The national Republican., 1861-06-04
THE MANTLE OF WASHINGTON.

laHt oNer tne lhClueh'S vi tHe Jouruey, uuu ."o
arrival OF JEFF. Davis aud SUITE including Wig.
fall and Toombs, at Richmond. In one place
the writer Gays:
"The confidence manifested in our Presi.
dent in the many scenes which transpired on
thistrip shows that the mantle of Washington
falls gracefully upon his shoulders"
What a prostitution Of terms 1t is difficult
to conceive how any man could stultify himself
by writing such nonsense, insulting the venera.
ton and devotion which the country pays to
the memory Of the "Fathsr Of his Country:
North and South.
If by the "mantle Of Washington the wri.
ter would typify the virtue, the dignity, states.
manship, and the qualities which make great
captain, we opine that the garment referred
to will scarcely fit the man who stands forward
as the leader Of an army of traitors in open and
REASONABLE rebellion against the country which
George Washington was foremost In freeing
from the thraldom of England, and in setting
upon its path OF freedom and prosperity.
STORY OF The CAPrrRs OF GEN. BUrLER.--
Some of the more credulous Of the people in
town yesterday believed an idle rumor to the
effect that Gen. Butler had been taken prison.
ernear Fortress Monroe, together with Vermont
regiment, 1000 strong, and 500 other troops.
When the secessionists get Butler and those
Vermont troops, without more hard knocks
than we believe they have q stomach for, Mol.
ly Stark's q widow" The rumor probably
reached the city from Alexandria, where they
now grind out false reports as they formerly
did -four.
EXTRA BILLY PREPARINo TO SusPEYD.-The
evening before the skirmish at Fairfax Court
house, Extra Billy" Smith, lately M. c. from
Virginia, harangued the secession troops posted
there, exhorting them to stand to their guns,
and kill FIVE Yankees apiece at the first fire.
He was in the village during the skirmish, and
actually laid hands on one Of the United States
dragons, who was hors du combat, and assisted
in making him prisoner. William is prepar.
ing himself for an extra cravat, which will be
administered to him as soon as the Ssdlitz-
powders effervescence in Virginia shall have
subsided. How fortunate that one Of Virginia. s
daughters, Kentucky, furnishes abundant hemp,
thus permitting the hanging arrangements to
be kept as much as possible in the family.
WHERE WE'RE THEY MADE?-The fact that
the raecannon shot from the batteries at Aqua
Creek is of different make from any used in
our service has led to the inquiry where they
we're manufactured. Our reporter examined
one, which was lodged on the steamer Freeborr
in Saturdays fight. 1t is shot three inches
in diameter and nine inches long, conical cyl
indricsl, with an iron saucer at the powder end
BY which the expansion to prevent windage il
eifectuated in part. The edge Of the SAUCER i.
about an eighth Of an inch thick, and reveals
that the gun from which it was fred has thret
rife grooves. From where the edge Of the
saucer ends, up to the point where the cont
pointing the shot commences, the whole cir
cumference of the shot is neatly turned Oh
planed off to the depth CT a sixteenth Of ar
inch. Around the shot, probably, was a sabo
Of canvas, wood, iron, or lead, further to Dc
away with windage. An examination of the
riAed cannon ammunition in the ordnance
works at the navy yard discloses no similar
specimen of shot, but one Of the workmen there
remembers that party from Maryland applied
two or three years since to have some shot o
this description cast there for exhibition to, aut
the approval of, the Government. But thougl
the shot were cast, it is not remembered tha
the invention was offered to the United States
but it was reported subsequently that it wa
sold elsewhere for $4,000. Who paid tn
money? Floyd? the State of Virginia? ant
where were the shot cast, at Baltimore or Rich
mond2 We wait for an answer, and should b.
glad to hear from Winans or Tredegar, Wise o
Floyd, on the question.
Skirmish Between the Confederate ant
Maryland Troops at Williamsport.
Hayersto,cn, June l, p M-This mornin
the Sc .ession force again attempted to captur
the ferry boat lying opposite Williamsport, 70
| tho purnOse m il ronipctured of removing