side, in a series of terraces, and contained nothing more ornamental, in the way of monuments, than some thousands of white wooden slabs, tier upon tier; and even these seldom recording more than the number of the regiment to which the clay mouldering beneath it had once belonged.

The plains around Fredericksburg were trampled over, to and fro, by the contending armies. One day it was Lee who had crossed the Rappahannock; the next, it was Grant. One day the Southern army was there in position; the next, the Northerners held the ground. Fredericksburg was battered into ruins one fine morning by some hundred and fifty Federal cannon, and then became the arena of death and desolation. For miles about the Rappahannock most of the heavy timber seems to have been cut down. That river, by the by, is the bluest I remember to have seen, except the Po in Italy; it was as bright as the celebrated "Azuline," so much advertised.

A few miles beyond Fredericksburg we came to Acquia Creek, and there took the steamer for Washington by the Potomac, the river which for so long checked the Union armies. It is a broad, majestic, rapid, and deep blue stream. The banks are somewhat hilly, although not so precipitous as to interfere with the camping of

an army on them; so here, on the brown wooded banks, lay the great army of the Potomac, where "all was quiet" for so long a time. Numerous white sails were gliding down the blue waters; and, as we advanced, the river extended considerably, appearing like a lake. The scenery became wild and more romantic, the setting sun lending a touch of glory to the picture, bathing ships and trees in a deep pink, hazy light. We next rounded a point of high bluffs, which brought us in view of Glymont, a picturesque summer resort, of great beauty. Within six miles of Washington we arrived in front of Mount Vernon, the former residence and the burial-place of "The Father of his Country." The steamer did honour to this abode of the great man by ringing, or rather tolling, a bell, in order to call the attention of the passengers to this venerated spot. The evening sun also paid it honour by flushing the sky with crimson light, while the water looked like a vast expanse of fiery, copper-coloured waves. The whole

scene was superbly grand.

CHAPTER XIV.

WASHINGTON.

T was not my intention to say anything about Washington, for it has been so often described, that the leading

characteristics of its scenery must be as well known, through the medium of engravings and gazetteers, as were its social ones through that of special correspondents and newspapers, and I should have carried out my intention of being silent, and have left Washington to the mercy of its unsparingly severe critics, had not I felt, on visiting the capital, that those criticisms, and especially those on its public buildings, were in a great degree undeserved.

Singular, indeed, it seemed to me that none of the writers should have done justice to the Capitol. This may be because it is so difficult to describe it, unless in technical, architectural terms, or because the inferiority of some portions to others destroys the sense of uniformity.

The two wings, in their symmetry and classical purity, certainly eclipse the main building, and even tend to impart to it an appearance of shabbiness which whitewash always must have when placed side by side with white marble. It is a pity that the central portion cannot be pulled down, or at least veneered with marble, as so many other buildings are, and marble pillars substituted for the whitewashed ones now so unpleasantly conspicuous. But for these incongruities, the Capitol at Washington would compare favourably with the most magnificent of modern edifices. The front-facing away from the town-consists of a main building and two wings, the latter, as I have said, of white marble, and each having a double row of fifteen pure Corinthian marble columns. The main building is surmonnted by a dome, and also adorned with columns. They are composed only of whitewashed plaster. The cupola reminded me of that of St. Peter's, at Rome. The interior of the wings is beautifully finished, and they contain a most exquisite tesselated pavement, brought from Europe. The library is a very fine gallery, shaped like a double T. The books are in separate alcoves, of which there are three tiers, reached by very handsome bronze and gilt galleries. The walls are painted of a beautifully soft cinnamon colour, and are richly

inlaid with dull gold moulding, the ceiling being adorned with massively wrought gilded rosettes and brackets. The floor is of black and white marble. The general effect of this blending of colour is very harmonious-the beau ideal of a reading-room, where the eye should be able to rove over pleasing colours and graceful forms without being arrested by any.

I deeply regretted that my short stay in Washington would prevent me from availing myself of this reading-room, for it seemed to me the only thoroughly congenial indoor spot we had met with in the Union. I think I should prefer it as a matter of sensation to the readingroom in the British Museum, although the accommodation for readers is not so complete, probably because there are fewer of them. The difference between the populations of Washington and London must be taken into account, for whereas in most countries every one throngs to the capital to reside, there, if possible, few persons live the year round in Washington who can avoid it.

As with the British Museum, every book published in the country has a representative copy in the library of the Capitol, besides which there are agents in the different countries of Europe, who are authorized to purchase for the Capitol library all works of standard interest. All