Perley's reminiscences of sixty years in the national metropolis, v. 1-2

John Quincy Adams was elected President of the United States by the House of Representatives on February 9th, 1825. At the tenth popular election for President, during the previ...

Henry Clay, after his return to the Senate, was the recognized leader of the Whig Senators, for he would recognize no leader. His oratory was persuasive and spirit-stirring. The...

The rejection by the Senate of the nomination of Martin Van Buren as Minister Plenipotentiary to Great Britain, was an act of retributive justice, carried out on the very spot w...

When the Forty-eighth Congress met on the 3d of December, 1885, Senator Edmunds occupied the chair of the Senate as President _pro tempore;_ Judge Davis, not having been re-elec...

President Jackson's friends celebrated the 8th of January, 1835, by giving a grand banquet. It was not only the anniversary of the battle of New Orleans, but on that day the las...

An unimportant resolution concerning the public lands, introduced into the Senate early in 1830 by Senator Foote, of Connecticut (the father of Admiral Foote), led to a general...

As the time for another Presidential election approached, the friends of General Jackson commenced active operations in his behalf. The prime mover in the campaign was General J...

The most elegant estate in Washington in Jackson's time was the Van Ness mansion, built on the bank of the Potomac, at the foot of Seventeenth Street. Mr. John Van Ness, when a...

Charles Sumner had not spoken on the slavery question immediately on taking his seat in the Senate, and some of his abolition friends in Boston had began to fear that he, too, h...

Government officials at Washington, nearly all of whom had received their positions as rewards for political services, and many of whom had displaced worthy men whose only fault...

When the Twenty-first Congress assembled, on the 7th of December, 1829, General Jackson sent in his first annual message, which naturally attracted some attention. Meeting his o...

Mr. Van Buren, like his predecessor, Mr. Calhoun, suffered mental martyrdom while presiding over the Senate as Vice-President. His manner was bland, as he thumped with his malle...

The old stage route between Boston and New York, before John Quincy Adams was President, passed through Worcester, Springfield, Hartford, and Norwalk. Passengers paid ten dollar...

John Tyler, having found that his position as Vice-President gave him no voice in the distribution of patronage, had retired in disgust to his estate in Prince William County, V...

The old Senate Chamber, now used by the Supreme Court, was admirably adapted for the deliberations of the forty-eight gentlemen who composed the upper house of the Nineteenth Co...

Georgetown, now called "West Washington," was originally laid out as a town in 1751, and settled by the Scotch agents of English mercantile houses, whose vessels came annually t...

In 1840 many of the States voted for Presidential electors on different days, which rendered the contest more exciting as it approached its close. There was no telegraphic commu...

The gulf between President Johnson and Congress gradually widened after the reconstruction bill was passed over his veto, although his friends announced that while he opposed th...

Mr. Cushing conceived the idea of getting up a difficulty with Great Britain, as likely to advance the prospects of President Pierce for re-election, and to divert the attention...

President Pierce, seconded by Secretary Marcy, made his foreign appointments with great care. Mr. Buchanan was sent as Minister to the Court of St. James, a position for which h...

The repeal of the Missouri Compromise and the enactment of the Fugitive Slave Law re-opened the flood-gates of sectional controversy. The Native American organization was used a...

While the electoral votes for the eighth President of the United States were being counted, in the presence of the two Houses of Congress, Senator Clay remarked to the Vice-Pres...

The Hall of the House of Representatives (now used as a National Gallery of Statuary) was a reproduction of the ancient theatre, magnificent in its effect, but so deficient in a...

President Tyler was encouraged in his desire to have Texas admitted as a State of the Union by Henry A. Wise, his favorite adviser, and by numerous holders of Texan war scrip an...

James Knox Polk was inaugurated as the eleventh President of the United States on the 4th of March, 1845, a rainy, unpleasant day. Had any method of contesting a Presidential el...

Mr. Clayton, when Secretary of State, had received a proposition from August Belmont, as the agent of the Rothschilds, to pay the Mexican indemnity in drafts, for which four per...

The Senate, which met in executive session when General Garfield was inaugurated, showed many changes. Vice-President Wheeler, who had served in Congress long and well, was repl...

The forcible acquisition of territory was the means by which the pro-slavery leaders at the South hoped to increase their territory, and they defended this scheme in the halls o...

The first session of the Thirty-second Congress, which began on the 1st of August, 1852, was characterized by sectional strife, and was devoted to President-making. President Fi...

Rutherford B. Hayes had not entered upon his fifty-fifth year when he was inaugurated as President. He was a well-built man, of stalwart frame, with an open countenance ruddy wi...

When General Grant returned from his trip around the world, the Blaine newspapers, while they filled their columns with adulatory notices of the "Old Commander," also discovered...

Andrew Johnson took the oath of office as President of the United States, administered to him by Chief Justice Chase, at his room in the Kirkwood House. He sent word to Mrs. Lin...

President Van Buren's wife (by birth Miss Hannah Hoes, of Columbia County, New York) had been dead nineteen years when he took possession of the White House, accompanied by his...

General Garfield was a singularly domestic man, and his life while he was a Representative, at his pleasant home on I Street was a happy one. Believing in the power of steady an...

General Grant, having been elected President by a majority of nearly one million and a-half of votes, was inaugurated on Thursday, the 4th of March, 1869. The national metropoli...

President Johnson was by nature and temperament squarely disposed toward justice and the right, but he could not resist the concerted appeals made to him by the dominant whites...

When President Johnson occupied the White House he was joined by the ladies of his family. Mrs. Johnson had been an invalid for twenty years, and although she could not go into...

The Electoral Commission was a cunningly devised plan for declaring Mr. Hayes legally elected President. In the then feverish condition of parties at the Capitol, with no previo...

As the time approached for the selection of a candidate by the Republicans, Ohio presented four names. General Grant, the conqueror of the Rebellion, who was without experience,...

The first session of the Forty-ninth Congress was commenced on the 7th of December, 1885. The Republicans had a majority in the Senate, but it was understood that they would not...

The Thirty-first Congress, which met on the first Monday in the December following the inauguration of President Taylor, contained many able statesmen of national prominence. Th...

General Grant's second inauguration on Tuesday, March 4th, 1873, was shorn of its splendor by the intense cold weather. The wind blew in a perfect gale from the southwest, sweep...

The clouds which had long been hovering portentously in our skies now began to spread and to blacken all around the heavens. This was greatly intensified on all sides by the dar...

John Tyler, who was fifty-one years of age when he took possession of the Executive Mansion, was somewhat above the medium height, and of slender figure, with long limbs and gre...

New Year's Day has always been celebrated at the National Capital in the style which President Washington inaugurated when the Federal Government was located at New York. The fo...

The Presidential campaign of 1840 surpassed in excitement and intensity of feeling all which had preceded it, and in these respects it has not since been equaled. It having been...

The inauguration of Grover Cleveland as the twenty-second President of the United States, on the 4th of March, 1885, restored the executive power of the Federal Government to th...

Washington City presented a strange spectacle during the first month after the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln. Many of the Southern sojourners had gone to their respective States,...

President Cleveland is emphatically a working man. Possessing a strong physique, he industriously devotes his time and his energies to the duties of his office. Gentle in his st...

When the Twenty-seventh Congress met in December, 1841, it was evident that there could be no harmonious action between that body and the President, but he was not disposed to s...

When President Garfield was assassinated Vice-President Arthur was on his way from Albany to New York, on a steamboat, and received the intelligence on landing. That night he we...

When Congress met on the first Monday in December, 1861, Washington was a vast citadel. A cordon of forts completely encircled it on the commanding heights, each one armed, prov...

After the election of Mr. Buchanan, his home at Lancaster, "Wheatland," was a political Mecca, to which leading Democrats from all sections made pilgrimages. Mr. Buchanan, who w...

As the time for the Presidential election of 1856 approached, the Democrats, thoroughly alarmed by the situation, determined to make a last struggle for Southern supremacy, and...

General Pierce received a severe blow after his election, a railroad accident in Massachusetts depriving him of his only child, a promising boy, to whom he was devotedly attache...

Bluff Ben Wade, a Senator from Ohio, was the champion of the North in the upper house during the prolonged debates on the Kansas- Nebraska Bill. Dueling had long been regarded a...

General Grant, soon after his election to the Presidential chair, turned his attention to the improvement of the National Capital, which was then unworthy of the American people...

Fourteen years after the surrender of Appomattox, the Republicans surrendered in the Capitol at Washington and passed into the minority. President Grant having failed in his sev...

Governor Hayes, having been notified by friends at Washington that the electoral count would declare his election as President, left Columbus for the national capital on the aft...

The Southern States had again returned to their allegiance, and in the third session of the Forty-first Congress every State in the Union was represented. Vice-President Colfax...

The Centennial year of the Republic was ushered in at Washington with unusual rejoicings, although the weather was damp and foggy. There were nocturnal services in several of th...

Washington City was delirious with gladness when General Grant "came marching home," and the telegraph wires from every part of the country recently in rebellion vibrated with t...

Mr. Lincoln having called a special session of Congress, the two Houses met on the 4th of July, 1861. There were many vacant seats, but some of those who sympathized with the So...

The marriage of the King of Spain was celebrated at Washington by Senor Mantilla, the Spanish Minister, who gave a magnificent entertainment at Wormley's Hotel, where he was res...

The first session of the Forty-seventh Congress, which was commenced on the 5th of December, 1881, and prolonged until the 8th of August, 1882, found the Republicans again in th...

President Arthur was a man of gracious presence, of good education, of extensive reading, and of courteous manners, refined by his having mingled in New York society. He was alw...

President Lincoln had a bright, spring-like day for his first New Year's reception, and the dignitaries who in turn paid their respects found such a crowd around the door of the...

On the tenth of July, 1850, the day after the death of General Taylor, Mr. Fillmore appeared in the Representatives' Hall at the Capitol, where both houses of Congress had met i...

General Thomas J. Rusk, United States Senator from Texas, who had fought bravely at the battle of San Jacinto, had committed suicide during the summer. He had been elected Presi...

The New Year's reception at the White House, at the opening of 1866, was marked by the absence of volunteer officers in uniform, who had, since the breaking out of the war, alwa...

When Congress met in December, 1862, many Republicans were despondent. The Administration ticket had been defeated in the elections of the preceding month in New York, New Jerse...

The entrance of William Pitt Fessenden into the Senate Chamber was graphically sketched years afterward by Charles Sumner. "He came," said the Senator from Massachusetts, "in th...

It was during the Administration of Mr. Van Buren that the English Abolitionists first began to propagate their doctrines in the Northern States, where the nucleus of an anti-sl...

Schuyler Colfax was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives. When Congress met on the 7th of December, 1863, among the new members sworn in were Generals Garfield and Sc...

General Grant, when elected President of the United States, had endeavored to elevate his views beyond the narrow sphere of party influences, and had consolidated in his own min...

The inauguration of James Abram Garfield as the twentieth President of the United States was a grand historical pageant, although its effect was marred by the chilly, snowy, and...

Mr. Webster's great work as Secretary of State--indeed, he regarded it as the greatest achievement of his life--was the negotiation of a treaty with Great Britain adjusting all...

The unexpected arrival of Mr. Lincoln at Willard's Hotel early on the morning of Saturday, February 23d, 1861, created quite a sensation when it became known in Washington. It w...

To gratify Mr. Seward, Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, had been placed on the Republican ticket and elected Vice-President. Mr. Lincoln's re-inauguration took place under circumst...

Washington "society" refused to be comforted. Those within its charmed circle would not visit the White House, or have any intercourse with the members of the Administration. Th...

The progress of Washington City during the past sixty years--1827- 1887--has been phenomenal. The United States of America, then twenty-four in number, now number thirty-eight,...

Abraham Lincoln was elected President by the people on the 6th of November, 1860. Three days afterward, Horace Greeley wrote to the _Tribune_ as follows: "If the Cotton States s...

The metropolis was not very gay during the latter portion of Mr. Polk's Administration. There were the usual receptions at the White House, and at several of the foreign legatio...

General Zachary Taylor was, of all who have filled the Presidential chair by the choice of the people, the man least competent to perform its duties. He had been placed before h...

While President Buchanan was anxiously awaiting information from Central America, he received from Mr. Dallas, the Minister at London, notes of a conversation between himself an...

With the war came the army correspondents. Dickens had previously introduced Martin Chuzzlewit to "our war correspondent, sir, Mr. Jefferson Brick," several years previously, bu...

A prominent figure at Washington during the Taylor Administration was General Sam Houston, a large, imposing-looking man, who generally wore a waistcoat made from the skin of a...

The Japanese Embassy arrived in Washington on the 14th of May, 1860, in the steamer Philadelphia, which brought them up the Potomac from the United States frigate Roanoke, on wh...

The Democrats, having secured possession of the House of Representatives, organized upward of fifty committees of investigation, which cast their drag-nets over every branch of...

President Buchanan was virtually his own Secretary of State, although he had courteously placed his defeated rival, General Cass, at the head of the State Department. Nearly all...

President Cleveland was married at the White House at seven o'clock on the 2d of June, 1886, to Miss Frances Folsom, the daughter of his former law partner. Since the historic m...

A SUMMING UP OF SIXTY YEARS. Phenomenal Progress of Washington--Growth of the United States-- Proud Position of the Republic--Improvements at the National Capital --Tone of Soci...

ANDREW JACKSON JOHN QUINCY ADAMS WILLIAM HARRIS CRAWFORD EDWARD EVERETT HENRY CLAY JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN SILAS WRIGHT, JR. DANIEL WEBSTER THOMAS HART BENTON RICHARD MENTOR JOHNS...

THE CONSPIRACY TRIAL--THE GRAND REVIEWS. Andrew Johnson Sworn in as President--Visit of a Massachusetts Delegation--What he Thought About Traitors and Treason--Arrest of Booth a...

WASHINGTON CELEBRITIES. President Johnson's Wife and Daughters--Representative Roscoe Conkling, of New York--Senator Oliver P. Morton, Indiana's War Governor--Senator George F....

A NEW PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST. Four Ohio Presidential Candidates, Grant, Chase, Stanton and Wade --Chief-Justice Chase Before the Democratic Convention--Care Taken by General Grant...

RESTORATION OF THE UNION. Northern Politicians and Southern Brigadiers--The Old Flag and an Appropriation--Outrages by the Ku-Klux Klan--The Joint High Commission --Seizure of C...

THE FORTUNES OF WAR. War Correspondents--A Precarious Position--The Washington Press-- Colonel John W. Forney and his Two Daily Papers--Fourth of July Celebration at Washington-...

THE STORM BURSTS. Robert E. Lee Joins the Confederacy--Sumter Fired upon--The Uprising of the Loyal North--The First Troops to Arrive--Nick Biddle, the First Man Wounded--Arriva...

THE GREAT IMPEACHMENT. Widening Gulf Between President Johnson and Congress--Deposition and Restoration of Secretary Stanton--Life and Death of Sir Frederick Bruce--Mrs. Lincoln...

A NEW TERM BEGUN. Second Inauguration of General Grant--An Arctic Wave--The Procession --Scene at the Capitol--The Inaugural Address--A Frozen-out Ball-- Death of Chief-Justice...

PRESIDENT JOHNSON SURRENDERS. Concessions to the Confederates--Daily Life of President Johnson-- Jefferson Davis in Prison and Manacled--Exciting Scene in a Casemate --John Pier...

STRUGGLE FOR THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION. General Grant's Friends in the Field--The Inter-Oceanic Ship Canal --Personal Popularity of Senator Blaine--John Sherman Supported by G...

CIVIL AND MILITARY INTRIGUES. War Legislators--Medal Voted to General Grant--New Year's Receptions at the White House and at the Residences of Officials--General Grant Promoted...

CHANGES AND DISSENSIONS. Republicans Deprived of Their Majority in the Senate--Rival New York Factions--Declaration of Hostility Against Senator Conkling-- Contest Over the Conf...

THE WASHINGTON NATIONAL MONUMENT. Senator Anthony's Fifth Term--His Election as President _Pro Tempore_, and Declination--Officers of the Senate--Democratic Tidal Wave in the Ho...

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS BECOMES PRESIDENT. The Tenth Presidential Election--A Political Bargain--Election of President--A Scene in the House--Inauguration of J. Q. Adams--The Adams Ad...

SOCIAL LIFE OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. Meeting of Congress--Proclamation of Emancipation--New Year's Day at the White House--Growlings by Count Gurowski--The Army of the Potomac--Chr...

LEADERS AND MEASURES. Overthrow of the Republicans--The Hayes Policy--Thurman, of Ohio-- Bayard, of Delaware--Beck, of Kentucky--Cockrell, of Missouri-- Bruce, of Mississippi--L...

VICE PRESIDENT ARTHUR BECOMES PRESIDENT. The Deplorable Calamity--Mental Anguish of Vice-President Arthur-- He Takes the Oath at New York, and Repeats it at Washington-- Individ...

GENERAL GRANT IN THE WHITE HOUSE. The Inauguration Procession--Proceedings at the Capitol--Delivery of the Inaugural Address--Ball in the Treasury Department--Formation of the C...

THE CENTENNIAL GLORY. Observance of the Centennial at Washington--Entertainment of Dom Pedro, of Brazil, at the British Legation--The National Republican Convention at Cincinnat...

PLUNGED INTO SORROW. Jubilant Over Victory--President Lincoln at the Theatre--His Assassination by Wilkes Booth--A Night of Terror--Death of Abraham Lincoln--The Assassin--Funer...

JACKSON'S LAST YEAR IN THE WHITE HOUSE. Van Buren as Vice-President--Henry Clay as Champion of the Bank-- Washington's Ceremonial Birthday--Removal of His Remains--The Decapitat...

THE FORTY-NINTH CONGRESS. John Sherman President _pro tem._--The Fitz John Porter Debate-- Unpleasantness between Kansas and South Carolina--Senator Gorman, of Maryland--Senator...

TRAVELING IN "YE OLDEN TIME." Travel by Stage and Steamboat--Boston to Providence--The Old Town of Providence--The Long Island Sound Steamers--New York City--New York to Philade...

DEATH OF JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. Washington Society--An Old Whig Supper--Death of John Quincy Adams --Abraham Lincoln in the House--Jefferson Davis as a Representative --The Democrat...

"ON TO RICHMOND." Meeting of Congress--March of the Grand Army of the Union--The First Battle of Bull Run--Disgraceful Rout--Appeal of Senator Breckinridge--Patriotic Reply of C...

LIGHTS AND SHADOWS. The Accidental President--Virginia Hospitality--Second-Hand Style --The Pathfinder's Marriage--Baron de Bodisco, of Russia--Mr. Fox, of Great Britain--The Au...

WASHINGTON A VAST GARRISON. Rejection by the President of Anti-Slavery Views--Vacant Seats at Either End of the Capitol--Fessenden, the Financier--Sumner, the Diplomatist--Wilso...

FASHION, LITERATURE AND ART. Washington Society Disgruntled--President Lincoln's First Reception --Who were Present--A Famous Supper--Criticisms of the Discontented --Secret Sad...

CEREMONIALS AT THE METROPOLIS. New Year's Reception at the White House--Who was There and What was Worn--George Bancroft's Eulogy on Abraham Lincoln--Scene in the House of Repre...

THE GARFIELD INAUGURATION. Washington City Crowded--The Weather Inclement--Military and Civic Procession--Crowds in the Senate Chamber--General Garfield's Mother, Wife, and Daug...

THE ASSASSINATION. Garfield's Domestic Felicity--His Masonic and Literary Relations-- The Garfield Family at the White House--Perplexities Environing the Administration--Mrs. Ga...

PROMINENT SENATORS OF 1827. The Nineteenth Congress--Vice-President John C. Calhoun--Martin Van Buren--Nathaniel Macon, of North Carolina--Thomas Hart Benton --Randolph, of Roan...

JACKSON AND HIS ASSOCIATES. Democratic Rejoicing--Attempt at Assassination--The Political Guillotine--The Vicar of Bray--Daniel Webster's Memory--Bayard, of Delaware--The Clayto...

INTRIGUES AND INTRIGUERS. The Solider Not a Statesman--How to Beat Grant--Horace Greeley a Presidential Candidate--Re-nomination of General Grant, with Henry Wilson for Vice-Pre...

PROMINENT MEN OF JACKSON'S TIME. Harry of the West--Tilt between Clay and Benton--Rebuke of a Revolutionary Hero--Apt Oratorical Illustration--Daniel Webster's Wit--An Excited V...

THE KING IS DEAD--LONG LIVE THE KING. "Le Roi Est Mort; Vive le Roi"--Extra Session of Congress--Trouble in the Whig Camp--Edward Everett before the Senate--Thurlow Weed-- Disse...

EVENTS BOTH SAD AND JOYOUS. Election of Andrew Johnson as Vice-President--Second Inauguration of Lincoln--Disgraceful Intoxication of Vice-President Johnson-- Inauguration Ball...

RECONSTRUCTION OF THE METROPOLIS. Alexander R. Shepherd, the "Boss" Regenerator of Washington--Expense of the Improvements, and Who Profited Thereby--Supervising-Architect Mulle...

A NEW ERA IN SOCIETY. President Hayes and his Wife--The Ohio Idea of Total Abstinence and its Evasion--Social Life at the White House--A New Era in Washington Society--The Presi...

GAY AND FESTIVE SCENES. President Arthur's New Year's Reception--Dr. Mary Walker--Senator Hoar's Welcome Dinner to Mr. Justice Gray--President Arthur's Dinner in Honor of Genera...

STAMPING OUT OF NULLIFICATION. Rejection of Martin Van Buren--The War against the United States Bank--Nick Biddle, of the Bank--Re-election of General Jackson-- Financial Debate...

HOW TEXAS BECAME A STATE. John C. Calhoun, Secretary of State--How Tyler was Managed--Admission of Texas--Douglas, of Illinois--An Able House of Representatives-- An Exciting Ca...

THE METROPOLIS IN TIME OF WAR. President Lincoln's First New Year's Reception--The Pennsylvania Lancers--Discontent of the Abolitionists--President Lincoln Favoring Colonization...

PLOTTING FOR THE PRESIDENCY. President-Making--Political Intrigues--The Democratic Convention-- Nomination of General Pierce--The Whig Candidates--Rivalry Between Webster and Fi...

PRELUDE TO THE REBELLION. Organization of the Senate--John Slidell, of Louisiana--Senator Douglas Opposes the Administration--Ben Wade's Bon Mot--Meeting of the House--Election...

LINCOLN'S ELECTION INAUGURATES REBELLION. Election of a Republican President--Northern Willingness to Let the South Secede--Senator Seward as a Partisan Leader--His Great Speech...

THE KITCHEN CABINET. Jackson's First Annual Message--The Kitchen Cabinet--Blair, of the Globe--Washington Newspapers and News--The First Lady-Bird of the Press--Nathaniel P. Wil...

ENTER WHIGS--EXIT DEMOCRATS. The Fourteenth Presidential Election--Enter Harrison--Exit Van Buren--The Harrison Cabinet--Attack upon Mr. Webster--"The Salt Boiler of the Kanawha...

PRESIDENT ARTHUR'S ADMINISTRATION. The Republicans Again in Power--A New Cabinet--Mr. Conkling Appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court--The Garfield Memorial Services at the Ca...

THE POLITICAL MACHINE. The Tenth Presidential Campaign--Election of General Jackson--Death of Mrs. Andrew Jackson--The Inauguration of "Old Hickory"--Reception at the White Hous...

THE CAPITOL AND THE DRAWING ROOMS. A Stormy Session--John Quincy Adams at Bay--The Code of Honor--The Supreme Court--Visit of Charles Dickens--The Secretary of State's Party--A...

THE GREAT COMPROMISE DEBATE. Stormy Scenes at the Capitol--Crimination and Recrimination--Taylor's Only Message--Return of Mr. Clay to the Senate--The Great Compromise Debate--W...

THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION. The Commission Changed by the Substitution of Judge Bradley for Judge Davis--Debate in the Senate on the Bill--Great Speech by Roscoe Conkling--Countin...

INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT HAYES. Lack of Congressional Notification--Arrival of Governor Hayes at Washington--Political Consultations--The Oath Taken Privately--The Procession--...

VISITS FROM DISTINGUISHED FOREIGNERS. The Japanese Embassy--Its Reception by President Buchanan--Caricatures --Visit of the Prince of Wales--The Heir to the British Throne at Mo...

TILTS IN CONGRESS. Celebration of the King of Spain's Marriage--Criminations and Recriminations at the Capitol--Tilt Between Carpenter and Blaine-- Altercation Between Conkling...

THE CENTENNIAL OF YORKTOWN. President Arthur's Appearance--Reception of French and German Officers at Washington--Their Presentation to President Arthur at the Capitol--Display...

VAN BUREN'S STORMY ADMINISTRATION. Inauguration of Van Buren--His First Reception--Departure of Jackson for the Hermitage--Van Buren's Embarrassments--The Great Financial Debate...

CORRUPTION IN OFFICIAL LIFE. Fifty Congressional Drag-nets at Work--Female Jealousy--A Nantucket Story--Impeachment of General Belknap, After his Resignation-- Beautiful Mrs. Be...

JOURNALISM IN 1828. Old Georgetown--The Union Tavern--A Natal African Salute--President George Washington--Major L'Enfant--Newspaper Organs--The National Intelligencer--The Nati...

PROMINENT REPRESENTATIVES OF 1827. The Representatives' Hall--Admission of Ladies--Webster, of Massachusetts--Edward Everett--McDuffie, of South Carolina--Rhode Island's Bald Ea...

BATTLE OF THE GIANTS. The Great Senatorial Debate--Attack on New England--Webster's Reply to Hayne--Nullification Nipped in the Bud--Society in Jackson's Day--Mrs. General Eaton...

HARRISON'S ONE MONTH OF POWER. Civil Service Reform--Differences of Opinion--Difficulty between Clay and King--Washington Correspondents--Verbatim Reports of Debates--A Popular...

MAKING THE MOST OF POWER. President Taylor and His Secretary--Selection of the Taylor Cabinet --The Taylor Family--Jefferson Davis--Inauguration Ceremonies-- Office Seekers--Pat...

CRYSTALLIZATION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Formation of the Republican Party--The Election of Speaker--Mr. Banks Triumphant--Division of the Spoils--A Protracted Session-- Assault...

THE GATHERING TEMPEST. Threatening Aspect of Affairs--John Brown's Raid--Pendleton's Gambling-House Neutral Ground--The Games and the Gamblers--Honors to the Deceased King of Ca...

OFFICIAL AND SOCIAL LIFE. Executive Work--General Reception--Office-Seekers--Miss Rose Elizabeth Cleveland--A State Dinner at the White House--The Guests --Toilets of the Ladies...

COMMENCEMENT OF THE ANTI-SLAVERY MOVEMENT. The Slavery Agitation--Early Secession Movements--Webster on Emancipation--His Idea of the Far West--Franklin Pierce's Position --The...

MR. LINCOLN AT THE HELM. Unexpected Arrival of Mr. Lincoln--Sumner Compared to a Bishop-- Interviews of the President-Elect with Prominent Men--Remarkable Memory--Southern Commi...

THE PRESIDENT'S WEDDING Floral Decorations--The Bride's Attire--The Ceremony--The Marriage Supper--Departure of the Wedded Couple--Receptions at the White House--The Diplomats a...

FOREIGN COMPLICATIONS AND DOMESTIC INTRIGUE. The Central American Imbroglio--The Napier Ball--Washington Society --Fanny Kemble Butler--Democratic Revelers--The Trial of Sickles...