The Litchfield County post., 1828-07-24

earth for the most noble purpose ever con- ceived by man, this humble instrument ol rural labOur, a symbol of the favOrite Occu- patton of our cOuntrymen. May the use to which it is about to he devoted, prove the precursor to our beloved country, of imprO- we'd agriculture, of municipal and diversified arts, of extended commerce and navigation Combining its social and moral influences with the principles of that happy COnstitu- ton, under which you have been called to preside over the American People; may il become safeguard of their Liberty and h. dependence, and bond of perpetual Un. ion
 To the ardent wishes of this vast assembly. I unite my fervent prayer to that infinite and awful Being without whose favor all human power is but vanity, that He will crown our iabour with his blessing, and your work with immortality.
 As soon as he had ended the President of the United States to whom Gen. Mercer had presented the spade. stepped forward, and, with an animation of manner and counte- nance, which showed that his whole heart was in the thing, thus addressed the assembly of his fellow citizens:
 "Friends and fellow citizens; It is nearly full century since Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne, turning towards this fair land which we now inhabit, the eyes of the prophet, ,clos- ed few lines of poetcal inspiration with this memorable prediction
 "Time's noblest Empire is the last"
 A prediction which, to those of US whose lot has been cast by Divine Providence in these yegiohs, contains not only precious promise, but a solemn injunction of duty. since upon anA fhoea 0FI its fulflment will depend. For, with refer ley proclaimed this, the last, to be the noblest Empire of Time It was as he himself de- claYes, on the transplantation of Learning and ehe Arts to America. Of learning and the arts. The four first acts-the Empire of the old world, and of former ages-the Assyrian, the Persian, the Grechn, the Roman Empires --were Empires of conquest; dominions of man over man. The Empire which his great mind, piercing into the darkness eff futury. foretoid in America, was the Empire of Lear ming and the Arts-the dominion of man O. yer himself, and over physical nature--ac- tolls of industry: not watered with the tears in the blood of human victims; founded not
 
 ly spells are the imperfections of nature, and the victory achieved is the improvement of the condition of all Well may this be term ed nobler than the empire of conquest, in which man subdues only his fellow man.
 To the accomplishment of this prophecy the first necessary step was the acquisition of the right of self-gOvernment by the People of the British North American Colonies, achiev- d hvy<h <ho noolapafinn rf TnAanaplonoo its acknowledgment by the British Nation. nies under one General Confederated Gov ernment-a task more arduous than the pre- cedng separation. but at last effected by the Constitution of the U. States.
 The third step, more arduous still than ei- ther or both the others, was that which we, fellow citizens, may now congratulate our that it is taken. It is the adoption of the powers, physical, moral and intellectual, of. the whole Union: to the improvement of it's own condition: of its moral and political con- dition, by wise and liberal institutions --by heart--by academies, s,schools,and learned in stitutes-by the pursuit and patronage of lear ming and the arts: of it's physical condition, Uy aSSOCldLeQ ldUOE tO HHpTONc tIlc UOuHtteS, and supply the deficiencies of nature; to stem the torrent in its course; to level the mountain with the plain;to disarm and letter the raging surge of the ocean. Undertakings, of which the language4 now hold is no exag- erated description, have become happily famil far, not only to the conceptions, but to the en- terprise of our countrymen. That, for the commencement of which we are here assem- bled, is eminent among the number. The project contemplates conquest over physi- cal nature, such as has never yet been achie- ved by man. The wonders of the ancient world, the Pyramids of Egypt,the Colossus of Rhodes. the Temple of Ephisus, the Mauso- leum of Artemisia, the Wall of China, sink into insignifcance before it-insignifcance in the mass and momentum of human labor, required for the execution--insignifcance in the comparison of the purpose to be accom- plshed by the work when executed. It is therefore, 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 pow CT and resources; first of numerous individ- uals; 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 authorised at the recent session of Congress. of the whole Un- ion.