Washington sentinel. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1856, 1856-01-29
Our National CapitaI-The City OF WASH
inRton.


Our National CapitaI-The City OF WASH
ington.
The Philadelphia Bulletin has the following
interesting remarks upon the present condition
and future prospects of the city of Washing
ton:
The plan Of Washington has been ridiculed
for its vastness and it may have seemed ridicu-
lous to have few thousand people scattered
over place that would lodge million, and
call it city. But the designers of Washing
ton had calculated for futurity, and already it
is beginning to show that it will be large
enough for its plan. Within the past fifteen
years its population has more than doubled,
and many of the present generation will live
to see it a compact as well as an elegant city of
perhaps several hundred thousand inhabitants
The plan, besides being vast, is perhaps the
finest ever conceived for a great metropolis.
Paris, in spite of its Boulevards, its Rue de
Riyo, and its Champs Elysees, can never be
made as superb city as Washington must be-
come in the course of centuries. The univer-
sally wide, straight streets, and the grand
avenues radiating from the Capitol and the
Presidents House, give it an advantage in
| variety and in circulation that no European
capital possesses, and Of which, even we, in
rectangular but beautiful Philadelphia, must
/
forever be deprived.
| There is no grander urban prospect in the
| world than that presented to the spectator
from the Capitol even at the present time The
city lies at his feet, and Pennsylvania avenue
stretches out before him, even its mean-looSing
houses acquiring sort Of beauty as being
| component parts of vista. Vistas are always
beautiful, and this one, terminating with the
Presidents house and the treasury in the DIS
lance will, at some future day, be one of the
most beautiful in the world. Looking directly
westward, the mall spreads out before him,
with the quaint but picturesque buildings OF
the Smithsonian Institute and its surrounding
grounds, relieving the monotony of its own de-
sert waste Afar off the huge white obelisk of
the Washington Monument rises, at present an
ugly-looking thing, somewhat resembling an
exaggerated lighthouse, but destined to be-
come noble and commanding structure, al
though its design may offend some critical
tastes. When the monument is finished, and
the grounds of the mall are laid out as pub
lie park, there will be no more beautiful view
than this anywhere.
The grounds of the Capitol are already ex
tremely beautiful, and those surrounding the
Presidents House, which have always been
admired, are now more worthy OF 1t than ever
Lafayette Square is an attractive appendage to
these, and open spaces at the intersections OF
the various avenues and streets will, at some
future day, be planted and embellished, so as
to make an abundance of gardens and shady
promenades all over the city. There are no
grand palaces, such as make splendid attrac
ton in foreign capitals; but the Presidents
House is elegant and appropriate, and fully
satisfies all our republican ideas on this point
But the Capitol, when it is finished, will be as
grand government building as can be found
in the world; and besides its vastness and ee-
gance, it has advantages of situation above
those of all the European palaces The Patent
Office, or more properly speaking, the building
of the Interior Department, is noble structure,
and the Post Office, when finished, will be
scarcely inferior to it. The colonnade of the
Treasury is deservedly admired, and the pro-
posed new buildings for the State, War, and
Navy Departments will doubtless be made cor
respondingy handsome.
+ In works of art, Washington, although def
cient as compared with European capitals,
much surpasses all other American cities.
There is no national gallery of pictures, but
the pictures in the rotundo are the only ma
tional pictures we have. TrumbullPs unpoetic
but faithful works have a historical value which
compensates for their artistic defects and
while the Baptism of Pocahontas, the Landing
of Columbus, and the meodramatic, highly
colored and very French picture of the Discov.
cry of the Mississippi may be objected to for
want Of fitness or for certain defects in execu-
ton, all visitors must be attracted and touched
by the exceeding beauty of Weir's Embarka-
ton of the Pilgrims. The statuary of the Capt.
tol is not what it should be, and Greenough's
Washington, sitting with bare arms and shoul.
ders in the open grounds, is rather an unpleas-
ant representation Of the Father Of his Coun-
try. But the Jackson statue-let rigid old
world criticism say what it pleases-is noble
work, and one that every spectator must be
struck with as bold, original design, admira-
bly, carried out, and much more interesting
than nine. tenths of the equestrian statues that
are seen abroad.
The catalogue OF Washington's artistic en-
bellishments is soon run through. But for the
infant metropolis Of a nation in its homage it
does very we'll Congress, too, can afford to be
liberal for the sake of improving the attractions
of city that is resorted TO by the people of
every State, and in which every State has a
certain interest. The residents of Washington,
however, should not depend too exclusively
upon government support. There is no rea
son why commerce and manufactures should
not flourish in Washington as well as in Balti.
more; and individual enterprise should 90 hand
in hand with that Of government in enlarging
the resources Of the place and increasing the
inducements for people to reside there. The
vast expenditure Of late years upon public
buildings makes it almost certain that the gov
eminent will never be removed from Washing
ton; and indeed the extension Of railroads and
telegraphs destroys the force Of the chief argu.
ments in favor Of such removal. So the people
OF Washington can safely employ their capital
-. try hat NIL he pf mn
advantage, and feel secure that there is no
danger of a reaction or Of loss from the removal
Of the seat Of Government.