and urban life.^ At the same time, Americans longed to place the United States in a cultural continuum of noble historical progress, and aqueducts symbolized the achievements of great civi- lizations. Technological progress was avidly desired, yet on some level, viewed with ambivalence.^ Thomas Cole depicted the fate of corrupt nations in his Course of Empire series for the art gallery of New York City art patron Lumen Reed (1833-36, now in the collec- tion of The New- York Historical Society). The Croton Aqueduct's imagery — in public celebration, written accounts, popular engraving and advertisements, as well as fine art — reflects this cultural response to technology and progress In the mid-19th century and the iconography of its expression. The Croton Water system had the advantage of historical associations with aqueducts of the past, bringing to the City and countryside associations with the classical heritage and vistas of Europe. A majority of 19th-century descriptions and representations promote the Aqueduct as a paragon of urban achievement, yet also invoke arcadian imagery. By focusing on the bucolic quality of its setting, many contemporary representations, like those in assistant engi- neer Fayette B. Tower's book Illustrations of the Croton Aqueduct (1843), implied that the Aqueduct, while bringing New York City the necessary water to grow into a teaming metropolis, fit harmoniously into pastoral ideals of the landscape and, in fact, enhanced it. The arrival of Croton water in New York City, on July 4, 1842, engendered a great deal of public excitement. Though the official celebration was more than 3 months away, citizens crowded the parapet of the great Distributing Reservoir at 42nd Street to watch it fill with water." In a diary entry of 1842, ex-Major Philip Hone exclaimed, "Nothing is talked of or thought of in New York but Croton water. "^ City officials planned a grand celebration for October 14, to allow time for distribution to proceed into the homes and new public fountains.^ The multi-faceted event featured a day off from work for the citizens, a procession from Battery Park to the City Hall Park, and the ringing of church bells throughout the City (figure 46). The lengthy parade included public officials, fire compa- nies, visiting dignitaries, engineers, contractors and workers on the Aqueduct, as well as representatives of many professions, trades, and the temperance movement — all stakeholders in the success and impact of the Croton Aqueduct.^ In imagining the Aqueduct and how it would affect their lives. New Yorkers hoped for an end to the devastating fires and epi- demics plaguing their city — many also hoped that drunkenness would be reduced with the availability of water palatable without the addition of alcohol. ^ George P. Morris' "The Croton Ode," which was sung at the close of the parade with music "adapted" from Rossini's opera Amida by Sidney Pearson, gave poetic expression to these desires, amid copious classical and biblical symbolism: (Jushmg from this living fountain, Music pours a falling strain, As the Goddess of the Mountain, Comes with all the sparkling train .... Eden's arch of promise bending over her translucent brow .... Let intemperance greet her too. And the heat of his delusion Sprinkle with this mountain-dew. Water leaps as if delighted. While her conquered foes retire! Pale Contagion flies affrighted with the baffled demon Fire ....^ figure 46: J. F. Atwill, publisher. Croton Water Celebration. 1842, litho- graphed music title for "The Croton Ode" Courtesy The J. Clarence Davies Collection, Museum of the City of New York. 29.100.2036 Charles King's A Memoir of the Construction, Cost and Capacity of the Croton Aqueduct ... together n'ith an account of the Civic Celebration (1843) features the most comprehensive description of the Croton Aqueduct Celebration. Commissioned by the politicians responsible for the Aqueduct, his work can be viewed both as an urban chronicle and partisan political statement. King filled his compendium not only with verbatim reprintings of many official reports, but also histrionic praise for the great public work, making, as did Fayette Tower, the requisite comparison to renowned aque- ducts of the Old World. By including the aqueducts of the New World Indians, King and Tower affirmed the associations of this part of the world with classical antiquity. King, a merchant and editor of the Ne-d; York American,^" also used weighty rhetoric to stress American superiority in achieving such a great public work by the vote and fiscal commitment of civic- minded citizens, rather than by imperial decree. Making more than one reference to its construction by freemen, King argued American democracy, surpassing corrupt civilizations of the past, would avoid their fall into desolation. Such pointed commentary can hardly fail to be inspired by the growing problems of the slavery issue in the United States: "The whole work was executed by contractors, employing free labor, was