THE MARCH OF EMPIRE. 85

the cry of the savage or the wolf, or the impetuous rush of herds of
buffaloes, and he will have some conception of what is now meant by
the March of Empire.

We have traced the line of this great continental thoroughfare from
the Missouri to the shores of the Pacific,— or, to use the grand language
of the Bible, which, in this connection, has a distinctness and signifi-
cance which are absolutely startling —“ from the river to the ends
of the earth.” We have reached that ocean on the one shore of which
the most ancient of earth’s populations are found, while the most
recent are found on the other,—that point on the earth’s surface
where days end and new days begin. We have seen its effects as far
as it has gone; and, from the strong attractions of the remainder of
the way, we may confidently expect that its progress entirely across
the continent will be followed by similar results — that a strong tide
of population will instantly follow it, carrying with it all the forces
and blessings of a high civilization.

But its effects will not be confined to Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico,
Arizona and California. A new and better life will flow through this
channel into Mexico; and, without violence to either the persons or
the institutions of that distracted country, it will be subdued, and
added, if not politically, at least socially and commercially, to our own
empire. Nothing can prevent it; for the Northern States of that
country, especially Chihuahua and Sonora, with their rich pastures,
their fertile valleys, and their numerous mines of the precious metals,
lie near to the line, and will be connected by branches wherever they
can be made available. A branch road will probably reach Guaymas
before the main line can possibly be carried to San Francisco. This
will give us the first and nearest Pacific port. But of this I have
already spoken.

My desire, however, in this closing letter, is rather to speak of this
road as a channel of Christian civilization than as an avenue of com-
merce. The course of this civilization, ever since the veil of the Jew-
ish temple was rent in twain, and Jew and Gentile mingled together
under one common banner in the service of one Lord and Master, has
been WESTWARD. It is westward still, and westward, like the sun in
his course, it is destined to continue, until it shall have completed the
circuit of the globe. When contemplated from this point of view, the
enterprise of which we speak assumes an importance and grandeur
beyond what the mind is able fully to grasp. The thought that we
are opening a channel through which new light, new life, a better
civilization, and the Gospel of Peace, shall flow to hundreds of millions
of human beings, ought to inspire every heart and nerve every arm
in aid of the great work.