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ADDRESS 
 
 AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF MARYLAND. 
 
 DELIVERED 
 
 iU their Jlnniversaru Meellnc; held in the Chamier ofths 
 House of Delegates, at dnnapolis, 
 
 On Wednesday t!ie IStli nciembcr, 1S19, 
 
 HON. VI II GIL MAXCY, 
 
 // 
 
 One of its Members. VVsVa'V ■■ 
 
 % 
 
 PRINTED BY J. GUEEV, AN'NAPOI.IS. 
 Jauuarv 1820. 
 

 Resolved, That the thanks of this Society be 
 presented to Mr. Maxcy, for the able and elo- 
 quent Address delivered before them. 
 
 HesolveD; That the Secretary apply to Mr. 
 Maxcy, for permission to publish his xVddress^ 
 and if it be obtained, to cause two hundred co- 
 pies to be published for distribution under the di- 
 rection of the President. 
 
 THOMAS IL CMIUOLL, Secretary. 
 
ADDRESS, &c. 
 
 (ientlcinen of lliz Agricultural Society of jllarylruid, 
 
 HAVING been requested to deliver an ad- 
 dress at this anniveriiary mc'cting, I have though!, 
 it best, after a few preliminary remarks upon [lie 
 relative importance of agriculture, in comparison 
 with other pursuits, to invite your attention to a 
 brief view of its condition in M-u-yland, and to 
 an examination of the means, by whic!j individu- 
 als as well as the legislature, may most effectn 
 ally contrihu'e to its improvemeiit, which has now 
 become equally essential to the welfare of the 
 agricultural class and the general prosperity of 
 tiie state. 
 
 Political writers have, from the beginning, dif 
 fered with respect to the sources of the wealth of 
 nations, some attributing it to agriculture, some to 
 commerce, soai ' to manufactures, and others to la- 
 bour and capital employed in all -three. The last 
 appears to me to be the true theory: for agricul- 
 ture originates, manufacture improves, and com- 
 merce gives value, by crealing demand, while la- 
 bour and capital stimulate all. But however va- 
 riant opinions may have been, or still are, with re- 
 spect to these several hypotheses, all must agr 'e 
 thiit whatever may be the value, imparted hy 
 the labour and ingenuity of man to the pro- 
 ductions of nature, the earth is the original parent 
 of them all. Agricultiire is the art, by which t'r.ese 
 productions are multiplied, so as to mee' the wants 
 of civilized men. M )st of these wants are com- 
 mon to ail — to the agriculturist, the manufacturer 
 and the seaman, as well as to the artist, the man 
 of letters and the statesman. As all equally de- 
 
4 
 
 lived their origin hum the earth, all are equally 
 (lependant upon it for their subsistence and ac- 
 coiiimod.ition. However then commei ce and mauu- 
 facture may polish the shaft, or learning and the 
 fine arts may decorate the ca[)ital, it is agriculiure, 
 which forms the deep and solid base, on which the 
 column of civilized society reposes. 
 
 Agricuhnre ii an unobtrusive art. It performs 
 its siient ia!);*urs in retirement and out of the view 
 of the multitude: on the otiier hand, the arts 
 throng the cities and bustle in the crowd; Avliile 
 commerce, appropriating the products of both, 
 hoists its gaudy ilag, spreads its swelling sail, 
 traverses the glo!)e, and challenges the gaze of 
 men in opposite liemispheres. 
 
 iS'ations, as well as individuals, are governed hy 
 external appearances and first impresr^ions, un- 
 til phil;>sophy, by teaching them to think, en- 
 ables llirm to trace eilVcts to tiieir true causes and 
 to assign to them their relative importuucc. Hence 
 commerce, from the display it makes before the 
 eyes of men, vras generally consitlered the first 
 and greatest agent in the production of national 
 wealth, and mannfacturcs were rauked next: 
 v.hlht modest agricnltiire, hidden in liie privacy 
 of the country, was foi'gotten; of if rememi)ered, 
 ^vas remembered only to be undervalued or dc- 
 i.pised. Agriculture tlierefore in Europe, even 
 half a century ago, formed the occupation almost 
 exclusively of the lowest order of the people, 
 without knowledge to enligliien, or capital to en- 
 ali'.e them to improve. Of later years, however, 
 since political economy has assumed the form of 
 a science and has caused statesmen to be more 
 .sensii)le of t!;e import ;nce of an improved slate 
 of agriculture, it has attracted U'.orc atlcnlion from 
 
the better informed and wealthier classes of socie- 
 ty, it has exciled Iheinouiry of the learned, and 
 is at length beginning to obtain that de2;ree of con- 
 sideration, which its importance so justly de- 
 mands. 
 
 In Kngland notbing has had a more powerful 
 effect in attracting to it tlie piiblic notice, than the 
 establishment of agricijltural societies. Many pa- 
 triotic men of rank, fortune, learning and talents, 
 gave them their closest attention, and, by their 
 personal example, drew to them the regard and 
 respect of that class of people, wJio had the 
 means of undertaking improvements upon an en- 
 larged and liberal scale. A general emulation w;'is 
 excited amongst the country gentlemen; public 
 opinion became enliglitenesi; the government felt 
 its influence, and at length listening to tlie able 
 representations of that patriot farmer, Sir John 
 f^inclair, established tjje British IJuard of x\gri- 
 culture and Internal Improvement. This board, 
 while it serves as a centre of inrormaiion to 
 iiifiuiiing agriculsuris s, ijerforms the same of- 
 lice to the government, and points out to it such 
 mt'asures, as are best calcul'^tc;! to promote their 
 prosperity. Under the combined iiiiluence of this 
 board, and of the numer<ius societies in all parts 
 of tiie country, agriculture has been inspired with 
 new spirit and activity. Mfu of speculative 
 minds have begun to investigate, statesmen to ex- 
 amine, and political philosophers to analyze, with 
 a deeper scrutiny, the sources of England's pov/- 
 ei-: and, to the utter astonishment of all, it has 
 been a«;certained, th:it wide spread as is licr 
 commerce, and extensive as are her manufactures, 
 it is to h:'r agricultuve, more than to both, slie was 
 indebted for (lie support of her system of public 
 
6 
 
 credit— a system, whose amazing energy enabled 
 ]ier i^inglfj to breast the furions ind towering Hood 
 of luiiied Europe's rage, and fnially to roil hack 
 its agitated waves over the head of the potent 
 prospero, wiiose magir, had raised tliem! 
 
 This tact, extraoriiinaiy and surprising as it 
 may appear, has been proved beyond a doubt by 
 the result of the tax, which was levied indiscri- 
 minately upon ail classes of the people, hav- 
 ing an income of more than 50l. sterling per an- 
 num. 
 Tlie proceeds of that tax from the 
 
 proprietors and occupiers of land 
 
 were, /6,433,47j. 
 
 The proceeds of it from all other 
 
 classes — merchants, manufactu- 
 rers, otfice holders, professional 
 
 men, &c. were only Z3,031,1S7, 
 
 less than one half of the amount, received from 
 the agi'icultural class. 
 
 The number of pvoprieiors and occupiers of 
 land, who came within tiie operation of the in- 
 come tax, was three times as large as that of 
 all other classes together.* 
 
 As in political c.ilculations it is proper (o con- 
 sider all men, as spending tl'.e amount of their 
 income, it is also fair to consider them, as paying 
 indirect taxes in proportion to their expenditure. 
 And, as a vast deal of comraercial property escapes 
 direct taxation, we may. without fear of error, 
 take it for granted, tlsat the agricultural class, 
 in relation to their property, piy far more th ui 
 their just proportion of the direct taxes. We 
 may then safely conclude, that at least tliree- 
 
 * Vide Sir John Sinclair's Ccrlc of AgricLiUurc, p^gc 313, 313. 
 
fourths of tlie vast revenue of Great-Bi'Uain is 
 derived, directly or indirectly, from the owners and 
 cultivators of the soil. And in her darkest hour, 
 w'hvn invasion threatened all her coasts, whyii 
 thick gathering perils appalled the merchant and 
 the fiiud-iiolder in the ni:dst ol London, v»i:ere, 
 hut anioiig the yeomanry of tiie country, were 
 found the fearless hearts and toil-strung arms, 
 that presented an impenetrable barrier to her 
 foes? 
 
 If such then be the relative importance of agri- 
 cultuie, and the poition of her population erigaged 
 in it, in Great-liritain, whose commerce and ma- 
 nufactures are so extensive, but whose whole ter- 
 ritory is almost equalled by several of our single 
 states, of how much greater consequence is agri- 
 culture and the agricultural class in the United 
 btates, wliose territory stretches from the St. 
 Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, and from tlie 
 Atlantic to the Pacific Ocenn? If agriculture be 
 the nerve of Kngland's power, and the source of 
 her wealth, and if commerce and manufacture!^, 
 even there, are merely useful hand-maids to dis- 
 tribute, improve, convert into otiier forms, or con- 
 sume its products, of how much greater im- 
 portance miist it I.e. in all points of view, to our 
 counii'y? Aiul who shall calculate the limits of 
 its wealth and prosperity, i(s grandeur and pow- 
 er, should the people adopt, throughout its al- 
 most unlimited territory, an improved and en- 
 lightened syst'.^m of cullivation? 
 
 Massachusetts and New-York, sliice the ter- 
 mination of the late war, have set a good exam- 
 ple for the imiiation of their sister states, by en- 
 acting laws for the direct encouragement of im- 
 provement in agiicuUure. By the provisions of 
 
8 
 
 ilieir eels, a sum of money, proportioned to the 
 amount, that may be raised by an aii,ricuUural so- 
 ciety in each county, is ordered to be paid out of 
 Use treasury, to be di^stril>uted in premiums under 
 its direction. In several other states, soi ieties 
 owe their origin and progress to the pubiic 'spirit 
 of individ.uals. A circumstaiice vmrthy of notice, 
 (vv'hich, while it is gratifyinj^ to the friends of the 
 plough, is at the same time illustrative of the sim- 
 ple habits and manners of onr country,) is, that 
 citizens of the higliest distinction have not only 
 given the countename of tijeir rjame and charac- 
 ter to these useful as>^ociations, but have ac- 
 cepted appointments in tiiem requiring active du- 
 ty, and taken a leading part in their manage- 
 ment.* 
 
 No state in the union would derive greater ])e- 
 nellt from the establisiiment of such societies and 
 from a diffusion of correct information on agricul- 
 tural suljjec'sand rnral economy, than Maryland. 
 
 In the ConococheMij;ue and Monocacy vallies, 
 and in some other parts of the nialhern c<uinties 
 of the stute, a good system of husbandry is esta- 
 blished, iiVid excellent practices prevra!: but in the 
 soutiiern parts of the state, on either side of the 
 Chesapeake, agriculture languishes in the most 
 wretched condition. On the Eastern Shore a 
 
 * Fn evidence of this fact, may he cited, amontjst many other 
 honourable exanrples. the addiP'^acs of Mr. Madison, hite president 
 of the I'nitcd States, now PesWent olthe ^StMicnltiiral Society of 
 Albcrniarle County, in Virjiinia — o!' Col. I'lckerin;;, once Secre- 
 tary of War, aftei wards Secretary •" Slate, and now President of 
 an Au;riciiUural Socictv in JMassachusetts — of General Davie, for- 
 merly minister to Farce.now President of the A<iric ultiiral Socie- 
 ty of Sonlh-Carolina— and of IV!aior Genera! Tirown, who is now 
 at the he:>d of oi:r army, and uho-e late spe ch before an Asxricul- 
 tiiral Socie'v in the .Siateof New York, of which he is Vice Presi- 
 deni, is di -n^: iheu hy a vir.onr and energy of thonalit and e::- 
 prcssion, at once chn.ractcribtic of his mind and profession. 
 
9 
 
 severe course of cropping, without a judicious ro- 
 tation, has reduced a soil, originally fertile, to 
 a state of sterility. If here and there you come 
 to a farm or neighbourhood, where belter habits 
 prevail, and an improving system of cultivation 
 lias in part restored the original productiveness 
 of the land, your eye is regaled with the same 
 sort, though not tlie same degree, of pleasure, Avith 
 which a wanderer hails the spots of green on the 
 deserts of the East. 
 
 Nor do the lower counties of the Western Shore 
 exhibit a more exhilirating prospect. This is gene- 
 rally a waving country, blest with a soil originally 
 fertile, covered with the noblest forests, and inter- 
 sected with navigable streams and creeks, falling 
 either into the great Chesapeake or Potomac, and 
 affording the easiest and cheapest means of Irans- 
 porting all its produce to market. Look over the 
 map of the United States — u.iy, of the world — and 
 you will hardly iind a spot, where the choicest 
 advantages for successful agriculture have Iieen so 
 bountifully showered by a beneHcent Pi-avideace, 
 as upon this tract of country. And yet what a 
 melancholy pros'pect does it now exhibit! The 
 original settlers lirst cleared a coru-iield in the fo- 
 rest: next, a tobacco lot; and cultivated both Vvith 
 successive crops of the same articles, until their 
 powers of reproduction biding coaipletely exhaust- 
 ed, resort was again had to the forest, and a new 
 corn-field and a new tobacco lot were cleared. 
 The same process was repeated, until almost the 
 whole of this highly favoured region was despoil- 
 ed of its valuable wood and tim!)er. Shallow 
 cultivation came in aid of this system of destruc- 
 tion by ilre and axe. The plough, the greatest 
 blessing, when properly use;!; ever bestowed by 
 
iO 
 
 tlie inventive powers of man upon tlie human 
 race, became a most poweriul auxiliary in effect- 
 ing; this scene of desolation. When the ph»ugh 
 sinks deep, the loosened earth absorbs the heavi- 
 est rains and preserves the moisture for the nou- 
 risliment of the crop, if drought succeeds; but 
 when it stirs the surface only, the light top soil 
 becomes fluid at a copious or sudden fall of rain, 
 and both soil and v»ater are precipitated from the 
 hill-^ to the creeks and branches below. When- 
 ever feriiliiy was by these means completely de- 
 stroyed, the field was thrown out of cultivation; 
 stunted pines uniformly succeeded to the occupa- 
 tion of land, originally covered by the finest oak, 
 hickory, beach and pt>plar; and wherever a few 
 of tlie latter have escaped destruction, they serve, 
 beside tiieir dwarfish neighbours, as monuments 
 of tlie magnificent bounty of God, iu melancho- 
 ly contrast with the thoughtless improvidence 
 ot man! 
 
 This gloomy picture is but too faithful a repre- 
 i^ontation of this interesting portion of our state. 
 'Tis true, there are scattered, iu different parts of it, 
 enterprising, intelligent and spirited individuals, 
 who've husbandry would do credit to Frederick 
 and Washington counties. But though the improve- 
 ments which they have made, have doubled the 
 produce and value of their lands, and their efforts 
 have been crowned with tlie most distinguished 
 suc<es9, their example has had but little effect in 
 reforming the habits of the country in general. 
 These habits, must finally reduce those, who in- 
 dulge, in them, to poverty, and banish them from 
 their homes. 
 
 And must this beautiful region be deserted? 
 Are its inhabitants doomed to join in the current 
 
li 
 
 of western emigration and leave ahodps, eufleared 
 to them by a thotisancl teiider reooUectioii-^? Xmi 
 must the hospitable tires of the Eastern Shore be 
 extinguished? Shall that social, warm-hearted 
 and generous people, be compelled to seek new 
 and more fertile lands in the south or the west, 
 while in deep-felt sadness, they cast many a 
 ^'longing, lingering look behind'' upon the reced- 
 ing homes of their childhood? 
 
 I trust not. I confidently hope, that the spi- 
 rit of improvement, which has totally clianged 
 the face of the country and the condition of the 
 people in other parts of the state, will extend to 
 them. An enlightened system of agriculture is 
 all that is wanting. The means of improvement 
 are at hand on both shores. Let the marl beds, 
 which abound on the ('hesapeake, be explored 
 and spread upon the fields — let the plough be dri- 
 ven deeper into their surface — let gypsum stimu- 
 late the sleeping energies of a soil newly turned up 
 to the fertilizing dews and atmosphere of heaven — 
 let clover and other improving crops restore to the 
 exhausted earth, the vegetal)le matter in<lispensa- 
 ble to fertility — let the rich soil, washed from the 
 hills into the low grounds an<l branches, be haul- 
 ed to the farm-yard and mixed with th*'. oifal of 
 the cattle — let the sea-ware, which every tide 
 drives upon the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, 
 and lime, so easily procured from its inexliausti- 
 ble banks of marine shells, be spread up:)n the 
 fallows and mixed with the soil. But above all, 
 let Agricultural Societies be formed in every conu- 
 ty in the state. These, when conducted wit'n 
 zeal, are most powerful agents for the introducti- 
 on of the good practices, I have enumeratel, and 
 for the dissemination of information; derived froiu 
 
IS 
 
 cxpevience; for the overthrow of errors and the 
 cstahlishmeiit of useful truths; for the excitement 
 and maintenance of a generous emuhition among 
 agriculturists; for inspiring a strong desire for 
 the distinction and reward, which excellence in 
 tlieir art will confer; in a word^ for adding to the 
 all -pervading impulse of interest, the ennohling 
 stimulus of ambition. The planter and the far- 
 mer, in common with all other human beings, 
 acknowledge the dominion of this powerful prin- 
 ciple: but the circumstances of their live* bring 
 it but seldom into operation. The lawyer, the 
 physician, the manufacturer and the mechanic 
 exercise their professions in the presence of wit- 
 nesses; their respective skill becomes the subject 
 of comparison in the city or neighbourhood, 
 where they reside; and they immediately feel the 
 result of that comparison in the increase or dimi- 
 nution of their profits as well as reputation. On 
 tiie contrary, the agriculturist has rarely a wit- 
 ness of his labours to excite his pride, or amend 
 his practice by the communi( ation of useful know- 
 ledge. This is the great and predominant cause 
 of the slow progress of improvement in husband- 
 ry and rural economy. Agricultural associations 
 are the most obvious, as well as most effectual, 
 means of lemoving this cause. They bring to 
 light the merit of good cultivators, and while 
 they reward the deserving, they instruct and sti- 
 niulate the ignorant. By means of cattle shows, 
 ploughing matches, and exhibitions of produce, 
 stock and implements of husbandry, they bring 
 together those, who are interested in agriculture, 
 for purposes connected with their pursuits In- 
 formation of various practices is communicated 
 from one to another; conflicting opinions excite 
 
13 
 
 discussion, inquiry and experiment; the know- 
 ledge of each becomes common to all, and a ge- 
 neral desire of improvement is encouraged and 
 diffused. The prudence, which deters the culti- 
 vator from adopting new practices, which may 
 result in embarrassment, no longer prevents their 
 reception, when the success of others has esta- 
 blished their safety and utility. This success is 
 made known at such meelings, and invites imita- 
 tion. New and more prolit-iblc modes of culture 
 are thus introduced, and a general mtdioration of 
 the condition of agriculturists takes place. 
 
 If these reasons be not sufficient to satis y eve- 
 ry one of the utility of agricultural societies, let 
 me call your attention to the example of such na- 
 tions, as have env our.iged and multiplied them. 
 The best and most intelligent writers upon agri- 
 culture in P^'ance, Germany, England and Scot- 
 land, attribute the rapid improvement of those 
 countries to the efforts and influence of such asso- 
 ciations There is now scarce a flistrict of any 
 extent or importance in Great- Britain, which has 
 not its agricultural society. Such associations iir^t 
 diffused a spirit, that led to the establishment of 
 the British Board of Agriculture and Internal 
 Improvement: and that, in return, has caused the 
 formation of more agricultural societies, than ever 
 before existed in any nation in any age. Thi» 
 board collects, in a focus, all the rays of know- 
 ledge, emanating from the'^e numerous bodies; 
 while each of them, in return, receives from it the 
 concentrated intelligence of all the other-, and 
 brings it within the reach of everv individual in 
 the kingdom, desirous of acquirins; it. Agricul- 
 ture, in that commercial and mannj'arfnnns; coun- 
 try; is now gaining its share of tiie public uttenti- 
 
li 
 
 on and regard, which have hitherto been bestow- 
 ed exclusively on commerce and manufactures, 
 and is attaining the rank and dignity, to whicli 
 it is intrinsically entitled. Shall it beheld in less 
 estimation and its improvement be deemed of less 
 importance in this great agricultural country? 
 Enterpiize seems to be the presiding genius of our 
 people. His giant foot-prints are visible in eve- 
 ry part of our broad territory. Having with a ma- 
 gical rapidity settled the country and built up tbe 
 cities of the Atlantic, he has transcended the Al- 
 leghany; he has levelled the forests of the vast 
 extent on this side of the Mississippi; he has 
 planted there villages and populous towns; he 
 has crossed that monarch river of the west and 
 now explores t!ie interminable regions of the Mis- 
 souri. Shall he become the destroying demon, 
 or the beneficent deity, of the country, he has un- 
 covered to the sun? Shall he scourge the fertile 
 soil, till sterility and its attendant poverty suc- 
 ceed, or shall he, by a judicious system of cul- 
 tivation preserve for ever its original productive- 
 ness? 
 
 This is a question of the greatest magnitude to 
 those parts of this vast empire, which are still un- 
 exhausted. But a question of still nearer inte- 
 rest to Maryland forces itself on the mind. How 
 shall fertility be restored to its worn-out soil, and 
 depopulation be prevented? Some of the means, 
 depending upon individual exertions, and the ef- 
 forts of agricultural societies, I have already at- 
 tempted to point out: but much, in aid of them, 
 may be done by tlie governmeiit of the state. 
 
 It is essential to the prosperity of the cultiva- 
 tors of the soil, that they should have access to 
 markets, where such prices may be obtained, as 
 
will repay past labour and encourage reproducti- 
 on, lu reierence to this object, the utility of good 
 roads, bridges, railways and canals* and the re- 
 moval of obstructions in rivers and creeks, is too 
 obvious to require a single remark to illustrate it. 
 Great undertakings of this sort, where several 
 states are concerned, and where rival interests 
 may excite jealousies and present obstacles, seem 
 properly to belong to the general government. 
 Had the plan of that profound and eloquent 
 statesman, who presides over the war department, 
 for the establishment of a fund for internal im- 
 provements, succeeded, many of those, now pre- 
 sent, might have lived to see national highways 
 and national canals intersecting our great country 
 in all important directions, facilitating communi- 
 cation between all its parts, and forming those 
 bonds of connexion, that have now, since the 
 application of steam to the purposes of navigati- 
 on, i)ecome more necessary than ever to the pre- 
 servation of the union. However desirable to this 
 country independence of foreign nations for ne- 
 Cv'ssaries, convenieucies, or even luxuries may he, 
 all must acknowledge, that a mutual dependance 
 between our different states for the promotion of 
 their prosperity is the strongest tie, that can bind 
 them together. The course of commei-; e, which 
 lias heretofore made the Atlantic cities the mar- 
 ket of the productions of the west, and the source, 
 from which it derived supplies of foreign goods, 
 constituted th.c most powerful ligament between 
 them. Should steam navigation on the Mississippi 
 ever be able to supply the vast regions, from 
 which It gathers its waters, w ith the products of 
 foreign co!iimer< e at a cheaper rate, than they can 
 be afforded by the Atlantic cities across the raoun- 
 
16 
 
 tains; and should New-Orleans, or some other ci- 
 ty on that river, become the great mart of their 
 agricultural produce, this ligruuent is burst asun- 
 der: and a patriot might well tremble at the agi- 
 tation of any question, involving a real or even an 
 apparent conflict of interests between the people, 
 residing on the different sides of the Alleghany. 
 In such an event, that great ridge, instead of be- 
 ing, what it has been emphatically styled, the 
 ^^back bone of the United StateSy which no human 
 strength can break, no sword can sever/'' might 
 become the barrier between two hostile empires. 
 To prevent so calamitous a result, no means are 
 so well adapted as the establishment of roads and 
 canals. And who, in this inventive age, shall 
 despair of seeing the day, when steam, applied 
 to carriages upon rail- way s^ shall perform prodi- 
 gies on land, that will rival those, wliich it has 
 already exhibited on the water? Had the gene- 
 ral government adopted the proposed plan of in- 
 ternal imi)rovements, the offspring of a wise fore- 
 cast, tiiat looked to distant political as well as 
 commercial results, no state in t!ie union would 
 have derived so much benefit from it as Maryland. 
 The waters of the Potomac approach nearer to 
 streams, that intersect the western country, than 
 any other river of the United States. To remove 
 the obstacles to its navigation would j>robably 
 liave been the first ot)ject, that would Iiave at- 
 tracted tlie attention of the general goverjiment. 
 One of the next would probably have been the 
 completion of the best communication by land be- 
 tween the west and our great commercial capital. 
 These objects effected, V\'ashington and Balti- 
 more would have become the great m<irts of wes- 
 tern tratje. 
 
We might, moreover, have expected to see tlie 
 waters of the Eastern Branch connected by a canal 
 with the waters of the Patapsco and the Chesa- 
 peake joined to the Delaware. The greater part 
 of the state might then have had a choice of the 
 three markets, Baltimore, Washington and Phi- 
 ladelphia. How great a stimulus this would 
 have been to our agriculture, is more easily ima- 
 gined than told. 
 
 The general government, hoAvever, have de- 
 clined entering into this career rf internal im- 
 provement, and have thereby devolved that im- 
 portant duty upon the several states in their se- 
 parate capacities. 
 
 New- York, Virsjinia, South-Carolina, Ten- 
 nessee, and several other states, have engaged in 
 it with a spirit highly honourable to themselves, 
 and worthy the imitation of all tlie others. 
 
 Shall Maryland be indifferent to these noble 
 examples? Hhall she witness, unmoved, the gi- 
 gantic efforts of New-York, now cutting through 
 her territory a canal ot nearly three hundred 
 miles, which by opeiing a vast extent of fertile 
 country to a market, will invigorate her agricul- 
 ture and, by the junction of the Hudson with the 
 Lakes, draw off to her chief commercial city a 
 part, at least, of that western trade, which proper 
 exertions might retain to ours? Shall she be in- 
 sensible to the example set her, still nearer home, 
 by her neighbour Virginia, whose Board of Pub- 
 lic Works are not only planning canals and re- 
 moving obstacles to navigation from her rivers 
 and creeks, for the benefit of the country adja- 
 cent to them; but are extending their views far- 
 ther and inquiring into the practicability of a wa- 
 ter communication with the west? Shall she too 
 
48 
 
 rob us of a portion of the western trade? And can 
 we look v/itli indifference upon the strenuous ex- 
 ertions of our jealous rival, Pennsylvania, to ac- 
 complish the same object? In a competition for 
 the western trade nature has given us the advan- 
 tage, in the geographical position of our territory, 
 and if we lose it, it will be entirely owing to our 
 own lit^tless negligence.* V\ ill it be said, that 
 we have contributed large sums of money for 
 making ti'.e Potomac naviga!)le; that we have in- 
 corporated several canal and road companies; that 
 Ave liave devoted the bonus, which might have been 
 demanded for a renewal of the bank charters, to 
 the comjiletion of a turnpike to join tbe great na- 
 tional western road; and pledged the proceeds of 
 two annual sta(e lotteries as a fund for making 
 internal improvements, for the promotion of lite- 
 rature and science, and the establishment of be- 
 nevolent institutions? All these measures certain- 
 ly merit approbation; but more ought to be done. 
 An ample fund, immediately prodnctive, ought 
 to be created and pledged for these all-important 
 purposes, so intimately connected with the cha- 
 racter, di:^ni\y and prosperity of the state. 
 
 jMay V. e not be allowed to hope, that the wis- 
 dom of the General Assembly, many of whose 
 members have honoured our meeting tuis evening 
 ])y tlseir presence, will be directed to the accom- 
 ]dishment of these interesting objects? By adopt- 
 ing such measures as will eil'ectually attain them, 
 they will give themselves an incontestible title to 
 the lasting gratitude of an enliglitended people: 
 for such measures, aided by the influence, exam- 
 
 * Virie an able pamplilet, puMislied last year hv a late r-ieinhef 
 nC the exenit ve cosmcil. entitled, "Remarks on the Intercourse 
 with the Western Countrv." 
 
19 
 
 pie and iutelligence of such societies throiigliout 
 the state, as you, (lentlemen, have formed in this, 
 its ancient Capital, will revive its drooping agri- 
 culture; will lay the foundation of a permanent 
 prosperity, by restoring fertility to the districts 
 now worn out by a destructive s^ stem of cultiva- 
 tion; will check those ever flowing currents of 
 emigration to the south and west, which are con- 
 stantly thinning the population of many parts of 
 the state; will thereby increase our numbers and 
 of course our relative political weight in the great 
 national family: and what is of at least equal 
 consequence, will elevate the character of our 
 state, will add dignity to its name, and challenge 
 the respect and applause of the union. Should 
 such a course of measures be heartily adopted 
 and vigorously pursued, a new era will open up- 
 on Maryland; she will take a high stand among 
 her sister states; her citizens will feel a conscious 
 pride in her character; and the lofty, patriotic 
 state feeling, which will ensue, will carry her, 
 through a long course cf liberty and honour^, 
 to the farthest goal of wealth, prosperity and hap- 
 piness. 
 
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