He closed a by offering toast, which was drunk by all, accompanied by cheers it was as follows :

" THE EXECUTIVE OF THE STATE OP NEW YORK."

When the applause consequent upon this toast had subsided, the Governor addressed the company as follows :

Mr. Mayor and Fellow-Citizens :

Accept my thanks for this flattering, this generous welcome. To be thus remembered at a moment like this, amidst the heartfelt rejoicings not only of the thousands who dwell

in this proud city, but of the multitudes who have poured in from the surrounding communities, demands and receives my warmest gratitude.

You have well observed, sir, that these multitudes have joined in this glorious parather as joint owners of the great work whose comgeant, not as curious spectators, but pletion we this day celebrate. It is indeed the triumph not only of the city but of the

country at large. Its results reach far beyond the narrow confines of the metropolis. An achievement like this, which casts a mantle of protection over the commercial store-house of the continent, may indeed be a subject of felicitation for the whole American people.

We have this day enjoyed the spectacle alike, rare and sublime, of a vast community uniting in one common emotion, called forth by the performance of a great act in the mighty drama of a nation's history. If the immortal bard spoke truly of individual man

when he said, "All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players ;