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Show so TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA: h g ·c rs from mct:ting there at the appointed time. and to prevent . t e con 1 1 • I· 11: n the [pot, the buil ling of the ]n the fpring of 1796, when I w.ls a 0 . the ublic lots car i:ol was abfolutely at a fl.and for wa~lt. of mon~~.' ·li- to dif- 1 . d the comrmihoners wet c un wJ mg were at a v ~ry ow p ncc-, an r .. . on•rrefs pf, [them; in conkt}llCpce they !11JOC an app JL.l wn to c o . . ' l . 1 . 1 of three h uJH.lJ cd , hou.Gtnd doll at s, })ray no- th e hou fe t g u.tranty a o,u . ,. • 0 without wh .t ch they could not g.o 0 n with th<.: public budum. gs, e.x c. e )t the dihofcd of the luts to great dif1dvantage, and to the ul tunatc U~J~try of ~he ~ity; [o flrong, howc\'er, was the oppofition, th~t the petition was fu ffered to lie on the table un a tteJ'd~ d to for many weeks, not was th·e praye r of 1. t comph.e J WJ. t 11 Ll!lt.l1 a n umber of gen. tlemen, that vv erc very deeply i;1tercfl:ed in the improvement of the c tt~, went round. to the diff~.:rent members, and ma dc m· ter 11: wJ' th them 111 })erfon to g. 1vc their afit: nt to the meafure. T 11 e [ce peop 1e , w ho •a re oppofed to the budd-ing of the city ofWaQ1.ington, maintain, th~t it can never becon~ e a town of any importance, and that all fuch as thmk to the.contrary have been Jed aftray by the reprefentations of a few enthufialhc p~rfons; th Y g_o fo far even as to aifcrt, that the people to the eafiward will never fubmit to fee the feat of government removed fo far from them, an_d tl:e congrds aflembled in a place little better thaQ a for_el1, ~here 1t w1ll be impoilible to procure information upon commerctal pomts; finally, they infifl:, that if the removal from Philadelphia awuld take place, a feparation of the fl:ates will inevitably follow. This is the_ language h~ld forth ; but their oppofition in reality arifes from that Jealou fy which .narrow minded people in trade arc but too apt to entertain of each other when their intereil:s dalh together. Thefe people wia1 to crua1 the city of Wa!hingfon while it is yet in its infancy, becaufc they know, that if the feat of government is transferred thither, the place will thrive, and enjoy a confiderable portion ofthat trade which is centered at prefent in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New York. It is idle, however, to imagine that this will injure their different towns; on the contrary, although a portion of that trade which they enjoy at prefent !hould be drawn from them, yet the increafe of population in that part of the country, which they muft naturally fupply, will be fuch, that their trade on the whole will, ALEXA DR I A. will, in a11 probability, be found far more c. ·tcnii.ve after the fedcr..tl city is efl:abliihed than it ever was before. A large majority, however, of the people: in the United Sta tes is c.lcfirous that the removal of the feat of government lhould take place; and there is little doubt that it will t:tke place at the appointed time. The difcontents indeed, which an oppofite meafure would give rile to in the fouth could not but be alarming, and if they did not occafi.on a total [eparation of the fouthern from the northern il:ates, yet they would certainly materially defl:roy that harmony which has hitherto exiil:ed between them. LETTER V. Some Account if Alexandria.-Mount Vernon, tiN Seat if General lYc'.fotizgton.- Di!Jicu!ty ojjinding the Way thither t!Jrougi.J t!Jt! ff/oods.-lJtfinption if the Mount, a1zd if the Vje'ws from it .-Dtjr:riptton qft .Je llolffe and Grounds.-S/aves at Mount Vernon.-Thoug!Jts thercon.-A Perfim at Mount Vernon to attend to Strangers.-Return to Wajbtiz ton. MY DEAR SIR, Wafllington, D cember. F R 0 M Wafhington I proceeded to Alexandria, feven miles lower down the river, which is one of the ncatcft towns in the United States. The houfes are mofily brick, and many of th em are extremely well built. The fireets interfeCl: each other at right angles; they ar~ commodious and well paved. Nine miles below this pt ce, on the banks of the Patowmac, fiands Mount Vernon, the feat of G eneral Walhington; the way to it, however, from Alcxar!dria, by land, i confiderably farther, on account of the numerous creeks which fa ll into the Patowmac, and the mouths of which it is impofiible to pafs ncar to. Very thick woods remain il:anding within four or five miles of the place ; the roads through them are very bad, and fo many of them crofs one another in different directions, that it is a matter of very great dif- H 2 fic ulty |
