84 TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA : 
term only, and then destroyed. Three com¬ 
missioners, who reside on the spot, are ap¬ 
pointed by the president, with a salary, for the 
purpose of superintending the public and 
other buildings, and regulating every thing 
pertaining to the city. 
The only public buildings carrying on as 
yet, are the president’s house, the capitol, and 
a large hotel. The president’s house, which 
is nearly completed on the outside, is two 
stories high, and built of freestone. The 
principal room in it is of an oval form. This 
is undoubtedly the handsomest building in the 
country, and the architecture of it is much 
extolled by the people, who have never seen 
any thing superior; but it will not bear a cri¬ 
tical examination. Many persons find fault 
with it, as being too large and too splendid for 
the residence of any one person in a republi¬ 
can country; and certainly is is a ridiculous 
habitation for a man who receives a salary 
th^t amounts to no more than 5,625/. ster¬ 
ling per annum, and in a country where the 
expences of living are far greater than they 
are even in London. 
The hotel is a large building of brick, or¬ 
namented with stone; it stands between the 
president’s house and the capitol. In the be¬ 
ginning of the year 1796, when I last saw it, 
it was roofed in, and every exertion making to 
