the administration of Governor Cosby, the Capsey Battery was erected
in 1735, when a tragedy occurred which is thus described in the paper
of July 21: “On Wednesday last the first stone of the platform of
the new Battery on Whitehall Rocks was laid by his Excellency, our
Governor, and it was called George Augustus’s Royal Battery. As his
Excellency was returning and the last round was firing, the last piece
of the Cannon (being very much Honey-Comb’d and eaten almost through,
as it afterwards appeared by the pieces) burst and the pieces flying
different ways killed three persons; viz., John Symes, Esq., High
Sheriff for the City and County of New York; Miss Courtlandt, only
daughter to the Hon. Col. Courtlandt, a member of His Majesty’s Council
in this Province; and a son-in-law of Alderman Romur.”
[Illustration: CASTLE GARDEN, NEW YORK]
A rip-rap wall lay between the Battery and Fort Clinton, which were
connected by a bridge of about two hundred feet long, and off this
bridge there was excellent fishing for bass, drum and weak-fish.
In 1822, when the property was ceded back to the city by the Federal
Government and the military headquarters removed to Governor’s Island,
it was determined to convert Castle Garden into a place of public
entertainment. The old fort was then leased to a Mr. Marsh, who made a
popular resort of it. Among other improvements, he floored the top of
the parapet and covered it with awnings; and the New Yorkers of that
day considered it a most delightful place to while away the summer
hours.
On August 16, 1824, the _Cadmus_ landed the Marquis de Lafayette, “the
guest of the nation,” at Castle Garden, where the military force of the
city and an immense concourse of people were gathered to receive him;
and on September 14, a great _fête_ was held in his honour at Castle
Garden, which was, perhaps, the most brilliant entertainment ever given
in the city up to that time.
Castle Garden was the scene of large political meetings at which Daniel
Webster and other notable orators, statesmen and citizens appeared; and
in 1847, a great memorial concert for Mendelssohn was given there.
This year brings us to the period when Castle Garden became one of
the most important play-houses of New York. It was opened by Messrs.
French and Heiser on the 28th of June, 1847, with the popular actors
and actresses Holland, Walcot, Arnold, Herr Cline, Miss Clarke, Miss
M. Phillips, Mrs. W. Isherwood, etc., etc., and on the 18th of August
of that year the Havana Opera Company, with Luigi Arditi, who is still
remembered by many old opera-goers, as the conductor. The singers
included Signorina Tedesco and Perelli, Vita, Novelli, and Candi.
The first opera presented was _Ernani_, followed by _Norma_, _La
Sonnambula_ and _Saffo_.
About this time Castle Garden is described by Philip Hone as “the most
splendid and largest theatre I ever saw--a place capable of seating
comfortably about six or eight thousand persons. The pit or area of
the pavilion is provided with some hundred small white tables and
movable chairs, by which people are enabled to congregate into little
squads and take their ices between the acts. In front of the stage is a
beautiful fountain which plays when the performers do not. The whole of
this large area is surmounted by circular benches above and below, from
every point of which the view is enchanting.”
On June 5, 1848, George Holland, as director, opened with popular
farces such as _Old Honesty_, in which he played the part of Tom
Perch, _Box and Cox_, etc. Cline gave performances on the tight-rope
and several notable benefits were given,--one for Arditi and the great
contra-bassist, Botesini, in which Truffi, Pico, Vietti, Beneventano,
Rapetti and Caffi appeared. On August 3d, there was also a great
benefit performance for the suffering volunteers returning from the
Mexican War.
From June 8th to September 7, 1850, the Havana Opera Company gave a
splendid series of performances under Arditi’s bâton, beginning with
_Norma_. The company was composed of Marini, Salvi, Lorini, Vietti,
C. Badiali, Luigi Vita, Elsa Costini, Arditi and Botesini, which, to
quote a contemporary, “formed, perhaps the finest musical combination
ever heard in New York, and succeeded with the aid of moonlight and
sea-breezes, notwithstanding the smallness of the stage and utter
deficiency of acoustic requirements, in attracting immense audiences.”
On September 11th, a very interesting event occurred,--the _début_
of Jenny Lind under Barnum’s management. The clever showman had
advertised his song-bird so successfully that the tickets were sold at
auction (one Mr. Genin, a hatter, bought the first ticket for $225.00),
and those, not fortunate enough to obtain admission, hired row boats
and hovered around Castle Garden during the performance.
Max Maretzek now appears on the scene to give a series of operas during
the summer of 1851, for an admission of fifty cents. Marini, Lorini,
Forti, Beneventano, and Signoras Benedetti, Bosio, Truffi, Clotilda
Barili, Mme. De Vries and Mme. Maretzek formed a strong company, which
was so successful that in the next year Maretzek repeated his venture,
with such great singers as Sontag, Steffanone, Vietti, Salvi, Marini,
Rossi, Strakosch and Badiali.
Immense audiences gathered at Castle Garden to hear Jullien’s wonderful
orchestra,--the biggest and most extraordinary band that had ever
visited New York. The eccentric French leader made his first appearance
on July 29, 1852.
In 1852, the Rousset sisters appeared and French opera and comedy were
played by Mme. Fleury-Jolly and Mlle. d’ Armont. The Ravel family and
Blondin also appeared in this year.
There were many attractions at Castle Garden, besides the music and
drama. There were shows of various kinds and plenty of food and drink.
One chronicler speaks of “the fountain of real champagne, falling over
the rocks of a mimic grotto from which the people dipped the sparkling
fluid in amazed bewilderment.”
Maretzek had another season in the summer of 1854, and in that year
another great event occurred at Castle Garden,--under Mr. Hackett’s
management, while the Academy of Music on Irving Place (opened Oct. 2,
1854), was being made ready, the famous Grisi and Mario were introduced
to the New York public in _Lucrezia Borgia_ on September 4. The seats
cost from $3.00 to $5.00.
One of the important performances during this decade was one in
commemoration of the introduction of the drama at Williamsburg, Va.,
in 1752, by the Hallam Company from London. On this occasion _The
Merchant of Venice_ and Garrick’s _Lethe_ were given.
Laurence Hutton’s memories in _Plays and Players_ (New York,
1875) are worth quoting: “At Castle Garden too were held the fairs
of the American Institute, with their countless delights to the boy
of that period; their models of full-rigged yachts, their wonderful
glass blowers and the marvellous machines to pare apples and to wring
clothes, which were to revolutionize our entire domestic economy and
which never worked when we got them home.... To Castle Garden also came
the first and only Chinese Junk, and to Castle Garden, to see it and
wonder at it, down Broadway came all the good people of Gotham.
“At Castle Garden, too, best of all were those peep-holes in the
gallery, which we can remember so long ago that we had to be lifted up
by paternal arms to look into them. Cosmorama, or diorama, were they
called? and what pictures were revealed of impossible deluges, with
pre-Raphaelite waters, and a pink-coloured Duke of Wellington at a
very blood-red battle of Waterloo! The cyclorama of Paris by Night, or
London by Day, is nothing to these battle scenes of Castle Garden, as
real to us in those days as war itself. The exercise of a very little
‘make believe’ invested in the old fort a personal interest in all of
its battles and the peep-holes became portholes to us, through which
many a time and oft, with General Taylor, we have bombarded Monterey,
or have died on the Plains of Abraham with General Wolfe.
“Of Castle Garden, hardly can we speak without some mention of the
promenade on the outer balcony, so popular on fine nights when the
moon, the inconstant moon, shone on the sparkling river and the Jersey
shore; and the music of the orchestra, with its voluptuous swell,
mingling so harmoniously with the melodious ‘clink, clink’ of the ice
in the julep glasses, added such charms to the opera.”
Among the important receptions held in Castle Garden were those to
Louis Kossuth in 1849, and to the Prince of Wales in 1860.
After having served as an immigrant _dépôt_ for many years, Castle
Garden was turned into an Aquarium, that attracts many visitors who are
unaware of the interesting history that the curiously shaped old brown
building in Battery Park has to tell.
MONTICELLO[14]
EDWARD C. MEAD
Next to _Mount Vernon_, doubtless there is no place in the Union
that has been more written of or more visited than _Monticello_,
the beautiful home of President Jefferson; and yet of the many who
have visited this historic spot and the much that has been said of it,
few are aware of the true story connected with the building of this
celebrated mansion.
Many legends and marvellous tales are told the stranger who treads
its portals, few of which are based upon fact; yet there remain many
incidents untold which would add an interesting page to its history,
which we propose to gather up and trace the true story of its erection
from its inception to its completion.
Colonel Peter Jefferson, the father of Thomas Jefferson, and William
Randolph, both of Goochland County, Virginia, were very close friends
and neighbours. In 1735 both obtained “patents” for large grants of
land lying contiguous to each other, and ever since their descendants
have intermarried and maintained this juxtaposition.
Colonel Peter Jefferson had thus obtained by grant one thousand acres
lying on each side of the Rivanna River, where it intersects the
South-West range of mountains; to this he added by purchase nine
hundred acres, making a total of nineteen hundred acres of land on each
side of the river, which embraced the little towns of Shadwell on the
north and Milton on the south.
In 1770, Mr. Jefferson, who was then a young practising lawyer, first
began to clear the summit of _Monticello_ (Italian for “little
mountain”), with a view of building. It was then merely a wild, tangled
forest, but he had often looked upon this elevated spot with peculiar
attraction, and had frequently rambled over its steep, craggy sides, or
clambered to its summit, there to gaze upon the grand panoramic view
spread out before him with feelings of sublime admiration and intense
delight; it was such a picture as he wished always before him, and thus
it was he decided here to build his home.
After the destruction by fire of the paternal roof at Shadwell, Mr.
Jefferson began in earnest to build upon this almost inaccessible spot,
and in the fall of that year (1770) had erected a small one-and-a-half
story brick building, containing one good-sized room, which is the same
portion of the present building forming the south-east “pavilion” at
the extremity of the south “terrace”; this room was the only part of
the house habitable when he took his young bride there in 1772.
[Illustration: MONTICELLO, VIRGINIA]
Mr. Jefferson’s conception and designs for building his new home were
not so elaborate or extensive as were afterwards carried out upon his
return from Europe. He was very conventional in his style and manner
of living, not wishing to go beyond the simplicity of his neighbours,
even in his plan of building, and yet there was at that time not
another brick building outside the town of Charlottesville, and though
of quite moderate proportions compared to its ultimate appearance, it
was then considered the most imposing building in the county.
The belief that Mr. Jefferson imported from England most of the brick
used for his building is quite erroneous; all these were made upon the
spot by his slaves, and the site of their manufacture is still pointed
out; but in after years, when completing the north end and adding many
embellishments to his original design, some of the finest brick and
ornamental material were procured in Philadelphia and sent around by
water to Richmond, and thence to the little town of Milton.
In the autumn of 1775, still further additions were made, and the
grounds greatly improved and enlarged, Mr. Jefferson planting with his
own hands many fruit and ornamental trees, the trunks of which still
remain.
During the sessions of Congress, while Mr. Jefferson would be absent
from _Monticello_ for months at a time, the work of completion
would be necessarily slow, and even up to the year 1782 the house was
but partially completed. Still more did that part which had already
been built suffer much from delay during his sojourn in France as
ambassador. It was not until Mr. Jefferson’s return in 1794, that real
active work was resumed, and he applied himself enthusiastically once
more to the early completion of his design.
His intention now was to build another wing, one story and a half
high, both to be united and crowned with a balustrade, having a
dome between them, the apartments to be large and convenient, the
decorations within and without to be simple, yet regular and elegant.
Mr. Jefferson had already erected a saw-mill, a grist-mill and a
nail-factory, where every nail for the building was hand-forged by his
coloured boys. Many of his artisans had been brought with him from
Europe, and with all the material at hand the work now progressed
rapidly.
The story that Mr. Jefferson laboured upon the building and laid many
of the brick with his own hand is erroneous. He was always fond of
working in his “shop,” where in this “mechanical retreat,” which stood
at the rear of the house, he would put to a practical test his theories
and exercising his inventive genius; but he never laboured in the real
sense of the word except for his own gratification and pleasure, or to
set an example of industry to those around him.
In 1802, the _Monticello_ mansion was considered completed. The
expense had been very great for those times, which, Mr. Jefferson
states, was exactly two thousand and seventy-six dollars and
twenty-nine cents, while he was away at Washington, besides the large
sums he had previously spent upon it.
Thus it had taken nearly _thirty years_ to build this historic old
edifice, a building which could now be erected in six months under our
present rapid mode of construction.
Let us glance for a moment at this curious structure as it then stood,
fresh from the hands of the illustrious architect, for Mr. Jefferson
had designed each part most minutely himself.
Entering from the eastern portico with its lofty Corinthian pillars
and arched door, over which is still seen the old English clock which
marked the hours, the visitor is here met and ushered through large,
double glass doors into a spacious semi-octagonal hall with its wide
fireplace at one end, as is usually found in old English mansions.
Opposite the door is a small gallery, while on one side of it stood
a fine marble bust of the patriot himself, and on the other one of
Washington, both by the celebrated Italian artist Carracci. Along
each side of the hall were many Indian relics which Mr. Jefferson had
collected.
From this hall opens another glass door leading into the drawing-room
or _salon_ being the largest and most handsome room in the house,
and situated immediately under the dome. This room is also octagonal,
its floor being laid in parquetry of octagonal blocks of different
coloured wood, which were cut and fitted by his own coloured workmen,
giving it a most unique and pleasing effect and which for skill
challenges the genius of a more intelligent race. The walls of this
stately room were adorned with portraits of Columbus, Vespucius, Andrew
Doria, Castruccio-Castracani, Raleigh, Cortez, Bacon, Newton, Locke,
Washington, Adams, Madison and Monroe, while on either side of the door
stood the busts of Alexander and Napoleon.
Leading from this room on the west side was the dining-room, and beyond
this the octagonal tea-room. Here were to be seen busts of Franklin,
Voltaire, Lafayette and Paul Jones. Adjoining this were the bedrooms
for guests, while on the east of the entrance hall was the bedroom of
Mrs. Martha Randolph, who resided there permanently after the death of
Mrs. Jefferson.
Mr. Jefferson’s bedroom was next to that of Mrs. Randolph, beyond which
was his library, which extended to the west side of the house, and from
which led into an arched conservatory; beyond this was Mr. Jefferson’s
celebrated workshop.
The upper part of the house was gained by a very narrow, tortuous
stairway; the rooms above were quite small, of low pitch, and badly
lighted, or ventilated; all of them were of many shapes, in conformity
to the octagonal design of the house; alcoves let into the wall served
in the place of bedsteads, their small dimensions being hardly suited
to the comfortable repose of an ordinary-sized person.
The dome over the parlour was covered with thick glass; this was
called the “ladies’ drawing-room,” which at one time was used as a
billiard-room until the laws of Virginia prohibited the game. It was
also said to have been used as a “ballroom”; but it is safe to say that
Mr. Jefferson never had a dancing-party in his house, though extremely
fond of music and even had his daughter taught the graceful art.
The furniture throughout was very handsome, most of which was purchased
in France and used while living in Philadelphia. The beautiful marble
and brazier tables, French mirrors and elegant sofas of the court style
of Louis XVI. gave a charming and effective contrast to the artistic
finish of the interior; while the many rich paintings, statuary and
works of art gave a sense of regal splendour which amazed the many
plain and simple Virginians who thronged the mansion.
Governor Gilmer of Georgia, who was a frequent and familiar visitor,
thus describes _Monticello_ during Mr. Jefferson’s last term of
office:
“Three rooms of the house were left open for visitors. I saw statuary,
fine paintings and a collection of Indian relics. The statuary was
very beautiful; I could not be satisfied with looking at it. Mr.
Jefferson’s library door was locked, but the window-blinds were thrown
back, so that I could see several books turned open upon the table,
the inkstand, paper and pens as they had been used when Mr. Jefferson
quitted home.”
On top of the dome, Mr. Jefferson had his observatory, being a simple
platform surrounded by a balustrade. Here he would often sit, night and
day, surveying the heavens or the vast expanse of scenery before him
with his telescope.
The famous mill-factory, machine-shops and weaving rooms were to the
south-east of the house, beyond which was the terraced garden in which
he delighted to exhibit his horticultural products. The farm itself had
not been cleared to any great extent around the mansion, most of the
crops being raised on the north side of the river at Shadwell and upon
the Tufton farm near Milton.
Thus we find the farm and mansion of _Monticello_ in 1809, upon
the retirement of Mr. Jefferson from the Presidency. But it was not
to gain repose, for he was followed to his beautiful mountain home by
a host of admirers and visitors, and but for the records left us, it
was scarcely possible to believe the extent to which the imposition
upon his privacy by friends, kindred and the public generally was
carried at this time. They would come singly and in families, bringing
babies, nurses, drivers and horses, spending weeks and even months
at a time, giving the place an appearance of some noted watering
_rendezvous_. Here would be gathered students, savants, musicians,
clergymen, members of Congress, foreign travellers, artists and men
of every faith and political creed to gratify their curiosity and say
that they had seen and heard Mr. Jefferson. In one instance a family of
six from Europe remained ten months; on another occasion a lady broke
a pane of glass with her parasol in her eagerness to get a glimpse of
the President. Crowds would stand about the house for hours watching
for his exit, until Mr. Jefferson in desperation would fly to his
farm, _Poplar Forest_, in Bedford County, for repose, expressing
truly his feelings when he said: “Political honours are but splendid
torments.”
At various times there were also many celebrated visitors to
_Monticello_, who have left their record of the place as it then
appeared; among these were the Duke de Liancourt, a distinguished
French traveller, who, in 1796, remained several days; the Marquis de
Chastellux, aide to General Lafayette; Lieutenant Hall of the English
army in 1816; and William Wirt, the historian, the friend and frequent
visitor of Jefferson. All these have given graphic descriptions
of this celebrated spot, some in language most illusive, for it is
hardly possible for the eye to reach the Chesapeake Bay, the Atlantic
Ocean, or even to the James River, nor can the lofty hills of Maryland
or the Peaks of Otter be seen, yet the view is grand, majestic and
inspiring,--the same which Mr. Jefferson gazed upon with delight, and
which has been the theme of poets and historians since, and ever more
to be the admiration of thousands who make their pilgrimage to this
shrine of America’s freedom.
Thus stood _Monticello_ at the close of Mr. Jefferson’s life in 1826.
It was known at this time that he was deeply involved in debt,--one
partially made in entertaining his numerous guests,--in consequence
of which his entire estate was soon afterwards offered for sale by
his grandson and executor, Colonel Thomas Jefferson Randolph, of
_Edgehill_. Mr. Jefferson had truly rendered himself poor when he
built _Monticello_. The Italians brought over to do the ornamental
work proved most expensive, and his friends had literally “ate him
out of house and home”; so of his once large estate of ten thousand
acres very little remained besides the mansion and its contents, he
having previously sold, in 1776, lands to the amount of twenty thousand
dollars in the hope of stemming the incoming tide of insolvency.
About the year 1828, Commodore Uriah P. Levy, of the United States
Navy, who had known and greatly admired Jefferson, secured the mansion
with four hundred acres of the _Monticello_ tract. In purchasing
the place he designed to preserve it in the same condition, and carry
out the plans of the great patriot himself for its adornment; and still
further, in honour of his memory, he erected a handsome statue to him
in the City Hall at New York.
Commodore Levy presided most gracefully over the halls of
_Monticello_, and fittingly maintained its just celebrity for
hospitality. After the death of Commodore Levy the estate descended to
his nephew, the Hon. Jefferson M. Levy, of New York, its present owner.
During the Civil War it was confiscated by the Confederate Government
and fell into rapid decay; at one time being used as a hospital, after
which it was rented to unscrupulous parties, who allowed it to be sadly
pillaged. After the war it was not difficult for Mr. Levy to regain
possession, who at once began its restoration and to-day it stands
complete, and perhaps far more beautiful than even in Jefferson’s time.
Let us picture _Monticello_ as it now stands, after a lapse of
nearly seventy years, still sitting in all its majestic pride and
grandeur upon its lofty eminence, while so many of the great, the good
and the gifted who once graced its halls have passed away forever.
Instead of a steep rough road, filled with rocks and gullies, upon
which vehicles would once frequently stall, the visitor can now drive
from the city of Charlottesville over a smooth and easily graded road,
which winds gracefully around Carter’s Mountain, bringing the traveller
to the “Notch,” or first summit, almost before he realizes it. Here
stands the porter’s lodge, with artistic double gate, through which
vehicles enter upon the _Monticello_ domain proper, and begin to
ascend the Little Mountain, upon which the mansion sits a mile above.
The same smooth road, bordered by a stone wall, winds along its rugged
sides until the cemetery is reached, which stands midway to the summit.