lmost a miracle had been performed.

Mrs. Winfield Scott in 1855 characterized the National Capital as "an
ill-contrived, ill-arranged, rambling, scrambling village"; and it was
certainly all of that when I first saw it. It is not improbable that the
cause of this condition of affairs was a general feeling of uncertainty
as to whether Washington would remain the permanent seat of government,
especially as the West was naturally clamoring for a more centrally
located capital. When I first visited the city the ubiquitous
real-estate agent had not yet materialized, and corner lots, now so much
in demand, could be purchased at a small price. Taxation was moderate
and Congress, then as now, held itself responsible for one-half of the
taxes. As land was cheap there was no necessity for economy in its use,
and spacious fronts were built regardless of back-buildings. In other
cases, when one's funds were limited, the rear of the house was first
built and later a more imposing front was added. The contrast between
the houses of New York, built closely together in blocks, and those in
Washington, with the abundant space around them, was a great surprise
to me. Unlike many other cities, land in Washington, then, as now, was
sold and taxed by the square foot.

My elder sister Fanny had married Charles Eames, Esq., of the Washington
Bar, and my visit was to her. Mr. Eames entered Harvard in 1827 when
less than sixteen years of age, and was a classmate of Wendell Phillips
and of John Lothrop Motley, the historian. The distinguished Professor
of Harvard University, Andrew P. Peabody, LL.D., in referring to him
many years after his death said that he was "the first scholar of his
class, and was regarded as a man of unlimited power of acquisition, and
of marked ability as a public speaker." After leaving Harvard he studied
law, but ill health prevented him from practicing his profession. He
accompanied to Washington George Bancroft, President Polk's Secretary of
the Navy, by whom he was made principal correspondence clerk of the Navy
Department. He remained there but a few months when he became associate
editor of _The Washington Union_ under the well-known Thomas Ritchie,
usually known as "Father Ritchie." He was subsequently appointed by Polk
a commissioner to negotiate a treaty with the Hawaiian Islands, and took
passage upon the U.S. Frigate _Savannah_ and sailed, by way of Cape
Horn, for San Francisco. He unexpectedly found awaitin