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ceremonies. The first regular session, with full line of lectures and entertainments, was held during the summer of 1891, Rev. A. H. Gillet chancellor.

The National Bureau of Education, under the direction of the Department of the Interior, originated in a general demand of the educators of the country for a central agency to collect, preserve, and publish educational statistics. It was created by an act of Congress, March 2, 1867, General Garfield being chairman of the committee in Congress which reported the bill, and the most prominent supporter of the measure on the floor. Its functions are succinctly stated in the act: "For the purpose of collecting such statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress of education in the several States and Territories, and of diffusing such information respecting the organization and management of school systems and methods of teaching as shall aid the people of the United States in the establishment and maintenance of efficient school systems, and otherwise promote the cause of education." The bureau is not administrative, and hence has no control over State systems. It is conducted by a Commissioner of Education appointed by the President. The first incumbent of the office was Hon. Henry Barnard, LL. D., of Connecticut, who held the position for three years from 1867. He was succeeded in 1870 by General John Eaton, LL. D., of Tennessee, who performed the duties of the position until he was followed, in 1886, by Dr. Nathaniel H. R. Dawson, of Alabama. A change of national administration occurring, Dr. Dawson was superseded in the summer of 1889 by Dr. William T. Harris, of Concord, Massachusetts, formerly superintendent of the schools of the city of St. Louis. The bureau, never endowed as fully as it deserves, occupies humble apartments on the corner of G and Eighth streets Northwest.

Norwood Institute, a select preparatory and classical school, is located at 1407 and 1409 Massachusetts Avenue and 1212 and 1214 Fourteenth Street Northwest. It was organized September 26, 1881, by Mr. and Mrs. William D. Cabell, as principals, and is still under their management. The institution has a good course of study, and is supported by the patronage of leading citizens of the city.

Wood's Commercial College, located on East Capitol Street, was founded by Court F. Wood as a night school. In the latter part of 1891, it secured new quarters in Baum's Hall, and instituted day sessions. A little later in the season, the proprietor purchased Starin's Commercial School, conducted on E Street, between North Capitol and First, Northwest, and consolidated it with his own.

Wayland Seminary, on Meridian Hill, north of the city, was founded in 1865, by the Baptist Church, for the education of colored preachers and teachers. The building, a three-story brick with accommodations for two hundred students, was erected in 1873-74 at a cost of $35,000, voluntarily contributed by friends of the institution. The work on the structure was all done by colored labor.

The Ivy Institute is an institution specially devoted to private instruction, with a view to qualifying patrons for passing examinations in the Civil Service for various governmental positions. It began in 1876, under the direction of Professor Thomas Flynn, A. M., its present manager. The school is located on the corner of K and Eighth streets.

Miss Balch, on Tenth Street Northwest, has been for several years conducting a similar school. Her patronage has been quite extensive.

Mount Vernon Seminary, corner of M and Eleventh streets Northwest, is one of the largest and most popular schools for young ladies, not only in the city, but in the country. It began, in 1875, on F Street, with but two or three pupils; and under the energetic and skillful management of its founder and principal, Mrs. Elizabeth J. Somers, has reached its present prosperous and commanding position. The location is a pleasant one, and the view in all directions most gratifying. The buildings are convenient and commodious, affording every modern facility for both boarders and day pupils. The faculty embraces some twenty-five instructors, representing leading American colleges. The patronage comes from leading families in Washington and throughout the United States. The enrollment during the scholastic year of 1891-92 is upwards of sixty boarding pupils, and one hundred and fifteen day pupils. Extensive additions were made to the buildings during the year 1891; and all these buildings are neatly furnished, thoroughly heated and ventilated, and admirably adapted to their purpose.

Columbia College of Commerce, located at 623 Louisiana Avenue, opposite the post office, was founded in May, 1885, by Mr. C. K. Urner, for fifteen years preceding that time au instructor in the Eastman Business University, of Poughkeepsie, New York. It is a practical business school, with day and evening sessions to meet the wants of the large class of young people who must attend classes when they can find it suitable to do so. The organization consists of C. II. Urner, president; C. K. Urner, principal, and Mrs. M. N. Urner, secretary and treasurer.

Following is a list of the libraries in Washington, together with the number of volumes and pamphlets in each:

Academy of the Visitation, 1,000; American Medical Association, 7,000; Bar Association, 7,000; Bureau of Education, 17,500; Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, 16,000; Bureau of Ordnance, 3,000; Bureau of Statistics, 5,000, 6,500 pamphlets; Carroll Institute, 3,000; Coast and Geodetic Survey, 8,000, pamphlets, 7,000; Columbia Institution for Deaf and Dumb, 4,000; Columbian University, 6,000; Department of Agriculture, 24,000, pamphlets, 8,000; Department of Justice, 20,000; Department of State, 50,000, pamphlets, 3,000; Department of the Interior, 10,500; District of Columbia, 2,000; Executive Mansion, 4,000; General Land Office, 3,000; Geological Survey, 30,000, pamphlets, 42,000; Georgetown College, 35,000; Gonzaga College, 10,000; Government Hospital for the Insane, 2,480; Health Department, District of Columbia, 2,000; House of Representatives, 125,000; Howard University, 15,000; Hydrographic Office, 3,000; Library of Congress, 650,000, pamphlets, 200,000; Library of Supreme Council 33, Southern Jurisdiction, United States of America, 15,000; Light Battery C, Third Artillery, 2,000; Light-house Board, Treasury Department, 3,500; Marine Hospital Bureau, 1,500, pamphlets, 1,000; Masonic Library, 3,000; Nautical Almanac Office, 1,600; Naval Observatory, 13,000, pamphlets, 3,000; Navy Department, 24,100, pamphlets, 1,000; Patent Office Scientific Library, 50,000; Post Office Department, 8,000; St. John's College, 4,000; Senate Library, 47,000; Soldiers' Home, 5,700; Solicitor of the Treasury, 7,000; Surgeon General's Office, 102,000; pamphlets, 152,225; Treasury Department, 18,000; War Department, 30,000; Weather Bureau, 12,000, pamphlets, 2,500; Young Men's Christian Association, 2,000. Total number of volumes, 1,412,880; pamphlets, 426,225.

CHAPTER XV.

LITERATURE AND ART.

Warden's and Elliott's Works-Cther Authors-Literary Writers of Washington— G. A. Townsend-Ben: Perley Poore - Mrs. Southworth - Professor Baird -- General H. V. Boynton-Dr. J. M. Toner-George Bancroft - Mrs. Burnett-Scientific Writers-William B. Webb-J. W. Powell-W. J. McGee Architects - Hallett Hadfield-Hoban-Latrobe - Bulfinch - Mills - Walter Clark Cluss Schulze -Mullett-Hill -Page - Poindexter - Frazier - Corcoran Gallery of Art - Artists.

ARLY in the century, much was written about the city of Washington, because it had then recently become the Capital of the Nation. Some articles were written for magazines and some were published in book form. One of the earliest of the books upon the District to attract attention was "The Chorographical and Statistical Description of the District of Columbia," published in 1816, the author being D. B. Warden. Jonathan Elliott, in 1830, published a book entitled "The Ten Miles Square," which contains much interesting original historical and documentary matter relating to Washington, and which is quoted to-day as the best authority upon the subject so far written.

In 1845, William Q. Force published "Force's Picture of the City of Washington," containing a brief historical sketch of the city, descriptions of the Government buildings, of the statuary, and of the public and educational institutions, etc., of Washington, and a sketch of Georgetown, of Alexandria, and of Bladensburg.

In 1848, Joseph B. Varnum, Jr., published a work called "The Seat of Government of the United States," which was a review of the discussions in and out of Congress on the site and plan of the Federal City. In 1854, a second edition of this work was published. It contains one hundred and twenty pages.

Colonel John S. Williams, in 1857, published a "History of the Invasion and Capture of Washington, and of the Events which Preceded and Followed." It was written with the view of removing the obloquy which, in his opinion, has been undeservedly cast upon the American troops in the battle of Bladensburg. According to Colonel Williams, the blame for the result of this battle properly

lay with the Government itself and with the commanding general, and this he labors to prove.

There are many other books written thus early by Washington authors, but further particularization would perhaps be tedious.

Among those who have contributed to the fame of Washington as a literary center, the following may be referred to: Professor Joseph Henry, Ainsworth R. Spofford, Mrs. Southworth, George Alfred Townsend, Don Piatt, Ben: Perley Poore, Albert Pike, Walt Whitman, Mrs. Lippincott ("Grace Greenwood"), Harriet Prescott Spofford, and Dr. J. M. Toner. Some of these and several others are specially mentioned below.

John Burroughs was a contributor to the Atlantic Monthly, his. articles being mainly on natural history. Walt Whitman was for a time a clerk in the office of the Attorney-General, and was pronounced by the Westminster Review "the first and only representative of art of the American Democracy"; which criticism indicates that while this good gray poet may not have been universally admired by his own countrymen, yet he had warm admirers in Europe.

Mrs. Helen C. Weeks was one of the first of the story writers for children, surpassed only, perhaps, by Miss Alcott.

George Alfred Townsend is at least one of the most prolific of American writers, and while he occasionally repeats the mistakes of his authorities, yet he is always exceedingly entertaining, and usually instructive. He has been in all parts of the civilized world, and has contributed to numerous papers and magazines in both Europe and the United States. He came to Washington in 1868, and resided here several years. The Chicago Tribune paid him $20,000 for one thousand columns of preferred matter, furnished at the rate of three hundred columns per year. Since then, he has been a regular and invaluable correspondent of the Cincinnati Enquirer, giving that paper its chief value to the general reader. His local work on Washington, entitled "Washington, Outside and Inside," partly historical, partly descriptive, and partly discursive, is very entertaining, and in the discursive portion is an excellent illustration of a marked characteristic of human nature,- that of excessive severity against former friends, having, on account of their faults and imperfections, become their enemy.

Ben: Perley Poore was educated for the law, but always lived the life of a Bohemian, because that life was free and unrestrained. He early became European correspondent of the Boston Atlas, and afterward married in Georgetown, which city was the birthplace of his mother.

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