text: // «•■ «• ’— si ■*- SKL K * «»* r X VtaHhX A/r Z^M 7 ,;r-‘;/ << - .// Ka A k/» / V V ■f iA:w.« «C?r W.\ ik &£-i <A"-) eV nuj />\ /JS/ G b\ »\ ■ pv // -■• * ’'■*- jgjgnkjsjgft \\ t <?^^aßOScy? 4e — r“ Jy /Wrv/ 8 ■ w\ W® ■SiPo! 4 M Wrwlfjphf' WoJlwLr vUJ. J- ®fj» ; F>ijt ji z^y-X^aijfliLL JUa - C3T . 'tt?WF I ffßff t l^ ai V b Tj,T 3i ■ - wry - . .-'. --5 - '"y " ~ ' ..■ -‘'l PUBLISHED BY A. J. WILLIAMSON. VOLUME XVII. The Sunday Dispatch IS PUBLISHED EVERY SUNDAY MORNING, AT 11 FRANKFORT STREET, FEW DOORS BELOW TAMMANY HALL [ SUBSCRIPTION PRICE : TWO DOLLARS A YEAR. I The BUNDAY DISPATCH is sold by all News Agents. 1 Mail Subscriptions must be paid in advance. Canada sub- | scribers must send 25 cents extra, to prepay American postage. Bills of ai/specie paying banks taken at par. TERMS OF ADVERTISERS. A limited number of “Regular Advertisements” will be taken at the rate of 10 cents per line for the first insertion, and half-price for subsequent insertions. “Special Notices.” 12 cents per line for first insertion, and half-price for subsequent insertions. “Business World” notices will be charged at the rate of 15 cents per line for each insertion—no advertisement taken in this department for less than $1. Reading Notices under the head of “Watches about Town,” will be charged 25 cents per line for any notices of four lines or over. Extra charges will be made for leading and displaying advertisements, sufficient to cover the space occupied. Special contracts will be made for Quarterly and Yearly advertisements. NOTES AND QUERIES. A Gentleman’s Son.—“Inform me if the title brevet is prefixed to any rank except major? Can a captain or colonel be made by brevet?” A lieutenant may be brevetted captain, a major colonel, and so through every rank in the army. You ask for an instance. We will give you one. For gallant conduct at the battle of Cherubusco, General McClellan was brevetted first lieutenant, and for meritorious conduct at El Molino del Ray he was brevetted captain. A brevet commission to an officer entitles him to an honorary rank in the army above his actual rank and pay. A. E. Z—Tin melts at a temperature of about 442 deg. At a white heat it takes fire and burns with a bright flame. When melted, dip the wire into it, and on its withdrawal it will be found coated with the metal. Tobacco, for chewing is put up in tin foil. Tin is very malleable, and by boiling it can be reduced to sheets of about a thousandth of an inch in thickness. There are various processes for making steel. Bessemer's is considered the best. Steel and iron are tempered by heat. A Constant Reader.— You have lost your money. The Constitution of the United States says: “No person, except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States.” If. H. B.— 1 Congress passed no act, that we are aware of, permitting Mr. Francis to manufacture and sell, and the public to use, his “Life Boot.” Like other inventions, it is protected by the patent laws of the United States. An early course the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court rank higher in the judiciary than Oyer and Terminer. If it were not so, how could defendants in the last appeal to the first named. An Old Subscriber.— We believe bearers of dispatches to ministers abroad, beyond their actual traveling expenses, are not paid for their services by the Government. It is an honorary position. H. G. Richardson.— We never heard of the "Battle of Curragshock, at a place of that name in Kilkenny, Ireland." There is no such place in the Green Island—so says the Gazetteer of the World. Lex. — Articles have been published in the newspapers " treating upon the demerits of the elective principle as applied to the Judiciary." We have never seen any elaborate treatise on the subject. Contributor.— We have not seen Merry's Museum for many months. We believe it is still published, in Philadelphia. George.— Advise the young lady to pay no attention to the request. POETICAL MATTERS. City Government for 1862. MAYOR. GEORGE OPDYKE. BOARD OF ALDERMEN. 1— Henry Smith, D. 10—G. A. Jeremiah, D. 2— William Walsh, D. 11—Alexander Frear, D. 3— John T. Henry, R. 12—F. I. A. Boole, D. 4— Charles H. Bad, R. 13—Ira A. Allen, R. 3— John H. Bray, R. 14—J. D. Ottiwell, R. 4— James Reed, D. 15—Andre Froment, D. 7—C. J. Uhipp, D. 16—Terence Farley, D. 8— Peter Mitchell, D. 17—H. W. Genet, D. 9—Isaac Dayton, R. Those against even numbers are the members elect. Those opposite odd numbers hold over. Recapitulation—11 Democrats, 6 Republicans. In 1861 the board stood 13 Democrats to 4 Republicans. Republican gain, 2. BOARD OF COUNCILMEN. Fourth District. George A. Barney, D. John Hogan, D. Morgan Jones, D. James Mayes, D. C. Desmond, D. John Healy, D. Fifth District. Samuel T. Webster D. Anthony Miller, D. fe. Dazleton, R. Michael C. Cross, D. F, Repper, D. John Ryan, D. Sixth District. A. H. Keech, R. William Orton, R. James Gedney, R. George Ross, R. Abraham Lent, R. Thomas Stevenson, R. Seventh District. Jonathan T. Trotter, R. Hamlin Babcock, R. Charles T. Pinckney, K. Jacob M. Long, D. John Brice, D. Michael Snyder, R. Ripulation—13 Democrats, 11 Republicans. BOARD OF EDUCATION. Ward. Ward. 1— James Woods 12—Charles Boice, Jeremiah Fitzpatrick. James McKean. 2— James F. H. O'Connell, 13—J H. Hrapp, William Buckley, Thomas Bruvn. 3— Edwin D. Heath, 14—Williams. Wilhelm, Robert S Gould, John H. Collins. 4— Peter Meade, 15—Edwin Robinson, James Lupgdon. Erastus G. Benedict. 5— James IL L'bbiU, 16—S. B. H. Vance, James B. Dupignac. Orlando P. Smith. 6— Timothy Brennan, 17—Henry A. Burr, Patrick Wade. Thomas Kennedy. 7— Daniel Coger, 18—William E. Carter, John Galvan. C. Godfrey Gunther. 8— Walter W. Adams, 19—Patrick Ford, William Tucker, Dennis McCarthy, Jacob C. Bogert, 26—James Moore, James W. Farr. N. J. Waterbury. 10— Daniel Blote, 21—A. V. Stout, David Miller. John Davenport 11— RL. L. Larremore, 22—A. H. Underhill, Christian Matzgar. James Marmer. The remainder of the ward is the member elect. The remainder hold over till the next election. Serenade to Ma. Opdyke.— On Friday evening a large number of citizens assembled in front of the residence of Mr. Opdyke, in Fifth avenue, and honored him with a fine serenade. After the band had ceased playing, Mr. Opdyke appeared on the balcony with several friends, and was received with enthusiastic and prolonged cheers. When partial silence had been restored, Judge Hoffman, in a few chaste and well-adapted remarks, introduced the Mayor-elect. Mr. Opdyke then spoke as follows: Fellow citizens and friends: Accept my sincere thanks for the compliment of this serenade. You come to greet me as the mayor-elect of this great city. The title sounds strangely to me. I can as yet scarcely realize that I am to be invested with the honors and the responsibilities of that high office. But if the published returns of the election are correct—and they have been collected and collated with such care that I am confident the official canvass will prove them to be substantially so—then the slight doubt which rests on the result may be dispelled, and I must accept my election as a just and fair fact, and return to you and those who cooperated with you my grateful acknowledgments for your support. Sincerely, Alfred H. Opdyke. After closely contested canvass, your efforts in my behalf were crowned with success. At this success you had a right to rejoice, for your victory was honorably and fairly won. It is to be attributed to the patriotic purposes of those who put me before you as a candidate and to the fidelity, the zeal, and the fairness of my supporters. They declared their object to be. I am desiring my election, to strengthen the hands of the general government, and to secure municipal elections. These grounds alone my election was urged. My supporters deemed it of the highest importance, that the government of the country should be emphatically pronounced in favor of the right and in support of its policy. The Vote for Mayor—Hon. George Ordyke Elected by a Majority of 771 1 Wards. Opdyke, Gunther, Wood. 408 504 584 II 211 96 112 III 7,165 138 201 IV 25& 1,638 V 799 674 600 VI 255 1,715 858 VII 1,020 1,056 1,639 VIII 1,081 1,222 1,010 IX 2,402 1,388 1,070 X 860 1,102 654 XI 1,346 2,149 1,916 XII 818 1,451 546 XIII 984 1,038 1,045 XIV 378 831 1,348 XV. 1,522 560 633 XVI 2,144 850 1,281 XVII 2,283 2,527 2,018 XVIII 1,934 1,249 1,752 XIX 1,157 1,233 1,527 XIX 2,024 1,079 1,281 XXII 1,483 1,371 1,358 Total 25,584 24,813 24,174 Opdyke over Gunther, 771; Opdyke over Wood, 1,410; Gunther over Wood, 639. Total vote of the city, 74,571. Quite an excitement was created on Wednesday and Thursday by a rumor that an attempt would be made by the City Canvassers to count Gunther into the office. It was alleged that a sufficient number of defective ballots to elect him, intended for Gunther had been thrown out by the District Canvassers. This story was soon put to rest by an examination of the returns. Only about one hundred scattering votes were returned from all the Villages. If there were all allowed to Gunther, it would not affect the result. Fortunately for Mr. Opdyke, his friends had taken the precaution to watch the canvass and make a written return to Headquarters, giving the whole number of votes cast for Mayor, the number for each candidate and the number of scattering votes in each District. The excitement had all died away yesterday; no one now doubts that the canvass will show that George Opdyke has been legally elected Mayor. So far as the canvass has progressed, he gains twenty-three votes over the returns as reported by the daily papers the morning after the Election. The Police Superintendent has in his possession a full set of election returns for Mayor regularly signed by the Police Clerk of every District in the city. The Board of City Canvassers like the result of the election about as well as Mr. Kennedy himself; but the Superintendent’s care to have correct figures reminds the said Board, that for Mayor, at least, there must not be any manipulations. The Legislature of Maryland was organized on Wednesday by electing Mr. Berry Speaker of the House, and Mr. Goldsborough President of the Senate. The Governor’s Message was transmitted. It is eminently loyal and patriotic. He says he has convened the Legislature in special session in order that they may at once perform clearly the express will of the people by taking such steps as will seem most effective to vindicate the honor and loyalty of the State by undoing, as far as possible, and remeudying the evils of the legislation of their predecessors. He urges measures for the payment of the State’s portion of the National tax for the expenses of the war. He says the rebellion must be put down, no matter at what cost. Our State must bear her share, and he hopes it will be done with no neglect hand. He urges a loan for the purpose; also that it is due to the pride of the House that immediate provision be made for raising and equipping Maryland’s quota of volunteers for the war. He also recommends legislation for the summary punishment persons in Maryland who shall be convicted of aiding or abetting in any manner those who are in arms against the Government. A series of resolutions were offered in the Kentucky Legislature, on Friday last, by one of the State Rights members, in which was included a demand on the Federal authorities for the return to the State of Ex-Governor Morehead and other political prisoners, and affirming that the President’s Message foreshadows the impossibility of preserving or reconstructing the Union. They were referred to the Committee on Federal Relations. The Mozart Hall General Committee met on Thursday evening, adopted a series of resolutions expressive of their undiminished confidence in Mayor Wood, and their belief that his defeat was procured by corruption and treachery, and received an address from the Mayor, who avowed his entire confidence in the capacity and integrity of his successor, and expressed his hope that, under his Administration, the office of Mayor would be invested with more power than it had hitherto possessed. Congressional Proceedings.— Both Houses met on Monday. In the Senate, Mr. Trumbull gave notice of a bill to confiscate the property of the rebels and give freedom to persons in the slave states. Mr. Wilkinson gave notice of a bill to abolish the distinction between regular and volunteer forces. In the House, Mr. Maynard was, after some discussion, sworn in as a member from the Second district of Tennessee. The question as to the right of Mr. Segar, of Eastern Virginia, to a seat was referred. Mr. Elliot offered a series of resolutions in favor of emancipating the slaves in the rebel districts. A motion to lay them on the table was lost by a vote of 56 to 70, and the further consideration of them was postponed until next Tuesday. Messrs. Campbell and Stevens also offered resolutions of similar import. Mr. Roscoe A. Conklin submitted a resolution calling upon the Secretary of War for information in regard to the responsibility of the disastrous movement at Ball’s Bluff, which was adopted. On motion of Mr. Odell, the President was requested to order John Slidell into close confinement, in return for similar treatment of Col. M. A. Wood, of the Fourteenth Regiment, N. Y. S. M., who was taken prisoner at Bull Run. A resolution of similar import in reference to James M. Mason, in return for the treatment of Col. Cochrane, was unanimously passed. On Tuesday, in the Senate, Mr. Grimes, of Iowa, introduced a resolution of thanks to Captain Dupont, for his victory at Port Royal. In the House, Mr. Maynard presented the credentials of Mr. Clemens, representative elect from the Fourth District. Of Tennessee, which was referred to the Committee on Elections. Mr. Dunn, of Indiana, offered a resolution for the expulsion of Henry C. Barnett, of Kentucky, which was adopted after Mr. Wickliffe had made a spirited speech, in which he predicted that by the 23rd instant there would not be a rebel foot on Kentucky soil. In the Senate, on Wednesday, “the traitor Breckinridge” was formally and unanimously expelled from that body. The standing committees were announced by the Vice-President. A motion, made by Mr. Wilson; and sustained by Messrs. Sumner, Fessen den and Hale, to release certain colored persons confined in the Washington prison, was referred to the Committee on District of Columbia affairs. A joint resolution, offered by Mr. Saulsbury, to appoint a “conference committee” to confer with the rebel States, was laid on the table. In the House nothing of special importance transpired A preamble introduced by Mr. Holman, of Indiana, and containing essentially the sentiments of the Crittenden resolutions adopted at the last session, was laid on the table by a vote of seventy one to sixty-five. In the Senate, on Thursday, Mr. Trumbull introduced his bill to confine the property and give freedom to the slaves of the rebels, and made a long speech in its support. It was referred to the Judiciary Committee. An adjournment to Monday then took place. In the House the Speaker announced the names of the persons to fill the vacancies in several of the standing committees. Mr. Gurley offered a resolution requesting the Judiciary Committee to inquire into the telegraphic censorship of the press which has been established in Washington. On motion of Mr. Arnold, the part of the President’s Message relating to the defense of the great lakes and harbors, was referred to a select committee. The House subsequently adjourned j till Monday. Refreshingly Cool!— The Leader congratulates the people of New York on the election of Mr. C. Godfrey Gunther as Mayor! Mr. Clancy seems to have forgotten that the returns of the Chamber of Commerce were not as large as they were. After the election were sent to Mr. David T. Valentine, instead of the County Clerk's office, NEW YORK, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1861. [Written for the Sunday Dispatch, j DECEMBER SHADOWS. BY JOHN R. WALKER. It is blowing. It is snowing, Dim December shadows fall, Like a sombre, ghostly pall Over all. They come and they write Strange sentences to night All along the parlor wall. It is blowing, It is snowing, Dim December shadows creep, Where the fire-light lies asleep In a heap. In a multitude of ways They speak of vanished days, Now with censure, now with praise. It is blowing, It is snowing, Dim December shadows trace, With a tender, matchless grace, A lov’d face; On which beauty and truth Sit like perpetual youth, That from angel faces gleam Like the prism of a beam. It is blowing, It is snowing, Dim December shadows sing Of the chances which they ring; Madly cling I to their story Of mingled shame and glory, Writ in love, or blur’d and gory. It ia btov.i„ g. It is snowing, Dim December shadows stray Far adown life’s early way To its May; Bringing back the dear old scene With its rustic village green, And all the joys that have been. It is blowing, It is snowing, Dim December shadows chime, The sweet music for a time, Too rapturous to last, That faded with the past, And the pleasant days of yore Steal through the half closed deor, And enwrap my heart once more. [Written for the Sunday Dispatch.] THE BLIND BRIDE. BY WASHINGTON WASHLEY. CHAPTER XVI. AFTER THE ADJOURNMENT. After the adjournment of Congress, lobbymen who had been disappointed in the non-passage of their pet bills, and who possessed not the tact, ability, or influence of Carrollton Chinks, put their little stock of soiled linen and scanty wardrobe into their valises, and vamosed the Capital, leaving behind them their unpaid board bills, washing and tailors’ bills. The belles packed up their silks and skirts, their slippers and stockings, their rouge and robes, novels and knickknacks, in large trunks, for home transportation, or for Saratoga, Cape May, or Newport. Among the belles who left the day after the adjournment we will mention the name of Miss Lottie Place, who was to stop at Philadelphia a week, and New York another week, en route to Saratoga. Sir Exeter Westminster accompanied Miss Place as far as Baltimore, where he left her, wishing her and her parents a safe and happy journey to the spas of Saratoga, where he promised to join the party in August. This sudden exodus from the Capital in July, when the temperature of the atmosphere ranges from ninety to a hundred degrees in the shade, forcing people to remain indoors as much as possible, changed the entire aspect of the city. Hotels were mostly deserted, and the boisterous hackmen, who a few days before had stood, whip in hand, crying: “Carriage, sir?” were either dozing inside their vehicles or at the hostlery where their jaded horses were stabled. Pennsylvania avenue, as hot almost as the cra ter of Vesuvius, and its brick sidewalks, as hot as the brick in a baker’s oven, wore a gloomy appearance. A few sweating negroes, half a dozen private carriages, and fifty pedestrians, and a few drays, loaded with trashy documents for the mails, constituted the ensemble on that broad, sweeping thoroughfare. There are many members of the House of Representatives who remain a week or two after the adjournment to frank documents and speeches to their constituents, in order that by the time they reach home a favorable effect may be produced on the minds of their "intelligent constituents.” Often is it the case that speeches are forwarded, claiming to have been delivered in Congress, that never were delivered under the roof of the Capitol. Often is it the case that hahds of tobacco, playing cards, boxes of steel pens, books, and other like articles, are conveyed by the United States mails for hundreds of miles over the frank of members, some of which are paid for out of the “Contingent fund” of the House, and charged to “stationery.” This may somewhat shake the credulity of the reader, but nevertheless such is the fact. One of the largest and most influential daily papers published in the city of New York, in a long editorial article under the caption of “Reform in the Business of Congress,” has thus alluded to the subject: “The people demand a reform in the mode of transacting business in Congress, and especially in the Lower House.” The greater part of each session is spent in petty personal squabbles, reading tame manuscript. Essays, small talk, President-making, and political intrigue generally. The larger share of legislation is thrown over into the last session of each Congress, and then is huddled into the two final days of that session. Amid the indescribable pell-mell then reigning in the Capitol, laudable measures are neglected, pernicious schemes driven through under the whip of the previous question, and millions of dollars worse wasted than it thrown into the sea. Let us illustrate one of the commonest modes of this abuse, by a supposed scene in the House, in some previous session, the like of which has too often occurred. The House may be in Committee of the Whole on a printing deficiency bill. The previous question ponding is, perhaps, an appropriation for 500,000 engravings of a curious tadpole with two tails, discovered by Lieutenant Somebody, while exploring a route for the Pacific Railroad. Forty members, each waving a roll of manuscript high in air, spring for the floor, which is assigned, according to an arrangement of two weeks' standing, to Mr. Borem, a new representative. This is Borem's maiden speech. The Borem family, in its direct and collateral branches, has been in one House or the other from the foundation of the Government. That he may sustain the reputation of his lineage, he has invoked the pen of a seedy scion of the quill, who sits up in the cock, loft of the House, to make his speech worthy of the man and the theme. After a slight extemporaneous allusion to tadpoles in general, and a protest against double-tailed tadpoles in particular, Borem unrolls his manuscript and discourses for One hour upon Nicaragua and negroes, the "irrepressible conflict," and a dissolution of the Union. This essay, written ere the tadpole, about to be immortalized by the graver, was born, is “delivered” in the presence of fifty members, who are writing letters, franking documents, eyeing the ladies' gallery, but paying not the slightest attention to Borem. Borem’s hour being up, he sits down, when forty members, each armed with a fearful mass of manuscript, and shouting like Camanches in battle, demand the floor, which is assigned to Mr. Rearer, who now roars away for another hour on Manifest Destiny, the American Eagle, and themes of kindred plumage. And so on until the end of the day’s proceedings. Then come back to Borem. The “Associated Press” mangles Borem’s speech badly. But seedy scion, before said, on due consideration, telegraphs to the leading paper in Borem’s district, that their representative has won a national reputation by a speech on Nicaragua and negroes that astonished the House, electrified the galleries, and wound up amid wild shouts of “Go on!” from all parts of the hall. Meanwhile Borem hands his “copy” to the Congressional Globe, wherein it is published at the expense of the treasury. He then puts it into pamphlet form. His numerous admirers in the two Houses, i.e., gentlemen in the same predicament as himself, subscribe liberally for copies. For weeks afterward the mail bags, the post offices, the trunk factories, the coal boxes, in Borem’s district, are pleth. The great speech of the Honorable Benajah B. Rem. Having achieved a national reputation, Borem subsides into silence for the residue of the session. When Congress adjourns, he relapses into the bosom of his constituents, convinces his partisans that he has immortalized the district by his oratorical achievement at Washington, diffuses the Patent Office Report among the farmers, and the Japan expedition among the maidens, franks the letters of all the lawyers and merchants in his neighborhood, is probably re-elected with three cheers, and returns to the capital the same Benajah Borem that he was when he went away. We might also add, that the “Printing Committee,” to whom is referred certain printing jobs, often report back to the House in favor of printing a specified number of thousands of a certain report, book or document, and that often not one quarter of the specified number are printed. That a collusion between the House Printer and the Printing Committee is the cause, is possible, by which the Printer and the Committee pocket a moiety of the money appropriated. Among the ministers of the United States, who did not leave Washington immediately after the adjournment, were the Honorables, Jefferson Muggins and Warren Daggs. Now that Thomas Dolant had left Mr. Muggins, that honorable gentleman was obliged to transcribe his own list of names on his “stack of envelopes,” and do other like jobs, that otherwise would have devolved upon Thomas, had he not been fortunate in drawing a lottery prize. Notwithstanding the heat, notwithstanding Miss Lettie Place’s departure from the Capital with Sir Exeter, as an escort and suitor, Jefferson Muggins was anything but dispirited. He confidently looked forward to the hour when the Government would place into the hands of his selected contractors (who were irresponsible parties, of course, ready to do whatever he dictated) the contracts for digging and deepening certain rivers and harbors, named in the appropriation bill, by which contracts he was to make a fortune. Mr. Chinks and Mr. Dagg were foiling him in his scheme. But Mr. Muggins knew it not. The Hon. Henry Banch was in Washington on the day of adjournment, and told the Secretary of the Navy that the Opposition would elect their candidate in his district unless the Government did something for the administration party. The Government, being anxious to secure a majority of administration members in the next Congress to maintain its policy, domestic and foreign, the Secretary of the Navy asked the Hon. Henry Banch, the ex-member of Congress, what could be done by the Government to save his district from going for the Opposition candidate. Mr. Banch informed the Secretary that the district could be carried, provided that the contracts for the improvement of the rivers and harbors in his district were awarded to such men as he, the Honorable Henry Banch, could name. The Secretary informed Mr. Banch, that though he intended, in accordance with usage, to advertise for proposals to carry on the improvements specified in the Appropriation bill, that he would give the contracts to Mr. Banch’s friends. Mr. Banch was perfectly satisfied with the Secretary's magnanimity, and left that factionary's office in delectable spirits. The Hon. Warren Dagg called upon the Secretary, and made the same proposition as the Honorable Henry Banch had made, and left as happy. The Honorable Alvin Todd and Ethan Allen Spokey, also represented to the Secretary that their districts were likely to be lost to the Administration. They made no proposition to the Secretary for contracts, but the Secretary whispered into their ears that he could elect them, which assertion made Messrs. Todd and Spokey look very much surprised, while the Secretary appeared very wise, as he informed them that he could give to their friends, providing that they were "responsible parties," the contracts for carrying on the improvements in their respective districts. "Let the men employed to work be chiefly from the ranks of the Opposition, and you can then not only control their votes, but the votes of their friends," said the Secretary, throwing himself back in his chair, in a dignified manner, and thrusting his right hand thumb into the arm-pit of his black satin vest. When Messrs. Todd and Spokey had got about ten rods from the Navy Department, they hooked their arms lovingly, and laughed heartily. The Secretary lacked very wise, didn't he? said Todd, adding, "he did think that Carrolton Chinks put the idea into Branch’s and Dagg’s head, and that Chinks had told us not to let him know all we knew about it, but that we should leave it to the Secretary to make the proposition, instead of ourselves." "The Secretary’s a superannuated dog at any rate; Carrolton Chinks knows more of intrigue in one moment, to use a hackneyed phrase," said Spokey. "Speak of Satan, and he’s always near," said Todd, who espied Carrolton Chinks issuing from the State Department building. "Good day, gentlemen," said Chinks, bowing, and holding out both hands, one to Todd and the other to Spokey, which were grasped warmly by both of those gentlemen. "You have followed my programme?" said Todd— "to a letter!" said Todd— "and it's all right just as you predicted, Chinks. "Well, gentlemen, all told Branch half an hour ago, I must tell you; that as soon as you get home, I send on their names, and as soon as the contracts are awarded, I will forward on the money," said Chinks, who handed each gentleman three names written on a card. Todd and Spokey assented to the proposition, and deposited the pasteboard that Chinks slipped into their hands, and the three walked down the Avenue together arm-in-arm to the National Hotel, and as they entered the same, two well-known figures stood in the passage-way. One was Jefferson Muggins, and the other Warren Dagg. The trio that had just entered bowed to Muggins and Dagg, who reciprocated. As Dagg bowed he winked to Chinks, which the latter fully interpreted. The trio went to the bar of the hotel, and Chinks ordered a bottle of wine, which the party drank, well iced, in cut glass goblets. Cigars were ordered by Todd, and the party sat down on a sofa to laugh, and talk over Jefferson Muggins, who in the hall way of the hotel was being blinded by Hon. Warren Dagg, and who, no doubt, was telling Muggins many lies, among which was the following, perhaps: “Muggins, you shall have the contracts for my districts, and I have no doubt but what I can get Binch and Todd to get those for their districts.” CHAPTER XVII. ARRIVALS.—FOURTH OF JULY. On the morning of the third of July, the National Intelligencer, which for months had had a column full of names, under the head of “Hotel Arrivals,” contained but about twenty altogether, among which number, over the caption “Washington Hotel” were the names of Miss Laura Dutcher, Miss Fanny E. Dutcher, Miss Helen Dolant. and Thomas Dolant, from New York. Mr. Jefferson Muggins called upon the new visitors. "The Misses Pritchard and my sister Mr. Muggins, Mr. Jefferson Muggins, ladies," said Thomas Dolant with the greatest urbanity. The ladies and Jefferson Muggins entered into a lively conversation, in which Thomas Dolant participated but little, and then only when Mr. Muggins addressed his conversation more particularly to him. When the honorable gentleman rose to leave, he pulled from a pocket inside his coat a card-case and took there from four yellow tickets, and presented them to Thomas, saying: "Perhaps the ladies and yourself would like to hear the oration tomorrow at the Capitol—these tickets will procure for you especial attention, and consequently comfortable seats." "Thank you, Mr. Muggins, no doubt but what the ladies would like to hear the great Calhoun, whose eloquence and ornate oratory on such a patriotic occasion cannot fail to awaken in our bosoms a love of country," said Themis, and the ladies all averred that they would be "delighted to go." As Mr. Muggins descended the brownstone steps of the "Washington," he said mentally to himself—"Talk of Washington belles! those gilded, gossamer trimmed, and flattering butterflies whose minds are incomprehensive to everything but silk and ribbon, parties and balls." Why! Laura Dutcher possesses more beauty, more talent, more ability, and more real, in genuous, natural grace and manners than forty-five. Letie Places or Felicia Prunes.” While Mr. Muggins was engaged in these reflections, the ladies whom he had that moment left with a smile beaming over his countenance, were being entertained by Thomas Dolant, as to Mr. Muggins’ real character. After Thomas had got through sketching the character of his late employer, in which he extenuated nothing, “or set down aught in malice,” Miss Laura said that she had "conceived an entirely different opinion of Mr. Muggins,” and as she finished the sentence, a waiter entered the parlor, and informed Thomas Dolant that the carriage ordered in the morning early, was at the door. The ladies ran to their rooms, and put on their bonnets and mantillas, and presently Thomas Dolant joined them in the hall, and the party were soon in the carriage, and the driver was ordered to drive to the Patent Office, which they reached in a few minutes. Laura Dutcher and Thomas entered the edifice together, and Fanny Dutcher and Thomas’ sister followed them. “I have often called you, sister,” said Fanny, “I shouldn’t be surprised if I had to call Tom my brother, one of these days—for I believe Fan and Tom are in love which remark was responded to by Tom’s sister by a “—sh,” only. The first room that Thomas entered, was the ornithological department. The various species of native and foreign birds, their variegated plumage and their eggs and nests, were cariosities indeed. These birds were in glass cases, and were artistically arranged. The American eagle, ostrich, mottled owls, bob-a-lin-cums, long-shanked plovers, quails of every species, owls of all sizes, shapes and plumage, green corvas, jackdaws, shrikes, throstles, orioles, cassicans of scarlet color, bee-eaters, fly-catchers, Willets, that sing more melodiously than the whip-poor, will, to the following seeming words: “Pill-will willet;” besides these, and hundreds of other kinds of birds, was an ibis, which was found in the tombs at Memphis, Egypt, and which was considered sacred by the Egyptians. There were also some curious marine birds, that inhabit the ocean, some of a vibriferous nature, that live on sea or marine plants, or the refuse of ship provisions, that stewards and sailors throw into the sea. After Thomas had shown the ladies all the birds and their eggs, from those of the hummingbird, as small as a gooseberry, to those of the ostrich, as large as a man’s head, he escorted them to the next room, where there was a large collection of American and exotic mammalia. Here the ladies on entering jumped back much affrighted, as they cast their eyes on those of a fierce Bengal tiger that stood near the door. “Don’t be alarmed, Laura!” ejaculated Thomas, the animal’s dead.” This reassured the Misses Dutcher and his sister, and they walked up to the case where it stood with confidence. Near by, in glass cases, they saw the grizzly, cinnamon, and black bear, a panther, jaguar, ocelot, lynx, whose eyes—glass, of course—shone like diamonds; besides these, there was an ant-eater, gopher, and beside them, in glass jars, preserved in liquid, every species of the snake family, some black, some yellow, of every length conceivable, from ten inches to as many, yes, treble as many feet. These snakes, checkered, speckled, ringed and mottled with many shades, some with large heads, some with small ones, flat, round and angular, with large fangs protruding from their jaws or hooked teeth, were objects of curiosity, though the sight of them chilled the blood of the Misses Dutcher and Thomas Dolant’s sister. “All these snakes, if linked together, Laura, would reach half-way to Georgetown,” observed Thomas. “And all the snakes basking in today’s warm sunlight, if linked together, or transformed from many into one huge serpent by their Creator, would be long enough to coil itself around the globe and crush it, as easy as a boa crushes the frail body of a monkey,” remarked Miss Laura Dutcher. “And they could be so transformed by that Creator, for crushing this Globe of ours, if the Almighty by such an agency wanted to destroy our fair earth, that erring men might be punished. In the next room to this where the reptiles were seen were curious shells, fossils, and specimens of various kinds of minerals, such as gold, silver, copper, iron, etc., beside two grim-visaged mum. mies—alas! “poor Yoricks!”—they had had, two thousand years before, their sorrows and pleasures, in rich Cathay, the “flowery kingdom of the East. “How horrible they look,” exclaimed Laura. “Most horrible!” exclaimed a rougher voice behind our party which made Thomas and friends turn their faces toward the speaker. “Ah, how do you do, Mr. Dolant?” “Pretty well, thank you,” said Thomas, who introduced Carrolton Chinks to the ladies. “Fine day, ladies!” exclaimed Mr. Chinks, bowing; “I hope tomorrow’s sun will be as bright.” “We all join you in that, Mr. Chinks; for we want to see how the day is celebrated here,” said Thomas. Chinks nodded and changed the subject, saying: “I hear that you have left our friend Muggins—fine fellow, Muggins. It’s too bad, though— I mean his affair with Buncome.” “That was a very unfortunate affair, sir; but Mr. Muggins is a man who has very little—— Never mind, I’ll not say what I was going to.” “It's not always best to say what you think, friend Dolant. I don’t blame you for checking what you were about to give utterance to,” said Chinks, adding: “When do you return to New York?” “In about two weeks,” said Mrs. Chinks, “I’m going to New York.” "I think," said Thomas, "I will give you a call when I return to the city." "I shall be happy to see you," said Thomas. "I bid you good day, ladies; and you, sir," said Chinks, bowing in turn to Thomas. “That man, Laura, is called the ‘Chief of the Lobby’; he’s very shrewd, and has great influence here. He does a great deal of business here at this office, in taking out patents for patentees,” said Thomas. “He looks like an honest man,” said Laura. “I know very little against his character, except his lobbying business; and sometimes lobbying is carried on to such an extent that money and intrigue form the basis of success,” said Thomas. “What do we know about lobbying?” said Thomas’ sister. “As much as nineteen-twentieths of the American people—and that is very little,” observed Thomas. The party soon reached the room in which the false presentments of native fruit were to be seen. These waxen counterfeits of apples, pears, plums, and peaches, as well as those representing carrots, beets, potatoes, onions, and other vegetables, were scrutinized very closely by the ladies. “How natural! Every indentation, speck, fleck, shape, size, curve of stem, defect in development, and color, true to nature, though artificial!” said Laura. “Those peaches make my mouth water!” observed Fanny Dutcher, and Thomas’ sister confessed the same aqueous sensation. Thomas led the ladies to the “Model Department.” Here they saw first the massive gray stone sarcophagus, which was built and presented to General Andrew Jackson, on the base of which were chiseled all the modern implements of war, the laurel and cypress, and several Latin quotations, as well as the “motto” now so often quoted: “The Union must and shall be preserved.” A card, in a gilded frame, hung from the massive lid, which contained the letter of Gen. Jackson, declining to accept the sarcophagus, because it was not in harmony with true Democracy to accept anything that bore any resemblance to the tombs of kings and moaarchs. “He was a great and good man, though like all great and good men he had his faults, nevertheless,” said Thomas, as he left the gloomy vicinity. “An impeccable man I Diogenes is represented with a lamp looking for an honest one. There are many honest ones, but a perfect, faultless one the sun never shone upon and never will be.” said Laura. “That’s not very complimentary to you, Thomas,” said Fanny. Laura blushed a little, and Thomas also. The party were soon scanning the thousands of models—the “inventions of Yankees,” as Thomas observed. “I don’t think that I could properly examine all these models in five hundred years; yet they have all been examined since the foundation of the Government, and I might say most of them in the last forty years,” remarked Laura. Here we find the models of most of our agricultural, mechanical, and scientific implements; there you see a model of patent lock, and two feet from it a model of a steam engine, the machinery of which to us is as complicated, and the principle upon which it is constructed as little known to us as hieroglyphics, observed Thomas. "How many of the inventors of all these models have worked night and day; how many been baffled in their labors for awhile by obstacles such as sickness and poverty perhaps; how many of them must have studied for years, and worked for years to perfect their mechanism, and finally when their labors were crowned with success had not the capital to manufacture the article patented, and sold their right to it for a song? Genius’ triumph, alas! dependant upon, or barred for a little sum of money! It is a pity Thomas that, for instance Mr. Jones’ invention is patented, and Jones sells the patent for a trifle to Mr. Smith, and that for centuries the invention gives to posterity the name of Smith; while that of Jones perhaps has not been commemorated by the erection of a marble slab," said Laura. Thomas Dolant was much pleased by these remarks, for he little thought that Laura Dutcher knew as much as she had given him to believe she did, upon a subject which ladies pay little attention to. The party soon found themselves near some glass cases in which were a collection of curiosities. 