The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-09-19
METROPOLIIAN MUSINGS.


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WAsSG1 On, besides being the political capital of the
United States sort of federal Thermometer to iudi-
cate the degrees of the national progress In this it diff
fers from the great capitals Of Europe London for in
stance s the keyboard of commerce. the centre of Euro
pean trade, the place where specializing spiders
intricate meshes in dark courts and send invitations
to foreign ies to walk into the parlor" Paris and St.
Peersburgh not representative but governing cities
the wealth and power of their respective nations flow
into tem because royalty intrigue and the facilities
for advancement and qualification greater there than
in the provinces But metropolis is purely and sim
ply representative city, brick and mortar model of
the United States continually and ccaseessly undergoing
the necessary notifications to insure its truthfuness and
to indicate the march of the nation Viewed in this
light it is proper subject for the patriotic pride of every
citizen for years of American history furnish
abundant material for epic We count cycles not
by centuries but by months. 1t is wonderful thing
and instructive to live where the process of
ton Is recorded in stately marble palaces and towering
domcs; and to know that every grand building every
noblo avenue and the constantly increasing demand for
broader of beauty only faint symbols of that
mighty Providentia fiat which from the chaos Of
tinent overbrooded by the still darkncss of brbar
ism, calls forth villages towns, cities, Statcsa whole
naon-fu of restless enterprise, and inspired by
tances has at last reached that point in its history when
its agncencc is greater than its distances we have
occasion To wade through morass in passing
from the Capitol to the White House. and the sports
man must seek his quarry from more remote localities
than the Ccutre market, though it Is maciously
asserted that sometimes our incipient Nmrods find
that the best place for their game. Despite the inn
preston entertained by our commercial contempora-
ries who cannot conceive Of the existence Of life and
growth apart from the ar and rush of loaded drays pour
ing through strcets and notwithstanding the COM
pacen Of superiority cultivated by gaudly be-
dzcned and ceremonial worshppng sisters abroad who
laugh weep, royalty smiles frowns Washington
not bowling wilderness, when Congress is not
in session. and while the foreign legations mostly
studying diplomacy at the seaside turning the heads
of parvenue mammas at Saratoga.
Two things have impressed this train of thought upon
my memory, Qor it is rcverio into which have
thus fallen the open air concerts afforded twice in
each week at the Capitol and the Presidents House,
by the Marine band, and the gradual improvement
of the numerous triangular spaces which the wise
forethought of those who projected the city caused
to bo consecrated to the consumption of su-
perabundant carbon. 1t is well for the people to
play and the instinct of childhood points to the open air
as the proper place for recreation A grasspot has
magical virtue for cearng the breast of perilous stuff
During the fierce heat which has prevailed until quite
Gently 1t pleasant to the large of the
people pouring into the grounds around the White
House. sitting in the cool shade of the trees which SO
fty adon the approach to the Capitol and it required
poetic enthusiasm to picture the coming day when the
Mall stretching down to the margin Of the noble Poto
mac, shall DO continuous shade, covered with glo-
rious foliage, and vocal with the ppng of fountains and
the song of birds. Then hard handed toll and weary
heads shall find in every sight and sound of beauty not
L.. I.,,A -,
strong Union which thus lovingly ndorns the home
Of all its children, the chosen seat of its conseors
not the fountain of its power but the everncrensing
Lake, formed by the rills that flow from east and west
from north and south, and mirroring upon its placid
surace the great forms of the mountains from whose
sides it fed 1t is true, proud of the pres
ent that in America the future tense in speak
ing Of our country; always ''going to be- or
going to do " but it Is also true that Acknowledgement
ing in Russia they the past tense, and their noDcst
monuments and most beautiful parks the herlooms and
old clothes of the departed Their best mission is pre-
scvatve, is creative suggest this only in antici
patton of probable msconcepton the part of the
many persons who in various parts of tho Old World OBJ
tain their notions of America from Mrs Tollope Dickens
or the Times. London is paying fearful price for
its neglect Of that planning for the future which
for long made Washington a laughing stock for
the poor wit OF every wandering Engsman who chose
to dish up national peculiaritics in hash of
guide books private journals Munchausen stories gath
crcd in stage coaches and railroad cars and confused re-
collections of three months of dligent examination into
the properties of sherry cobbles large oysters and Ca
tavba wine
Feeling that by the great multitude of washingto-
mans who regard my Musings part Of their breakfast
service am expected to be faithful to my SALT and to
see that tribune be not wanting to plead the rights
of the discnfnnchised, take this opportunity urge