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The Sub-committee appointed to proceed to Buffalo, for the purpose of tendering and receiving congratulations in behalf of the Common Council of the City of New York, on the completion of the Grand Erie Canal, and to invite a Committee from each of the Towns and Villages on the route to unite with the citizens of New York in celebrating that happy event,

That, on the nineteenth of October last, they proceeded on their mission to Buffalo, and travelled principally by land, in order to obtain a more perfect view of the western section of this great and flourishing State; and their minds were filled with mingled emotions of pride and gratitude at beholding the fertility of its soil - the grandeur of its scenery, - the enterprise of its inhabitants, and their progressive improvement in all the arts and sciences that can exalt our natures, or contribute to the comforts and elegancies of life, which so far surpassed the many glowing descriptions of that enchanting region, that any representation that may be attempted of it, must fall far short of the reality. The enraptured eye of the traveller turns with delight from one scene of natural beauty to another, in a constant succession of endless variety. At one moment it glances over a wide range of cultivated farms, with their neat dwellings and spacious out-buildings, at once indicating the comfort and wealth of the proprietors; at another, it views a majestic river, pursuing its course through fertile valleys, and bearing on its bosom the sails of commerce and the products of industry: here are seen herds of cattle, spread over extensive fields of grain, grazing on their delicate blades, to check their excessive luxuriancy, whilst others fed on the distant mountain side, or in the rich meadows below. A recent frost had tinged the foliage of the forests with the variegated colours of autumn, well calculated to produce emotions "painful, yet pleasing to the soul." From a scene so delightful the attention of the traveller is suddenly arrested by the sight of a City, sprung up as if by magic, on a spot where lately a desert frowned, and the wild beasts roamed unmolested, save by the chance arrow of a savage huntsman; here regular streets are lined by substantial brick or wooden buildings, many of which are magnificent in extent, and adorned with all the chaste elegance of Grecian architecture. Nor had the inhabitants confined themselves to the construction of private dwellings alone; but justly considering in what true wealth and happiness consist, have erected, in each town and village, some elegant and spacious edifice devoted to learning, and not unfrequently two or three beautiful churches pointing their lofty spires to the heavens.

Through such a country your Committee were reluctantly urged on to Buffalo, in four days. On their arrival they were received by a Committee of the village, consisting of Judge Wilkeson, Captain Joy, Major Burt, Captain Dox, Doctor Stagg, and Messieurs Potter and Wells, and were greeted with a cordial welcome by the intelligent and grateful inhabitants of Buffalo. Here your Committee procured two barrels of the pure waters of Lake Erie, to be commingled with those of the ocean, and two logs of native red-cedar and one of birds-eye maple, were put on board the Canal-boat for the purpose of being made into boxes to enclose medals for the different guests.

In the course of the day the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor arrived, and were received with due honor by the inhabitants.

The dawn of the twenty-sixth was ushered in by a revellie from a band beneath our windows; and soon after the military were formed, whose appearance and discipline, it is believed, are not excelled by any in the State. At ten o'clock they escorted the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, and other guests, on board the Canal boat, "Seneca Chief," destined for New York: then those cannon, which so lately sounded our country's glory on the Northern Lakes, proclaimed the accomplishment of a work which, under the circumstances which attended its commencement and progression, stands unrivalled in the annals of the world: at this signal we started in the first boat, amid the cheers of an assembled multitude, to traverse a new path from the Lakes to the ocean, and in every countenance was depicted a deep felt gratitude to Heaven, for having opened to them a source of wealth and prosperity, the extent of which cannot yet be conceived by the mind of man.

On reaching Black Rock, intelligence was received that General Porter, with his party, had started the preceding evening, in an elegant boat, richly laden with the products of the west, intending to join the party at Albany, and thence to proceed to New York.

Passing on we stopped at Lockport, and the various towns and villages on the line of the Canal, at the precise hours previously appointed, and of which all were fully apprized. Those towns and villages vied with each other to honor the Chief Magistrate, to whom, and other enlightened statesmen, under the auspices of a divine Providence, they felt indebted for the great blessings resulting from the union of the ocean, with the great western waters, in anticipation of which they already had enjoyed a pleasing foretaste. It is needless to add that your Committee, as the representatives of the City of New York, received their full share of all the honors and festivities prepared for the occasion, nor did your Committee fail to impress on the minds of their western brethren, the generous sentiments which the citizens of New York entertained towards them; and to assure them that the Corporation of New York, in common with their fellow-citizens, deemed the completion of the Erie Canal an event calculated to exalt the character of the State, and to promote its best interests, not only as it affords the means of extending its commerce, but that it will bring together the citizens from the remotest corners of the State, and thus enable them to cultivate that friendship and mutual good feeling which the citizens of New York are so desirous of promoting, and which is so necessary for cementing our Union. In behalf of the Common Council your Committee invited the citizens of each city and village through which they passed, to appoint a Delegation to join them in celebrating the happy event, assuring them that on their arrival at our shores, they would find a people with open arms and open hearts to receive them.

It was particularly gratifying to your Committee to find that those sentiments were invariably received with the utmost cordiality, and as heartily reciprocated. To give even an outline of the splendid entertainments at the different cities and villages at which the boat stopped by appointment, would be impracticable, as they occurred in such rapid succession, that it precluded even the possibility of taking note. At each place, however, some distinguished individual congratulated the party in behalf of his fellow-citizens, which was reciprocated, in an appropriate manner, by his Excellency, the Governor. The approach of the party was announced at every stopping place by the discharge of cannon, and the military attended to escort them to some hotel, at a short distance from the landing, where tables spread with sumptuous viands and choice wines were prepared for their refreshment, and numbers of citizens united to render these entertainments agreeable. In the night time were super-added illuminations, rockets, displays of fire-works, and transparencies, descriptive of the happy occasion they were intended to celebrate, and also to pay a deserved compliment to the distinguished individual who had contributed so much towards its completion.

Your Committee would fain give a brief description of the hospitalities received by the party at Rochester, Utica, and several other places, but this would be doing injustice to other villages, whose exertions were not less honorable to themselves, nor less acceptable to the party. At Rochester, after partaking of a splendid entertainment, the party received a most valuable accession; and elegant boat had been built for the purpose called the "Young Lion of the West," freighted with the native products of their soil, and many valuable articles manufactured by their artists, with several rare animals from the forests. In company with this boat, having on board a Committee of the most distinguished gentlemen of that village, your Committee proceeded on their route.

Although the hurry of the jaunt admitted of little rest, yet the constant succession of new scenes, added to the unabated exertions of each gentleman of the party, to contribute his share towards increasing the happiness of all, was more than equivalent for its loss.

But amid this boundless scene of pleasure, one unhappy accident occurred, at Weedport, which it becomes the painful duty of your Committee to notice. The patriotic citizens of this place had made every preparation for suitable rejoicings, and amongst the rest cannon had been planted on the margin of the Canal, and two sober and discreet mechanics selected to manage them; on the approach of the boats guns were fired, and whilst the Governor and party were seated round the festive board, the sad intelligence was announced that the two gunners were blown to atoms in their attempt to re-charge a gun. This accident tended not a little to mar our future pleasures, and is here stated in the hope that it will call forth not the mere sympathies, but something more substantial, form a humane and generous community, for the benefit of their surviving widows and children.

On arriving at Albany, on the second of November, we were joined by a Committee of our brethren, Alderman Wyckoff and Mr. Hone; and here great exertions were made to do honor to the occasion. A handsome procession was formed, and marched to the Capitol, where an ode was sung; and an eloquent petition made to the throne of grace by the Reverend Mr. Lacey, after which our worthy colleague, Mr. Hone, in behalf of the corporation and citizens of New York, delivered an elegant congratulatory address, followed by Mr. James, Chairman of the Albany Delegation, and the Lieutenant-Governor, in his peculiar happy manner, reciprocated their congratulations on behalf the western Committees. The procession again formed, and proceeded to the New Bridge, where a sumptuous entertainment had been prepared by the citizens of Albany, for themselves and their guests, and of which they partook. The guests were then conducted to one of the most splendid hotels, and there received every attention that the Albany Committee had prepared for them. On the following morning (November third,) six steam-boats, dressed with the flags of different nations, were put under the direction of your Committee, at whose invitation the numerous guests of the Corporation repaired on board, at about ten o'clock, among whom were, besides the Committees of the west, the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor of the State, Generals Stephen, Solomon, and Jacob R. Van Rensselaer, Simeon De Witt, Mr. Geddes, Hon. A.S. Conklin, the Treasurer and Comptroller of the State of New York, together with a most respectable Delegation from Albany.

On the voyage down the Hudson this splendid fleet was greeted by a discharge of cannon at every town and village on its banks; at night the public and private buildings of each village were brilliantly illuminated; in some, rockets were discharged, and in others bon-fires were kindled, to demonstrate the joy of the inhabitants. These exhibitions were the more grateful because it was evident that the inhabitants rejoiced not so much on their own account, as on that of their western friends, with whom they were now to be more closely united.

On arriving at West Point, about the middle of the night, the officers of that post, upon special invitation came on board the fleet, and brought with them an elegant band of music. The fleet had been expected to pass the garrison at an earlier hour, and every preparation had been made by its Commander to pay suitable honors to the distinguished citizens on board, but owing to the lateness of the hour these honors were paid in advance, and before the appearance of the fleet. The officers proceeded with your Committee to New York, as guests of the Corporation, and it was pleasing to witness the heartfelt gratulations which they exchanged with their fellow-citizens on the joyous occasion. Your Committee would do injustice to their own feelings were they to omit acknowledging the obligations they were under to Mr. Charles Rhind, and Captains Lockwood and Wiswall, for the very able manner in which they conducted the fleet down the Hudson; under the immediate command of the former, aided by the two latter gentlemen the entire flotilla was kept in regular order, varying its positions at pleasure, by means of signals; nor are your Committee under less obligations to those gentlemen for their care and attention in providing rich entertainments on board the fleet for the guests of the Corporation. Thus circumstanced, your Committee need scarcely add that a more happy party never traversed that river, since its first discovery by the great and enterprising navigator whose name it bears.

The sun rose upon the morning of the Fourth of November, through an unusually clear and cloudless sky, and it seemed as if the beneficent smiles of Heaven were shed upon the accomplishment of the great work which had been achieved under its own auspices. At seven o'clock the fleet arrived at the North Battery, where it was greeted by a national salute; at this moment the steam-boat Washington, bearing the standard with the arms of the City appeared in view, making its even and rapid course towards the flotilla. On coming up it was found that the Committee of Arrangements of the Corporation of New York, had gone out to meet and welcome their guests, and your Committee now found all the assurances they had given to their fellow-citizens of the west, more than realized; pleasure beamed in every face, and gave at once a passport to the heart. What followed is reserved for other and abler hands to describe. Your Committee now close their Report, by adding a list of the gentlemen invited by them as guests of the Corporation, viz.: -

Which is respectfully submitted,

New York, Dec. 10, 1925.

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