•^Q> • ^r si„l -3 ^. K^ Hq^ ^^-v- ■o V^ .^^' O ' . . s ^ ^"v < . ' o , I ° ■^ A V .'*^^I*V" /■■"% \SP'.-" ^-^^^ •; _ . ^ 2 * a"^ -^^ CRAWFORD'S STATUE OF FREEDOM. Crowning the Dome of the United States Capitol. THE FEDERAL CITY; -i 3 '' OB, Iks and Abouts of Washington. B"5?- S. I>1 ■W'2'ETia:, AUTHOB OF "IIABRY BRIGHT, THE DRUMUER BOY;" " I1IBLK STORIES IN BIBLli: WORDS," ETC., ETC. THIRD EDITION. WASHINGTON, D. C: Gmson Bbothers. 271 ano 273 PENNSTLVAiiu. Atbitos, 1868. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by GIBSON BROTHERS, In the Clerk'a OflSce of the District Court of the District of Columbia. rV ^ly. ^auntiy.7nen , JIfoiti, ^aictA, ^aAt, and ^Wed^t, (Wla lam tAe '^OU ^lacj^;' ^u^ (Maa/t ^A dedicated l^u ^'ie q^utAjai. i]S"troduotio:n". The City of Washington is far dearer to the nation's heart now than it was before the breaking out of the war of the Eebellion. The treasure expended, and the blood spilled, in its defence, have made it seem to patriots sacred as a shrine. " To want to know all about it," is a national longing, and to gratify this in some degree, is the design of the present book. Its divisions naturally fall into the following : — I. Book of the Capitol. II. The History of the White House and its inmates* III. Book of the Departments. IV. Book of the Military Hospitals in Washington during the war. V. History of the Institutions of Benevolence and Education, Churches, Theatres, etc., with items of general LOCAL interest. At the close of each general division an Index of Subjects will present at a glance, where the information may be found relative to any particular subject. An earnest endeavor has been made to obtain true informa- tion, while books, public documents, and files of newspapers, rather than the recollections of individuals, have been relied upon as deciding what is true. It is intended that the work shall be completed in ten numbers of 100 pages each. Each general division, however, will constitute in itself a book irrespective of the other divisions. (V) 1 N T R O D U C T 1 O X . VI The chapters have been written at various times running througli a period of several years. The grand panorama of tlie war Avas enacted almost within sight and sound during a portion of that time — and the fitful flashes of actual attnck also really occurred. As a burning Bengal light throws a lurid glare over all, so streaks of war-paint fill in and enamel many pages. These attempted war-photographs of past events, are retained because it is believed that as historical reminis- cences they may be deemed interesting. If after editions of the work should be called for, corrections necessary to bring the information up to the time of the new issue will be made. s. D. w. MAY-DAY, WASniNGTON, D. C, 18G5. List of Illustrations, Fkontispiece. Ciiawfouk's statuk of Fkekdom, crowning the Dome of the Uni...-d States Capitol. (j Photograph of the north-east view of the Capitol, with the Central Portico projected as it is designed to be when completed ; taken from a drawing by A. Sihonborn, in possession of the Architect of the Capitol Page 14 Photograph of the west front of the Capitol, 1868 to face Page 22 The Capitol of 18G8, east front Page 27 Map of the City of Washington Pages 34, 35 Allegorical group on Tympanum of Central East Portico , Page 45 Statue of Peace, by Persico Page 48 Statue of War, by Persico Page 49 Clock in oW Hall of Representatives, by C. Franzoni Page 52 Diagrani of the Rogers' Bronze Door Page 54 The Capitol of 1825 Page t5 Dijyjram of the floor of the Hall of the House of Representatives Page 8T Diagram of the floor of the United States Senate Chamber Page 89 Plan of the main floor of the Capitol Page 99 \ mS AND ABOUTS OF WASHINGTON, ETC. CHAPTER T. ARRTVAIi IN BALTIMORE EN ROUTE FOR WASHINGTON — DAYBREAK — CATHEDRAL SERVICE — RAILROAD RIDE TO "WASHINGTON — CONCERT IN CAPITOL GROUNDS — EASTERN AND WESTERN FRONTS OF THE CAPITOL — STATUE OP FREEDOM — TWILIGHT AND NIGHT — ALONE — PHANTASMAGORIA. The drip, drip, drip, of falling rain had ceased for about an hour. Home was behind — Washington lay before. " Baltimore ! " was announced in a rough voice by the con- ductor as he flung open the door, and the railroad car stopped. It was pitch dark and one o'clock in the morning. The passen- gers awake had been straining their eyes out of windows for some time into the darkness beyond. Frightful noises and belching flames were all around us: Pandemonium seemed broken loose. Here, volumes of flame threw out a lurid light, discovering strange figures that lit up horridly, hovering around pools of fire and brandishing fearful lookmg instruments. Then were heard awful groans, as of a monster in agony. Anon, it was dark. Beyond, burst other lurid flames, and noises of ponder- ous doors opened and shut. It seemed as if we had stopped at the very " Mouth of the Pit " described in John Bunyan's wonderful Dream Book. But out we had to get. The soil was mud. A net of raU 18 THE FEDERAL CITY. road beneath our feet threatened to trip us at every step. Sev- eral locomotives ran distractingly up and down the tracks shrieking, or moaning, like fiends — their great fiery Cyclop eyes lighting the road a little space before them. After re- peated efforts we disentangled from these dangers and reached the pavement. A loyal refugee of Virginia, on his return home, concluded with me to walk about imtil morning. The prospect now was it would be clear — for, here, and there, a star had opened * its bright eye in the sky. "We gladly turned from the Depot, with the extensive Furnaces and Rolling Mills all nestled together, that had so forcibly revived early frightful associations. For a long while we wandered up and down the streets. The sudden appearance of " a soldier on guard " as we turned a corner, was at first startling. Ilis figure loomed out into gigantic size, and his bayonet, as the street gas-light fell upon it, glinted like a spear of vengeance through the gloom. It brought to mind that the War-wolf was " out " lapping the hearts' blood of our countrymen. Soldiers were stationed everywhere — ■ at the corners of the streets, at the banks, in the market houses, and at the depot stations. But for them our tramp would have proved well nigh solitary. Tired of walking we took refuge at the Eutaw House, and in a couple of big chairs in the reception saloon dozed away an hour of darkness. From here we were driven into the street a second time by servants, with swabs and pails of water, come long before daylight to clean the tiled floor of our retreat. Out-doors seemed darker and more dreary than before. Once we refreshed ourselves with sundry cups of coffee obtained of a turbaned fat mulatto woman in a market house, whose table of heavy refreshments was lighted by twin tallow dips, that flared and guttered in the open air. The star-gemmed veil of night at length slowly upraised ; — and morning broke beautifully over the fair city of the Patapsco. Rose - clouds, like banners flung out, hung in the sky. Kissed by the struggling beams of the young Day-god, beauty THE FEDERAL CITY. 19 after beauty, gilded and made glorious, was revealed. When the sun's rays first fell, glancing back, on the tall monuments commemorative of heroes that shaft-like pierce the sky, it seemed strains of music must issue from them as thousands of years ago, at sunrise, came responsive from Memnon's statue, in Thebes, upon the banks of the old Nile : — but, all was still ! Almost oppressive was the profound morning's hush — ere the great city's jubilant day-cry and suppressed wail, in united voice, broke forth. In peaceful quiet long lines of stately houses emerged from out the indistinctness and swept over hill and plain, while humbler ones lay dotted all around. No trouble seemed to dwell within them. No blood - stains marked the doors of homes. All silent were the whispers of dread family secrets, that curdle the blood and chill hearts with fear. Sighs of suffering, and moans of breaking hearts were not audible to human ears. The cathedral bell rang out breaking the stillness. Through the streets, stealing along ghost-like in the early dawn, worship- ers bent their way towards where its over-arching Dome hung in mid air. With them we too entered the edifice. The hush ; — ■ the air of devotion ; — ■ the burning candles, lighting up pictures, that told of the suffering One who died for us, and pure flowers, amid whose scented breath mingled thoughts of the love of our All - Father ; — ■ the grand old Ritual, that for ages has soothed the sorrows and revived the hopes of poor humanity ; — all told forcibly upon the senses. Side by side kneeled gray haired men and fair maidens ; — the trembling weakness of widowed age alongside and supported by vigorous manhood, glorious in strength. Children's forms, too, were bowed in adoration ; while the Sister of Charity bent her mild, patient face close by her sable sister of African descent. Clouds of incense, that rose from silver censers, seemed like ascending, palpable, prayer. Protestant that I am, my heart of hearts joined in the worship. The service over garish daylight flooded the streets. The 20 THEFEDERALCITY. city was waking up, and every moment tlie pulses of its life beat faster. On each face you met was written the one anxious question, " What news to day ? " — and " On to Washington ! " seemed the purpose, if not the cry, of the moving multitudes directing towards that depot station. Trains, some of them filled with regiments of soldiers, started from there, again, and again, during the day. At 3.20 the afternoon passenger train started. It was full to overflowing. Soldiers' wives with children, contractors, politicians, artists, mechanics, all crowded together, dashed along upon the iron track towards the Mecca of their patriotic pilgrimage. Uncle Samuel has still many affectionate relatives. and each one of our motley party seemed desirous of a chance of helping himself to something out of his big fat pockets. Beautiful was the country through which we sped on our way. At intervals along the road, within hailing distances of each other, stood a soldier in arms, keeping guard. Recently constructed earth-works, long wooden shanties, and white tents of other encampments marked the landscape. The sun flashed on glittering bayonets of soldiers drilling in the distance. The roll of the drum answered back the shrill whistle of our engine ; occasionally the dull roar of artillery was heard, and the smoke rolling up discovered where a party was at practice. Above all, and over all, from flag-stafl' signalling to flag-staffj floated out, cheering the sight, the " Stars and Stripes." The Relay House was soon reached and passed. It looked small, a miniature of Avhat I expected to see. Annapolis Junc- tion, too, was not long after, left behind. Between and around the beautiful hills that environ Wash- ington, the train glided, and coiled, rattling, on its rapid way. No one in the cars appeared to know when it was we entered the limits of the District ; — Avhicli occurs at Bladensburg Station — - and I kept an eager look - out for a first glimpse of the Capitol. It was not, however, until almost upon it, that the noble building rose into view. A few more minutes, and the train entered the long, low, and truth compels me to add, THE FEDERAL CITY. 21 mean - looking Depot ; and we had arrived at the Federal Metropolis. I left the noisy scrambling throng, and hastened away, carpet- bag in hand, to gaze on the Capitol. The Depot is within short distance of it, and I soon stood opposite its West Front. This, although line, is not the principal Front, nor is it so im- posing as that : yet it is the one with which strangers are most familiar. It is, in fact, the back, instead of the front, of the building. The grounds west of the Capitol, are eminently beautiful; nature and the highest art combine to make them such. It was here, that, besides the pleasure of seeing and admiring them, an unexpected enjoyment was in store. In Washington. on Wednesdays and Saturdays, during the warm months towards evening, there is an out-door concert given, to which all are admitted who choose to go. These concerts are held alternately in these grounds and in those attached to the President's House. It was now sweet May time. The grounds west of the Capitol occupy the ascent of the Hill, and are filled with mag- nificent trees, flower beds and fountains. Noble walks, flagged or gravelled, intersect them in all directions. Comfortable seats, underneath trees, are scattered about every where, and the bright grass spread out a magnificent carpet. The softest verdure velveted the sides of the terraces that rise one above the other until the building itself is reached. It was the grandest of all concert saloons. A large marble basin, filled with water, in which are hund- reds of gold and silver fish, is just below the highest terrace — and here, almost constantly, stand persons gazing at the grace- ful creatures swimming about in their beautiful home. Just above this basin, upon the Capitol, beneath the Dome, floated the " Star spangled Banner." The grounds were filled with crowds of elegantly dressed ladies and beautiful children, officers in glittering uniforms, citizens and soldiers. On an elevated stand, half- way between 22 THE FEDERAL CITY. two fountains, Avas ranged in a circle the far famed Marine Band from the Navy Yard. At intervals they performed most exquisite music. They were playing " Hail Columbia 1 '' as I approached. Promenade and music, in turns, succeeded each other. A space on the ground, near the musicians, was kept clear, and here, when it pleased them, children danced in joyous abandon, as favorite tunes struck their fancy. Near them stood, looking on, a poor crippled boy, with one leg gone ; and, lean- ing against a tree, a girl of twelve or thirteen summers on crutches — but smiles played upon both their faces. On an eminence, watching the scene with intense interest, stood two Indian chiefs, of a deputation in town, dressed in their half- barbaric costume, blankets, paint, and feathers. The whole scene, upon which soon fell the rays of the setting sun, was fairy - like. Gay groups passed in and out among the trees — there was the sight and scent of flowers — sunshine flashed upon the sparkling fountains, the grass, the trees, and the glittering throng. Birds flew from tree to tree, and joined their voices to the concert. Behind rose the green hill crowned with its tiara of whi te marble — the Capitol ; its myriad windows, like another Aladdin's Palace, all a-glow with burn- ished gold — the last effort of the god of day to fling back a kiss of flame upon the fairest of earth's stuctures ere he died. Closing symphonies of harmony soon floated in the air. There stole upon the ear, and into the heart, the sweet touch- ing strains of " Home, sweet Home ! " and, immediately follow- ing that, the finale of all these concerts, — "Yankee Doodle." I saw in fancy my own home far away, hundreds of miles, and at its windows, overlooking a camp ground, little children standing, looking in vain for the coming of their father. Their mother sadly calls them to their evening meal. That evening meal, T fear, will be wet with bitter tears. My own eyes blinded with them. H CO y^ O O 1^ a !^ H o CO >■ H CO o I — I o t-' ^^!B c o H hq o O r. P4 o CO Eh Y on their voyage home. But, now his friend Queen Isabella was dead. The king looked coldly upon the man who had given him an empire. Columbus landed near San Lucar, and from thence proceeded to Seville where, to quote his own words, he "had no place to repair to except an inn, and often with nothing to pay for his sustenance." He sought redress at the Spanish Court by means of friends and letters, but failed in all. After painful delays, sometimes carried on a litter, he at last succeeded in reaching Segovia in Old Castile, where the Court then was, but all his renewed endeavors to obtain justice were futile. Columbus died at Valladolid, the 20th of May, 1506, aged about 70 years. His last words were, "J/i manus iuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum.''^ "Into thy hands, Lord, I commend my spirit." Those closing eyea doubtless opened upon a new discovery — that far brighter land than the Western Antilles, the gold of which is not corroded with blood, or care, nor ever dimmed with tears. [Note. — Upon the Door itself there are no marks of numbers on the Panels as in the Diagram — this numbering was introduced to enable our description of it to be more easily understood.] The funeral obsequies of Columbus were celebrated in great pomp in the parocliial churcli of Santa Maria de la An- tigua, in Valladolid. and his remains interred in the Convent of St. Francis. In 1513 they were removed to the Carthusian monastery of Las Cuevas, at Seville. In 1536 they were taken from Spain to the island of St. Do- mingo, where they remained over two hundred and fifty years. From there, again, in 1796, they were removed in great pomp to Havana and now rest in the Cathedral of the Capital of Cuba. THE STATUETTES. On the Door, on the sides and between these Panels, are six- teen small statues, set in niches, of eminent cotemporaries of 60 THE FEDERAL CITY. Columbus. Their names are marked on the Door, as well as on the Diagram, where they are printed in the positions they occupy on the Door. Beginning at the bottom, on the side from which we started in numbering the Panels, we find the figure occupying the lowest niche is Perez. Juan Perez de Marchena was prior of the Convent of La Rabi- da, the early and ever firm friend of Columbus. The niche above this is occupied by Cortez, the conquerer of Mexico. Above him again stands Ojeda. Don Alonzo de Ojeda was an early Spanish adventurer to the New World, — of patrician birth. He possessed great bravery and endurance, but lacked fealty to the illustrious Admiral. Vesptjcci occupies the next niche on the door. It is, perhaps, not generally known that among the friends of Columbus whom he trusted during his last dark days was numbered Amerigo Vespucci. Then come, opposite in line across the door, standing in two niches, side by side, Mendoza and Alexander VI. Pedro Gonzales de Mendoza, Archbishop of Toledo and Grand Cardinal of Spain, at an early period patronized the cause of Columbus. His influ- ence at court was great, and he is sometimes facetiously called "the third king of Spain." Alexander VI. was a Roman Pontiff. He was a native of Valencia and born a subject to the crown of Aragon. He was an able and politic sover- eign, although represented by history as a perfidious, bad man. Then follow, below them, Isabella and Ferdinand, King and Queen of Spain. Beneath them stands the Lady Beatriz de Bobadilla, marchioness of Moya, the early friend of Columbus, and favorite of Queen Isabella. Be- tide her is Charles VIII., King of France, a prince of the house of Valois. He died, 1498, aged 28 years. The first figure of the lowest pair on the door is Henry VII., of Eng- land, the Richmond of Shakspeare's play of Richard III. and grandfather to the Queens Mary and Elizabeth. He was a patron of navigation, and seemed disposed to regard with favor the theory of Columbus, which was presented to his notice by Bartholomew the brother of the Admiral. But, already, the discovery had been accomplished. Beside him, stands John II., King of Portugal. This monarch declined accepting the pro- posals from Columbus made him previous to his application to Ferdinand and Isabella. Then, in the same line with them, across the Panel, is PiNZON. Martin Alonzo Pinzon commanded the " Pinta," one of Co- lumbus' little fleet of three vessels. It was he who first saw "Land," THE FKDERAL CITY 61 September 25, 1492 : eventually his friendship died out, and he proved treacherous to Columbus. He died a victim to grief and bitter mortifica- tion. In the niche above Pinzon stands B. Columbus, the brother of the Admiral, and appointed by him adelantado, or lieutenant-governor of the Indies. Then comes Vasco Nunez de Balboa, a Spanish discoverer and adven- turer, bom in 1475. It was he who crossed the isthmus of Darien and on September 29, 1510, first saw from a mountain the Pacific ocean. In the niche above, again at the top of the Door, stands the figure of Frakcisco PizAKRCthe conqueror of Peru. THE HEADS ON THE DOOR. Between tlie Panels and at top and bottom of the valves of the Door are ten small projecting heads. They are indicated on the Diagram by round outline dots. These heads, or rather those "between the Panels," are de- scribed in Mr. Walter's Report as " representing historians who have written on his (Columbus') voyages from his own time down to the present day, ending with Irving and Prescott." All endeavor to obtain further certain information relative to the heads has resulted in disappointment. Mr. Walter offered an examination of all his correspondence with the artist that might throw light upon the subject, but he himself had stated already, as above quoted, all that could be thus elicited. The two heads at the tops of the valves are evidently female heads, while the two next the floor possess markedly Indian charac- teristics. Above, over the transom arch, on the casing of the Door, looks down, over all, the serene grand head of Columbus. Beneath this head of Columbus, the American Eagle spreads out his widely extended wings. Besides all that there has been an attempt to describe, the rest of the Door is covered with emblems, banners, and heraldic emblazonry, relating to the times and the people that figure in the historic lessons, impressed upon its ponderous leaves. COST OF THE DOOR. The cost of the Door was thirty thousand dollars. 62 THE FEDERAL CITY. The opinion has been very freely expressed, that the names of the artist and bronze-fonnder, instead of occupying the places they do on the Door, in the midst of the running border, and really disfiguring it, should have been put at the foot of the casing. Standing where they do, they seem very much like Yankee business cards. Mr. Ro2;ers, it is said, was unable to obtain a likeness of B. Columbus, the brother of the Admiral, and the face affixed to '-hat statuette on the Door, is his own. For the same reason he was eompelled to substitute some face for that of the Lady Beatriz de Bobadilla, and that of Mrs. Rogers, was the one he selected. It was intended, at first, to have had the illuminated Bronze Door, designed by Crawford, for the main entrance from the Portico of the Senate Extension of the Capitol, also cast by J\Ir. F. von Miiller, at Munich, but arrangements were afterwards entered into to have it cast by Mr. Ames, at his foundry at Chicopee, Mass. Mr, Clark Mills, of Bladensburg, was the founder who cast the Statue, designed by Crawford, that crowns the Capitol. The whole cost of the Statue of Freedom, previous to its being raised to its present position, was $23,796 82, and its weight, 14,985 pounds. Its height is 19 feet, 6 inches. It may be interesting to know, that Jefferson Davis, the rebel chief, then our Secretary of War, and having the Capitol in charge, suggested to Mr. Crawford the "Helmet Cap" of Eagle feathers and Eagle beak, that now ornaments it — the original idea of the artist being entirely different. The military aspect of Washington strikes the sense of the visitor during these war times. Cannon, fiiring at the JNavy Yard, Artillery Camp, and Arsenal, is heard at frequent inter- vals. The roll of the drum and shrill notes of the fife are con- stantly sounding, while regiments of soldiers, coming and going, parade the streets. The Railroad Depot swarms with soldiers. Wagons, containing forage and military stores, in long lines THE FEDERAL CITY. 63 looking like moving tents, stretch square after square, along the principal Avenues and streets. Hospitals, like " whited sepul- chres," appear in all directions, and make one shiver at the idea of skeletons and dead men's bones. Ambulances crawl with a snail's pace, to and from them, freighted with quivering masses of suffering humanity, or with coffins wrapped in the folds of the " old Flag " in defence of which the dead heroes, sleeping inside them, died. You meet, also, an innumerable host, in squads, or in twos, or single, dressed "in blue" halt, maimed, and often blind. Thej are the Soldiers of the Eepublic, whose bodies have been the fleshy rampart opposed to treason, and to them the nation and the world owe a debt they can never pay. In October, just before General Banks was ordered south, a military review took place out East Capitol Street on the parade ground near Lincoln Hospital. The white tents of camps here and there, indeed lying in all directions, skirted the view. Many lookers-on were in carriages and on foot, and soldiers on horseback rode round the ground, driving back in- truders that trespassed within the designated bounds. Long before the ground was reached I heard the roll of drums. Gaining a slight eminence, a single glimpse was caught of a long line of flashing bayonets. Again, and there was another flash ; and, still another. These flashes continued to succeed each other in rapid succession. They reminded me of the Aurora Borealis that is seen far north. But I soon hurried on to get nearer. The soldiers and artillery defiled in front of Generals Casey and Banks and their staffs who were on horseback, and then around the Hospital, a cluster of long low buildings, that, for a while, hid portions of them from sight. This losing sight of them, temporarily, and then, their again appearing, height- ened the effect of the spectacle. Quite a number of tiny silken flags were attached to the bridle-gear of many of the horses of the officers-of-staflf. They 64 THE FEDERAL CITY. looked very pretty, and fluttered in the wind like wings of brilliant butterflies. There was a constant galloping of officers up to where the two generals sat, with whom a few words were exchanged, and then they galloped off again, as if the Furies were chasing them. On several occasions the generals saw proper to change their position in the field. The soldiers marched, and countermarched. Drums beat, and, occasionally, bugles sounded. Batteries of artillery, with horses galloping and gun - carriages rattling noisily along, fell into line, the men shouting as they hurried on their way. At one time they made an immense circuit, it must have been of at least a mile, and, from where I stood, and as the sun fell on them as a certain turn was made, sunshine flashed all at once upon a thousand bayonets, and they glittered in it like a wave of diamonds. A moment passed, and then another wave of diamonds flashed and glittered — moving on, to be succeeded by another, and still another, until the thousands of soldiers had all passed by, and the green carpet of the earth lay motion- less behind them, like a calm great sea. Again — and this was just before they started to go into the city in procession — the whole of the six thousand soldiers in two grand divisions, stood in front of the generals, lined in long platoons. At the word of command they separated a little wider apart ; and then, all at once, there dashed in be tween them, with bugles sounding, a battery of artillery, making a fearful noise, with horses, and guns, and caissons. The effect was terrific. The firm earth seemed to tremble. I thought of Gideon and his battle-cry thousands of years ago. There was now another change of position of the generals, another galloping off of their captains after them, and they all swept from the field, the little flags on the horses fluttering as if they would fly away. THE FEDERAL CITY. 65 I watched the procession as it followed in their wake. On, and on, it receded further and farther from where I stood, until in the distance, as the pageant neared the Capitol, the sound of the drum-beat rolled fainter and fainter. At last, like a long trailing cloud of fire-flies, seen at night time, it passed away down the hill, and was gone! 66 THE FEDERAL CITY CHAPTER III. THE CAPITOL — CONGRESS — OhV HALL OF REPRESENTATIVES — FIRST HALL DE- STROYED BY THE DRITISII — NEW HALL OF REPRESENTATIVES — PICTURE OF GENERAL SCOTT — STATUE OF JEFFERSON DY POWERS — BRONZE CAST OP AN INDIAN CHIEF — LECTZE'S PICTURE OF "WESTERN EMIGRATION" — THE TWO ARTISTS FRANZONI. The immense size of the Capitol grows upon one. This is true also of the Louvre, St. Paul's, St. Peter's, and other great buildings of the world. The same effect is produced as we continue to gaze upon the grand works of Nature — the Falls of Niagara, the Jungfrau, and the mighty ocean. Who cannot recall his first sight of the sea? — its waves beating like pulses and breaking on the beach. But it was only after a time, its immensity imperceptibly stole over the soul, and thought be- came lost in the sense of its vastness. The length of the Capitol extends seven hundred and fifty- one feet, four inches ; the breadth, including the steps of the Extensions, three hundred and twenty-four feet — the whole covering an area of ground of more than three-and-a-half acres, or 153,112 square feet. The Dome towers in the air nearly four hundred feet to its top, as seen from the ground west and down the hill — a height over twice that of Niagara Falls. It is of cast iron, painted white, and resembles in general appearance and gracefulness the great domes of St. Peter's of Eome, St. Paul's of London, St. Genevieve, and of the Invalides, of Paris, and that of the latest of all modern works of the kind, the Eussian national church, the Cathedral of St Isaac's at St. Petersburg, which also is partly built of iron. It hangs there, up in the clouds, a real something of what haunted me, a dreaming schoolboy, as I THE FEDERAL CITY. 67 sat gazing at the pictures of the world's cathedrals' in the Geography, long, long ago. The Dome that it superseded was low, and was built of wood, brick, and stone, sheathed with copper ; and had a circular wood- en balustrade at the top. Its height was 145 feet from the ground. In general outline it resembled that of the Pantheon at Eome, though smaller, and also St. Sophia's of Constan- tinople. A picture of the Capitol, as it looked before the re- moval of the old Dome and the addition of the Extensions, was printed on the notes of the Bank of the United States, and may readily be recalled to remembrance. This Dome was removed in 1856. The centre portion of the building — the original Capitol — is built of yellowish sandstone, painted white, procured from an island in Acquia Creek, Virginia. The island was purchas- ed by Government for $6,000, in 1791. The City Hall is con- structed partly of the same material. The Extensions of the Capitol are built of white marble slightly tinged with blue, obtained from a quarry in Lee, Mass- achusetts. The columns of the Extensions are of white marble, taken from a quarry in Maryland. The interior general arrangement of the Capitol is extremely simple : the Rotunda beneath the Dome in the centre ; the Sen- ate Chamber in the Extension on one side, the North ; and the Hall of Representatives in the other, on the South. Yet its several stories, many committee and departmental rooms, vesti- bules, long corridors, the old Hall of Representatives, and broad winding staircases, confuse a stranger, and I know, some few, temporarily, lose themselves in it. A few days before the Thirty-Seventh Congress adjourned, in passing through the portion of the Capitol that was the ves- tibule to the old Senate Chamber now the Supreme Court Room, I heard, coming up the rarely-used marble staircase, the heavy military tread of a single man, and, wondering who had stumbled this way into the building, waited until the stranger should make his appearance. He came, tramping on, up the 68 THE FEDERAL CITY. steps, and emerged at the head of the stairs, a rugged-looking soldier. One hand was tied up, for he had lost a finger a short time before, during "Stonewall " Jackson's raid at Winchester. He made a quick military salute, and with an air of perplexity, said : " Would you be so kind, sir, as to tell me where I'd find Congress ? " I v/illingly offered to show him the way. On starting for the Hall of Kepresentatives, we almost im- mediately crossed into the Rotunda. He pulled off his cap, and held it in his hand, gazing in wonder at the pictures that line its walls, and at its sky- capped roof. I mentioned the names of the rooms and passages through which we passed, talking to him, as we went along, about the Jackson raid, and his own part in the fray. He picked up the skirt of his coat, and showed me where a ball passed through it " 'bout the time my finger was shot off." He then said : " I've all my life wanted to see Congress, but I never thought I could, though ! " and his brown face lighted with expectation. We climbed the darkened Western staircase — the sky-light of which was boarded over, for Leutze was then working at his great fresco — and approached the middle door of the west gallery. I opened it suddenly, and the whole scene beneath at once burst upon us. He stood for a moment silent, then said, in a suppressed whisper, repeating it : " What a splendid pictur ! " It was a splendid picture. An immense Hall lighted only from the roof. Around all its sides, half way up, runs a deep gallery with cushioned seats ranged one above the other. The light pours down through panes of painted glass, ranged lengthwise, side by side, in the middle of the ceiling, full upon the floor, leaving the galleries in shadow. Rows of gilded ventilators square the splendid sky-light. The walls are of a subdued color, paneled, and heavily gilt. The carpet of the Hall is green. Lengthwise the Hall in successive semicircles, slightly THE FEDERAL CITY, 69 elevated each above the other, are seven rows of desks. They are of oak, as are most of the massive arm-chairs behind them. They face the Speaker's Chair, that is on an elevated platform, up flights of steps, all of white marble, making one think of a pure white Throne. Behind, and over it, against the wall, bending towards each other, hang two silken flags — the " Stars and Stripes." Between them, overshadowing the chair, is a gilded American Eagle. Right and left of the chair* each occupying a large panel, are full length portraits of Washington and Lafayette, Oppo- site these, and facing the chair, is a handsome clock, against which lean two bronze figures, one on each side, an Indian and a hunter. Sofas and lounges of all conceivable grades of luxury stand around the sides of the room, beyond the desks of the Congressmen. The House was in session, A sound of many voices reached us where we stood up near the ceiling, and the tableaux vivant were curiously interesting : — Some military officer of high grade, in uniform — his thin, white hair exposing a noble forehead — stood near one of the doors shaking hands with members, ambitious of the honor, crowding around him. A clerk stood at his desk, reading in a stentorian voice, that sounded like muttering thunder, what I suppose were items of bills. My hearing is good, but his words were unintelligible. Congressmen were looking over newspapers, some with their feet on desks, their heads overtopped and almost hid by a forest of legs. Others were writing, while groups, here and there, engaged in conversation. There was general hubbub. Two of the boy-pages, unconcerned in what was going on, were deep in a game of fisticuflfs at one end of the room — the larger had the other, a little fellow, in an easy (?) chair, and was vigorously pummelling him. The muttering thunder at length ceased — and the Speaker rapped sharply on his desk, calling gentlemen to order. Con 70 THE FEDERAL CITY. gress waked up. " Mr. Speaker ! " " Mr. Speaker ! ! " " Mr. Speaker ! ! ! " was shouted by voices, in as many different keys, from various parts of the Hall. How in the world the presid- ing officer could tell who spoke first I cannot imagine. Several of the more alert, however, in turn, succeeded in obtaining the floor, and said their say — though I think nineteen Congress- men out of twenty did n't hear what it was. Meantime the smaller boy-page made a successful wriggle out of the cushioned chair, and decamped through a door into one of the ante-rooms. A moment after he thrust his saucy face in again, with his thumb placed at the end of his nose — using it as a pivot, he made a significant gesture with the other fingers at his big opponent before he finally retired. I hope the little rascal intended it wholly for him, and not for the august assembly whose presence he was leaving. My soldier-companion attentively gazed on what was going on below us. After a while, button-holing me, he said in a tone 80 loud that I feared that the important functionary, the door- keeper, would unpleasantly with a touch of his baton remind us, "Conversation is not allowed in the galleries, gentlemen : " — " Why, mister, they do n't seem to listen to what one another says ! " I whispered back, " No, they did n't, but as it was all printed in the newspapers, they could read it afterwards if they wanted," This seemed hardly to satisfy him. Half an hour passed away. He then asked me to show him the Senate Chamber, and we left the gallery. There are no old associations of historic interest about the present halls of Congress. Events transpired there time has not yet mellowed. All is fresli and green as the carpets. But History is writing, each day a record there, that will interest the world and all time — the grand Story of the Culmination and Putting Down of the Rebellion — that fearfullest of all attempts ever made to drive Liberty from the homes of men. As I came again into the Old Hall of Representatives afler having left the soldier in the gallery of the Senate, I was struck. THE FEDERAL CITY. 71 as I often had been before, with the air of majesty pervading the grand deserted room, stripped as it was of many old State trappings. It is of semi-circular shape, and surrounded by twenty - six columns of variegated Potomac marble. The figure of "Liberty," beneath which is an "Eagle on the wing," still occupies, its position high up in the Hall above wdiere was once the Speaker's, chair ; as does also, opposite it, the marble statue representing "History recording the events of the nation." She is placed on a winged car, rolling round a globe on which are delineated the signs of the Zodiac, and the wheel of the car is the face of the clock. Two cake-women, with tables, were now the occupants of the floor of this magnificent chamber. The room was without a carpet ; the windows were bare of drapery ; and the walls discolored. Cobwebs waved backwards and forwards up near the ceiling. The chandelier, once regarded as a triumph of artistic elegance, was covered with dust, and the sky-light was so obscured with smoke and accumulated dirt that it admitted little light. Foot-falls, of passers in and out of the room, and along the coridors that lead to it, fell faintly, and monotonous- ly, on the hearing, and, gradually, I became lost in reverie. It was here the great departed used to congregate. The echoes of their footsteps, to my awakened imagination, now seemed to linger around ; their voices to whisper through the empty space. The room gradually appeared again re-peopled. I saw in fancy, what my eyes once saw^, many years ago, as I stood early one morning, before Congress had assembled, in that now deserted gallery, the venerable John Quincy Adams at his desk working, and on his shining bald head rays of sunlight fell that lit it up until a star seemed shining there. The stately forms of Clay, of Webster, and of other departed patriot men, now, appeared, again, to walk through the room. Their faces were sad, yet resolute. They grouped them- selves around the two Declarations of Independence, that hung in their old frames on the otherwise dismantled walls, above the 72 THE FEDERAL CITY. long unused fire-places, and stretched out their arms and pointed expressively towards them. The room seemed solemn as a sepulchre. At last, to my great relief, there burst a glad strain of music through an open window, and they all vanished into thin air. It was Wednesday, tovvards evening, and the concert in the grounds had commenced. I hastily left the apartment, glad to get into the open air and in the sunshine amono- the trees and flowers. OLD HALL OF REPRESENTATIVES. This Old Hall was the main feature in the south side of the original Capitol. I copy an admirable description of it, as it was, written by Mr. George Watterston, who, for many years was Librarian of .the Congressional Library, being appointed to that office by President Madison. A book written by him Describing "Wash- ington, and published in 1842, now out of print, was, I think, one of the very best of Guide Books ever published of the Federal City^ and it is the mine out of which much of the ma- terial contained in its successors has been taken. I have added but a few explanatory clauses and sentences, and they are con- tained within brackets. Mr. Watterston writes : " This magnificent apartment is in the form, of an ancient Greek theatre, ninety-five feet in length, and sixty feet in height to the most elevated point of the ceiling, and occupies nearly the whole area of the wing, from the second story upwards. Twenty-six massive columns and pilasters of Potomac marble, or breccia, standing on a base of sandstone, the capitals of which are of Italian marble, executed in Italy, support a mag- nificent dome with painted caissons, to represent that of the Pantheon at Home. From the centre of this dome is erected,, to admit the light from above, a handsome cupola, richly painted and ornamented by a young Italian artist named THE FEDERAL CITY. 73 BoNANi, wlio also painted the ceiling, and who died in this city soon after it was completed. [ " Breccia " are small mineral fragments joined together. Any one who has seen Potomac marble in its rongh state, would at once see how correct the application of this term is to it. " Caissons " are sunken panels.] " The Speaker's chair is elevated on a platform richly draped, and stands immediately in front of the north entrance.* * * Above it, and under a sweeping arch near the dome, extending from east to west, is placed the model of a colossal figure of Liberty, (in plaster,) by Causici [a pupil of Canova]. On the entablature beneath the figure is sculptured in stone the Amer- ican Eagle, in the act of taking wing, executed by another Ital- ian artist (Valaperti) of high reputation, who has left but this single specimen of his talents in this country, and who disap- peared suddenly and mysteriously soon after it was executed. "Above the main entrance into the Hall stands a beautiful statue in marble, representing History recording the events of the nation. She stands in the attitude of listening, with her head turned on one side, a pen in one hand and an open book in the other, ready to v/rite down the passing events. Her atti- tiude is graceful and beautiful ; her light drapery floats around her, and the winged car in which she stands seems to be in motion over the globe, on which is figured in hasso relievo the signs of the zodiac. The wheel of the car serves as the face of the clock of the Hall, all beautifully designed and executed. The artist was Signor Carlo Franzoni* * * "Between the massive marble columns of this apartment is suspended, in festoons, fringed drapery of crimson merino from rods variously decorated.^ * *The portrait of Lafayette at full length, painted by a French artist, and presented to Congress during the last visit of that patriot to this country, (and a most admirable likeness of him,) decorates the panel on the west side, while a full length portrait of the more illustrious Washington, and of the same dimensions, painted by Mr. Vanderlyn, occu- pies the panel on the opposite side. [These two pictures now 74 THE FEDERAL CITY. Lang in the New Hall of Kepresentatives. Vanderlyn received for his picture, by order of Congress, $2,500.] Between the columns, at their base, are placed sofas for the accommodation of the members, and those who are privileged to enter the Hall ; and within the bar, in a semicircle fronting the Speaker's chair, are seated the members of the House, each one of whom is furnished with a mahogany desk, an armed chair, and writing materials,*** " Between the Rotunda and the Hall of Representatives is a small circular vestibule. It resembles a Grecian temple, and is surmounted by a Dome and Cupola. The caps of the columns are ornamented with the cotton plant, instead of the acanthus leaf of the Greeks. It was the design of Mr. Latrobe, an artist of genius and taste, who once had charge of this building, to make it national as far as was possible, by the introduction of architectural ornaments copied from the native productions of this country." This description of Mr. Watterston has reference to the Hall as it was restored, after the burning of the Capitol, in 1814:, b}/ the British. The North or Senate side of the original Capitol was tlie por- tion of the building first made ready for Congress. The House of Representatives met in it, as also the Senate. On the 3d Monday of November, the 17th, 1800, Congress first assembled in the City of Washington ; but, in consequence of not having a quorum of both houses, and other delays, it was not until the next Saturday, the 22nd, that President John Adams, as was then the custom, delivered his message in person to the two Houses ; the House of Representatives liaving- re- paired to the Senate chamber to hear it, after the manner of the opening of the British Parliament. The building of the South wing of the Capitol pro- gressed slowly. A temporary structure was erected for the use of the House of Representatives occupying about the site of the present South Extension of the Capitol, and into it that body K THE FEDERAL CITY. 77 removed. It sat there during tlie Congress that first assembled after the commencement of Mr. Jefferson's adnjinistration. The room it had occupied in the Capitol was immediately afterward appropriated to the Library of Congress, from which it was in turn displaced by the return of the House in 1805. Mr. Robert Mills (an Architect and Engineer,) thus speaks of this structure in his "Guide to Washington." [1854-]. " The House sat in a temporary brick building erected for its accommodation which was of an elliptical form and found to be a good speaking room ; hence when the permanent Plall was erected, this general form v/as adopted by Mr. Jefferson for it." It was probably this structure that was so often facetiously called "the oven." The Hall of the House was made ready for use in 1807. The South side of the Capitol was finished in 1811. Its in- terior was more substantial and beautiful in finish than that of the North or Senate side which had been first and more hurri- edly gotten ready for the occupation of Congress. The Hall of Representives was semi-circular, with a vaulted ceiling. Twenty. fluted Corinthian pillars of sandstone support- ed the entablature, The American Eagle, carved in sandstone by Signor Giuseppe Fraxzoni ornamented the frieze over the Speaker's chair. On the opposite frieze was a grouj) by the same artist, representing Agriculture, Commerce, Art, and Science. Behind the Speaker's chair sat the figure of Liberty, with an Eagle by her side ; her right hand presenting the Constitution, and in the left a Liberty Cap. Her feet rested on a reversed crown and symbols of monarchy and oppression. Mr. Mills thus describes the Hall : " The plan of the first House of Representatives was of an elliptical form, or rather a square bounded by two semicircles, and surmounted by a dome ; corresponding with the idea of Mr. Jefferson. This dome had numerous panel lights, and was 78 THE FEDERAL CITY supported by a freestone colonnade. It was a very handsome as well as a good speaking room." This was the Hall that the incendiary torch of British van- dalism destroyed, August 24, 1814. The Hall that succeeded — now known by the name of the " Old Hall," and a description of which has already been given — was used by the Eepresentatives of Congress thirty-two years. After the Extensions of the Capitol were made ready for the occupation of Congress in 1857-'o8, the desks, and carpets, and pictures, taken away, the deserted Old Hall had a forlorn and neglected look. During this time it lay for the most part idle, and became a painful eyesore to visitors. But there were grand uses too made of the old room in the interval. At one time, during the early period of the Eebellion, soldiers that rushed to the defence of the Seat of Government, were quartered in it, as indeed they were, throughout the Capi- tol. Again, in 1862, before sufficient hospital accommodations were completed in Washington, sick and wounded soldiers lying in beds, sufi'ering and dying, were placed here, and this room, with others, became a Hospital. Congress, in 1861, made an appropriation for converting the Old Hall into a room for statuary ; and a beautiful white and black marble mosaic pavement has taken the place of the old wooden floor. The room has loomed out, again, grandly ; and will doubtless become one of the most interesting places in the Capitol. Each of the States is to have the privilege of send- ing two statues of her chosen sons to represent her in this silent assembly gathered in the hallowed Old Hall of Rep- resentatives. THE FEDERAL CITY. THE NEW HALL OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ts situated in the centre of the South extension of the Capitol. A corridor leads to it from the old Hall of the House, the entrance into which is through the pictured Bronze Door de- j signed by Eogers. In general appearance it resembles the Senate chamber, but is larger, and somewhat more garish in its ornamentation. It has a gallery on its four sides capable of having crowded into it 1,500 persons. Sections of it are appropriated to the diplo- matic corps, and to the reporters of the press. The Hall has corridors running round it, outside of which are committee rooms and offices. The main entrance from the outside is through the vestibule of the grand South Eastern Portico. The Hall is 139 feet long, 93 feet wide, and 36 feet high. The ceiling is of iron, gilded and bronzed, and is supported by trusses from the roof Its centre is panelled with glass — in each panel is magnificently painted the arms of a State or Ter- ritory ; affording a sky-light calculated to make one's heart throb. The castings for the ceilings of both Houses of Con- gress was the work of Janes, Beebe & Co. "An arrangement of moveable metallic plates, on the princi- ple of Venitian blinds, is placed under the sunny sides of the respective roofs of the Senate and House, so that the same amount of light may be admitted all the time." At night both chambers are lighted by hundreds of jets of gas fixed above their sky-lights ; the effect of this way of lighting is peculiarly soft and beautiful. Seats for the members, with desks in front of them, are ranged in successive semicircles facing the Speaker's desk. In front of the Speaker's desk sit the clerks of the House, and in front of them is the desk for the reporters of the government. Every word that is uttered both in the Senate and the House is taken down in short hand and printed in the "Congressional Globe." As in the Senate, the space under the galleries is partitioned off, making the area of the floor 113 feet long and 67 feet wide. 80 THE FEDERAL CITY. Besides the pictures of Washington and Lafayette, there is a fresco on one of the panels on the south side of the. Ilall. by Signor C. Brumidi, " citizen of the U. S." It represents an in- terview between General Washington and a British officer, who, with the bearer of a flag of truce, has presented himself to the American commander. The scene is historic, and occurred before Yorktown, and immediately preceded the final surrender of Lord Cornwallis. The following extract from Irving's Life of Washington will explain the picture, and narrates the great subsequent event. "The hopes of Lord Cornwallis were now at an end. His works were tumbling in ruins about him, under an incessant cannonade; his garrison was reduced in number by sickness and death, and exhausted by constant watching and severe duty. Unwilling to expose the residue of the brave troops which had stood by him so faithfully, to the dangers and horrors of an assault, which could not fail to be successful, he ordered a par- ley to be beaten about ten o'clock on the morning of the 17th, [October, 1781], and despatched a flag wih a letter to Wash- ington proposing a cessation of hostilities for twenty-four hours, and that two officers might be appointed by each side to nieet and settle terms for the surrender of the posts of York and Gloucester. " Washington felt unwilling to grant such delay, when rein- forcements might be on the way for Cornwallis from New York. In reply, therefore, he requested that, previous to the meeting of commissioners, his lordship's proposals might be sent in writing to the American lines, for which purpose a suspension of hostilities during two hours from the delivery of the letter, would be granted." The historian continues : " This was complied with ; but as the proposals ofltered by Cornwallis were not all admissible, Washington drew up a schedule of such terms as he would grant, and transmitted it to his lordship. * * Commissioners met. * * After much discussion, a rough draft was made of the the terms of the capitulation to THE FEDERAL CITY. 81 be submitted to the British general. These Washington caused to be promptly transcribed, and sent to lord Cornwallis early on the 19th, with a note expressing his expectation that they would be signed by eleven o'clock, and that the garrison would be ready to march out by two o'clock in the afternoon. Lord Cornwallis was fain to comply, and, accordingly, on the same day, the posts of Yorktown and Gloucester were surrendered." The pedestal of verd antique marble, in which the Speaker's mace is inserted when the House is in session, stands on the east side of the chair. The mace is at other times kept in the room of the Sergeant- at- Arms. It consists of black lictor's rods bound together with a silver ligature, surmounted with a globe, over which stretches with extended wings the American Eagle. EASTERN STAIRCASE. A magnificent staircase of Tennessee and white marble leads from the east corridor to the ladies' gallery of the House. It is ornamented with highly polished Tennessee marble columns. A large picture of General Scott on horseback, now hangs on the wall that faces the ascent of the stairs. It does not belong to Government, but was placed in the Capitol by the artist with the hope it would be purchased by the country. It was painted by Mr. Edward Troye, and ordered of him by the Virginia Legislature ; but, the Rebellion breaking out, the picture was thrown on his hands. The price that was to have been paid for it was §6,000. In a niche of the corridor, at the foot of the stairs, stands a statue of Thomas Jefferson by Powers. It is, as all his work is, beautifully finished ; the very texture of the cloth of his garments seems impressed on the delicate marble, and the separate stitches of the worked button-holes of his coat may easily be discerned by the curious eye — the hands, too, are marvels of artistic beauty ; yet, to my fancy, it is all toned 82 THE FEDERAL CITY. clown to such a degree that the creation lacks power. There is notldng there of the strong rugged man Jefferson really was. The impression is very different from that his portrait makes in Trumbull's picture of the Declaration of Independence in the Rotunda.. The bronze statue also of the democratic Prince, cast years ago in Paris, and that now stands in front of the White House, must certainly look more like what the man Vv'as whose diamond pen wrote the Declaration of Human Rights, than it is possible this block of Carrara marble can — exquisitely cut and finished though it is. Mr. Hiram Powers received $10,000 for this statue deliv- ered in New York. It was executed in Italy, and arrived in this country in 1863. WESTERN STAIRCASE. Another magnificent staircase ascends from the "Western corridor of the House, leading into the gentlemen's gallery. In the niche, at the foot of the stairs, the bronze bust of an Indian chief, is placed a- top of successive blocks of white mar- ble piled one above the other. It is the likeness of a brave who died a short time after his return home from a visit to Washington. The five feathers on the top of his head are significant of his valor in battle. His superstitious red brethren believe that his death was a pun- ishment for permitting his likeness to be taken to stay among the pale faces. On the neck of the bust is a medal with an in- scription that tells . something about him, and the artists who perpetuated his likeness. It reads : " Bee-she-kee, The Buffalo, a Chippewa warrior from the sources of the Mississippi. After nature by F. Vincenti, A. D. 1854, Copied in bronze by Jos. Lassalle, A. D. 1858." This bronze looks like an antique, and is of an uniform rich color. This appearance was imparted to it by some process that is a secret. It is to be regretted the Rogers' Bronze Door has not also been submitted to it, as discolorations are appearing on it. the federal city. leutze's picture of "western emigration'' Covers the whole extent of the wall above the first landing on the grand Western staircase that leads to the gallery of the House. The light falls on it from a sky-light in the roof. This picture arrests the attention of every visitor to the Cap- itol, and a mere description of it necessarily can convey but a feeble idea of its beauties to those who have not enjoyed the pleasure of seeing it. I will, however, try to describe the picture. A party of emigrants coming down the mountains are ap- proaching a gorge through which a view is seen — extending as an illimitable sea — of the desired land beyond. Smoke, as if from camp fires, or warm springs, is ascending, and birds wheel aloft in the air ; they are Eagles hovering over the unbroken expanse of virgin soil. The mountain tops are bathed in purple light. Away, far up, where rocks are piled upon rocks, as 'twere that veritable work of giants who made the futile attempt to scale the walls of Heaven, two men have climbed, and carry with them the glorious old Flag. They look tiny in the far-up distance, but you can see there, gleaming, over all, the " Stars and Stripes." Just in front of the open gorge a- fallen tree impedes the further advance of the party. This, under the direction of the leader, who is on horseback, other men are engaged in removing. A family has climbed a pile of rocks, and are looking out eagerly to see the new home-land. A boy, a type of Young America, with his father's long rifle in his hand, standing erect, looking as indomitable as boy could look, cut out clear and distinct in the picture, is the foremost figure of the group. His sister and mother, sit on rocks or ground behind him, over which a buffalo robe has been spread. The girl's face is full of hope, and smiles play on her face and sparkle in her eyes. The mother looks pale, and patient, and as if she tried to feel hopeful. Her hands are clasped, and a little baby is suckling THE FEDERAL CITY. at her breast. That mother's face, is, to me, one of the most beautiful faces I have ever seen in a picture. The father, a strong, stout man, endeavors to cheer her ; he is still behind, and points out with face of glowing hope the land where his own good arm shall win for them another home. A procession of men, and women, and children, representing all types of western emigrants, in various conditions of sick- ness and health, and of hope and despondency, seem to be moving, so life-like are they painted, before the eyes of the looker on. Wagons, and oxen, and cows, and* horses, with all accompa- niments of western emigration, are there, to the very life. One man has a fiddle, babies are in abundance, as well as frolicksome children of various ages ; a round, sleek negro face looks at you. out of the picture, showing white teeth ; — while, as glimpses of the opening view fall upon the faces of the pioneer men and women, they light, and glow, and seem almost to startle into life. Above the picture, in golden letters, is inscribed the words : "WESTWARD THE COURSE OF EMPIRE TAKES ITS WAY," Beneath, and detached from the main picture, yet, as it were hanging on to it, is a view of the "Golden Gate," at the entrance of the harbor of San Francisco Bay. An elaborate pictorial border surrounds the picture, illustra- ting the advance of pioneer and civilized, over savage, life. It, of itself, would form a study, to take in all its teachings. On one side of this border, and contained in it, is a fine portrait of Daniel Boone, and some distance below it are the lines : "The Spirit grows with its allotted Spaces :—^ The Miud is narrowed in a narrow Sphere." On the opposite side is a portrait of Captain William Clarke, and the lines : "No pent up Utica contracts our powers ; But the whole boundless Continent is ours." THE FEDERAL CITY 85 The general effect of this wall picture is different from that of usual frescoes. There is an absence of the fresh, garish look common to them, and from which they deriye their name, and also a softer, richer, blending together of colors. The sur- face of the wall is rough, and intelligent travellers have told me that it made them think of the magnificent tapestries of Hampton Court Palace,, once the property of Cardinal Wolsey, and which, with all its treasures of art, he made a present to his sovereign Henry VIII. The process of afi&xing it to the wall is termed Stereochrome, and is sometimes called " water-glass painting." " The wall is coated with a preparation of clean quartz sand mixed with the least possible quantity of lime ; and after the application of this the surface is scraped to remove the outer coating in contact with the atmosphere. It is then washed with a solution of silesia, soda, potash, and water. As the painter applies his col- ors, he moistens his work by squirting distilled water upon it. When finished it is washed over with the silesia solution. The picture also in its progress is washed with the same solution and the colors thus becoming incorporated in the flinty coating, the picture is rendered hard and durable as stone itself" Emanuel Leutze, the artist to whom we are indebted for this picture, was born in Giimd, Wurtemberg, May 24, 1816. His parents emigrated during his infancy to America and settled in Philadelphia. When a little boy, and attending at the sick bed of his father, his talents for drawing were first displayed. He struggled manfully with adverse circumstances, and at last was enabled to return to Europe and there prosecute his artist labors. He now resides in the United States.* He received from government for this painting twenty thousand dollars. Mr. Leutze's first great picture, was that of "An Indian gazing at the setting sun." Many of his pictures are illus- trative of American history ; among them are " Washington crossing the Delaware," " Washington at Princeton," " News from Lexington," " Washington at the Battle of Monongahela," " Landing of the Norsemen in America," etc., etc. *Mr. Leutze died suddenly in Washington, D. C, July 18, 18G8. 86 THE FEDERAL CITY. The floors of all the corridors of both Extensions are paved with tiles, laid in mosaic, after the choicest patterns of modern and antique designs. These halls are also lighted with nu- merous chandeliers of magnificent and varied patterns. THE BROTHERS FRANZONI. These two sculptor brother- artists, to whose genius the Capi- tol was greatly indebted for its early adornment, were the sons v-)f the President of the Academy of Fine Arts at Carrara, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, and nephews of Cardinal Franzoni. The elder, Giuseppe, (Joseph), came to this country about 1809, and was kept constantly in the employ of the government. Most of his work, however, was destroyed when the Capitol was burned. The only specimen of it now in existence, in Washington, is the Eagle over the entrance to the Navy Yard. He died about 1816. The younger, Carlo, (Charles), came to the United States in 1816, then in his twenty-sixth year, at the invitation of gov- ernment. It has already been stated, that the beautiful Clock in the Old Hall was his work. He also executed the allegori- cal group that adorns the wall of the present Law Library — formerly the United States' Supreme Court Room, on the ground floor of the Capitol. The vestibule through which is the main entrance to that room, is ornamented with columns in imitation of clusters of corn-stalks, and the capitals are groups of ears of corn peeping out from their husks. This is another sample of his genius and work. Both Mr. Latrobe and Mr. Bulfinch held his ability in high estimation, as did also his per- sonal friend, John Qaincy Adams. He died May 12, 1819. A number of models designed by him, in plaster, were stored away in the cellar of the Capitol at the time of his death, and have since probably been destroyed. The Clock of the Old Hall has been frequently ignorantly attributed, by writers about Washington, to lardella, another Italian, a cousin of Franzoni, but who had nothing to do viih either its design or execution. DIAGRAM OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. COAT ROOM WESTERN DOOR ¥«;^Mti^mit!^^^- GOAT ROOM ING FiOOM DIAGRAM OF SENATE CHAMBER. n n, RECE"?il%00M P © © ^'^S^E'^N LOBBY ( \ J V? 1 1 p- ^ _ ^ , ' — ^ r-^-T- [-■■'--» ^ ^^ p— r- © y WESTERN LOBBY THE FEDERAL CITY. 91 CHAPTER IV. CROWNING OP THE DOME — • THE EXTENSIONS — FIRST AND SECOND feEWATE CHAMBERS OF THE ORIGINAL CAPITOL — SUPREME COURT ROOM — DIAGRAM OF THE MAIN FLOOR OF THE CAPITOL POWEKS' STATUE OF FRANKLIN — PEALE'S PICTURE OF WASHINGTON ON HORSEBACK BEFORE YORKTOWN — STONE'S STATUE OF HANCOCK — 'WALKER'S PICTURE OP THE STORMING OP CHAPULTEPEC THE NEW SENATE CHAMBER, ETC. The work on the Capitol progressed unceasingly through all the long weary months and years of the war of the Eebellion. The new Dome rose high and higher, until, completed, poised in mid-air, it seemed a white flecked cloud which for beauty angels might have fashioned to canopy our Temple of Liberty. At 12 o'clock M., Dec. 2, 1863, the top section of the Statue of Freedom, forming the head and shoulders of the figure which crowns the Dome, was raised to its place. The fact was heralded by a flag displayed from the Statue, when a national salute of 35 guns was fired from a field-battery on Capitol Hill. This was followed by answering salutes from all the forts defending Washington. Provision had been made by an Act of Congress of Sept. 30, 1850, for the much needed Extension of the Capitol "according to such plan as might be approved by the President." The plan of Thomas U. Walter, architect, was accepted by President Fill- more, June 10, 1851, and Mr. Walter was appointed to carry it out. In doing this, however, it was subjected to considerable modification in details decided upon in the course of erection. The corner-stone of the Extension was laid by Mr. Fillmore, July 4, 1851 . Daniel Webster was the chosen orator of the day. The Extension consists of two buildings north and south of the original Capitol, connected with it by corridors 44 feet in length. Each Extension is 142 feet, 8 inches front on the east, by 238 feet, 10 inches in depth exclusive of Porticoes and steps. The cost of Capitol Extension to April 1866, was $7,058,621. An account of changes made at various times in the interior arrangement of the original Capitol will probably be interesting. 92 THE FEDERAL CITY. The first arrangement of the interior of the North wing of the Capitol differed materially from that which was adopted when . the building was restored after its conflagration by the British. In it the Senate Chamber was on the west side of the building. It was but of temporary construction ; the col- umns and entablature were of wood stuccoed, and the capitals were only plaster. This was the room in which the Senate met, over whose deliberations Aaron Burr, as Vice President, presided. A now venerable officer of the United States' Senate, who has been in its service over forty years, told me, that, when a boy, he recollects being in this Senate Chamber. "It was," he said, "a very rich-looking and imposing room. Each Senator's large easy chair was lined with red morocco." When the building was re-constructed, the Senate chamber was located on the east side of the North wing. It was also a very elegant apartment. The drapery was rich and of red, and hung profusely about the room. This same chamber, re- taining many of its old features, is now occupied by the Supreme Court of the United States. Previous to its occupancy of this room the Supreme Court sat in the chamber immediately underneath it. That room is now the Law Library — a division of the Library of Congress. THE SUPREME COURT ROOM. This room was first used by the Supreme Court in 1860. It is semicircular in form ; and is 75 feet long and 45 feet high. Its greatest width, which is in the centre, is 45 feet. A range of Ionic columns of Potomac marble ^orms a colon- nade on the eastern side of the room, while pilasters of the same marble are placed in the circular wall that sweeps around opposite them. What was once thought "a magnificent chan- delier," still hangs suspended from one of the sky-lights. THE FEDERAL CITY. SS The beautifal dome-ceiling is enriched with square caissons of stucco, and terminates in a number of sky-lights. The same gilded Eagle that used to look down from over the Vice Presi- dent's chair, when this room was the Senate Chamber, now spreads his wings above the seat of the Chief Justice of the Court, Opposite, over the door of entrance, is a handsome white marble clock. The floor is covered with a soft rich carpet, of brown, whose velvet surface deadens the footfalls of passers in and out. Eed velvet cushioned benches back the semi-circular wall, and hangings of that color surround the separating bar of the court. The justices, dressed in black gowns, occupy seats on a raised platform, ranged in front of the colonnade that faces the main entrance door. The old eastern gallery of the Senate, still traverses the space above their seats. Attached to the semi-circular wall, opposite, are brackets that support the busts of four former chief justices, John Jay, John Rutledge, Oliver Ellsworth, and John Marshall. That of Chief Justice Taney, will, -without doubt, be placed by the side •of these. A bust of him for some time before his death stood in one of the Senate corridors. Along the wall where these busts are ranged a semi-circular gallery supported by bronzed iron columns, used to project, which was the " circular gallery of the Senate." It was the intention of Mr. Latrobe, (the architect), to have had one of the galleries of this room when it was the Senate Chamber, says Mr. Watterston, "supported by emblematic figures of the old thirteen States, decorated with their peculiar insignia, and the models were actually prepared by one of the Italian artists whom he had engaged to come to this country ; but a neglect or refusal on the part of Congress to make the necessary appropriations defeated his designs, and the plaster models were afterwards thrown aside and destroyed." These models, very probably, were those made by Signor Carlo Franzoni. 94 THEFEDERALCITT, The corridor of the Capitol running north that passes the main entrance of the Court Eoom, widens into a handsome vestibule in front of the door. This vestibule is adorned with columns of Potomac marble, and is lighted from the sky by a small cupola, from the centre of which hangs a chandelier. Before this vestibule is reached, starting from the Rotunda, you pass a small circular apartment lighted also with a cupola, and surrounded by pillars, all in imitation of a Grecian temple. Into the caps of the pillars, however, instead of the usual Cor- inthian ornament, have been worked the stock, leaf, and flower of the tobacco plant. The ceremony observed, each morning, at the opening of the Supreme Court is interesting, and, to some, seems highly imposing ; to others, who look on things from an irreverent point of view, the effect is different. It is something like this : At 11 o'clock A.M., the small door north of the columned passage behind the judges' seats opens, and the Marshal enters, (generally, however, he is only his deputy) and travels, mostly backwards, nearly the length of the room, with his eyes fixed on the door. He then says, in a tremulous voice, as if he feared to see a procession of grandmother ghosts : " The Honorable, the Judges of the Supreme Court of the United States." The waiting people in the Court Room all rise, even the lawyers, and if any have their hats on off they instantly come. All eyes turn to the door. Then the old men, the Justices, come in, one after another, in their loose flowing black silk gowns and range themselves before their appointed chairs ready to sink into them. There is a moment's hush until all the venera- bles get fixed. Meanwhile, a sort of rapid eye- telegraphing takes place be- tween the Honorable Chief Justice and an official who stands before a desk at the further end of the room, that means, " it is time for him to go on." [This functionary should be the " crier.* THE FEDERAL CITY. 95 but the duty is usually performed by a " bailiflf."] The officer then breaks out in a feeble, auctioneer-sort of voice, which, be- fore he finishes, becomes perfectly unintelligible : " yea ! O yea ! O yea ! All persons having business before the Honorable, the Judges of the Supreme Court of the United States, are admonished to draw near and give their attendance, for the Court is now in session. God save the United States, and this Honorable Court." All the Judges look relieved, and take their seats. The man who sang out tha|itO yea ! " seems heartily glad his part of the programme is gWf] and — the Court is opened. The Supreme Court consists [1865] of a Chief Justice, and nine Associate Justices. They are nominated by the President of the United States, and " by and with the advice and consent of the Senate," are appointed by him. Their tenure of office is, " good behaviour." Each Justice is also Judge of one of the Circuit Courts. The Court meets annually on the first Monday in December at Washington. The principal officers, besides the Justices, are the Attorney General, a Clerk, Deputy Clerk, Keporter, Mar- shal, and Crier. The first Chief Justice was John Jay of New York, appointed Sepjj 26, 1789; and the first court term was held in New York City, Feb. 1790. Jay was afterwards appointed Envoy Extraor- dinary to England, in 1794, and resigned the office of chief justice. John Eutledge, of South Carolina, was appointed in 1795, by President Washington, during a recess of the Senate. He presided on the bench at August term 1795. His nomination was rejected by the Senate, Dec. 15, 1795. William Cushing, of Massachusetts, one of the Associate Justices, was then ap- pointed and his appointment confirmed by the Senate, Jan. 27, 1796 ; but he declined the office, Oliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut, succeeded. He was ap- pointed and confirmed March 4, 1796 ; and continued to preside, 96 THE FEDERAL CITY. until and at the August term of 1799. He resigned, having accepted the position of Minister" Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary to France, and proceeded on his mission Nov. 3, 1799. John Jay, of New York, was again appointed and con- firmed, Dec. 19, 1800 ; but he declined the re-appointment. John Marshall, of Virginia, nominated by President John Adams, was confirmed Jan. 27, and appointed Jan. 31, 1801. At the time of his appointment he was Secretary of State, and continued to act in that capacity, conjointly discharging the duties of his new ofl&ce, until the termina^bi of Mr. Adams' administration, March 3, 1801. Chief JuOTice Marshall died in 1835. Roger B. Taney, of Maryland, succeeded. He was nomina- ted by President Andrew Jackson, confirmed and appointed March 15, 1836. He died in Washington City, Oct. 12, 1864. Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, Ex-Secretary of the Treasury, nominated by President Abraham Lincoln, was confirmed by an unanimous vote of the Senate, Dec. 6 ; and took the oath of office as Chief Justice, Dec. 15, 1864. The following items, relative to the first meetings of the Supreme Court in Washington, copied from a file of "The Na- tional Intelligencer," that belongs to the Library of Congress, will probably interest the reader. 3k In the issue of Monday, Jan. 26, 1801, under the head of the Congressional Proceedings, is the following : " House of Representatives, Friday, Jan. 23, 1801. " Mr. Rutledge from the joint committee to whom had been referred the letter from the Commissioners of the City of Wash- ington, requesting the use of an apartment in the Capitol, for the accommodation of the Supreme Court of the United States, reported, that it would be expedient to assign a room on the lower floor of that building." Again, under date of Monday, Feb. 2, 1801, it is stated : " The Supreme Court of the United States this day met in the Capitol, and adjourned without transacting any business." THE FEDERAL CITY. 97 In the next issue, Feb. 4, 1801, (for this paper was then a tri- weekly,) is printed this announcement : "The justices of the Supreme Court have made a Court — the following justices being present, viz, Messrs. Marshall, Gushing, Chase, and Washington." During the first session of Congress, in Washington, in 1800, '01, both houses, as well as the Supreme Court, met in the "old North wing " of the original Capitol. The newspaper file to which I have alluded, in several of its early numbers, complains of the unfitting accommodations afforded the reporters of the press in the House of Kepresentatives. The grievance seems to them direful as if it were a national calamity. At this period the ground at the foot of Capitol Hill was a quagmire, and the resort of numerous aquatic birds. Where the city now is, were woods, morass, or farmland. The Hon. John Cotton Smith, of Connecticut, writing home from Washing- ton at this time, says, of its appearance on his arrival, and of after improvements : " Only one wing of the Capitol has been erected, which, with the President's House, a mile distant from it, both constructed with white sandstone, were shining objects in dismal contrast with the scene around them. * * * Pennsylva- nia Avenue, leading, as laid do^vn on paper, from the Capitol to the Presidential mansion, was then nearly the whole distance a deep morass, covered with alder bushes, which were cut through the width of the intende d avenue during the ensuing Winter." On the west side of the vestibule of the Supreme Court Room are the offices of the Clerk of the Court. There are also other rooms appropriated to the use of the justices, one of which is the robe room. Passing these, the corridor conducts into the North Extension of the Capitol, and terminates opposite the south entrance door of the Senate Chamber. Here the south corridor of the Senate running east and west crosses it, leading to the east and west corridors, from which the grand marble staircases ascend to the galleries of the Senate. 98 THEFEDKRALCITY. On the opposite page is a Diagram of the Plan of the Main Floor of the Capitol. With a little study I think its prin- cipal divisions can be understood. This " main floor " is the second story of the building, and is reached from the East Front by steps that ascend to the three Porticoes of that front. There are also staircases inside the building, by which it can be gained, on every side, from the ground floor. The "Eotunda" is the circular chamber in the centre, from which doors open north, south, east, and west. The North Door leads towards a small circular chamber after which the corridor forms the vestibule to the " United States Supreme Court Room " lying on its east side. This room is of semicircular shape, and was formerly the Senate Chamber. Opposite, on the west side of the corridor, are rooms appro- priated to the officers of the court. . Continuing along the corridor you enter the North Extension of the Capitol, in the centre of which is the " Senate Chamber," surrounded by corridors, upon which also open various rooms. The Senate Chamber can be easily indicated by the several rows of semi-circular seats marked in the Diagram. The floors of the new corridors are laid with tiles of varied patterns. These are imitated in the Diagram. Eeturning to the Rotunda, and leaving it by the South Door 3'"0u at once find yourself in the vestibule of the Old Hall of Representatives, Then succeeds the "Old Hall" itself. Its columns are marked by dots in the Diagram. Passing this Hall you enter the South Corridor, through the Rogers' Bronze Door, and reach the New Hall of Representa- tives situated in the centre of the South Extension of the Capi- itol. The floor of this immense room is marked by various semicircular ranges of seats. Corridors, as in the case of the Senate Chamber, surround the New Hall of the House, and where practicable rooms border the opposite sides, The East Door of the Rotunda opens on the Central Portico. The West Door leads towards the Library of Congress, that occupies the Western side of the central portion of the Capitol. PLAN OF THE MAIN FLOOR OF THE CAPITOL, SOUTH. fHE FEDERAL CITY. 101 powers' statue of franklin Stands in a niche at the foot of the staircase that leads to the Ladies' Gallery from the East corridor of the Senate. It is wonderfully grand. One becomes silent, and awed, gazing thus, as it were, face to face, on the great American philosopher and statesman. It seems no longer stone ; but a something of thought, of power. At times I have been startled while looking at it, by the thought ■ — I am almost afraid to mention — ^^that old Mr. Worldly Wiseman had walked out of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress and was standing there instead. Franklin stands beside a tree's trunk rived by lightning — his elbow resting on it, and his hand gently pressed against his chin — his countenance indicating absorbed thought. The other hand is half inserted in the side pocket of his coat — such a coat as was the fashion in those days. The naturalness and ease of position is admirable. The hands are wonderful ; in them each vein is delicately visible, and they look so life-like that you are surprised they remain motionless, and do not change their position. All the details of the workmanship are carried out into the minutest particulars, and constantly excite astonished admiration. The cost of this statue was $10,000, the same as that of its companion one, of Jefferson, in the House Extension. With this work of Powers before us, the regret will arise, that his great " Statue of America " now in the artist's studio at Florence, is not sheltered underneath the roof of the Capitol. Greenough speaking of it, has said, " It is not only a beautiful work of art; but 'breathes, smacks, and smells' of Repub- licanism and Union. If placed conspicuously in one of the new wings of the Capitol, it would be a monument of Union." A large painting by Rembrandt Peale, of " General Wash- ington, on horseback, giving orders to commence the entrench- ments before Yorktown, accompanied by La Fayette, Hamilton, Knox, Lincoln, and Rochambeau," hangs immediately opposite the statue of Franklin. It is not the property of government, although the Senate at one time voted $4,500 for its purchase. 102 THB FEDERAL CITY. THE PICTURE OF THE "STORMING OF CHAPULTEPEC." At the foot of the white marble staircase that ascends from the Western corridor of the Senate, stands a statue of John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, by Stone.* Fronting this statue, but above the landing of the staircase, hangs the fine painting on canvas of the " Storming of Chapul- tepec," by Walker. It was priginally intended for the Room of the Committee on Military Affairs, and is of the same shape, though somewhat larger, as the frescoed panels in that elabor- ately adorned room. The top of the picture describes an ex- tended semicircle. The cost of this painting was $6,000. The Castle of Chapultepec, a Mexican fortress, was stormed by the Americans, under General Scott, Sept. 13, 1847. Our army, proceeding from victory to victory, had defeated the enemy in five pitched battles, and now lay under the walls of the city of Mexico. This ancient city lies in the centre of a plain in which are numerous volcanic heights. On one of these, about two miles south west of the city, rose this strong castle, with a frontage of 900 feet heavily armed. It was held by Gen- eral Bravo, with a picked force ; and, at the time of the assault, was crowded with ofiicers of rank, and students of the military academy of which it was also the seat. The position was diffi cult of attack and easy to be defended. The plan of operations was this : General Pillow was to as- sault it on its west side ; General Quitman on the opposite, or south east side ;■ while the reserve, under General Worth, was to gain the north side. At the base of the hill Pillow was disa- bled, and General Cadwallader took command. Amid discharges of grape and musketry, that thinned their ranks, the Americans ascended the height. Without hesitation they charged and carried a strong redoubt that lay in their way, and drove the Mexicans from their guns into the castle. " In a moment the castle ditch was crossed, and the stormers planted their ladders on the wall. Many brave fellows were hurled down, but at length a lodgment was effected." * The cost of this statue was $6,000 00. THE FEDERAL CITY. 103 Mr. Walker has selected as the scene of his picture, " The consultation held between General Quitman and several of the ofi&cers of his advanced division at the time the batteries at the foot of the hill, on his side of the attack, were taken, and the way opened towards the city, along the line of the aqueduct, in the direction of the Garita (gate) de Belen." He was himself a participant in the Mexican campaign, and the geography of the picture has been pronounced by judges photographically correct. The drawing of the various groups is admirable ; and, after looking for awhile attentively at the figures — of which there are scores — they seem to stand out from the surface, as objects appear to project when looked at through a stereoscope. Looming up against the sky is the famous Castle ; a war- cloud of smoke sweeping off from over it in the direction of the city. Two fleecy pufis of smoke, that mark the bursting of shells, are hovering there, too ; while, dotted over the rugged precipice of volcanic formation, on which the fortress stands, are United States' riflemen, who are profiting by the shelter of every available rock and ravine to pick off the Mexican gun- ners that are defending the wall beneath them. A thick line of smoke, ascending the whole length of the height, marks also the path up which our brave soldiers fight their way. General Quitman is on horseback, some distance to the left of the centre of the picture. He wears the fatigue uniform of his rank, with a broad visored cap. General Shields, without his coat, his left arm in a sling, it havinor been wounded earlier in the battle, is engaged in conversation with him. Near them are Lieutenants Wilcox, and Towers, of the Engineers, Danly, of Arkansas, and other aides-de-camp, nearly all of them wounded. On the left side of the canvas is a section of Drum's Battery, surrounded by artillerymen, with Captain Drum, and Lieuten- ants Benjamin and Hunt. Behind this group, crossing the field, towards a breach in the wall, are seen the flags of New York, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina, borne by their regiments of 104: THE FEDERAL CITY. volunteers, as they advance under Colonels Baxter, Geary, and Gladding. A galling fire is poured into them from the top of the wall which was used by the Mexicans as a parapet — they standing on a platform erected on the inner side. These troops are advancing to the support of the regulars under Captain Casey, who himself was wounded and disabled before reaching the works. Occupying the foreground, and as a relief to the general character of this section of the picture, is a dog, admi- rably painted, smelling at a hat, lying ownerless, on the ground. Another supporting column is seen more towards the centre of the canvas, with Adjutant Lovell dashing off to its front. These gallant soldiers are making their way to a point further on, along the road, where a white flag is flying over a " Five gun Battery," that our troops have just captured. The Mexican leader, Xicontenca, in whose veins ran the blood of the royal Montezuma race, and who was said to be their last male descendant, was killed while aiding to work one of the guns and refusing to surrender. In the middle distance is seen General Persifer Smith, with the rifle regiment, in front of the breast works. He is pointing towards the Mexicans, who are in full retreat along the line of the aqueduct, but are still keeping up 'a t'- tering fire. In the foreground, conspicuous in the centre of the picture, another part of the supporting column is attempting to cross one of the ditches by which the road is flanked on either side. They are exposed to a fire, under which some of them are fall- ing, but their officers are urging them forward. One bold fel- low seems to be giving a wild hurrah, while the attention of another is attracted by the distress of a poor Mexican woman who is supporting the gasping form of her dying husband. She has a little child on her back, secured by a scarf, such as are worn almost universally by the lower order of Mexican women. On the edge of the ditch lies a Mexican soldier, wounded in the leg. Near these soldiers stands an immense aloe, some of whose gigantic leaves are hacked with sabre strokes. Another group of Mexicans are seen farther to the right. THE FEDERAL CITY. 105 They are making signs of submission and surrender to a fierce-looking fellow who is hastening past, loading his musket as he goes. On the extreme right, is an officer on horseback Avho appears arrested by movements on the road. In compiling the above description of this picture I have been greatly indebted to an article that appeared in the " Wash- ington Daily Chronicle," of Dec. 24, 1862, which was about the time it was first hung up in the Capitol. Mr. James Walker, the artist, is a native of the state of New Y^ork. When a young man he pushed his fortune south, and resided one season in New Orleans. At the time the Mexican war broke out, he was practising his art of painting in the city of Mexico. The Mexican general, Lorabardini, who had been severely wounded in the battle of Buena Vista, was, after that action, made Governor of the city of Mexico. ^ After the victorious American army had obtained possession of Puebla, an Edict of Expulsion was issued by this Mexican general, banishing all American residents in the capital three hundred miles back into the interior, and allowing them twenty- four hours to settle up their affairs and be gone. Mr. Walker remained with fri« • . aid six weeks in the city, until he was able, on a dark night, to make his escape, in company with a naval officer, who was a prisoner of war. The two, at length, with difficulty, and through unfrequented roads, reached the American lines. The officer was placed "on staff," and Mr. Walker served as " interpreter to the army," accompanying it in its victorious march back to the city he had so lately left. He Avas present at the batttes in the valley, and remained at his post during our occupation of the capital. In 1848 he re- turned home after an absence of eight years. Subsequently, he visited Central America, but, since 1850, he has been engaged in the study and practice of his profession in New York City. Several of his pictures are in the possession of the War Department ; and it was in 1857, he received the order to paint the picture of " The Battle of Chapultepec." 106 THE FEDERAL CITY. THE SENATE CHAMBER Occupies the centre of the North extension of the Capitol. Its entrance from the inside of the building is at the end of a long corridor extending north from the Rotunda. The main entrance from the outside is by the North Eastern Portico, through a spacious marble vestibule adorned with fluted columns, whose capitals are beautifully foliated with tobacco and acanthus leaves. The walls of this vestibule on either side have sunken niches for statuary. The Senate chamber is surrounded by corridors, which sep- arate it from committee and other rooms ranged around the outer walls of this portion of the building. The chamber is a parallelogram 112 feet long and 82 feet wide. Its height is 36 feet. A cushioned gallery capable of seating a thousand persons surrounds it, which is reached by two magnificent marble staircases, ascending from the east and west corridors. A section of the gallery in front of the Vice President's desk is reserved for the diplomatic corps and for the families of the President, Vice President, and cabinet ministers. Above but behind the Vice President's seat a portion of the gallery is appropriated to the reporters of the press. The secretary of the Senate and his assistants occupy a long desk in front of the chair, and below this desk sit the special reporters of the debates. The seats of the Senators are ranged in three semicircular rows fronting the Vice President's chair, each seat having a desk in front of it. The ceiling is of cast iron, with deep panels, and painted glass sky-lights, ornamented in the richest style. The designs of the paintings are typical of national progress. The iron work is bronzed and gilded, and the walls are richly painted in harmonizing colors. The space under the galleries is partitioned off into small apartments, such as cloak and wash rooms, and the area of the floor is diminished to that extent. It is about 83 feet long, and 61 feet wide. THE FEDERAL CITY. 107 The United States' Senate first occupied the new chamber Jan. 4, 1859 ; and, it was in this room the Senators from the rebel States acted the melancholy farce, they denominated " a sublime spectacle," of withdrawing from the Council Chamber of their country The Senate is composed of two Senators from each State. They are chosen for six years, but in such a way, that, as near as may be, " one third of the whole number is chosen every second year." The Constitution provides for this arrangement in these words : Art. I. Sec. 3. " Immediately after they [the Senators] shall be assembled in consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the ex- piration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the ex- piration of the sixth year, so that one third may be chosen every second year." This division into classes, was first arranged by "drawing lots ; " and, when a new State is admitted, the early Senators " draw lots," deciding their length of term. The appearance, and demeanor, of the Senate is a marked contrast to that of the other branch of Congress. The House might, perhaps, be designated as the " Young America " of our representation ; the Senate, as an Assembly of the " Elders of the People " met in grave council. Some of the Senators are middle-aged men, and one or two — as for instance the Ex- Governor of Ehode Island — are still young-looking ; but the majority are grey or bald headed, with seamed and wrinkled faces. To look at them, the conclusion is irresistible, that the road to political eminence is not a flowery path of dalliant de - lights, but a hard stony road to travel. These old men sit at their desks, ranged in three semi-circles, in their magnificent chamber, with papers and writing mate- rials laid before them, while the light as it falls upon their heads through the painted sky-light in the roof, deceptively 108 THE FEDERAL CITY. makes them look ten years younger than they really are. In ihe deep galleries, resting in shadow, crowds of men and women are sitting too, eager to catch every word that drops from them ; while telegrams, with lightning sped, and presses, with million voices, repeat their words all over the land, until their sound reaches foreign shores, and sweeps round the world. In the usual routine of Senate session you might imagine this venerable body was a company of clerks thrown together in this large chamber — for each one appears much absorbed in his own particular business, writing for the most part assiduously, and seeming to pay little attention to what is said by the person ad- dressing the Vice President. But, let a single word be spoken, relative to a particular State, and, at that moment, the greyheads that represent it, assume attitudes of the profoundest attention. These old men are alert as eagles, and are always vigilantly on guard when they deem an interest of their State is in jeopardy. A more picturesque and interesting sight is seldom presented than that of an animated night session of the Senate. A light burning brightly upon the roof, and throwing around it a hazy glow that to a stranger would seem to indicate "the roof of that Extension of the Capitol was on fire ! " is significant to the city ''the Senate is in session." This light is that of hundreds of burning jets of gas (also roofed in by glass) above the sky-light of the Senate Chamber, that light it up at night time. Above them, on its high flag-staff, floats the "Old Flag." On a dark moonless night, these lights, from below shining up upon it streaming against the sky, make the "Stripes and Stars " seem a bright Rainbow up among the clouds. Within, through the illumined glass, painted with the Signs and Emblems of Progress, the bright light from the gas-jets flames down into the Chamber, filling it with a soft rich glow, so peculiar in its beauty that there is nothing to compare it with and it must be seen to know how very beautiful it is. And, then, the debate. It is all like looking on at, and hear- ing a marvelous play. The actors, men who have toiled the best part of their lives to gain this arena wherein to play their parts. FEDEEAL CITY; OB, Ins and Abouts of Washington. AUTHOR OF "HARRY BRIGHT, THE DRDMMEB BOY;" "BIBLE STORIES IN BIBLE WORDS," ETC., KTC. THIRD EDITION. WASH INGTON, D. C: (IiBSON Brothers, 271 and 273 Pennsylvania Avenue. 1 8G8. WHOLESALE AGENT FOR WASHINGTON: WIST. BAL,1L,A]VTY]VE, Bookseller and Stationer, Ifitellteetteep Bujtdlng. ©KWBSr®^ CHAPTER T . Arrival in Baltimore en route for Washington — Daybreak — Cathedral service — Railroad ride to Washington — Concert in Capitol grounds — Eastern and Western Fronts of the Capitol — Statue of Freedom — Twilight and night — Alone — Phantasmagoria Pagel*? C H A P T E R II . General Plan of the city — Unimproved ground east of the Capitol — East Cen- tral Portico — Statuary — Signor Persico — Greenough — Great Bronze Door designed by Rogers — East Capitol Street — Military aspect of Washington — Streaks of war-paint Pages'? CHAPTER III. The Capitol — Congress — Old Hall of Representatives — First Hall destroyed by the British — New Hall of Representatives — Picture of General Scott — Statue of Jefferson by Powers — Bronze cast of an Indian Chief — Leutzc's picture of " Western Emigration " — The two artists Franzoni — Diagrams of the floor of the House of Representatives and of the United States Senate Chamber.. Page CG CHAPTER IV. Crowning of the Dome — The Extensions — First and Second Senate Cliambers — Supreme Court Room — Diagram of the main floor of the Capitol — Powers' statue of Franklin — Peale's picture of " AVashington on Horseback before Yorktown " — Stone's statue of Hancock — Walkers picture of the ''Storming of Chapultepec" — The new Senate Chamber — Night session, etc., etc. .Page ST Mil ®l Utaslffafloiis* Frontispiece. Cramtord's statue of Freedom, crowning the Dome of the United States Capitol. Photograjih of the uorth-east view of tlie Capitol, with the Central Portico projected as it is designed to be when completed ; taken from a drawing Ly A. Schonborn, in possession of the Architect of the Capitol Pago 14 Photograph of the west front of the Capitol, 1868 to face Page 22 The Caiiitolof 1868, east front Page 27 Map of the City of Washington Pages 34, 35 Allegorical group on Tympiuium of Central East Portico Page 4.') Statue of Peace, by Persico Page 48 Statue of War, by Persico Page 40 Clock in old Hall of Representatives, by C. Franzoni Page 52 Diagram of the Rogers' Bronze Door Page 54 The Capitol of 1825 Page 75. Diagram of the floor of the Hall of the House of Representatives Page 87 Diagram of the floor of the United States Senate Chamber Page 89 Plan of the main floor of the Capitol Page 90 I 451 SEVENTH STREET, Directly Opposite the Eastern Entrance to the Patent-Office, '2ria7n/il cittentian lacU i^e acue/i ta ami, {j^tiAcTi^d,^ 'lelatinof, ta afifilicxtian^ iai '2P.itentA citAci in tkiA cauntiy;. ai in '^Smafre. '^/laiaC'S as laiu- as Made al any, leAficctal^k '^aent. .=Effa c/iaiae iai aTiAiaeiina enauiiies. ^^aiiesfcand&nce aait/i ^lAans c^Acanincp ta Quafze afi^ticatian iai ^tttci-s 'Watent, id uiuited. ©^/Z tctteiA al en^i.icuy, ^Aautd enciade a dtamfr 'lai ietuin fiodtaae. ^2/^cteie7ice^ i/i anu ^ait al tlie ^nttecl ^tateA "iiActt 'lf€ acuen lu-Acn ieauaed. SEINED FOR A CIRCULAR For Sale in the Capitol : ®lje JfAtral ODit]); or, |ns mx^ ^kuts of SSas^injton: BY S. X) "V^-X^ETII. Published by Gibson Brothers, 271 Pennsylvania Avenue. ORDERS FOR THE BOOK SUPPLIED BY THE PUBLISHERS. PRICE $1.00 A NUMBER. FrMn the " Washington Chronicle." "We have from the publishers, 'The Federal City; or, Ins and Abouts of Wash- ington, BY S. D. Wyeth,' and very cheerf' Uy do we say of this brochure^ that it is the very best we have ever read of the kind. If the wretched catch-penny publications about Washington and the Federal Capital could be collected and committed to the flames, it would be a public service; especially now, when the District of Columbia has entered upon a new career, and when everything written or done about it should be carefully written and thoughtfully done. These pages are evidently the work of a scholar. There is no bombast, and no straining for fine writing; but evident industry and a desire to be accurate. The type, paper, printing, etc., are indicative of a determination to make the work standard. We copy in our present issue, as a specimen of the descriptive powers of Mr. Wyeth, his sketch of the United States Senate." From the " National Intelligencer." "We have received the first number of 'The Federal City; or, Ins and Abouts OF Washington, by S. D. Wyeth.' It is printed in large type, on fine paper, and liberally illustrated. "The author's style is clear and graceful, and he has given us, within a hundred pages, a vast amount of information — historical, statistical, and reflective — which will not only serve as an efficient guide for all visitors to the capital, but must be very valuable as a permanent work, for reference, for all time to come. The illustrations are beautifully executed, and a true taste is exhibited in making the three principal embellishments fine photographic views. " We have read this book with care, and are, therefore, prepared to pronounce it not only accurate, and hence instructive, but very pleasing, and to predict for it an extensive circulation; for, as it is recorded in the opening lines: 'The city of Washington is far dearer to the nation's heart now than it was before the breaking out of the rebellion. The treasure expended, and the blood spilled in its defence, have made it seem, to patriots, sacred as a shrine. "To want to know all about it" is a national longing, and to gratify this, in some degree, is the design of the present book.'" ^ From the "Washington Evening Star." '"The F^^al City; or, In-s and Abouts of Washington, by S. D. Wyeth,' is published in admirable style by Gibson Brothers. It is both readable and useful, con- taining a large amount of new material agreeably presented." From the "National Tiepublican." "Mr. Wyeth, in the 'Federal City,' gives a description of everything of public interest in and about the city of Washington. The work will be an invaluable one both at home and abroad." From the "Sunday-School Times." "The first instalment of 'The Federal City,' io8 handsomely printed 8vo pages, gives promise of a work of considerable interest. Mr. Wyeth informs us it is to con- sist of the following parts: I. The Book of the Capitol; 2. The White House and its Inmates; 3. Book of the Departments; 4. Book of the Hospit.ils; 5. Institutions of Benevolence, Learning, etc." From the "United States Service Magazine." "This is a work of practical value, useful to those who are going to Washington, as a Guide Book where and how to go about; and very pleasant to those who have been there, by means of it to recall the truly beautiful and magnificent things the city contains." From the "Philadelphia Dispatch." "In the 'Federal City' Mr. Wyeth designs to thoroughly detail its history — from its original foundation down to the present time — describing its public buildings and public men, and giving a complete idea of what the city has been, and what it is. It is finely illustrated with photographs, engravings, maps, and diagrams. Mr. Wyeth has sterling abilities for this task : among them are patient industry, tact in making investigation, and a clear, scholarly, and lively style of narration. His book will become the standard historical authority in relation to all matters connected with the National Capital." u^-/ ^^•^4^. 0^ ^-^ ^ . .^^-'^^ o V