Arkansas true Democrat., 1857-07-07


 Mir. Bancroft on the Great F. R, Line. Mir. Bancroft the historian made the follow. ing remarks on the great American Central | railroad line, at the dinner at the Burnet house in Cincinnat:
 Ladies and gentlemen-We have most of us | been employing the day in surveying the envi- rons of Cincinnati, where the richness of the soil and the beautiful undulations of the coun- try, as It rises above the rivers, quicken and en- courage the genuine love of nature, and the uhVarylng richness of the soil generously re- wards the care which it receives We have l found that the buckeye leaf is the fit emblem oi us people, Tor It is the semblance of the | open hand, ready to give to those who need- to grasp the hand of frend-to welcome the stranger to hospitality. The great west itself. uncontrolled by precedent in the darinc of it, enterprise and uuequaled in the greatness of its achievements, is yet the child of the past. Freedom of industry and freedom of mind were the great ideas of the eighteenth gentry. Here you behold their fruits
 Our course to this city has been by the way ot the thrice admirable Baltimore and Ohio rail road. The scenery throu5h which it makes Its way has character of grandeur of its own, and ln the wonderful varieties of forest and laWn Of river and mountain, of nature in her savage wlIdness and nature in her loyelest forms, presents a series uf pictures which no well educated American should leave unvisited We cross the Atlantic in quest of attractive scenes; and To! we have at home alongside of the great central iron pathway, views that ex- eel anything that can be seen among the noun talns of Scotland, or in the passes of the A poe. hines.
 Then the enterprise which achieved this great result is 50 admirable as to excite our won- der that what seemed impossible has been fin. lShed. This great work is cmphaticalv the work of the city of Baltimore and it may al- most be said of Baltimore alone, for it was car ned on without much favor from its own State and sometimes in conflict with the rivalry O its neighbors. Nor is this all the marvel. The work Tn Its completeness has cost more thar 1 Sol l,OUO,OOO, and was entered upon with a brave heart, and at a time when the entire va luatlon of the real and personal property o | Baltimore was less than S27,0OO,OOO But Baltimore was always brave. In the gloomies 1 hour ot the American revolution her voice of patriotism was loud and clear-her conduct al example to her sister cities; and when has sht ever been wanting to the cause of civil and re- ligIous freedom?
 
 1t Is unequaed in the difficulties which it ha. surmounted. When we came to the s,ot o the Alleghanes on the east, we all saw the steepneSs of the dividing ridge that seemed impossible But railroad is work of art Michael Angelo used to say that the forms ot l beauty lie hidden beneath the surface of the marble quarry, waiting only for the hand of the sculptor to call them into being. The eyt 1 oi Latrobe saw at glance the capacity of | the mountain, and, scoting at the threatening raVlne, and precIplces and lofty summit, gave l himself no rest till commerce had carried itp sale and easy pathway In triumph over the mountan top, and proved to the world that there are no difficulties which true enterprise cannot surmUunt-that nature herself Is il league with genius.
 Aud all this has been achieved by the city o { Baltimore, wl'le she is still in tue lreshnes: and ntrtp.d ygor of youth What must Dc her future, when such is her bcginuing She Is called the monumental city, Her column rises as memorial of the Father of his Conn. try; but this Is her own monument. It span: the AIieghanes; 1t reache, from the waters 0 the Atlantic to the bosom of the Ohio; it com mands the admiration of the world.
 Tomorrow and the day after, we extend ou course to the further west, we celebrate the | oPehIuG ol lhe "rcct communication between Baltimore, Cincinnati and bt Lotus. The oc. casion is one of national interest. The svsteu oi rJads binds inIssouDly he east and the west. The triad of cities which are the ior- tresses of the Uuiou-tre bseakwater a.aius 1 which the angry waves of seIilion shall dasl ohil to be driven back-are now but as one II commerce, iron culture, in the arts of life aul the enjoyment of society, iu enterprise and love of couutry
 How would Madson-who loved the Uniol with such or grness of affection that after deati the word might have been found imprinted or hs heart-how would Madison have been glad deucd could he have lived to see these days And ashlnIton-who, when De last came tC the west, crossed the mountain by fatsuC marches, bvouacking n the wilderness, anc then slowly padding his way on the Ohio--hov would he have eXuIted could he but have seeI his great cherished idea of an international high Way carrie! out with a perfection ald couve nIeuce which surpassed he power of his cea tury to Imagine. Here YoUus America i, ful lin1 thai destiny which her l4;hnr. ,....s.it--. .!, 1esigned for hen; she more and more suudue, nature aud gives free tom Co men, Under he influence the worii will Le united in peace an, commerce, and liberty be owned as the birth fSht of every nation oi tile earth.