Washington, the Capital of the United States of America, is situated in the District of Columbia, on the left bank of the Potomac, between the Anacostia or eastern branch of that river, and about one hundred and eighty-five miles from the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. At an early period, indeed, before the clamor of war had fairly ceased, or the proud standard of England had been driven from its shores, the necessity of a territory which should be under the exclusive jurisdiction of Congress had engaged the attention of the founders of the new Republic. The possession of such a territory formed an important feature in the debates upon the framing of the Constitution, and it was only forty-eight days after the last act of ratification that the Capital City was, by solemn enactment of Congress, located on the eastern shore of the beautiful Potomac.

The site of the Capital was selected by General Washington, the beloved first President of the Republic, and covers an undulating tract on the east bank of the river. From the rugged elevations on the borders of Rock Creek, a crescent-shaped ridge crosses the northern portion of the city, which is abruptly sundered, as it were, to admit the passage of a small stream called the Tiber. From this point the ridge ascends, gradually expanding into the extensive plateau of Capitol Hill, overlooking the Anacostia on the east. Within this encircling ridge the surface declines, in gentle slopes and terraces, down to the banks of the Potomac. From the lower falls of the river at Georgetown, beyond the outlying spurs of the Blue Ridge, a chain of low wooded hills extend across the north, which, continuing along the opposite shores of the Anacostia and Potomac, emerge again in the hills on the Virginia side of that river, presenting the appearance of a vast amphitheatre, in the centre of which stands the Capitol.

The mean altitude of the city is about forty feet above the ordinary low tide of the Potomac; the soil on which it is built is generally a yellowish-clay intermixed with gravel. In making excavations for wells and cisterns, near New Jersey avenue, trees were found, in a good state of preservation, at a depth of from six to forty-eight feet below the surface.

The Tiber, a little stream, with its tributaries, passes through the city. Tradition affirms that this stream received its name more than a century before Washington city was founded, in the belief and with the prediction that there would arise on its banks, in the future, a Capital destined to rival in magnificent grandeur that which crowned the banks of its great historic namesake. The streams forming this river have their source among the hills to the east, and enter the city in several directions, the principal branch winding off to the southwest, around the base of Capitol Hill, across Pennsylvania avenue, to the Botanical Gardens. Originally its course continued along the Mall and emptied into the Potomac immediately west of the Washington Monument, but subsequently it was diverted into the canal, the filling up of which caused still other changes. The Tiber and its tributaries were utilized by diverting them into the sewerage system of the central and southern portions of the city; consequently, although the stream traverses one of the most populous sections, its course is not visible, the current flowing beneath heavy brick arches upon which buildings have been erected, and avenues, streets and parks laid out. In primitive days the banks of the Tiber were covered with heavy forests, while shad, herring and other fish, in their season, were taken from its waters, under the very shadow of the hill upon which the Capitol now stands.

There is no city in the Union which presents to the thoughtful and truly patriotic American so many objects of interest as does the city of Washington. First of all, this feeling is intensified by the fact of its having been located and founded by the great, immortal Pater PatriÆ whose illustrious name it has the honor of bearing. A plan of the city was prepared in 1791, by Peter L'Enfant, a French engineer of fine education and decided genius, who had served in the Continental army with such distinction as to attract the attention of General Washington. He was assisted in the work by the advice and suggestions of Thomas Jefferson, who, while diplomatic representative of the United States, had studied the plans of the principal cities visited in Europe, with a view to the future wants of his country, and was prepared, by the aid of his personal knowledge of their details, to contribute valuable information and suggestions.

It is evident that the predominating object in designing a plan for the city, was first to secure the most eligible situations for the different public buildings, and to arrange the squares and areas so that the most extended views might be obtained from every direction. The amplest arrangements were also made by the founders of Washington for its rapid growth and expansion, while they evidently designed and anticipated its being magnificently built up and embellished. The indifference of the Government and people has permitted these suggestions to remain too long unheeded; yet it is consoling to those possessing an intelligent patriotism and proud love of country, to know that the neglected condition of the Capital of the United States for nearly three-fourths of a century was not the result of any defect in the design originated by its noble founders.

Any one who has visited the royal residence of the kings of France, will immediately recognize the resemblance between the plans of Le Notre for Versailles, and L'Enfant for Washington City. The grand avenues, de Sceaux and St. Cloud, diverging from the Cour Royal, are reproduced in Pennsylvania and Maryland avenues, radiating from the east front of the Capitol. Its broad thoroughfares are among the principal attractions of Washington, and are the finest possessed by any city in the world. The avenues, twenty-one in number, radiate from principal centres and connect different parts of the city; the original number was thirteen, named for the States constituting the Union at the time the Capital was laid out. The first in importance is Pennsylvania avenue; its width varies from one hundred and sixty to one hundred and eighty feet; its length is four and one-half miles, traversing the finest business portion of the city, as well as being the most popular and fashionable thoroughfare for driving. The War and Treasury departments, Washington Circle, and the President's House, are each located on this superb street, which, winding up and around Capitol Hill, finds its terminus on the banks of the Anacostia.

The spaces at the intersection of the more important avenues form what are called Circles. Washington Circle, at the intersection of Pennsylvania and New Hampshire avenues, contains the equestrian statue of General Washington, which was ordered by Congress, and cannon donated for the purpose, in 1853. The great hero is represented at the crisis of the battle of Princeton; the horse seems shrinking from the storm of shot and shell and the fiery conflict confronting him; his rider exhibits that calm equanimity of bearing so eminently his characteristic. This statue was executed by Clark Mills, at a cost of fifty thousand dollars.

At the western base of Capitol Hill stands the naval monument, termed in the resolutions of Congress, the "Monument of Peace." It was designed by Admiral Porter, and erected by subscriptions started by him among the officers, midshipmen and men of his fleet, immediately after the fall of Fort Fisher. The height of this monument is forty-four feet; it is built of Carrara marble and cost $44,000. The surmounting figures represent History recording the woes narrated by America, who holds a tablet in her hand on which is inscribed: They died that their country might live. This monument is exceedingly well executed, and was considered, in Rome, one of the finest ever sent to America.

Lafayette Square, comprising seven acres lying north of the President's House, is beautifully laid out with rustic seats, graveled walks, and adorned with a rare variety of trees and shrubbery. In the centre of this square stands an equestrian statue of General Andrew Jackson, by Clark Mills, originally contracted for by the friends and admirers of the General composing the Jackson Monument Association, who subscribed twelve thousand dollars towards its erection. Congress afterward granted them the brass guns and mortars captured by General Jackson at Pensacola. In 1850 an additional donation of guns was made; in 1852 another appropriation sufficient to complete the work was granted, and Congress assumed possession of the monument. The figure of the horse is weighted and poised without the aid of rods, as in the celebrated statues of Peter the Great, at St. Petersburg, and Charles I., at London. This was the first application of the principle, and resulted in the production of one of the most graceful and astonishingly beautiful works of its kind in existence. The statue is of colossal size, weighing fifteen tons, and was erected at a cost of $50,000.

Scott Square, lying north of the White House, contains a bronze statue of General Winfield Scott, made of cannon captured by the General during his Mexican campaign, and donated by Congress in 1867. The work was executed by Brown, of New York; with the pedestal, it is twenty-nine feet high, and cost $20,000. The General is represented in full uniform, mounted on his war-horse, surveying the field of battle.

The Circle of Victory, at the intersection of Massachusetts and Vermont avenues, contains a bronze equestrian statue of General George H. Thomas, of the Army of the Cumberland. The statue confronts the South, in the direction of the General's native hills of Virginia. On the site of this monument a salute of eight hundred guns was fired in commemoration of the capture of Petersburg and Richmond on the third of April, 1865; and, a few days later, five hundred guns were fired from the same spot in honor of General Lee's surrender and the fall of the Southern Confederacy.

On East Capitol street, at a distance of about one mile from the Capitol, is a square comprising six and a half acres, beautifully laid out and adorned with trees, shrubbery and walks. In this enclosure a bronze group called Emancipation has been erected; Abraham Lincoln is represented holding in his right hand the proclamation which gave freedom to the negroes of the South. A slave kneels at his feet, with manacles broken, and in the act of rising as they fall from his hands. This monument is said to have been built exclusively of funds contributed by the negroes liberated by Lincoln's proclamation of January first, 1863. The first contribution of five hundred dollars was made, it is stated, by Charlotte Scott, formerly a slave in Virginia, out of her first earnings as a freed-woman, and consecrated by her, on hearing of President Lincoln's death, to aid in building a monument to his memory. The interesting memorial was unveiled with appropriate ceremonies, on the anniversary of his assassination, April fourteenth, 1876, the President and his Cabinet, foreign ministers, and a vast concourse of white and colored citizens being present. Including the pedestal of Virginia granite, the structure is twenty-two feet in height, and cost $20,000. It was in this square, now called Lincoln Square, that, according to the founder's original plan of embellishment, a grand Historic Column was to have been erected, to serve as an itinerary column, from which all geographical distances within the boundaries of the United States should be calculated.

McPherson Square, on Vermont avenue, contains a bronze equestrian statue of General James Birdseye McPherson, who was killed near Atlanta, at the head of the Army of the Tennessee, in 1864. He is represented in full uniform, with field-glasses in hand, surveying the battle-ground. A vault was constructed beneath the statue, for the purpose of receiving his body, but the devoted opposition of the people prevented its removal from his native place.

Farragut and Rawlins squares contain respectively colossal, but not equestrian statues of Admiral Farragut and General Rawlins.

Mount Vernon Place, at the intersection of New York and Massachusetts avenues, is handsomely laid out and planted with trees; in the centre, occupying an elevated circular space, is a superb fountain of bronze.

There are numerous smaller spaces at the intersection of various streets and avenues, called triangular reservations, all of which are highly adorned with trees, shrubs and beautiful small fountains.

The Government Propagating Gardens cover an area of eighty acres on the banks of the Potomac, south of Washington's Monument. The Botanical Garden, an instructive place of public resort, lies at the foot of Capitol Hill, between Pennsylvania and Maryland avenues. North of the Conservatory is found the Bartholdi Fountain, which is supplied with water from the aqueduct, its highest stream reaching an altitude of sixty-five feet. This fountain is the work of Frederic Augustus Bartholdi, a French sculptor and pupil of Scheffer. It will be remembered by all who visited the National Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, where it was exhibited, and afterward purchased by Congress for the inadequate sum of six thousand dollars. The lower basin is twenty-six feet in diameter, and from its centre rises a pedestal bearing aquatic monsters and fishes spouting water; three female caryatides, eleven feet high, support a basin thirteen feet in diameter; a smaller basin above this is upheld by three infant Tritons, the whole being surmounted by a mural crown. Twelve lamps, arranged around the lower basin, and lighted by electricity, give the most beautiful effects of light and water. On the plaza in front of the Treasury Department, is another fine fountain, in the form of an immense granite urn, the tassa of which measures sixteen feet in diameter.

Immediately in front of Washington city the Potomac expands into a broad, lake-like body of water, a mile and a quarter wide and at least eighteen feet deep. The Anacostia River, at its mouth, is almost the same width and fully as deep. Improving the navigation of the Potomac and the construction of a canal to the head waters of the Ohio River, were enterprises that began with the founding of the National Capital.

In 1872, Congress appointed a board of officers with a view to the improvement of the channel of the river and water fronts of Washington and Georgetown, for commercial purposes, as well as the reclamation of the malaria-infected marshes opposite the city. These improvements will necessitate the rebuilding of Long Bridge for railroad and ordinary traveling purposes, and reclaim more than a thousand acres of valuable land. It is proposed to remove the National Observatory and use the earth for filling up the marshes.

The Navy Yard Bridge crosses the Anacostia River, at the foot of Eleventh street, having supplanted the wooden structure built in 1819, over which Booth made his escape after the assassination of Lincoln.

The various buildings occupied by the Executive and Legislative branches of the Government are worthy of especial notice. The Capitol is considered one of the largest and finest edifices of the kind in the world, and in point of durability of structure and costliness of material, it certainly has no superior. It stands on the west side of Capitol Hill, very near the centre of the city, and one mile distant from the Potomac River. The main or central building is three hundred and fifty two feet in length, with two wings or extensions, each having a front of one hundred and forty-three feet on the east and west, and a depth of two hundred and thirty-nine feet along the north and south faÇades, exclusive of the porticoes. The entire length of this great edifice is seven hundred and fifty feet; its greatest depth three hundred and twenty-four feet; the ground plan covering three and a half acres.

The central and original Capitol building is of freestone, taken from the Government quarries at Aquia Creek, forty miles below the city, which were purchased for that purpose, by the Commissioners, in 1791. This building is now painted white, to correspond with the extensions, columns and porticoes of white marble. From the centre rises the great dome, designed by Walter, to replace the original one removed in 1856, after the additions to the building had rendered it out of proportion. The apex is surmounted by a lantern fifty feet high, surrounded by a peristyle, and crowned by the bronze statue of Freedom executed by Crawford in 1865. The height from the base line to the crest of this statue is three hundred and eight feet, making the dome of the Capitol rank fifth in height with the greatest structures of the kind in Europe.

The great dome is visible from every elevated point in the District for miles around, and from its windows, as far as the eye can reach, is extended a panorama of wooded hills, beautiful valleys, with the majestic cloud-capped spurs of the Blue Ridge raising their lofty heads in the distance. The eastern faÇade of the building looks out upon the extended plain of Capitol Hill, with its background of green hills reaching far beyond the Anacostia. On the north a broad valley extends, until it unites with the encircling hills of the city; on the south the majestic Potomac and Anacostia rivers are seen to meet and mingle their placid waters; while from the west are beheld the lawns and groves of the Botanic Garden, the Mall, and handsome grounds of the President's house, with Georgetown Heights and the glittering domes of the Observatory in the distance.

The main entrance, from the grand portico into the rotunda is filled by the celebrated bronze door modeled by Rogers, in Rome, 1858, and cast in bronze at Munich, by Miller, in 1860. On the panels of this door are portrayed, in alto relievo, the principal events in the life of Christopher Columbus, and the discovery of America. The key of the arch is adorned with a fine head of the great navigator; in the four corners of the casing are statuettes, representing Asia, Africa, Europe and America, with a border in relief of ancient armor, banners and heraldic designs emblematic of navigation and conquest. Bordering each leaf on the door are statuettes, sixteen in number, of his patrons and contemporaries; the nine panels bear alto relievo illustrations of the principal events in his life; while between the panels are a series of heads, representing the historians of the great discoverer and his followers. Altogether, this justly celebrated bronze door, besides being wonderful as a work of art, constitutes in itself a small volume of the most interesting and important events belonging to the history of our country.

The rotunda into which the door leads is embellished with eight large historical paintings, by different artists. Four of these were executed by Trumbell, who served as aid-de-camp to Washington in 1775, and reproduced in his figures the likenesses of the actors in the scenes portrayed. In arranging the characters for the "Declaration of Independence," in which the Congress of 1776 is represented in the act of signing that great instrument of American liberty, the artist conferred with Jefferson, the Author of the Declaration, and John Adams, both of whom were present and signers. The individual costumes, the furniture, and the hall itself, are represented with scrupulous fidelity, all of which tends to increase the interest inspired by this painting.

The National Library was founded by act of Congress in 1800, and the following year, after the report of John Randolph, of Roanoke, had been submitted, setting forth the necessity for further legislation on the subject, a second act was passed, which placed it on a permanent basis. The number of volumes first contained in the library was three thousand, but appropriations were annually made by Congress to increase the number. In 1814 the Capitol was burned by the British, and the library destroyed; a few months later, Thomas Jefferson offered the Government his private collection of 6,700 volumes, among which were many rare and valuable works obtained in Europe, and these were purchased for the sum of $23,950. In 1866 the Smithsonian Library, containing forty thousand volumes, was added, and a year later, the Peter Force collection was purchased by Congress, for $100,000; constant additions have increased the number, until the library now contains nearly four hundred thousand bound volumes, and one hundred thousand pamphlets. It is enriched also by journals, manuscripts, and maps relating to the history and topography of the country; in respect to the latter, being only approached by the library in the British Museum. The Library halls occupy the principal floor of the entire west projection of the Capitol.

In the Vice President's Room hangs the original painting of Washington, taken from life by Rembrandt Peale, and purchased by the Government in 1832, for the sum of two thousand dollars.

The Senate Reception Room is a beautiful and brilliant apartment, about sixty feet in length, with its vaulted and arched ceiling, divided into four sections, adorned with allegorical frescoes of Prudence, Justice, Temperance and Strength, executed by Brumidi, in 1856. The ceiling is heavily gilded throughout; the walls finished in stucco and gilt, with a base of Scagliola, imitating the marbles of Potomac and Tennessee. A finely executed fresco, in oil, by Brumidi, adorns the south wall, representing Washington in consultation with Jefferson and Hamilton, his Secretaries of State and Treasury.

The President's Boom is an equally magnificent apartment, with groined arches embellished with numerous allegorical figures in fresco, the decoration, by Brumidi, being, in general design, the same as in the private audience chamber of the Vatican at Rome. The work throughout is very fine, being richly decorated with arabesques on a groundwork of gilt; the luxurious furniture of the apartment is entirely in keeping with this high order of artistic finish.

The old Hall of the House of Representatives is a magnificent apartment, designed and planned after the theatre at Athens, with fourteen Corinthian columns of variegated marble, forming a circular colonnade on the north. The bases of these columns are of freestone, the capitals of Carrara marble, designed and executed in Italy, after those in the temple of Jupiter Stator, at Rome; the paneled dome overhead is similar to that of the Pantheon. This venerable apartment was occupied by the House of Representatives for thirty-two years; its atmosphere must, in consequence, ever continue redolent with historic associations. On its walls, in the old days, hung the full-length portraits of Washington and Lafayette, presented by the latter on his last visit to this country; and the exact spot is pointed out where stood the desk of the venerable Ex-President, John Quincy Adams, when that aged patriot and senator was stricken by death. When, on the completion of the new, the old Hall was abandoned, in 1857, it was set apart, by Congress, as a National Statuary Gallery, and the President authorized to invite the different States to contribute statues, in bronze or marble, of such among their distinguished citizens as they might especially desire to honor, the number being limited to two from each State. These contributions have been coming in slowly from year to year, besides which, many valuable statues and paintings have been purchased and added, by the Government.

The new Hall of Representatives is said to be the finest in the world; its length being one hundred and thirty-nine feet, width ninety-three, and height thirty-six feet, while the galleries will seat twenty-five hundred persons. The ceiling is of cast-iron, with panels gilded and filled with stained-glass centres, on which are represented the coat-of-arms of each of the different States. The walls are adorned with valuable historical paintings and frescoes.

The Supreme Court Room, formerly the old United States Senate Chamber, is a semicircular apartment, seventy-five feet in diameter; its height and greatest width being forty-five feet. The ceiling is formed by a flattened dome, ornamented with square caissons in stucco, with apertures for the admission of light. Supporting a gallery back of the Judges' seats extends a row of Ionic columns of Potomac marble, with capitals of white Italian marble, modeled after those in the Temple of Minerva. Along the western wall are marble brackets, each supporting the bust of a deceased Chief Justice.

When occupied by the Senate, the Hall contained desks for sixty-four Senators. It was in this chamber that the Nation's purest and most profound statesmen assembled, and the great "Immortal Trio," Clay, Webster and Calhoun, made those wonderful forensic efforts which gave their names forever to fame and the admiration of posterity.

The New Senate Chamber, first occupied in 1859, is a magnificent apartment, belonging to the new extension of the Capitol, one hundred and thirteen feet in length by eighty feet in width, and thirty-six feet high. The Senators' desks are constructed of mahogany, and arranged in concentric semicircles around the apartment. The galleries rise and recede in tiers to the corridors of the second floor, and are capable of seating twelve thousand people.

Immense iron girders and transverse pieces compose the ceiling, forming deep panels, each glazed with a symbolic centre piece; the walls are richly painted, the doors elaborately finished with bronze ornaments. From the lobby we pass into the Senate Retiring Room, handsomely furnished, and said to be the finest apartment of the kind in the world. The ceiling is composed of massive blocks of polished white marble, which form deep panels, resting upon four Corinthian columns, also of white Italian marble. Highly polished Tennessee marble lines the entire walls, in the panels of which are placed immense plate glass mirrors, enhancing the brilliancy and already striking effect of the whole.

The limits of this chapter will not admit of further description of the numerous apartments gorgeously furnished; the palatial corridors beautifully designed; magnificent vestibules with fluted columns of marble; richly gilt paneled ceilings and tinted walls; grand stairways of marble and bronze, with the statues, busts, paintings and bronzes, which enrich the Capitol, many of them being masterpieces of art, and none devoid of merit. A detailed account of all would fill a small volume; we are compelled, therefore, to reluctantly leave the subject, and proceed to the description of the Public Buildings.

The President's House is situated in the western part of the city, distant one and a half miles from the Capitol. A premium of five hundred dollars was awarded James Hoban, architect, of South Carolina, for the plan, and the corner stone laid, with Masonic honors, October thirteenth, 1792. John Adams was the first presidential occupant; he took possession during the month of November, 1800, after the Government offices had been removed to Washington. This building was burned by the British in 1814; the following year Congress authorized its restoration, committing the work to the original architect, Hoban, by whom it was completed in 1826, in all its details. It is built of freestone, one hundred and seventy feet in length, eighty-six in width, with grand porticoes on the north and south fronts, supported by Ionic columns. The main entrance is on the north, by a spacious vestibule handsomely frescoed. The Blue Room, in which the President receives, on both public and private occasions, is an oval-shaped apartment, finished in blue and gilt, with draperies and furniture of blue damask. Communicating with this is a second parlor called the Green Room, from the prevailing color of the furniture and hangings. In this apartment are found the portraits of Presidents Madison, Monroe, Harrison and Taylor. The East Room, which closes the suite, is a truly royal apartment, magnificently decorated in a style purely Grecian, the ceiling frescoed in oil, mantles of exquisite wood carving, immense mirrors in magnificent frames, with the richest furniture, and window drapery of the costliest lace and damask. A full length portrait of Washington adorns this apartment, purchased by Congress in 1803. When the Capitol was burned, in 1814, this painting was rescued from destruction by Mrs. Madison, who had it removed from the frame and carried to a place of safety. A portrait of Martha, the wife of Washington, also hangs in this room, painted by Andrews in 1878.

The numerous other apartments in the President's House exhibit the same lavish style of adorning, the furniture being constantly changed and renewed; but the vandal spirit of change has not, as yet, dared to lay its sacrilegious hand upon or to alter the construction of the house, which remains the same as when, almost a century ago, it was first occupied by the elder President Adams. It is not difficult, therefore, to evoke the spirit of the past while standing among these ancient apartments, halls and corridors, and behold in fancy the long line of true statesmen, incorruptible patriots and noble men, who have successively lived and moved among them, in the early days of the Republic. And it is to be devoutly hoped that the vanity and caprice of the rulers who, in these later years, are being cast into high places, will not prevail in the effort to have this venerable home of the Presidents, hallowed by the memories of the nation's past, cast aside, and another building, modern and meaningless, substituted in its stead.

Immediately west of the President's House stands the Department of State, War and Navy, a vast and imposing structure in the Doric style, combining the massive proportions of the ancient with the elegance of modern architecture. The Diplomatic Reception Room is a magnificent apartment, decorated and furnished in the most sumptuous manner, with ebonized woods and gold brocade, after the Germanized Egyptian style. The portraits of Daniel Webster and Lord Ashburton, by Healy (purchased by Congress from the widow of Fletcher Webster, 1879), adorn the walls, and over the mantels are busts, in bronze, of Washington and Lafayette. In the Diplomatic Ante-room is seen a full-length portrait of the Bey of Tunis, sent by special envoy in 1865, with a letter of condolence to the Government, on the death of Lincoln. Above this apartment is the library, containing a valuable collection of works on diplomacy, and many objects of interest, including the original draft of the Declaration of Independence, with the desk on which it was written, presented to the Government by the heirs of James Coolidge, of Massachusetts, to whom it was presented by Thomas Jefferson. The original document, signed, is also here, together with the sword of Washington, purchased by Congress in 1880, and his commission as Commander-in-Chief; the staff of Franklin; original drafts of the laws of the United States, the Federal Constitution, and other valuable and interesting historic documents, from the foundation of the Government. The entire building contains one hundred and fifty apartments, and cost five million dollars.

The Treasury Department is situated east of the President's House; it presents a most classic appearance, with its three stories in the pure Ionic style of architecture, upon a basement of rustic work, surmounted by an attic and balustrade. It has four fronts and principal entrances; the western front, consisting of a colonnade, after the style of the temple of Minerva, at Athens, is three hundred and thirty-six feet long, with thirty Ionic columns, and recessed porticoes on either end. This building contains the vaults in which the current funds and National Bank bonds of the Government are kept. The Secretary's office is a beautiful apartment, on the second floor. The walls being formed of various kinds of highly polished marble. This building contains two hundred apartments, exclusive of the basement and attic, and cost six million dollars.

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing, a branch of the Treasury Department, occupies a separate building, recently erected, at a cost of three hundred thousand dollars. It is a handsome structure, of pressed brick, in the Romanesque style, is entirely fireproof, and situated between the Agricultural Department and the Washington Monument.

The Patent Office, an immense building covering two squares, or two and three-fourths acres of ground (which in the original plan of the city had been set apart for the erection of a National Mausoleum, or church), is in the Doric style of architecture, after the Parthenon at Athens, and impresses all who behold it with the grandeur of its proportions. The Museum of Models, a collection of inventions, both native and foreign, patented by the Government, occupies the four immense halls on the second floor, and contains upwards of one hundred and fifty-five thousand models, which have accumulated since the fire of 1836. In December, of that year, the old building was destroyed, containing four thousand models, the accumulation of half a century. But for this calamity, the progress of mechanical arts in the United States could be traced back to the foundation of the Government. The south Hall of the Museum is a magnificent apartment, two hundred and forty-two feet long, sixty-three feet wide, and thirty feet high, decorated in the Pompeiian style, the entire structure of the room being in solid masonry. Among the historical relics contained here, are the uniform of Washington, worn at the time he resigned his commission, and his sword, secretary, compass, and sleeping tent, with camp utensils for cooking, etc. The number and variety of models contained in these four large halls are almost bewildering, and afford material for hours of study. The cost of this immense structure was two million, seven hundred thousand, but the entire sum has been principally liquidated by the surplus funds received, which annually amount to at least two hundred thousand dollars.

The General Post Office building is immediately opposite the Patent Office; it is a most imposing edifice, constructed of white marble, from the quarries of New York, and was built—the portion fronting on E street—in 1839. The northern half of the square was afterward purchased by the Government, and the extension begun in 1855; the building, as now completed, being three hundred feet in length, by two hundred and four in depth, with a large courtyard in the centre, entered on the west front by a carriage way, where the mails are received and sent out. Above the basement, on every side of this noble structure, arise monolithic columns and pilasters, surmounted by handsomely wrought capitals, upon which rests a paneled cornice. The main entrance is adorned with Doric columns, and the ceiling, walls and floor finished with white marble. In the office of the Postmaster-General is a fine collection of photographs and crayons of those who have filled this position since the appointment of Samuel Osgood, by Washington, in 1789. The cost of this building was one million seven hundred thousand dollars.

The Agricultural Building is a large and handsome structure, built of pressed brick, in the renaissance style of architecture, with trimmings of brown stone. Immediately in front of the house is a flower garden, beautifully laid out, and planted with an almost countless variety of flowers; the remaining grounds adjacent to the building have been laid out as an arboreture, with walks and drives winding through forests of trees and shrubs, all of which have been planted according to the strictest botanical rules. The experimental grounds, occupying ten acres in the rear of the house, contain artificial lakes, rivers and swamps, for the cultivation of water and marsh plants. The building is handsomely finished and the various apartments and offices elegantly furnished, including a handsome library, thoroughly equipped laboratory, and an Agricultural Museum, which occupies the main building, and is replete with objects of interest and beauty too numerous to admit of description. The Plant Houses are immense conservatories, in which the fruits and flowers of every clime and country may be found growing. The main structure is three hundred and twenty feet long, by thirty wide, with a projecting wing giving one hundred and fifty feet additional. On the north bank of the Potomac is the Naval Observatory, one of the principal astronomical establishments in the world. The Observatory was founded in 1842, the location being selected by President Tyler. The site had been called "University Square," from the fact that it had been the cherished intention of Washington, from the foundation of the city, to urge the erection upon this spot of a National University. The central building of the Observatory was completed in 1844—a two-story building, with wings, and surmounted by a dome. The great telescope, purchased in 1873, cost forty-seven thousand dollars, and is the most powerful instrument in the world, the refracting glass being twenty-six inches; the focal length thirty-two and a half feet. The library contains six thousand volumes, a number of them very rare, dating back to 1482.

The Army Medical Museum was formerly Ford's Theatre, in which President Lincoln was assassinated on the fourteenth of April, 1865. The building was purchased a year later, by Congress, remodeled and converted to its present use. No trace has been left to indicate the exact location of the murder. The Chemical Laboratory, on the first floor, was the restaurant in which Booth took his last drink; among the relics and curiosities is a portion of the vertebrae taken from the neck of the assassin. The first floor is occupied by the record and pension division of the Surgeon General's office, and upon the registers are inscribed the names of three hundred thousand of the dead. The Museum is on the third floor, and contains about sixteen thousand medical, surgical, and anatomical specimens.

The Government Printing Office is a large four-story building, in which the printing of the two Houses of Congress and other Departments is done. In 1794 an appropriation of ten thousand dollars was made, and sufficed, for "firewood, stationery and printing; the amount required at the present time to meet the expenses of this department is two million five hundred thousand dollars per annum, showing the rapid advance of the country, in extent, population, and the prodigality of its representatives as well.

The United States Barracks, formerly the Arsenal, is situated at the extreme southern point of the city. A Government Penitentiary was erected on the grounds in 1826; in one of the lower cells was buried the body of Booth, and afterward those of the other conspirators. The Penitentiary was taken down in 1869, at which time the family of Booth was permitted to remove his body to Baltimore, where it was interred in the family burial lot at Druid Hill, the grave remaining unmarked. In front of the old buildings, the grounds, since the war, have been beautifully laid out, and contain a number of cannon captured by the Government forces in different conflicts. There is a brass gun with a ball shot into its muzzle at the battle of Gettysburg, and two captured Blakely guns, one of which bears the inscription: "Presented to the Sovereign State of South Carolina, by one of her citizens residing abroad, in commemoration of the twentieth of December, 1860." There are also British, French, and Mexican cannon, captured from those nations, some of them dated as far back as 1756.

On the Anacostia, three-fourths of a mile from the Capitol, is the Navy Yard, formally established by act of Congress in 1804, and in those early days standing unrivaled, as it sent out such famous vessels as the Wasp, Argus, and Viper; and frigates, carrying 44 guns each, were built in its shops. But the gradual filling up of the channel in which ships of the line formerly anchored, and the increased facilities of other later established stations, have deprived the old yard of its importance as a naval constructing port, although it is still one of the most important for the manufacture of supplies. The Marine Barracks, organized in 1798, are but a short distance from the Navy Yard gate; the building is seven hundred feet in length, with accommodations for two hundred men. The Barracks were burned by the British in 1814, but were at once rebuilt.

The Smithsonian Institute, by name, is generally familiar, while comparatively few are acquainted with its origin, the design of its founder, his antecedents or history, all of which are peculiarly interesting, and deserving of a more extended notice than our sketch will permit. James Smithson was an Englishman, the son of the first Duke of Northumberland, and a grand nephew, on his mother's side, of Charles, the proud Duke of Somerset. Whether or not any secret romance was connected with his life, we are not informed; all that is known is, that he devoted himself to literature and science, was never married, and died at Genoa, Italy, in 1828, bequeathing his fortune to his nephew, Henry James Hungerford, during life; at his death to become the property of the United States; in the language of the will, "To found, at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institute, an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." The Government accepted the bequest, which was at its disposal as early as 1836, and the original fund, of upwards of five hundred and fifteen thousand dollars, was deposited in the Treasury. A little more than ten years later the Smithsonian Institute was organized, a board of Regents appointed, and the corner-stone laid, with masonic ceremonies, May the first, 1847. The building was completed in 1856, the accrued interest being mere than sufficient to cover all the expenses of its erection, and leaving a permanent fund of six hundred and fifty thousand dollars in the Treasury for its future maintenance. In less than a year after the close of the war the main building was partially destroyed by fire, together with the papers and reports of the Institute, and the personal effects of its founder. It was immediately restored, however; but the Library, comprising a large collection of valuable scientific works, was removed to the Capitol. It would seem that this immense building, so generously endowed, could, and should, be made to advance "the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men," in a more direct and individual manner, by being devoted to educational purposes. But further than its use in conducting exchanges between the Government and scientific bodies at home and abroad, and the care of the National Museum, the Smithsonian Institute has contributed nothing toward "the advancement of knowledge among men," and those, generally, of the country whom it was especially intended to benefit.

The National Museum, completed in 1879, is situated a very short distance east of the Institute, and covers nearly two and a half acres of ground. It is a handsome structure, of the modernized Romanesque style of architecture; having four entrances and eight lofty towers; the principal entrance being approached by granite steps, thirty-seven feet wide, to a richly tiled platform. Above the inscription plate on the globe of the nave, is an allegorical group representing Columbia as the patroness of Science and Industry. The whole is surmounted by a dome; the windows filled with double glass imported from Belgium; in fine, the entire building is externally and internally complete, being finished and furnished in the most costly and elegant manner. The large collections of the Museum in the Smithsonian Institute, are to be divided; objects of purely natural history being alone kept in the Institute, the second floor of which will be devoted to archÆology, including the antiquities of the "Stone Age."

South of the President's House, and but a short distance from the stone which marks the centre of the District stands the National Monument to the Father of his Country, designed by Mills. It was completed on Saturday, December sixth, 1884, by the setting of its marble cap-stone. The idea of this National Monument took definite shape in 1833, when the Washington National Monument Association was organized, composed of some of the most distinguished men of the country. The design was to build it by means of popular subscriptions, of individual sums, not to exceed one dollar each. In 1847 the collections amounted to $87,000, and with this sum it was determined to begin the work. On the Fourth of July, 1848 the corner stone of the monument was laid; in 1854, the funds of the National Monument Association were exhausted. The structure had then reached a height of one hundred and seventy feet, and during the succeeding twenty-four years only four feet were added to its altitude. August twenty-second, 1876, Congress passed an Act, creating a commission for its completion, and made the necessary appropriation, which was to be continued annually. Before resuming work on the monument, it was deemed best to strengthen the foundation by placing under the shaft an additional mass of concrete, one hundred and twenty-three feet, three inches beyond the old foundation. The weight of the mass then worked under was 32,176 tons. The total pressure on the foundation as it now stands is 80,378 tons.

The monument is a marble obelisk, the marble having been brought from the quarries of the Beaver Dam Marble Company, Baltimore County, Maryland. The shaft, from the floor, is 555 feet, 4 inches high, being thirty feet, five inches higher than the spires of the great cathedral of Cologne. The present foundation is thirty-six feet, eight inches deep, making an aggregate height, from the bed of the foundation, of 592 feet, the loftiest work of ancient or modern times. The walls of the obelisk, at its base, are over fifteen feet thick, and at the 500 feet mark, where the pyramidal top begins, eighteen inches thick. The total cost of the monument has been $1,130,000. Within the obelisk is an elevator and a stairway. On the latter there are nine hundred steps, and about twenty minutes are required to make the descent.

The Corcoran Art Gallery is one of the most interesting and valued institutions belonging to the National Capitol, and the last that our limits will permit being described at length. The building stands on the corner of Pennsylvania avenue and Seventeenth street, and is constructed of brick, in the Renaissance style of architecture, finished with freestone ornaments and a variety of beautiful carving. On the avenue front are four statues, in Carrara marble, executed by Ezekiel, in Rome, of Phidias, Raphael, Michael Angelo, and Albert Durer, representing respectively, sculpture, painting, architecture and engraving. In the vestibules and corridors are casts of ancient bas reliefs, with numerous antique busts and statues in marble. The Hall of Bronzes contains a very large and interesting collection of bronzes, armor, ceramic ware, etc. The Hall of Antique Sculpture, almost one hundred feet in length, contains casts of the most celebrated specimens of ancient sculpture. The Main Picture Gallery is also nearly one hundred feet long and fifty feet wide, with a collection of paintings ranking among the first of this country, and more than one hundred and fifteen in number. The Octagon Chamber contains the original Greek Slave, by Powers. In the East Gallery is displayed a valuable collection of portraits of distinguished Americans, painted by the best native artists; in the West Gallery, is a large number of paintings, historical, landscape and other subjects.

The Corcoran Art Gallery was presented to the city and country by W. W. Corcoran, Esq., in 1869. This magnificent gift, including the donor's private collection of paintings and statuary, cost three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, to which he added an endowment fund of nine hundred thousand dollars more. Mr. Corcoran has also erected and elegantly furnished, a large and beautiful building, called the Louise Home, at a cost of two hundred thousand dollars, with an endowment fund of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The Home, the only institution of its kind in the entire country, is an asylum for ladies of education and refinement who have been reduced in fortune. The house is furnished in a style of subdued elegance, with every luxury and convenience to be found in the best appointed private residence; while the ladies are waited upon and treated with the same attention and respect as if they were each paying an extravagant rate of board. There are ample accommodations for fifty-five ladies, who must have reached the age of fifty-years, as a general rule, and who make their application for admission in writing. There is no charge for admission, nor expense of any kind, nor limit to the time of remaining at the Louise Home. This beautiful institution, in which charity is bestowed in so refined and delicate, yet magnificent a manner, has been erected and endowed by the Founder in memoriam of a beloved wife and only daughter and child. It is but due to this great philanthropist, to mention here, that in addition to his gifts named above, the National Medical College, of Columbian University, was his gift, in 1864, and cost forty thousand dollars. The original grounds of Oak Hill Cemetery, comprising ten acres, were also donated by him, together with an endowment fund of one hundred and twenty thousand dollars; the grounds were incorporated by Congress in 1840. It were fortunate for mankind if the number of such benefactors were greater, and the wisdom displayed by Mr. Corcoran oftener imitated by the rich, who, if they give, permit their good deeds only "to live after them," instead of planning, and directing with their own hands, the schemes of benevolence they desire to inaugurate for the benefit of their unfortunate fellow beings.

There are many places of historical interest that might be described, as well as numerous Halls, Colleges, Hospitals, etc., but the limits of this paper will not permit. We shall only refer to the Government Hospital for the Insane, situated at the junction of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers, and one of the finest and largest institutions of the kind in the world. It is seven hundred and fifty feet in length by two hundred deep, containing five hundred single rooms, and accommodations for more than nine hundred patients. The Deaf and Dumb Asylum and College are also conspicuous among the Public Institutions, built in the pointed Gothic style, and costing the Government $350,000.

During the late war Washington was converted into a vast fortress, and made the base of operations for the entire forces of the Union. The hills surrounding it were covered with the camps of soldiers, while its vast streets and avenues hourly echoed the tread of moving troops, and the heavy crushing roll of artillery. At the close of the contest the city was found to have risen high upon the wave of revolution; a new element had been infused into its population, and the march of improvement had begun. In ten years the number of inhabitants had increased fifty thousand. With the continuance of peace, and the spirit of improvement and progress remaining unchecked, it may reasonably be predicted and confidently anticipated, that the close of the Nineteenth Century will find the Capital City of this great Republic approaching in splendor and importance the realization of the proudest hope and dream of magnificence ever cherished in the hearts of its worthy founders, and in itself a monument worthy of the immortal name of Washington.

TESTIMONIALS.