The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-01 00:00:00

The District of Columbia.

(From the Boston Journal.)

The altered condition of things in the city of Washing_
ton and "the District," now, from the palmy days cif
slavery and Democracy, must be most striking. Away
back in the past to 1800, when John Randolph of Virginia
considered it one of the privileges of the chivalry of that
day to "take the wall" of Yankee members and indulge his
fierce sarcasm in debate at their expense, and down to the
last day and hour of 'Metal, slavery was dominant, in-
tolerant, and insolent. It gave its own characteristic tone
to society, in-all its grades, from the White House to . the
hovel. There was little pretence to fashion outside its
charmed circle. It prevailed equally at the Capitol, in the
Departments, in the churches, at the hotels, anti at private
mansions. The wisest, most learned and loveliest from
the great and powerful North were sometimes patronised,
more frequently barely tolerated. Being in power and
dispensing the patronage of the Government from one
decade to another, it was all potent, and Northern affiliated
politicians, with a baseness truly humiliating, aped it,
deferred to it, and accepted the social status it conferred
upon them, their families, and their constituents. Such
was the omnipotence of Southern leaders and politicians
that the army, navy, revenue service, and all the Depart-
ments and bureaus at Washington, and the foreign mis-
sions and consulates, were literally monopolised by their
sons, nephews, and friends. If an appointment was be-
stowed upon a Northerner it was in payment of his political
obsequiousness, and usually through the condescension of
one of these oligarchs.

The prison pen for human cattle, and the auction block
with its fetters and whips, and gangs of slaves in transitu,
coupled together like a drove of mules,' was to bo seen any
day. Such justice as was dispensed then from the Supreme
Court of the United States, down to the police sessions,
was in its interest, and, equally with everything else,
dominated by it. It seems but yesterday since Senators
Sumner, and Wilson, and Hale, and Wade, and Trumbull
were coolly left off from any place upon the principal
Senate committees, because they did not " belong to any
healthy political organisation." When treason, so long in
the bud, flowered, and brought forth its natural fruit, with
what affectedly mournful pride did these eminent scions
of a patriarchal institution pronounce their rhetorical
valedictions and go, like so many Judases, to their own
place.
Behold, how changed! Slavery is abolished in the dis-
trict ; the auction block is gone ; there are no handcuffed
gangs of chattels ; a Chase sits in the place of a Taney ;
free speech is heard at the capitol and the hotels ; the freo
air of the North has thoroughly ventilated and purified
the social and moral atmosphere ; Northern senators
and representatives give tone to thought and speech ;
their wives set the fashions ; the " boys in blue" have
tramp, tramped every yard of the ten miles square until
not a traitor dared wag his tongue in the streets.
Strange as it may seem, there are people at the North
who lament those " good old times," and would be over-
joyed to welcome the times, the men and fashions of those
days back again—nearly as much so as the men of those
halcyon days themselves, if they could suddenly be re-
stored to their old haunts, with all their former prestige
and power. But they cannot be gratified. The loyal
people will take good care that the old regime does not
return. Washington now, with a great increase in popu-
lation since 1860, is possessed by new men with new
ideas. It will become a metropolis worthy of a mighty
nation, disenthmlled and regenerated from centre to
circumference.

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE—This day.

LONDON, Jan. I.—Wind this day at noon—South.
Westerly; moderate breeze, and fine weather, but rather
cloudy.

LIVERPOOL, Dec. 31.—Wind S.W.—Arrived—Albona,
from Rio Grande ; Florida, screw steamer, from New Or-
leans. Sailed—Kangaroo, screw steamer, for New York;
Charles, for Monte Video.

CARDIFF, Dec. 30.—Wind S.W.—Sailed—Frankfort)
screw steamer, for Charente.

PORTSMOUTH, Dec. 31.—Wind S.W.—Arrived—Can-
dance, from Rio Janeiro for Cowes.
HOLYHEAD, Dec. 31.—Wind SM.—Arrive d—liindoo,
from Liverpcol for Africa.

WATERFORD, Dec. 30.—Wind S.W.—Arrived—Bestif,

from Sulina.

KINGROAD, Dec. 30.—Wind S.W.—Arrived—Mary
Fry,.from Calcutta.
QUEENSTOWN, Dec. 30.—Wind S.W.—Arrived—Han-
nah, from Cardiff for Para.

MILFORD, Dec. 30.—Wind S.W.—Arrived.—Queen
of the Mersey, from Liverpool for Melbourne, leaky, and
with other damage.
SOUTHAMPTON, Dec. 31.—Arrived—Damo, steamer,
roan Brazils.

FALMOUTH, Dec. 28.—Wind S.W.—Arrived—Theodore
Voss, from Taganrog.

PLYMOUTH, Dec. 28.—Wind S.W.—Arrived—Vonns,
from Buenos Ayres.

SUNDERLAND, Dec. 27.—Wind S.W.—Sailed - Jane
Frances, for Kingston.

LBY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. I

GRAVESEND, Monday Morning.
. _ _

Arrived, Dec. 31—Criteria, from St. Michael's; Asphodel,
from Mauritius ; Caldera, from Colombo ; Unicorn, from
Singapore.

Arrived, Jan. I.—Zephyr, steamer, from Rotterdam
Eagle, from Madras ; Ems, steamer, from Caen.

DEAL, Monday Morning.

No arrivals.

RACING FIXTURES FOR 1866.
JANUARY.

Manchester 1
FEBRUARY.

Lincoln 2O
MA:
Derby Spring 1
Liverpool Spring
Warwick Spring
Doncaster
Lewes Spring

Nottingham Spring 27
,CH.

Croxton Park IG
Northampton 2O
Windsor Spring
Newcastle Spring 2B

Newmarket Craven 2
Durham 2
Catterick Bridge
Abergavenny 5
Chelmsford Spring
_ _

! I Thirsk lO
! Epsom Spring
i Newmarket Ist Spring l6
i 1 Chester
) 1 Curragh 24
:AY.

Ascot Spring 1
Salisbury
Bath 8
Harpenden lO
York Spring

Epsom Summer l5
Uxbridge 2l
Manchester
Ascot Summer

Windsor Summer 5
Newton
Hampton 7
Odiham
Bibury l3
Stockbridge
Chelmsford l9

._:
Liverpool
Beverley ,,0
Ipswich
Hungerford
Newcastle on-Tyne 2(3
Curragh '26
Worcester
Y.

Carlisle
Newmarket July
Pontefract
Abingdon
Reading
AUG
• -

Down Royal Corp lB
Stamford l9
Winchester 24
Southampton 25
Huntingdon
UST.

Brighton v7
Brighton Club
Lewes lO
Egham l4
Wolverhampton l4
Stockton l5
Oxford l6
Hastings 2l

York August 2l
Plymouth
Lichfield
Devon and Exeter 28
Tunbridge 2B
Derby Summer 2B
Weymouth 3O

SEPT]
Warwick September 4
CluTagh
Leicester 6
Doncaster
Canterbury lB

MBER.
Richmond
Monmouth
Manchester Autumn 24
Newmarket Ist October 26
Walsall 2

OCTI
Northampton 2
Newmarket 2d October 8
Curragh

Newmarket Houghton 22
Worcester

NOVE
Lincoln
Liverpool

13SIBER.
Sbrewsbury
I Leamington Hunt ll

Foreign Mail Packet List.

MAILS DUE.

Australia and New Zealand, via Southampton.. Jan. 18.
Ditto, via Marseilles Jan. 12.
Brazil and Cape Verde. by British packet Jan. 4.

Ditto, by French packet
Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena Jan.
China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton Jan. 2.
Ditto, via Marseilles Jan. 27,
Paikland Islands
Gibraltar, via Southampton

. _
India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton.... Jan. 2.
Ditto, via Marseilles Jan. 27.
India (Bombay), via Southampton. Jan. It.
Ditto, via Marseilles Jan. 5
Mauritius,*via Southampton Jan. 11.
Ditto, via Marseilles. Jan. 5.
Newfoundland "', •„ Jan. 17.
Portugal •• .... .
Ditto, by private ship to. .L.i.5.b.0.n..............• ••
• •"n
4.
United Mates and British North America, by Bri-
tish packet ........................ • . • ........ ....Lat. 3.
Ditto, by United States packet, via Southamp.
ton . ...........
Ditto, via Curk ................. ...
Ditto, by Canadian packet, via Londonderry.. Jan. s.
West Coast of Africa. Madeira, and Tenerife Jan. 10.
West Indies and Pacific (except Bahamas, Cuba,
Jan. —.
and Mexico .............. ..
74u. —.Cuba and Mexico
Jan. 11.
Bahamas, via New 1' ork.
Bermuda, ditto °au. 17.
--•-.•