The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1858-01-14

DlcKgss admirable sketches ofGovernment
officials, in the Circumlocution Office Of bis
Little Dorrit." Tbs pomposity Of hersli-
tary Office holders, their rigid uni,ensiiDg al.
herence to old, vermont, and Thoroughly
napplicable forms, and tieir steady deter
mination 10 DO an little ~ thcy can for the
public, and 10 as long time NJ possible, are
strange 10 an intelligent reader ; and there
are few who have suffered from that hope
deferred that maketb the heart sick " with
out feeling the. bitter truth Of the sketch.
We now present picture u our Unborn o.
fetal. who must have had his swaddlng
clothes tied with strings Of red tape, and
have been fed upon panada made from Office
waters. This gentleman, unfortunately for
his official dignity, becomes one Of ship
wrecked party, and VIC now beg 10 impress
upon tho minds Of all aspirauts for place,
how important aud valuable a thorough
knowledge VI Official routine II to man
suddenly placed in dangerous ard novel
position
with all possible respect for an Official
gentleman, must admit that Mr.. Commis'
si0ner Pordage struck nc as being, beyond
any comparison. the mtst helpless iBdiyid-
ual Ia our unfortunate company. What
with the frigh, he had suffered, the danger
he had gone through, and the bewilderneni
of finding himself torn away from his safe
Government mooriugs. his poor unfortunate
brain sesncd IA ~ ~ Garnl.leiely. slsc0al,
posed M his Diplomatic coat. lie wa per-
iectly harmless and quiet, but also perfectly
light headed -as anybody could discover
who looked at his dazed eyes or listened TO
his maundering talk. tried him with II
word or two about our miserable situation,
thinking that, II any subject would get II
trinc VI sense out Of him, II must surely be-
that.
You v i'll observe" said Mr. Pordage,
looking at the torn cn0s of his Diplomatic
coat instead Of AT me. 4" that ] cannot take
coguizance Of our situation. No memoran-
dun OF II has been drawn up, no report in
conncxion with II has been presented 10 ne.
cannot possibly recognize il until the nee
essary minutes and mcinorandnms and re-
ports have reached me through the proper
channels. When our miserable situation
presents itself 10 me. on paper, shall bring
Il under tho notice 0t Government and
Government after proper interval, will
bring il back again under my notice and
then shall have souethiDg to say about 1t.
Not u minute before,--no, my man, not u
minute before
The unfortunate party fall into tho hands
of pirate captain, and All opportunity Of
tering Of making an escape, W. may again
ee how Mr. Commissioner i'oRpAoE's Off
cial training facilitates that measure ;--.-
So far not word had been spoken not
mistake had been made 10 far not "a change
Of any -ort had passed over the Pirate Cap
tnin's face.
There were len now in the hall. besides
myself aud the child ON my back, only Mr..
Fisher and Mr., Portage. Mr. Pordagc !.
Up 10 that moment. in the risk and excite
mcnt OF the time. had not once thought Of
him
was forced to think II him now. ,hough
and with anything but friendly feeling
At the sight of the Prntc Captain asleep
across the way out. the unfortunate mis-
chcvous old simplrton tossed up his head,
anil folded his arms. and was on the point Of
breaking out loud into u spoken document
Of some kind when Mr.. Fisher wisely and
quickly c'apped haud over his mouth.
Government dispatches outside. whs
pers Mr.. Fisher, IN an agony. "Secr,t ser.
vice. Forlynne reports from head quarters
all waiting for you half mile of I'll
show you the way. sir. Don't wake that
man there, who is asleep he must know
nothing about the represents the Pub.
lie"
Mr. Poriagr suddenly looked very know.
ing and hugely satisfied with himself lie
followed Mr.. Fisher 10 within few tci OF
the Pirate Captains body then stopped
short,
How many rrorts?' he asked very
anxiously,
Fcrly.ninc." said Mr.. Fisher. Come
along, sir, and step clean over the Public,
whatever you do,
Mr., rordago instantly stepped over. as
jauntily a. il he was going to dance. At
the moment OF his crossing. hanging rag
Of his cursed useless unfortunate. linn p,p
Iomatc Goa, touched the Pirate Captains
forehead and woke him
We must not omit 10 mention that these
exquisite and delicate sketches ui character
arr taken from the extra Christmas number
of Dickens Ho,eetoR Uonis.
A SmnRr SghMnN ANn A doom ONK.--