l, of this whole Union, to the
improvement of its own condition: of its moral and political condition, by
wise and liberal institutions--by the cultivation of the understanding and
the heart--by academies, schools, and learned institutes--by the pursuit
and patronage of learning and the arts; of its physical condition, by
associated labor to improve the bounties, and to supply the deficiencies
of nature; to stem the torrent in its course; to level the mountain with
the plain; to disarm and fetter the raging surge of the ocean.
Undertakings of which the language I now hold is no exaggerated
description, have become happily familiar not only to the conceptions, but
to the enterprize of our countrymen. That for the commencement of which
we are here assembled is eminent among the number. The project
contemplates a conquest over physical nature, such as has never yet been
achieved by man. The wonders of the ancient world, the pyramids of Egypt,
the Colossus of Rhodes, the temple at Ephesus, the mausoleum of
Artemisia, the wall of China, sink into insignificance before
it:--insignificance in the mass and momentum of human labor required for
the execution--insignificance in comparison of the purposes to be
accomplished by the work when executed. It is, therefore, a pleasing
contemplation to those sanguine and patriotic spirits who have so long
looked with hope to the completion of this undertaking, that it unites the
moral power and resources--first, of numerous individuals--secondly, of
the corporate cities of Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria--thirdly,
of the great and powerful States of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and
Maryland--and lastly, by the subscription authorized at the recent session
of Congress, of the whole Union.

"Friends and Fellow-laborers. We are informed by the holy oracles of
truth, that, at the creation of man, male and female, the Lord of the
universe, their Maker, blessed them, and said unto them, be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it. To subdue the earth was,
therefore, one of the first duties assigned to man at his creation; and
now, in his fallen condition, it remains among the most excellent of his
occupations. To subdue the earth is pre-eminently the purpose of the
undertaking, to the accomplishment of which the first stroke of the spade
is now to be struck. That it is to be struck by this hand, I invite you to
witness.--[Here the stroke of the spade.] [Footnote: Attendin