Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1828-07-17

to be the noblest Empire of Time? II
was, as be himself declares, on the trans
plantation OF Learning and the Arts to
A merica OF learning and the arts. The
four FIRST acts-the Empires of the old
world, and of former ages --the Assyri-
an, the Persian, the Grecian, the Ro-
man Empires Empires of con
! quest; d ,minions OF man over man The
Empire which his great mind, piercing
into the darkness of futurity, foretold
in America. was the Empire of learning
! and the aTts--ihe dominion of man over
himself, and over physical nature -ac-
CURED by the inspirations Of genius, and
! the tolls Of idustry; not wateTed with the
tears of the widow and the orphan, not
cemen,ed in the blood of human victims,
founded notin discord, but in harmony
of which the only spoils are the impeT
fectons ofnature, and the victory achiev-
ed is the Improvement of the condition
of all Well may this be termed nsber
thar The empire Of conquest, in which
man subdues only his fellow man.
To the Accomplishment. of this pro
phecy the frst necessary step was the
acquisition of the right of self govern
ment by the People Of the British North
! American Colonies, achieved by the
Declaration of Independence, and It's
acknowledgment by the British Nation.
! The second was the union of all these
| colonies under one General Conledera
ted Governmental task more ardu
than that of the preceding separation,
but at last effected by the present Con
stitution of the United States.
The third step, mYe arduous still
than either OF both the others, was that
| which we, fellow citizens, may now con
graduate ourselves, our country, and
the world of man, that it is taken.--It is
the adaptation OF the powers, physical
moral and intellectual, OF this whole y.
nicn, to the improvement of its own con
dtion Of its moral and political condi-
ton, by wise and liberal Institutions
by the cultivation Of the understanding
and the heart---by academies, schools
and learned instltutes-by the pursuit
and patronage of learning aud the arts
of is physical condition, by associated
labor TO improve the bountles, and ia
supply the deficiencies OF nature 10 stem
the torrent in its course; to level the
mountain with the plain; to disarn and
fetter the raging surge of the ocean
Undertakings, of which the language
now hold is no exaggerated description
have become happily familiar, not only
to the conceptions, but 10 the enterprise
of our countrymen.-That. for the com
mencement of which we are here assem-
bled, is eminent among the number. -
The project cantemplates a conquest o.
YER physical nature, such as has never
yet been achieved by man The won
ders of the ancient world, the Pyramids
of Egypt, the Colossus of Rhodes, the
Temple of Ephesus, the Nausoleum o.
Ariemisia, the Wall of China. sink into
insigniGcance before insigniicance
in the mass and momentum of human
labour, required for the execut,on--iu in.
significance in the comparison of the
purposes tn be accomplished by the work
when executed It's therefore, pleas
ing contt mplation 10 those sanguine and
patriotic spirits who have so long looked
with hope to the completion Of this IN
deFtaking. that it uuites the moral pow
or and resources; first, Of numerous in
dividuals secondly, of the corporate
cities of Washington, Georgetown, A.
lexar dria thirdly, of the great and pow
erful States of Pennsylvania, Virginia
and a'yland-and, lastly, by the sub
scription authorized al the recent SEES
sion of Congress, of the whole Union
Friends and Fellow laborers: We are
informed by the Holy Oracies of Truth
that. at the creation of man, male and
female, the Lord ofthe Universe, their
maker blessed them, and said unto them
be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish
the Earth. and spbdae It, To subdue the
Earth was, therefore, one of the first
duties assigned TO man at his creation
and now, in his fallen condition, tire
mains among the most excellent of his
occupations. To subdue the earth is
pre- eminenily the purpose OF the under
taking, 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, invite you to witness
Here the stroke of the spade and
in performing this act, call upon you