on in the
world, he puts others into relation with the thoughts which
engage him rather than with his own personality, and you become
intimate with them, not with him. A native, as we believe, of
Connecticut, brought up to business in this city, where he
acquired a competence, having conceived the idea of a vaster
and more inspiring enterprise than the political and industrial
world had ever attempted, he quitted the pursuits of trade, and
the certain wealth they promised him, to perfect and realize
his conception. He studied the great routes of the world, and
the causes of their adoption. In a residence in Europe and by
voyages in the East he made himself acquainted with the facts
relating to the trade and productive capacities of Asia. He
thoroughly surveyed and mastered the whole subject before
beginning its discussion. Then he proposed the scheme to his
countrymen, and for many years has sought exclusively to
commend it to their favor. He has travelled in every direction,
addressing public bodies and meetings of citizens, writing
newspaper articles and pamphlets, and sparing no occasion to
bring the idea and the facts connected with it to the knowledge
of all. Wherever he has gone he has left some sparks of his own
genial enthusiasm. The plan has found advocates in every
section; many state legislatures have formally endorsed it, and
a large party in Congress have been in its favor. Dependent
altogether on his own pecuniary resources, Mr. Whitney, without
compensation or assistance, has labored with a constancy and
fidelity which could only proceed from a great purpose. But
after this period of arduous exertion he has failed to carry
his plan through Congress, while a great part of the lands on
which he must depend for its execution, have already passed
from the control of the federal Legislature. Accordingly,
though he would greatly prefer that his own country should reap
the splendid harvest of honor and substantial power which the
building of this world's highway would assure, he has no choice
but to consider the means which may be offered him for making
it through British America. To the world at large the
consequences would be the same, though to the United States
very different.

"The route through British America is, in