we are connected. There are other Atlantic ports besides New York, other Rivers besides the Hudson, other Canals and Rail Roads besides our own, other govern- ments besides the City Councils I address, and the Legislature of our State ; and although the trade of the continent now flows in our channels, it has not worn them so deeply that it may not yet be diverted. Believe me, fellow-citizens, that I speak for no temporary effect and with no personal motive. I have reason to love the State of New York, not merely like all her sons, but I owe her a debt that few are ever permitted to incur. If, short of Heaven, I have an ob- ject paramount to her welfare and honor, I know it not ; and if I have a thought, feeling> or emotion inconsistent with her best and highest interests, may this right arm drop off and may this tongue forget its cunning. With pride which none but a Citizen of the State of New York can know, I offer to this vast asssembly this sentiment : — THE CITY OP NEW YORK — One American Community, which through a trying crisis and amidst discouraging embarrassments, has prosecuted the system of physical improvement, at the same time maintaining its credit and completing its works. The company soon after separated ; and in conclusion, the evening throughout the city, says the New World, was as quiet and orderly as though it had followed but an ordinary day. All the places of public amusement were thronged in the evening. A large and re- spectable congregation were present at the Tabernacle, to listen to the singing of the Sacred Music Society, and the address of Rev. Dr. Samuel H. Cox, on music. The fair at Niblo's was crowded to suffocation. Many t were doubtless attracted thither by the splendid display of fire-works which took place in the garden at half-past eight. Castle Garden was also visited by a large number of spectators to see the Balloon ascension and the fire-works exhibited there also. The Museums, the Astor House, and Howard's Hotel were brilliantly illuminated in the evening. CROTONAQ.UEDUCT. 305 The most beautiful spectacle of the evening was the illumination of the Astor House, by Messrs, Coleman & Stetson. They had so arranged their preparations, that all the lamps were hung at the seven hundred window lights, with a servant at each window ready at the sound of the gong to apply the tapers. The whole were thus illu- minated in a twinkling. We were standing in front at the moment, and the effect was beautiful. Throughout the day and evening the magnificent fountains in the Park and Union Square were kept in full play, and formed the most novel, as well as the most pleasing feature of the day. There was much, says the Commercial Advertiser, very much — indeed we may say every thing — in this celebration, to excite strongly the most grateful feelings and reflec- tions. The favorable condition of the weather, the immense magnitude and vast utility of the achievement whose completion it was designed to honor, the perfect success that has attended the great work, in the quality of the water and its overflowing abundance, the facility with which it is distributed, and the happy effects it is already visibly producing — the universal satisfaction with which the celebration and its objects were regarded — the beauty of the fountains, and the proud consciousness which every citizen of New York felt that his or her own cherished and honored city had, in this mighty undertaking, accomplished a 'work with no superior, either for extent or for excellence of object — all these were elements of gratification such as it is not often the pleasant lot of a municipal peopte to enjoy ; and they were enjoyed, temperately, yet with an exquisite satisfaction. And apart from these, there was the sense of grandeur always called into being by the sight of the presence of a great multitude, animated by one impulse, and moving or acting in the attainment of a common object. Nor was the proud reflection absent, that under the benign influence of political institutions which give and secure to every man his equal share in the general rights, powers and duties of citizenship — amid this great convulsion, as it may be called — this mighty upheaving and commingling of society — where half a million of people were brought together into one mass as it were, there was not a guard, a patrol, a sentry, not even a solitary policeman, stationed any where to hold in check the ebullition of social or political excitement — that there was need of none — and that the peace, order, and quiet of