USA > Washington DC > Washington DC > Picture of Washington and its vicinity, also, the Washington guide, containing a congressional directory, and much other useful information, 1850 > Part 5
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With reference to the area embraced by the foundations and basement of the Monument, and the uses to which they may be applied, the underspace outwards, occupied by the lower terrace and colonnade, may be appropriated to the accommodation of the keepers of the monu- ment, or those having charge of it and attend- ing on visiters.
These apartments, which are arched, are well lighted and aired, as they are all above ground, the light being disposed in the sunk panels of the stylobate (base.) 'The principal entrance to all these apartments will be from
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the rear, or opposite side of the portico entrance. The inner space, or that under the grand gal- lery or rotundo, may be appropriated to cata- combs for the reception of the remains of such distinguished men as the nation may honor with interment here. This subterranean gal- lery is so large and lofty that it would accom- modate many catacombs.
In the centre of the monument is placed the tomb of WASHINGTON, to receive his remains, should they be removed thither, the descent to which is by a broad flight of steps, lighted by the same light which illumines his statue.
STATUE OF WASHINGTON.
THIS beautiful work of art by Greenough, who devoted several years in Italy to its execu- tion, stands in the east square of the capitol, on a noble granite pedestal, and is surrounded by a handsome iron railing, which encloses two small yew trees and some ornamental shrub- bery. Of this statue Mr. Greenough says: " It is the birth of my thought. I have sacrificed
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FIRST IN WAR FIRST IN PEACE FIRST IN THE HEARTS OF HIS COUNTRYMEN
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STATUE OF WASHINGTON.
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to it the flower of my days, and the freshness of my strength ; its every lineament has been moistened with the sweat of my toil, and the tears of my exile. I would not barter away its association with my name for the proudest fortune avarice ever dreamed of. In giving it up to the nation which has done me the honor to order it at my hands, I respectfully claim for it that protection which it is the boast of civili- zation to afford to art, and which a generous enemy has more than once been seen to extend even to the monuments of his own defeat." This statue is of colossal size, in a sitting pos- ture, and were it erect it would stand about twelve feet high. A foreign writer has said "nothing can be more human, and at the same . time more god-like than this statue of Wash- ington. It is a sort of domestic Jupiter." It is greatly admired by those most familiar with the great works of art in Italy, and is growing in reputation with the public. The great Fa- ther of his country is represented with the right hand pointed to heaven, and the left hand holding a Roman sword with the handle turned
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from the person. Of it the Hon. Edward Ev- erett says-
"We regard Mr. Greenough's Washington as one of the greatest works of sculpture of mod- ern times.' We do not know the work that can justly he preferred to it, whether we consider the purity of the taste, the loftiness of the con- ception, the truth of the character, or, what we must own we feel less able to judge of, accu- racy of anatomical study and mechanical skill. Had it been the work of Canova, Chantrey, or Thorswalden, it would have been deemed, we doubt not, worthy of either of those artists. Nay, we are prepared to go farther, and, dis- claiming all pretence to connoisseurship, we are persuaded, if, instead of being a statue of Wash- ington, it had been a statue of Julius Cæsar or Alexander the Great-if, instead of coming from the studio of a young American of the present day, with all its freshness upon it, it had been dug up in the ruins of the baths of Titus, or the villa of Adrian, shattered and mutilated, arms, legs, nose, and even head gone, stained and corroded ; when it had been scraped and pieced
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together, furnished with modern extremities, and perhaps a head of doubtful authenticity, and thus restored had been set up in the Vati- can or the Tribune, it would have been deemed as fine a piece of sculpture as any there.
"This grand work is of one single piece of marble, not of pure white, which it is impossi- ble to procure in masses of sufficient size for such a statue without stains fatal to its beauty, but of a bluish tinge highly favorable to the effect of a work of art. The marbles of this kind are now preferred for works of this de- scription."
This statue is intented not to commemorate any single action, but rather to express the sublime dignity, the calm integrity, fortitude, and devotion, in a word the entire character of Washington. The seat which the statue oc- cupies is adorned by a miniature figure of Co- lumbus on the one side, and that of an Indian chief on the other, with other emblematic de- vices, such as the infant Hercules strangling the serpent, the rising sun, with the crest of the national armor of the United States.
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NATIONAL OBSERVATORY.
ONE of the most interesting objects in the Metropolis is the National Observatory, situ- ated about two miles from the Capitol, on Camp Hill, and commanding one of the prettiest pros- pects the mind can imagine.
In 1842 an act of Congress was passed ma- king an appropriation of money and grounds for the erection of the building which was in- tended as a depot for charts and mathematical instruments for the navy. It was erected un- der the superintendence of Lieutenant J. M. Gillis, who was sent abroad to collect a num- ber of astronomical and magnetic instruments. In 1844 Lieut. M. F. Maury, of the Navy, an officer amply qualified to superintend its ope- rations, was directed to take charge of the Ob- servatory, and under his direction and untiring efforts it is taking a prominent stand among other similar institutions. It received its first impetus from the Hon. Abel P. Upshur, who afforded every facility for getting it into opera- tion; was liberally patronised by the Hon.
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George Bancroft, who did all he could to en- large its sphere of usefulness ; and the present popular Secretary of the Navy, Hon. J. Y. Mason, has not been behind his predecessors ip the continuance of his patronage. If Con- gress will only be moderately generous to this infant institution, there is nothing to hinder it from becoming a great national ornament, and the best school in our country for the attain- ment of astronomical information.
In 1845, Lieut. Maury published the obser- vations of that year, which fill a large volume containing also drawings of every part of the building, and the instruments at present mount- ed. To a scientific person this volume will af- ford great attraction, and to all it will give proof of the untiring zeal of the officers, who have performed the whole of the work, and still continue to do so, under the direction of Lieut. Maury.
The Observatory is built nearly in the shape of a cross, and fronts to the north. The right wing, or east room, contains two :beautiful in- struments, the mural circle and the meridian
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transit, two instruments whose results are very much the same, but entirely different in their construction. The former is used for determin- ing the declinations or the latitude of the stars, and the latter to determine both right ascension and declination, that is, both latitude and longi- tude. To the uninitiated the apparatus con- nected with the instruments for the purpose of lighting them up, &c., would present a mass of confusion; whereas, the most perfect system reigns throughout, and a degree of ingenuity not met with in any other institution of the kind. These instruments in clear weather are generally at work by sundown, but at any other time of the day an officer of the build- ing will take pleasure in showing them to stran- gers. The west room contains a large transit instrument, used for determining the right as- cension of stars, and in connection with it is the magnetic telegraph, for the purpose of deter- mining the difference of longitude between any two places. When the lines are carried through all parts of the United States, this will afford the readiest means of ascertaining the correct
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longitude of every point-u much desired event for acquiring geograpical knowledge.
The south section of the Observatory consists of two separate rooms, the north one containing a beautiful instrument called the prime verti- cal, and the southern room a circle of refrac- tion, an instrument invented by Lieutenant Maury, and apparently intricate in its nume- rous appointments, yet actually simple in prin- ciple, and mathematically correct in theory. The beautiful finish of the instruments will strike the beholder with astonishment, and his wonder will not cease when he is informed of the trifling cost of the whole compared with the results to the country. Each room is pro- vided with a sidereal clock of very correct rato of going, which is used in connection with the. instruments while observing; these clocks have errors only the hundredth part of a second or thereabouts, a space of time scarce within the comprehension of most individuals. . : The great equatorial telescope is the instru- ment with which a stranger would be at once fascinated -- a peep through it at once tram-
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ports the beholder to other realms above; ho plainly sees the mountains and volcanoes in the moon; and every moment expects to see some of the inhabitants of those unknown re- gions stepping out from behind some rock. The planets Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus, &c., which appear to the naked eye only as brik Nant stars, are resolved into magnificent moons through the equatorial, surrounded by their accompanying satellites. The wonders of the heavens are, in fact, all unfolded to the view, and we read the stars in the firmament as though it were a book. ·
The dome of the building is so fixed that it revolves with the slightest movement, and enables the observer, through a slit in the top, to turn the instrument on any object. An in- geniously constructed chair, for the purpose of elevating or lowering the observer, demands some little attention, being the work of an Alexandrian and an American.
All the instruments referred to have been mounted, under the direction of Lieutenant Maury, by native workmen, who have shown
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an admirable adaptation for these nice labors; and the day is probably not far distant, when we shall nobly compete with our European friends in the manufacture of the instruments -- at present it cannot be done.
In the main body of the Observatory are the offices or rooms for calculating, the library for the use of the building, the room for nautical instruments, and a room for charts and nauti- cal books. The saving that has taken place in the later articles since the construction of the building would nearly pay for its original cost.
The southeast room in the main building contains all the chronometers, which are sup- plied to our public national vessels, and they are regulated by a mean-time clock of great regularity, which stands in the corner. The facility for regulating these time-pieces, and the exact character that is attached to each chronometer when it is sent to a ship, renders navigatjon more secure than it was in former times. :
The grounds about the Observatory are
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not laid out yet as they should be, as the means at the disposal of the superintendent are small for that purpose. We hope to see it adorned as our other public walks about Washington, when it will become a charming resort to the stranger visiting the Metropolis. After years of labor, Congress has at length given the superintendent a house to live in, where he can give his continual superintendence to the operations going on in the main building. The house is to the east of the Observatory, built with taste and at little cost, and adds very much to the sterile waste once called Camp Hill, which has become one of the prettiest spots in Washington, and has increased the value of property very much in that part of the city.
The details of labor connected with the Observatory are contained in the transactions of 1845, and are interesting, as showing the amount of work done by a small corps of offi- cers.
It remains to mention the small equatorial instrument mounted out doors, which can al-
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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
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ways be seen by visiters, and the two comet seekers kept employed in clear weather to de- tect the approach of these wandering lumina- ries. A meteorological register is also minutely kept, and every branch of astronomical science is attended to, where means are afforded for its accomplishment.
Visiters to the Observatory may be sure of being received with courtesy by the superin- tendent and officers, who are at all times desirous to afford every facility for seeing the building and explaining the use of the various instruments.
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.
THts Institution owes its existence to the will of James Smithson, of England, a relative of the Duke of Northumberland, who sev- enteen years ago died at Genoa, leaving to the United States more than half a million of dol- lars, "to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an Establish- ment for the increase and diffusion of know- ledge among men." It is stated that the mother
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of Mr. Smithson was a Mrs. Maurice, of an ancient family in Wiltshire by the name of Hungerford ; that he was educated at Oxford, where he took an honorary degree in 1786, that he was a gentleman of retired and studi- ous habits, living in lodgings sometimes in London and occasionally visiting and staying for a time in the cities of the continent; that he interested himself not especially in questions of government, but devoted his attention much to science, particularly to chemistry. He thus became introduced to the society of Cavendish, Woolaston and others, well known to the Roy_ al Society in London, of which he became a member. Twenty-four treatises from the pen of Smithson are mentioned as having been published in the transactions of the Royal So- ciety and other scientific journals, containing contributions on the sciences of mineralogy. geology, and more especially of mineral chem- istry. On the 1st July, 1836, Congress sol- emnly accepted the trust reposed in them by Mr. Smithson. Through the earnest and well directed efforts of the Hon. Richard Rush, (ap-
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pointed by the United States to prosecute its claim to this bequest,) the fund was obtained from the English court of chancery and paid into the Treasury of the United States, Sep- tember 1st, 1838. Mr. Van Buren, then Pres- ident, sought the opinions of men eminent in letters and science as to the best mode of ap- plying this bequest in order most effectually to secure the end proposed by the testator, and communicated their replies to his enquiries to Congress.
Immediately after the receipt of this Smith- sonian fund, $500,000 of the amount was in- vested in Arkansas bonds, and the remainder in bonds of the states of Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio, and the failure of Arkansas to pay the interest on her debt was urged as a reason for postponing the establishment of the Institution, After protracted discussions in both houses of Congress, the present bill, under which the in- stitution now exists, was adopted by the House of Representatives on the 29th and in the Sen- ate on the 30th April, 1846. It is enacted 'That the President and Vice President of
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and of sufficient size, and with suitable rooms or halls for the reception and arrangement, upon a liberal scale, of objects of natural history, including a geological and mineralo- gical cabinet, also a laboratory, a library, a gallery of art and the necessary lecture rooms. The whole to be finished in the course of four years from March, 1848; and the expense to be defrayed entirely out of the interest of the funds. The Secretary is to take charge of the property of the institution-to superintend its literary and scientific operations; and to give an annual account of the same to the Regents. The Regents have resolved to divide the in. come of the funds into two equal portions, and to devote one to publications, original re- search, &c., and the other to the formation of a library and a collection of objects of nature and art. Measures are already adopted for se- curing and publishing and distributing learned and able papers on scientific subjects, and under the supervision of the very able Secre- tary, Professor Henry, high hopes are cherish- ed that this institution will finally embrace
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the amplest means of increasing and diffusing. the noblest departments of human knowledge. "Of all places (said the honorable Mr. Marsh, when advocating the library clause in the bill) in our territory, this central heart of the nation is the fittest for such an establishment; it is situated in the middle zone of our system- easily and cheaply accessible from every quarter of the Union-blessed with a mild, a salubrious, and an equable climate-abundant in the necessaries and comforts of physical life-far removed from the clan of commerce, and free from narrow and sectional influences. - " Let us here erect such a temple of the muses, served and guarded by no exclusive priesthood, but with its hundred gates thrown open, that every votary may enter unquestion- ed, and you will find it thronged with ardent worshippers, who, though poverty may com- pel them to subsist, like Heyne, on the pods of pulse and the parings of roots, shall yet forget the hunger of the body in the more craving wants of the soul."
The building of the Smithsonian Institute is
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in the Romanesque style of architecture. A style which flourished in Europe from the eighth to the twelfth century, and which in its earlier phases approaches the Roman and its later the Pointed style. The building itself consists of a centre building 205 feet long, and 55 feet broad, two connecting ranges or clois- ters 60 feet Jong, and two wings averaging 40 by 8.0 feet.
The exterior of the building is by no means uniform; but it has been the endeavor of the architect to express in some slight degree by. the exterior the uses to which the parts of the interior are to be applied. The principal en- trance in front is flanked by two towers, ave- raging 130 feet in height. The rear entrance is through a large square tower. The towers contain the stair cases, porters' lodges, Regents, and Secretary's private rooms, and all the offi- ces of the building, together with portions of the library and museum.
The central building is flanked by four towers, varying in height and exterior form. These are also used for staircases and elevators,
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and for the purposes of heating and ventilation, The interior of the centre is divided into two stories, in the lower one of which is the library, capable of containing 80,000 volumes; the great lecture room, which will seat 1,200 persons; and the museum, which will be 200 feet in length and 50 feet in breadth, and which is intended to contain the magnificent present of the government, the collection of the United States Exploring Expedition made by Captain Wilkes. In the eastern wing is the chemical lecture room and laboratory, and in the eastern connecting range the larboratories and rooms connected with the great lecture room in the centre building.
The western wing and connecting range will be used for galleries of art, and will form a hall of 120 feet in length.
The length of the whole building when completed will be 450 feet, and its extreme breadth in the centre at the principal towers 140 feet, exclusive of the projection of the front porch.
There will be nine towers in the various
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parts of the building, varying from 75 to 150 feet in height. The height of the centre build- ing will be 60 feet, and of the wings 45 feet. The building will be constructed of rose colored free stone, of fine grain and excellent quality, which is obtained from the Seneca quarries, distant about twenty-five miles from Washington, in a northerly direction, and lying on the bank of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake and Ohio canal.
COLUMBIAN COLLEGE.
THIS Institution, which was incorporated by Congress in 1821, is now in a flourishing con- dition; the number of its students bas been gradually increasing for several years past; and its prospects are brightening on every side. It is beautifully situated on one of the most com- manding eminences of the high hills that sweep around the northern portion of the metropolis, and is about half an hour's walk from the President's mansion, from the Capitol, from the Smithsonian Institute, from the National
COLUMBIAN COLLEGE.
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Observatory, and from all the public buildings in Washington.
The College building is a fine brick edifice, four stories high, including the basement and attic, with sufficient room to accommodate one hundred students. Besides this there are three other brick buildings, one occupied by the President and family, another by the steward, and the third is used as a hall for the philo- sophical apparatus belonging to the College, and also by the Preparatory Department.
The view from College Hill is surpassingly beautiful. The student can sit in his room and cast his eye over scenes which are well calcu- lated to arouse the sluggish, to interest the most unobservant, and to excite feelings of energy and patriotism. Three cities, in all their beauty, are spread out before him; the Capitol, the President's house, and the other public buildings are within his view ; the Po- tomac stretches away before him as far as his vision can reach, and upon its banks are ob- jects of absorbing interest; to the right, away in the distance, may be seen a gently sloping
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hill reaching to the banks of the river, crowned with trees rising above the surrounding forests -- it is Mount Vernon, a place hallowed in the freart of every American, the resting place of Washington.
The sessions of the college have been changed during the last year. The winter ses- sion of six months commences on the first Wed- nesday in October, at the close of which, one week only intervening, commences the sum- mer session, which continues three months. The annual commencement for conferring degrees takes place on the second Wednesday of July; there is then a vacation until the first Wedesday of October. The number of stu- dents, including the Preparatory Department, during the last session, was ninety four.
The students have frequent opportunities of listening to the finest efforts of eloquence in Congress and the Supreme Court, and will have admittance to the public lectures at the Smithsonian Institution, which will embrace a wide and extended range of literary and scientific subjects.
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NAVY YARD ..
SITUATED near the mouth of the Eastern Branch, fino views of the Navy Yard may be had from an approach up the river, from the Virginia shore of the Potomac, and from vari- ous other points. The view herewith presented is taken from the bridge over the Eastern Branch. It embraces the ship houses, the building shed, the workshops of the yard, &c., &e.
. "The works at this place are very extensive. Passing through an arched gateway, guarded by marines, the visiter enters a neatly kept yard, of some twenty or thirty acres. On his left is the house of the commandant of the yard, and on the right those for the lieutenants and other officers. "Farther down towards the Eestern Branch are ranged the various work- shops, the great forges for anchors, the block and tackle factory, the carpenters' shops, and many other buildings for the convenience of the public works. At this place, several ves- sels were sunk when the news of the defeat of
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our army at Bladensburg reached the authori- ties. Several hundred men are usually em- ployed at this yard. It is said that vessels built here keep better than those built at any of the other Navy Yards of the Government, which is supposed to be owing to the more careful in- spection of the timber. Nine fine vessels of war, of the following names and rates, have been launched at this yard: ship of the line Columbus, 74; first-class frigates Potomac, Brandywine, and Columbia, 44 each ; sloops of war St. Louis and St. Mary's, each 20; schooners Grampus and Shark, 10 each ; and Experiment, 4. Without the precincts proper of the Navy Yard, are the barracks for the United States Marines.
- There is a large settlement of houses and in- habitants congregated around the yard, but business does not flourish. 'There is no com- merce, and what trade there is consists in coal and wood, and the produce of the river, fish and oysters. The houses look ancient and time-worn. Government does not foster this post to a very large extent.
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