time should be employed, under the directiou of Commissioners appointed for the purpose, in pre paring suitable buildings at the latter point for the accommodation of Congress, and of the Presi dent, and for the Public Offices. The quantity of land set aside for National purposes was one hun dred square miles, forming a square of ten miles, and spaning the Potomac River at the head of ship navigation: and the States which ceded to the Nation the necessary portions of their domain were Maryland and Virginia. The corner-stone of the District of Columbia was laid at Jones' Point, near Alexandria, on the 15th April, 1791, by Daniel Carroll and David Stuart, with all the Masonic ceremonies usual at that time; and the corner-stone of the Capitol was laid, with similar honors, by General Washington, on the 18th September, 1793. The design of the city was executed by Major L’Enfant, under the direction of Washington himself; and the streots were chiefly laid out by A. Ellicott, and two gentlemen by the name of King. The limits of the city extend from north-west to south-east, about four miles and a half, and from east to south-west about two miles and a half. The streets, which vary from seventy to one hundred and ten feet in width, run from north to south, and from east to