Washington City [pp. 502-508]

WASHINGTON CITY.
when she asks that the property of every description of each
and all the citizens of the United States should be protected
by the General Government, wherever its jurisdiction is paramount, and its flag floats as the sole emblem of human authority? Can this last be refused, except by a denial of the right
of property? Now, sir, what is there in all this to offend the
well-settled opinions, or even the plausible prejudices, of any
large portion of our fellow-citizens? We do not ask them to
establish a new state of things, or to create anything which
did not exist before; but to recognize facts, and to acknowledge obligations created, not by ourselves, but by our fathers,
when they formed this Union, to which we are all attached.
We ask for peace and justice: is this too much for one manfor one brother-to expect of another? Can the Southern
States exist as the confederated equals of the Northern with
less than this? Mr. President, I am deeply anxious to settle
these exciting questions peaceably and harmoniously, not
only now, but for ever, if any satisfactory settlement could
be made so permanent. For this purpose, I am willing to
sacrifice feeling, pride of opinion-if I have it-interests, even,
if not of too important a character-anything, in short, which
I can do consistently with the honor and safety of my constituents. But there is one thing I never will do; I will not
sacrifice those rights which are necessary to protect the liberties of my native State, be the consequences of that refusal
what they may. But, sir, I exhaust myself, and weary the
Senate. I will pursue the subject no further.
ART. III.-WASItINGTON CITY.
TIIE town is as natural as the country, for "it is not good
for man to live alone." In the earliest dawn of human history, we find men engaged in building cities as the first act
in colonizing and settling new countries. So universal with
civilized races has been this procedure, that it must be a matter of instinct and necessity, rather than of choice, taste, or
judgment. Cities are but human hives and honeycombs, and
as much the natural residences of man as the latter are of
bees. We have the most singular, concurrent, and abundant
evidence of this theory in the words descriptive of town and
country, in many ancient and modern languages. Politeness,
politics, policy, polity, are all derived from "2oi5s," the Greek
word for city. Citizen, civility, and civilization, from the
Latin term for city, as, also, "urbane" and "urbanity." In deed, " eivitas" meant as well a city as a State, showing that
the Romans, like the Greeks, considered the country as the
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