10 TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA: 
lower house. la the citv-haU the courts of 
justice are held, the supreme court of the 
United States, as well as that of the state of 
Pennsylvania, and those of the city. 
The president’s house, as it is called, was 
erected for the residence of the president, before 
the removal of the seat of the federal govern¬ 
ment from Philadelphia was agitated. The 
original plan of this building was drawn by a 
private gentleman, resident in the neighbour¬ 
hood of Philadelphia, and was possessed, it is 
said, of no small share of merit; but the com¬ 
mittee of citizens, that was appointed to take 
the plan into consideration, and to direct the 
building;, conceiving that it could be im¬ 
proved upon, reversed the positions of the up¬ 
per and lower stories, placing the latter at top, 
so that the pilasters, with which it is orna¬ 
mented, appear suspended in the £pr. . The 
committee also contrived, that the windows of 
the principal apartments, instead of opening 
into a spacious area in front of the house, as 
was designed at first, should face towards the 
confined back yards of the adjoining houses. 
This building is not yet finished, and as the 
removal of the seat of government to the fe¬ 
deral city of Washington is so shortly tcftake 
place, it is most probable that it will never 
be occupied by the president. To what pur¬ 
pose it will be now applied is yet undeter- 
