Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1833-10-30

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Orr Friend and, Guest. Charles f. Mercer.-
The founder Of the Coonyof Llberia-the pro-
iectnr and patron Of the Chesapeake and Ohio
Canal, and the father of the Literary and Inter.
nal Improvement Funds of Virginia. The fruits
of his abors entitIe him to the gratitude OF the
present age. and will stand amid posterity, the
enduring monuments Of his fame.
After the applause ELECTED by this toast had
subsidized, Mr. MERCER rose, and addressed the
company as follows:
Ur President, Frieads. and Fsliow- Citizens:
| wish [ had language to convey to you the
deep emotions of gratitude, inspired by the KIND
.s sreetng'' with which you have welcomed my
arrival in the bosom OF your beautiful valley 0y
the toast you have gwen, and the generous en-
,hu,asm with which it has been received by this
numerous and respectable assembly Whatever
nf good or III NAV hereafter attend my future
patb in life, on the verge of that grave which
must al no very distant day close over the, |
shall remember this. among its brightest DAYS.
It's cherished remembrance will continually re-
new the grateful feeling which now swells my
heart. aud seeks for utterance in vain.
The unmerited notice with which you have
distinguished my long past efforts in the Gene
raj Assembly, in conjunction with many OF my
fellow. citizens, to promote the best interests ot
our much beloved Commonwealth, carries my
memory over the lapse OF many years, while
the objects that surround me, transport me
TO period yet more remote, when hrst enter
ed the Valley of the Kanawha.
[ now behold every where, the evidences OF
busy arts, of thriving industry, OF active COM
merce, aud progressing wealth aud refinement.
There was then but single log dwelling where
this beautiful town crowns the bank OF your RI
yer. The site oi the adjacent turnpike was oc-
eupied hy the hunters path, and solitary ca.
noe, in which descended to the Ohio, Hoated
in the harbur of the elegant Steamboat which
saw as | lately crossed the mouth Of Elk. In
stead of the soft tones Of the piano, by which
my morning slumSers are soothed, my rest was
broken BY the cry Of the wild cat and the howl
ins Of the volt
Entering the same valley eight years after, BY
a new road leading to point higher up, called
then the Loup,-it was 10 the autumn OF 1879,
Il met man, second to but one who ever fought
the battles, or enlightened the councils, Of our
country. either State or National. He wore.
well remember, AS is his custom, shoes, IN
stead of bnots, and had his ANGLES bound around,
for some distance up, with thongs OF papaw bark,
to guard them fran the bite OF the ratte.snake,
and his beard had been unshaventor many days
He had walked ahead of his companions. and
was awaiting, as | had been for day ur two,
the arrival of the James River boat, in which;
as a commissioner OF the State, he was about to
complere the most dangerous part Of an obstruct-
ell navigation, II navigation Ii could DC called
which he had steadily prosecuted Tor a distance
OF eighty miles, along the Greenbriar end New
River, towards the Falls of the Kanawha.
| saw him afterwards, for manv nights In sue:
cesson. pluck the twigs and leaves of the branch.
es Of the neishbOrlng trees, to make his bed in
the tent, beneath which we slept, on surface
rarely, if ever, even enough to rest without pain.
With no human abode in sight for ten days to-
gether, and for part Of that time without other
subsistence. he made his morning and evening
beverage of tea of the sassafras growing in the
adjacent thckets. and bread of the remaining
hus.s Of the meal which had already been sifted.
He was then, as he IS now,-lons may he so
continue. Chief Justice of the United States;
and had been in his youth, under his father, who
for time commanded the Sd Virginia Regiment,
an officer of the Revolution, as early as the dis
astrous battle of Brandywine, which, as you re-
member, very nearly destroyed that intrepid
corps.
Time had loag since gathered the sire to the
tomb of his fathers, aud had, then. impressed
for his country. a second time, in his age, the
hardships Of his youth, with the most cheerful
alacrity.
need not add, thet we, his companions and
colleagues, we're ashamed to murmur in his pre-.
sence. The able report which he drew up, 10
recomme ndation of the Improvement Of the IA.
vgaton of the james aud kanawha Rivers, was
Or Sen,ed 10 the succeeding General Assembly;
bat It's fruits have borne no proportion to its own
merits or to the zeal Of ITS iiustrious author, to
whom | NAV be permitted hope, to say. that
this valley is more Indebted than 10 any living
man.
refer to these long past incidents, still green
in nv memory, because it was in the midst of
this voyage and the journey which led to it, and
with view TO accomplish much of its objects.
the central connection of Eastern and Western
Virginia, that the plan of Internal Improvement
with which your toast has associated my name,
first came into my thoughts. II was amidst
those dark forests, 10 the depth Of whose soil
tude. if ever, man is permitted by his Maker to
hold communion with the genius of his country,