the works of Cicero. In the great folio of Erasmus, of two thousand pages, on the adages of all ages and nations, you may trace to the ancient Israelites, and to the Greeks and Romans, almost every saying or proverb which is current among us today. Even the "almighty dollar" of Washington Irving has its equivalent in the regina pecunia of Horace. The ancient philosophers, groping without the light of the Gospel for great moral truths, were sometimes successful in grasping them amid the spiritual darkness in which they were involved, manifesting unmistakably that their minds were illumined by rays of the Eternal Essence which created and controls the universe. It is a remarkable fact that the precept which lies at the foundation of the Christian code-“Do unto others as you would have others do unto you "-was proclaimed as a moral axiom centuries before the advent of the Saviour, and that he did not disdain to adopt it, stamping it with divine authority, and prescribing it for the government of mankind. If we are to contend successfully against the social and political evils which beset us, it must be through a better observance of this and his other kindred commands. In hoc signo-in this sign only can we hope to conquer. The two altars of our religious and political faith should stand side by side. Then may we trust that their fires will ascend in a common flame to heaven, and call down the blessings of prosperity and peace upon our beloved country.

XVII.

SERVICES OF GENERAL DIX IN CONNECTION WITH THE ELEVATED RAILROAD SYSTEM.

For more than twenty years prior to 1872 the people of New York had felt the pressing need of more speedy communication between the upper and lower ends of the city than was afforded by the horse railroads, which were at that time carrying annually upward of 180,000,000 of passengers, or more than the combined population of France, Great Britain, and Austria. Every year the necessity had become more apparent and pressing, until it was generally admitted that Rapid Transit, in some form or other, was absolutely indispensable to the growth, prosperity, and health of the city. The over-crowding of tenement houses,

and the impossibility of enforcing sanitary laws and regulations, not only resulted in increased sickness and mortality, but also swelled the records of crime. Numerous plans for relief had been brought forward, but they were uniformly defeated. No less than seven charters had been granted for rapid transit railways, none of which had been able to secure the confidence of the public, or the capital necessary for their construction, either in consequence of their enormous cost as estimated, or of the impracticability of the plans.

At this juncture of affairs Dr. Rufus H. Gilbert, who had been a staff officer under General Dix during the war, and had previously devoted much time and study to the solution of the problem, perfected his plans for a system of elevated railways. Letters-patent were granted to him, and after great and continued opposition he succeeded in obtaining the passage of "An Act to incorporate the Gilbert Elevated Railway Company, and to provide a feasible, safe, and speedy System of Rapid Transit through the City of New York" (chapter 885, passed June 17, 1872). The act provided that the route or line of the railway should be designated and established by a Board of Commissioners named in the 3d section, viz.: Henry G. Stebbins, General Quincy A. Gilmore, Sheppard Knapp, Chester A. Arthur, and General John A. Dix; and that their action in the case should be final. General Dix was unanimously chosen chairman of the commission, and rendered important and arduous service in that capacity. His election the following year as Governor of the State enabled him, by his position, to defeat by veto the numerous measures brought forward in the Legislature to prevent the consummation of the project, and to secure this long-needed public improvement. The advantages gained are almost incalculable. Previously business men in the lower part of the city found, within a few minutes' walk of their offices and stores, ferries to New Jersey and Long Island, and comfortable and not over-crowded cars ready to take them to their homes. For fifty years previous to 1860 the growth of the city was at the rate of fifty-eight per cent. every decade; from 1860 to 1877 it fell off thirteen per cent., while the population of Hudson County, New Jersey, increased four hundred and seventy per cent. during the same period. A glance at the figures from the office of the Tax Commissioners will show that

there was an augmentation of $107,067,528 in eight years in the upper wards of the city of New York, directly traceable to the establishment of the elevated railways-which, at a rate of taxation of two and one-quarter per cent., gave an increase in the revenue of the city of $2,409,019 38; while within the present year (1882) as many as 300,000 passengers have been safely carried on these lines in one day.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CATALOGUE.

[The following list comprises the published speeches, etc., translations from the Latin Classics, and various pamphlets the authorship of which was the work of John A. Dix. The latter class were, as noted, some of them privately printed.]

Sketch of the Resources of the City of New York: with a View of its Municipal Government, Population, &c., &c., from the Foundation of the City to the Date of the Latest Statistical Accounts. New York: G. and C. Carvill, Broadway. 1827. 8vo, 104 pp.

Decisions of the Superintendents of Common Schools of the State of New York. Selected and Arranged by John A. Dix. Albany, 1837. 8vo. Opinion (when Adjutant-general) on Two Questions of Alienism. Albany, 1833. 8vo.

Address before the Alpha Phi Delta and Euglossian Societies of Geneva College, August 7, 1839. Albany: Packard, Van Benthuysen, & Co. 1839. 8vo, 68 pp.

Report (when Secretary of State) in Relation to a Geological Survey of the State of New York. Albany, 1836. 8vo.

Speech on the Tariff. 1830. 8vo.

Speech on the Oregon Question, in the Senate, February 18 and 19, 1846. Washington, 1846. 8vo, 22 pp.

Speech on the Bill to Indemnify American Citizens for French Spoliations prior to 1800, in the Senate, April 27, 1846. Washington, 1846. 8vo, 16 pp.

Speech on the Warehouse Bill, in the Senate, June 19, 1846. Washington, 1846. 8vo, 23 pp.

Speech on the Bill to Appoint a Lieutenant-general, in the Senate, January 14, 1847. 8vo, 7 pp.

Speech on the Three Million Bill, delivered in the Senate, March 1, 1847. Washington, 1847. 8vo, 15 pp.

California Claims Speech, in the Senate, March 29, 1848. Washington, D. C. 8vo, 8 pp.

Speech on the Bill to Establish a Territorial Government in Oregon, in the Senate, June 26, 1848. Washington, 1848. 8vo, 14 pp.

Speech on the Pilot Laws, in the Senate, June 30, 1848. Washington, 1848. 8vo, 8 pp.

Speech on the Bill to Establish Governments in the Territories, in the Senate, July 26, 1848. Washington, 1848. 8vo, 14 pp.

Speech on the Bill for Paying certain Claims in California. Washington, 1848. 8vo.

Speech in Favor of Reciprocal Trade with Canada, in the Senate, January 23, 1849. Washington, 1849. 8vo, 14 pp.

Speech in Relation to Territories Acquired from Mexico, in the Senate, February 28, 1849. Washington, 1849. 8vo, 14 pp.

The War with Mexico. Speech in the Senate, January 26, 1848, on the Bill Reported from the Committee on Military Affairs to Raise, for a Limited Time, an Additional Military Force. Washington. 8vo, 15 pp. Remarks on the Warehouse Bill, July 9, 1846. 8vo, 23 pp.

Remarks on the Propriety of Sending a Minister to the Papal States, in the Senate, March 21, 1848. Washington, 1848. 8vo, 7 pp.

A Winter in Madeira, and a Summer in Spain and Florence. New York, 1850. (Fifth Edition, 1853.) Post 8vo, iv., 377 pp.

Address, October 2, 1851, at Queen's County Agricultural Society, at Jamaica, L. I. Hempstead, L. I., 1852. 8vo, 18 pp.

Communication from Hon. John A. Dix to the Select Committee of the Senate on the Report of Trinity Church, New York. John F. Trow, Printer. 1857. 8vo, 19 pp.

Speech of General John A. Dix, President of the Mississippi and Missouri Railroad Company, at the Celebration at Iowa City on the Completion of the Road to the latter point. New York: W. C. Bryant & Co., Printers. 1856. 8vo, 19 pp.

Speeches and Occasional Addresses. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1864. 2 vols., 8vo; vi., 452 pp.; iv., 466 pp. Portraits and Fac-similes. "Dies Ira:" Translation (privately printed). Cambridge, 1863. Small 12mo. Second Edition (also privately printed). 1875. 15 pp.

"Stabat Mater:" Translation (privately printed). Cambridge, 1868. Small 12mo, 11 pp.

Presentation to Major-general John A. Dix, President of the Metropolitan Fair, in Aid of United States Sanitary Commission, New York, April 23, 1864. New York: Francis & Loutrel, Printers. 1864. 8vo, 10 pp.

The Presidency. Letter to the Committee of the Mass-meeting in Philadelphia, October 8, 1864. 8vo, 4 pp.

Letter to the War Democracy of Wisconsin. New York, 1863. 8vo,

14 pp.

Letters of Loyal Soldiers. Letter of General Dix: his Opinion of of the Chicago Platform. 8vo, 4 pp.

Address at Reception by the Seventh Regiment to Members who have Served in the Army and Navy of the United States during the Great Rebellion, June 31, 1866. New York: Francis & Loutrel. 1866. 8vo, 17 pp.

Social and Political Evils.

A Lecture, by John A. Dix, before the New York Association for the Advancement of Science and Art. January 3, 1876. United States Publishing Company. 8vo, 20 pp.