Government ; that so far but a very small modicum of the notice 

 and aid to which they have so just a right has been their lot, and 

 great injustice done by accusing- them of being importunate suitors 

 and mendicants, then human language must be weak and unintel- 

 ligible, indeed, and I have read and construed the statistics relating 

 to the affairs of these Ten Miles Square, and the opinions of the 

 committee from which I have quoted, with a mind blinded by par- 

 tiality and prejudice. But such is not the case. I defy any per- 

 son, at all open to reason and conviction, or free from prejudices, 

 to rise from the perusal of such information as has been accumu- 

 lated on the subject, without being struck by the fact, that the me- 

 tropolis of the Union has had unfair play; that its history is, with 

 slight exceptions, but the narrative of unkind and unmerited Con- 

 gressional neglect, or positive hostility and insult, and a heavy ba- 

 lance is yet due upon account between it and the public authorities 

 who seem to be so careless and indifferent, to speak most charitably, 

 in a matter which appeals most particularly to their sympathies, 

 consciences, and feelings. Would that the District had ever such 

 friends as Campbell, of South Carolina, Pratt, of New York, Bay- 

 ard, of Delaware, Causin, of Maryland, and Chilton, of Virginia ! 

 Then would the public be spared the painful spectacle of seeing a 

 suffering community trifled with, insulted, and rebuffed by selfish 

 politicians, when they ask for charters for their banks, improve- 

 ments on the public grounds and buildings, repairs for their dusty 

 and worn out streets and avenues, and appropriations for humane 

 and charitable institutions. Then would the good old spirit of the 

 Fathers of the Republic be once more evoked to bless and cheer 

 us in our disfranchised and helpless condition; and the city which 

 Washington founded and so dearly loved and cherished which a 

 Jefferson, an Adams, a Madison, and a Monroe so watched over 

 and cared for once again lift its bowed head from the melancholy 

 attitude of a mourner, and be rewarded for years of trouble and 

 neglect by a return of that friendly and liberal legislation and 

 Government protection to which it has been so long a stranger. 



Before bringing these hasty essays to a close, I deem it my duty, 

 as it is my pleasure, to take brief notice of a masterpiece of sculp- 

 ture lately elevated to its position on the eastern portico of the 

 Capitol. In the execution of his task, Persico has succeeded most 

 triumphantly. No one who has a heart to feel> a taste to guide, or 



