THE FOUNDING OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL 25 1 



of the site, with the rival pretensions of other cities, should have 

 forestalled any removal of the capital at times when that chronic 

 discontent, which sways the temper of men and of nations 

 broke out against the established seat of government. These 

 criticisms give an amusing and sometimes grotesque coloring 

 to the letters and journals of some early members of Congress, 

 and ambassadors from foreign nations, in the earlier decades of 

 our centur}^ But these and later discontents have been allayed, 

 we may hope permanently, by the extraordinary natural ad- 

 vantages of the site, growing more and more evident every 

 year ; and by the magnificent civic progress of the last quarter 

 of a century, during which Washington has been advanced to 

 the first rank among cities in public buildings, museums, libra- 

 ries, thoroughfares, cleanliness, private residences, and all the 

 arts of life. 



