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Show JO TRAVF.J..S TIIROUGII NORTII AMERICA: l)y \\ hich th~ prcfent fult r.tl conflit11tion v~as eflr.bli~1ed_., that !t \V,lS acceded to ott th(; part of all the fl .•tcs. Pcnnlylval1l:t 111 par tcttlar, confcious of her bt in,~ a principal and ccntr.1l fiate, and therefore likc1y to he made the f{;,tt c1f gm·ernment if this new projcel \\as not rat ricd jnto execution, \vas foremofl in the oppotition. At l.lfl £he complied; but it w:-ts only on condition th.tt the congrds fhoulJ. meet at Philldclpllia unt il tl e new city w.ts t-c.Hiy for its reception, Hattcring hc~ft.:lf that there would be fo many ohjcclions aft(: rward · to the removal of- the feat of govcrnmC'nt, and fo many dif1icultics in putting the proje8: into exccutic,n, that jt would finally he rdinquiilH:d. To the difcriminating judgn.ent of General Wafh ington, then preiident, it was kft to dctcrnline upon the f~ ot be(t cakuLttetl for the fede ral city. A Ctcr n1aturc dclibt:ration he fi xe(l upon a. fituati L>J1 on the batd~s of the Patowmnc River, a fituation which [euns to be mJrked out by ntltun, not only for a J.1rgc city, but cxpref~ly for the fat of the metropol is of the United States. In the choice of the fpot there were two pt incipal confiderations : F11·fl:, that it fhoull be as central as poffi ble in refpeCl: to every fiate in the union; fceondly, that it ihou1d be advantagevufly fituated for con1- 111crce, without which it could not be expeCted that the city wonld ever be diflingui!htd for fize or for fplcnclour; and it was to be fuppo(cd, thJt the people of the United tates would be ddirous of having the tnetropolis of the countty as magnificent as it poflibly coulJ be. 1 hcic two eficntial points arc moil: happily combined in the fj1ot which h as been chofen . Th northern and fouthern extretnities of the U nitcd States arc in 46G and 3 I o north latitude. The latitude of the new city is 3 So 53' north; fo that it is within twenty-three minutes of being exatlly between the two extremities. In no part of North Atncrica either is there a port fitu~ tcd fo far up the country to the wdhvard, excepting what belongs to Great Brit~in on the river St. L~wrence, its dit1ancc fr01n the ocean being no lcfs th~n two hundred and eighty tnilcs. A more central fituation could ccrta.inJy have been fixed upon, by going further to the wclhvard; but had this been done, it 1nuft have been an inland one, whjch would have been VI E \V 0 F T LIE T r' A lJ I N G ·1· · 0 ' I\ N .r_ , • ji been very unfavour2blc for trade. 1"'h~ iizc of all towns in America Jus h itherto been proportion ,~te to their traJe, and JU rticularly to that carried on with the h,tck fettlt.:.:mcnts . This trade conli!ls in fupplying the people uf the wellct n rans of the United St.ttes, or the hacl· i~ttkn1cnts, with certain articles of' foreign manuf;ttlu re, which they do not find any intLrefl: in fabricati11g for thcmil:lvcs at prdcnt; nor is it to b..! fuppof<.;d th:1t they \viii, for xnany ye.trs to come, w 1ilc J.tnd remains cheap, and the[<.; :liticlcs can be imported and fent tJ th ·m on re11fonablc terms. T'lw artic·ks chiefly i 1 dl n.mcl ccmfitl of harJ.v1re, wo )llcn cloths, figured cottons, hofic r·y, hab ·nLlfhery, earthen wa1 L', &..;. &c,.. frmn Ent,Lmd ; co flee, rum, {ugar -:;f , from the \V cf1: Lhlies ; tea, coat-fl! tnuilins, and calicoes, frorn the Eafllndics. In return fvr thei~ articl<.;s tht; people of the b 1ck fcttleme nts fl:nJ down f()r exportation the various kinds ()r ptoducc which the country afl()nls: wheat an l flo u r~ fun~, J1.;.ins, rice, inJigo, tolucco, pitch, tar, &.:. &c. It i!> very evident~ therciorc, t1 at the bdl11tuati<,n for .1 tra.Iing town mull be upon a long n:"tvig.tble t i~cr, fo th,lt Lh ...: town l11'1Y bt; Op<.;n to the f.:a, and thus cnabk~i to c.lrry on a foreign trade, and at the i~unc time be enabled, by Inc-.lns of an C.\ tenf1ve WJ.tcr COLnnlunic.ttion in an oppof]tc direction, to trade with the difl:ant parts of the conntry. None of the inland towns h ave ac; yet incre<lfeJ to a great fizc. Lanc~flcr, vhich i the laro-cfi: in all America, contains only nine hundred honfes, .1nd it is nearly dcn~>Ic the fize of any other inhnd one. Neither do the [ca-pm t towns ilourifh, which arc not well fi tuatcd for carrying on an inbnd trJdc at the i:une time. The truth qf th is pofition rnu1l appear obvio 1s on taking a 1urvcy of the p rincipal towns in the United Staks. 1~o begin with Do11on, the largdl: town north of New Yor1-, ~nd one of the oJ dell_ in the United .. ~tates. Though it Ius a nw11: excellent harbour, and ha~; always been iH h·thitcd by an entcrpri;~inJ iuduflrio tts ft:t of people, yet it is now inferior, ~oth in lizc ~v1d CO!llmerc :, to l3aititnorc, which was little n1ore than the rc1idence of a fe..v fi fhcnnen tl1irty years ago ; alld this, becaufc th .. :re i& n-:> nvcr in the n<.;ighbo t!rhood na 'l- • s . ugar IS not fent very far back into the country, as it is procured at much lcfs cxpc ncc from the m~plc-t1 cc. gable- |