American Republican and Baltimore daily clipper. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1844-1846, 1844-11-26

luton began 10 thlcEcn, It's storms followed,
and the Nation had other business on hand till
the end of the war.
Upon the peace of 1888, Washington, l'av-
ing laid down his military commands, and not
being blinded by the praise and thanks OF ma
ton, turned his medtations to the best means
of preserving what he had won, and of strength
ening and binding together the young Repub-
lie. What he had contemplated as blessing
to the Colonies, he thought would be doubly
Sc to the Union; and his mind again aad hold
of the project of uniting the tides of tho Ches-
apcake with the napigabie waters of the West,
by means of great Central Canal, upon the
line of the Potomac. The true greatness Of the
man, his anxious love of country, here shcw-
ed out. With the fdtgucs of War fresh npou
him. he turned, at once, to the severest duties
of Peace. In 1884, he conducted correspon-
dence with the Governor of Virginia on the
subject, and made two extensive tours OF en-
animation, through Western Pennsylvania, and
the North Western parts of New York. His
letters, being laid by the Governor before tho
Virginia Legislature, produced the appointment
of Il Commission, of which he, General Wash
ington, was chosen chairman, and General
Gates, a member, to proceed to Annapollssto
confer with the authorities of Maryland, on the
subject. At Annapolis, in December, 1854,
they met the Maryland Deputies and the results
of the conference were the enactment OF the
laws OF Maryland and Virginia of 1894, for the
promotion of those great vicWs-the line OF the
works lying through their territory. 1t was de-
signed that Washington should preside over
these operations; but, new political troubles
coming upon the country, his mind was divert
ed, and absorbed by them. Under his advice,
the new laws repealed the acts Of 1862, so far
as they fixed the temporary limit at Fort Cum
berland. The Resolve of the ConIorrees, ad-
vsing this repeal, set forth that the work ought
to proceed up The north branch of the river, to
its highest sources, if practicable, certainly,
to, or above tie mouth Of Stony River, which
is, at least, twenty miles above the mouth of
the Savage. The preamble Of the acts, that
followed, set Forth the substance OF what have
Just stated. 1 mention this fact, not i'll refer
ence to any modern difference about tempo
rary resting place for the Canal, but as proof
that Washington, and the Patriots acting with
him, were not looking to Fort Cumberland,
further than as they found it the gate of the
wilderness, nor TO the coal basin OF Alegaay
for the Savage was the point at which they
reached that, but that their enlarged minds,
soaring by these as mere incidents in the enter
prise, looked to the waters of the Ono rs the
only proper terminus of this great NATIONAL
road.
Whether greater or less impediments are to
be encountered in conducting itthther wheth-
er it shall pursue path, to the right, or to the
left, whether the apex of this mountain, or
that, shall be pierced by tunnel, or surmoun-
ted by portage railroad, are questions about
which there are divided opinions; my course of
argument cannot be affected by a decision of
them one way or another-its aim being to
shew that the authors of the work set it on
foot with view to that destination, that their
perceptions of its Immense utility were con-
nected with its reaching that destination, and
that, from its earliest day, they regarded ii as,
wholly, q national and not as local work
Indeed all the circumstances Of the day
shew this fact with resistless force. General
Washington, the great artier re'x,m, was not a
citizen of Maryland, but of Virginia; Mary
land, then, had no incorporated towns from
which commerce was conducted-but Annapo-
ls-quite remote from the Potomac WASH
ington, then called Dudlngton, was not even
village; Baltimore, an nconsiderable town, was
not incorporated for twelve years afterwards;
the settlements of Frederick and Montgomery
were purely agricultural, remote from towns,
and in he'll ,>less state of dependency; in Wash
ington and Allegany the wolf roamcd, and the
Indian was only kept at bay by the guns of
Fort Cumberland As | have before stated,
Washington's mnd became engrossed with eth
er and paramount subjects. The menace of
French war, the difficulty in adjusting the bal
ances and machinery of the new Government,
the distempered existence of the form of Con-
federation first adopted, its dissolution, the for
nation of q new Constitution and putting the
fabric of Government again in motion-these
absorbed his attention and care. And never
was there a more prominent example of the
deadening effects of withdrawing from great
enterprise great man, with liberal aud COM
petent abilities to conduct it. In view of this,
and other beneiioent enterprises that were press
ing on his mind, he had assisted in placing in
the old articles of conferation the following
clause: "All charges of war, and all other ex-
penses that shall be incurred for The CONNER, de-
fence and general scelfare, and allowed by the
United States in Congress assembled, shall be
betrayed out of common treasury;''-and at
a subsequent period, referring to this Canal and
our Western population, he said: ''For my
own part wish, sincerely, that every door to
that country may be set wide open, that the
commercial intercourse with it may be render
ed as free and easy as possible. This, in my
Judgment, is the best, if not the only cement
that can bind those people to us for any length
of time-and we shall, think, be deficient in
foresight if we neglect the means of ehecting
it," As has been before stated, wien this great
man turned to the higher call of the nation,
night fell upon the Canal. A prolonged slum.
Der of more than thirty years was its fate. Du-
ring this period it exhibited few signs of life,
and received little countenance or aliment-
scarcely enough, as the sequel will shew, to- pre-
serve life ia its charters and laws. Only about
three quarters of million of dollars was ex-
pended, and that in attempts to smooth the
passage of the great and little Falls Of the
River.
At length, in 1890, the Board of Public
Works of VIRGINIA in comnliance with an or