having come to a violent end by unlawful means; and the names of the chief actors in the Tammany frauds are literally a "by-word and a hissing" to the "ends of the earth."* What further course will be taken, and with what results, cannot now with certainty be stated. Already, however, a good work has been performed; and the probabilities are, that if the Committee push matters with the same energy they have up to the present time evinced, the members of the "Ring" will be brought to justice, and forced to disgorge their ill-gotten gains. Then shall the City of New York, it is to be hoped, be as distinguished for the purity of her government, as she now is for her liberality, her influence, and her wealth.†

tion with the Tammany leaders. Investigation, however, points to him as having, with the "Erie Ring," been thoroughly identified with them in sundry ways. At least such is the prevailing public opinion, shown by the fact that his death is universally accepted as another sign of the utter disruption and ruin of the "Tammany Ring."

* Chief among the causes which undoubtedly led to the overthrow of the "Tammany Ring" were the caricatures or cartoons which appeared from time to time in Harper's Weekly. The effects of these, by bringing the leaders of the "Ring" into justly merited ridicule, cannot, perhaps, be over-estimated. Indeed, in all ages, before the invention of printing, and since, " picture writing" has been one of the most effectual weapons for moving and directing public opinion. Every one will perceive the power of these methods of giving expression to suppressed opinion, especially upon the ignorant multitude, by reflecting what has often been the effect of a good caricature upon his own mind.

46

Before closing the record of this year allusion should be made to the 'Westfield disaster." The Westfield, which was a ferry-boat plying between the city and Staten Island, exploded her boilers just as she was on the point of leaving Whitehall Slip on Sunday, the 30th of July. One hundred and six persons were killed, and one hundred and fifty injured, many of them for life.

CHAPTER XVI.

THE History of New York City has now been brought down to a period within the recollection of almost the youngest inhabitant. The limits of this work will 1872. not permit me to speak at length of the causes which have led to the commercial and local prosperity of New York; the part taken by her publishing-houses in the dissemination of much that is good and beautiful and true in American literature;* the position won for

* Chief among these may be mentioned the house of Virtue & Yorston, which, though a branch of the great house of Virtue & Co., London, can with propriety be called thoroughly American, from the fact of its having been instrumental, more, perhaps, than any similar house, in making the public familiar with American scenery. On this account a brief sketch of this firm belongs to the history of the city.

The house of Virtue & Yorston was first established in New York, in 1834, under the name of R. Martin & Co., and, in 1835, opened at 69 Barclay Street. Thence it was removed to Broadway, between Maiden Lane and Liberty, and, shortly after, to 26 John Street, where-Mr. Martin retiring-it became G. Virtue & Co. Upon the business being removed, in 1863, to 12 Dey Street (see engraving on opposite page), where it still remains, the name of the firm was again changed to the present one of Virtue & Yorston. Mr. Yorston, the junior partner, having long been connected with the establishment of G. Virtue & Co., in England, was peculiarly fitted for his work. He had also, for a series of years, extensively canvassed for those books which have given this house a world-wide reputation (among these, Views in Switzerland, and the Vernon Gallery), and was thoroughly conversant with the wants of the American public.

It has been said that the house of Virtue & Yorston has always been peculiarly American. It was while the firm was established on Broadway that Bartlett prepared and finished his sketches for the great work of himself and N. P. Willis upon the scenery of the United States and Canada-books which

her in letters by Sands and Halleck and Bryant and Bancroft; her School of Painting, fostered in its earlier days by Trumbull, Jarvis, Henry Inman* and Ingham, and in its later ones by Church, Bierstadt, Page, Richards, Huntingdon, Elliott, Kensett, and others equally distinguished; her School of Sculpture, represented by Brown, Thompson, and Ward; the nature and extent of her benevolent institutions,† and the character of her "merchant princes." Wealth in itself is no evidence of a city's prosperity, and therefore I do not refer to those of her rich men who are distinguished for that alone, and whose names will readily suggest themselves to the reader. But we, as citizens, do take pride in pointing to men whose immense wealth is guided and controlled by the principles of evangelical religion. Of this latter class are Marshall O. Roberts, William E. Dodge, S. B. Schieffelin, Moses H. Grinnell-and others of similar character-men who are distinguished alike for their christian virtues and purity of life, and for their unparalleled business success. While, moreover, I have been compelled, as a faithful historian, to recount a few events that must ever remain foul

still remain the best authorities on the subjects of which they treat. This house, also, was the first to inspire the American public with a taste for handsomely illustrated works. The Great Civil War, The Battles of America by Sea and Land, illustrated with fifty-one steel engravings, and The History of the United States, with ninety steel engravings, are familiar to all lovers of American history. Among the works which have been introduced by them, and which have tended greatly to cultivate a taste for art in this country, may be mentioned "The Art Journal," one of the most superb works that have ever been published; "Scenery and Antiquities of Ireland," with one hundred and twenty engravings on steel; "Ireland, its Scenery and Character," illustrated with over six hundred engravings; "Piedmont and Italy;" "Switzerland;" The Beauties of the Bosphorus;" "Scotland;" "Gems of European Art;" "Royal Gems from the Galleries of Europe;" The Wilkie Gallery;" The Vernon Gallery ;" and "The Turner Gallery."

* For Personal Reminiscences of Inman see Appendix No. XIII.

For a full account of the aims and nature of the benevolent institutions of New York City, the reader is referred to a book exclusively devoted to that subject, published by E. B. Treat & Co.

blots upon the otherwise bright escutcheon of the city, I would far rather dwell upon pleasanter themes — the founding of the INSTITUTION FOR THE DEAF AND DUMB,* and the SOCIETY FOR THE REFORMATION OF JUVENILE DELINQUENTS-the establishment of that noble work, the YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION-the course taken by the city during the late civil war, in which she led the van in every movement having for its object either the support of the Government or the relief of its brave defenders†-the dinner given to Charles Dickens, under the auspices

"Colonel Stone," writes Harvey P. Peet, the President of the New York Deaf and Dumb Asylum, to the author, "entered with characteristic zeal into the effort to build up a superior institution for the deaf and dumb in New York. To his influence is due, in large measure, my selection for the position of principal, and I ascribe much of the success which crowned my labors to his ready sympathy and encouragement, and his intelligent and zealous co-operation. From the time I became principal of the institution, in 1831, to his death in 1841, he was the man, of all others, on whom I most relied for aid in urging the claims of our institution on the people of our city and State. He was constant in his attendance at our public exhibitions, ever ready and felicitous in suggesting tests of the acquirements of the pupils, and ever prepared with appropriate anecdotes to be related by signs and translated into written languages, so that it always seemed that much of the popular interest of those occasions was owing to him. The editor of a journal of wide circulation and extensive influence, especially among the more wealthy and benevolent classes, he was eminently successful in his appeals to benevolence-and that because of the confidence generally felt both in his goodness of heart and in his discrimination. . .

"As a director of this institution, his quick intelligence and sound judgment enabled him to appreciate the value of suggestions for improvements, and his influence with the Board could always be relied on to secure their adoption, at the same time that his rare good sense preserved him from the error of some men of undoubted philanthropy, who, in a similar situation, have thought that theories formed in the closet might be made to overrule a life-long professional experience. He was a liberal donor to the library of the institution, and his newspaper was always sent free for the use of our teachers and pupils. His example and influence, moreover, obtained for it frequent donations of books and periodicals. The value of such gifts to an institution like ours needs no comment."

Chief among these was the Great Metropolitan Fair, held in the city in the spring of 1864, for the benefit of the United States Sanitary Commission, and which netted $1,000,000 for the relief of the soldiers-a sum exceeding that produced by all other fairs, for the same purpose, in the country.