as to public benefit; and secondly, as to the profits of the stockholders or proprietors. If productive of great public advantages, there is a strong probability that it will be beneficial to the stockholders who have made investments; for the amount of toll will depend on the quantity of articles transported, and from the quantity of commodities conveyed to and from market, must flow the benefits to the community. That a great, cheap, and a safe highway, from a distance of three hundred and fifty miles near the ocean, into a flourishing country, abounding with the productions of the soil, forests, and mines, and the fabrics of manufactures, covered with cities, towns, and villages filled with a dense population, and the residence of an enterprising and industrious people; that such a country should not derive invaluable blessings from such an operation, no one can pretend to deny. Sources of benefit would be opened of which we cannot now form a conjecture. Motives to exertion-excitements to industry would be created, which are now beyond the reach of human foresight. Towns and villages would spring up in every direction, and the wilderness and the solitary place will become glad, and the desert rejoice and blossom as the rose.

This extended canal, besides the business which it would derive from a fertile expanse of country on both sides of the valley of the Connecticut river, would engross all the trade of the great region from Barnet to the north at an immense distance, and far above the line which separates the United States from the British dominions. The transit duties arising from the descending commodities will be equalled by those arising from the ascending merchandize; for the difference in the bulk of the articles would be made up by the difference in the amount of the tolls: and a country will generally receive for the supply of its own wants an equivalent for what it advances for the wants. of others.

It is not an unfair standard of comparison-an unjust measure of appreciation, to estimate the avails of the contemplated line of canals by the proceeds of the Champlain canal, which during the last year amounted to 85,000 dollars; and the expense is about one-fourth. At the same rate the proposed canal of two hundred and fifty miles, would produce annually 340,000 dollars

which would be upwards of twelve per cent. on an expenditure of two millions and a half of dollars.

ALBANY, Jan. 18th, 1828.

DE WITT CLINTON.

Governor Clinton's Observations relative to the proposed Delaware and Raritan Canal.

The following letter from Governor Clinton, addressed to a gentleman in New-Jersey, says the writer, "exhibits the same vigour of intellect, the same expanded views and comprehensive sagacity, which so eminently characterized the great and successful executor of the Grand Erie Canal. As the last emanation of that departed and immortal mind, on a subject in which it delighted to employ its energy for the blessings of posterity and the aggrandizement of his native state, it should be regarded with profound interest, and felt with all the weight of an oracle by the legislature of New-Jersey and the citizens of the state."

"ALBANY, Jan. 22, 1828.

SIR,

I was honoured with your interesting letter of the 8th instant, to which I should have paid immediate attention, had I not been under a great pressure of official business; and now my time will only permit a slight view of the subjects which you have presented to my consideration: and I hope this communication will reach you seasonably and operate favourably for the praiseworthy objects which you have in view.

As to the transcendant importance of a navigable connexion between the Bays of New-York and the Delaware, there cannot be a doubt. And when it is considered that this communication will be extended to the Bay of Chesapeake by the Chesapeake and Delaware canal; and that the whole will embrace within its influence, the Hudson, the Delaware, the Sus

quehannah, and the rivers flowing into them and the Chesapeake Bay, the advantages of the canal which you contemplate, from the Delaware to the Raritan, must be palpable and incalculable. It is well known, that the enterprising spirit, which distinguishes our national character, is limited only by the realities or prospects of profitable adventure. Abroad, it is witnessed in every region, however remote or secluded. At home, nothing escapes its scrutiny or communion. Wherever a market can be found-wherever an interchange of benefits can be had-wherever a facile communication can be obtained, you will see the products of the soil, of the mines, and of the forests-the fabrics of manufactures, and the importations of external commerce. In July, 1826, I passed through a remote part of this state, bordering on the Susquehannah; and a trader there, availing himself of a rise of water in a small stream, had just returned from conveying a raft of lumber to the city of Washington, with ample profits on the sales, and at a distance of seven hundred miles. A few weeks afterwards I was informed at Oleon, one of the head waters of the Alleghany, that it was not uncommon to convey from that place, pressed hay, in arks, to Natchez, and lumber to New-Orleans. The operation of the same spirit will be most forcibly and liberally experienced, when the great markets of New-York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, are thrown open to the access of a vast population, covering such immense regions as will be comprehended by these canals, and the natural waters communicating with them. To doubt on this subject would exhibit a skepticism approaching dementation.

I perceive that it is proposed to make the main trunk of the Delaware and Raritan canal fifty miles long, sixty feet wide at the top, six feet deep-that the entire lockage will be about fifty feet on each side of the summit level, and that it is to be supplied by a navigable feeder of twenty-five or thirty miles long, thirty feet wide at the surface, and from four and a half to five feet deep.

This plan is a judicious one. The main canal will be susceptible of sloop navigation, and the increased width and depth beyond those usually adopted, will render the transit of vessels more easy and rapid.

This work can be made without any great physical difficulty. The cost will

not exceed 1,200,000 dollars; and no doubt a loan can be obtained for that purpose by your state, at an interest of five per cent. I am decidedly of opinion, that it ought to be undertaken and owned by the state. The financial inducements to this measure are as obvious as those which affect the other cardinal interests of the community.

This canal, including its feeder, will be about the same extent as the Champlain canal; and it is a very liberal concession in favour of the latter, to say that the income will be about the same: the expense of superintendence and repairs will probably be less, and its increase of revenue will undoubtedly be more rapid. The interest of the loan to effect it, will be sixty thousand dollars; the proceeds of the Champlain canal for the last year were 85,000, and its progressive increase has been more than ten per cent. per annum. The avails of your canal, will, consequently, in a few years extinguish the debt, when, in all probability, the state will derive a clear annual revenue of a quarter of a million of dollars. And when we connect with this consideration, the establishment of towns and villages, the creation of a dense population, and the acquisition of valuable home markets in the vicinity, and along the whole line of the canal, there ought to be no hesitancy about acting promptly and decidedly in favour of a measure so abounding with benefits.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

DE WITT CLINTON.

NOTE M. p. 82.

Letter from Governor Clinton to the Rev. John Stanford, relative to the case of Miller under sentence of death for murder.

REV. SIR,

ALBANY, January 21st, 1828.

I have received your representation of the state of William Miller, under sentence of death for murder. Although I have no doubt of the right of government to inflict the punishment of death in certain cases, yet I always feel the utmost anxiety, when the pardoning power is appealed to on such

occasions. To mingle justice with mercy, and to preserve a human being from death, without violating those precautions which are necessary for the welfare of human society, is indeed an important trust. A momentous power which ought to be exercised with caution, with prudence, and with a humble reliance upon divine Providence.

I have considered the case of William Miller over and over again, and with the most profound solicitude: and I can come to no other conclusion, than that which was sanctioned by a jury of the country. His crime, in my opinion, is a clear case of murder, perpetrated under circumstances of barbarity, with intermissions of violence which left ample room for reflection, and without any extenuation but drunkenness, if that can be so considered, and followed by declarations of the most unfeeling character. Under this aspect of the case, I cannot interpose the pardoning power, without a violation of the most sacred and solemn duties.

Accept, worthy and venerable sir, the assurances of my great respect and continued friendship.

Rev. JOHN STANDFORD.

DE WITT CLINTON.

Governor Clinton's Letter to Judge Edwards.

ALBANY, February 5th, 1828.

SIR,

I received in due season from you, as presiding judge of a court of Oyer and Terminer, held in and for the city and county of NewYork, minutes of the trial of William Miller, on the 10th of December last, for the murder of David Ackerman, by which it appears that he was duly convicted of the crime, and sentenced to be executed on the 26th of January last. After an attentive perusal and deliberate consideration of this and the accompanying documents, and of the papers sent up by Mr. E. King, one of the counsel assigned for the prisoner by the court, and several conferences with Mr. R. Emmet, the other counsel, I came to the same conclusion with