454. ARCHITECTURE, Virginia Capitol.—[further continued] .
Do * * * exert yourself
to get the plan [of the Capitol] begun on,
set aside and that adopted which was drawn
here. It was taken from a model which has
been the admiration of sixteen centuries; which
has been the object of as many pilgrimages
as the tomb of Mahomet; which will give
unrivalled honor to our State, and furnish a
model whereon to form the taste of our young
men. It will cost much less, too, than the
one begun because it does not cover one-half
the area.—
To James Madison. Washington ed. i, 534.
Ford ed., iv, 196.
(P.
1785)
