“The third step, more arduous still than either or both the others, was that which we, fellow-citizens, may now congratulate ourselves, our country, and the world of man, that it is taken.  It is the adaptation of the powers, physical, moral, and intellectual, 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:  Attending this action was an incident which produced a greater sensation than, any other that occurred during the day.  The spade which the President held, struck a root, which prevented its penetrating the, earth.  Not deterred by trifling obstacles from doing what