colonists to the establishment of unchallenged and symmetrical
autonomy.

The growth of Philadelphia from this contracted germ was only less
remarkable than that of the government. The capital of the provincial
rebels had expanded into one fit for an empire, comparable to Vienna
as a site for a World's Exposition and a caravanserai for those who
should attend it. Such advantages would have caused its selection had
the question been submitted in the first instance to the unbiased vote
of various quarters of the Union, all expected and all prepared to
contribute an equal quota, according to population and means, of the
cost. But the enterprise of the community itself anticipated such
decision. Its own citizens hastened to appropriate the idea and
shoulder the responsibility. They felt that the standpoint wherefrom
they were able to address their countrymen was a commanding one, and
they lost no time in lifting up their voice. Aware that those who
take the initiative have always to carry more than their share of the
burden, they were very moderate in their calls for aid; and the demand
for that they rested chiefly upon the same ground which naturally
sustained part of their own calculations of reimbursement in some
shape, direct or indirect--local self-interest. The dislike to the
entire loss of a large outlay on an uncertain event is not peculiar to
this commercial age. Appeals on the side of patriotism and of
public enthusiasm over the jubilee of a century would be at least as
effective with the American people as with any other in the world;
but they could not be expected to be all-powerful, and to need no
assistance from the argument of immediate and palpable advantage.
In default of subscriptions to the main fund from distant towns and
States, these were invited to provide for the cost of collecting,
transporting and arranging their individual shares of the display.