A COMPILATION

OF THE

MESSAGES AND PAPERS

OF THE

PRESIDENTS

1789-1897

BY

JAMES D. RICHARDSON

A REPRESENTATIVE FROM The State of TENNESSEE

VOLUME I

PUBLISHED BY

AUTHORITY OF CONGRESS

THE CAPITOL was begun September 1, 1793, and finished in 1863. Estimated cost $15,000,000. It is 751 x 350 feet. The dome is 288 feet high. Cornerstone was laid by Washington, for whose body the builders prepared a tomb beneath the dome called undercroft which still remains empty.