Part 12 (2/2)

_Stay in Washi+ngton, from the 2d until the 15th of Nove of the 2d of November I received another visit froolden medal, which had forinia, in honour of President Washi+ngton, and a very well reat man, painted by Stewart, to which was appended his hair Thenear Washi+ngton's toton's family as presents for President Bolivar, and Mr de Vallenilla was to set off within a few days for Caraccas, in order to present them to his patron, the liberator Bolivar

In the public stage I left the friendly city of Baltiratified, accoovernment of the United States, distant thirty-nine e travelled slowly, and we did not arrive before five o'clock in the evening The road was principally a turnpike, kept in a very good state The country belonging to the state of Maryland is for the e-leaved oak and pine trees, appearing but very little settled

The ground is sandy; the fields are planted with Indian corn and tobacco The country is for the le decent village The difference between this country and the northern states is very striking The houses are a great deal s-houses in the state of New York The enerally had a very tattered appearance We crossed several creeks over good wooden bridges, and six , we crossed the east branch of the Potoes It was here, that in the year 1814, an engagelish and the Americans took place, in which the Aree of courage In consequence of this affair, the English ton, and burned the capitol and the President's house

I had not forton city, but what I saas inferior to my expectation The capitol stands upon an elevation, and is to be considered as the centre of the future city Up to this time it is surrounded but by inconsiderable houses and fields, through which small houses are also scattered From the capitol, several avenues, planted with trees, extend in different directions We rode into the Pennsylvania avenue, and eventually came to the houses, which are built so far apart that this part of the city has the appearance of a newly-established watering place The adjacent country is very fine, and there are several fine views upon the broad Potomac We passed by the President's house; it is a plain building,[I-29] of white arden

[Footnote I-29: The Duke of Leinster's Palace served as the her]

The president resides in the ; the four others are occupied as public offices They are built of brick

The plan of Washi+ngton is colossal, and will hardly ever be executed

According to the plan, it could contain a population of one million of inhabitants, whilst it is said at present to have but thirteen thousand

To be the capitol of such a large country, Washi+ngton lies much too near the sea This inconvenience was particularly felt during the last war

It has been proposed to transfer the seat of governinia

Quite early nextI received a friendly visit from the French minister, Baron Durand de Mareuil, whoo, and afterwards as French minister at Naples, and met him in the saineer corps of the United States, paidconversation Lieutenant Huygens also caetown This small town is aht bank, covered ood and partly cultivated, presents a pleasant view Georgetown is separated froround on which it is to stand, by a small river called Rocky Creek, which empties into the Potoe I returned to Washi+ngton with the hest public officers, and to the diplomatic body At first ent to the office of Mr Clay, the secretary of state, one of the most celebrated American orators He is a tall, thin hters, of whom he has had the misfortune to lose three in a short time Afterwards ent to see the president, who received us very kindly, and treated me as an old acquaintance The house of the president, as already mentioned, is built of white e hall with columns We were received in a handsomely furnished apartment Beautiful bronzes ornath portrait of President Washi+ngton hung upon the wall

From the president's house ent to the office of the war department, to visit Mr Barbour, the secretary, whom, however, we did not find, and thence to the navy department, to see the secretary, Mr Southard This officer is reputed to be one of the most learned men in the United States The four offices are all built alike, very plain, ooden staircases; their interior resembles a school-house There are no sentinels nor porters; in the building for the war department a woman kept a fruit shop Even the president hiht the uard before his house

We next visited Baron Mareuil, and I was very glad to renew my acquaintance with his amiable lady His house stands quite insulated, like a country dwelling The houses stand generally so widely distant in Washi+ngton, that the plan of the city exhibits more streets than houses

We made our last visit to the Russian han, but found neither at hoave a diplo of France's nareatest part of the diploation, particularly, was very nueneral Durand de St Andre, brother of the Baron Mareuil, the vice-consul Thierry, the secretary of the legation De Bresson, the Count Ganay, and Mr De Sonntag, a step-son of the Baron Mareuil, as attached to the legation, and of Mr Laborie, who, however, did not appear Of the Russian legation, I found Mr De Wallenstein, whom I had known in Boston, and who is very much esteeood character, but particularly on account of his solid acquirements and correct views The president, it is said, entertains a high opinion of hiation, who e d'Affaires of Brazils, Chevalier Rebello I also became acquainted with the secretary of the treasury, Mr Rush, as for land, and I met too with Mr Brent, the under secretary of state The ladies present, were only Mrs De Mareuil and Mrs De St Andre The dinner was truly splendid

The number of our acquaintances soon increased, and pleasant and interesting parties ensued At the saton and its vicinity

With Messrs Huygens, father and son, we rode to the navy-yard, which is under the co, therefore, ere accompanied on our tour by Captain Booth

In this navy-yard shi+ps are only built and refitted; after that they descend the Potoo to Norfolk, where they are arates in the yard, called forty-four gun shi+ps, but ress, an old shi+p, which was repairing, and the Potomac, an entirely new shi+p, which has been launched, but subsequently hauled up and placed under a roof

Upon the spot where the frigate Brandywine, which carried Gen La Fayette to France, was built, the keel of a new frigate was laid, and at the same tiun

The ground being veryis erected on piles Opposite the entrance of the navy-yard, stands a rostral coluures It was erected by the officers and midshi+pmen of the navy of the United States, to commemorate the death of their colish, at the titon, on the 25th of June, 1814, broke the fingers of one hand belonging to the allegoric figure representing America, and destroyed the stylus in the hand of the muse of history

This inscription has been added to the column: ”MUTILATED BY THE BRITISH” At the foot of the monument stand two Spanish brass twenty-four pounders, taken by the Americans at Tripoli

In this, as well as in other Ae forges where chain-cables are made, and tried in the sae, South Wales All the old copper taken from the shi+ps is melted, and with an alloy of brass, converted into utensils of every description used on board shi+ps; a stea of two large and several s, which however, can by no means be compared with Brunel's block machine in Portsmouth; in the little arsenal are the muskets, swords, &c I observed a contrivance on the locks of the guns to insulate the pri, and secure it in da musket with two locks, one behind the other With such muskets, by es can be produced, and these being over, the gun is loaded again like an ordinary infantry musket, and fired by means of the lowest lock After the anterior lock is fired, all the re shots incessantly follow, and cannot be withheld at will, as it is the case with the repeating gun bought by me in New York, already described It is yet unkno this successive firing can be obtained Captain Booth showed me also double screws of his own invention, the object of which is to supply the place of ordinary lanyards for shi+ps This officer has obtained a patent for his contrivance, and it has been adopted, for experiate Brandywine; in the same navy-yard is a laboratory, under the arsenal, where the necessary fire-works for the artillery are made The place seemed to me to be ill chosen, since an explosion that ht cause most terrible consequences to the navy-yard

Over the Potoe, built upon ordinary cross-beams I measured it, and found it to be fifteen paces broad, and one thousand nine hundred long My paces being to the ordinary ones in the relation of four to five, it may be assumed that it is about two thousand three hundred and seventy-five paces in length It required nineteen minutes to walk froer pays six cents This bridge astonishes by its length, but not at all in its execution, for it is clumsy and coarse Many of the planks are rotten, and it is in want of repair; it has two side-walks, one of theht with lanterns It is provided with two drawbridges, in order to let vessels pass It grew dark before I returned home, and was surprised at the stillness of the streets, as I scarcely met an individual

Patents of invention are issued from the patent-office; whoever wishes to obtain a patent for an invention, is obliged to deliver aof it These models are exposed in an appropriate place, where they remain until the expiration of the tiranted; they are then put into the lureat nus of little i apples; there are also ninety-sixnails in different ways, but so models of machinery seemed to me to be those intended to remove mud from the bottoms of rivers, and canals, or to make them deeper One of theo to the spot where they are to work; arrived at the spot they cast anchor, stop the tater-wheels, and with an apparatus which is ine, draw theto another model, the sareat many models are intended to separate seed from cotton, to beat, spin, and weave it; none of thelish machines