The site of the present City of Washington was chosen with three
special views: firstly, that being on the Potomac it might have the
full advantage of water-carriage and a sea-port; secondly, that it
might be so far removed from the sea-board as to be safe from
invasion; and, thirdly, that it might be central alike to all the
States. It was presumed, when Washington was founded, that these
three advantages would be secured by the selected position. As
regards the first, the Potomac affords to the city but few of the
advantages of a sea-port. Ships can come up, but not ships of large
burden. The river seems to have dwindled since the site was chosen,
and at present it is, I think, evident that Washington can never be
great in its shipping. Statio benefida carinis can never be its
motto. As regards the second point, singularly enough Washington is
the only city of the Union that has been in an enemy's possession
since the United States became a nation. In the war of 1812 it fell
into our hands, and we burned it. As regards the third point,
Washington, from the lie of the land, can hardly have been said to
be centrical at any time. Owing to the irregularities of the coast
it is not easy of access by railways from different sides.
Baltimore would have been far better. But as far as we can now see,
and as well as we can now judge, Washington will soon be on the
borders of the nation to which it belongs, instead of at its center.
I fear, therefore, that we must acknowledge that the site chosen for
his country's capital by George Washington has not been fortunate.
I have a strong idea, which I expressed before in speaking of the
capital of the Canadas, that no man can ordain that on such a spot
shall be built a great and thriving city. No man can so ordain even
though he leave behind him, as was the case with Washington, a
prestige sufficient to bind his successors to his wishes. The
political leaders of the country have done what they could for
Washington. The pride of the nation has endeavored to sustain the
character of its chosen metropolis. There has been no rival,
soliciting favor on the strength of other charms. The country has
all been agreed on the point since the father of the country first
commenced the work. Florence and Rome in Italy have each their
pretensions; but in the States no other city has put itself forward
for the honor of entertaining Congress. And yet Washington has been
a failure. It is commerce that makes great cities, and commerce has
refused to back the general's choice. New York and Philadelphia,
without any political power, have become great among the cities of
the earth. They are beaten by none except by London and Paris. But
Washington is but a ragged, unfinished collection of unbuilt broad
streets, as to the completion of which there can now, I imagine, be
but little hope.
Of all places that I know it is the most ungainly and most
unsatisfactory: I fear I must also say the most presumptuous in its
pretensions. There is a map of Washington accurately laid down; and
taking that map with him in his journeyings, a man may lose himself
in the streets, not as one loses one's self in London, between
Shoreditch and Russell Square, but as one does so in the deserts of
the Holy Land, between Emmaus and Arimathea. In the first place no
one knows where the places are, or is sure of their existence, and
then between their presumed localities the country is wild,
trackless, unbridged, uninhabited, and desolate. Massachusetts
Avenue runs the whole length of the city, and is inserted on the
maps as a full-blown street, about four miles in length. Go there,
and you will find yourself not only out of town, away among the
fields, but you will find yourself beyond the fields, in an
uncultivated, undrained wilderness. Tucking your trowsers up to
your knees you will wade through the bogs, you will lose yourself
among rude hillocks, you will be out of the reach of humanity. The
unfinished dome of the Capitol will loom before you in the distance,
and you will think that you approach the ruins of some western
Palmyra. If you are a sportsman, you will desire to shoot snipe
within sight of the President's house. There is much unsettled land
within the States of America, but I think none so desolate in its
state of nature as three-fourths of the ground on which is supposed
to stand the City of Washington.
The City of Washington is something more than four miles long, and
is something more than two miles broad. The land apportioned to it
is nearly as compact as may be, and it exceeds in area the size of a
parallelogram four miles long by two broad. These dimensions are
adequate for a noble city, for a city to contain a million of
inhabitants. It is impossible to state with accuracy the actual
population of Washington, for it fluctuates exceedingly. The place
is very full during Congress, and very empty during the recess. By
which I mean it to be understood that those streets which are
blessed with houses are full when Congress meets.
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