The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1847-09-18
Extract from the Speech of MI
Webster,
On the occasion orthe opening rMe Northern
Rail Road.

IN me OCCASION o. me opening q Wt sNOIHcT''
Rail Road
The Northern Rnilrond was opened on
Friday from Concord to Grafton. The dis
tance from Concord to Grafton is AZ miles,
Mr. Webster was present and delivered an
address on the occasion from which we make
The following extract:
Fellow citizens, this Railroad may be said
10 bring the sea to your doors. You cannot,
indeed, snuffits salt water, but you will both
snuffHud taste its best products. rs fresh as
those who live on its shores. | cannot con-
ccivc ofany policy more useful to the great
mass ofthe community than the policy which
established these public improvements. Let
me say, fellow citizens that in the history Of
human inventions there is hardly one SO well
calculated as that of Railroads to equali2e the
condition of men. The richest must travel
in the cars, for there they travel fastest; the
poorest cannot travel otherwise, because this
mode of conveyance costs but little time or
money. Probably there are in the multitude
before me those who have friends at such
distances that they could hardly have visited
them, had not Railroads come TO their nssis-
lance, to save their time and to save their eX-
pense. Men are thus brought together as
neighbors and acqunintances who live two
hundred miles apart.
We sometimes hear idle prejudices eX-
pressed against railroads because they are
close corporations; but so from the necessity
ofthe case they necessarily must be, because
the tract ola railroad cannot be n road upon
which every man may drive his own carriage.
Sometimes, it is true, these railroads inter
Tupt or annoy individuals in the enjoyment
of their property; for these cases the most
ample compensation ought TO he made.
have myself had little taste of this incon-
venience. When the Directors of the road
resolved to lay it out upon the river, las
must say they were very wise in doing, )they
showed themselves little too loving for me,
coming so near my farm house, that the thun-
der oftheir engines and the screams of their
steam whistles, to say nothing of other incon-
vcniences, not little disturbed the peace
and the rcpose of its occupants. There is
beside an awkward and ugly embnrkment
thrownup across my meadows. 1t Injuries
the looks of the fields. But have remarked,
fellows citizens, that Railroad directors and
Railroad projectors are no enthusiastic lovers
of landscape beauty; a handsome field or
lawn, heautifil,copses and all the gorgeous
ness OF forest scenery, pass for little in their
eyes. Their business is to cut and To slash TO
level or defacc finely rounded field and fill
up beautiful winding valleys. They are
quite utilItarian in their creed and in their
practice. Their business is to make good
road. They look upon II well constructed
embankment as an agreeable work of Art--a
long deep cut, through hard pan and rock,
such as we have just passed, gives them de-
light to behold-and if they can find fair
reason TO run IL tunnel undera deep noun
tain, they are half in raptures. TO be seri-
GUS, gentlemen, must say admire the SKILL
the enterprise, and the rather bold defiance
of expense which have enabled the Direct
ors of this road to bring it with an easy as
cent more than 500 feet above the level of
the Merrimack River. We shall soon see it
cross yondcr mountainous ridge, commonly
called the"Height of Land, 'and thence pitch
down into the fair valley of the Connecticut.
Fellow ctizensyGu ;"ho are living along the
line of the road, must already begin to feel
ats beneficial effects Your coGn;!Y Is rather
trough one. There are, indeed GOO lands
1 1no"t the base efthe kearsarge, on Beae"
I'M, Babcocks Hill. and other places ada
cent to Ike road. Their H.. ., her portions
not so fertile. We may infer this ir.. "
names they bear. We have come through /
Little Gains" "IIard Scrabble" and "Dunge |
swamp" which latter understood is an In
dian word to signify the poorest land in Gre
alton. But, fellow citizens. health and IT.
dustry, good morals and good government
have made your homes among these noun
tains prosperous and happy. This great I'M
provement comes to your farther assistance.
it will give you new facilities, connect you
more readily with other portions Of the State
and most assuredIy, according TO all expert
ence, create new objects for the application
ofyour enterprise and your labor. You do
not yet begin to know the benefits which it
will confer on you. rejoice most heartily
that my native State has adopted a policy
which has led to these results. | trust that
policy may be steadily pursued till improve
ment in some really and intrinsicalIy useful
form shall reach every glen and every noun
Gain side of tho State.