882 



WASHINGTON. 



tuigU's by their intersections with the streets, there 

 are reservations which are to remain open. The 

 uvenues are named after the states of the Union, 

 and the streets are designed numerically or alpha- 

 betically, beginning at the capitol ; those running 

 north and south of it being designated by the letters 

 of the alphabet A north, A south, &c and those 

 east and west of it being numbered as 1st street 

 east, 1st street west, &c. The avenues and streets, 

 leading to public places are from 120 to 160 feet 

 wide; the others from seventy to 110 feet. The 

 public buildings are, 1. the capitol, situated on 

 Capitol square, at the head of Pennsylvania avenue. 

 It is of the Corinthian order, constructed of free- 

 stone, and composed of a centre and two wings. 

 The length of the whole is 350 feet ; depth of the 

 wings, 121 feet; height to top of dome, 120 feet. 

 A Corinthian portico extends the length of the cen- 

 tre, which is occupied by the rotunda, ninety-six 

 feet in diameter and ninety-six feet in height. The 

 rotunda is ornamented with relievos, and contains 

 four paintings, executed by Trumbull, representing 

 the landing of the pilgrims at Plymouth, the treaty 

 between Penn and the Indians, the preservation of 

 Smith by Pocahontas, and the adventure of Daniel 

 Boone with two Indians. Adjoining this, on the 

 west, is the library of congress. The hall, ninety- 

 two feet in length, thirty-four in width, and thirty- 

 six in height, contains 16,000 volumes. The senate- 

 chamber, in the north wing, is a semicircle of seven- 

 ty-four feet in length, and forty-two in height. 

 Over the president's chair is a portrait of Washing- 

 ton, by Rembrandt Peale. The representatives' 

 chamber, in the south wing, is also a semicircle, 

 ninety-live feet in length, and sixty in height. The 

 dome is supported by twenty-six columns and pilas- 

 ters of breccia, or Potomac marble. A colossal 

 statue of liberty, and a statue of history, are the 

 principal embellishments of the hall. Immediately 

 beneath the senate-chamber, and nearly of the same 

 form and dimensions, is the room in which the ses- 

 sions of the supreme court are held. The presi- 

 dent's bouse is two stories high, with a lofty base- 

 ment, and 180 feet long by eighty-five wide. Four 

 brick buildings, two stories high, with freestone 

 basements and Ionic porticoes, contain the offices 

 of the principal executive departments. The general 

 post-office, 200 feet long, contains also the patent- 

 office. The navy-yard, on the Anacostia, with an 

 armoury, &c. ; the marine barracks, to the north of 

 the navy-yard ; an arsenal, public manufactories of 

 arms and military stores, &c., are among the other 

 public establishments. There are also, a city-hall, 

 four market-houses, twenty churches, an orphan 

 asylum, alms-house, &c. Columbia college, which 

 was incorporated by congress in 1821, is situated a 

 little to the north of the city, and has four instruc- 

 tors and about fifty students. There are also two 

 Roman Catholic institutions, which are under the 

 care of the sisters of charity. In August, 1814, 

 Washington was taken by the British, under gene- 

 ral Ross, who set fire to the capitol, president's 

 bouse, and other public offices. The library of 

 congress was burned at the time, and that of Mr 

 Jefferson was subsequently purchased to replace it. 

 WASHINGTON, GEORGE, was born in West- 

 moreland county, in the North American colony of 

 Virginia, on the 22d of February, 1732, and was 

 great grandson of John Washington, a gentleman of 

 the south of England, who, about the middle of the j 

 seventeenth century, emigrated to this province. 

 The education of young Washington extended only 



to the reading of English, and some of the more 

 piactical branches of mathematics. His inclina 

 tions, it seems, led him to adopt a sea b'fe, and, 

 when very young, he obtained the commission of a 

 midshipman in the British navy, but was soon in- 

 duced to relinquish that service, by the pressing 

 entreaties of his mother. After this, he entered 

 upon the business of land-surveying, and was re- 

 marked for his diligence and expcrtness, but parti- 

 cularly for a certain gravity and dignity of demean- 

 our, that would have graced riper years, and a more 

 elevated station. In this humble sphere, however, 

 his countrymen seem early to have discovered hia 

 capacity ; for, when only nineteen years of age, he 

 was appointed one of the adjutants-general of the 

 Virginia militia, with the rank of major. But the 

 opinion of his prudence and capacity was still more 

 conspicuously displayed by his appointment as en- 

 voy to the French commandant on the Ohio, to 

 remonstrate against certain encroachments of hi* 

 troops upon the province of Virginia. Upon his 

 return, he published a very clear and interesting ac- 

 count of this arduous mission, and was immediately 

 appointed lieutenant-colonel of a regiment which 

 had been ordered to proceed against the French, 

 the answer of the commandant not having proved 

 satisfactory. He had not proceeded far, when the 

 command devolved upon him by the death of the 

 colonel, and his services in this campaign obtained 

 the thanks of the legislature of Virginia. Soon 

 after, he resigned his commission, in consequence 

 of certain regulations which he thought derogatory 

 to the officers of the provincial troops, and retired 

 to Mount Vernon, an estate on the banks of the 

 Potomac, to which he had lately succeeded by the 

 death of his brother, purposing to devote himself 

 to the occupations of a country life. 



His military bias, however, did not permit him 

 to remain long in retirement. He was invited once 

 more to defend the frontiers of the provinces from 

 the invasions of the French, and his conduct, dur- 

 ing the whole expedition, was so much approved, 

 that, though only twenty-three years of age, he was 

 soon made commander of all the provincial troops 

 in Virginia. The frontiers being in some measure 

 secured from invasion, he again, in 1738, resigned 

 his commission, amidst the applauses and regrets of 

 his soldiers. 



Here might have terminated the military ca- 

 reer of George Washington, and he might have 

 passed the remainder of his days in the quietude 

 of rural affairs, but for the unfortunate quarrel 

 which took place betwixt Great Britain and 

 her American possessions. It will here be ne- 

 cessary to explain the origin and nature of this 

 distressing dispute. For a considerable period 

 Great Britain possessed a large tract of territory in 

 the North American continent, divided into colo- 

 nies or separate jurisdictions, the inhabitants of 

 which being chiefly emigrants from this country, 

 were governed by English laws, and guaranteed 

 that civil and religious liberty common to ordinary 

 British subjects. Each of these colonies had a lo- 

 cal parliament or assembly of delegates of its own, 

 presided over by a governor appointed by the Bri- 

 tish ministry. One of the understood regulations 

 in managing these distant countries was, that they 

 should contribute no taxes to Britain ; but. it hav- 

 ing happened in the course of time, that the British 

 treasury stood much in need of a supply of money, 

 our ministry and parliament resolved on exacting 

 certain taxes or duties from the American colonists. 





