department of state. The Post-office is of the Corinthian style, marble
front. The plan is a parallelogram, 204 feet in extent, and sixty-five
wide. The Patent-office is 280 feet in length, and seventy in depth,
where patents are taken out at the cost of 30 dollars. We saw one that
astonished us not a little--a machine for making railways, called a
Pile-driver, which makes a railway over a lake, swamp, or forest, and
finishes it straight away. It is in operation in the southern states,
and found to answer, at one-tenth the cost in England. It is so
incredible, I will not describe it. There is another, called the
Excavator, that bores through hills, &c. and quickens the work fiftyfold
to manual labour. Both these are worked by steam, and the most
incredible inventions I ever saw. Otis is the inventor of the latter.
There is also a screw-patent in operation in Rhode Island. In the
spacious room above are preserved Washington's equipments in war-time.
They are uncostly, plain, and humble, showing the unostentatious mind of
the great man. Here are all the presents from different courts: members
of the United States Government are not allowed to keep them. There is a
costly diamond snuffbox from the Emperor of Russia; and a large bottle
of pure attar of roses, three times the price of gold. There are
portraits of Gortez, conqueror of Mexico in 1521; of Columbus, the
discoverer of America; of Cuvier, the French naturalist; and one I was
much struck with, by Spagnoletti, of Job and his three friends (see Job
xiv.): also one of Wat Tyler!

We visited the old departments of Government, State, War, and General
Government. The rooms of the various secretaries are furnished plainly.
We were disappointed at the Navy Yard--no appearance like England. The
first object introduced was a piece of cannon taken from the English
fleet when Sir George Cockburn came up the Potomac. The sight of this
gave me a chill, as it was the first time I had ever seen England's arms