s the correspondent of the Portland _Advertiser_
and other papers.

Prominent as an adopted citizen of Washington and as a personal
friend of President Adams was Dr. William F. Thornton, Superintendent
of the Patent Office, who had by personal appeals to his conquering
countrymen, in 1814, saved the models of patents from the general
conflagration of the public buildings. He was also a devoted lover
of horse-racing, and on one occasion, when he expected that a horse
of his would win the cup, Mr. Adams walked out to the race-course
to enjoy the Doctor's triumph, but witnessed his defeat. After
the death of Dr. Thornton and of his accomplished wife, it became
known that she was the daughter of the unfortunate Dr. Dodd, of
London, who was executed for forgery in 1777. Her mother emigrated
to Philadelphia soon afterward, under the name of Brodeau, and
brought her infant daughter with her. In Philadelphia she opened
a boarding-school, which was liberally patronized, as she had
brought excellent letters of recommendation and displayed great
ability as a teacher. The daughter grew up to be a lady remarkable
for her beauty and accomplishments and married Dr. Thornton, who
brought her to Washington in 1800.

Congress had placed on the statute-book stringent penal laws against
gambling, but they were a dead letter, unless some poor dupe made
a complaint of foul play, or some fleeced blackleg sought vengeance
through the aid of the Grand Jury; then the matter was usually
compounded by the repayment of the money. The northern sidewalks
of Pennsylvania Avenue between the Indian Queen Hotel and the
Capitol gate, was lined with faro banks, where good suppers were
served and well-supplied sideboards were free to all comers. It
was a tradition that in one of these rooms Senator Montford Stokes,
of North Carolina, sat down one Thursday afternoon to play a game
of brag with Mountjoy Bailey, then the Sergeant-at-Arms of the
Senate. That body had adjourned over, as was then its custom, from
Thursday until Monday, so the players were at liberty to keep on
with their game, only stopping occasionally for refreshments. The
game was continued Friday night and Saturday, through Saturday
night and all day Sunday and Sunday night, the players resting for
a snatch of sleep as nature became exhausted. Monday morning the
game was in full blast, but at ten o'clock Bailey moved an adjournment,
alleging that his official duties required his