two-thirds of the members elected to each branch of the legislature, shall be in force and take effect from the last day of February next. The members of the present legislature shall, on the first Monday of March next, take and subscribe an oath or affirmation to support this constitution, so far as the same shall then be in force. Sheriffs, clerks of counties, and coroners, shall be elected at the election hereby directed to commence on the first Monday of November, in the year one thousand eight hundred and twentytwo; but they shall not enter on the duties of their offices before the first day of January then next following. The commissions of all persons holding civil offices on the last day of December, one thousand eight hundred and twentytwo, shall expire on that day; but the officers then in commission, may respectively continue to hold their said. offices until new appointments or elections shall take place under this constitution. SEC. II. The existing laws relative to the manner of notifying, holding and conducting elections, making returns, and canvassing votes, shall be in force, and observed, in respect to the elections hereby directed to commence on the first Monday of November, in the year one thousand eight hundred and twentytwo, so far as the same are applicable. And the present legislature shall pass such other and further laws as may be requisite for the execution of the provisions of this constitution, in respect to elections. SEC. II. Political Divisions. To facilitate the operations of government, the state is divided into fiftyfour separately organised counties, which are subdivided into about six hundred and sixty townships. Albany was in 1807 constituted the capital of the state, where the sessions of the Legislature have since that period been regularly held. Each of the counties have likewise a capital or county town, II. What political divisions in New York?- What is the capital? where the courts are held, and the county business transacted. The state is also divided agrecable to the constitution into eight senatorial districts for the election of senators to the state legislature, and into thirty congressional districts, for the election of representatives to the congress of the United States. The following presents a list of the counties in 1824, arranged according to their population. New York, Oneida, Dutchess, Otsego, Onondaga, Orange, Rensselaer, Genesee, Cayuga, Washington, Columbia, Albany, Montgomery, Saratoga, Ontario, Jefferson, Westchester, Madison, Chenango, Herkimer, Ulster, Delaware, Munroe, Tompkins, Suffolk, Schoharie, Greene, Steuben, Queen's, Wayne, Livingston, Seneca, Cortlandt, St Lawrence, Erie, Tioga, Schenectady, Essex, Chatauque, Oswego, Clinton, Putnam, King's, Broome, Yates, Warren, Allegany, Lewis, Sullivan, Rockland, Niagara, Richmond, Franklin, Cataraugus. SEC. III. Cities and Villages. The state contains five cities, and a large number of incorporated villages. The cities are New York, Albany, Troy, and Hudson, situated on Hudson's river; and Schenectady, on the Mohawk. Among the most important villages, are Utica, Rochester, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Lockport, Lansingburgh, Canandaigua, Auburn, Geneva, Sackett's Harbor, and Poughkeepsie. Some of these, and many others, particularly on the line of the canal, have arisen within a few years, and increased with astonishing rapidity. New York, the metropolis of the state, is situated on the southern part of the Island of Manhattan. It is the Mention some of the most populous counties. SEC. III. What number of cities, and what are they?Wha can you say of villages? What is said of New York? largest, and, in a commercial point of view, the most important city in the union. Its charter was first granted in 1686, and has subsequently received frequent alterations and amendments. It was renewed with additional privileges by Gov. Montgomery, in 1730, and confirmed by the provincial legislature in 1732. According to the charter, the city of New York embraces the whole of York, or Manhattan Island. This entire tract has been laid out by act of government into streets, squares, and roads; and the location, which has been formed with great care and skill, is made perpetual, no person being permitted to erect buildings on the grounds thus appropriated to public use. Of this extensive location, commencing at the southern extremity, near three miles have been filled up along the Hudson, and about four on East River. In a looser sense, the buildings are spread over most of the Island. A great number of villas are scattered throughout eight or ten miles from the southern point; and with these, many houses of an inferior class, belonging to gardeners, farmers, and mechanics, who reside in them through the year. The principal collection of these buildings is contained in Haerlem village, and its neighborhood. Manhattanville is a similar collection near the Hudson. The villas are placed in almost all the pleasant positions on the island, and spread over it a brilliancy and cheerfulness not surpassed in the United States.* The city of New York, according to more general acceptation, limited to about four miles of the southern extremity of the island, is from half a mile to two miles in width, and from eight to ten in circuit. The streets of the southern part, which is the most ancient, are irregular, many of them extremely narrow, and laid out with little regard to beauty or convenience. The northern part, having been more recently built, is laid out with better taste, and presents many spacious and elegant avenues. The three principal streets are Pearl street, Broadway, * Dwight. What does it embrace according to the charter? What is the extent of the compact part?--Mention some of the principal streets. and Greenwich street. These run the whole length of the city, and are intersected, though not at right angles, by streets, running from river to river. Pearl street, near the East river, pursues a narrow and devious course through a populous part of the city, and is the seat of great business. Broadway passes in a straight line over the highest ground between the two rivers, and is the noblest avenue of the kind in America. Greenwich street pursues a nearly straight course between Broadway and the Hudson, and is wide and elegant. Wall street, the principal seat of the banks, insurance, and broker's offices, runs from Broadway, across Pearl street to the river. Chatham street is a noble spaceway, leading from Broadway into Bowery road. Washington street is a splendid avenue near the Hudson. The other principal streets are Fulton street, Maiden lane, John street, Nassau, Broad street, Prince, William, Cherry, Hudson, and Cortlandt streets. The streets are generally well paved, with good sidewalks, and every part of the city well supplied with lamps. The Battery is a fine promenade at the southern extremity of the city, containing several acres. It commands an extensive view of the Bay and Harbor of New York with the surrounding shores, and was the site of the early fortification, from which it derives its name. The Bowling Green is a circular piece of ground at the foot of Broadway, near the Battery. The Park is another beautiful promenade of about four acres, on the south side of Broadway, and near the centre of the city. The modern houses in New York are mostly of brick, and generally well built. Many of them are elegant. Among the public edifices, are now included more than one hundred churches, which are occupied by the various denominations for religious worship. The whole number in 1821, according to a list then published, was seventyone-as follows: Episcopal 15, Dutch Reformed 9, Associate Reformed 5, Presbyterian 10, Methodist 9, Baptist 7, Friends, or Quakers 3, Independents 3, Congregational, or Unitarian 1, Moravian 1, German Lutheran 1, What is the number of churches? Universalist 1, Roman Catholic 2, Mariners 1, Mission House 1, New Jerusalem 1, Jews' Synagogue 1. Of these, St John's in Hudson Square, is one of the richest, and, in the interior, one of the most beautiful. The steeple of St Paul's is probably not excelled by any in the Union. The front of the new church in Wall street is handsome. The City Hall, situated at the head of the Park, is a noble specimen of architecture, and one of the most superb buildings in the United States. This edifice was begun in 1803, by order of the corporation, and completed in 1812, at an expense of $520,000. The building extends from east to west two hundred and sixteen feet by one hundred and five. The south, east, and west fronts are faced with white marble, enriched with two regular orders of architecture, the Ionic and Corinthian, raised on a rustic basemeut of brown freestone, nine feet in height. A neat stone balustrade surrounds the building, and hides a great part of the roof. The centre has an attic story, which is crowned with a well proportioned cupola surmounted by the figure of Justice. The basement floor contains the police office, and large accommodations for the city watch, the marine court, and other offices. The principal entrance is on the south front, by a terrace walk, which extends the length of the building, and is about forty feet in breadth. This is raised three feet above a level of the Park. From this walk, a flight of steps ascend to an Ioric colonade, and from this you pass into a large vestibule, adjoining a corridor that runs lengthwise of the building and communicates with the different apartments and staircases. This floor contains the Mayor's office, and all the offices that belong to the city and county, together with a Grand Jury room, Law Library, and other apartments. In the centre of the building, facing the entrance, is a large circular stone staircase, with a double flight of steps upheld without any apparent support on the wall, which surrounds the stairs. On the level of the second floor, stand ten marble columns of the Corinthian order, with a circular gallery around them. The columns are fluted, and the entabla Give a description of the City Hall. |