The Union and eastern journal. [volume] (Biddeford [Me.]) 1854-1858, 1854-08-11
ADDRESS
DELIVERED Br THE HON. wM. II. SEWARD,
Before The Phi Beta Kappa Of Yale College
July 26, 1854.

seem out Of time and out OF place at classic
festival and in academic groves. Neyerthe'
less, the Office ot instructor to u prince
brought something more Of dignity even tu
The learning and piey OF Fenelon. To study
the forces and tendency Of u republic which
is not obscure, caunOt, therefore, at any
time or in amy place, be Inbecoming an as
<ociation, which regards universal phIloso.
ply as the proper guide of human life.
Nations are intelligent, moral persons, ex.
ising for the ends OF their own happiness
and the Improvement OF mankind They
grow, mature and decline. Their physical
development, being most obvious, always ut.
tracts our attention first. Certainly we can
no, too well understand the material condi.
ton Of our country. 81 think" said
Burke, sadly, addressing the British House
Of Commons, Just after the American war,
:" think can trace all the calamities oi
this country to The single source Of not hav.
ing had steadily before our eyes Il general,
comprehensive, well.connec;ed and well.
proportiuned view of the whole Of our do.
minions, and just sense Of their bearings
and relations"
Trace on a map the early boundaries oil
the United States, as they were defined by
the treaty of Versailles, 10 1888. See with
what Jealousy Great Britain abridged their
enjoyment OF The fisheries on the north east
coast, and how tenaciously she locked up
against them The st. Lawrence, the only pos.
sible channel between their inland regions
aud the Atlantic Ocean. Observe how
Spain, while retaining the vast and varied
sOitudes which spread out westward from
The Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean,
at the same timo assigned the thirty.fiist
parallel of north latitude as the southern
boundary of The United States, and thus
shut them out from access by that river or
otherwise to the Gulf of Mexico. See now
how the massive and impossible Allegheny
Mountains traversed the new republic from
North 10 South, dividing it Into two re.
gions-the inner one rich in agricultural re.
sources, but without markets; aud the out
er one adapted to defense and markets, but
wanting the material, for commerce. Were
not The Europeans us,ute in thus conllnlng
The United States within limits which would
probably render al early separation Of them
inevitable ard would also prevent equally
the whole and each of the future parts from
ever becoming Il formidable or even a really
independent Atlantic power They had
cause for their jeaousies. They were mon
arches, and they largely divided The Wes'.
ern Hemisphere between them. The United
States aimed to become maritime nation
and their success would tend to make that
hemisphere not only republican, but also
independent OF Europe. That success was
ioreseen. A British statesman, in descrlb'
ing the American Colonies just before the
peace, had said to his cOuntrymen:-"Y Your
children do not grow faster from infancy to
manhood than they spread from family to
com n,unilics, and from villages to nations.
The United States thus confined landward,
betoOk themselves to the sea, whose broad
realm lay unappropriated and, having iur.
nished themselves with shipping and seamen
equal to the adventurous pursuit oil the
whale fishery under the Poles, they presented
themselves in European ports rs maratime
people. Afterwards, their well-known att.
tude of neutrality, in q season OF general
war, enabled them to become carriers Tor
the world. But they never forgot for mo.
ment the Importance OF Improving their p,si.
ton on the coast. France was now the owner
of the Province of Louisiana which stretched
all along the western bank OF The Mississippi.
She wisely sold possession, which she was
unable 10 defend, TO the United States, who
thus, only twenty years after the treaty OF
Versailles, secured the exclusive navigation
of the great river and, descending from
their inland frontier, established themselves
on the coast OF the Gulf OF Mexico. Spain
soon saw that her Colonies on that coast,
east Of the Mississippi. now virtually sur
rounded by the United States, were unten-
able She therefore, for an equivalent,
ccded the Floridas and retired behind the
Sabine and so the sea coast of the United
States was now seen to begin nt that river,
and passing along the Gulf and around the
Peninsula, and beyond the Capes, to ter.
inmate ut the ST. Croix in the Bay ofFundy.
The course of the European war showed
that Spain was exhausted. Nearly oil her
American Colonies, inspired by the example
of the United st tes, and sustained by their
sympathy, struck for independence, estab'
lshed republican systems, and entered into
treaties of alDity and commerce with the
Republic Of the North.
But the United States yet needed o
northern passage from their western valleys
10 the Atlantic Ocean. The new channel 10
be opened must necessarily have connec.
tions, natural or artificial. with the inland
rivers and lakes. An internal trade rami-
| fling the country was n necessary basis Tor
commerce, and il would constitute the
frmest pos. .ible national union. Practically,
there was in the country neither canal to
serve for model, nor an engineer comPe'
tent to project one. The railroad invention
hid not vet been perfected in Europe, nor nor
even conceived in the United States. The
Federal Government alone had adequate re.
sources, but. after long consideration, and
some improbable experiments, it not only
disayowcd the policy, but also disclaimed
the power of making internal improvements.
Private capital was unavailable Tor great
! national en,erprises. The Sales were not
convinced of the wisdom Of undertaking
sincly works within their own borders which
would be wholly or in part useless, unless
extended beyond them by other States, ana
which even although they should be useful
to themselves, would be equally or more
beneficial to States which refused or neg
lected to Join in their construction. More
over the only source Of revenue in the States
was direct taxation-always unreliable in q
popular rgoyernment-and they had no es,'
iablished credits at home or abroad Nev-
ertheless, the people comprehcnded the
csigercy, and their will opened way thro
all these embarrassments. The State oi
New York began. and she has hitherto,
although sometimes lallering. presented this
great enterprise with unsurpassed tdelity.-
The other States, according to their respect.
i've abilities and convictions Of interest and
duty, have co.operated. BY canals We have
ri Al. -.,;,,,;op of rhesn neake Raw