Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1866-12-28
Er yAEY cL.NvER AuEs.

To LIE tie Capitol is Washington, and
Washington only the Capitol. | love 80
profoundly this august friend, am some
times filed with an insane desire TO describe
it, that eyes that have never been sulhced by
Its vastness. though far distant may still be.
hold it. Alas / shall never describe it.
Neither will any one else ever portray the
Capitol. I hold 10 my hand a book Of one
hundred ami eighty pages, which attempts
TO tell all about 1t, and does, perhaps, all
that words can tell
IL says that the Capitol covers three and
a half acres Of ground that its dome Is
nearly three hundred feet high, height
twice that OF Niagara. It gives histories Of
its marbles and paintings, and much valua-
bic information; and, yet 10 one who has
never seen 1t. 1t gives no adequate idea Of
the Capitol. Great architecture embodies
the grandest expression Of human thought;
TO comprehend It, to enter into its spirit, we
must first behold it.
1t is like passing from one world to an
other to leave the upper corridors, full Of
garish light, full OF crowds Of lobbyists.
full OF the v0ciierati0ns Of Congress, for the
cool, dim halls of the lower Capitol. No
matter how fercely the sun burns IN the
heavens, his fire never falls through the
twilight Of the grand ball whose eight hun
dred feet measure the length Of the Capitol
from end to end. Here in Egyptian COLON
AIDES, rise tie mighty shafts Of stone which
bear up the mightier mass of marble, and
which seem strong enough to support the
world. In the summer solstiee they cast
long cool shadows, full of silence and repose.
The gaslIghts, Pickering on the walls, send
golden rays through the dimness 10 light
you on. You have struck below the jar and
tumult Of life the struggle Of a ma
ton Is going on over your head
yet, 50 vast anu visionary are the vIstas
opening before you, the calm about YOU Is
50 deep, you forget the world that you have
left, in this new world that you have found
Every time that descend into these lower
regions get lost In wandering on 10 find
my way out, have made numerous dIscov
cries Of unimagined beauty. Here are doors
after doors IN almost innumerable success
sion, opening into departments of commerce,
agriculture, etc, whose every panel holds
exquisite gems Of illustrative painting. Birds,
flowers, fruits, landscapes, reveal themselves
TO you through the dim light Ii would take
two months to study and learn these pic
lures, which 1t has taken years to pant vet
remote from the upper corridors, thousands
who think that they know the Capitol are
scarcely aware Of their existence This low
er world is varied world IN itself. IL holds
spacious restaurants, which offer you every
delicacy, provided you pay, and marble
baths fine as those Of Uaracalla. 1t holds
eommittee-roUms, smoking apartments, and
barber shops, whose mysteries | never pene-
trated. 1t is enough that the haunts which
know are full Of enchantment.
| find my way up at last to the great open
corridors with their flowers of Italian tile,
their marvellous staircases Of polished mar
BILE; up to paintings and statues, standing
in the unhartering daylight; to the Presi-
dents room, the Speakers room, with their
sumptuOus furniture and last to the gilt
tering chambers of legislation The Capi-
tolls library is rich with the lore of all
lands; its shadowy alcoves are thronged
with the costliest memories. From its bal
cony you look out upon its western grounds,
too small BY far. yet perfect bijou Of beau
ty, With Its turfed terraces, its early GRO
cusses, Its dedal treas, its fountains, its gold
fish, Its troops Of pretty children Below
lies the city, all its deformity hidden in the
garniture Of summer beyond, the sinuous
river, the circling shore, the wooded crown
Of Arlington, the wide. embracing hits.
Humboldt, who knew well of this green
world, said that this view from the Capitol. I,
was one OF the loveliest that be had ever seen