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and that it would prove ineffectual unless these defects in the charter were remedied, the board of president and directors, at the session of 1843, transmitted a memorial to the legislature of Virginia asking for the passage of an act providing for these amendments. It also asked that the powers of the company be enlarged, in regard to extending the canal by a slackwater improvement to the mouth of Savage River whenever it seemed expedient. This memorial was accompanied by a draft of a bill which embraced the desired provisions and contained a reservation as to the liens of Maryland. The legislature of Virginia promptly acted and, with unimportant changes, passed the bill on January 20, 1844. The act provided for an extension of the time for the completion of the canal to Cumberland to the first of January, 1855; and authority was conferred upon the president and directors, or a majority of them assembled, "to borrow money, . . to carry into effect the objects authorized by the charter of the company, to issue bonds or other evidences of such loans, and to pledge the property and revenues of the