then generally entertained, that the local expenditures and influence of the different departments, which, in themselves, could afford no reasonable ground of alarm, might, in connection with the wealth and power of such a city, operate greatly to the injury of other places. London and Westminster were mentioned as cases in point; though they, unitedly, sent but six members to Parliament, they had more influence in the measures of Government, by their commercial importance, than the whole empire beside. It would become a favored city, and the Government funds, largely disbursed there, would give it advantages, in point of capital, possessed by few others. A remark of Sir James Macintosh was extensively quoted, "that a great metropolis is to be considered as the heart of a political body-as the focus of its powers and talents-as the direction of public opinion, and, therefore, as a strong bulwark in the cause of freedom, or as a powerful engine in the hands of an oppressor;" and it had come to be considered that one of the surest ways to prevent our capital's becoming the latter, would be to deprive it of the elective franchise. There were obvious reasons why those who lived under the immediate shadow of the Government might exert a greater influence over the country by their votes and opinions, than the

same number who lived elsewhere. Many, at a distance, might suppose that those so situated would have a better opportunity to scan the conduct of their rulers; and the result of the election would, on this account, be, by the successful party, heralded from one end of the Union to the other, while, in reality, it would become the seat of all manner of rival factions, in which the officers of Government would mingle, and be tempted and enabled to use the power in their hands for purposes of corruption with more facilities and less fear of detection than if obliged to go abroad and operate in other places. The city should never be branded with the name of any one political party, but be regarded as neutral ground, where all parties might meet, and be received on equal terms by the residents.

There would be excitement enough attendant upon the ordinary business of legislation, without adding thereto the turmoil and strife. of popular elections. Now, would any great commercial emporium be willing to give up this privilege, considered by Americans so invaluable, for the sake of having the Government in their midst? Certainly not; nor would it be desirable that they should, since their voice in the public councils would be important. There would necessarily be, in all these places,

branches of the Government, such as custom houses and naval stations, which were quite as much as it was desirable to concentrate in any one commercial community.

This reasoning, so far as it relates to the disadvantages of a commercial city, probably had reference more especially to a seaport. It will be seen by the discussions on the other branches of the subject, that the location was not regarded as destitute of advantages for trade. The objection was to making the same a commercial as well as a political capital.* Yet the plans subsequently adopted show that a large city was expected to grow up around the residences of the Government. Everything was on a scale

* Mr. Jared Sparks, in a letter to the author, after the publication of some former remarks on this subject, says: "I doubt if the members of Congress generally, in their discussions of this subject, looked forward to a great commercial city as the new Seat of Government. But I am inclined to think that Washington's anticipations were more sanguine than events have justified. He early entertained very large and just ideas of the vast resources of the West, and of the commercial intercourse that must spring up between that region and the Atlantic coast; and he was accustomed to regard the central position of the Potomac as affording the most direct and easy channel of communication. Steamboats and railroads have since changed the face of the world, and have set at defiance all the calculations founded on the old order of things; and especially have they operated on the destiny of the West, and our entire system of internal commerce, in a manner that could not have been possibly foreseen in the lifetime of Washington.

which could only be developed to advantage by a population of half a million, and great individual wealth; and such communities are as liable to the outbreaks of a mob, however far inland, as any upon the coast, since so large a population must always comprise all ranks and conditions of people. This is plainly enough seen in the case of Paris-a city which may be said to have been the creation of Government, having been selected in ancient days because the island on the Seine was more easily fortified. So far as all the ordinary elements of growth were concerned, Rouen, farther down on the navigable part of the river, presented far greater advantages. Yet Paris is France, and its mob have again and again overturned the Government, and changed the destinies of the nation. Still it is hardly probable that any city founded on the same position at the present day, would ever achieve such commercial as well as political supremacy as Paris.

When that city was begun, the Government was everything, and commerce but secondary to the prosperity of a nation; now commerce is everything, and Government is secondary. Then the island in the Seine offered the most secure refuge for the king and court, and where they were, all the wealthy and the noble of the land were gathered, and around them congre

gated the beginnings of arts and commerce, which gave the city a start it has ever since retained. In more modern times the Spanish Government undertook to establish a capital at Madrid, and all that courtly expenditures could do has been done, yet Madrid is behind other places in the kingdom which had more natural advantages. The utmost that the advocates of a city on the Potomac could have expected, must have been that it would increase by degrees to be a large inland town, having a healthy trade and manufacture, yet not so important in that regard as to give it a supremacy over New York and Philadelphia. And, although they may not have anticipated anything to compare with the luxury and splendor of European courts, they doubtless overestimated the attractions of the Government and Congress in bringing hither a large proportion of the retired and wealthy of other cities, who would contribute to the improvement of the place, and give it a population sui generis as it were, differing in its attributes from those of other cities. Constituted, as the country is, of States, in many respects independent of each other, it was certainly desirable to avoid giving to any one State the superior importance which it might have derived from having the commercial as well as political