On the back is a Latin inscription, "Simulacrum istud ad magnum Libertatis exemplum, nec sine ipsa duraturum," which may be translated, "This statue is for a great example of Liberty, nor without Liberty will the example endure." On the pedestal is the famous extract from the eulogy delivered by Govenor Henry Lee, of Virginia, "First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen."

THE CAPITOL

Consists of a central building connected by corridors with two wings or extensions. It has a rustic basement, a principal story, and an attic story surmounted by an entablature and a balustrade. Its total length is seven hundred and fifty-one feet four inches and its breadth varies from fifty-six feet to three hundred and twenty-four feet, including the porticoes and steps, and it covers an area of nearly four acres. Its extreme height from the ground to the top of the statue of Liberty on the summit of the dome is three hundred and seven feet six inches.

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The central portion, or the original Capitol, completed in 1827, three hundred and fifty-two feet four inches long and one hundred and twenty-one feet six inches wide. It is constructed of Virginia sandstone, painted white. The connecting corridors, forty-four feet long and fifty-six feet wide, and the wings, one hundred and fortytwo feet eight inches long and two hundred and thirty-eight feet ten inches wide, are constructed of Massachusetts marble.

The Capitol faces the east, while the rear overlooks the most populous and fashionable quarter of Washington. It was originally believed that the city would develop toward the east, but the extension has been almost entirely in the opposite direction, and, like the Irishman's shanty, the Capitol has its "front door on the back side." Of late years efforts have been made to have the central portion rebuilt of marble, and the opportunity will doubtless be taken to make the western front conform to the eastern.

The grand central portico at the eastern entrance is one hundred and sixty feet wide and has twenty-four massive monolithic columns, thirty feet high. On the tympanum is an allegorical group, designed by John Quincy Adams and executed by Persico, a distinguished

Roman sculptor. It represents the "Genius of America." The central figure is America with spear and shield, at her feet an eagle with an olive branch. The shield rests on an altar inscribed with the date, July 4, 1776. Hope, resting on an anchor, is addressing America, who points to Justice. Justice is holding the Constitution of the United States, and is watching her scales.

On the buttresses at the top of the steps are two colossal marble groups. The southern one is entitled the "Discovery of America," and represents Columbus holding the globe, while an Indian maiden, amazed and terrified, crouches at his feet. The armor was copied from a suit worn by Columbus and still preserved at Genoa. The group was executed by Persico in 1846 and cost $24,000.

The northern group is entitled "Civilization, or the First Settlement of America," and represents a struggle between a pioneer and an Indian. The wife of the pioneer, holding her babe to her bosom, is terrified at his danger, but is waiting to share his death or victory. The group is the work of Greenough and cost $24,000.

Colossal statues of Carrara marble, representing War and Peace, stand in niches on either side of the entrance. They were executed by Persico and cost $12,000 each.

Over the entrance is a sculpture, in low relief, by Capellano,

representing Washington being crowned with laurel by Fame and Peace.

On the grand central portico the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has administered the oath of office to the Presidents of the United States since the inauguration of Andrew Jackson in 1829. Before a vast multitude of their fellow-citizens from all parts of the land the Chiefs of the Nation have vowed, by the help of God, to be faithful in the performance of the duties of their high office. To their honor be it said that their oaths have never been violated. No other country in the world can show such a succession of rulers. Great statesmen and victorious soldiers are to be found in the list, but in every case personal ambition has given way to the desire to serve the country.

At the main entrance of the Capitol is the famous bronze door, designed by Randolph Rogers and cast in Munich in 1860. It is within a bronze casing, is nineteen feet high and nine feet wide, weighs ten tons, and cost $28,000. On the casing are emblematic designs and at the top a bust of Columbus. On the nine panels are designs in high relief representing scenes in the life of Columbus and in the discovery of America. Taken in order, beginning at the lowest left-hand panel, they show: "The Examination of Columbus before the Council of Salamanca;" "The Departure of Columbus from the Convent of La Rabida for the Spanish Court;" "Columbus before the Court of Ferdinand and Isabella;" "The Departure of Columbus from Palos on his First Voyage of Discovery;" "Columbus Landing at San Salvador;" "First Encounter of Columbus with the Indians;" "Triumphal Entry of Columbus into Barcelona;""Columbus in Chains;" "The Death-bed of Columbus." Between the panels are ten heads of the historians of the voyages of the great discoverer, and at the sides are statuettes of prominent contemporaries.

The House and Senate extensions have each twenty-two massive monolithic columns on their eastern porticoes and ten similar columns on their northern and southern projections and on their western fronts. On the tympanum of the northern, or Senate, extension is a magnificent marble group, designed and executed by Thomas Crawford, representing "American Civilization and the Decadence of the Indian Races." The central figure represents America; on the right

are Pioneers and Indians; on the left, War, Commerce, Education, and the Mechanical Arts.

At the entrance of the Senate extension is a bronze door modelled by Thomas Crawford and cast at Chicopee, Mass. It is fourteen

feet six inches high and nine feet six inches wide, and weighs seven tons. It cost $57,000, and was placed in position in 1868. Its eight panels contains scenes in high relief representing incidents in the early history of the United States. Beginning with the uppermost right-hand panel, are the "Battle of Bunker Hill and the Death of General Warren, June, 1775;" the "Battle of Monmouth and Washington's Rebuke of General Charles Lee, the Traitor, June, 1778;" the "Battle of Yorktown, 1781, the Gallantry of Hamilton;" "A Hessian Soldier in a Death-struggle with an American;" an allegory of the "Blessings of Peace;" the "Ovation to Washington at Trenton, 1789;" the "Inauguration of Washington as First President of the United

States;" and the "Laying of the Corner-stone of the Capitol of the United States." On the framework are designs of the acanthus, maize, grape, and cotton-boll. The door is one of the finest specimens of bronze-casting ever made in the United States, and compares very favorably with the Rogers door.

The huge dome, rising in its classic beauty far above the main building, is a fitting crown to the noble edifice. It is of cast iron and weighs nearly four thousand tons. Large sheets of iron, securely bolted together, rest on iron ribs, and by the plan used in its construction the changes of temperature make its contraction and expansion merely "like the folding and unfolding of the lily." It was built from designs of Thomas U. Walter, of Philadelphia, and cost $1,250,000. Eight years were required in its construction, so carefully was the work done, and as it is thoroughly protected from the weather by thick coatings of white paint, renewed yearly, it is likely to last for centuries. Its base consists of a peristyle of thirty-six fluted columns surmounted by an entablature and a balustrade. Then comes an attic story, and above this the dome proper. At the top is a gallery, surrounded by a balustrade, from which may be

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