Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1857-03-04

the part of those who fail to consider the
thousand-fold contingencies to which such
service is subjec' cd.
"While the logic of the ssgscious and expe-
rienced Secretary Of State may have failed IN
few cases to convince us, We yield 70 none
in high appreciation Of the general conserV.
atism and statesmsplike ability he has always
brought TO the conduct Of the correspondence
which he has held with foreign Governmeno.
Without detracting aught from the honor que
to the President for his part In directing those
important negotiations, We may YET DO par.
doned In expressing the opinion that much OF
the success Of his Administration In It's man.
agement of our foreign relations deserves to DO
Attributed to his trusted and tfusty Secretary
of State And If the head Of each Of the other
Departms nts may be truly said to have rivaled
In his respective sphere Of duties the zeal and
ability of the Foreign Secretary, it il perhaps
not too much to afirm that the learned and
indefstigable Attorney General Of the retiring
Ministry has organised the administrative
duties OF his office, thus rendering more easy
the career Of his successor, not only by the
clean docket he transmits, but also by the
systematizing genius which has enabled him
to define the boundaries Of his province, with
all its subdivisions and dependencies.
As that praisesi s always most valuable
which proceeds from those best qualified to
Judge Of the grounds on which it is conferred,
We need but allIde to the confidence which
the business men of the country have steadily
reposed in the outgoing Secretary Of the
Treasury as constituting in itself strong testi
mony to the intelligence and fidelity with
which he has performed the intricate and re-
sponsible functions of his Office while to the
personnel Of the Army and Of the Navy the
Secretaries of these Departments may safely
appeal for the general plaudit, which forms
the best reward Of official station. If the
Secretary of the Interior and the Postmaster
General have had q wider constituency to
manage and please, We are sure they have
none the less or less justly earned the appro
baton of those entitled to sit in judgment on
their labors.
when the Roman Emperor whose name
has come in aftertimes to designate the palm
lest days of national greatness was about to
depart frem the stage Of action, he turned to
inquire Of his courtiers if he had played we'll
his part and, being answered in the afirma.
tive, expired with the simple request upon his
lips, Then give me your applause That
which, in his case, was but the inspiration of
imperial pride, the ruling passion strong in
death, deserves among Us to be the voluntary
homage which the citizens Of Republic may
pay to the faithful servants of the National
Commonwealth; and, SO far as 1t is due to
those who are now about to resign their public
trusts, we cheerfully unite with these of our
fellow citizens who are ready to accord to them
that tribute"
The Fair -Again, last night, the fair of the
Mechanics Institute was packed and damned
with the youth and beauty Of W ashington and
other places, from which delegations of the
fair sex are here to witness the Inauguration
ceremonies At no time during any previous
fair of the Institute have the visitors of all
descriptions been 80 numerous The display
Of articles Of mechanical and artistic utility,
taste and genius, was never before 50 large,
though the building erected for the show being
very vast. 1t requires patient promenade
OF half an hour, at least, to discover, and
twice as long to appreciate, all the truly re-
markable things to be seen there. In all its
departments the display is exceedingly rich.
The exhibitions made there Of Washington
city taste and skill are such that all our pub
lie spirited fellow-citizens are truly proud of
them for they show past peradventure that
as good mechanical work Of all descriptions is
executed here as in any other Am, rican city;
while it is no less surely made evident that our
dealers importing from abroad bring into our
midst as fne, substantial and highly finished
goods Is are to be found in the retail estab-
li'hments Of the great mart of the country
New York. 1t is needless to remind our fel
Of the treat in store for them in
promenade through the halls Of this grand
exhibition. To strangers, however, We may
not inapprepriately say-you cannot possibly
spend an hour moro agreesbly and probably
than by visiting this grand sxh ibitiOn.
Congress With such q pressure Of city
news of absorbing interest upon our columns,
We cannot and room in these times for more
than the briefest possible allusions to what
has been done in Congress in the last forty.
eight hours, though in that time much very
important legislation has transpired, az 10 al.
ways the case in the expiring hours Of ses-
siou. We can only cay in brief, that the new
Tariff law, as passed, is inlDed a very different
thing from the scheme originally essayed for
the benefit of manufacturing capital alone, by
Mr.. Campbell, Of Ohio, and the majority of
the Ways and Means Committee. This VIC
tory was wor for the public interest at large
for such 1t is-by the indcmi:able perseverance
of the Hons. r. N T. Hunter, in the Senate,
and John Letcher, in the House, backed, Of
course, by gentlemen Of nerve and clear heads
in both branches of Congress. A fortnight
ago, the protectionists conceived that they
had the Congressional world in sling, and
might work their will with it, without as much
IS by your leave, sirs ~
Though the compromise made does not en-.
brace all we have been contending for. it en-
braces so much fairer features to the public
at large than characterize the bill originally
passed by the House, that We feel at liberty
to congratulate the free traders Of the country
on the result.