. Book of the Royal blue . practically, the Railroadsystem. At length the temple of Janus was closed,and the time came for the triumphs of peace. As the husbandman burns the rubbishfrom his field, and plows deep into theearth that, among the clods and ashes,good seed may be sown to yield its fruit indue season; so had the fields of Christendombeen wasted with fire, and broken up withthe hot plowshare of war, that, from theclods and ashes of ignorance and supersti-tion, a better seed might spring and noblerfruits be gathered. In the origination of such a work as theBaltimore and Ohio Railroad,
. Book of the Royal blue . practically, the Railroadsystem. At length the temple of Janus was closed,and the time came for the triumphs of peace. As the husbandman burns the rubbishfrom his field, and plows deep into theearth that, among the clods and ashes,good seed may be sown to yield its fruit indue season; so had the fields of Christendombeen wasted with fire, and broken up withthe hot plowshare of war, that, from theclods and ashes of ignorance and supersti-tion, a better seed might spring and noblerfruits be gathered. In the origination of such a work as theBaltimore and Ohio Railroad, at a time whenthe system was still in its infancy, we scarce-ly know which most to admire, the far-reaching sagacity which conceived the idea,or the hardy and zealous faith in which itwas accepted. To Philip E. Thomas, Esq.,a Quaker merchant of Baltimore, is gener-ally accorded the honor of having been thefirst to suggest and urge the undertaking,moved thereto by some written ad\icesfrom England. The city of Baltimore, at. W ^^-i>^^^:^-/-^.rtv^ From Harpers Ma^razine By Pennission of Harper Sc Brothera. ANNO DOMINI MMMMDCCCLIX. that time worth but twenty-five millions,unhesitatingly embarked in an enterpriseto complete which has cost thirty-onemillions. We doubt whether there is onrecord a similar instance of commercialpluck. Mr. Thomas still lives in the fullenjoyment of the mens sana in corporeSana: and, at the advanced age of eighty-four, has the gratification, in his dailywalks, of seeing around him the magnificentresults of his foresight, ^erily, he thatbuildeth is greater than he that destroyetha city, and greater is his reward. As thecalm approval of the inner mind, the silentand unsought homage of the thinking world,is nobler than the noise of the fitful i-abblethat hails the last favorite of fortunate work of construction was com-menced on the Fourth of -July, 1828, withappropriate pomp and ceremony. The ven-erable Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, laid thefir
Size: 1673px × 1494px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorbaltimoreandohiorailr, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890
