magnificence of the present City, with its hundreds of churches, schools
and other noble institutions, and contrast it with the contracted,
war-worn, desolate town, of which our fathers took possession on the
25th of November 1783, well may we exclaim--"What hath God wrought?"
That day, whose memories were so fondly cherished by our grandsires
while they lived, was one of great significance in the history of our
City and Country. Its anniversary has ever since been duly celebrated by
military parades, and a national salute fired on the Battery at sunrise,
by the "Independent Veteran Corps of Heavy Artillery," composed at first
of Revolutionary soldiers, and of which John Van Arsdale was long an
efficient and honored member, and, at the time of his decease, its First
Captain-Lieutenant.[10] For many years the day was observed with great
_eclat_; the troops, in parading, "went through the forms practiced on
taking possession of the City, maneuvering and firing _feux-de-joie_,
&c., as occurred on the evacuation." All shops and business places were
closed, artisans and toilers ceased their work, and the streets,
decorated with patriotic emblems, and alive with happy people, were
given up to gaiety and mirth. To civic and military displays were added
sumptuous dinners, and convivial parties, while the schoolboy rejoiced
in a holiday; the whole bearing witness to a peoples' gratitude for the
deliverance which that memorable day brought them. And boys of older
growth may yet recall the simple distich:

"It's Evacuation Day, when the British ran away,
Please, dear Master, give us holiday!"

In the evening every place of amusement was well attended, but none
better than Peale's American Museum, because, as duly advertised:--"The
Flag hoisted by order of Gen. Washington, on the Battery, the same day
the British troops evacuated this city, is displayed in the upper hall,
as a sacred memorial of that day." This flag was presented to the museum
by the Common Council in 1819. It was raised on the Battery for the last
time in 1846, and when the museum was burned the old flag perished!

Well deserves this day not merely a local but a national commemoration;
since it inaugurated for the nation an era of freedom, the blessings of
which all could not realize, while the chief city and seaport of our
country were held by foreign armies.

Another chapter, introducing us to colonial and revolutionary times,
will tell more of Capt.