deserves the palm. I suspect that Vesuvius is more than sufficient to turn the balance." *

When the Dutch first established themselves on the Island, its surface presented a very irregular appearance. In some places, the ground rose into craggy hills; in other parts were low hollows and marshy swamps. By great labour and expense, that part on which the City is built, has been nearly levelled, and the marshes filled up. Only a few years ago, there was still a lake of fresh water, called "the Collect," near the middle of the City, of which scarcely a vestige remains; and towards the East River, there was a considerable elevation called Bayard's Mount, which has been nearly all cleared away to make room for level streets. In 1640, New York was a mere village, and the only dwelling-houses were few, low, and straggling. The most prominent buildings were then, according to its erudite and right pleasant historian, Diedrich Knickerbocker, "the Fort, the Church of St. Nicholas, the Jail, the Governor's house, the Gallows, the Pillory, the West India Stores, and the City Tavern," of which there are now no remains. In 1697, thirtyfour years after the Dutch had been expelled by the English, the population of New York amounted to only 4302 persons. In 1790, it had increased to upwards of 33,000 (including 2369 slaves). In 1810, it had risen to 96,000; in 1816, to 100,619; in 1819, to 119,657; in 1826, to 166,086; and it must now exceed 170,000, including the population of Brooklyn on the opposite shore of Long Island, which may be considered as a suburb.+

For a long time after the Independence of the

Duncan, vol. i. pp. 27-34.

+ La Fayette, vol, i, p. 20. Mr. Cooper states it at about 200,000.

United States had been established, New York had to contend for supremacy against a powerful rivalry. "Philadelphia, distant less than a hundred miles, was not only more wealthy and more populous, but, for many years, it enjoyed the éclat and advantage of being the capital of the Union. Boston and Baltimore are both sea-ports of extensive connections and of great and enlightened enterprise. Against this serious competition, however, New York struggled with success, gradually obtaining the superiority in tonnage and in population; until, within a few years, opposition has silently yielded to the force of circumstances, and those towns, which had so long been rivals, have become auxiliaries to her aggrandisement." * In 1793, the number of vessels that entered this port from foreign countries was 683, and coastwise, 1381. The exports had amounted, the preceding year, to 2,535,790 dollars, and the customs to 1,256,738 dollars. In 1795, the customs were double that amount, and the exports had quadrupled. In 1816, the latter amounted in value to 19,690,031 dollars. In the following years, they declined, amounting, in 1820, to only 13,163,244 dollars, of which about one-third was foreign produce. But in 1825, they had risen to 35,259,261 dollars, of which foreign produce constituted two-fifths. The revenue collected at this port, has amounted of late to one-fourth of the total sum collected by Government thoughout the United States.+

The natural advantages of its position must always render this port an important emporium. It is the

Cooper's Notions, vol. i. p. 163.

+ Dwight, vol. iii. p. 450. Picture of New York, p. 143. Carey and Lea, p. 148. The chief exports from this State consist of wheat, maize, rye, beef, pork, lumber, pearl-ash, and manufactured goods.

first practicable port at all seasons of the year, after quitting the mouth of the Chesapeake for the northward. It lies in the angle formed by the coast, and whence the courses to Europe, to the West Indies, or to the Southern Atlantic, can be made direct. Ships from Virginia or Louisiana commonly pass within a day's sail of New York on their way to Europe; and coasters from Boston frequently stop at the wharfs of this City, to deposit part of their freight, before proceeding further southward. Its capacious and excellent roadstead, its secure port and magnificent bay, are not its only advantages. It commands an internal navigation of almost unequal extent. Eastward, the Sound opens to it 200 miles of the New England shore, and 140 of that of Long Island. Through the adjacent bays, small vessels penetrate in almost every direction into New Jersey. Northward, the Hudson, "the finest natural canal in the world," affords a navigation of 170 miles; and by means of the great canals communicating with Lake Erie on the one side * and Lake Champlain on the other, this City has

The Erie Canal, extending from that Lake to the Hudson, a distance of 360 miles, was begun in 1817, and completed in 1825, at an expense of 5,000,000 dollars. It is deservedly characterized as one of the greatest works of the kind ever undertaken. It is 40 feet wide on the surface, 28 at the bottom, and 4 feet deep. From Buffalo on Lake Erie to Montezuma on Seneca river (155 miles), the level uniformly descends; the total descent is 194 feet by 21 locks. From Montezuma to Utica (96 miles), it uniformly ascends, the ascent being 49 feet by 9 locks; but for 67 miles there is not a lock. From Utica to Albany (109 miles), it again descends 419 feet by 51 locks.-Carey and Lea.

The Champlain Canal, 22 miles in length, connecting that Lake with the Hudson, was completed in 1820. But since then, this canal appears to have been extended, so as to fall into the great western canal, its total extent being now estimated at 64 miles. The cost of both canals was 9,123,000 dollars. The tolls amounted in 1825, to 500,000 dollars; in 1827, to 850,000.

become the concentrating point of the commerce of the Great Lakes on the left, and the State of Vermont on the right. Another canal, commenced in 1825, is to unite the Hudson with the head waters of the Delaware; and one is in progress, which, by connecting those of the Ohio with Lake Erie, will open an inland communication between New York and New Orleans, a distance of more than 2000 miles. Three or four hundred vessels, averaging forty tons, are employed continually on the Hudson during the mild season; and the advantages arising from the application of steam to navigation, of which New York first set the example, are here exhibited in their fullest extent.

Owing to the recent and rapid increase of its business and population, New York wears the appearance almost of a new city; and a description of a few years' standing, becomes obsolete. Lambert, who travelled in 1806-8, describes it as the finest and most agreeable city, as regards its situation and buildings, in the United States; having "neither the narrow and confined irregularity of Boston, nor the monotonous regularity of Philadelphia, but a happy medium between both."

Land in this city, which, twenty years before, had sold for 50 dollars, was then worth 1500; so rapidly had it risen in value. It contained at that time thirty-three places of worship; which, if correct, was only thirteen more than in 1789. Dr. Dwight, however, describing the city in 1811, enumerates fiftyfive. In 1821, the whole number of churches and chapels in the city and county of New York, was 71; and they are now stated to amount to 99; viz. Presbyterian (Trinitarian), 22; Episcopal, 18; Baptist, 14; Reformed Dutch, 13; Methodist Society, 3; Methodist Episcopal, 7; Methodist African, 3; Independents, 4; Friends, 3; Roman Catholics, 3; Lu

therans, 2; Unitarians, 2; Universalists, 2; Moravians, 1; Hebrew Synagogue, 1; New Jerusalem, 1. Besides which, the State Prison, the Penitentiary, the Alms-house, the Bridewell, and the Debtors' Prison, are all furnished with chapels, in which the doctrines of the Reformation are faithfully preached.*

Among the churches, Dr. Dwight particularizes St. John's, in Hudson's Square, as one of the richest, and, in the interior, one of the most beautiful. The steeple of St. Paul's is praised, but the church is massive and heavy. + The other public buildings, besides the prisons above referred to, are a General Hospital and Lunatic Asylum, Columbia College, a Free School, an Orphan Asylum, a Public Library, the Custom House, the United States' Arsenal, the State Arsenal, two Theatres, the Banks, the City Hotel, the Tontine Coffee House, and the Halls occupied by the Washington, Mechanics, and Tammany Societies. None of

* In Morse's American Geography, published in 1789, the places of worship in New York are enumerated as follows:-Reformed Dutch, 3; Presbyterians, 4; Episcopal, 3; German, Lutheran and Calvinists, 2; Roman Catholic, 1; Friends, 1; Baptist, 2; Moravians, 1; Methodists, 1; Jews' Synagogue, 1; French Protestant church (out of repair), 1: total, 20.

St. Paul's Chapel in Broadway, completed in 1766, contains, Morse says, "a superb monument, erected by order of Congress, to the memory of the brave General Montgomery, who fell in the attack of Quebec, in December 1775."

The Tammany Society, or Columbian Order, was professedly established to afford relief to persons in distress. Its principal business, however, Dr. Dwight says, is believed to be that of influencing elections. The Washington Benevolent Society also, though really employed in many benevolent purposes, is substantially a political association. The same may be said of some others. -Dwight, vol. iii. p. 440. The number of ostensibly benevolent societies in New York, is stated by Lambert to be 31. They have since then increased. Some of them are of an undeniably disinterested and philanthropic character. Captain Basil Hall speaks