, 1863-12-08
From Our Regular Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Dec. 8, 1863,

WASHINGTON, uec. !, 16DI.
RETREAT OF GEN. MEADE.
We have news this morning early Of the re-
treat Of Gen. Meade from his late position to
Brandy Station, the point whence he started
On his Inst forward movement. We have no
particulars Of the engagement Of Saturday OF
Sunday, but Judge that he was repulsed In
his attack on Lees position, and that he re-
tired to avoid being tlanked By that General
This last retreat of Gen. Meade before com.
fessedly Inferior force, only further confirms
the opinion hare heretofore expressed, that
successful assault on Richmond can only be
made vIa James River and through the re-
duction Of Fort Darling. This hitter could
have been comparatively easy matter had
the Monitors been employed In the work and
Charleston allowed to romaiu statu quo, which
after MI is tho result In that quarter with
their aid. But ppw the reduction of Fort
Darling is no doubt much harder rndezta-
king than it was a year or year md a half
ago, es it's natural strong position has doubt
lees been much strengthened By nrt Ii you
wish to make an Eastern man thor
oushIy mad, ask him what is the reason
that their troops do not fight like ours Of the
Vest. While the Eastern armies hare scarcely
every thing before. TO such degree Is this
the case, that tho most obtuse Eastern man
must see it. But it riles them terribly to tell
them Of it. This retreat will probably put
m end to our active campaign in that, quarter
this winter. With tho roads in their present
condition, and communication more Or less
haraesed By gueri1las, and even by large
bodies of the enemy, who can como through
the gaps Of the moutains at nny time, it will
be found hard for Gen. Meade to hold his
present position; and unless he intends to
make m immediate forward movement, 1t
will be almost useless for him to do so.
TIE PRESIDENT HAS THE SMALL pox.
The prevailing disease in this city Is the
small pox, and yesterday It disclosed itself in
the progrcBs Of the disease under which the
President has been laboring for some days.
In his case, however, It il mild form Of
varioloid, and not really dangerous. As usu-
al, Old Abe conld not rcftaIn from his joke;
for he remarked to his physician, "Therc Is
one consolation about the matter, doctor, 1t
cannot in the least disGgure me!''
TUE GODDESS OF LIBERTY.
Tho statue of the Goddess of Liberty on the
apex Of the dome of the Capitol, was crown
ed yesterday, OF rather the head of the figure
was fastened on, the body having been ele-
waited and put together come days ago. The
best view Of the figure is from the east front;
but the acafIoldiDg still obstrncts It. The
figure Is represented as dressed in sort of
Roman togn, with helmet adorned with
flowers. The peculiar form Of the helmet
dctracts from the statue, aud It is difficult to
tell without the aid Of good glass, or even
sent It holds laurel wreath in .one hand,
while the other rests upon double-edged
sword, point to the ground.
The dome Of the Capitol has now had $780,
0c0 lbs. Of iron used In its construction, and
will require nearly 100000 pounds more.
The cost Of the marble furnished since the
foG0, COO. The various groups Of statuar1 for
| the ornamentation Of the building, 60 far as
arrived hare been delivered. The most prom
| inent in the group-"Thc Prayer Of Civiliza-
| tion," designed By Crawford, which is placed
n tympapam q the pedm@snt @ On the e easte1n s1ns
tice and History,'' on tho front door, is also
very fine The statues of Franklin and Jef-
fer6on, executed by Hiram Powers, at cost
Of $4,000 each, are very fine. They are
placed on temporary pedestals-Franklin in
! . niche opposite the eastern stairway Of the
north wing, and Jefferson in niche opposite
the eastern stairway Of the south wing. Some
months must elapse before the interior Of
the dome Is completed. Cartoons for the
| pictures on the canopy are being prepared,
and, it is promised, will be soon executed.
The roof Of the dome will be lighted by cleo
tro magnetic means-GardeneF plan,. be-
|
seen ut a glance, is too large and high to cor
| respond with the remainder ofthe building,
to which It tmparts q Bquatty appearance.
The first circle Of pillars Of the dome are ac-
| tually higher than those which support the
pediments, and main front of the building it.
simply consisted Of raising the; Union flag
over itand salute Of thirty-fye guns during
the day. Quite q large number Of people
| were present, most Of whom were provided
with opery-glasses, telescopes, &c.
POST OFFICE MONEY ORDERS.
There is one thing the present Congress
should do without delay, and the Post Master
General should recommend ft-and that is
tho Institution Of a system Of money orders
similar to TINT in use in Great Britain. Surely
the United States arc sufficiently advanced in
civilization to be able to provide the people
Of tho postal system. The country Is row
better prepared for such system than ever
before. We hare uniform currency, and for
small sum people could transmit money to
their friends or business correspondents in
any part Of tho country By an arrangement
system could even be extended to foreign na-
tions.- Instead of my such improvement dur
ing the last session, VIC had the postage
doubled on newspapers, and on registered
letters, and with no additional safeguard to the
sender nc have heavy additional tax Five
Il E&Ql6 ha6 IHE U4u INLE IL u ADHt w EAtts
i And speaking Of the Post Office, might
ask how 1t is that 1t takes three, ind some.
times four days to get letter from yonr city.
Tho Washington IND chieago Post offices M
Of being tie best managed and arranged Of
any others in the United States: Indeed, I
can youch for this in both cases! The fault
is not with them. It is somewhere on the
route, where there arc unnecessary delays.
A traveller reaches this city In thirty-stx or
forty-eight hours at farthest; why cannot a
letter come in th6 sanle time?
HEw Ard nNocuous SUBSTITUTE FOR CLIO
noFoRA AND E1HER. 80,
Dr: s. B. sigesmond, Surgeon, Dentist Of
substitute for chloroform, ether, &c: for sur
4 gical and dental operations It is perfectly
harmless. The effects remain for tie space
Of minute; sufficient for the extraction Of
tooth, The ampntation Of a toe, finger, Of
other operations III surgery not requiring any
great length Of time.