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 District in the XVIII century, histpr 
 
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THE DISTRICT 
 IN THE XVIir CENTURY 
 
 HISTORY, SITE-STRATEGY. 
 REAL ESTATE MARKET. LANDSCAPE. &c. 
 
 AS DESCRIBED BY THE EARUEST TRAVELLERS : 
 
 HENRY WANSEY, FRANCIS BAILY. ISAAC WELD, 
 
 DUKE OF LA ROCHEFOUCAULD-LIANCOURT. 
 
 JOHN DAVIS OF SALISBURY. 
 
 Printbd by 
 
 JuDD & Dbtwbilbb, Inc. 
 
 1909 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tiiis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028857667 
 
^/c^w^lA ^, TC^^j&u 
 
 THE DISTRICT 
 IN THE XVIir CENTURY 
 
 HISTORY, SITE-STRATEGY, 
 REAL ESTATE MARKET, LANDSCAPE, &c. 
 
 AS DESCRIBED BY THE EARLIEST TRAVELLERS : 
 
 HENRY WANSEY, FRANCIS BAILY, ISAAC WELD, 
 
 DUKE OF LA ROCHEFOUCAULD-LIANCOURT, 
 
 JOHN DAVIS OF SALISBURY. 
 
 Printed by 
 
 JUDD & Detweiler, Inc. 
 
 1909 
 
 T 
 
Copyright 1909 by A. J. Morrison. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 Preface 5- T 
 
 I. Henry Wansey. 1794 9-13 
 
 II. Isaac Weld. 1795 14r-17 
 
 III. Francis Baily. 1796 18-21 
 
 IV. Duke of La Rochefoucauld-LIancourt. 1797 22-41 
 
 V. John Davis of Salisbury. 1801 42-48 
 
 Notes 49-51^ 
 
 Appendix 52-53 
 
PREFACE 
 
 Orevecoeur, in his 'Letters of an American Farmer/ 
 (1787), is one of the few of the early travell'ers to mention 
 except casually the importance of the system of water trans- 
 portation in this country during the later eighteenth century. 
 This writer, who manages through much sentimentality to 
 bring out a great deal of hard sense, devotes a page or two to 
 an enlargement upon the intricacy of the system of water- 
 ways in America used for the carriage of commodities. That 
 world having almost entirely disappeared, it is interesting to 
 follow the remarks of an observer who seems to have grasped 
 the whole significance of what the usual traveller saw as spo- 
 radic phenomena. Orevecoeur speaks of the colonies as being 
 knit with the ramifications of navigable ways — arms of the 
 sea, large rivers, small rivers, creeks ; the Atlantic slope float- 
 ing down its produce to the ports whither came the ships 
 bearing fabricated articles from Europe.* 
 
 ♦See also, American Husbandry. Containing an Account of the Soil, 
 Climate, Production, and Agriculture of the British Colonies, &c. 
 By An American. London. 1775. p. 95 and p. 97. — "Nothing 
 can be more fortunate than the navigation of the Ohio quite to the 
 Apalachean mountains, at the bacli of the center of all our colonies, 
 since by that means people may, with only a small or a moderate 
 journey, arrive at a navigation that will carry them through all that 
 immense tract which we may in future colonize, a part of which we 
 are now about to settle * * * * This immense inland navigation, 
 which spreads far and near, from the Atlantic Ocean to the South 
 Sea, and from the Gulph of Mexico to Hudson's Bay : the river Missis- 
 sippi with its branches spread over most of it, and the lakes, with the 
 St. Laurence, which are nearly connected with the former, go through 
 the rest. It is of prodigious future consequence to be masters of this 
 navigation, and to have early a power fixed on it, in order to over- 
 awe and keep the Spaniards from designs against our colonies." 
 Page Five 
 
By the year 1775 certain adjustments had taken place in 
 this sort of traffic, the conditions of which were the cause of 
 the Revolution ; after which change there was a disturbance 
 of the methods established along the coast, and, besides, a 
 necessity for new relations with the back country due to its 
 extension beyond the mountains. However, the growth of 
 towns being very slbw in a region of adventurous homestead- 
 ers exploring a fertile country, it is probably true, as stated 
 by Isaac Weld, that in 1796 Winchester, (in the lower Valley 
 of Virginia), was the largest town in America west of the 
 Blue Ridge. The larger depots of the import and forwarding 
 trade, as established by the year 1775, still continued in con- 
 trol of that market, but every day the Ohio and the Missis- 
 sippi and their tributaries were becoming more considerable 
 as channels of commerce, and there was a steady augmenta- 
 tion in the mass of raw material (staples) to be drawn from 
 the Mississippi valley. Transportation being what it was, it 
 is not surprising that there should have been an attempt 
 made to found a new city which should at least be a more 
 convenient forwarding station for European manufactures 
 and might by its advantages of position attract a large share 
 of the return trade from the West. Hence the idea of Wash- 
 ington, seat of the new government, and central point of ex- 
 change in the new commerce. Commercially, nobody could 
 foresee the extraordinary expansion and initiative of the 
 West after the Louisiana Purchase, and certainly in 1800 it 
 was impossible to discount the appearance of the steamboat 
 on the Ohio ten years later. 
 
 So, the pages following have been reproduced to show the 
 expectations, arguments, methods, difficulties, and results of 
 this great undertaking during the seven years before the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia became in fact the capital of the sixteen 
 United States — where from the broad avenues of Washing- 
 ton, cut through the woods, glimpses might be had of the 
 'towering steeples' of the city of Alexandria. These five trav- 
 ellers were competent observers, and one of them, the Duke of 
 La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, was able to pass upon evidence 
 with a mind trained in the large affairs of the world. In his 
 
 Page Six 
 
account there is no factor of the matter overlooked. Wan- 
 sey enters in his pocket book what he has been told at a 
 cofifee-house, Washington being merely hearsay at that time. 
 In the description of John Davis there is a trace of the irre- 
 sponsibility of copy-making, but the record is not without its 
 value covering as it does the formal establishment, and the 
 appearance of Thomas Jefferson on horseback. 
 
 It is noticeable in these pages that the man of the eigh- 
 teenth century, (before the era of thoroughness through 
 vicariousness) , saw perhaps more than we do today. How- 
 ever, a world has been superimposed since then, and the rela- 
 tivities are a trifle obscured. No elucidation has been offered 
 of such points as the question of Tiber Creek, and the identi- 
 fication of well-known names will be easily made.* 
 
 Alfred J. Morrison. 
 
 *A discussion of all these items is to be found in many books, e. g., 
 Townsend's Washington or Forbes-Lindsay's recent book. 
 
 Page Seven 
 
Pennsylvania Packet d Daily Advertiser, 
 Philadelphia, July IT, 1790:— 
 "Extract of a letter from New York dated 
 
 July 15th, 3 o'clock P. M. — 'I have the 
 
 pleasure of informing you of the President's 
 
 signing the Residence Bill.' " 
 
 Page Bight 
 
THE DISTRICT IN THE XVIIIth CENTURY 
 
 "This was the sentiment that generally 
 struck me most forcibly, as I travelled 
 through the States — the appearance every 
 where of a vast outline with much to All 
 up." Wansey's Journal. 
 
 I. 
 
 Henry Wansey. 1794. 
 
 Monday. [June 30] I attended a sale of some military lands 
 (by auction at the Tontine Co£Eee House^) situated in the 
 north part of New York State. Twenty five acres in the 
 township of Cato, were sold at two shillings and eightpence 
 currency per acre, (one shilling and sixpence sterling) * * * * 
 
 Same day, in Loudon's (the bookseller) shop I met with 
 the Reverend John Hurt, a clergyman, from Kentucky, 
 where he had lived many years in the town of Lexington. 
 He has travelled through Virginia, Pennsylvania, and most 
 parts of America. No country for making a fortune like 
 Kentucky. He named three men who began with less than 
 three hundred pounds a-piece, in his memory, and are now 
 worth thirty thousand pounds sterling, only store keepers. 
 
 He says there is much want of judgment in purchasing 
 lands; there are at this time lands even in Kentucky, not 
 worth a pinch of snuff an acre, and others that would be 
 cheap at twenty or thirty dollars an acre. The next land to 
 it in point of excellence, he says, is about Harrisburgh, on to 
 Winchester and Hagar's Town, and the rest of the Shenan- 
 
 The Journal of an Excursion to the United States of North America 
 in the Summer of 1794. By Henry Wansey, F. A. S. Salisbury. 
 1796. pp. 219-226. 
 Page Nine 
 
doah Valley. He thinks lands are not eligible more than 
 forty-two or forty-three degrees of North latitude in the back 
 country. He has often been to the new federal city of Wash- 
 ington; has no doubt it must be very considerable in a few 
 years, if the government is not overturned, for nothing less 
 can prevent it. Mercantile men will principally settle in the 
 South-East corner on East River. The navigation there is 
 deep, (thirty-six fathom) and always free from the inter- 
 ruption of ice throughout the winter. The government will 
 make it a principal object to -improve this place, and all its 
 regulations respecting its future grandeur are already 
 planned, suitable to a great and growing empire. ****** 
 
 The whole area of the city consists of upwards of four 
 thousand acres. The ground is on an average forty feet 
 higher than the water of the river, and yet a stream of fresh 
 water called "Watts' Branch, may be brought within half a 
 mile of the city, at the height of forty feet above the level of 
 the city itself, which will be very convenient for all water- 
 works and manufactures, &c. Many houses are already built, 
 and a very handsome hotel, which cost in the erection more 
 than thirty thousand dollars (six thousand seven hundred 
 pounds sterling). It is now apportioned into one thousand 
 two hundred and thirty-six lots, for building, (which are for 
 sale). Each lot contains ground for building three or four 
 houses, according to general rules to be observed for making 
 them uniform. The deepest lots are two hundred and sev- 
 enty feet, by seventy, fronting the street. A square has from 
 twenty to thirty lots in it. The value of each lot is from 
 forty pounds to two hundred pounds sterling. 
 
 There is to be a national University erected there, as well 
 as the Mint, Pay Office, Treasury, supreme Courts of Justice, 
 Residences for the Ambassadors; in short, all the Public 
 Offices. The city is to be built after a plan laid down for 
 every street, of a fine white stone found in the neighborhood, 
 equal to Portland. Each house is to be forty feet from the 
 ground to the roof, in all the principal streets, which are to 
 be from seventy to one hundred feet wide. The first street 
 
 Page Ten 
 
was formed upon an exact meridian line, drawn for the pur- 
 pose by a Mr. EUicot, which passes through the Capitol, the 
 seat of the legislature, on an eminence, from whence the 
 streets diverge into radii in every direction. It has, there- 
 fore, the full command of every quarter of the city. From 
 it you can see every vessel that comes in or goes out of the 
 harbour, and every carriage or horseman that enters the city 
 by the bridge. One of the streets (Pensylvania) is marked 
 out to be four miles long ***** rpjjg question 
 still with me is, whether the scheme is not too magnificent 
 for the present state of things. 
 
 The original projector of this city was the Great Washing- 
 ton himself. Early in life, he contemplated the opening of 
 this river from the tidewater, (within three miles of this 
 city) up to nearly its source. His public employments in 
 the part of the country through which the Potomack and its 
 branches run, had given him a more complete knowledge of 
 this river, than almost any other man possessed, at that time ; 
 and his mind was strongly impressed with its future im- 
 portance ; but the period for undertaking a work of such mag- 
 nitude, had not yet arrived. The country as yet was but 
 thinly inhabited, and canals and locks but little understood 
 in America. General Washington, however, kept this object 
 always in view, waiting until time and circumstances should 
 enable him to bring it forward, with a prospect of success. 
 
 In the year 1784, a Company was formed, for the purpose 
 of clearing and opening the navigation of this river. A cap- 
 ital of fifty thousand pounds was required for this work, 
 which was to be re-paid by the tolls arising from the naviga- 
 tion of the river, and it has already answered the purposes 
 for which it was instituted, the one hundred pounds shares 
 now selling at a vast advance. 
 
 The reason why a situation on the Potomack River is more 
 eligible than any other for a federal city, is, that this river 
 runs more directly east and west, than any river besides, by 
 which means it will connect the back country with the Atlan- 
 
 Page Eleven 
 
tic States, and preserve their federal union. In point of 
 trade alfeo, it will unite them by interest; as by a navigable 
 cut, of only seventeen miles from Savage River^ (a branch 
 of the Potomack) to the Youghiogany,^ which runs into the 
 Ohio, a complete navigation can be efifected from Kentucky 
 across the country, clear to the Chesapeak.* 
 
 This will consolidate the strength and union of the gov- 
 ernment, more than can be at first conceived. The opening 
 of the Mississippi would otherwise have taken Kentucky and 
 Cumberland* [West Tennessee] off from the union. 
 
 From the Mississippi, direct east to the Atlantic Ocean, is 
 about seven hundred and fifty miles ; of this, the federal city 
 is one third distance, or two hundred and fifty miles. Mr. 
 Maddison supposes the center of population will' proceed in a 
 south-west direction. 
 
 From the federal city, westward to Pittsburgh, by land, is 
 about one hundred and eighty miles, through Hagar's Town, 
 which is sixty. The inland navigation of the Potomack is 
 used twenty-four miles above Cumberland, a country abound- 
 ing in coal. From the mouth of Savage River, to Dunkard's 
 Bottom, or Cheat River,^ a branch of the Monongahela, 
 (which runs also into the Ohio) is thirty-seven miles, after 
 which it is navigable to the Ohio, but this land carriage of 
 thirty-seven miles, may be reduced to seventeen miles, at a 
 small expence. 
 
 *The buildings and works at the Federal City are, I understand, at 
 this time (1796) almost at a stand. The prospect of a rupture with 
 this country, and other important affairs of the States have occa- 
 sioned this to be neglected, but there is no doubt they will be resumed, 
 and the intended plan perfected. An act of the legislature has fixed 
 the time for its removal thither ; and if the works do not proceed fast 
 enough, the government will then take care to offer such premiums 
 and advantages to the Public, as soon to fill it with native inhabitants. 
 The Connecticut people, good as their situation is, will transplant 
 themselves by hundreds to Kentucky, or any other back lands, wher- 
 ever they find they can sooner encrease their fortunes. 
 
 Page Twelve 
 
Produce and goods from the Ohio, can even now (by a 
 land carriage of forty miles) be sent cheaper to Alexandria, 
 than English goods can be delivered from Northampton to 
 London. 
 
 The settlers on the Ohio and Mississippi, will' doubtless 
 carry their heavy produce down those rivers, southward, to 
 the Gulph of Mexico, but their returns will be most naturally 
 through the Potomack, as they cannot ascend the western 
 waters, without great expence and loss of time: the current 
 is so rapid, that a sharp-pointed boat, with six oars, can 
 scarcely ascend fifteen miles a day. 
 
 What appears of still greater moment, is, that the fur and 
 peltry trade of the great lakes,* may be brought to the city of 
 Washington, through the Potomack, four hundred miles 
 nearer than to any other shipping port, it has ever been car- 
 ried to heretofore. 
 
 Coal', slate, marble, freestone, and limestone, in abundance, 
 are all found on the very banks of this noble river. 
 
 All these circumstances clearly mark its road to future 
 greatness ; but yet for many years to come, it will, like many 
 other of their large undertakings, be a body without a soul. 
 Many of their schemes, I observe, are highly speculative, and 
 not the result of that necessity which gives strength and 
 energy to our plans in Europe. 
 
 This was the sentiment that generally struck me most 
 forcibly, as I travelled through the States — the appearance 
 every where of a vast outline, with much to fill up. 
 
 Page Thirteen 
 
II. 
 
 Isaac Weld. 1795. 
 
 It may be taken for granted, in the first place, that the 
 whole of the country bordering upon the Patowmac river, 
 and upon those rivers which fall into it, will trade with the 
 city of Washington. Shenandoah, which is the longest, is 
 not navigable at present; but it has been surveyed, and the 
 company for improving the navigation of the Patowmac 
 have stated that it can be made so for one hundred miles. 
 This would be coming very near to Staunton, behind the 
 Blue Mountains, and which is on the high road from Ken- 
 tucky,' and from the new State of Tenessee, to the city of 
 Philadelphia. Frankfort, the capital of the former of these 
 States, is nearly eight hundred miles from Philadelphia; 
 Knoxville, that of the other, seven hundred and twenty-eight. 
 Both these towns draw their supplies of foreign manufac- 
 tures from Philadelphia, and by land carriage. Supposing 
 then that the navigation of the Shenandoah should be per- 
 fected, there would be a saving of four hundred and thirty- 
 six miles of land carriage from going to Washington by the 
 Shenandoah and Patowmac instead of going to Philadelphia ; 
 such a saving, it might be imagined, would draw the whole 
 of this trade to Washington * * * 
 
 The people in Pittsburgh, and the western country along 
 the waters of the Ohio, draw their supplies from Philadel- 
 phia and Baltimore; but they send the productions of the 
 country, which would be too bulky for land carriage, down 
 the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans. From Pittsburgh 
 to New Orleans* the distance is two thousand one hundred 
 and eighty-three miles. On an average it takes about 
 twenty-eight days to go down there with the stream; but to 
 return by water it takes from sixty days to three months. 
 
 Travels through the States of North America, &c. During the 
 years 1795, 1796, and 1797. By Isaac Weld, Junior. 3rd Ed., Lon- 
 don. 1800. Vol. I, pp. 72-89. 
 
 Page Fourteen 
 
The passage back is very laborioiis as well as tedious; on 
 which account they seldom think of bringing back boats 
 which are sent down from Pittsburgh, but on arriving at 
 New Orleans they are broken up, and the plank sold. These 
 boats are built on the cheapest construction, and expressly 
 for the purpose of going down stream. The men get back 
 the best way they can, generally in ships bound from New 
 Orleans to the Southern States, and from thence home by 
 land. Now, if the passage from the Ohio to the Patowmac 
 is opened, it cannot be supposed that the people in Pitts- 
 burgh and the vicinity will continue thus to send the prod- 
 uce down to Orleans, from whence they cannot bring any 
 thing in return; they will naturally send to the federal city, 
 from whence they can draw the supplies they are in want of, 
 and which is so much nearer to them, that when the naviga- 
 tion is perfected it will be possible to go there and back 
 again in the same time that it requires merely to go down 
 to New Orleans * * 
 
 Considering the vastness of the territory, which is thus 
 opened to the federal city by means of a water communica- 
 tion; considering also that it is capable, from the fertility 
 of its soil, of maintaining three times the number of inhab- 
 itants that are to be found at present in all the United 
 States; and that it is advancing at the present time more 
 rapidly in population than any other part of the whole 
 continent; there is a good foundation for thinking that the 
 federal city, as soon as the navigation is perfected, will in- 
 crease most rapidly ; and that at a future day, if the affairs 
 of the United States go on as prosperously as they have 
 done, it will become the grand emporium of the west,' and 
 rival in magnitude and splendor the cities of the old 
 world * * 
 
 The ground in general, within the limits of the city, is 
 agreeably undulated; but none of the risings are so great 
 as to become objects of inconvenience in a town. The soil 
 is chiefly of a yellowish clay mixed with gravel. There are 
 numbers of excellent springs in the city, and water is readily 
 had in most places by digging wells. Here are two streams 
 
 rage Fifteen 
 
likewise, which run through the city, Reedy Branch and 
 Tiber Creek.* The perpendicul'ar height of the source of 
 the latter, above the level of the tide, is two hundred and 
 thirty-six feet. 
 
 By the reg-ulations published, it was settled that all the 
 houses should be built of brick or stone, the walls to be thirty 
 feet high, and to be built parallel to the line of the street, 
 but either upon it or withdrawn from it, as suited the taste 
 of the builder. However, numbers of wooden habitations 
 have been built; but the different owners have all been cau- 
 tioned against- considering them as permanent. They are 
 to be allowed for a certain time only, and then destroyed. 
 Three commissioners, who reside on the spot, are appointed 
 by the president, with a salary, for the purpose of super- 
 intending the public and other buildings, and regulating 
 every thing pertaining to the city. 
 
 The only public buildings carrying on as yet, [November, 
 1795], are the president's house, the capitol, and a large 
 hotel * * * The hotel is a large building of brick, 
 ornamented with stone; it stands between the president's 
 house and the capitol. In the beginning of the year 1796, 
 when I last saw it, it was roofed in, and every exertion 
 making to have it finished with the utmost expedition. It 
 is anything but beautiful. The capitol, at the same period, 
 was raised only a very little way above the foundation. 
 
 The private houses are all plain buildings; most of them 
 have been built on speculation and still remain empty. The 
 greatest number, at any one place, is at Green Leafs Point, 
 on the main river, just above the entrance of the eastern 
 branch. This spot has been looked upon by many as the 
 most convenient one for trade; but others prefer the shore 
 
 *Upon the granting possession of waste lands to any person, com- 
 monly called the location of lands, it is usual to give particular names 
 to different spots, and also to the creeks and rivers. On the original 
 location of the ground now allotted for the seat of the federal city, 
 this creek received the name of Tiber Creek, and the identical spot of 
 ground on which the capitol now stands was called Rome. This anec- 
 dote is related by many as a certain prognostic of the future mag- 
 nificence of this city, which is to be, as it were, a second Rome. 
 
 Page Sixteen 
 
of the eastern branch, on account of the superiority of the 
 harbour, and the great depth of the water near the shore. 
 There are several other favourite situations, the choice of any 
 one of which is a matter of speculation at present. * * 
 Were the houses that have been built situated in one place 
 all together, they would make a very respectable appearance, 
 but scattered about as they are, a spectator can scarcely 
 perceive any thing like a town. Excepting the streets and 
 avenues, and a small part of the ground adjoining the public 
 buildings, the whole place is covered with trees. To be 
 under the necessity of going through a deep wood for one or 
 two miles, perhaps, in order to see a next door neighbour, 
 and in the same city, is a curious, and, I believe, a novel 
 circumstance. The number of inhabitants in the city, in 
 the spring of 1796, amounted to about five thousand, includ- 
 ing artificers, who formed by far the largest part of that 
 number. Numbers of strangers are continually passing and 
 repassing through a place which affords such an extensive 
 field for speculation * * 
 
 In the spring of 1796, when I was last on the spot, the 
 building of the capitol was absolutely at a stand for want of 
 money; the public lots were at a very low price, and the 
 commissioners were unwilling to dispose of them; in conse- 
 quence they made an application to Congress, praying the 
 house to guaranty a loan of three hundred thousand dollars, 
 without which they could not go on with the public build- 
 ings, except they disposed of the lots to a great disadvantage, 
 and to the ultimate injury of the city; so strong, however, 
 was the opposition, that the petition was suffered to lie on the 
 table unattended to for many weeks ; nor was the prayer of 
 it complied with until a number of gentlemen, that were 
 very deeply interested in the improvement of the city, went 
 round to the different members, and made interest with them 
 
 in person to give their assent to the measure. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 A large majority, however, of the people in the United 
 States is desirous that the removal of the seat of government 
 should take place ; and there is little doubt that it will take 
 place at the appointed time. 
 
 Page Seventeen 
 
III. 
 
 Fkancis Baily. 1796. 
 
 I set off on the 1®* of September, 1796, to make a tour of 
 the western country, — that land of Paradise, according to 
 the flattering accounts given by Imlay and others. Wish- 
 ing to go to the new city of Washington, we (I was in com- 
 pany with a gentleman of the name of Heighway, who was 
 going down to the North-western settlement to form a planta- 
 tion) took our route through Philadel^phia and Baltimore. 
 There was none of that inconvenience from bad roads, so 
 terrible to a traveller in the winter. On the contrary, we 
 went on with a rapidity and safety equal to any mode of 
 travelling in England. 
 
 From Baltimore to the new city of Washington is forty- 
 five miles, where we arrived on the 5"^ of October following. 
 The road is well furnished with taverns, which in general 
 are good, at least as good as can be expected in this part of 
 the world. Close to Washington is a handsome town called 
 Georgetown; in fact it will form part of the new city; for 
 being so near the site intended for it, and being laid out 
 nearly on the same plan, its streets will be only a prolonga- 
 tion of the streets laid out for the city of Washington: so 
 that it will' in course of time lose its name of Georgetown, 
 and adopt the general one of Washington. Much in the 
 same manner the small places formerly separated from the 
 metropolis of England have lost their name, and fallen under 
 the general denomination of London. 
 
 Georgetown is situated on a hill close to the river Potomak ; 
 it presents a beautiful view from the surrounding country, 
 of which also it commands a fine prospect. It is a seaport 
 
 .Journal of a Tour in Unsettled Parts of North America in 1796 & 
 1797. By the late Francis Baily, P. R. S., President of the Royal 
 Astronomical Society. London. 1856. pp. 124-129. 
 
 Page Eighteen 
 
town, and some of their vessels axe employed in the London 
 trade. There are stages run daily between this place and 
 Baltimore, for which you pay four dollars. There are also 
 stages to and from Alexandria, a handsome and flourishing 
 town situated on the Potomak, lower down the stream, and 
 about eight miles off; for which you pay a fare of three 
 quarters of a dollar. We put up at the Federal Arms whilst 
 we were there [Georgetown]. It is a good inn, but their 
 charges are most extravagantly high. 
 
 The Potomak at this place may be about as wide as the 
 Thames at London Bridge. The navigation of the river is 
 safe; and it is deep enough for merchantmen above George- 
 town. 
 
 I presume you know upon what principle the new city 
 is laid out : the President's House and the Capitol are situated 
 upon two eminences; and other different rising grounds in 
 the site are fixed on, with an intention of erecting obe- 
 lisks, statues, &c., to eminent men * * * q^j. fl^gt 
 walk was to the President's House, which is a building of 
 stone about the size of Whitehall. It is nearly compl'eted; 
 and when fitted up will be a handsome edifice. It commands 
 a fine view of the harbour, and also of the Capitol, to which 
 there is a broad street intended to be built. The Capitol 
 stands upon the highest ground in the city, and commands 
 a still better view of the harbour, as the prospect extends a 
 considerable way down the river. The Capitol, which is 
 also of stone, was in a great state of forwardness ; and it was 
 expected to be finished before the time appointed for the 
 removal! of Congress, January, [December] 1800. It is 
 impossible to say what kind of an appearance it will make 
 when it is finished; but, if I may judge from what was 
 already done, I think I may pronounce it to be a building 
 worthy the taste and enterprise of a free and flourishing 
 people. From the Capitol we walked down to the Point, 
 where there is a place marked out for a battery. The view 
 from here is extremely delightful: — On each side, a fine 
 river, flowing with a gentle current along the base of a hilly 
 and romantic country. In front, these two rivers form a 
 junction extending as far as the eye can reach, and the 
 
 Page Nineteen 
 
prospect is terminated only by the distant coiintry. The 
 banks on each side are covered with innumerable plantations, 
 with the distant view of Alexandria and its towering steeples, 
 about six miles below, projecting apparently into the middle 
 of the river. In the rear is the still nearer view of George- 
 town, and of the President's House and the Capitol. AH 
 tend to render it one of the most delightful and pleasant 
 sites for a town I have ever remarked in the whole United 
 States. The private buildings go on but slowly. There are 
 about twenty or thirty houses built near the Point, as well 
 as a few in South Capitol Street, and about a hundred 
 others scattered over in other places: in all I suppose about 
 two hundred: and these constitute the great city of Wash- 
 ington. The truth is, that not much more than one-half 
 the city is eleared: — the rest is in woods; and most of the 
 streets which are laid out are cut through these woods, and 
 have a much more pleasing efifect now than I think they 
 will have when they shall be built ; for now they appear like 
 broad avenues in a park, bounded on each side by thick 
 woods ; and there being so many of them, and proceeding in 
 so many various directions, they have a certain wild, yet 
 uniform and regular appearance, which they will lose when 
 confined on each side by brick walls. 
 
 The canal and the gardens, as well as the bridges, which 
 you see marked down in the plan, are not yet begun; they 
 are still in the same state of nature that they were before the 
 city was marked out. In fact, were it not for the President's 
 House and the Capitol, you would be ignorant that you were 
 near the spot intended for the metropolis of the United 
 States. 
 
 Game is plenty in these parts, and, what perhaps may 
 appear to you remarkable, I saw some boys who were out a 
 shooting, actually kill several brace of partridges in what 
 will be one of the most public streets of the city. I mention 
 this, to give you an idea of the present state of the city ; and 
 I could not help reflecting at the time, what a different ap- 
 pearance it presents now to what there is every probability 
 it will in the course of a few years; when, instead of being 
 (as it is now) uncleared and uncultivated, it will resound 
 
 rage Twenty 
 
with the busy hum of men, and become the emporium of 
 whatever shall be worthy the observation of man. 
 
 Building lots in this city sell from six to twenty-five cents 
 (a cent is a halfpenny) per square foot, according to their 
 situations, &c. The Federal Arms, where we put up, is the 
 best, though the dearest, tavern in Georgetown. It cost us, 
 whilst we were there, for dinner, supper, breakfast, luncheon, 
 and horses, four dollars each. Our horse not being trained 
 to the chaise, we were obliged to sell it, which we did for 
 forty dollars; and, at about half -past one, October 7*'', we 
 started on our journey over the Allegany mountains to Pitts- 
 burgh. 
 
 Page Twenty-one 
 
IV. 
 
 Duke op La Rochepoucauld-Liancourt. 1797. 
 road to federal city. 
 
 I had met in passing over Mount-Pleasant-ferry a young 
 man, who understanding that I intended to go to Federal- 
 City, proposed that we should travel together, and promised 
 to meet me at the house of the old Jesuit. He was faithful 
 to his appointment. Two other inhabitants of Federal-City 
 were with him, so that by their company I was eased of the 
 inquietude common to strangers travelling in Maryland, 
 lest they should lose their way, for there are no direction 
 posts by the road side to point out the true way, and the 
 houses are so thinly scattered, that a traveller may wander 
 about a great deal without having an opportunity of being 
 informed of the right road. 
 
 The politics of my new travelling companions were very 
 different from those of the house I had just quitted. "Is it 
 true," said one of them to me, "that France has declared war 
 against America?" "I believe nothing of it," answered I; 
 "France loves America sincerely; she has a little quarrel with 
 the government, but she wishes for nothing more than the 
 happiness and prosperity of the people of America." 
 
 "These reports of a declaration of war are false, and 
 spread by the merchants who wish to raise the price of their 
 commodities, or by the English who wish the Americans to 
 hate the French." "Ah ! sir, they will never succeed in that; 
 and should France be in the wrong, she has rendered us 
 
 Travels through the United States of North America &c in the 
 years 1795, 1796, and 1797. By the Duke De La Rochefoucault- 
 Liancourt. Translated by H. Neuman. London. 1799. Vol. II, pp. 
 .S09-339. 
 
 Page Twenty-two 
 
services sufficient not to be treated so rigorously : and as for 
 me, if this country should go to war with France, I would 
 go over to the side of the French, dnd take my friends with 
 me." "And I also"— "And I also," said the other two. 
 "If an American were to fight against a Frenchman," said 
 they in the course of their conversation, in which I took 
 part only for the sake of supporting it, "that would be like 
 fighting against his father." "And worse still," said an- 
 other, "for our father has only given us life, and it very 
 often happens that he does not give us any money. France 
 has given us liberty, advanced us millions when our paper 
 currency was in great discredit, and that at a time when she 
 was not sure that we should ever be able to repay it ; and she 
 has lent us troops and ships * *" 
 
 The affection which these brave fellows so plainly mani- 
 fested to have for France was united with an attachment for 
 the unfortunate M. de la Fayette; and it is remarked, that 
 it is the same throughout America, and that the sentiment 
 of hatred for France, and indifference about la Fayette, are 
 also found united in the opposite party. "Is it not shame- 
 ful," said my fellow travellers, "that the United States 
 should have done nothing for that brave man who has 
 rendered us so many services? If the president had de- 
 manded him from the Emperor, it is certain he would have 
 given him up to us, for he belongs to us." "Without 
 doubt," added they, "the president thought that he did well 
 in not demanding him, but he would have done better if he 
 had, and also if he had not made that infamous treaty ; and 
 be assured, sir, that we are very numerous in every part of 
 America who think the same." 
 
 I detail this conversation, to which I affirm that I add 
 nothing, in the first place, perhaps, because it gave me 
 pleasure, and then because it is, whatever the English may 
 say of it, the expression of the sentiments of a great majority 
 of the people of America; sentiments which France ought 
 carefully to maintain without abusing them, and which, in 
 the mean time, she would put an end to by alienating them, 
 if she were not to conduct herself with justice and liberality 
 towards America — if she does not speedily put a stop to all 
 
 Page Twenty-three 
 
 3 
 
the piracies which are exercised at this time by her com- 
 missioners in the West Indies, at which every honest French- 
 man revolts who is a friend to his country, under whatever 
 denomination he may come. 
 
 I could every day recount similar examples, for there are 
 but few taverns at which I stop where I do not hear the 
 same expressions of attachment, from which I become every 
 day more persuaded of the necessity of spreading in this 
 country wise and moderate writings, which should display 
 the actual political situation of France with the United 
 States, and shew that she is the friend of America, and that 
 it is her interest always to be so. 
 
 The country from Upper Marlborough to East em- branch 
 rises successively. * * * From the tops of the moun- 
 tains which border upon the Eastern-branch, the river 
 Potowmack is seen far beyond George-Town, and as far as 
 Alexandria. The Eastern-branch is also seen in its course 
 for five or six miles; and, in short, there is a prospect of the 
 whole site of the new city, the public and private buildings 
 of which may be distinguished as they rise: this view is 
 sublime and beautiful), but sufficiently confined by the 
 heights beyond the Potowmack to enable the eye to embrace 
 the various objects of it without being lost in its immensity. 
 
 The Eastern-branch is passed in a tolerably good boat, a 
 little too flat, and a great deal too small for the quantity of 
 horses which are taken into it. I passed in this boat with 
 ten horses and a carriage, and was uneasy till I arrived on 
 the other side. The passage over this river is from three 
 quarters of a mile to a league. After having crossed it you 
 enter Federal City, that is to say, in its site, for at present 
 there are onty a few houses to be seen in this capital of the 
 United States — in this metropolis of North America. 
 
 But as Federal-City is by its destination, or at least by the 
 project of its destination, a principal point in the territory, 
 as well as in the interior policy of the United States, I shall 
 speak of it at some length, and in such a manner that the 
 history of this great project may be well comprehended; 
 
 Page Twenty-four 
 
and of the means employed for its execution, of its situation, 
 actual and designed, as well' as a mature examination of all 
 the circumstances enable me to foresee. 
 
 A little time after the constitution of the United States 
 was made, its partizans — and no one was then accused of 
 not being so — saw, that to make the system of confederation 
 complete it was necessary to establish a general seat of gov- 
 ernment in a central point of the United States, independent 
 of every particular State, and of which the sovereignty 
 should belong to the Union. As the general government 
 exercised a judicial authority apart from that of the several 
 States, the vicinity of its tribunal's to those of a particular 
 State, which, having a jurisdiction of its own, might inflict 
 a different punishment from that of the Union for the same 
 crime, and even on the same spot, was a great inconvenience, 
 and was to be remedied. The advantages resulting from the 
 residence of the general government in a particular State 
 might be the occasion of jealousy among the States, and 
 cause the dissolution of the Union; and this source of dis- 
 content it was necessary to remove : neither Philadelphia nor 
 New- York was placed in the centre of the States; and the 
 deputies of the Southern States being removed at a greater 
 distance from the seat of government than those of the 
 North, this circumstance might be a cause of dissatisfaction 
 to the former, and interrupt that harmony it was so impor- 
 tant to preserve. To conclude; the sovereign government 
 having something of a fiction in its existence, its establish- 
 ment in a territory belonging solely to the Union, and in 
 which it could exercise all acts of sovreignty without any 
 mixture of other sovreign authority, would give it a greater 
 appearance of reality : such were the principal reasons which 
 were in fact plausible for adopting the scheme of placing the 
 residence of the general government in a territory absolutely 
 ceded to the Union. In July 1790 the Congress passed a 
 
 law to this effect. 
 
 ***** 
 
 This law, which passed while the Congress sat at New 
 York, provided also, that the government of the United 
 States should be removed to Philadelphia, to remain there 
 
 Page Twenty-five 
 
till the first Monday of December 1800, the period of its 
 installation in its permanent residence. 
 
 The Congress had been previously assured of the favour- 
 able disposition of the States of Virginia and Maryland to- 
 wards this plan; both one and the other having, in pre- 
 ceding sittings of their legislatures, offered to cede the part 
 of their territory necessary to its completion. The seat of 
 the government certainly coul'd not be better chosen: 
 * * * a situation favourable for the erection of a great 
 commercial city, with ample means of being furnished with 
 provisions, and in a fine and healthy spot. 
 
 As the States of Virginia and Maryland had an evident 
 advantage in the establishment of the government in the 
 place chosen by this law, they were active to forward the 
 execution of the scheme, towards which Virginia gave the 
 union the sum of a hundred and twenty thousand dollars, 
 and Maryland, seventy-two thousand dollars. The pro- 
 prietors of lands on the spot chosen for the new city had an 
 interest still more immediate in the plan. They gave the 
 Union the absolute property of the half of the lots of which 
 the city was to be composed. They also gratuitously ceded 
 all the ground necessary for streets and squares, with a reser- 
 vation of eighty dollars [£25 currency] to be paid for every 
 acre employed in forming public gardens. The lots re- 
 maining in the hands of individual proprietors, and those 
 that became the property of the federal government, were 
 to be so distributed that individuals and the government 
 should equally divide the advantage and inconvenience of 
 the respective situations of the several lots. 
 
 In March 1796 the Congress passed a law, by which the 
 commissioners were empowered to borrow, with the sanction 
 of the president of the United States, the sum of three hun- 
 dred thousand dollars, to defray the expences of the establish- 
 ment ordered by the law of 1790, with provisoes, that they 
 should not borrow more than two hundred thousand dollar's 
 in the same year, nor pay more than six per cent for the 
 loan ; that the sums borrowed should be redeemable in 1803 ; 
 and that the lots in the city belonging to the government, 
 not sold, and destined to be so, should be the pledge for the 
 
 Page Twenty-six 
 
loan, and the means of its re-payment, the United States 
 undertaking to make good the deficiency, if there should 
 be any. The same law enjoined the commissioners to make 
 a return every six months to the secretary of the treasury of 
 expenditures of the sums thus borrowed. * * 
 
 The navigation of the Potowmac was interrupted in many 
 places below Cumberland, to the distance of a hundred and 
 ninety-two miles from the seat of the new city; but more 
 especially at fifteen miles above George-Town, where there 
 was a great fall, and at a place six miles nearer, where there 
 was a less considerable fall. A company had been incor- 
 porated by the States of Virginia and Maryland, in 1784, 
 by the name of the Potovrmack Company; with a grant of 
 tolls on different canals they had undertaken. The adoption 
 of the scheme of establishing the general government on the 
 banks o£ the Potowmack, gave new activity to these under- 
 takings, which had begun to languish. In 1795 the shares 
 of this company, which at its establishment amounted to five 
 hundred, at four hundred and forty-four dollars each, were 
 increased to six hundred; and thus the company had the 
 disposal of two hundred and seventy thousand four hun- 
 dred dollars to improve the navigation of the Potowmack. 
 The States of Virginia and Maryland were moreover par- 
 ticularly interested in the success of the company, by being 
 proprietors of a great number of its shares. 
 
 When the undertakings of this company shall be finished, 
 the produce of an immense extent of country, which at pres- 
 ent is conveyed by land to Philadelphia and Baltimore, will 
 find a more ample, ready, and less expensive market through 
 the means of this great river; and Federal-City will acquire 
 new resources both for its consumption and its commerce, 
 adding greatly to the natural advantages of its situation. 
 
 The point of I'and which separates the Potowmack from 
 the east branch, and which is within the site of the new city, 
 is, at different times of the year, not only difficult, but dan- 
 gerous to double: and the East-branch presenting the greatest 
 depth of water, and the safest anchorage for ships, it became 
 an object of importance to join the Potowmack to that 
 branch by a canal; besides that such a canal would be of 
 
 Page Twenty-seven 
 
great advantage to the new city. Two lotteries were author- 
 ized by the State of Maryland, in 1798, for the forming such 
 a canal; each lottery consisting of a hundred and seventy- 
 five thousand dollars, of which a profit of fifteen per cent, 
 that is to say, twenty-six thousand two hundred and fifty 
 thousand dollars was granted to the canal. 
 
 Such were the means employed for the establishment of 
 Federal City, whose site extends more than three miles along 
 the banks of the Potowmack, and the East-branch; and 
 includes four thousand one hundred and twenty-four acres 
 square. 
 
 In America, where, more than in any other country in 
 the world, a desire for wealth is the prevailing passion, there 
 are few schemes which are not made the means of extensive 
 speculations; and that of the erecting of Federal-City pre- 
 sented irresistible temptations, which were not in fact neg- 
 lected. 
 
 Mr. Morris was among the first to perceive the probability 
 of immense gain in speculations in that quarter; and in con- 
 junction with Messrs. Nicholson and Greenl'eaf, a very short 
 time after the adoption of the plan purchased every lot he 
 could lay hold on, either from the commissioners or indi- 
 vidual proprietors; that is to say, every lot that either one 
 or the other would sell at that period. Of the commissioners 
 he bought six thousand lots at the price of eighty dollars per 
 lot, each containing five thousand two hundred and sixty- 
 five square feet. The conditions of his bargain with the 
 commissioners, which was conceded in 1793, were, that 
 fifteen hundred of the lots should be chosen by him in the 
 north-east quarter of the city, and the remaining four 
 thousand five hundred wherever Mr. Morris and his partners 
 chose to select them; that he should erect an hundred and 
 twenty houses of brick, and with two stories, on these lots 
 within the space of seven years ; that he should not sell any 
 lot before the first of January 1796, nor without the like 
 condition of the building ; and finally, that the payment for 
 the lots should be completed within seven years, to com- 
 mence on the first of May 1794; a seventh part to be paid 
 
 Page Twenty-eight 
 
annually — that is to say, about sixty-eight thousand dollars 
 yearly, the purchase money for the whole being four hundred 
 and eighty thousand dollars. 
 
 The lots purchased by Mr. Morris from individuals 
 amounted to nearly the same number, and were bought at 
 the same price. The periods for payment varied with the 
 different proprietors, and are not of importance in this gen- 
 eral history of Federal City. 
 
 The sale made to Mr. Morris was the only one of like ex- 
 tent made either by the commissioners or indiAriduals. Ex- 
 pecting a higher price, the commissioners waited for a time 
 when demands for habitations would be more numerous. 
 The private proprietors acted on the same principle, and 
 both one and the other, in the sale made to Mr. Morris, con- 
 sidered it chiefly as the means of hastening the completion of 
 the city, by the inducement he would have to sell part of 
 his lots, and so augment the number of persons interested 
 in the rapid progress of the undertaking. Mr. Morris, in 
 fact, sold about a thousand of his lots within eighteen 
 months of his purchase. The building of a house for the 
 president, and a place for the sittings of the Congress, ex- 
 cited, in the purchasers of the lots, the hope of a new influx 
 of speculations. The public papers were filled with exag- 
 gerated praises of the new city; accounts of the rapidity of 
 its progress towards completion; in a word, with all the 
 artifices which trading people in every part of the world are 
 accustomed to employ in the disposal of their wares, and 
 which are perfectly known, and amply practiced in this 
 new world. . 
 
 Mr. Law and Mr. Dickinson, two gentlemen that had 
 lately arrived from India, and both with great wealth. Gen- 
 eral Howard, General Lee, and two or three wealthy Dutch 
 merchants, were the persons who bought the greatest number 
 of lots of Mr. Morris; but none more than Mr. Law, who 
 purchased four hundred and forty-five lots. The lowest 
 they gave was two hundred and ninety-three dollars per lot — 
 or rather five pence for each square foot, of Maryland money ; 
 for all the lots were not absolutely of the same extent. Many 
 of the lots sold for six, eight, and ten pence per square foot; 
 
 Page Twenty-nine 
 
the last comers constantly paying a higher price, and the 
 situation of the lots also making a difference in their value. 
 Some of the more recent purchasers, in order to have one or 
 more of the entire squares into which the whole was di- 
 vided, or for other purposes of their speculations, made their 
 purchases of the commissioners, paying at the same rate for 
 them. The bargains were all clogged with the same condi- 
 tions to build as that of Mr. Morris. The number of lots 
 sold in this manner amounted to six hundred. Each of the 
 purchasers chose his ground according to the opinion he 
 had of its general advantages, and of its being in a neigh- 
 bourhood that would the most readily be filled with houses. 
 The neighbourhood of the president's house, of the Capitol, 
 of George-Town, the banks of the Potowmack, the Point, and 
 the banks of the East-branch, were the places chiefly chosen 
 by the first purchasers. 
 
 The opinion that the ground marked out for the whole 
 city would soon be filled was so general, and the president of 
 the United States and the commissioners were so much of 
 the same opinion, that in their regulations they prohibited 
 the cultivating any portion of the ground otherwise than 
 for gardens; or to build houses with less than two stories, 
 or even to build houses of wood. 
 
 These regulations were, however, speedily afterwards with- 
 drawn; and the original proprietors had liberty to inclose 
 and cultivate at their pleasure the ground they had not dis- 
 posed of. 
 
 Mr. Blodget, one of the most considerable and intelligent 
 speculators of Philadelphia, having purchased a large 
 quantity of lots, under the pretence of forwarding the build- 
 ing of the city, but more probably with the real motive of 
 disposing most securely and advantageously of his acquisi- 
 tions, made two lotteries for the disposal of them. The 
 principal lot of the first was a handsome tavern, built be- 
 tween the Capitol and the President's house, valued at fifty 
 thou.«and dollars; the three principal lots of the second were 
 three houses to be erected near the capitol, of the respective 
 value of twenty-five thousand, fifteen thousand, and ten 
 thousand, dollars. These lotteries were made before the 
 
 Page Thirty 
 
prohibition of the State of Maryland to make private lot- 
 teries, without the authority of the legislature. They were 
 powerfully patronized by the commissioners, who considered 
 them as the means of advancing the building of the city. 
 It appears that these lotteries were attended with the effect 
 proposed to himself by Mr. Blodget, that of gaining a large 
 profit on the disposal of his lots, and that he was the only 
 person not deceived in the transaction. 
 
 The speculations of Mr. Morris, and the succeeding pur- 
 chasers, had not the same rapid success. After the plan of 
 the city had been for a while admired for its beauty and 
 magnificence, people began to perceive that it was too ex- 
 tensive, too gigantic, for the actual circumstances of the 
 United States, and even for those which must follow for a 
 series of years, admitting that no intervening accidents ar- 
 rested the progress of their prosperity. It was discovered 
 that the immense extent of ground marked out for the city 
 would not be so speedily covered with houses as was ex- 
 pected; and every proprietor of lots intrigued to get the 
 neighbourhood of his lots first inhabited. From that instant 
 the common interest ceased, and the proprietors became 
 rivals. Each began to build in his own quarter, with the 
 hope of drawing thither the new-comer. Each vaunted of 
 the advantages of that side of the city where his property 
 lay, and depreciated others. The public papers were no 
 longer filled with the excellencies of Federal-City, but with 
 those of one or other of its quarters. 
 
 The commissioners were not altogether clear of this venal 
 contest. Two of them possessed lots near George-Town; 
 and if that had not been the case, their habits and prejudices 
 relative to the city would have determined their opinion as 
 to the advantage of beginning to build in one quarter or an- 
 other, and would not have permitted them to remain indif- 
 ferent spectators of the emulation of the several proprietors. 
 
 There were four principal quarters to which different in- 
 terests had drawn the greatest number of houses. The in- 
 habitants of George-Town, who had purchased a great many- 
 lots in their neighbourhood maintained that a small town 
 
 Page Thirty-one 
 
already built was the proper spot to begin the new city, by 
 facilitating and augmenting its resources. They boasted 
 of the port of George-Town, and represented the commerce 
 already belonging to the place as a favourable opening to 
 the general' commerce of the city. 
 
 The proprietors of lots near the Point declared that situa- 
 tion to be the most airy, healthy, and beautiful in the city; 
 advantageous to commerce, as it lay along the banks of both 
 rivers, and as being a central situation between the capitol 
 and the President's house, from each of which it was equally 
 distant. 
 
 The proprietors of the East-branch contemned the port 
 of George-Town, and the banks of the Potowmack, which 
 are not secure in winter from shoals of ice ; they decried the 
 Point, which, placed between the two rivers, was far from 
 being able completely to enjoy the advantage of either; and 
 boasted of their own port, because of its great depth, and its 
 security from ice, and from the most prevailing winds. 
 They vaunted of their vicinity to the capitol, which must be 
 the common centre of affairs, it being the place of the sit- 
 tings of the Congress, and in which all the members must 
 meet, at least once in the day, and from which their dis- 
 tance was not more than three quarters of a mile. 
 
 The proprietors in the neighbourhood of the capitol con- 
 tended, that Federal-City was not necessarily a commercial 
 town ; that the essential point was to raise a city for the 
 establishment of the Congress and government; that the 
 natural progress was, first to buil'd houses round the capitol, 
 and then to extend them towards the President's house, 
 which, although of a secondary consideration, was neverthe- 
 less next in importance to the capitol; and that every effort 
 should be made for the convenience of Congress and the 
 facilitating of public affairs, to unite, by a continuation of 
 streets and buildings, these two principal points of the gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 Thus each proprietor supported with his arguments the 
 interests of the quarter where the mass of his property lay; 
 but he built notwithstanding with great caution, and with 
 a constant fear of some of the opposite interests prevailing. 
 
 Page Thirty-two 
 
The commissioners, to whom was entrusted the erection 
 of public edifices, were accused by the proprietors that lay 
 at a distance from George-Town of paying an undue atten- 
 tion to the completion of the President's house, which was 
 in their neighbourhood; of designing to establish the public- 
 offices there, and, consequently, to neglect the capitol; in a 
 word, of being partial to George-Town to the injury of the 
 three other quarters of the town. 
 
 Each of these opinions relative to the spot at which they 
 should begin to build the city might find advocates, even 
 among disinterested people, regarding only the public ad- 
 vantage; but the pubhc advantage was no motive of any of 
 the rival parties. 
 
 This state of things continues at present. The President's 
 house is sufficiently advanced to be covered in this year; 
 that wing of the capitol which is at present begun (for the 
 plan of that edifice is so extensive, that the execution of two 
 thirds of it has been abandoned to an indefinite period), 
 may, perhaps, be covered in during the succeeding year ; and 
 about a hundred and fifty houses are scattered over the vast 
 surface traced out for the city, each of the four contending 
 quarters having from thirty to forty, for the most part very 
 distant from each other. 
 
 :)! H= * * * 
 
 In collecting the information I have given to my reader 
 on this subject, and the little that I have to say further re- 
 specting it, and in impartially observing the passions and 
 prejudices of the majority of those from whom I made my 
 enquiries, I was led more than once to the comparison be- 
 tween the man who employs his property and time in clear- 
 ing and settling a large tract of land, and the person who is 
 engaged with others in the establishment of a new city. 
 The former can succeed only by collecting round him a 
 number of families to whom it is his interest to sell his lands 
 at a low price, and to whose prosperity of course he con- 
 tributes. The poorest man is for his purposes a good occu- 
 pier of his grounds. In conferring benefits on others, he 
 increases his own welfare and happiness ; he multiplies three- 
 fold, nay ten-fold, the value of the lands that he still holds 
 
 Page Thirty-three 
 
in his own possession, by the neighbourhood of the inhab- 
 itants he has drawn around him. The happiness of others 
 is the proper element of his success. If he is of a humane 
 disposition, he finds a muhiphcity of occasions to do good 
 without injury to himself. It is indeed his interest to be 
 benevolent. Every instance of his expenditure is also turned 
 to the public advantage ; it is a service he renders, a pleasure 
 he affords, to his colony; and no expence judiciously applied 
 is prejudicial to his fortune; on the contrary, it incessantly 
 augments his wealth: as his colony increases, more wealthy 
 settlers present themselves, and his lands sell at a price he 
 could not have procured without the previous exercise of his 
 benevolence. When his colony has made a still greater 
 progress, the produce of lands formerly waste is a new and 
 real source of wealth to the state to which it is subject, and 
 a new mass of productions for merchants and consumers. 
 His condition is at once noble and delightful. He lives in 
 the midst of husbandmen, consequently among men of the 
 purest manners and dispositions, the furthest removed from 
 vice of any kind among the human species. He is beloved 
 and esteemed. And all these enjoyments he commands in a 
 short period of time and owes them all to himself. If be- 
 fore the commencement of his enterprize he was virtuous, he 
 is become better by the very means he employed to enlarge 
 his fortune. His heart is improved simply by the contem- 
 plation of the good he has effected. In a word he is more 
 happy than ever. There are many examples of this kind iil 
 America, and among the most eminent of them is Captain 
 Williamson of Genesee,^" who by an undertaking of this 
 nature has augmented his fortune as greatly as he has in- 
 creased the esteem in which he is held. 
 
 He, on the contrary, who is engaged in the establishment 
 of a new city, can rarely confine to himself the conduct of 
 the enterprize. If he is not counteracted in the whole of his 
 views, he is sure to be so in the greater part of them. The 
 poorer inhabitants that he receives on his estate are of no 
 advantage to him. They are even burthensome, as they 
 occupy the space that he -wishes to fill with others, whose 
 wealth may advance his fortune. Benevolence is banished 
 
 Page Thirty-four 
 
from his system, by the necessary calculations of his interest. 
 If those calculations induce him to expend sums for build- 
 ings, it is to erect taverns, shops, to open billiard-tables, and 
 to create lotteries ; in a word, to furnish the means of dissipa- 
 tion and pleasure — that is to say, the means of prodigality 
 and vice. It is such objects as these that draw crowds of in- 
 habitants to cities, and without them cities will never be ex- 
 tensive. When this adventurer sees his city increasing in 
 population, it is only to see a conflict of interests, to contem- 
 plate jealousies daily arising, and enmities making good 
 their footing. And then, at length, after years of innumer- 
 able vexations and incessant anxiety, he has gathered in- 
 habitants to the extent he proposed, he has only drawn round 
 him rivals and opponents, while he has done nothing for the 
 real welfare of society. He may have increased his wealth, 
 but he will not have added one to the number of his benevo- 
 lent sentiments ; and even such as he might have had before 
 the commencement of his undertaking will be defaced by the 
 spectacle he was obliged to witness, and the injustice to which 
 he was subjected * * 
 
 George-Town 
 
 This small town, which is separated from the new city by 
 a creek called Rock-hall-creek, stands upon several small 
 hills, which render its aspect pleasing; but the communica- 
 tions between its several parts are difficult. Some years since 
 the commerce of this place was considerable, but at present 
 it is much diminished. 
 
 In 1791 the total value of its exportation amounted to 
 314,864 dollars; in 1792, to 348,539 dollars; in 1793, to 
 364,537 dollars; in 1794, to 128,924 dollars; in 1795 to 
 196,790 dollars; and in 1796, to 159,868 dollars. Tobacco, 
 com, and seeds, form the chief articles of exportation from 
 George-Town ; it re-exports directly a very small quantity of 
 foreign articles, and is even compelled to send to other ports 
 that are better markets much of the merchandize brought 
 from Europe in its vessels. Its imports have also decreased : 
 in 1792 the value of them amounted to 99,873 dollars; in 
 
 Page Thirty-flve 
 
1793, to 87,400 dollars; in 1794, to 139,964 dollars; in 1795, 
 to 153,584 dollars; and in 1796, to 29,193 dollars. The 
 shipping it employs in its foreign trade is at present about 
 2,500 tons ; and in its coasting trade nearly a thousand tons. 
 
 The diminution of the culture of tobacco is one of the 
 causes of the decay of its commerce: in 1792 it exported 
 9,444 hogsheads; and in 1796 no more than 2,461. But 
 speculations in the lots of Federal-City is a more powerful 
 cause of that decay. They have turned a great part of the 
 capital! of the merchants into that channel, and consequently 
 diverted it from the trade of the place. Shares in the bank 
 of this town, which were held by many of those merchants, 
 have fallen through the same causes, from forty dollars, 
 their original price, to thirty. This bank, established by the 
 name of Columbia Bank, had originally a capital of 400,000 
 dollars, divided into ten thousand shares. Its capital was 
 augmented with 150,000 dollars, by an act of the legislature 
 of Maryland in its last session: it is employed in the same 
 services as all the other banks of America. The notes it has 
 in circulation are for the most part of the value of a dollar, 
 and they are current at Alexandria, and all the western parts 
 of Maryland as far as Baltimore. 
 
 The stores of George-Town are usually furnished from 
 Baltimore; it is at that port that the ships belonging to 
 George-Town generally dispose of their cargoes in returning 
 from Europe. The merchants of this place expect to see 
 their trade revive, from the completion of the two canals of 
 the large and little falfe of the Potowmack, the remainder of 
 the navigation of that river being cleared from obstacles. 
 They then expect to be the medium of exporting the produce 
 of the countries watered by the Potowmack and the rivers 
 that fall into it, which at present can be conveyed to George- 
 Town only by land, at as high a price as the conveyance of 
 them to Baltimore, which from its situation has the advan- 
 tage of the towns on the banks of the Potowmack ; when the 
 price of the carriage of flour by land is three dollars per 
 barrel, it will be only eight shillings and six pence by water. 
 This advantage will be communicated also to the Eastrbranch 
 in Federal-City, and Alexandria. 
 
 Page Thlrty-slx 
 
The merchants of George-Town persuade themselves that 
 they will reap the greater part of the benefit of these naviga- 
 tions. Being placed the first on the route of those who will 
 bring their produce from the countries above the city, and 
 being provided with warehouses to receive goods, it will be a 
 saving of money and time, in vessels coming down the river, 
 to dispose of their cargoes at George-Town. They assert, 
 that the port of this place, that is to say, the part of the river 
 that may be converted to that purpose, will hold a great num- 
 ber of vessels with security; and the danger from shoals of 
 ice, which they do not deny to exist during two months, they 
 observe, may be avoided by vessels using, the East-branch for 
 that period. 
 
 The inhabitants of the banks of the East-branch trust to 
 the depth and security of their river, to draw all the com- 
 merce of the place to themselves ; and they do not doubt, that 
 even the merchants of George-Town will soon find the advan- 
 tage, and remove there. They are secure from the ice ; and 
 the interior canal between the Potowmack and them will, 
 they imagine, directly afford them all the advantages of that 
 great river. 
 
 The inhabitants of Alexandria pretend, that participating 
 in like manner of the advantages of the navigation of the 
 Potowmack through the canal, they have, moreover, the ad- 
 vantage of a commerce long established, and that is daily 
 increasing — an advantage that is not to be counterbalanced 
 by the difference of five miles more of sailing, which cannot 
 deter vessels from proceeding to the market where they can 
 both sell and buy to greater advantage. 
 
 Time will show which of these three places argues with 
 the greatest truth. I think the argument is in favour of 
 Alexandria. 
 
 Falls of the Potowmack. 
 
 An excursion which I made to the falls gave me an oppor- 
 tunity of seeing the canals, which are forming for the pur- 
 pose of avoiding them, and are the undertaking of the 
 Potowmack Company. The canal of the smaller falls is en- 
 tirely finished ; it is a mile and a half in length : four locks, 
 
 Page Thirty-seven 
 
ten feet high, placed at its upper extremity, convey vessels- 
 down the river. The smaller falls are not strictly such ; but 
 the water is sufficiently checked and disturbed in its course 
 to render the navigation impracticable, and the noise is con- 
 siderable. Above the smaller falls, at a place where the Po- 
 towmack is confined to a narrow passage between mountains, 
 a bridge has been lately erected, of the same kind as the 
 bridge of Merrymack, near Newburyport, in Massachusetts: 
 the same architect was employed in both. The bridge over 
 the Potowmack is one hundred and twenty feet in the span ; 
 it is much admired here, becaiise the people in this place have 
 no knowledge of the arts, but is indeed disgusting for its 
 heaviness, having an immense quantity of timber and iron 
 wasted on it, that would have been spared in Europe, and 
 with it a great part of the expence. 
 
 The canal' of the great falls is also finished, excepting the 
 locks, which are to be ten in number. The height of the 
 falls themselves is seventy-eight feet, and the descent from 
 the upper end of the canal to the lower end is about ninety 
 feet. To make some use of the canal in its present state, till 
 the locks can be constructed, large masses of earth are left to 
 check the rapidity of the water; vessels proceed to the place 
 where these are, and the barrels of flour, and hogsheads of 
 tobacco, which are the principal articles brought down the 
 river, are rolled down an inclined plane made of wood (for 
 this temporary use) to vessels that wait for them below. 
 
 The great fall of the Potowmack is beautiful, and deserves 
 to be visited by all who arrive in this neighbourhood. * * 
 
 Mr. Law 
 
 All the time that I passed at Federal-City [April, 1797] 
 I resided with Mr. Law. Last year he very much increased 
 his domestic felicity by marrying an amiable woman, who 
 unites accomplishments, sweetness of manner, and a charm- 
 ing figure, to a sound understanding, and all the qualities 
 that contribute to make the married life happy. 
 
 I cannot, however, felicitate Mr. Law on the speculation 
 which induced him to purchase a number of lots in this new 
 
 Page Thirty-eight 
 
city, and to choose it for the place of his residence. It ap- 
 pears to me, that he might have made a more prudent and 
 fortunate use of the great property he amassed by many 
 years' toil in India. He enters every day more deeply into 
 the concerns of this city, without being able sincerely to pre- 
 dict his success. His fortune is superior to the greatest for- 
 tunes in America, and he might have lived on his own rev- 
 enues with splendour, happy himself, and making others so. 
 His temper, which is sincere, humane, and generous, quali- 
 fied him for that mode of life; notwithstanding which, he 
 has wilfully plunged himself into an abyss of cares ; and all 
 the contentions of this distracted city, which not only prevent 
 the enjoyment of his fortune, but even endanger it. He is not 
 himself very confident of success, and he is far from being 
 avaricious; but his ardent temper is continually deceiving 
 him concerning the issue of the unfavourable circumstances 
 which he cannot overlook; and every day his obstinacy on 
 this subject increases, continually leading him to new ex- 
 penses in this vexatious speculation. I fear he will not be so 
 fortunate as he deserves to be. 
 
 Alexandria. 
 
 I went by water from Federal-City to Alexandria, which is 
 a distance only of six miles. The Potowmack, the whole 
 way from one place to the other, is two miles in breadth ; and 
 its banks are well cultivated and covered with a considerable 
 number of houses. The Maryland side being more elevated 
 presents a finer aspect. A succession of small hills and beau- 
 tiful vallies, intersected with streams, and having clumps of 
 trees, and even pleasure-grounds, scattered up and down, give 
 it a very lively appearance. The opposite side belonging to 
 Virginia is not absolutely flat, but the ground does not rise 
 except at a distance from the river, and not in the same de- 
 gree as on the Maryland side. It however does not want 
 prospects which are charming. It is in going from Alex- 
 andria to Federal-City that the traveller has the best view of 
 the country. The eye is not lost, as in the other route, in the 
 immense extent of the Potowmack; which, continually en- 
 
 Page Thirty-nine 
 
 4 
 
larging, leaves nothing to be seen at length but the horizon. 
 In this passage the country cl'oses till the prospect is bounded 
 by the chain of mountains which form the falls at fifteen 
 miles distance ; and in the intervening space, the eye rests on 
 the sloping ground destined for the site of Federal-City, and 
 where already there is a sufficient number of houses to orna- 
 ment the scene. The mountains on the side of Maryland 
 and Virginia, which decrease in approaching the Chesapeak, 
 consequently rise and enlarge on the view in proceeding the 
 other way. The division of the waters of the Potowmack 
 and the East-branch, made by the point of land which is the 
 site of Federal-City, is an object that arrests the attention, 
 and whose grandeur deducts nothing from its beauty. It is 
 unquestionably among the finest views that are to be seen on 
 any river. It does not, however, make me forget those of 
 North-River, in the state of New York, which in my opinion 
 are even preferable ; without speaking of that delightful scene 
 of the passage on that river in the highlands. 
 
 This is at present the season when shoals of herrings ap- 
 pear on the coasts of America, and in the rivers communi- 
 cating with the sea. I have constantly seen at every creek a 
 number of people employed in fishing for them with long 
 nets, which they drag for a while and then draw the ex- 
 tremities together. There is seldom a draught at which they 
 do not take thousands. The greater part of them are instantly 
 cured. There is an immense consumption in every part of 
 America of this species of food. Fresh herrings sell here for 
 four dollars a thousand. Sturgeon is also very plentiful in 
 the rivers of this country, but I do not think it as good as the 
 sturgeons in Europe. Alexandria is, beyond all comparison, 
 the handsomest town in Virginia, and indeed is among the 
 finest of the United States. It stands on a small plain, ele- 
 vated however a few feet above the river, and so as not to be 
 incommoded by the water. This town, which was begun 
 about thirty years since, is built on a regular plan. Streets 
 sufficiently wide intersect each other at right angles; and 
 spacious squares add to its beauty, convenience, and salu- 
 brity. Almost all the houses and warehouses are of brick. 
 Although all the buildings have not an appearance of mag- 
 
 Page Forty 
 
nificence, all are convenient and neat; and the houses are 
 of two stories. The quays are large and commodious, and 
 extend along the river every way. 
 
 This town increases very rapidly, owing to the flourishing 
 state of its commerce, which, no doubt, will be still improved 
 by the opening of the navigation of the Potowmack. 
 
 It is maintained by many of the inhabitants of Federal- 
 City that the quays of Alexandria axe not so safe for shipping 
 as those of the East-branch, being more exposed to shoals of 
 ice; and that small vessels, descending the Potowmack, and 
 passing through the canal, will not venture again into the 
 Potowmack as far as Alexandria. This opinion is not that 
 of the merchants of Alexandria; who, beside, would very 
 little raise the price of flour, which boats would bring down 
 the Potowmack, if they were even obliged to reload them in 
 larger vessels at the canal. Hitherto they have received the 
 produce of the upper parts of Virginia by land, and the carts 
 which bring them constantly arrive in great numbers. 
 
 Alexandria carries on a constant trade with the West-India 
 islands; and also some with Europe. The price of flour^^ 
 here at present is six dollars and a half per barrel. The popu- 
 lation of this town amounts to nearly five thousand souls, of 
 which there are about eight hundred black slaves. 
 
 The value of the exportations of Alexandria amounted in 
 1791 to 381,242 dollars; in 1792, to 535,592 dollars; in 1793, 
 to 812,889 dollars; in 1795, to 948,460 dollars; and in 1796,. 
 to more than 1,100,000 dollars. 
 
 There is a bank at Alexandria, and it is the only one in 
 Virginia. It was established in December, 1792, by an act 
 of the legislature. Its original capital was 150,000 dollars, 
 divided into 750 shares, of 200 dollars each. By a law passed 
 in December 1795 it was authorized to augment its capital by 
 the addition of 350,000 dollars, divided into 1750 new shares. 
 
 This bank, which was established on the same principles, 
 and for the same purpose, as all the other banks of America, 
 makes a dividend from four and a half to five per cent half 
 yearly. It issues notes to the value of a dollar, which are 
 current throughout all Virginia, at George-Town, and even 
 for the most part in Maryland. 
 
 Page Forty-one 
 
John Davis op Salisbury. 1801. 
 
 "In this City may that piety and virtue, that wisdom and magna- 
 nimity, that constancy and self-government, which adorned the great 
 character whose name it bears, be for ever held in veneration! 
 Here, and throughout America, may simple manners, pure morals, 
 and true religion, flourish for ever !" 
 
 The City of Washington was now the centre of attraction 
 to the nation. Multitudes flocked to it, in different direc- 
 tions, to hear the inaugural speech of Mr. Jefferson. 
 
 Of this general enthusiasm I was not without my share. 
 Mr. Jefferson's notes on Virginia was the book that first 
 taught me to think ; and my heart now beat with the desire to 
 hear the accents of wisdom fall from the tongue of that man, 
 whose pen had engrafted much truth on my mind. I there- 
 fore departed for the city of Washington, passing through, in 
 my way to it, Philadelphia and Baltimore. 
 
 The mind of the Traveller must be abstracted from all local 
 emotion, who can enter unmoved the city at the confluence of 
 the Potomac, and Eastern Branch. He witnesses the triumph 
 of freedom over oppression, and religious tolerance over 
 superstition. It is the capital of the United States that fills 
 his imagination! It is the country of Jefferson and Burr 
 that he beholds I It is the rising mistress of the world that 
 he contemplates ! 
 
 The tract chosen for the City of Washington, is situated at 
 the junction of the Potomac river, and Eastern Branch; ex- 
 tending about four miles along their respective shores. This 
 territory, which is called Columbia, lies partly in the State of 
 
 Travels of Four Tears and a Half in the United States of North 
 America; During 1798, 1799, 1801, and 1802. Dedicated by permis- 
 sion to Thomas Jefferson, Esq., President of the United States. By 
 John Davis, pp. 167-185 ; 208-223 ; 337-339. 
 
 Page Forty-two 
 
Virginia, and partly in the State of Maryland; and was 
 ceded, as everybody knows, by those two States, to the United 
 States of America; by which it was established the seat of 
 Government, after the year of 1800. 
 
 The City of Washington is to be divided into squares, or 
 grand divisions, by streets running due North and South, 
 and East and West, which form the ground work of the plan. 
 But from the Capitol, the President's house, and some of the 
 important areas, are to be diagonal streets, which will prevent 
 the monotony that characterizes Philadelphia. * * * ^ 
 wag would infer that the North and South streets received 
 their names from a pilot, and the East and West ones from 
 an Alphabetical teacher. 
 
 In a southern direction from the President's house, and a 
 western one from the Capitol, are to run two great pleasure 
 parks, or malls, which will intersect and terminate upon the 
 banks of the Potomac; and they are to be ornamented at the 
 sides by a variety of elegant buildings, and houses for for- 
 eign Ministers. 
 
 Interspersed through the city, where the principal streets 
 cross each other, is to be a number of open areas formed of 
 various figures : fifteen of these areas are to be appropriated 
 to the different States composing the Union ; and, while they 
 bear their respective names, be consecrated to the erecting of 
 statues, obelisks, or columns, to the memory of their departed 
 Heroes, Statesmen, and Poets. Upon a small eminence, 
 where a line drawn due West from the Capitol, and another 
 due South from the President's house, would intersect, is to 
 be placed an Equestrian Statue of General Washington. 
 
 The Navy-yard and Marine-barracks are partly con- 
 structed. The Navy-yard is formed by the projection of a 
 wharf into the Eastern Branch, from which a dock will be 
 produced of great capaciousness; and the Marine-barracks 
 are designed to form a mass of brick buildings two stories 
 high. 
 
 A road is making from the Capitol to Georgetown, and 
 another on the New Jersey avenue, between the Capitol and 
 Eastern Branch: in effecting the last object, the declivity of 
 
 Page Forty-three 
 
the abrupt hill to the South of the Capitol has been effect- 
 ually removed. 
 
 Of the public edifices, the Capitol and President's house 
 are the most magnificent. They are built of freestone (re- 
 sembling the white and red Portland), which is dug from 
 inexhaustible quarries on the banks of the Potomac. To the 
 builder of the President's house might be applied the epitaph 
 of Vanbrugh. 
 
 Lie heavy on Mtti Earth; for he 
 Has laid a heavy load on thee! 
 
 The Treasury and War-office are constructed with brick. 
 Some have objected, that the public offices are so remote 
 from each other, as to obstruct the business of state. A shal- 
 low, gothic remark! The symmetry of the city would have 
 been destroyed, had these buildings been more contiguous. 
 
 The Capitol is admirably situated on an ascent called 
 Capitol Hill. The name of Capitol associates the noblest 
 ideas in the mind. It has a Roman sound ! In our enthu- 
 siasm we behold Virtue and Freedom, which, alas ! have been 
 so long extinct, again descending from heaven, and fixing 
 their abode in the western world. 
 
 Between the Capitol and President's house, there has been 
 dug a well, which suddenly overflowed, continues to over- 
 flow, and will probably for ever overflow. The proprietor 
 of the well informed me, that having dug it about eleven feet 
 deep, and five and a half in diameter, the water rose with 
 impetuosity, and increased the diameter to ten feet. He 
 afterwards sounded with a plummet, and found it had sunk 
 another foot. It had continued to overflow without remis- 
 sion, and runs into the woods across the road before the 
 house. This wonder-working well brought the idle in crouds 
 to behold it; and though it had scarcely been dug a month 
 the man who shewed it to the gazing multitude, made no 
 scruple to affirm, that it was not only the astonishment of 
 America, but also of Europe! 
 
 The Eastern Branch of the Potomac is a tributary stream 
 to it; and nature by their confluence invites the building of 
 a city. The Eastern Branch, at its junction with the Po- 
 
 Page Forty-four 
 
tomac, vies with it in breadth ; but in tracing it to its source, 
 this mighty mouth diminishes; and, at Bladensburgh, to 
 cross its rustic bridge, the wheels of a carriage have not many 
 revolutions to undergo. 
 
 It has been asserted by a late Traveller, that the Tiber, 
 which supplies the city of Washington with water, received 
 that name either from the Indians, or the first locators of the 
 land; and hence is prophesied the magnificence of the city, 
 which at some future day is to be a second Rome. 
 
 Of the erroneousness of this observation, accident one day 
 convinced me. Having breakfasted at George-town, (it was 
 at Mac Glaughflin's hotel) , with a lively young Frenchman, 
 I proposed a walk to the Capitol. In our progress through 
 the houseless streets of the Imperial city, the excessive heat 
 of the sun provoked thirst, and to allay it we retired into the 
 woods, and seated ourselves by the Tiber. The Capitol was 
 within view. Voild, said my companion, pointing to the 
 edifice — Voila un Gapitol sans Giceron; et void (turning his 
 finger towards the stream) void le Tihre sans Rome. 
 
 Are you sure. Monsieur, said I, that you call this stream 
 by its right name? Is there not some other for it? 
 
 My companion shrugged his shoulders, and said he could 
 not tell. 
 
 At this juncture a groupe of negro boys and girls came to 
 the stream, and filled their pitchers and pails. 
 
 I addressed them severally. 
 
 How you call this little river, my fine fellow? 
 
 You stranger, Mossa? 
 
 Yes. 
 
 Goose-Creeh, Mossa. 
 
 After this let us hear no more far-fetched stories about the 
 Tiber; but be content with the simple truth, that the first 
 settlers of the contiguous lands conferred on it the name of 
 Goose-Creek.^^ 
 
 Of Goose-Creek, (or, more magnificently, the Tiber), the 
 water is excellent; and it is in contemplation to collect it in 
 a grand reservoir, near the Capitol, and supply the houses 
 with it by the means of pipes ; while the superfluous water 
 
 Page Forty-five 
 
will form a variety of fanciful cascades, delighting the eye, 
 and refreshing the air. 
 
 Let me now come to the object of my journey to Washing- 
 ton. The politeness of a member from Virginia, procured 
 me a convenient seat in the Capitol; and an hour after, Mr. 
 Jefferson entered the House, when the august assembly of 
 American Senators rose to receive him. He came, however, 
 to the House without ostentation. His dress was of plain 
 cloth, and he rode on horseback to the Capitol' without a 
 single guard, or even servant in his train, dismounted with- 
 out assistance, and hitched the bridle of his horse to the 
 palisades. 
 
 Never did the Capitol wear a more animated appearance 
 than on the fourth day of March, 1801. The Senate- 
 Chamber was filled with citizens from the remotest places of 
 the Union. The planter, the farmer, the mechanic and 
 merchant, all seemed to catch one common transport of en- 
 thusiasm, and welcome the approach of the Man to the chair 
 of Sovreign Authority, who had before served his country 
 in various offices of dignity ; who had sat in the famous Con- 
 gress that produced the Revolution, acted as Governor to his 
 native State, and been Minister Plenipotentiary to a foreign 
 nation. 
 
 Mr. Jefferson, having taken the oaths to the Constitution, 
 with a dignified mien, addressed the august assembly of Sen- 
 ators and Representatives. 
 
 When I had heard the speech of Mr. Jefferson, there was 
 nothing more to detain me among the scattered buildings of 
 the desert. 
 
 Washington, on my second journey to it, [July, 1801], 
 wore a very dreary aspect. The multitude had gone to their 
 homes, and the inhabitants of the place were few. There 
 were no objects to catch the eye, but a forlorn pilgrim forcing 
 his way through the grass that overruns the streets ; or a cow 
 ruminating on a bank, from whose neck depended a bell that 
 the animal might be found the more readily in the woods. 
 
 I obtained accommodations at the Washington tavern, 
 
 Page Poi'ty-slx 
 
which stands opposite the Treasury. At this tavern I took 
 my meals at the public table, where there was every day to be 
 found a number of clerks, employed at the different offices 
 under Government; together with about half a dozen Vir- 
 ginians, and a few New England men. There was a per- 
 petual conflict of opinions between these southern and north- 
 ern men; and one night, after supper, I was present at a 
 vehement dispute, which terminated in the loss of a horse, 
 a saddle, and bridle. The dispute was about Dr. Franklin; 
 the man from New England, enthusiastic in what related to 
 Franlclin, asserted that, the Doctor being self-taught, was 
 original in every thing he ever published. ***** 
 
 At the Washington tavern I found seven Cherokee Chiefs, 
 who had attended the President's levee on the 4*'^ of July; 
 they came to be instructed in the mode of European agri- 
 culture. 
 
 Of this circumstance Mr. Jefferson speaks in his Message 
 to Congress : "I am happy to inform you, that the continued 
 " efforts to introduce among our Indian neighbours, the im- 
 " plements and practice of husbandry, and of the household 
 " arts, have not been without success : that they are become 
 " more and more sensible of the superiority of this depend- 
 " ance for clothing and subsistence, over the precarious re- 
 " sources of hunting and fishing : and already we are able to 
 " announce that, instead of that constant diminution of their 
 " numbers produced by their wars and their wants, some of 
 " them begin to experience an increase of population." 
 
 jfh ^ ^ ^ 
 
 Finding a schooner at George-town ready to sail for Alex- 
 andria, I put my trunk on board of her, and left without re- 
 gret the Imperial City, where I had encountered only disap- 
 pointment. 
 
 The wind being contrary, we had to work down the Po- 
 tomac — The river here is very beautiful. Mason's Island 
 forms one continued garden; but what particularly catches 
 the eye is the Capitol, rising with sacred majesty above the 
 woods. 
 
 Our boat turned well to windward, and in an hour we 
 landed at the Widow Bull's house, which may be considered 
 
 Page Forty-seven 
 
half way to Alexandria. Here having quaffed and smoked 
 together under the shade of a spreading locust tree, we once 
 more committed ourselves to the waters of the Potomac. 
 
 It was easier landing at Alexandria in America, than 
 Alexandria in Egypt; and I found elegant accommodations 
 at Gadesby's hotel. It is observable that Gadesby keeps the 
 best hoiose of entertainment in the United States. The 
 splendour of Gadesby's hotel not suiting my finances, I re- 
 moved to a public-house kept by a Dutchman. 
 
 Having amused myself a few days at the imperial city, I 
 rose with the sun, and pursued my journey along the banks 
 of the Potom,ac. About nine in the morning I reached the 
 bridge at the Little Falls. Near the bridge at the Little Falls 
 my journey was suspended by the rain. * * 
 
 I now ascended a hill that led to the Great Falls, and on 
 a sudden my steps were suspended by the conflict of ele- 
 ments, the strife of nature. I beheld the course of a large 
 river abruptly obstructed by rocks, over which it was break- 
 ing with a tremendous roar; while the foam of the water 
 seemed ascending to the clouds, and the shores that confined 
 it to tremble at the convolution. I gazed for some time in 
 silent awe at this war of elements, when having recovered 
 from my admiration, I could not help exclaiming to the 
 Great Maker of Heaven and of Earth, "Lord, What is man 
 that thou art mindful of him." 
 
 Page Forty-eight 
 
NOTES. 
 
 ' The Tontine Coffee House. See Wansey's Journal, pp. 73-74 : — 
 
 "Boston is the Bristol, New Yorli the Liverpool, and Philadelphia 
 the London of America. The Tontine tavern and coffee-house [at 
 Nevf York] is a handsome large brick building; you ascend six or 
 eight steps under a portico, into a large public room, which is the 
 Stock Exchange of New York, where all bargains are made. Here 
 are two books kept, as at Lloyds, of every ship's arrival and clearing 
 out. This house was built for the accommodation of the merchants, 
 by Tontine shares of two hundred pounds each. You can lodge and 
 board there at a common table, and you pay ten shillings currency a 
 day, whether you dine out or not. No appearance of shop windows 
 as in London ; only stores, which make no shew till you enter the 
 houses. House rent is very dear ; a hundred pounds sterling is a very 
 usual price for a common storekeeper." 
 
 ^ Savage River. See Dr. Morse's Oasetteer [Ed. 1797] : — 
 
 Savage, a small river of Maryland, which runs southward through 
 Alleghany co. and empties into the Patowmack. Its mouth is 21 miles 
 south-west of Fort Cumberland and 48 south-east of the mouth of 
 Cheat river. Boats carrying 10 tons can reach Alexandria in 4 or 5 
 days, but will take double the time to return. 
 
 'Youghiogany [Yohogany]. See Dr. Morse: — 
 
 From the falls, where it intersects the Laurel Mountains, to Fort 
 Cumberland is 40 miles of a very mountainous road. 
 
 • Cumberland. See Michaux, Travels to the Westward of the Alle- 
 gany Mountains, 1802. London, 1805. p. 205 : — 
 "In the United States the name of Cumberland is given to that part 
 
 of Tennessee which lies west of the mountains of that name." 
 
 » Cheat River. See Dr. Morse : — 
 
 Cheat River joins Monongahela Eiver 3 or 4 miles within the Penn- 
 sylvania line. Is 200 yards wide at its mouth, and 100 at the Dunk- 
 ard's Settlement, 50 miles higher. There is a portage of 37 miles from 
 this R. to the Patowmack at the mouth of Savage River. 
 
 'Trade of the great lakes. See Jefferson's Notes, 23 American Ed., 
 
 Philadelphia, 1794. p. 18 fC. :— 
 Page Forty-nine 
 
"There will therefore be a competition between the Hudson and 
 Patowmac rivers for the residue of the commerce of all the country 
 westward of Lake Erie, on the waters of the lakes, of the Ohio, and 
 upper parts of the Mississippi * * * * The Patowmac offers 
 itself under the following circumstances * * * * B^t the chan- 
 nel to New -York is already known to practice; whereas the upper 
 waters of the Ohio and the Patowmac, and the great falls of the 
 latter, are yet to be cleared of their fixed obstructions." 
 
 ' On the high road from Kentucky. See Mlchaux, p. 155 £C. : — 
 
 "The merchants of Lexington carry on almost all the commerce of 
 Kentucky : they receive their merchandize from Philadelphia and 
 Baltimore in thirty five or forty days. Seven tenths of the fabricated 
 articles consumed in Kentucky, as well as in the rest of the United 
 States, are imported from England * * * I may add that there 
 is not any species of territorial product in Kentucky, with the excep- 
 tion of Gensing, the value of which will pay for its conveyance by 
 land from this State to Philadelphia ; for it is proved that twenty five 
 pounds weight would cost more for the carriage in this way, even 
 with going up the Ohio, than a thousand weight by way of the river, 
 without reckoning the passage by sea ; although there are frequent 
 examples of the voyage from New Orleans to Philadelphia or New 
 York being sometimes as long as that from France to the United 
 States." 
 
 ' From Pittsburgh to New Orleans. See Mlchaux, p. 74 ff. : — 
 
 "The merchandize is conveyed from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh in 
 large covered waggons, drawn by four horses, harnessed two and two 
 * * The carrying boats [to New Orleans] generally require, in the 
 spring, from forty five to fifty days to perform this passage, which 
 two or three persons in a light vessel (pirogue) can accomplish in 
 twenty or twenty five days * * * It is only in the spring [from 
 the end of February, for three months] and autumn [Oct. 1st — Dec. 
 31st] that the Ohio is navigable, at least above Limestone ;" i. e., from 
 a point some fifty miles above Cincinnati. 
 
 " Ttte grand emporium, of the West. See Melish, Travels through the 
 United States of America in the years 1806, 1807, &c. Philadel- 
 phia, 1815. pp. 198-199:— 
 
 "The Potomac is one of the most important of the Atlantic rivers, 
 and from its intersecting the country in a central situation, has ex- 
 cited great attention in the United States : more especially since 
 Washington was fixed on as the seat of the general government. * * * 
 The Potomac can be m.ade [italics supplied] fit for boat navigation to 
 Cumberland * • * Connected with this important subject, I may 
 here notice, that a road has been laid out by order of congress, from 
 
 Page Fifty 
 
Cumberland across the mountains to Brownsville on the Monongahela, 
 a distance of 72 miles." 
 
 "Captain Williamson of Genesee. See Duke of La Rochefoucauld- 
 
 Llancourt, Vol. I, p. 135 :— 
 
 "Captain Williamson has now nearly put the finishing stroke to his 
 great undertaking. Next autumn he proposes to sail for England, 
 and to return the following spring with a choice assemblage of horses, 
 cattle, and sheep, of the best breeds he can obtain, and a collection 
 of models of all implements of agriculture • * * • Captain 
 Williamson is here universally respected, honoured, and beloved." 
 
 " The price of flour. See Duke of La Rochefoucauld, Vol. II, pp. 22, 
 37, 91 :— 
 
 In the summer of 1796 this traveller found the price of flour $15 at 
 Yorktown, and $11 at Staunton, (Virginia). At Richmond the price 
 was $10. Around the year 1796 all prices fluctuated greatly, but these 
 items are enough to show what the transportation conditions were at 
 that time. 
 
 " Goose Creek. The wild goose, like the Buffalo, has become scarce. 
 The author's pleasantry suggested to Moore the lines cited by War- 
 den: 
 
 'And what was Goose-Creek once, is Tiber now,' &c. 
 
 Warden, A Chorographical and Statistical Description of the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia. Paris. 1816, p. 32. 
 
 Page Fifty-one 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 I. Henry Wansey, F. A. S., [1752-1827], in middle life 
 retired from business, as a manufacturer of cloth, and de- 
 voted his time to travel, literature, and antiquarian research. 
 He was a member of the Bath and West of England Agri- 
 cultural Society and in 1791 published a volume "Wool 
 Encouraged without Exportation." He lived at Salisbury 
 towards the end of his life, and spent much time in the prep- 
 aration of the History of the Hundred of Warminster (his 
 birthplace) contained in the History of Wiltshire. It is to 
 be regretted that Wansey was not longer in this country. He 
 was a painstaking collector of facts, made it a business to talk 
 with everybody, and his memoranda have a Pepys flavor. 
 
 II. Isaac Weld, [1774-1856], was born in Dublin, and 
 was at school in England, where he knew the Martineau 
 family. The information contained in his Travels in this 
 country was gathered by him between his twenty first and his 
 twenty third year. The book was first published in 1799, 
 went through several editions, and was translated into sev- 
 eral foreign languages. He was distinguished in the field of 
 Irish Statistical Topography, and at the time of his death 
 had been many years Vice President of the Royal Dublin 
 Society. 
 
 III. Francis Baily, F. R. S. [1774-1844], was born in 
 Berkshire, and as a boy knew Dr. Priestley. He was a very 
 young man when he made his trip to this country, and he 
 took an adventurous journey — to Pittsburg, down the Ohio 
 to New Orleans, and back by land to Knoxville. His notes 
 have not been published, or were lost, beyond Knoxville. In 
 1799 he became a stock broker in London, and made a for- 
 tune, retiring from business in 1825. He early became an 
 authority on the theory of annuities and life insurance. But 
 
 Page Pifty-two 
 
he was especially known as a student of astronomy, reviser 
 of star catalogues, and reformer of the Nautical Almanac. 
 He was one of the founders of the Eoyal' Astronomical Soci- 
 ety, and for years its President. His most important work 
 was a repetition of the Cavendish Experiment for measuring 
 the density of the earth. 
 
 IV. Duke of La Rochefougauld-Liancouet, [,1747- 
 1827] , was early in the army. In 1769 he went to England 
 and made a particular study of the new agriculture there. 
 He returned to France and established a model farm on his 
 estate, and also a technical school for the sons of soldiers. 
 He was an influential member of the Constituent Assembly, 
 but on being compelled to quit France came to this country, 
 and put together the best book of that time descriptive of the 
 United States. He was active in public affairs in France 
 after the Revolution, did much to get vaccination established, 
 and organized the first savings bank. 
 
 V. John Davis op Salisbury is not mentioned in the 
 biographical dictionaries. His book of Travels in this coun- 
 try, as a book largely of impressions without any statistics 
 worth mentioning, is for that period unique. Davis was a 
 wanderer. He had been in the East Indies before coming 
 to this country. He wrote and published two novels while 
 in the United States, and was tutor in several families, in 
 New York, Virginia, and South Carolina. 
 
 Page Fifty-three 
 
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