CHAPTER I.

Journey to Washington City.--A day at Wheeling, in Virginia.-- Ride to Cumberland over the Alleghany mountains.--Extremely cold weather in a crowded Stage.--Arrival at Cumberland two hours too late to take the Rail-road cars to Baltimore, through the management of stage drivers and tavern keepers, on the route.-- Arrival at Washington City on New Year’s day.--Reflections on the change in every thing, in the city, since that day fourteen years. --Interviews with the President, Major William B. Lewis, Governor Woodbury, and many old friends, at Mrs. Hamilton’s, on Pennsylvania Avenue.--Biographical Sketch of Levi Woodbury.