The author divides his work into two parts, the first of which is devoted to the historical, the second to the modern city. Frequent use is made of direct quotations from letters, official and private, and interesting scenes and occurrences of national importance are vividly portrayed. The writer has succeeded admirably in telling his story pleasingly and the book contains much information. Its interest is not local, but national, closely connected as the history of the city is with that of the nation. Nothing that belongs to the city seems to have been omitted from the second part. The Capitol, the various departments with their sub-divisions and machinery, the officials of government and their duties, social life at the Capital, public buildings, churches and schools, public institutions, these form but a portion of the contents of the whole. Especially interesting in the first part are the descriptions of scenes in the Senate during the “battles of the giants.”
