78 



inheritance on the spot honored with the name of Washington, 

 where its former glories are recalled by a Capitol, a Senate of Con- 

 script Fathers, and by the existence of a Republic far purer and 

 more enduring than the offspring of the wolf-nursed children of 

 Rhea (1.) 



It would be highly impolitic and unwise, in my opinion, to excite 

 a political storm in the country by the agitation of the subject, and 

 it is to aid in preventing such a contingency that I warn my fellow 

 citizens against the danger. It would be calling into existence all 

 the worst feelings of human nature, and would add fresh fuel to the 

 flames of sectional interests, personal considerations, and party 

 zeal. And even did Congress actually agree upon a removal, how 

 could it possibly be settled where it should be transferred 1 ? Is it to 

 be imagined that the west, the east, the north, and the south will 

 not all be anxious for the prize'? Will it not, therefore, be a strug- 

 gle of the worst and most direful character 1 Better let well alone, 

 than flee to ills we know not of. We have a seat of Government 

 selected and located by solemn act of Congress, under and by virtue 

 of powers vested for the purpose by the Constitution. The District 

 so selected has been ever since growing in importance, wealth, and 

 population. The Government has erected buildings for its own 

 accommodation at great expense, and has many more still to con- 

 struct. Railroads, steamboats, and the electro-magnetic telegraph, 

 (which is now nearly completed as far as Baltimore, and for which 

 magnificent application of a wonderful power in nature the thanks 

 of this country and the world are due to Professor Morse, its inge- 

 nious and able inventor,) have brought, and will bring still more, 

 this city within easy journeys of every section of the Union, and 

 thus make mere distance a matter of little moment. The city of 

 Washington is within convenient distance from the seaboard, and 

 therefore well suited for the supervision and management of our 

 navy and foreign relations. The District is protected from the 

 dangers of an improper popular influence on the debates of Con- 

 gress by the vicinity of a dense and growing population, an evil 

 foreseen and guarded against by the Constitution when it gave to 

 Congress exclusive jurisdiction over these Ten Miles Square. The 

 tl Star of Empire," the tide of emigration westward takes its way; 

 and if we have a regard for the stability of our institutions, the lo- 

 cation of the metropolis of the Republic will be ever kept at a 



