No. 129. 1 477 



Mr. Hall also took deep interest in establishing in our country 

 the best breeds of horses and cattle. He acquired more than 

 common knowledge of these subjects, and expended great sums 

 of money on them, and by success recovered large sums by the 

 speed and noble qualities of his horses, and the high qualities of 

 his cattle. 



I had the pleasure to act with him in the board of aldermen 

 of this city, in 1831 and 1832. He was deeply engaged in the 

 noble plan of completing, orer dales and through hills of rock, 

 the splendid Third Avenue. Great oposition was made to it on 

 two grounds. One was the enormous expense, and the next, that 

 it was a speculation to improve his own lands of Harlem ; the 

 answer to which I gave was, that it is much to be desired that 

 the majority of our citizens felt an equally deep interest in thus 

 making all the avenues to our city as perfect as science can make 

 them, in which every citizen has as great an interest as Mr. Hall. 



At the same time, Mr. Hall gave the whole weight of his abil- 

 ity to the establishment of our glorious Croton Aqueduct; and 

 his observations on some of the European aqueducts gave force 

 to his arguments for our Croton. 



Mr. Hall was acquainted with, and much attached to, the fine 

 arts; his judgment in painting, sculpture, &c., was excellent. 



With all this, his prudence had great trouble in restraining 

 his inborn liberality. He rejoiced in being bounteous, and la- 

 mented at times the restraints some times imposed on it, in strong 

 terms. He delighted in giving. 



May such men continue to be born among us, for such have 

 always been the product of the best eras of our race. 



His Third Avenue is a monument to his memory, which, like 

 the Appian Way, will forever be admired. 



He was a member of the Institute and of its Farmers' Club. 

 He was an enlightened patriot, devoting largely his time and 

 money to American improvement. 



The Secretary read the following translation by himself: 



