The plan of the city of which we have prefixed an engraving (There is a plan by Major L’Enfant, engraved at the expence of the Government, on the scale of a hundred poles to an inch), is universally admired. The most eligible places have been selected for public squares and public buildings. The capitol is situated on a rising ground, which is elevated about eighty feet above the tide-water of the Potomac. This edifice will present a front of six hundred and fifty feet, with a colonade of two hundred and sixty feet, and sixteen Corinthian columns thirty-one feet and a half in height. The elevation of the dome is a hundred and fifty feet * * *. The President’s house consists of two stories, and is a hundred and seventy feet in length, and eighty-five feet in breadth. It resembles Leinster-House in Dublin. * * * The view from the windows fronting the river is extremely beautiful. The Public Offices, the Treasury, Department of State, and of War, are situated in a line with, and at the distance of four hundred and fifty feet from the President’s House. These buildings, of two stories, have a hundred and twenty feet in front, sixty in breadth, and sixteen feet in height, and are ornamented with a white stone basement, which rises six or seven feet above the surface. It was originally proposed to form a communication between these offices and the house of the president, a plan which was afterwards abandoned. The Jail consists of two stories, and is a hundred by twenty-one feet. The Infirmary is a neat building. There are three commodious Market-places built at the expence of the corporation. The public buildings at the Navy Yard are the barracks, a work-shop, and three large brick buildings for the reception of naval stores. The Barracks, constructed of brick, are six hundred feet in length, fifty in breadth, and twenty in height. At the head of the Barrack-yard is the Colonel’s house, which is neat and commodious. The Workshop, planned by Latrobe, is nine hundred feet in length. The Patent Office, constructed according to the plan of J. Hoban, esquire (who gained the prize for that of the President’s house) consists of three stories, and is a hundred and twenty feet long, and sixty feet wide. It is ornamented with a pediment, and six Ionic pilasters. From the eminence (This eminence has the shape of a tortoise-shell) on which it stands, the richly-wooded hills rise on every side, and form a scenery of unequaled beauty. It was erected by Mr. Blodgett to serve as a public hotel * * *. In 1810 this edifice was purchased by the government.--Dr. Thornton, director. In the summer of 1814 this metropolis was taken possession of by an English naval and land force, which set fire to the Capitol, President’s house, Public Offices, and Navy Yard. The loss sustained was $1,215,111.