The New York herald., 1851-12-26

or any pOrtiOu OF IT, IL Will DC seen, That tlo
energy and determination of Louis Napoleon, in.
stesd of ini;ctiDg any injury upon France, will
rather tend to bestow upon II what Is so much
reedtd, peace and rapquillity, and restore coni-
denee again to that unfortunate country.
The Natioanl Library Destroyed by Fire.
From the National In teliisencer Dec. Is
The fires which occurred yesterday morning in ourey
will long be remembered with distEctnees Of recoec
ton far beyond ordinary ccpasgrations The rst in
point Of time broke out little past one O'Clock In the
frsnhlp Hotel at the norhl ast col Of and Eighth
streets kept by Mr. Thomas Baker. It was communicat
ed lsarp from tie bed room Of lodger in the up
sT story and had got so great hold Of the building be-
by Efforts could the house Be saved though the chief
part ct the furniture was happily rescued from tae de-
vopripg element The building was owned by Mr.. Pat
Ike second bre in point OF time, but by far the most
considerable In magnitude and Importance took placet
shout quarter to eight o'clock in the spacious and
beautiful main Library Room Of the Capitol, whereby
sboui thirty Eve thoussnd volumes of most choice and
valuable books were destroyed together with prscocs
eollectiors cf manuscripts, paintings, maps, charts
dss statuary and articles cf re,f, the property OF
TIE gorerrmsnt and people Of the United States The
origin of the ire Is snveloped in mystery which
had Oily think vii ever be CLEARED Up From the best In
formation have bee able to obtain IL appears tha,
n CFs flame or both, Observed through the win
dows II, IA without Immediately upon this, Mr. John
W Jores. cne Of the guards in charge of the Capitol
with anoI her r.ron Mr iiolohon. forced their way
Into the Library by tire principal entrance aud touna
that the large table at the north cod Of the
fre together with portion Of the shelving and books In
;sbe and h. door at the north end Of the lea
10 the law library
AZ This tin Mr. Jones rays that half dozen bucket,
o water would have suficed 70 extin9ush the fire. lii
onpanion ana himself, Giving this nmetatey
below, tr the purpoee Of bringing the eausite nuid
but the dIse ght which their pro.
dree1 lent snch vgor the flames that, by the time
they returned, the whole room irrecoversbly
to the power Of the destroying element. The lame,
rial of the Hoet combus'be character fr
any aPPrecistle time vas occupied In wrapping tht
At he earliest possible moment the IRE compa.ies Of
tie city repaired to the scepe the Soumba think
Being the fret; Tut its hose being In n frozen condition
from s use few hours before at the fire Eighth
with the Thermometer at had to be taken 10 the
gas factory, on the canal 10 be thawed Five minutes
engine arrived AMI its apparatus
e.irg In coed working condition IL tAe first 10
with effect In quick ION engines on
the ground sslsny vieins With each other TO render
v,ry soon body of United States Marines from the
Stvy fsId were orcerd mp 20 asist In bearing wster
iressd, cid they prov. throughout the day. A srgr
engine drawn up the steps q tie est portico and
sreieI run into II. Rc,ens and rsm thence supplied
J,t o water Of great po~rr and sihc,sIcy This
done, believe without any jury being susta ned
BY he great historical PsiI,iny, aOund the Ro;ando
Vs'ls
notwithstanding the fortunate Circumstance tha, the
vslls II the library high a., In amessure to
rrsste that department of the Capitol edncs from che
rttt, at ssst 10 the extent 81 g,ipg distinct roof
found that nr. hsd communicated TO the main roof
which rss however topped By the gallant members OF
AIaccsi!a Company, who cut tvay with their axes 20
nuch q the reef ss sssnsd 10 he in harms way. In
Ike manner portion Of the stairway 1eaang 10 the top
Of the done having taken Ere, !. was extnguished by
The heat from the frr at tee dsanee Of the pillars In
rglt ef Tie library or the hre itself never resched
1h n great AZ T. scale them OF In places quar-
te- Jan inch ttek taking not merely thepantpg, but
The stone under L..
We have stated above tina, about thirty ase thousand
ylUres e books v,r. destroyed; This Is estimated from
the spypoed number saved which "a twenty thousand
The original contents of the library being about y ave
thousand volumes in all The contents only Of the prin-
eli al ball were sumed, the north room and law
hbrsry Eot having been visited BY the ere, owing 70
tie thickEess of lie inte'v veping walls.
B.;ae. :hs esss, sumssr ?, supsror p'n,tns:
woTeincludtd In the destruction. OF these cali
TO mind stusrs paintings Of the first Eve PrisdeDts
Crsinsl portrait Of Columbus; second portrait
Il Columbus; original portrait OF Peyon Randolph
a ptiireit q Bolivar; portrait Of Baron steubsn
ty PJns, Epgsb srli't Of merit; one o. Baron de
bsb; one of Cor.s and sf Judge Hanson Of Mary
land, preented to the library b. his family Between
eleven ard Twelve hundred bronze medals Of the Waite
mare exchsnge some Of them more than ten centuries
td and exceediugly perfect amongst the valuables
desryed OF the itstusry burnt and rendered worth
less We reeolect statue Of Jefferson; an Apollo in
broEze by Mills; very superior bronze likeness Of
WasLrg;on bust Of Gen Taylor BY an Italian artist
and bust Of Lafayette By David.
We have only hesrd Of three books saved from the
Trilcipal library, nsm.ly the Librarians Register an
sccovnt bock, and an odd vOume of Lord KngsbuFys
msgnifcert work on the Antquitie. Of Mexico
th. goT,rpment FOR the Protection Of the ruSic ba2
ings and property essentially defective as the vsr
Gus ccr sg ratio which have taken placorst Of the
War ofce building, next Of this very library part Of
the Capitol in 1870 then q the Treasury bulldog next
q the General PostOce edihce and the COngres.
,onsl Library ssaiE--must prove
We must tIriess our unqualified admiration fo- and
Nh lhsnkt TO- the bf men snd other cIizens who 10
sach freezing nght. turned out 10 from destruc
~ po-soe the properly of their fellow. citizens and
VIE Vt ,bfgy and perseverance, beyond ell praise
uhued tneir exertions till the next day when the
te 1.-THE capitol was At Ter 9Th subdueA and they ppr
Hitted TO ttsE rest At homendeed the engines were
- itte as "a yesterday st throwing water into the
hunt hall and upon its nrnense ma,s Of cbarreJ ana
noApg siesmng rubbish, 70 the entire extinc
ton ~ the Gre
4 strong guard Of MARINES from the Ns,v Var with
. to6y Of the city police, we're posted In evening
around the Capitol TO BE- ready in any new emsr
tusiness On Friday, will no doubt, take MEASURES nv
which searching investigatioD into ell the crcum
stances Of thi, sad conasgration will be had
Prom the Washington Republic Dec. Isl
The library situated in the centre Of the west frout
was constructed with great taste and beauty. The
ninety two feet in length, thirty four in width
and thifty.sx in height, having alcoves over which
were two galleries extending thron hout the apartment
The tocm wa7 Handsomely orpanented, aud the light
was admitted both from ample windows aud from three
.Fyghts above Paintings, marble busis and cabinets
part 0f the attractions in sddtiOn TO the elegant
fos OF coered prints and choice collection Of boks
gahee3 fItm al civilized countries and fron inter
Iaticna exchanges Ore Of the cabinets had recently
teen placed In the library. The framework was Of
nehtgsny and in the maple panels covered with glass
events in ancient times, and which we're deposited
through Wc afency of NJ. Vat,emare.
mr Jtherron's nOssry, emOtscisg scout seven tbou-
rand volumes was purchased In 1915 for twenty three
ceDs of the hy Ave thou,ars volumes vhoh have &C.
cun,ulstd Ccnress hss fcr ARIA of rpsrs pr aIy