Page:Historic highways of America (Volume 14).djvu/151

 possible that a display so grand, so beautiful, and we may even add, sublime, will never again be witnessed. We know of nothing with which it can be compared The orb of day darted his genial rays upon the bosom of the waters, where they played as tranquilly as upon the natural mirror of a secluded lake. Indeed the elements seemed to repose, as if to gaze upon each other, and participate in the beauty and grandeur of the sublime spectacle." At the auspicious moment the Governor of New York permitted the water from Lake Erie to fall into the ocean, saying: "This solemnity, at this place, on the first arrival of vessels from Lake Erie, is intended to indicate and commemorate the navigable communication, which has been accomplished between our Mediterranean Seas and the Atlantic Ocean, in about eight years, to the extent of more than four hundred and twenty-five miles, by the wisdom, public spirit, and energy of the people of the state of New York; and