Part 16 (2/2)

”In France, some fifty years after the Revolution, Marbois reproduced, as an entertainment for Lafayette, then an old man, this old sitting-room and its table scene. From his elegant saloon he conducted his guests, among whom were several Americans, to the room which he had prepared. There was a large open fire-place, and plain oaken floors; the ceiling was supported with large beams and whitewashed; there were the seven small-sized doors and one window with heavy sash and small panes of gla.s.s. The furniture was plain and unlike any then in use. Down the centre of the room was an oaken table covered with dishes of meat and vegetables, decanters and bottles of wine, and silver mugs and small wine gla.s.ses. The whole had something the appearance of a Dutch kitchen. While the guests were looking around in surprise at this strange procedure, the host, addressing himself to them said, 'Do you know where we now are?' Lafayette looked around, and, as if awakening from a dream, he exclaimed, 'Ah! the seven doors and one window, and the silver camp goblets such as the Marshals of France used in my youth. We are at Was.h.i.+ngton's Headquarters on the Hudson fifty years ago.'”

One window looking toward the east; Seven doors wide-open every side; That room revered proclaims at least An invitation free and wide.

_Wallace Bruce._

The goodness which characterizes Was.h.i.+ngton is felt by all around him, but the confidence he inspires is never familiar; it springs from a profound esteem for his virtues and a great opinion of his talents.

_Marquis de Chastellux._

From these headquarters Was.h.i.+ngton promulgated his memorable order for the cessation of hostilities and recalled the fact that its date, April 18th, was the anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord.

_Thomas F. Bayard._

The Hasbrouck family returned to their old home, made historic for all time, after the disbandment of the army and remained until it became the property of the State. On July 4, 1850, the place was formally dedicated by Major-General Winfield Scott, dedicatory address delivered by John J. Monell, an ode by Mary E. Monell, and an oration by Hon. John W. Edmunds. The centennial of the disbanding of the army was observed here October 18, 1883. After the noonday procession of 10,000 men in line, three miles in length, with governors and representative people from almost every State, 150,000 people, ”ten acres” square, gathered in the historic grounds. Senator Bayard, of Delaware, was chairman of the day. Hon. William M. Evarts was the orator, and modestly speaking in the third person, Wallace Bruce, author of this handbook, was the poet. No one there gathered can ever forget that afternoon of glorious sunlight or the n.o.ble pageant. The great mountains, which had so frequently been the bulwark of liberty and a place of refuge for our fathers, were all aglow with beauty, as if, like h.o.r.eb's bush, they too would open their lips in praise and thanksgiving. One of the closing sentences of Senator Evarts' address is unsurpa.s.sed in modern or ancient eloquence: ”These rolling years have shown growth, forever growth, and strength, increasing strength, and wealth and numbers ever expanding, while intelligence, freedom, art, culture and religion have pervaded and enn.o.bled all this material greatness. Wide, however, as is our land and vast our population to-day, these are not the limits to the name, the fame, the power of the life and character of Was.h.i.+ngton. If it could be imagined that this nation, rent by disastrous feuds, broken in its unity, should ever present the miserable spectacle of the undefiled garments of his fame parted among his countrymen, while for the seamless vesture of his virtue they cast lots--if this unutterable shame, if this immeasurable crime, should overtake this land and this people, be sure that no spot in the wide world is inhospitable to his glory, and no people in it but rejoices in the influence of his power and his virtue.” In his lofty sentences the old heroes seemed to pa.s.s again in review before us, and the daily life of that heroic band, when Congress sat inactive and careless of its needs until the camp rose in mutiny, happily checked, however, by the great commander in a single sentence. It will be remembered that Was.h.i.+ngton began to read his ma.n.u.script without gla.s.ses, but was compelled to stop, and, as he adjusted them to his eyes, he said, ”You see, gentlemen, that I have not only grown gray, but blind, in your service.” It is needless to say that the ”anonymously called” meeting was not held.

He quelled the half-paid mutineers, And bound them closer to the cause; His presence turned their wrath to tears, Their muttered threats to loud applause.

The great Republic had its birth That hour beneath the army's wing, Whose leader taught by native worth The man is grander than the king.

We hear the anthem once again,-- ”No king but G.o.d!”--to guide our way, Like that of old--”Good-will to men”-- Unto the shrine where freedom lay.

_Wallace Bruce_.

Near at hand, and also plainly seen from the river, is the new Tower of Victory, fifty-three feet high, costing $67,000. It contains a life-size statue of Was.h.i.+ngton, in the act of sheathing his sword, with bronze figures representing the rifle, the artillery, the line officer and dragoon service of our country, with a bronze tablet on the east wall bearing the inscription: ”This monument was erected under the authority of the Congress of the United States, and of the State of New York, in commemoration of the disbandment, under proclamation of the Continental Congress, of October 18, 1783, of the armies, by whose patriotic and military virtue, our national independence and sovereignty were established.” The Belvidere, reached by a spiral staircase, is capable of holding one hundred persons, and the view therefrom takes in a wide extent of panoramic beauty.

Newburgh has not only reason to be proud of her historical landmarks and her beautiful situation, but also of her commercial prosperity.

In olden times, it was a great centre for all the western and southwestern district, farmers and lumbermen coming from long distances in the interior. Soon after the Revolution she was made a village, when there were only two others in the State. Before the days of the Erie ca.n.a.l, this was the shortest route to Lake Erie, and was made by stage _via_ Ithaca. With increasing facilities of railway communication, she has also easily held her own against all commercial rivals. The _West Sh.o.r.e Railroad_, the _Erie Railway_, the _New York Central_ and the _New York and New England_ across the river, and several Hudson river steamers, make her peculiarly central. The city is favored with beautiful driveways, amid charming country seats.

The New Paltz road pa.s.ses the site where General Wayne had his headquarters, also, the ”Balm of Gilead tree,” which gave the name of Balmville to the suburban locality. Another road affords a glimpse of the ”Vale of Avoca,” named after the well-known glen in Ireland, of which Tom Moore so sweetly sung. Here, some say, a treacherous attempt was made on the life of Was.h.i.+ngton, but it is not generally credited by critical historians. As the steamer leaves the dock, and we look back upon the factories and commercial houses along the water front, crowned by n.o.ble streets of residence, with adjoining plateau, sweeping back in a vast semi-circle as a beautiful framework to the wide bay, we do not wonder that Hendrick Hudson established a prophetic record by writing ”a very pleasant place to build a town.”

[Ill.u.s.tration: WAs.h.i.+NGTON'S HEADQUARTERS, NEWBURGH]

Was.h.i.+ngton! Brave without temerity; laborious without ambition; generous without prodigality; n.o.ble without pride; virtuous without severity.

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