were set on foot to connect Charleston with Cincinnati and the West.
The full story of these plans—of the faithful labor expended upon them, and of their ultimate failure, through no fault of the unselfish promoters—belongs to another place; but a few words upon the subject may be pardoned here on account of the light that will be thrown upon the difficulties encountered by every ante-bellum Southern city in its efforts at progress. The first steps taken by the friends of the Louisville, Cincinnati and Charleston Railroad Company were comparatively easy. Charters were obtained from several States, enthusiastic conventions of promoters were held, engineers were put into the field to decide between competing routes, and popular subscriptions to the stock were opened in most of the towns and villages. By November, 1836, South Carolina alone had subscribed for nearly $2,775,000 of the $4,000,000 needed to start the enterprise. Within a few days this latter amount was made up, and everything looked bright. But Governor McDuffie in his annual message pointed out unforeseen obstacles. Kentucky had subscribed only $200,000, and yet claimed six directors out of twenty-four;
