The appearance of the city from Greenbush, on the opposite side of the river, to which there is a horse-ferry-boat, in striking and splendid; the situation, on the side of a hill, is favourable for every part of it being seen;- and the Capitol and public buildings are fine large objects. The horse-ferry-boat over the river is, I believe, peculiar to America - certainly an American invention -and extremely convenient in situations where the intercourse across a river is considerable, yet not so great as to authorize the expenditure required for a steam-boat. Two vertical wheels. resembling the paddle-wheels of a steam-boat, are moved by a large wheel placed horizontally below the deck of a boat, and propolled by horses, so placed on its surface at the aides of the boat, from which the deck is removed, that the motion of their feet in grooves cut in the wheel moves it forward in a direction opposite to that in which they appear to be pressing forward. The number of horses is of course greater or less, according to the size of the boat, rapidity of the tide, and other circumstances.
At the north end of Albany, near the termination of Market-street, is the residence of General Van Rensselaer, the Patroon, the greatest, or most wealthy, landed proprietor in the United States. The mansion house has more of the accompaniments of garden , shrubbery, conservatory, &e, than is, I am told, often seen in this country; but no great quantity of land is devoted to what we call pleasure-grounds. Mrs. Grant, of Laggan in her curious sketches of American manners and scenery, written a few years previous to the American revolution, gives this account of the origin of the family of Rensselaer: "A gentleman of the name of Rensselaer, was considered as, in a manner Lord Paramount of this city, Albany; a pre-eminence which his successor still enjoys, both with, regard to the town and the lands adjacent. The original proprietor had obtained from the High and Mighty States a grant of lands, which, beginning at the church, extended twelve miles in every direction, forming a manor of twenty-four Dutch miles in length, the same in breadth- including lands not only of the best quality of any in the province, but the most happily situated; both for the purpose of commerce and agriculture. This great proprietor was looked up to as much as republicans in a new country could be supposed to look up to any one. He was called the patroon - a designation tantamount to lord of the manor. Yet, in the distribution of these lands, the sturdy Belgian spirit of independence set limits to the power and profits of this lord of the forests, as he might then be called. None of these lands were either sold or alienated. The more wealthy settlers, as the Schuylers, Cuylers, &c. took very extensive leases of the fertile plains along the river, with boundless liberty of woods and pasturage to the westward, The terms were, that the lease should hold while water runs and grass grows, and the land-lord to receive the tenth sheaf of every kind of grain the ground produces. Thus ever accommodating the rent to the fertility of the soil and changes of the seasons. You may suppose the tenants did not greatly fear a landlord, who could neither remove them nor heighten their rents. Thus, without the pride of property, they had all the independence of proprietors. They were like German princes, who, after furnishing their contingent to the Emperor, might make war on him when they chose. Besides the profits, yearly augmenting, which the patroon drew from his ample possessions, he held in his own hands an extensive and fruitful demesne. Yet, preserving in a great measure the simple and frugal habits of his ancestors, his wealth was not on object of envy, nor a source of corruption to his fellow citizens." The present proprietor of these extensive possessions is a person, of the most amiable and benevolent disposition, and greatest respectability of character a zealous encourager of public improvements, and judicious manager of the vast property here, and in other parts ofthe United States, which belongs to him ; always happiest when he has it in his power to be of use to his tenants, or to those with whom the care of his estates leads him to be connected. He is now advanced in life ; and the only individual in the United States to whom, on account of his great property, and the veneration with which they regard him, the people have since the revolution continued the title or distinction which his family had previously enjoyed. Even official distinctions are now on the wane in this country.
The great possessions of the patroon have hitherto passed undivided to the eldest son of the family ; but it seems to be understood, that the present proprietor, who has a large family, intends to divide them among his children, as is almost universally the practice in this country, and the law since the revolution, in those cases in which the proprietor does not otherwise devise his property.
Near the residence of the patroon is the great basin of the Erie and Champlain canals, thirty-two acres in extent, the river being let in between the shore and a pier 4300 feet in length, consisting of eight acres, connected with the city by drawbridges. The canals are works of which the state of New-York has great reason to be proud; but it is only by comparing them with other similar works, that their magnificence can be judged of. Their whole course is within the state of New-York, that of the Erie Canal,- westward by the valley of the Mohawk, and of the Champlain Canal, northward by that of the Hudson. The length of the former is 363; of the latter, 63 miles; in all, 426 miles. They were commenced in July, 1817, and completed in October, 1825, in eight years and four months. The object of the Erie canal is to form a communication between New-York and the internal, or Mediterranean seas of North America, and through them to the great western country of the United States, and the rivers Ohio, Miaaissippi, and Missouri. The object of the Champlain Canal is to form a communication through Lake Champlain, and the river Richelieu or Chambly, with the St. Lawrence and Canada.
The Erie Canal includes 83 locks 90 feet long, and 18 aqueducts, one of which is about 1200, and two about 800, feet in length.. The canal is forty feet wide at the top, and four feet deep.
The valley of the Mohawk offered great facilities for the construction of above 100 miles of the Erie Canal nearest to Albany; and the highest summit level between the Hudson and Lake Camplain being only one hundred and forty feet above the tide in the Hudson, the valley of the latter afforded advantages in forming the Champlain Canal almost unparalleled. But those natural resources might have remained comparatively little noticed and little known, but for the zeal, public spirit, and indefatigable exertions of the late De Witt Clinton, Governor of this state ; a man who seems to have in the most disinterested, manner devoted himself to the developement of its means of improvement, and to whom alone the merit of having the canals constructed at this period is truly to be ascribed. The soundness of his views was long questioned by very eminent persons connected with the state; but it has been fully proved by the complete success which has attended the execution ofthe undertaking, as well as the financial scheme on which it was founded. The whole expense amounted to about nine millions of dollars, and the revenue for the year 1827 was 859,000 dollars. The memorial which Governor Clinton prepared for the New-York Legislature in the year 1816, recommending the immediate construction of the canals, as preserved in Dr. Hosack's valuable and interesting memoir of his life, is quite a model for such compositions - perspicuous in all its parts, -pointing out, first of all, the prodigious importance of the appeal submitted to the legislature,- enlarging on the great duty of the government of every state to improve the means of intercourse between its different parts,-and then applying the views, which had been fully explained and illus trated to the object of the memorial by most lucid statements, and ample information, especially by detailed references to similar works which had been completely successful, notwithstanding very formidabte obstacles, both natural and pecuniary.
The eloquence of the concluding part of the memorial sufficiently authorizes its being here recorded: "lt may be confidently asserted, that this canal, as to the extent of its route, as to the countries which it connects, and as to the consequences which it will produce, is without a parallel in the history of mankind. The union of the Baltic and the Euxine, of the Red Sea and the Mediterranean; of the Euxine and the Caspian; and of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, has been projected or executed by the chiefs of powerful monarchies ; and the splendour of the design has always attracted the admiration of the world. It remains for a free state to create a new era in history ; and to erect a work, more stupendous, more magnificent, and more beneficial, than has hitherto been achieved by the human race. Character is as important to nations as to individuals ; and the glory of the republic, founded on the promotion of the general good, is the common property of all its citizens.
"We have thus discharged with frankness and plainness, and with every sentiment of respect, a great duty to ourselves, to our fellow citizens, and to posterity, in presenting this subject to the fathers of the commonwealth. And may that Almighty Being, in whose hands are the destinies of states and nations, enlighten your councils, and invigorate your exertions, in favour of the best interests of our beloved country."
This memorial, presented on the part of the citizens of New-York, in February, 1816, was, after much opposition, referred by the legislature to a committee of five, who were directed to take the necessary measures for exploring the line of country ; for estimating the expense ; for ascertaining how the necessary funds could be raised; and to apply for donations of land and money. Governor Clinton was president of the board, and presented their reports in February and March, 1817. The bill authorizing the con- struction of the canals passed the legislalure on 15th April. The first meeting of the commissioners was held on 3d June, and the work was commenced on 4th July, all in the same year, 1817. The bare reference to dates shows the energy with which the commissioners prosecuted the undertaking.
The work was not long successfully carried on, before the state of Ohio,-a state, the first settlement in which was not made until several years after the separation of the colonies from Great Britain in 1788,-followed the example of the state of New-York, and began to consider how Governor Clinton's great project of completing the communication to the western rivers of America, by a canal from Lake Erie to the Ohio, was to be effected. They obtained plans and estimates, which, before proceeding, they transmitted to Governor Clinton for his opinion and advice. The Governor's reply to the communication was most satisfactory ; expressing it to be his decided opinion, that, as no insurmountable physical difficulty waa in their way, they had no question to consider, but the designation of the most expedient route ; because, as the canal through Ohio state would, in connexion with the Erie and Champlain Canals, form a communication between the Bay of New-York, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the advantages were in every point of view sufficiently obvious ; this line of internal seas embracing within its influence the greater part of the United States, and of Canada.
Accordingly, the legislature of Ohio, in February, 1825, authorized the construction of their great canal, 320 miles long, from Lake Erie by Chillicothe, and passing near Columbus, the seat of the legislature of the state, to the river Ohio.
Much of it is now finished. When completed, three years hence, the market of New-Orleans will not be more open to the western states,-to the people of Missouri, Indiana, and Ohio,-than that ofNew-York or ofMontreal, and the greater part of the United States, -all of it, in fact, except what is situated to the westward of the Mississippi, will, as stated in one of Clinton's admirable addresses, " form one vast island, susceptible of circumnavigation, to the extent of many thousand miles. The most distant parts of the confederacy will then be in a state of approximation, and the distinctions of eastern and western, of southern and northern interests, will be entirely prostrated. To be instrumental in producing so much good, by increasing the stock of human happiness; by establishing the perpetuity of free government ; and by extending the empire of knowledge, of refinement, and of religion, is an ambition worthy of a free people. The most exalted reputation is that which arises from the dispensation of happiness to our fellow creatures."
The Champlain Canal, although attended with most beneficial consequences to the state of New-York, and to the United States generally, in opening the commerce ofthe Canadian sea, is not to be compared in importance with the Erie Canal; but its construction has been accompanied by even more singular effects, in completing, by a water communication only sixty-three miles in length, the division of the New-England states, comprehending Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Vermont, and New- Hampshire, with a part of the state of New-York, from the remainder of the United States. A great chasm, not less than 387 miles in length, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in a direction a little east of north, is occupied by the Hudson River from Sandy-hook to Glen's Falls, which are within twenty-two miles of Lake Champlain, by an intermediate table-land, to the head of Lake Champlain, by the lake itself, and its outlet, the Richelieu, or Chambly River, into the St. Lawrence. Darby remarks, that there is only one other pass which resembles this glen, viz. that which divides Scotland into unequal sections ; and through which the Caledonian Canal has been lately carried, declining a little towards the meridian from north-east and south-west, and extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the German Sea, having no summit above seventy feet, though bounded by high mountains. "In one respect," says Darby, " these two vales excite astonishment; in their extent they deviate as little from a direct line, as to almost appear the effects, of large masses of solid matter having been impelled with prodigious velocity over the earth's surface. In both, the lakes, as well as the rivers, obey the general direction ; and in the Scottish glen, the Murray Frith, LochNess, Loch Oich, Loch Lochy, Loch Eil, and the Frith or Loch Linhe, supply the same office per formed in North America by Hudson River, Wood Creek, Lake Champlain, and Chambly River. Both passes have been recently made navigable ; that in North America by the Champlain Canal, and that in Scotland by the Caledonian Canal. Perhaps no two facts in history more strongly mark the progressive advance, not alone of improvements in means of transportation, but in an infinitely more important subject- the human mind."
There is not in Europe any canal of equal length with the Erie Canal. The greatest continuous line of canal Is that &f the Imperial Canal of China, which is said to be 900 miles long, 200 feet broad, and to have been constructed 800 years ago ; but the Chinese are ignorant of the system of lockage, by means of which different levels are connected in the European and american canals.
The first considerable work of this description in modern times was the Canal of Languedoc, uniting the Atlantic and Mediterranean seas, and completed in 1681, in the reign of Louis XIV., 140 miles in length, 144 feet in breadth, and six feet deep.
The Holstein Canal, uniting the German Ocean with the Baltic, finished in 1785, although only fifty miles long, is remarkable on account of its depth, not less than ten feet in any place, so that ships drawing above nine feet of water make use of it. Two to three thousand ships pass in a year, , No attempt to construct canals in Britain was made till the year 1755 ; and the first important work was the Duke of' Bridgewater's Canal, from his coal mines to Manchester and Liverpool, begun in 1758, in which, with the assistance of the celebrated Brindley, the most formidable natural difficulties were overcome by means of tunnels and aqueducts.
The Duke of Bridgewater's success led to the execution of many similar undertakings in England and Scotland,- among others, to the Forth and Clyde Canal, of thirty-five miles,-and to the Caledonian Canal, which, though it cost. above a million, on account of difficulties encountered in connecting it with inland seas and lakes, is itself only twenty miles long. The entire length of canals in Britain and Ire land is now above 3000 miles. But what appears to be the most magnificent of the European Canals is the Ship Canal from Amsterdam to the Holder Point, which was admirably constructed about the same period with the Erie Canal, from 1819 to 1825. Its length is fifty miles. Its breadth at the surface of the water is 124 feet, and its depth twenty feet nine inches. It cost above a million sterling. The time spent in tracking vessels from the Holder to Amsterdam is eighteen hours. One frigate passes another with ease. If we were to compute the magnitude of canals by the cubic contents of their beds, this is the greatest canal in the world, excepting always the Chinese. The volume of water which it contains, or the prisme de remplissage, is twice as great as that of the Erie Canal.
It may, therefore, well be questioned whether the Erie Canal, although undoubtedly longer than any European canal, be a more stupendous national work than the Amsterdam Canal, or entitled to the very sweeping claim to superiority over the European Canals claimed for it by its illustrious founder. It is, however, a most wonderful undertaking to have been set about by a state, the population of which, at the period of its commencement, did not amount to a million and a half; and its effects on the commerce of a great continent, and its a source of immense wealth to the revenue of the state of New-York, and an example to the other states of the confederacy, can hardly be too highly appreciated.
We had intended to visit the neighbouring Falls of the Mohawk, called the echoes Full, before we set out from Albany to Niagara ; but the heat unfits us for exertion, and has Induced us to proceed tomorrow, on our journey to the Niagara Falls, 318 miles to the northwest of Albany.
We have found the Eagle Hotel at Albany very comfortable. The bedrooms, however, are as meagerly furnished as at New-York.