afresh, and arrived early in the morning at Fredrick.

The great undertaking of making a railroad, for the purpose of uniting the Atlantic and Western States, had in the progress of execution reached as far as Point of Rocks, seventy miles from Baltimore. At Fredrick, which is ten miles nearer to the above city, I took an opportunity of travelling this road. Six cars, each filled with sixteen persons, and drawn by horses, started from this place soon after my arrival. The railroad in the first part of the journey was sloping, resembling a skittle-ground made upon an inclined plane; near Baltimore it was more level. When completed, it will run a distance of three hundred miles, the greater part of which lies across the Alleghany Mountains. The highest elevation it has to pass is eight hundred and eighty-five feet, at the commencement of the road near Baltimore. From Baltimore to Cumberland, the gradual descent will be about fifteen feet ten inches per mile; thence to Ohio only five feet two inches. The expence of the road already finished is about forty thousand dollars a mile, which heavy charge is occasioned by the number of viaducts and bridges which it has been found

absolutely necessary to build*. The expences of the remaining part, I was assured, will be less considerable. The whole undertaking is executed by private capitalists, and holds out a prospect of becoming, in time, one of the most lucrative speculations of its kind.

By detention at different places, and from other causes, this journey took not less than eight hours, a very long time for a railroad excursion; the delay, however, is in some measure excusable, on account of their having only a short time before commenced using The distance is now, I presume, performed in five hours. Without stopping any time at Baltimore, I continued my journey to Washington, where I arrived in the latter end of February, in time to attend some of the sittings of Congress.

cars.

VideFlint's History aad Geography of the Mississippi

Valley."

CHAPTER V.

A noble hall, for the purposes of legislation or justice, or a grand pile of buildings for the use of learning, is the immediate property of the people, and forms a portion of the inheritance of the humblest citizen. VERPLANCK.

WASHINGTON was at this time so full of strangers, that it was with the greatest difficulty that accommodation could be procured; and, if by chance one obtained an apartment, it was generally either the garret or a kitchen, the common abode of Negroes, but now fitted up for the reception of strangers. Rooms are always scarce for those who visit the city during the session of Congress; this time, however, the want of accommodation exceeded all precedent, in consequence of the number of visiters, who arrived from all parts to witness the ceremony of the inauguration of the President for four additional years, to begin on the 4th of March. The inconvenience was, nevertheless, not greater than that generally attending festivities in a small town. Exor

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CITY OF WASHINGTON.

bitant prices for inferior accommodation, without even the satisfaction of signifying displeasure at the want of comfort, were the order of the day. But this was not all: disputes arose as to the preference of paying an unreasonable price, with permission to grumble, when the ceremony was over, at the imposition practised by the honourable citizens. Such scenes occur frequently in Europe: such also was the case in the American metropolis.

When Washington was first planned, the founders were buoyed up with the hope that it would, in the course of time, become a capital worthy of so great a Republic, and increase in the same proportion as other cities in the country. This was also, if I mistake not, a favourite idea with General Washington himself. The plan was formed upon a gigantic scale: a few houses were scarcely built at a great distance from each other, before people already began to talk with enthusiasm of the infant prodigy among cities, which, within a century, would surpass and eclipse all the pretensions of Paris and London. But, the city making slow progress, these expectations were not realized. Where no trade or manufactories exist, considerable increase cannot be expected. Washington

THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE.

151

has no impulse of this kind, and in all probability never will have any. The houses are scattered, as if they had been sifted by an economical farmer; and, to visit a neighbour, it is sometimes necessary to cross uncultivated fields or dusty sand-hills. The streets are like the deserts of Arabia, blinding the pedestrian with quicksand, a real nuisance. Pennsylvania Avenue, the principal thoroughfare, leads in a straight line from the President's house to the Capitol, a distance of one mile.

The Presidential Palace, or the White House, as it is called, is a plastered brick building, with rows of pillars on both fronts, without much pretension to classical or architectural beauty. It stands on an elevated ground, surrounded by four other buildings, exclusively adapted for public offices*. In one of these is a collection of portraits of Indian chiefs who have concluded treaties with the government, or visited Washington for some purpose or other. This collection is interesting, without having any great value, considered as mere paintings. Here is also deposited the important document which de

One of these buildings, occupied by the Treasury Department, was destroyed by fire in the course of this year, and was not rebuilt in the summer of 1834.