Weekly national intelligencer., 1847-09-18

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horses the whip, he cried out, There it is, gentlemen"
And surely more splendid panorama, if may be allow
ed the could scarcely have been conceived We
saw IN one vast survey the whole city all its magnfcence
its harbor filed with shipping Fort McHenry the river Pa
apsco to its entrance The Chesapeake the Chesapeake il
self in nearly all It's extent, with its ndened and enameed
border % the whole stretching landscape into smoke decay
ed" ALL all met ravshed vision once, and
admiration more deeply felt strongly expressed We
found the accommodations at the Columbian Hotel large
scale and in superior sye when compared with any either
Of us had for in TRUTH they then unexam
pied in our country, although similar establishments have
since appeared in many Of our northern cities When
called for dinner we asked whether we would dine by
ourselves or in the ordinary What do you by the
ordinary !" we inquired. " II circle Of hundred gen.
temen who daily take their dinner here, being chiefly mer
chants and citizens from Fes Point and all respectable cha
racersn We chose the ordinary, and the arrangement
no sooner made than in came the honorable Mr. McHeny,
exSecretary Of War; to invite US to dine with him at his
house but as we stood engaged and proposed pursue
Journey Immediately after dinner he readily determined to
s,ay and dine with u.s. all politely received the
ordinary placed the head Of the table, and abundany sup
ped by the gentlemen with the great luxury of the Chesa
peake the canpassback duck prepared by them chang
Dishes with jelles dish which neither OF had be-
fore seen and which untedly pronounced Of
ouae and exquisite flavor. After dinner proceeded
succession of steep hills and sadly neglected road border
ed in many by fields exhausted by tobacco crops and
living waste station for the night, fifteen miles from
Baltimore The day arrived the end of jour
ney passing through region less hy and less smen with
the blight Of slavery particularly plantations, of
which belonged the Hon. John Chew Thomas then
Der Of Congress, eighteen miles from Washington Our
proach the city accompanied with sensations not easily
described. One wing Of the Capitol only had been erected
which, with the Presidents house, mile distant from it. both
constructed with white sandstone shining objects dis
NAL with the around them Instead of recog
nising the and streets portrayed the plan Of the
city, visible unless except road with two
buildings each side Of it. called the New Jersey avenue
The Pennsylvania leading, laid down paper from the
distance deep moass covered with alder bushes. which
through the width Of the intended during the
then ensuing winter Between the Presidents house and
Georgetown block Of houses had been erected which then
bore, and may still bear, the Of the sac buildings
There other blocks consisting of two three
dwelling houses in different directions and and then
insulated wooden habtaon the intervening spaces and
deed the surface Of the city generally being covered with
bushes the higher grounds, and the marshy
soil either trees sort of shubbey Nor was the de-
soae aspect Of the place little augmented by number o
unfinished edices at Greenas Point, and eminence
short distance from it, commenced by individual whose
they bore, but the state of whose funds compelled him
abandon them, not only unfinished but in runous cond
ton There appeared be but really comfortable hab
tatons in all respects within the bounds of the city,
which belonged Dudley Carroll, Esq. and the other
Motley Young, who the former propetors of large
portion of the land appropriated to the city, but who reserved
for their accommodation ground sufficient for gardens
and other useful appuenances The roads in every direction
muddy and unimproved. sidewalk attempted
instance by covering formed Of the chips of the
which had been hewed for the Capitol. exended but
little way, and of little values for in dry weather the
sharp fragments cut shoes and in wet weather covered
them with white mortar. In Short it was 'new settlement.
The houses with two three exceptions had been very
Gently erected and the operation greatly hurried in view
the approaching transfer Of the National Government
audabe desire manifested by what few citizens and resi-
dents there to render condition pleasant
would permit One of the blocks of buildings area
dy mentioned situated onthe side OF what
tended for the Capitol square, and being chiefly occupied by
extensive and welkept hotel accommodated goodly
number of the members Our little party took lodgings with
Mr. Peacock, of the houses the New Jersey
with the addition of Senators Tracy, Of Connecticut
and Chpman and Paine of Vermont and Representatives
Thomas, of Maryland, and Dana Edmond, and Grswold
of Connecticut. Speaker Sedgwick allowed tc
himself; the rest of in pairs To my excellent friend Da
venpot and myself allotted spacious and deceny fur
nshed apartment with separate BEDS the lower floor Ou
diet various but always substantial and attend
ed by active and faithful servants large proportion of the
Southern members took lodgings at Georgetown, which
though of superior order, three miles distant from the
CAPITOL and of rendered the daily employment of hack
ney coaches indispensable.
Notwithstanding the unfavorable aspect which Washington
presented arrival sufficiently express my ad
maton Of its local position. From the Capitol you have
distinct view OF Its ne undulang surface situated at the
confluence of the Potomac and its branch the wide
expanse of that majestic river the bend at Mount Vernon
the cities of Alexandra and Georgetown, and the cultivated
fields and blue hills of Maryland and Virginia either side
OF the rive the whole constituting prospect of SURPRISING
beauty and grandeur The city has also the nestimabe
vantage of delightful water in many instances flowing from
copous springs and always attanabe by digging mode
rate depth 20 which may be added the singular fact that such
the due admixure of loan and clay in the soil of great
portion of the city that house may be built Of brick made
the earth dug from the cellar hence not unusual to
the remains OF brckkin the newly erected dwelling
house or other edice. In Short when consider only
these advantages, but what in national point Of vew
superior Importance the location fine navgabe river
cessibe to the whole maritime frontier of the United States
and yet easily rendered defensbe against foreign invasion
and that blythe facilities Of internal navigation and railways
it may be approached by the population Of the Western
States and indeed of the whole naton with less nconve-
nence than any other conceivable suaon ncknow
ledge that its selection by WASHINGTON the permanent
seat OF the Federal Government affords striking exhibition
the discernment wisdom and forecast which characterized
that lustrlous man. Under this impression, whenever dur
ing the SIX years OF my connexon with Congress- the
ton OF removing the seat Of Government to other place
was agltatedand the proposition frequently made
stood almost alone as Northern in giving my vote in
the negative.
DREADrUL AFrAIR.-A dreadful affair took place Pat
erson, New Jersey Wednesday Two men, father and
son, named Campbell had QUARREL during which the
former attempted to take the life of the latter The son,
from his father took the river but the father pur-