ASHINGTON belongs to the American people. It is theirs, because it is the Capital of the Nation. When Dr. Klopsch asked me to write a book about it, for the benefit of his multitude of Christian Herald readers, I suppose that was what he had in mind. It is a fascinating city. Its noted men and women are always in the public eye. Why this is so, these pages may help to tell. It is because they are part of the national life. The interest of the American people in Washington never will grow less; instead, from year to year it increases, because the country grows and Washington grows with the country. Its institutions, Departments of Government, public buildings, churches, parks, and suburbs; its galleries of pictures and its great National Library all combine to make Washington the one city of which every American man and woman always will want to know something. In it is the history of American life and achievement, the history of yesterday, to-day, and to-morrow. The home life of the Nation is also here. So is much of the home life of foreign nations, which are represented officially here, because Washington is the seat of the Government. Washington is the most instructive city in the United States. A few years' residence in it has been called a liberal education. But it is not absolutely necessary to live in Washington in order to have the benefit of this education. It may be had by reading. Much instructive reading is found in the daily newspapers and the weekly journals such as The Christian Herald- which, by popu-. lar descriptive articles and illustrations, seek to afford the information that is both entertaining and useful. Much that is of lasting interest may be found in books. For that reason, I have tried to put in these pages the full story of Washington 923236 as the heart, the home city, of the Nation. But the story of the Capital City would not be complete if told only in words. The painter's brush and the photographer's art must supplement it. The camera talks more vividly than the pen. The splendid public edifices, the notable church structures, the magnificent Government institutions, the historic statues, the palatial private homes, and the handsome residences of the foreign Legations and Embassies, are appreciated more fully when illustrated. This has been done. Moreover, the statesmen and officials, the people of all classes who move in this great national panorama, the faces which recall familiar names, and others which are merely typical of their fellow citizens, are shown in their ordinary characters, just as they appear. Only the camera and the engravers' skill could do this in a way to show it properly. It is in the illustrations that "every-day life in Washington" is seen as in a mirror. For the chapters on the new National Library, or Library of Congress, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, I am indebted to my sister, Miss Lena L. Pepper, of Milan, Italy. - - Federal City located on banks of Potomac through Washington's influence - Rival - Long road which ends at the National Capital - - - How the American people follow the steps of those who tread it Seeing Washington in the mind's eye before the inauguration - Choice of Electors by the States - Momentous day when vote is counted by Congress - The joint session - Keys that unlock the people's ver- dict - Counting by the alphabet - Tellers and their duties Incidents in an historic proceeding - Making known the result How the successful candidate learns of his election as President - Description of the count in the earlier days of the Republic — When the House elects - Disputed electoral count.... discourtesy Weather, the leading topic of interest-How it has smiled or PAGE 62 Ceremony impressive in its simplicity — Administering the oath How the Presidents have pledged themselves to protect and defend the Constitution - - Historic Bibles - Inaugural addresses and what they signify - Jefferson's essential princi- ples and Andrew Jackson's terseness Invocation for Divine guidance — Lincoln's sublime patriotism Some incidents in the first inauguration of - - Something about the inauguration parade Imposing escort of the newly inaugurated Year's calling is kept up- When all the world is received 76 86 |