attracted the attention o f the Swediih government, and they employed
immenfe fums, at different times, during almofl a whole
century, for the execution o f i t ; notwithflanding, this vaft enter-
prize proceeded fo flowly, and with fo little effed, that it feemed
to mock every human effort o f flrength or fk.il!. Its adual ac-
Complifhment was referved to teach a very important leflon to
governments, and all great bodies o f men, that though any undertaking
ihould languifli and fail under their diredion, yet it may
be quickened, and may fucceed, when it becomes the intereft o f
individuals not to embezzle the general flock, when their fortune
depends on their entering minutely into all the details o f labour
and expence, and on bringing the work as fpeedily as poffible.to
a ju fl and happy conclufion. An affociation was formed o f
Gothenburg merchants and others, a joint flock was raifed, the
privilege o f a toll on a future canal was granted and fecured by
government, fhares in the eventual produce were fold at higher
and higher prices as the work advanced, and in the courfe o f five
or fix years the canal was completed. T h e length o f this canal,
on which there are nine locks, is nearly three miles; the width
thirty-fix fe e t; the depth in fome places above fifty. Bafins are
formed at convenient diflances for various purpofes, which if is
unneceffary to enumerate. It is not eafy for any one to form an
idea o f the difficulties that were to be iurmounted in the formation
o f this wonderful canal, unlefs he had been an eye-witnefs;
The fpe&ator now views the fmooth level as i f it had been fo
always, and lofcs fight o f the heights and rugged fubftances
through,
through which it was neceffary to penetrate before that level could
be effeflcd. I faw the canal not only when it was accomplifhed,
but in its laborious progrefs toward completion. This canal,
which was undertaken and begun by Charles XII. formed part o f
a grand plan meditated by Guflavus Vafa, and attempted by fome
o f his fucceffors, for joining the Baltic with the North Sea by
means o f 'a communication cut through the kingdom. I f ever
a canal Ihould be extended from the lake o f Wennern, which is
the largefl in Sweden, being about five hundred miles long and
feventy-five broad, by Örebro to the lake o f Hielmar, the Swedes
may then, by a conjunction o f this lake with that o f Malar, through
the fluices o f Arboga, tranfport all kinds o f merchandize in the
fame veffel from Gothenburg to Stockholm. Thus a paffage
would be opened between the North Sea and the Baltic, and,,
among other advantages, the duties, o f the Sound would be
avoided. T he canal o f Trolhatta may ju flly be confidered as
in fome refpects charaileriflical o f the Swediih nation ; for it re-
prefents them as they are, prone to the conception o f grand en-
terprifes, and diflinguifhed by mechanical invention. As a, work
o f art, and o f bold and perfevering defign, it is not too much to
fay, that it is the firfl in the world, even the Duke o f Bridgewater’s
canal in England, and that o f Languedoc in France, not
excepted.
There is nothing that communicates to the mind a greater idea,
o f human fkill, than the means that have been difcovered for conveying
things from one place to another. T h e watery element,.
apparently.