A meeting of the Merchants and Citizens was held in the room of the Chamber of Commerce, in the Tontine Coffee-house, on Wednesday, the seventh September, eighteen hundred and twenty-five, at twelve o'clock, when the following proceedings took place, and were published in the papers of the next day: -

GRAND CANAL CELEBRATION.

At a meeting of the Merchants and Citizens of the City of New York, holden yesterday, in the Chamber of Commerce, at the Tontine Coffee-house, to confer on the propriety of celebrating the completion of the Great Western Canal, WILLIAM BAYARD, Esq. was called to the Chair and JOHN PINTARD, Esq. appointed Secretary, when the following Resolutions, submitted by William W. Woolsey, Esq. were unanimously adopted: -

RESOLVED, - As the sense of this Meeting, that it is proper to celebrate the completion of the Erie Canal, by which the waters of the great western Lakes will be united with those of the ocean, and benefits of immense importance be secured to this State, and especially to the City of New York.

RESOLVED, - That a Committee, consisting of the following gentlemen, be appointed to make inquiry, and to give public notice of the day on which the great event will occur, and when the Celebration should take place. And, that it be the duty of the Committee to confer with the Corporation on this subject, and to take such measures as may be deemed necessary, to call out a full expression of the public feeling, in relation to any event so important to the interests of the community.

RESOLVED, - That the Committee consist of fifteen members.

The following persons were then nominated and appointed: - William Bayard, John Pintard, Thomas R. Mercein, Wm. W. Woolsey, M.M. Noah, John Rathbone, jun. Eldad Holmes, G. Griswold, Joseph G. Swift, Campbell P. White, Jonathon Goodhue, Cadwallader D. Colden, Isaac Carow, Silas Richards, Lockwood Deforest.

The meeting was then adjourned.

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The following communication was received by the Common Council, on the twelfth September,

eighteen hundred and twenty-five: -

IN COMMON COUNCIL,

A communication was received from William Bayard, Cadwallader D. Colden, and John Pintard, stating, that at a Meeting of the Merchants and Citizens, in the Chamber of Commerce, at the Tontine Coffee-house, it was resolved, as the opinion of the Meeting, that it would be proper to celebrate the completion of the Erie Canal, by which the waters of the great western Lakes would be united with those of the ocean, and benefits of immense importance secured to the State, and especially to the City of New York. It was also resolved that a Committee of fifteen be appointed to take measures in relation thereto. That, at a Meeting of the Committee, on the ninth of September, the Memorialists were directed to lay before the Common Council, a copy of the proceedings of the citizens, and to request the Common Council to appoint a Committee, to confer with the Committee of citizens on said subject.

The same having been read, Alderman Cowdrey presented the following resolution: -

RESOLVED, - That the application from a Committee of citizens, appointed to request the concurrence of this Board, in measures for a public Celebration of the completion of the Great Western Canal, whereby a junction of our inland seas with the ocean will be effected, and the present and future benefit of different and remote sections of our country will be promoted, be referred to a select Committee,

Whereupon, the subject was referred to the following Committee: -

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IN COMMON COUNCIL

The Committee who were directed to confer with a Committee, appointed by a Meeting of the Merchants and Citizens, upon the subject of celebrating the arrival of the first Canal-boat from Lake Erie, to the waters of the Hudson,

That they have held such conference accordingly, and have been authorised to state to this Board, that it is the earnest wish of the said Committee and of our fellow-citizens, whom they represent, that the Corporation of the City of New York, should co-operate in the said Celebration; and they respectfully request the Common Council to appoint a Committee with powers, to the end that an event, so great and so memorable as the connecting the waters of the great Lakes with the ocean, may be commemorated under the auspices and direction of the Corporation, and in a manner suited to the character of our City.

Which was accepted and ordered to be filed. Alderman Cowdrey moved that a Committee be appointed, agreeably to the Report of the Committee, which was agreed to, and the following were appointed on that Committee:- Mr. Recorder, Alderman Mann, Alderman Davis, Mr. Bolton, and Mr. Agnew.

J. MORTON, Clerk.

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MEETING

Of the Committee of the Corporation, and of the Committee of the Merchants and Citizens, appointed at the Coffee-house, held at the Recorder's Office, in the City Hall, at which the following was unanimously passed: -

GRAND CANAL CELEBRATION

The Committee of the Corporation, and of the Merchants and Citizens of the City of New York, appointed for the purpose of considering the most proper means to celebrate, with all suitable magnificence, the completion of the Grand Canal, met at the Recorder's Office in the City Hall, on Tuesday, the twenty-seventh September instant, and unanimously adopted the following resolutions: -

RESOLVED, - That our fellow-citizens be, and are hereby respectfully invited to unite with the Corporation in celebrating, with all suitable demonstrations of joy, the accomplishment of the great work, which will connect our inland seas with the Atlantic ocean.

RESOLVED, - That the completion of this stupendous work, in the short space of eight years, is a proud monument of the intelligence and powers of a free people; and whilst the citizens of New York hail it as an event most auspicious to its commerce, they rejoice still more, because it is the commencement of a vast chain, which, by connecting the interests of all the States, will bind our Federal Union together for ever.

RESOLVED, - That the Firemen, and all the other Societies in the City of New York, the Mechanics, Artists, Manufacturers, Tradesmen, Merchants, and citizens of all other professions be, and hereby are, respectfully invited to convene meetings of their representative bodies, and appoint on their behalf, respectively, a Committee of two persons, to meet the Committee on the part of the Corporation, and that the said Committee meet at the Session Room, in the City Hall, on Thursday, the sixth of October, at four o'clock P.M.

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MEETING

At the City Hall, by the Committee of the Corporation, the Committee of the Merchants and Citizens, and the Committees from the Fire Department, and the several societies in the City.

CANAL CELEBRATION.

At a Meeting, held the sixth October, 1825, at the Session Room, in the City Hall, pursuant to public notice given in the several newspapers printed in this City, for the purpose of uniting with the Corporation in celebrating the completion of the Grand Canal, the Recorder, and William Bayard, Esqs. were called to the Chair, and General Morton and T.R. Mercein were chosen Secretaries; whereupon, the following Committees appeared: -

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The appointments of the several Committees having been read, the following Resolutions were proposed and adopted: -

RESOLVED, - That so much of the Celebration of the completion of the Grand Canal, as relates to the illumination of the City Hall, and all the Aquatic demonstrations of respect be referred to the Committee of the Corporation.

RESOLVED, - That so much as relates to the Procession of the Citizens, and of the several Societies, Professions, Artizans, Mechanics, Agriculturalists, Manufacturers, Merchants, and others, be referred to their said Committees.

RESOLVED, -That so much as relates to the parade of the Military, be referred to Major-General Morton.

RESOLVED, -That so much as relates to the demonstrations of respect, to be shewn by the Infantry Officers off duty, be referred to Major-General Mapes, and Major-General Fleming, commanding the 2^nd. And 3^rd. Divisions of Infantry.

RESOLVED, -That a Sub-committee of five from the Committee of citizens, together with the Committee of the Corporation, and a Committee of five from the military, meet in the Session Room, in the City Hall, on Monday week, at four o'clock, to make the general arrangement for the said Celebration, and that they cause the same to be published in all the public papers in this City.

RESOLVED, -That the Committees now, or hereafter to be appointed, on the part of the several Societies, Trades, and Professions of this City, be requested to meet at Saint John's Hall, in Frankfort-street, on Thursday evening next, at five o'clock, to elect the Committee of five, to meet with the two other Committees of five, mentioned in the foregoing Resolution.

A Letter from the Honorable Stephen Van Rensselaer, President of the Board of Canal Commissioners, to General Morton was read, which stated, that the first boat would enter the Canal from Lake Erie, on the twenty-sixth instant.

Published by order of the Meeting.

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LETTER

From Mr. Bouck, to General Van Rensselaer, announcing that the Canal will be completed on

the twenty-sixth of October, eighteen hundred and twenty-five

TO THE HONORABLE STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER, PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF CANAL

COMMISSIONERS

SIR,

The unfinished parts of the Erie Canal will be completed, and in a condition to admit the passage of boats on Wednesday, the twenty-sixth day of October next.

It would have been gratifying to have accomplished this result as early as the first of September, but embarrassments which I could not control, have delayed it.

On this grand event, so auspicious to the character and wealth of the citizens of the State of New York, permit me to congratulate you.

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ARRANGEMENTS

MADE BY THE

CITIES OF NEW YORK AND ALBANY

In pursuance of the arrangements of the Committee of the Common Council, and of the Merchants and Citizens of New York, General Morton, at the request, and in behalf of the Committee of the Common Council, and Messieurs Pintard and Mercein, on the part of the Merchants and Citizens of New York, repaired on the twenty-eighth of September, eighteen hundred and twenty-five, to Albany, to determine, in conjunction with the Albany Committee, upon the arrangements for the contemplated Celebration, when the following arrangements were agreed upon: -

CELEBRATION OF THE COMPLETION OF THE ERIE CANAL.

The citizens of this State have, in various ways, expressed their wishes that the completion of the Erie Canal be celebrated with such public demonstrations of joy, as a work so beneficial to this State, and which is so proud a monument of our moral and physical greatness, would deservedly require. To give uniformity and effect to the plan which should be devised, it was thought that an interchange of views and opinions would be highly useful, and with this intent Committees have been appointed by the Corporation of the City of New York, by the Merchants and Citizens of that place, and by the inhabitants of Albany. The Committees have met together in the City of Albany, and have agreed upon the following arrangements, which they beg leave to recommend to the adoption of their fellow-citizens: -

1. That the day on which the Canal will be completed, be communicated, as soon as possible, by the Canal Commissioners, to the editors of papers, and the Committees of such towns as shall have manifested an intention to celebrate the event.

2. That cannon, of large calibre, be placed under a proper superintendent, at repeating distances, along the whole line of the Canal from Buffalo to Albany.

3. That a Canal boat, suitably fitted up, and appropriately decorated for the purpose, by the citizens of Buffalo and Black Rock, be in readiness to pass from Lake Erie to the Canal, through to Albany - and from that City (in tow of a steam-boat which will be provided for the occasion) to New York, and onward to Sandy Hook.

4. That the entrance of the first boat from Lake Erie into the Canal, be announced by a discharge from the cannon on the line to the City of Albany, and be returned, in like manner, from Albany to Buffalo.

5. That the Major-General, commanding the artillery of the State, be requested to direct the several companies of artillery in the State, to assemble on that day (which will be designated by the Canal Commissioners,) and fire a salute in honor of the event.

6. That to make this a Jubilee worthy of the great and important event, that the citizens of the several cities, towns, and villages, make such arrangements for its celebration among themselves, as they may judge suitable and convenient. The Committee would especially recommend to the important villages on the route of the Canal, and to the cities and towns on the river Hudson, to make suitable demonstrations of respect to the occasion; and they would recommend an interchange of congratulatory Committees, as in their opinion interesting and proper.

7. That Committees of congratulation be sent from the City of New York to Albany, and be returned by the City of Albany to New York.

8. The Committee are of opinion that it would also be greatly in furtherance of those kind and affectionate feelings that the several members of this State should entertain for each other, that a Committee be sent on behalf of the citizens of Albany and New York, from New York and Albany to Buffalo, to congratulate the inhabitants on the Canal, on the auspicious event; and to express their deep conviction of the immense importance which it is to the prosperity and honor of the State, and of their admiration of the wisdom, patriotism, and perseverance, which competed the same: and that the Canal Commissioners, the Engineers, and the Committees of the several towns along the Canal, be invited to accompany the Canal-boats to the Cities of Albany and New York.

9. That information be given to the Committee of New York, of the day when the Canal-boat will arrive at Albany - and that a Committee from New York attend at Albany, on that day, for the purpose of presenting their congratulations to the State and municipal authorities, and the Canal commissioners and engineers who will be assembled at that place, and who, with the other Committees, will accompany the New York Committee to the City of New York.

10. That the Canal boat be met by the Corporation of New York, in a steam-boat, attended by a fleet of handsomely decorated vessels - the Corporation, with their guests, to go on board the Canal-boat, and the whole flotilla to proceed (the Canal-boat in advance) to Sandy Hook, where the waters of the Lake and the ocean will be united by the Governor of the State, and such other ceremonies take place as may be agreed upon. A salute to be fired at Sandy Hook by a detachment of artillery, and the whole then return to New York, to witness and partake of the civic celebration in that City.

11. The Committee would suggest, as a convenience in the arrangements, that the Chairmen of the several Committees should send to Mr. Wm. James, of Albany, the names of the Committees who will accompany the Canal-boat to new York.

In behalf of the Corporation and citizens of New York,

In behalf of the citizens of Albany,

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MILITARY DEMONSTRATIONS OF RESPECT.

FOR THE

TWENTY-SIXTH OF OCTOBER, 1825.

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NEW YORK STATE ARTILLERY.

DIVISION ORDERS.

The completion of the great Erie Canal, which is to unite the waters of the Lakes with the Atlantic ocean, is announced for the twenty-sixth of this month, and our fellow-citizens throughout the State are making arrangements for celebrating that auspicious event with unusual demonstrations of joy.

This stupendous monument of public enterprise cannot but awaken, in the breast of every citizen, proud feelings of the honor with which this undertaking has crowned his native State.

When through the vista of coming years we contemplate the various advantages and blessings which this great improvement is to produce, we are overwhelmed with feelings that are indiscribable. While the statesman views with pride the sources of wealth which will be opened, and the interesting ties of common interest with which the citizens of other States of the Union will be connected with us, thereby enhancing our political importance; the philanthropist and the retired citizen will contemplate with delight the effects which this great work will facilitate and produce, making, what for centuries would have been the desert and the tangled forest, the scenes of rural cultivation, and the abodes of domestic comfort and social refinement.

As citizen-soldiers we must ever feel deeply what concerns our country's welfare, and it cannot but be extremely gratifying to the corps, in accordance with the wishes of their fellow-citizens, to honor, by military demonstrations of respect, an era so interesting.

The Major-General therefore directs, that the several companies of Artillery throughout the State, assemble at their usual places of parade, on the twenty-sixth of the present month, and at twelve o'clock of that day, fire a national salute, in honor of the event. Should there be any civic celebration in the town or village where the troops are stationed, they will, of course, unite with their fellow-citizens in such celebration.

General Muir, Commissary-General of Military Stores, has given orders to the storekeepers at the different arsenals, to supply, upon the requisition of each Commandant of a Company of Artillery, the necessary ammunition; and they will therefore make immediate application to the store from whence they have been accustomed to be furnished.

As some particular duty may be required from the Brigade stationed in this City, they are not included in this order, but a special order will be hereafter issued to them.

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Arrangements having been by the citizens of the west, to announce the opening of the Great Canal, by discharges of cannon, to be repeated along the whole line of the Canal, from Buffalo to Albany; and it being considered, by the Committee of Arrangements of the City of New York, to be highly desirable that the line of fire should be continued from Albany to the ocean, not only to give information of the actual completion of the great work, but also as a mark of honor to that event. The Committee requested General Morton to take measures for performing that service.

Accordingly Major-General Morton, accompanied by Commissary-General Muir, on the twenty-third October, eighteen hundred and twenty-five, proceeded to Albany, with cannon of large calibre, and planted them on the shores of the Hudson, at suitable repeating distances. The arrangements for the firing made by these gentlemen were as follows: -

General Morton and Commissary-General Muir, at the request of the Committee of the Common Council, have placed cannon along the Hudson from this City to Albany, and directed the following

ORDER OF FIRING FROM ALBANY TO SANDY HOOK.

ORDER OF RETURN FIRE TO ALBANY.

To commence the return fire by a national salute at Fort La Fayette, at twenty-two minutes past eleven o'clock, A.M. of Wednesday, and at thirty minutes past eleven o'clock, a repeating gun will be fired from Fort Richmond, and follower at Governor's Island, and at the Battery, New York, at thirty-one minutes past eleven o'clock, A.M.

The result proved the calculation correct. The report of the cannon from the north and west, was received on the twenty-sixth, instant, at New York, in one hour and forty minutes, and was returned to Buffalo, in nearly the same space of time, making a communication, on a line of eleven hundred miles, in less than three hours.

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FURTHER DEMONSTRATIONS OF RESPECT.

ARRANGEMENTS.

For firing a Grand Salute on the first boat entering the Canal from Lake Erie; and also arrangements for giving the anticipated times at when she will reach the different places, on her route to Albany.

THE GRAND CANAL CELEBRATION.

(From the Commercial Advertiser of Oct. 18.)

The Committee of Arrangements on the part of the Corporation, Merchants, Military, and Societies of this City, met at the Recorder's apartment, in the City Hall, last evening, and completed the arrangements for the aquatic part of the Celebration. In regard to the land Celebration, some progress was made, and the whole will be completed at an adjourned meeting, to be held on Thursday. Major-General Fleming was appointed Grand Marshal of the day, with the power of selecting such number of aids as he may require.

CANAL CELEBRATION.

The following are the detailed and final arrangements made by the Committees of this village, Lockport, and Rochester, relative to the departure and stops of the first boat upon the Canal destined for New York. This, it will be seen, does not correspond with the arrangements published in our last; and we give the alterations made by the Committee, in the present form, thus early, to prevent the possibility of mistake.

The undersigned, as Committees of Conference, from the villages of Buffalo, Lockport, and Rochester, to arrange the times of the arrival of the first boat, leaving Lake Erie on the twenty-sixth instant, for Albany and New York, at the most important villages upon the Canal, do make the following Report, viz.: -

In behalf of the citizens of Buffalo,

In behalf of the citizens of Lockport,

In behalf of the citizens of Rochester,

Buffalo, October 11, 1825.

There seemed to be some difficulty in regard to the continuation of the Grand Salute from Albany to this City, in consequence of the want of field pieces. During the late war, the guns belonging to most of the artillery companies between this City and Albany, were ordered to be taken to the frontiers by the then Commander-in-Chief, and they have never been returned. The Committee, however, resolved last evening to make the effort, and voted an appropriation for that purpose. But it will be seen by the following letter, addressed to us by the Editor of the Rochester Telegraph, that the difficulty no longer exists. The patriotic Committee of that village have taken the matter up efficiently, and the guns are now on the way. Our Committee will thus be relieved of much trouble, while the object is certain of being accomplished. Our Committee will, of course, pay a liberal proportion of the expences; and we would beg leave respectfully to suggest, whether it would not be proper to send a Sub-Committee immediately to Albany, to superintend the planting of the cannon along the margin of the river.

TO THE EDITORS OF THE COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER.

GENTLEMEN,

Having understood that the project of planting cannon upon the Erie Canal, had failed in consequence of Mr. Meech's inability to obtain them, our Committee have ventured to anticipate the wishes of the citizens of New York and Albany, by employing Messrs. Van Slyck, Mathews, Meech, and Ely, of this village, to plant cannon upon the whole route, in accordance with the views of the New York and Albany Committees. Mr. Mathews goes east, and Mr. Meech west, to-night, to place the cannon. Two boats have already despatched with 32 pounders, and two more leave to-morrow.

The gentlemen who have now undertaken this business have the cannon in their possession, and will carry the arrangements into full effect.

We should not have presumed to act in this matter, but for the apprehension that a few days delay would probably defeat the whole arrangements.

We shall send a fine boat, and a Committee of Congratulation to New York.

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FURTHER INFORMATION,

SHEWING

THAT THE GREAT WORK APPROACHES A CLOSE.

(From the Rochester Telegraph, of October 18.)

The wedding of the waters of Lake Erie, with those of the Hudson, is to be solemnised on the twenty-sixth instant, and we are happy to observe that marriage feasts are making ready in every part of the State. It will be seen, by another column, that a banquet will be prepared in our own village, and that servants have gone forth to invite many guests.

As the conclusion of this gigantic work draws near, the enthusiasm of the public spreads far and wide. Loud and deep will be the shouts of triumph which rend the air when the signal gun announces the work is completed!

The rapidity with which this immense work has progressed, is a matter of profound astonishment. The opinions of learned men, the estimates of experience, the computations of science, and even the visions of fancy, have all been disappointed in the time required to accomplish the great work of the age.

In eighteen hundred and eight, a resolution was first submitted to the Legislature, by Joshua Forman, Esq., of Onondaga, on the subject of the Erie Canal. Mr. James Geddes surveyed the whole route in eighteen hundred and nine. In eighteen hundred and ten, the first commissioners were appointed, and in eighteen hundred and eleven, they submitted a favorable Report to the Legislature. The Legislature of eighteen hundred and twelve appropriated a sum not exceeding fifteen thousand dollars, to commence the work of internal improvements! During this year unsuccessful applications were made to the General Government, and the several western States and Territories for assistance. In the mean time the public opinion was divided, both as to the practicability and the expediency of the project. A great proportion of the people thought it an extravagant, if not an idle project, and all concurred in the opinion that if ever completed, it must be by the posterity of the generation which commenced it. It was uniformly spoken of, by the learned and the ignorant, as the work of fifty or an hundred years. So strong and settled was the conviction that this work could not be accomplished within the brief space allotted for life, that almost every person would have said, I desire to live no longer than to see this Canal completed.

In eighteen hundred and seventeen, commissioners were appointed to commence the work, and the ground was first broke at Rome, on the fourth day of July, of that year. As late as the Session of eighteen hundred and nineteen, and after many thousand dollars had been expended, a strong effort was made to arrest the work, and a large minority of the House of Assembly actually voted against making any further appropriations! When the engineers -were surveying the route, and told the farmers, upon whose lands they were sticking their stakes, that, in a few years, boats would pass their doors, they either laughed at what they conceived a hoax, or stood amazed at the splendour of the project.

But all fears were soon dissipated - every obstacle yielded to the strong arm of enterprise; the lofty forest - the dense swamp - the rugged hills - and the solid rocks, all gave way to the muscular and untiring power of industry. The Work is finished! Our brightest, highest hopes, are all consummated. Let the shouts of triumph be heard from Erie to the Atlantic, and from the Atlantic resound back to Erie. Let the air itself be made vocal with our pæns of exultation and gratitude.

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MORNING

OF

THE TWENTY-SIXTH OF OCTOBER, 1825.

(From the Commercial Advertiser, of Wednesday, October 26, 1825.)

THE WORK IS DONE!

At twenty minutes past eleven o'clock this morning, the joyful intelligence was proclaimed to our citizens, by the roar of artillery, that the great, the gigantic work, of uniting the upper Lakes with the ocean, was completed, and that exactly an hour and twenty minutes before, the first boat from Erie had entered the Canal, and commenced its voyage to New York. This proud intelligence having been communicated in the same manner to Sandy Hook, and notice of its reception returned to the City, the return salute was commenced at Fort La Fayette, by a national salute, at twenty-two minutes past eleven, and the sounds of our rejoicing sent roaring and echoing along the mountains, and among the Highlands, back to Buffalo, where it was doubtless received long before this paper went to press.

The salute having been received at Albany, without a moment's delay was continued along the banks of the Hudson in the following order: -

After the national salute from Fort La Fayette, at thirty minutes past eleven o'clock, a repeating gun was fired from Fort Richmond, and followed at Governor's Island, and at the Battery, New York, at thirty-one minutes past eleven o'clock, A.M., and the firing was then continued up the river, as follows: -

Thus in the short space of eight years, has a mighty work been accomplished by New York, unaided and alone, which will for ages stand high in rank among the wonders of the world.

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Transcribed from the original text and html prepared by Bill Carr, last updated 5/21/99.