fires and illuminations. But it was at Wash-
ington, where the greatest gloom and anxiety
had prevailed, that the wildest reaction of joy
now displayed itself. National salutes were
fired. The public buildings were draped with
flags, and at night the general illumination
and the glare of rockets lighted up the sky
which six months before had reflected the
flames of the Capitol and the White House.
That White House was still a charred and
blackened ruin not to be restored till Dolly
Madison had ceased to be entitled to do its
honors.

The tidings of the peace found her estab-
lished at the Tayloe Mansion, generally called
from its peculiar form "The Octagon," situated
at the corner of Eighteenth Street and New
York Avenue, and commanding a charming
view of the Potomac and the heights of Ar-
lington. This house was, of course, the very
centre of all the joyous excitement.

One who shared the rejoicings within its
walls thus describes the delight with which
the news of peace was received there: --

"Late in the afternoon came thundering down
Pennsylvania Avenue a coach and four foaming
steeds, in which was the bearer of the good news.
Cheers followed the carriage as it sped on its way

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