St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1864-02-18
cH1r-c1IAT FROM WASHINGTON.

We make some~extraots from, as the
style at once indicates, 1 private letter
from Washington, giving a passing
glance Of men aud life in that city
That portion coaceaa,itg Tie ball is Civ
en- expressly for the benefit Of our lady
readers, to whom The descriptions Of
Dress will, re doubt not, sbcvastly more
interesting and ineligible than to some
"f the res, II Us:
"Ny nrst riss, in Washington WIS, of
course, to the Caritsl. After. toil,ug up
several fights Of stone steps, through
grounds beautifully laid out aud which in
summer must be perfectly charming. we
entered first the rotunda. on the walls of
which are painted large pictures, each rep.
resenting some incident in the history of
our nation. The finest Of these is the Em
hurkation Of the Pilgrim Fathers, in which
the fir face Of Rose Stan,l.sh, resting on
her husbands shoulder, is the ,lfcf charm.
Thence We proceeded by door at the left,
through long halls whose floors OF tessel-
ated marble and richly frescoed ceilings
were truly magnificent, to the Senate
Chamber. When we took our seats in The
gallery, Reverdy Johnson had tie floor.
Ito is a dogmatic, obytiua.c looking man,
bald and gray headed. His speech was,
believe, in answer to Senator Wilson'S res
olution to expel Garrett Davis. lie spoke
SO indistinctty chat socn ceased listening
to him, especially as l saw tina, ,,1iiobfoly
else was. ! hudthought that our American
Senate WAS u grave and lignfiea b ,dy,
something like the old Roman Senate; but
they looked just like set Of TN Ell trying to
Kill time-some were laughing and talking.
some l'unging very slecpily, some wri ing
letters. some walking about, while one or
two were listening. l concluded Mev had
not been there long enough to learn the
ways Of the house There was Doolittlc.
ct Wis, with srizzled, good naturcl look :
ing face, II heard him speak afterwards,
and he has a fine delivery, clear, distinct
and elop0eht,) and John p. Hale, who is
deteriofating sadly from the good old days
OF yore. Near him is Charl, s Sumner. his
hair falling ca, elcssly 'So*$aar his forehead,
his hand shading his mild, benevolent
countenance, and when the question is put
he answers aye IN voice indicative Of a
severe cold, but which they say is hati,ual
to him. Then there was wills IA, IF Mass,
with bald head and care Noorh look. His
duties as politician, it is feared, have ia
ken the place Of his duties as father and
he has son whose wild habits cause him
much uneasiness Next to him is Fessen-
Zen. of Maine, stern, rigid, and .uncom-
promising. sprague, of R l., with pair
Of green spectacles and delicate NOUS
tachs, lock like q page among prime
ministers. Then there were our own two
Senators, two Of the finest looking men in
the Senate. -, .%.-t=a.<..s~
''From the Senate wo went to the House.
which is on the other side of the Capitol.
At the entrance is pair Of bronze doors,
on which are moulded twelve scenes repre-
senting the discovery of America. They
arc said to have cost $20;ee0 and arc ge.y
gr md; 50, of 'c6urse, everybody stops to
! look at them, and as a consequence there
! is perfect blockade at that entrarce
which is very difficult 10 'run's II in the
T Serate there is not much tlignit, observ-
ed. In the II ouse there is still less There
everybody talks atsopce and nobody listens !:
at least so 1t seemed to me could make
nothing Of the proceedings. I locke j
around for Mr.. Donnelly, but he was not in
his. seat. MIR: Window was, however, and
had the satisfaction Of observing that he
was the finest looking man IN the House.
not excepting the new Speaker. himself.
who is widower, good looking arc young.
ne>is said to be very popular, aud what is
much t m: ancomraon IN Washington, very
good Coming oet we met Mr.. Donnelly
and were rejoicedto fKd 'liHt tho response
olllty Of assisting to pilot'the great slip of
state ever the Shoals and quicksands OF
rebellion had not thrown a shadow over
his genial visage. The sparkle Of lis wit
is as exquisite and the ring Of his laugh as
clear as ever. s.s,e..t Observation-Disclosures
a"We then visited the Conservatory be-
1 7ongihg to The Capitol grounds. 1t was
filed with rare PLANTS froa all parts of the
world, while one room was entirely occu-
pied with camelias Each Senator and
Member of the House is entitled 10 80 many a.
- :" , So #.3S2~5g4 ssss:siisa
I'll then returned homo to prspdrc for o
grand ball in the evening, to be given at
the National, one; Of the largest hotels in
Washington. AT the appointed hour we
entered the ballroom, and my eyes were
opened to their fullest and widest extent to
take =, in all that glittering throng of people.
The brilliant 'gasl'ghts, 'the CLEAN of satin
and glimmer I Of pearls the rustling Of
silks and the sparkling Of diamohds, the
soft rich sweep Of velvets, and clouds of
airy floating tulle and lace, made the scene
fairy land to my inexperienced and be-
! wildered gaze: Being engaged to Fart
ner for the Eext set, soon found to my
| lo-small establishment that neonla in Wash