Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1843-08-01

constructed The whole project was too g'Pan-
80 S nromp, execution. But this fault, II Iauit u oe
finds lis origin in our national chafae.u' a..
t,.es energy about US, if may be allowed tue eA'
1900 which prompts us TO the most gIgnnuc enter
4 ;se. This ardor OF expectation and commence III
p,,, lie ut the foundation of all great success
The will to dare must precede the power 10 oo' I'
hna.s ia sometimes wisdom. lie who stops cooiy
nIo,,,ta every step in life may indeed move Tor.
ard bnt he will soon find himself behind ms colem
nor.r,es On.oard IS the great WORD OF our age ana
coun,rv Never, in the history OF man, mas human
,;on been more displayed and rewarded than IN The
;aolss of i'm provement, which start up around us
h;rb have chequered our land and history, from Ply
nth and Jane stown to Lake Superior and The Mis-
s.,;np and from the landing of the Pilgrims to the
.o,t Who. e contamination have this day come TO
hail md which opens the table lands of the Lakes,
both the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Of Mexico A
legend like that of the seven sleepers Of Ephesus,
would be illustrative of the progress and change
upon this continent taa of the Of events
in Asia Minor. There, the young converts to chris
tiany thrown into miraculous sleep, and found
on awakening from their trance, that than two
centuries had elapsed since they had left the world and
taken refuge from the prosecutions of pagan superst-
ton in temporary tomb Emerging into life, they
were strangers their native city, but greeted by
the cross which had suppianted the ensgns of pagan
ism, and surrounded by brethren OF that ne "
faith for which they had suffered, and by whose power
they had been preserved and rescued. But no snch
sleep is necessary to mark the changes which come
over the face of country. During period equal
10 the secuson OF the Epbesian youths, religion has
merely been changed, but continent has been oc'
pied and settled and empires have been founded IN
reg ons unknown to Epbesans. That proud city has
fallen Her monuments are in ruins, her people in the
dust glory has Departed and her seepers have slept
a sleep that knows but one awakening 1t IS the eio'
quen historian of the lower Empire, who tells this le-
gendarY tale but the story still lives IN the traditions
of the East striking proof that brass and marble far
more perishaba than popular fables, which trans
med from generation, to generation, and enter almost
into the character of people On the top of one OF
The arid hills in Syria, the renowned city OF
Sidon, found the grand daughter of the first pits,
the neice of the second Lady Hester Stanhope, who
had abandoned, | know not why, her country,
her kindred and her religion, and had sought
resting place for herself IN that secluded nook, ano
refuge for her conscience IN the vile d"gmas oil Islam
ism She alluded 10 the E?hssan legend, and with
true Moslem gravity asked questions respecting
the young men, whose conversation and Tia conse
quences records though the story were authentic,
and the actors yet alive to establish ITS truth
1t is but few years since ouT attention was syste-
matcally turned TO the improvement Of our means OF
internal communication. The first impulse given
by the State OF New York the projection and com
mencement Of her great work, an evidence alike OF
her energy and wisdom, and an enduring monument
of her perseverance and of which The whole coun
try now gathering the fruits Since then, many other
States, willing be left behind in the career OF I'D
vancement, have followed the same route, and every
where canals and railroads have sprung into existence
facilitating The communication between the most DIS
parts of the country and mInIsterins TO those
Of intercourse which at once the cause and
the effect Of active exertion and OF commercial pros
perty Our social and political institutions and
national character alternately operating upon each
other, have never achieved prouder triumph, nor
furnished more rrefracible proof of their tendency to
promote human happiness, than IN this peaceful victory
over the natural im pednens, which divided, though
they could not separate Us: which has increased our
capacity for defence, much az 1t has added 10 our
stock Of wealth the fate OF republican institutions IS
n our hands If the great experiment. as 1t is else
where called and tauntingly called, but which every
American knows is no longer an experiment. that is IN
progress among US, of the power of man TO govern
himself, should fail, ages may pass away before the
rights and safety of all again committed to the Gus
tody of all Fortunate il, therefore, when the opera
ton Of system be presented TO The old world in
point Of view, which 1t can be examined and APP
preca,ed by being brought into comparison with the
effects Of the institutions that prevail there No effort
of this country, in lis onward march, has awakened
more attention, nor excited more admiration, than the
successful progress have made in this great
prise this greatest OF exerprizss IN the history OF in
ernal Improvement. The geographical maps make
known the gigantic features of our confederation, md
the statistical tables and reports of travellers n-s
known The communications, natural and artificial, by
which il is knit together The works, both OF
and of man, on scale of proportion, unknown
in that part of the world Rivers ravereing the earth
from the arctic the tropical regions; lakes or rather
sens there have rode and victories been gained
railroads extending from the Atlantic to Lake Erie
distance of FIVE hundred miles, and interesting the
country in all important directions and canals pene-
trating valleys and ascending our mountains, and
forming after another, great lines of communca-
ton, which would circumscrbe many European
kingdom. And before these works. the forests give
way. They are not confined 10 the more densely peo
pied portions Of country, but like the hardy settler
they marching with giant strides towards the re-
mote frontier Already they have passed the cabin Of
&c, and hn nE,
They remove from their path the lofty and prime va
trees, the relics Of former age and the contemporaries
perhaps and witnesses Of strange events forever lost
to the knowledge of the world and before them, orr
primitive people recedng and seeking new home,
where the approach Of The white may be DELAY
bu, cannot be prevented. it is popular remark with
the Indians, that when the bee among them, it
is soon followed By the big knives But there is
another precursor, which announces to the secluded
village, that the civilized stranger band propelled
by monster whose fearful sound precedes him.
and which, ascending the solitary stream, pene,rates
the OF the forests and prucains to its tenants
that long their council houses will become desc
n,e, and the plough will the graves of their
fathers.
In Europe this is rate of progress utterly unknown.
and comprehended with difficulty. There, they deli
berate, while here, net. IL more caution would
give more certainty of success, would take from that
energy Of purpose, and of action, which has carried US
forward in career, both physically and morally
o,
and which opens to Us future, cheering 10 the hear,
of thr patriot and encouraging to the lover of humani
ty. 1t is that energy, which if it commit faults can
repair them-which, always operating, is dis
comfted. Accomplishing lis projects when prac,i-
cable, and turning 10 others, with equal confidence
and perseverance, when checked by nsuperable diff.
cultes.
And it is TO the operation of freedom, that these mi.
racles due They the fruits of our institutions
the result of political system which takes MS little,
and leaves much Of personal liberty as is compu,i-
BILE with general secur,y-whIch ia not embarrassed
as OF the pa,riarchs Of our Republic, happily and
ex pressvely said, which is not embarrassed by too
much regulation Regulstion is the bane Of the old
world, II presses upon the freedom and The faculties
of man, and is felt in all the departments life check.
ing enterprise, checking emulation, and multiplying
useless restraints, till they 10 they are
vexaous Happy would i. be for US, If we could learn
10 know and 10 appreciate the blessings we enjoy II
could differ without bitterness, and contend wi.fnu,
enmity. If could maintain our own views, but re.
gard charably those Of others. IL we could be Anne