At a meeting of a number of merchants trading in Pearl-street, assembled on Thursday, December 4^th, 1823, for the purpose of expressing to the Honourable De Witt Clinton, their gratitude for the services he has rendered to the state of New-York, in relation to internal improvements. Mr. Peter Crary was called to the chair, and Isaac S. Hone appointed secretary.

Resolved, That the conception of the grand design of the Northern and Western canals, the removal of the prejudices which opposed their adoption, and the conducting them to an early and successful completion, are the results of the sagacity, zeal, and perseverance, of the Hon. DE WITT CLINTON.

Resolved, That those eminent services claim for him the proudest title which our country can bestow - that of PUBLIC BENEFACTOR.

Resolved, That a committee be appointed to carry into effect the design of this meeting, and that this committee have full power to procure and present to Mr. Clinton, in the name of the merchants trading in Pearl-street, such pieces of silver plate as they may consider appropriate.

Resolved, That the following persons, together with the chairman and secretary, compose the committee; John Haggerty, James Heard, Nathaniel Richards, Arthur Tappan, Edward M. Greenway, Amos Palmer, Ralph Olmsted, Frederick Sheldon, Najah Taylor.

PETER CRARY, Chairman

ISAAC HONE, Secretary

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A premium of $100 is offered for the best design for two vases, to be made in pursuance of the preceding resolutions. It is the wish of the committee, that the vases should be of the same outline, but differing in ornament.

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The superb silver vases procured at the expense of the Pearl-street (New-York) merchants, intended as a present for Governor Clinton, were presented to him by a committee of the donors on Saturday, March 19^th, 1825, at his house in the city of Albany, in the presence of upwards of a hundred citizens and strangers of distinction. We are told by those who were present on the occasion, that the ceremony was very imposing, and excited feelings of the most deep-toned interest. On presenting the vases, Mr. Hone, on the part of the committee, delivered the following address:

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"GOVERNOR CLINTON,

"In behalf of the merchants of Pearl-street, in the city of New-York, who are deeply impressed with a sense of the benefits which you have conferred upon this state, we have the honour to present to you these vases, as a testimony of their gratitude and respect.

"At an early period, your sagacity appreciated the importance of uniting the waters of Lake Erie with those of the Hudson, and your devotion to the public interest induced you to urge it upon the legislature, with all the weight of your influence. What was then theory, has now become a splendid reality, and at every new development of our resources, and every new display of the power and grandeur of our state, its citizens feel additional inducements to admire and honour your character.

"Among the interesting considerations with your name involves, it is not the least important, that your fellow citizens have recently recalled you to the office which gives such ample scope to your talents, and that you have preferred the discharge of its duties to the honours of a foreign embassy. We sincerely hope that your administration will be as gratifying to yourself, as it will be beneficial to your constituents.

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"GENTLEMEN,

"I receive these splendid fabrics with the highest gratification. In the design and in the execution, they reflect honour on the taste, skill, and ingenuity of our artists, and in that light they are acceptable: but they come to me with superior recommendations, as the offering of regard from the hands of gentlemen whose good opinion I greatly value, and whose friendship I sincerely reciprocate.

"On this occasion, I cannot but felicitate you (as the representatives of a most important section of the most commercial city in the western world,) not only on the flourishing condition of our great emporium, but on the still more exalted destinies that await it. Its unrivalled position near the ocean, and its facilities of interior communication with the most extensive and fertile regions, give it pre-eminent advantages. Making full allowances for the occurrence of those great moral and physical evils, which have scourged the human race, we may confidently predict, that your progress will be accelerated, and that every accession of population and opulence will be the parent of new acquisitions. In one year more houses have been added to New-York, than at present compose the ancient and prosperous city in which I now address you. At this very moment the inhabitants of the counties connected with the Ohio, the Delaware, the Susquehannah, the Connecticut, the St. Lawrence, and the Mississippi rivers, and with our vast inland seas, are seeking with solicitude navigable communications with your city. And without yielding to the dreams of visionary hypothesis, or the chimeras of delusive anticipation, we may expect, before the lapse of many years, the consummation of these designs, and a consequent state of unexampled prosperity. And we may certainly cherish these expectations without the just imputation of arrogance or ostentation. We ought to know our power with a view to its judicious application; and we should form a just estimate of our faculties and capabilities, in order to promote in the most effectual manner, the welfare of our country and the happiness of mankind.

"The favourable views which my fellow-citizens generally, have taken of my agency in developing the resources and advancing the prosperity of the commonwealth, are the greatest reward, next to the approbation of my own conscience, which I can enjoy in this world. If I have been hitherto an humble instrument in the hands of Providence, of dispensing some benefits to my fellow-citizens, I have every inducement from their kindness, so often, so strikingly, and I may way, so uniformly manifested, for devoting my best and my future exertions in the same career.

"I pray you , gentlemen, to present my grateful and respectful acknowledgements to your constituents for these flattering testimonials of their esteem; and permit me to express to you the high sense which I entertain of the honour you conferred on me by your personal attendance on this occasion.

"DE WITT CLINTON."

"Albany, March 19^th, 1825."

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The form of these vases is copied from the celebrated vase, found among the ruins of the Villa of Adrian, and now in the possession of the Earl of Warwick. The handles and some of the ornaments are also similar to those upon that beautiful specimen of ancient art; but all the tablets and figures in bas relief are different, and exhibit scenes upon the Grand Canal, or allegorical illustrations of the progress of the arts and sciences.

The vases are twenty-four inches in height, twenty-one inches between the extremities of the handles, and the diameter of the body in the largest part is fourteen inches; the weight of silver in each is about four hundred ounces.

Their form is circular, except that the lower part is slightly elliptical, as are also the covers, each of which is surmounted by an eagle standing upon a section of the globe, upon which is traced a part of the outline of the state of New-York; he bears in one talon the arms of the state, and in the other a laurel wreath. The pedestal is square, and supported by four claws; two sides of the pedestal of the first vase are ornamented with foliage and scroll-work, with an oval medallion bearing a river deity leaning on an inverted vase. The third contains the inscription:

TO THE

HONOURABLE DE WITT CLINTON,

WHO HAS

DEVELOPED THE RESOURCES OF THE STATE OF NEW-YORK,

AND

THE

OFFER THIS

TESTIMONY OF THEIR GRATITUDE AND RESPECT.

The fourth exhibits a number of figures, which, in connexion with those on the corresponding section of the other vase, are intended to represent the progress of the Arts and Sciences, from their rude origin to their present improvement. On the right side of the spectator appears a pastoral group listening to the pipe of Mercury; next to these is a husbandman leaning on his spade, and gazing upon a hive, while a female figure points to the labours of the industrious bee; then appears Minerva without her helmet and shield, directing the attention of the spectator to a bust which Sculpture is chiseling. The concave belt around the middle of this vase bears six tablets in bas relief; the two centre tablets exhibit views of the Cohoos (sic) Falls, and of the Little Falls of the Mohawk, with the stone aqueduct and bridge, and parts of the canal. The figures on each side of the former are Fame and History; on one side of the latter is an Indian contemplating the stump of a tree recently felled, and the ax lying at its root; and on the other, Plenty with her cornucopia; a head of Neptune, with his trident, dolphins, and shells, is placed at each extremity of this belt, under the grape-vine handles.

On the second vase, two sides of the pedestal are ornamented with foliage, &c. as on the first, the third contains the inscription:

TO THE

HONOURABLE DE WITT CLINTON,

WHOSE CLAIMS

TO THE PROUD TITLE OF PUBLIC BENEFACTOR,

IS FOUNDED ON THOSE

Magnificent Works,

THE

NORTHERN AND WESTERN CANALS.

On the fourth side is Architecture leaning upon a column, with a level at its base. Then a youth holding a drawing board with a diagram of one of the first problems in mathematics, and an old man directing his attention to the figures beyond, which denote the sciences still unexplored, and encouraging him to persevere. The next group is composed of two aged persons contemplating a globe held by a female, who points to some lines upon its surface. Next is a figure with a torch in the right hand, and a star on the head, holding in the left hand a tablet with a diagram; by his side is a sundial, and an athletic figure beyond holds a pair of dividers, and gazes attentively upon the female with the globe. This group is intended to indicate the study of the sciences. The concave belt around this vase is also embellished with six tablets. The front view is the grand lock and part of the basin at Albany, where the canal is connected with the Hudson, together with the mansion of Mr. Van Rensselaer and the adjacent scenery, and canal boats passing. The plate on the right of this tablet exhibits Ceres, with the emblems of agriculture; that on the left, Mercury, with the emblems of commerce. The reverse centre tablet contains a view of the aqueduct at Rochester, and a boat passing, drawn by horses; below are seen the falls of the Genesee, and a number of unfinished buildings. This view is supported on the right and left by Minerva and Hercules, indicating wisdom and strength.

The lower compartment of the body of each vase is ornamented with acanthus leaves, intermingled, at proper distances, with small shrubs, among which are seen the wild animals who haunted our western region before the industry and enterprise of our brethren made "the wilderness to rejoice and blossom as the rose."

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Transcribed from the original text and html prepared by Bill Carr, last updated 5/22/99.