Returning to the rotunda, and going east, we enter the
Supreme Court Room, occupying a circular or ellipsoidal projection built out from the east side of the building between the two wings. The room is fifty-eight by forty-six feet, lofty and well-lighted. Thence, crossing a hall on the southwest, one enters the Supreme Court Library Room, twenty-eight by thirty-three feet, and containing four thousand volumes.
The Second Floor has a height of twenty feet clear, with halls like those below. Along the central portion of the main hall the rooms on either side are the Public Law Library Room, two Committee rooms on each side of the Library, two rooms for the Sergeants-at-Arms of the Assembly and the Senate, and eight Committee Rooms. Occupying the east half of the south wing is the Senate chamber, while the Assembly chamber has the corresponding location in the north wing, and the State Library occupies the circular projection on the east side immediately over the Supreme Court Room already described. Between the
Senate Chamber and the hall swing a pair of magnificent double doors of solid black walnut, inclosing beautiful panels of California laurel-wood, bordered by elaborate carving. These doors are thirteen feet high by seven feet wide, and six inches thick, and for massive elegance and costliness, are among the noticeable features of the Capitol. The Chamber itself is sixty-two feet deep, seventy-two feet wide, and forty-six feet high. A continuous gallery, supported by eight Corinthian columns, extends across the west side, and throws a wing some distance forward on both the north and south. These columns are copied from those in portico of Septimus Severus at Rome. Twenty windows light the room by day, and two large gilt and crystal chandeliers by night. The President's desk occupies a recess in the centre of the east side. Above the desk, large gold letters present the motto, "Senatoris est civitatis libertatem tueri." A full-length portrait of Washington hangs above this motto. The senators' desks are of black walnut, of large size, and handsome pattern. A capacious arm-chair, upholstered with crimson plush velvet, accompanies each desk.
The Assembly Chamber occupies the eastern portion of the north wing. It measures ten feet more each way than the Senate Chamber; has the same style of architecture, and closely resembles that room in its general finish and furnishing, except that the desks and chairs are twice as numerous; the senators numbering forty, the assemblymen, eighty. The upholstering of the chairs of this room is of green velvet. Very rich and heavy carpets of elegant patterns cover the floors of both rooms. The motto of this hall is, "Legislatorum est justas leges condere." Over the motto hangs a life-size portrait of General Sutter, the founder of the city. Still above the portrait, in a sort of arched niche, is a statue of Minerva, having a horn of plenty on her right and a California bear upon her left. A like statue similarly flanked, occupies the corresponding position in the Senate Chamber.
The State Library.—The State Library occupies the circular or elipsoidal projection midway between the north and south wings on the east side of the building, immediately over the Supreme Court rooms. The Library Room is fifty-eight feet long by forty-six feet wide, and forty-six feet high. Its plan is unique. In the centre, a rotunda, rising straight up through, is crowned by a dome, whose top is sixty-three feet above the floor. A broad, circular gallery divides the room into two stories, each of which is itself again divided into two by a sub-gallery. The circular space around the rotunda, contains nine equal alcoves. The peculiar outline produces a singular, and somewhat startling effect, which is, that when standing in the centre of this library, one cannot see a single book, although the shelves around him contain nearly thirty thousand volumes. Convenient stairs give easy access to galleries and sub-galleries; all of which are arranged in the same manner. Counting the different levels from which ascend the successive tiers of radial shelving, the library room is four stories high. The dome rests on twelve Corinthian columns, similar to those in the Senate and Assembly chambers, already described. Still above the library, surrounding the rotunda, is a large circular room, devoted to the storage of papers, pamphlets, and congressional reports.
The Third Floor is eighteen feet high in the clear, and is divided into seventeen committee rooms, besides a large hall in the southwest corner of the south wing, which is provided for a cabinet and museum.
The Dome.—Over the inner dome, already built, will be erected the main or outer dome, one hundred feet higher, supported on massive iron columns, and surmounted by Powers' statue of California, in iron.
The Grounds about the building, covering the four blocks donated by the city, will be terraced and sodded, set with native trees, beautiful flower plots, traversed by graveled walks, inclosed by a massive and costly fence, and entered by gateways at the corners and at the centres of each side.
Over $1,000,000, in gold coin, has already been expended upon it, and it is more than probable that the better part of another million will follow the first, before Californians will witness the completion of their costly capitol, which is, however, as it should be, by far the noblest building west of the Mississippi.