The by the Dutch until they had first estab- interior for the various stores brought lished themselves at this place, one hun- | from our own and foreign coasts. dred and fifty miles and more from the railroads come in with their share of sea. This was the scene of many im- valuable freights; and Albany presents, portant councils and treaties with the on every hand, abundant and gratifying Indians, especially the Five Nations; proofs of the sagacity of those enlightand in the grounds of the old capitol ened councils, which opened the grand were interred numerous savage memo- channels of commerce, for the wide and rials of peace and amity. and amity. During the lasting benefit of the state and the counFrench wars, Albany was often the try. grand point of rendezvous for the troops required of New England and New York, in military expeditions against Canada. Burgoyne's expedition, in 1777, had the capture of this city as its first object, after gaining possession of Ticonderoga, and it was saved only by the battles of Saratoga. Albany has been the capital of this state ever since its formation; and here is the point at which concentrate the principal canals and railroads of New York-the uniting link in the chains connecting the commerce of the lakes with that of the great northern ports, Boston and New York. Albany is well situated to make a striking appearance to a person approaching by the river, or viewing it from the opposite, elevated shores of Greenbush. A crowded mass of houses seems to cover the entire declivity, which rises suddenly from the level of the shore to the summit, which is crowned by the statehouse with its dome. The broadest and perhaps the principal street (State street), well built, with many large edifices, hotels, stores, and private residences, leads from the base of the hill to the gates of the statehouse, starting from the chief avenue of business, Market street, which extends, with several parallel streets, far up and down the city, north and south. The canal-basin occupies the front of the town for about one half its length, being shut in from the river by the pier, which commences at the north, and terminates opposite the foot of State Here are seen mingling the boats of Lake Champlain, Erie, and the Ohio canal, with the steamboats sent from New York to tow them to the mouth of the river, where many of them exchange the abundant products of the street. The Albany Female Institute.-This seminary was founded by private subscription, and has been a flourishing and useful institution, conferring a high and solid education on thousands of the youths of this city and other places near and distant. The plan, in some important respects, was new: it being the design to afford, at the cheapest possible rate, a superior education on females of all ranks in society; and so successful has it proved, that several other institutions have been formed in imitation of it, which have in like manner been highly useful, particularly the Rutgers Institute in the city of New York. The Albany Female Seminary.-This is another institution occupying a commanding situation on the top of Capitol hill, near the statehouse and several other public buildings. It is founded on a plan which does great credit to the state of New York, which has so honorably distinguished itself by its liberal provision for the diffusion of education. The central Normal School is also established in Albany, and is doing important good by preparing teachers for the common schools. The City-Hall was built in 1832, of white marble from Sing-Sing, quarried and hewn by the prisoners, with a basement, and a façade with six Ionic columns and a dome covered with gilding, the only specimen of the kind in the United States. The circular hall or rotunda contains a statue of Hamilton, copied from one by Greenough, which was destroyed in the New York exchange by the great fire. There are also portraits of Clinton and Walter Scott in relief, surrounded by emblems. The State-Hall.-This edifice stands near the city-hall, and is one hundred and thirty-eight by eighty-eight feet, 키 and sixty-five feet in height. It is of brick and stone, faced with marble, and contains the offices of the comptroller, treasurer, attorney-general, surveyorgeneral, &c. The Capitol is constructed of stone, and cost one hundred and twenty thousand dollars. It contains the chambers of the senate and the representatives, in which are found full-length portraits of Washington and the governors of New York. There are six banks, and twenty-five churches of different denominations. The Rensselaer Mansion is a venerable edifice a mile north of the city, the residence of the Patroons of that name, proprietors of one of the great entailed estates in this state, which have been retained in several old Dutch families from past generations. The estate embraces vast tracts of land in different counties, large portions of which occupied by tenants, at various rents, usually small, and often trifling. Within a few years great dissatisfaction has been excited among the people, and, in 1845, bands of men, on this and other manors, armed and disguised, set the laws at defiance, and committed some acts of violence, even murder. The militia were called out, arrests made, and trials and imprisonments at length suppressed the "anti-rent riots." The Indians knew Albany by the name of Scagh-negh-ta-da, which is said to express, in their language," The End of the Pine Woods;" and this term has since been applied to Schenectady, the town at the western extremity of the elevated pine-barren tract which was thus alluded to, there fifteen miles across, and still almost uninhabited. The Dutch called the place Beaverwyck, on account of the principal article of the trade which they here carried on with the natives; and afterward Willemstadt. The name Urania, or Fort Orange, was never extended to the town, it is affirmed, but confined to the small fort which was erected by the Dutch on their first occupying this point. The present name was conferred by the English, as has before been remarked. It is supposed that the first white man who ever visit ed this spot was one of the companions of Hudson, Hardwicke Chrystance, who was sent from his vessel on an exploring party, in September, 1610. Tradition says he landed somewhere near the present North Market street. The trading-house and fort was built that year or the next on the northern extremity of Boyd's island, a little south of the present ferry. It was, however, overthrown and carried away by the flood, in the next season. A higher station was then chosen, on a hill two miles distant, at a place called "Kidderhooghten," by the Dutch, and by the Indians, Ta-wass-a-gun-shee," or Lookout Hill. Another position was preferred ere long, and there Fort Orange was finally erected. The spot is near South Market street, and near that now occupied by the Fort Orange hotel. Eight large cannon were mounted for defence, of the sort then known to the Hollanders by the name, "stien gestuckten," or stone-pieces, because, as is said, they were capable of throwing large stones instead of iron shot. But, for about twenty years after this occupation of the spot, the Dutch spent only the trading seasons at Fort Orange, returning annually to their own country, with the products of their trade. În 1625, the Dutch West India company offered large tracts of land to any persons who would colonize the country, and great numbers came over between that time and the year 1635, from some of whom many of the principal families of the present day have derived their names. Wood was used in Albany in all buildings except the fort until 1647. The town was surrounded by a palisade for about a century, and the strict laws respecting trade with the Indians, induced numbers of persons to remove to the Schenectady Flats, where they could trade with the natives with greater freedom. The first church-building erected was at the corner of State, Market, and Court streets, and, after being enlarged several times was taken down in 1806, and the stone used in building the present South Dutch church. The houses of Albany were built in the style of |