152 OCEAN TO OCEAN ON HORSEBACK. 



cuse, in behalf of whose population you are pleased so 

 kindly to welcome me, recall to my mind at the same 

 time the wilderness that, since the time I commanded 

 on the Northern frontier, has been transformed into 

 one of the most populous and enlightened parts of the 

 United States; and the ancient Sicilian city, once the 

 seat of republican institutions, much inferior, how- 

 ever, to those which in American Syracuse are founded 

 upon the plain investigation, the unalloyed establish- 

 ment of the rights of men, and upon the best repre- 

 sentative forms of government. No doubt, sir, but 

 that among the co-operators of the Revolution, the 

 most sanguine of us could not fully anticipate the 

 rapidity of the improvements which, on a journey of 

 many thousand miles — the last tour alone from Wash- 

 ington to this place amounting to five thousand miles — 

 have delighted me; and of which this part of tlie 

 country offers a bright example. Be pleased to ac- 

 cept my personal thanks and in behalf of the people 

 of Onondaga and Syracuse to receive this tribute of 

 my sincere and respectful acknowledgments. '' 



Could the Marquis have lived longer, and made his 

 tour hither at this time, he would scarcely have found 

 words to express his surprise. Perhaps no city in 

 New York has made such great strides in so few 

 years. 



Handsome buildings have sprung up on all sides, 

 each one adding to the sightliness of the place ; and 

 on the surrounding hills wealthy residents have built 

 their charming homes. The University of Syracuse, 

 a Methodist institution, built upon one of these hills 

 in 1870, looks down invitingly upon the knowl- 

 edge-seekers of the city, and with the State Ar- 



