“We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in general congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world, for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; and that, as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honour.”
After leaving church, General Lafayette went to the Park, where all the militia and firemen were assembled, who manœuvred and defiled before him with great precision. One of these companies had a splendid flag, on which was represented an equestrian portrait of the nation’s guest. After this review he entered the city hall, where the governor presented him to the senate; by whom he was received with honours never before bestowed upon any one. On his entrance the members arose and uncovered themselves; the president of the senate advanced towards him, and felicitated him on his return, and expressed to him the gratification of the citizens of New York, at his uniting with them in the celebration of the anniversary of the glorious fourth of July.
From the council chamber we passed into that of the governor, where the general was attended by the members of the society of Cincinnatus, the European consuls, and a great number of distinguished persons, whom the municipal body had invited to a banquet, the arrangement of which had been given to a committee, who performed the duty in excellent taste. Memorials of glory, of patriotism, and of liberty, were assembled in astonishing numbers in the superb saloon of the city hall, where the tables were arranged. The busts of Washington and Lafayette, the portraits of Bolivar and of De Witt Clinton, were arranged in the midst of trophies, above which always floated united the American and French flags. The arm chair used by Washington when president, was placed in the centre, and covered with branches of laurel and evergreens.
The company having seated themselves at table, we observed, amidst the happy soldiers of 1776, proscribed persons from almost every country of Europe, to whom places had been assigned by the republican hospitality of the new world. Among these exiles were members of the Spanish cortes, driven from their country by despotism; some learned Germans flying from punishments as singular, as atrocious and unjust;[[18]] French officers,[[19]] compelled to seek, in a foreign land, a repose which they have had so often sacrificed for their native country, and all, notwithstanding the miseries they had suffered, appeared consoled, and their spirits revived by the prospect of the happiness enjoyed by the freemen among whom they reside.
According to the American custom, after dinner a number of appropriate toasts were drank. The general, after having received the felicitations and good wishes of all the company, went to the Park theatre, where the audience saluted him on his entrance and his departure with three cheers.
After the exertions of such a day, the general required rest, and the citizens, always attentive to his wishes, allowed him, during some days, freely to enjoy the calmer and not less pleasant attentions of his private friends. It was with delight that he consecrated this period to the society of his old companions in arms, among whom were Colonel Platt, Colonel Willett, Colonel Varick, General Van Cortland, and many others, whose names, though they dwell in the memory of the general, have escaped mine.
He did not again leave the sweets of private life except to cross the river to New Jersey, to pass a short time with his friend, Col. Varick, who had invited him to dine with some of the principal citizens of New York. The corporation of boatmen claimed the honour of conveying him across the Hudson in a boat whose name was rendered popular by a recent occurrence, which still occupied public attention.
The captain of the English frigate Hussar, which arrived at New York in December, 1824, had a gig of remarkably light construction, with which he had won several races in different European ports, especially in England. Proud of his success, and full of confidence in the speed of his gig, he challenged the boatmen of New York, and proposed a race for $1000; this was accepted, the money made up on their side by subscription, and a beautiful new boat called the American Star, chosen for the contest. The day, hour, and place were fixed. The English captain selected four of the most expert oarsmen of his crew, and acted as cockswain himself. The Whitehallers took four of their number without much choice, and a youth of fifteen for cockswain. The distance to be rowed was about three miles, between Castle Garden and the point of Long Island. The English sailors, stooping violently to their thwarts, and bending their oars at every stroke, launched forward with impetuosity, leaving in their wake large whirls of sparkling foam. The Whitehallers, seated perpendicularly on their thwarts, with motionless bodies, and their arms also nearly fixed, scarce skimmed the waves with their slight oars, but pressing and multiplying their pulls, were under way as soon as their adversaries, scarce disturbing the transparent water around them. A few minutes decided the victory, sometimes so long uncertain. Though started at the same time, the two boats were soon separated. The Englishmen, quickly exhausted by their violent exertions, could not equal the rapid flight of their rivals, whose prompt arrival at the goal was announced by the joyful acclamations of the spectators, whom curiosity had drawn from all points of the city and vicinity to the shores. Astonished at his defeat, but unable to contest its completeness, the English captain eagerly acknowledged the superiority of the American boat to his own, and offered to purchase her for $3,000. But the Whitehallers refused to sell her. “We wish to keep her,” said they, “as a monument of the victory we have had the honour of gaining over you; but to lessen the regrets caused by our refusal, we will run you another race, for double the stake, in which you shall man our boat against us, and we will man yours.” But, however the English captain was surprised, fearing a new defeat, or the loss of his money, he declined the proposal. In the evening, the victorious boat was drawn on a triumphal car through the city, and carried to the theatre, where it was crowned, along with its four oarsmen and young cockswain. The next day it was placed as a monument on the wharf, with the names of the crew inscribed on the thwarts, and this legend on her gunwale: American Star, Victorious, 4th December, 1824.
It was in this boat, and with the same oarsmen who had gained the victory, that the Whitehallers wished to convey General Lafayette to Sandy Hook, on the other side of the North river. In this passage we could judge of their dexterity and skill; the numerous boats which carried the other guests were compelled to follow at a distance. On his return, as soon as the general had disembarked, the boatmen in a body, under the flag of their association, and led by the victors, presented themselves, to thank him for the services which he had formerly rendered their country, and the testimonies of esteem accorded them. Then, after briefly relating the history of the boat in which he had crossed the river, they begged him to accept, and take it with him to La Grange, that it might continually recall to him the remembrance of his New York friends, the perfection of the mechanic arts in America, and the great motto of American seamen: “Free trade and sailors’ rights.”[[20]]
The nature of the present and the delicacy with which it was offered, did not permit the general to refuse it.