12S OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSES ACK. 



the English quietly came into possession. Van Rens-* 

 selaer sent down his papers, and Fort Orange surren- 

 dered on the twenty-fourth of September, 1664, soon 

 after receiving its new name in honor of the Duke's 

 second title. Twenty-two years later, Albany had the 

 satisfaction of sending two of her representatives, 

 Peter Schuyler and Robert Livingston, to New York 

 to claim her charter as a city ; which, upon their return, 

 was received, according to the old chronicler, "with all 

 ye joy and acclamation imaginable." 



Through the strength of their new dignity and in- 

 fluence we can trace the spirit of independence which 

 was beginning to rise in opposition to the unjust Eng- 

 lish rule ; and it was here in 1754 that the first Gen- 

 eral Congress was held to discuss arrangements for tlie 

 national defence, when Franklin and his compatriots 

 "signed the first plan for American Union and pro- 

 claimed to the colonies that they were one people, fit to 

 govern and able to protect themselves." Later, when 

 the storm of the Revolution broke, this place, where 

 the first threatenings were heard, was the most impr v- 

 erished by the contest and the most persevering in the 

 fight; but she came out triumphant, with a record well 

 meriting the honors received in 1797, when she was 

 made the capital of the Empire State. After peace 

 was again established and the routine of business taken 

 up, Albany became the centre of the entire trade of 

 Western New York. 



Fulton's steamboats began to run between Albany 

 and New York as early as 1809, and this commercial 

 activity and contact with the world gave an impulse 

 to the city which has made itself felt all along the 

 Hudson. Since then it has grown rapidly, and has in 



