disarin and fetter the raging surge of the ocean. Undertakings, of which the language I now hold, is no exaggerated description, have become happily familiar, not only to the conceptions, but to the enterprise, of our countrymen. That, for the commencement of which we are here assembled, is eminent among the number. The project contemplates a conquest over physical nature, such as has never yet been achieved by man. The wonders of the ancient world, the pyramids of Egypt, the Colossus of Rhodes, the temple of Ephesus, the mausoleum of Artemisia, the wall of China, sink into insignificance before it-insignificance in the mass and momentum of human labour, required for the execution-insignificance in the comparison of the purposes to be accomplished by the work when executed. It is, therefore, a pleasing contemplation to those sanguine and patriotic spirits, who have so long looked with hope to the completion of this undertaking, that it unites the moral power and resources-first, of numerous individuals-secondly, of the corporate cities of Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria-thirdly, of the great and powerful states of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland-and, lastly, by the subscription authorized at the recent session of congress, of the whole union. Friends and fellow-labourers: we are informed by the holy oracles of truth, that, at the creation of man, male and female, the lord of the universe, their Maker, blessed them, and said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it. To subdue the earth was, therefore, one of the first duties as signed to man at his creation; and now, in his fallen condition, it remains among the most excellent of his occupations. To subdue the earth is pre-eminently the purpose of the undertaking, to the accomplishment of which the first stroke of the spade is now to be struck. That it is to be struck by this hand, I invite you to witness-and in performing this act, I call upon you all to join ma in fervent supplication to Him from whom that primitive injunction came, that he would follow with his blessing this joint effort of our great community, to perform his will in the subjugation of the earth for the improvement of the condition of man. That he would make it one of his chosen instruments for the preservation, prosperity, and perpetuity of our union. That he would have in his holy keeping all the workmen by whose labours it is to be completed. That their lives and their health may be precious in his sight; and that they may live to see the work of their hands contribute to the comforts and enjoyments of millions of their countrymen. Friends and brethren: permit me further to say, that I deem the duty, now performed at the request of the president and directors of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal company, and of the corporations of the district of Columbia, one of the most fortunate incidents of my life. Though not among the functions of my official station, I esteem it as a privilege conferred upon me by my fellow-citizens of the district. Called, in the performance of my service heretofore as one of the representatives of my native commonwealth in the senate, and now as a member of the executive department of the government, my abode has been among the inhabitants of the district longer than at any other spot upon earth. In availing myself of this occasion to return to them my thanks for the numberless acts of kindness that I have experienced at their hands, may I be allowed to assign it as a motive operating upon the heart, and superadded to my official obligations, for taking a deep interest in their welfare and prosperity. Among the prospects of futurity, which we may indulge the rational hope of seeing realized by this junction of distant waters, that of the auspicious influence which it will exercise over the fortunes of every portion of the district, is one upon which my mind dwells with unqualified pleasure. It is my earnest prayer that they may not be disappointed. It was observed, that the first step towards the accomplishment of the glorious destinies of our country was the Declaration of Independence. That the second was the union of these states under our federative government. The third is irrevocably fixed, by the act upon the commencement of which we are now engaged. What time more suitable for this operation could have been selected, than the anniversary of our great national festival? What place more appropriate from whence to proceed, than that which bears the name of the Citizen Warrior who led our armies in that eventful contest to the field, and who first presided as the chief magistrate of our union? You know that, of this very undertaking, he was one of the first projectors; and if, in the world of spirits, the affections of our mortal existence still retain their sway, may we not, without presumption, imagine that he looks down with complacency and delight upon the scene before and around us? But, while indulging a sentiment of joyous exultation, at the benefits to be derived from this labour of our friends and neighbours, let us not forget that the spirit of internal improvement is catholic and liberal. We hope and believe, that its practical advantages will be extended to every individual in our union. In praying for the blessing of heaven upon our task, we ask it with equal zeal and sincerity upon every other similar work in this confederation; and particularly upon that which, on this same day, and perhaps at this very hour, is commencing from a neighbouring city. It is one of the happiest characteristics in the principle of internal improvement, that the success of one great enterprise, instead of counteracting, gives assistance to the execution of another. May they increase and multiply, till, in the sublime language of inspiration, every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; the crooked straight; the rough places plain. Thus shall the prediction of the bishop of Cloyne be converted from prophecy into history, and, in the virtues and fortunes of our posterity, the last shall prove the noblest empire of time. As the president concluded, a national salute was fired by a detachment of United States artillery posted upon the ground. As soon as the cheering which followed the close of the president's speech had subsided, the chairman of the committee of arrangements delivered the following brief address: "In the name of the committee of arrangements of the corporations of the district, I tender to the president and directors of the canal company, and to this crowd of gratified spectators, our congratulations on the happy commencemeut of this great work. "To the president of the company, we and the country are indebted for his early, persevering, and successful efforts in the great cause, the triumph of which we have this day assembled to honour; and we cordially respond to those emotions which the occasion is so well calculated to inspire in his breast. "To the president of the United States we are under obligations for the kindness and cheerfulness with which he accepted our invitation to practically begin the labour, which is to unite, by closer ties of amity and interest, the inhabitants of the borders of the Atlantic, of the margins of the Lakes, and of the rapidly peopling forests and prairies of the interior. In the name of our corporations, we return our acknowledgments to him for the countenance and aid which this undertaking has constantly received from him. "To the director from the state of Pennsylvania, who may be considered, in his present relation to us, the representative not merely of his own otate, but of the whole west, we offer sur cordial felicitation on the prospect of the early completion of the work which has just now been symbolically begun, and of which he too has been the zealous and efficient advocate. "To the almost unanimous support of the senators and representatives of the western states, united to that af forded by valuable friends from other states, we, of the Atlantic shore, greatly owe the aid which congress has liberally granted to this undertaking. It is our earnest hope, that, in the advantages to be derived from the opening of this great channel of commerce-from the construction of this great central chain of union-the states of the west will find their most sanguine calculations surpassed by the reality, and that, in the result, the whole sisterhood of states will be made sensible of the benign influence of liberal legislation." Designated by you, gentlemen, (said Mr. S.) as the representative of the western states, on this occasion I may venture to tender you their thanks for the just tribute you have paid to the liberal and magnanimous spirit by which they have been governed. I need not say that the people of the west take a deep and lively interest in the success of this great enterprise. They have spoken their sentiments by much higher authority, by their immediate representatives in congress: for, in eight of the nine western states there was but one vote against the liberal appropriation granted at the last session to this object, and to which we are so greatly indebted for the gratification we all experience on this glorious and joyful occasion. Looking, as we do, in the west, When the chairman had conclu- with intense interest to the accomded Mr. Stewart, (the director referred to above) after returning his thanks to the committee from the three corporations of the district, for the flattering terms in which they had noticed him in the address delivered by their chairman, begged to avail himself of this occasion, to tender also his grateful acknowledgments to the stockholders now present, for the distinguished and unexpected honour they had conferred on him, by calling him from a distant residence, to a seat at the board of directors. He had, however, to regret that, owing to his very limited experience, he could bring to the board little more than his hearty good will, and an ardent desire to do every thing in his power to give energy to the prosecution of this great work to a speedy and successful termination-a work pre-eminently national in all its aspects, commenced, as had been well remarked by the president of the company, under the most cheering auspices, by the hands of the chief magistrate of the greatest republic on earth, and in the presence of the official representatives of several of the most refined and powerful nations of Europe. plishment of this great object, it would be unjust, on this occasion, to withhold the expression of our obligations to our brethren of the east, for their liberal support; for, in eight of the eastern states, likewise, there were but eight votes in the house against this appropriation. Our obligations, however, are confined to no section; they belong to the whole union. Justly regarding this as an object eminently national, the representatives from all portions of our country, influenced by a liberal and enlightened policy, extended to it a generous support. This liberality, however, was not confined to this object alone, but extended largely and freely to others-to Tennessee, to Ohio, to Pennsylvania. You have very justly, gentlemen, described this as "a great central chain of union between the Atlantic and western states." I am happy, however, in the conviction, that there are other, and stronger ties which bind us together-ties of a higher and nobler origin-ties "not made with hands," but found in the hearts, in the affectionate attachment, in the patriotic devotion of the people to the government and union of the states. These are the bonds of union, after all, to which we must look, and on which we must rely; these are the bonds which we are called on, by every patriotic feeling, to cherish, to strengthen, and increase. Every attempt, no matter from what quarter it may come, to dissolve these bonds, to weaken these ties, which bind the people to the union, to the constitution, and laws of their country, should, as it must, meet the indignant reprobation of every true patriot. But I will dismiss this reflection as inappropriate to the occasion, as an event beyond the reach of anticipation, to which we should never look but to avoid it. I present you, gentlemen, and all present, the congratulations of the west on this occasion; and permit me to express the hope that we will be able to complete the work, now so happily begun, as far as Cumberland, in three years from this day; and, by a union and co-operation with our friends at Baltimore, when the two works become united on the Potomac river, with a common object and a common interest, may we not indulge the hope, that the day is not distant, when we shall again assemble, at the summit level, to celebrate an event still more glorious than this-the mingling of the waters of the Chesapeake and Ohio; when we may truly exclaim, without the spirit of prophecy, "Art's noblest triumph is the last." These addresses being concluded, the spade was taken, and sods of earth were dug in succession, by a great number of persons. After a few moments of repose, the procession again formed, and returned to the boats, and, by the way of the canal, back to the tide-water, where they re-embarked on board the steamboats. |