It is not the purpose in these sketches to go into any minute descriptions of places or things in Washington. To do that volumes would be needed, and then much left untold.

The Rotunda is the central part of the old building of the Capitol, and lies beneath the dome. It is circular in form, with a diameter of ninety-five feet, and with a height to the canopy above of a little over one hundred and eighty feet.

The panels of the Rotunda are set with life-size pictures, illustrating important scenes in American history. There are "The Surrender of Burgoyne, October 17, 1777"; "The Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia, October 19, 1781" and "The Resignation of Washington, December 23, 1783." These are by Trumbull. They may not be perfect, considered as works of art, but they commemorate events whose memory should never die.

The surrender of Burgoyne was the greatest triumph of American over British arms up to that date (October 17, 1777). Had his twelve hundred Hessians been English patriots the result might have been different. When the British officer was sent to inquire their condition for a fight, the answer of the British was, "We will fight to a man." But the Hessians replied, "Nix the money, nix the rum, nix fighten."

It was in a cold, drizzling rain that Lord Cornwallis made his surrender. He sat on his horse with his head uncovered. General Washington said, "Put on your hat, my lord; you will take cold." He replied, "It matters not what happens to this head now." In our exultation we are apt to forget his side.

No writer that I know of praises the scene of Washington's resignation, yet the faces are so clear-cut that you recognize every face which other pictures have made familiar. The costumes are correct historical studies, and I would not wish a line of them changed.

Another picture of the Rotunda is "The Declaration of Independence." How familiar, how dear each face has become, from Lee, Jefferson, Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Livingston, to the plain Quaker who stands by the door! Adams afterward wrote: "Several signed with regret, and several others with many doubts and much lukewarmness." That shows in the picture, and contrasts with the enthusiasm of the few, who with clear vision felt the dawn of a larger liberty for the race.

We are so apt to enjoy the music and forget the singer, to enjoy the painting and forget the artist, that we venture a reminder concerning Colonel John Trumbull, the artist aide-de-camp of General Washington. He studied art in this country and in Europe. In London he painted John Adams, our first Minister to England, and, in Paris, Thomas Jefferson, our Minister to France. General Washington gave him sittings, and he traveled through the entire thirteen colonies securing portraits. It was not until 1816, after thirty years of careful preparation, that Congress gave him the commission to paint the four great historical paintings now in the Rotunda. They are the best authentic likenesses now in existence of the persons represented.

"The Embarkation of the Pilgrims," by Wier, is considered the best picture of the Rotunda. All the self-sacrifice of leaving country, home, and friends is in the women's faces, "All for God" is in the men's faces. It is the little leaven of Puritanism which yet keeps this country sweet.

It is amusing to see the bands of Indians who are sent here to meet the "Great Father" stop before "The Baptism of Pocahontas," painted by Chapman. Evidently neither the faces nor the costumes suit them, for they hoot and laugh, while they grunt with evident approval at the picture of Boone's conflict with the savages and that of William Penn's conference with the Indians of Pennsylvania.

At a height of sixty-five feet above the floor, and encircling the wall at that point, about three hundred feet in circumference, runs a fresco, by Brumidi and Castigni, in imitation high relief, which well depicts periods of American history, illustrating from the days of barbarism to civilization. It is incomplete at this time.

Brumidi was, while yet a very young man, banished from Italy for participating in an insurrection. He went to Mexico, and finally was brought to Washington through the instrumentality of General Meigs. His first work is in the room of the Committee of Agriculture of the House, where he represented Cincinnatus leaving the plow to receive the dictatorship of Rome; General Putnam, in a similar situation, receiving the announcement of the outbreak of the Revolution, and other fine works are scarcely appreciated by the clerks who daily work beneath them. For eight dollars a day, the compensation he first received, Brumidi did work which thousands of dollars could not now duplicate. Almost every one knows that Brumidi began the decoration of the frieze around the Rotunda of the Capitol. He had completed in charcoal the cartoons for the remainder of the decoration, and these drawings he left to his son, supposing that the designs would be purchased from him by the successor selected to complete the work. This man, however, obtained in some unknown way an idea of the sketches Brumidi had made, and attempted to carry them out without the aid of the originals.

At the east door of the Rotunda are the famous bronze doors designed by Randolph Rogers at Rome in 1858, and cast at Munich. The high reliefs illustrate leading events in the life of Columbus.

From near the Rotunda one can ascend to the dome and overlook the entire District of Columbia.