The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1861-08-31
FROM WASHINGTON.
Correspondence Of the Hszk-Eye
q WASHINGTON. Aug. 26, I8t

WAsHINGroN, Aug 26, 1861. =
The chief topics of interest, for the past three
days, have been the administering Of the new oath
prescribed by Congress, and the arrest of May
or Berret.
This oath has been administered in different
forms, several times. The form adopted BY
Congr IS, is, perhaps, the most stringent Of any
its wording, mentioning specially, that it is ia
ken without any mental reservation, and is for
the Government alone, uninfueneed by any
State, or Convention, or other power whatever.
To a true and loyal man, simple oath to sup.
port the Constitution includes all this, but un-
fortunately, in many Of the Depa, tments, there
are men, whose truth and loyalty are doubtful.
They are generally the older clerks, men grow
ing gray in the service, whose opinions have
been moulded, by the Southern influence which
has ruled in Washington, unresisted for twenty
years. Living so long on the Government, they
are unfit for any other business, and the loss Of
Office would cast them upon the world without
money (nobody saves money in Washing.cn,)
and without the training and capacity necessary
for earning it. Such men, read the srords Of the
oath, and manufacture from it frivolous con.
structions, and meaningless technicalities, and
at last subscribe to the form, with disregard Of
the spirit, more dangerous than open refusal
Every clerk can point to many such instances
The design of the Government is, to remove
all such as speedily as possible, but in many ca
ses they are hard to reach, and carefully avoid
any open hostility towards the Government. On
Friday, in the Treasury Department, one of the
clerks, for example, asked an hour to consider
If he would take the oath, and in less than ten
minutes he received letter informing him that
his services were no longer needed. lie had ia
ken all the previous oaths, and nobody had rea-
son to suspect him. It is hardly necessary to
say that nobody else asked any time to deliber-
ate.
Mayor Berret has long been noted for his se-
cession procliyities. His refusal to take the
oath as Police Commissioner, was only in keep
| ing with all his past course. And in this, he
used the same quiobIng sophistry as have
mentioned above, offering to take one form of
oath, and refusing another, as if the mere form
/ was Of any consequence. The Government had
clearly but one course to pursue. To allow the
Capitol Of the Nation to remain under the con
troll of one of its open enemies, would be an
outrage without any apology. And therefore
he was very quietly arrested by tn Provost Mar
shall, and taken in the A. n, train to New
York. If any excitement was expected,
4 in consequence of this act, all we're sgreeably
disappointed. Whatever may be the real SEN
timent Of this city, the surface is all ioS the
Union, and have not heard the proprlety Of
the arrest doubted. Other arrests were also
made, and viii continue until the city is tho
roughly purged.
/ For these and the hundred other indications
/ of firm and viorous policy. which every day
brings to light, common report gives the credit
to Gen. Mcclellan. He is to be the grest harp
| of this war. He is daily and hourly at work,
giving to every little detail his own supervision.
! You hear nothing of it; we know nothing hefs,
except that in everything there Is ceaseless ac-
.ivity. The heavy cannon, and numberless
grain wagons, which see constantly passing,
must mesp something n n:. the most eneourag
ing afgn OF our streaEfH " Me universal CONF
dence. This 10 shown by the fact, ttss ~,i;a #
late, you Of the North, have been fearing the
attack and capture of Washington, We, though
thinking the attack not impossible, have been
quietly pursuing the ordinary course OF affairs
without the slightest fear of capture. We xpow
nothing Of what il being done, but We are salts.
fed with such leader as Mcclellan, knowing
AS we do, that he has the full confidence and
aid of Gen. Scott XOX.
/ c It seems that the infamy connected with
the Mshony call has not yet come to light in its