often mentioned in song. The following 
 little gem is from the pen of one of our fair lovers of the Muse, yet in her teens, who, 
 with tasteful hand, unwounded by the thorns, plucks the wild-flowers in her path, and 
 strews them on the gale. 
 
 " HOBOKEN. 
 
 " When made weary and sad, by the bustle of life, 
 I have sought for a refuge from turmoil and strife — 
 To thy shores, like a mother's fond arms, I have fled, 
 Alii on thy loved bosom, have pillow'd my head, 
 
 Sweet — sweet Hoboken! 
 
 " 'Mid thy shades, there falls ever the dew of repose, — 
 Our afTections upspringing its virtues disclose — 
 And the heart that no joy from the world can derive, 
 Will feel all its freshness and verdure revive, 
 
 In sweet Hoboken! 
 
 " Peaceful harbour of rest from the ocean of care ! 
 May no changes the charm of thy beauty impair. 
 But Art be the handmaid of Nature for ever. 
 Nor dare from her brow— the bright tresses to sever. 
 
 Sweet — sweet Hoboken ! 
 
 " Fit emblem art thou, of the bow'rs of the blest. 
 Where the world-wearied spirit at last is at rest j 
 And when Death's fearful river my frail bark shall dare, 
 Oh ! may I be beckon'd by visions more fair — 
 
 Than thee, Hoboken!" 
 
WEEHAWKEN, 
 
 "Weehawken! in thy mountain scenery yet, 
 All we adore of nature, in her wild 
 And frolic hour of infancy, is met ; 
 
 And never has a summer's morning smiled 
 Upon a lovelier scene, than the full eye 
 Of the enthusiast revels on, when high 
 
 " Amid these forest solitudes, he climbs 
 
 O'er crags, that proudly tower above the deep, 
 And knows that sense of danger, which sublimes 
 
 The breathless moment — when his daring step 
 Is on the verge of the cliff, and he can hear 
 The low dash of the wave with startled ear, 
 
 " Like the death music of his coming doom. 
 
 And clings to the green turf with desperate force. 
 
 As the heart clings to life ; and when resume 
 
 The currents in his veins their wonted course, 
 
 There lingers a deep feehng— like the moan 
 
 Of wearied ocean, when the storm is gone." 
 
 Fitz Greene Plalleolc. 
 
 The walk to the Elysian Fields is a continuation of that from Hoboken. The 
 place is on a gently-rising ground, and, from the scenery, is not improperly named. 
 The trees are sparse, and there is less of entangled wild-wood than the visiter has pre- 
 viously met, in his course to this romantic spot. The Elysian Fields are, in every 
 bright day, fully peopled ; but this does not disturb any one ; for here, as in those delight- 
 ful abodes of departed spirits, described by ancient poets, where the pious .^neas saw 
 the venerated shade of his father Anchises, and was made known to others who were 
 once conspicuous in the world, and all of them were indulging their favourite amuse, 
 ments, as when among men ; — in our Elysian Fields were seen lovers abstracted from 
 the crowds, 
 
 " The world forgetting, by the world forgot," 
 
 wandering hand in hand in this sacred retreat, and with gentle murmurs, inaudible to 
 the ear of suspicious watchers who might wish to mar their happiness. There are 
 always among men those who, like the serpent, lurk among the flowers, to wound the 
 tender foot of love with their stings ; but whatever might be the danger of the enam- 
 oured pair, they ever were unconscious of it, and strolled along this bower of taste, as 
 if no clouds or darkness could ever hang upon their path, or prospects. Near them sat 
 a successful speculator, calculating upon the enormous rise of stocks and real estate ; 
 his pockets were filled with maps drawn out neatly, and coloured attractively, « which 
 ever and anon " he drew out, and indulged in a hearty gaze, which seemed to send a 
 summer feeling to his heart, while he was bsensible to all the beauties of nature around 
 him. The golden visions grew up before him, and he started in ecstasy to return to 
 
 5 
 
26 WEEHAWKEN. 
 
 " where merchants most do congregate." In " a copse hard by," three or four politi- 
 cians formed a group, and in close whispers were dispensing offices, calculating upon 
 the returns of votes, and making out the States whose electoral colleges would support 
 their favourite candidate for the highest office in the gift of the people. Their counte- 
 nances were for ever changing, now lighted up with a smile, and then elongated by 
 some doubt or sad omen, as they glanced their eyes to one sitting with " sad civility," 
 reading a volume of reminiscences ; he had sounded all the depths and shoals of honour ; 
 had filled numerous high offices, and been conspicuous in all ; but now, in his old age, 
 was friendless and poor, deserted by those his former bounty fed, and coolly received, 
 perhaps, by those who were indebted to him for their success in life. Such instances 
 are not uncommon, any where, and his appearance was a momentary lesson to the 
 ambitious group. There passed on his right hand a sprightly youth, in company with 
 one much his senior, who was listening to the boy's animated account of rare chances 
 for making a fortune ; but the aged man did not condescend to look upon them. On 
 his left, a laughing, lovely girl was gathering flowers ; he did see her, and she, catching 
 his glance, brought him a boquet, and begged his acceptance of it ; which he received 
 with a smile and a polite reply. It was the only kind look he had received from any 
 one, while he was sitting in the grove. The groups continued their wanderings^ having 
 but little community of feeling, and less of intercourse. As the world becomes more 
 crowded, the less social are its inhabitants. Even in the Elysian Fields one would not 
 ramble for ever. The visiter, leaving these fairy lands, and proceeding northwest, 
 across a low road made over marshy ground, arrives at Weehawken hill ; here he 
 begins to feel " liow hard it is to climb ;" but when he arrives at the summit, he is amply 
 rewarded for his pains, such fine and varied views burst upon him on every side. The 
 island of Manhattan and part of Westchester county is within his scope, the river far 
 up, is seen, and on the left, glens, forests, vales, and meandering streams, all crowd into 
 the great panorama. In this wild retreat one grows romantic, and inquires if this place 
 has no legends to amuse the traveller ; the guide, for the visiter generally is accompa. 
 nied by some one, who is acquainted with the scenery, may recite the following, from 
 the pen of one of the sweetest of American writers ; 
 
 "River and mountain! though to song 
 Not yet, perchance, your names belong ; 
 Those who have loved your evening hues, 
 Will ask not the recording Muse 
 What antique tales she can relate, 
 Your banks and steeps to consecrate. 
 
 " Yet should the stranger ask, what lore 
 Of by-gone days, this winding shore. 
 Yon cliffs and fir-clad steeps could tell, 
 If vocal made by Fancy's spell, — 
 The varying legend might rehearse 
 Fit themes for high, romantic verse. 
 
 " O'er yon rough heights and moss-clad sod 
 Oft hath the stalworth warrior trod j 
 Or peered, with hunter's gaze, to mark' 
 The progress of the glancing bark. 
 Spoils, strangely won on distant waves, 
 Have lurk'd in yon obstructed caves. 
 
WEEHAWKEN. 27 
 
 " When the great strife for Freedom rose, 
 Here scouted oft her friends and foes, 
 Alternate, through the changeful war. 
 And beacon-fires flash'd bright and far; 
 And here, when Freedom's strife was won, 
 Pell, in sad feud, her favour'd son ;— 
 
 "Her son,— the second of the band. 
 The Romans of the rescued land. 
 Where round yon cape the banks ascend, 
 Long shall the pilgrim's footsteps bend ; 
 There, mirthful hearts shall pause to sigh, 
 There, tears shall dim the patriot's ej'e. 
 
 " There, last he stood. Before his sight 
 Flow'd the fair river, free and bright ; 
 The rising Mart, and Isles, and Bay, 
 Before him in their glory lay, — 
 Scenes of his love, and of his fame, — 
 The instant ere the death shot came." 
 
 On the heights of the Weehawken bluff, is situated the mansion house of James 
 Gore King, Esq., more );han two miles from Hoboken ferry. It is a large stone edifice, 
 of the Doric order. The grounds around it show the power of the subduing hand of 
 intelligence, wealth, and taste ; — ^these form a talisman, that, like the wand of Ariosto's 
 enchantress, can cause an Eden to spring up on the burning desert, or on the sterile 
 promontory. Art has, on this eminence, transplanted the flowers of warmer suns to 
 the native bed of the snow-drop. 
 
 On his return, the visiter took the main road through Hoboken village, to reach the 
 ferry. About half a mile before he came to the lawn which he had left, the grave of 
 one of the most tasteful poets and most excellent scholars of the country, was pointed 
 out to him. The poet came to his narrow bed in early manhood, cut off by a sudden 
 death ; a few hours before his exit from this world, he was in the full enjoyment of 
 health, and was delighting his friends by a copious flow of his chaste imagination. He 
 had, for several years, indulged his taste for literature in the periodicals of the day. 
 Many of these effusions were lovely and spirited ; but we turn to his principal work, 
 Yamoyden, for the brightest coronal of his fame as a poet. This work was written in 
 connection with a bosom friend of his youth, a young ecclesiastic, who found an early 
 grave ; and whose loss the survivor deplored in a proem to Yamoyden, in a strain of 
 exquisite and touching eloquence. He mourned him as one with whom 
 
 -" began the love 
 
 Of sacred song; the wont, in golden dreams, 
 'Mid classic realms of splendours past to rove. 
 O'er haunted steep, and by immortal streams: — 
 Where the blue wave, with sparkling bosom gleams 
 Round shores, the mind's eternal heritage. 
 For ever lit by memory's twilight beams: 
 Where the proud dead that live in storied page 
 Beckon, with awful port, to glory's earlier age j" 
 
 and with whom he had essayed to 
 
 " wake the plumed chieftains brave. 
 
 And bid their martial hosts arise again. 
 
 Where Narragansett's tides roll by their graves. 
 
 And Haup's romantic steeps are piled above the wave." 
 
28 WEEHAWKEN. 
 
 About thirty rods from the common road to this last, which runs through the village 
 of Hoboken, is the resting place of Robert C. Sands. It is. a lonely spot, neither con- 
 secrated by tree, shrub, or flower. It is a little enclosure, fenced by frail rails, and 
 just marked by a few rising sods, a simple assurance that some of his kindred sleep 
 there. Over the ashes of the scholar there stands a chaste marble monument, of Egyp. 
 tian model, of exquisite whiteness ; fit emblem of the purity of his mind. Thete is 
 something shocking in the loneliness of the place, — genius should repose in the full 
 congregation of the dead, and his epitaph should be written for all to read. To be 
 crowded into Westminster Abbey has been the passion of poets and heroes, and to be 
 conspicuous even in the grave, is no mean passion, any where. The mansions of the 
 dead should be consecrated, and made sacred. Where Sands sleeps, the next specu- 
 lator may cut a highway, lay out lots, and treat his ashes with no more reverence than 
 if they had never been animated with celestial fire. In the progress of taste and feeling 
 may some Mount Auburn be found among us, in which a comer may be dedicated to 
 the poets and scholars, to which the bones of the dead may be removed, and where the 
 living may expect to repose, if they have merited the distinction. Then, " the storied 
 urn and animated bust " may be incentives to greatness. It is the affectation of a cold 
 and miserable philosophy, to be indifferent to the dead, or to be neglectfiil of the graves 
 of our ancestors, and of those who have lived with us. The honours paid to those who 
 fell in battle, made heroes of myriads of those who afterwards went out to fight ; and 
 would not the principle run through every action in human life? While others hail 
 those rising into fame, I will pour out my afiections on those departed, never to return ; 
 or, in the language of him we mourn, 
 
 " Let others hail the oriflamme of morn, 
 
 O'er kindling hill unfurl'd with gorgeous dyea I 
 O, mild blue Evening ! still to thee I turn, 
 
 With holier thoughts, and with undazzled eyes : — 
 
 Where wealth and power with glare and splendour rise, 
 Let fools and slaves disgustful incense burn ! 
 
 Still, memory's moonlight lustre let me prize j 
 The great, the good, whose course is o'er, discern, 
 And, from their glories past, time's mighty lessons learn !"