SO Travels through north America : 
was laid out in the year 1792, and is ex¬ 
pressly designed for being the metropolis of 
the United States, and the seat of the federal 
government. In the year 1800 the congress 
is to meet there for the first time. As the foun¬ 
dation of this city has attracted the attention 
of so many people in Europe, and as such very 
different opinions are entertained about it, I 
shall in the following pages, give you a brief 
account of its rise and progress. 
Shortly after the close of the American war, 
considerable numbers of the Pennsylvanian line, 
or of the militia, with arms in their hands, 
surrounded the hall in which the congress was 
assembled at Philadelphia, and with vehement 
menaces insisted upon immediate appropria¬ 
tions of money being made to discharge the 
large arrears due to them for their past ser¬ 
vices. The members, alarmed at such an out¬ 
rage, resolved to quit a state in which they 
met with insult instead of protection, and quick¬ 
ly adjourned to New York, where the session 
was terminated. A short time afterwards, the 
propriety was strongly urged in congress, of 
fixing upon some place for the meeting of the 
legislature, and for the seat of the 'general go¬ 
vernment, which should be 'subject to the laws 
and regulations of the congress alone, in order 
that the members, in future, might not have to 
depend for their personal safety, and for their 
