Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-04-08
LETTER FROM WASHINGTON.

while the Marshal Of the District, who was
ez of7eio Jack Keteh, was lezislated out Of
q part Of his functions, BY y-the appoint
ment Of jailor, whose du5es were pre-
scribed by Congress, without naming the
carrying Of the death penalty into sxecu-
ton among them. When the first Of kprii
arrived, it was found that there Was no
officer In commission upon whom the un-
pleasant duty Of hanring the criminals
devolyed. The Marshal maintained that
it WAS the jailor's business, and the jailor
said it was the msrshaPs and the Business
Wss finally referred to Mr.. Bates, who de-
cided that ss matters stood, It was the
duty Of neither. The President then
oommuted the sentence Of the prisoners to
Imprisonment for life. 80 there are two
men in the Albany penitentiary to-day
who owe the lengthening Of their days On
earth to the non-existenee Of 9 duly Su-
thorized hangmsn.
There is . story going the rounds At the
Capital, to the effect that Mrs. lincoln, q
few days since, consulted the spirits on
the subject Of the next Presidency, and
that the disembodisd stated very emphai-
oslly that she would not be mistress Of
the White House longer than the 4th Of
March, 1856. Mrs. L, though hitherto an
orthodox member of'the rspping frse li-
ty, expressed her disbelief in nmanifssta-
tions," and departed the Hcircle" fully per.
suaded that the medium was 9 charlatan.
The above little item I have given on
the strength Of widely circulated rumor,
and don't want to be considered q ssFouth-
ingfor its truth. But here ie little fact IL
Illustrative Of the predominence Of the hu-
l. -
which an prepared to Vouch A week eF
two since, the President visited Growers
Thester, where he witnessed the "eevsn
Sisters "a plsy in which the leading So
tor, Mr.. Nc DonOugh, introduced 9 VAgied
assortment Of jokes and puns-some ef
them belonging to the author Of the pisee,
and others what are known in the the
articsl psrlsnce as "gags." Mr.. lincoln
was so we'll pleased with what he saw and
heard on the occasion, that he wrote . COM
plimeHUsry note 70 RIr. MoDOnOugh = few
days afterWard, cordially inviting him to
call at the White House. The actor, Of
course, felt highly honoFed BY the reeogni-
ton Of his talents from such distinguish
ed source, and Immediately changed his
domestic base from 3 second to first class
hotel. BE accepted the invitation extend
ed to him, and made his bow ct the white
House next day. Mr.. Lincoln received
him warmly, told him how he was delight
ed with the Seven Sisters and pressd him
to recite the jeuz fespTit which had pleased
him so much. Mr.. McDonough cheerfully
complied, and the result of the conference
was q heavy reinforcement to the roper
toife Of Presidential Jokes. Il must not
be supposed that wish to-d draw from this
fact that Mr.. Lincoln is ehsrgesble with
any plagiarism, in the matter Of jokes
Essays have been written to prove tn
strictly speaking there is very little on
inality in the literature Of the age. 5hsk.
speare "reVamped" history and romanceE
to make tragedies and comedies, and SeI
nobody calls Romeo and Juliet 3 plagia
rism, or attributes Macbeth to the gen4uI
Of anybody but the Bard Of AVsn; al
why shouldn't il be legitimate for n
Lincoln 10 "fx up" dramatic jokes, L.
cate them " out in Illinois" and have then
all credited as the legitimate offspring o.
his fertile brain.
The following incident occurred, Is Il
: will be seen, some time ago; but hAV
not seen it in print yet, and never heard
il related until to-day. 1t is we'll appllcA
| Die 70 tN5 pNosVAb u1Ji eA4 AhAy AAunaLasol
the impatience Of ofice seekers hWo sr'
now thronging the Capital:
The day after the death Of Mr.. Mn6eln'
young son 9 gentleman called at Ii
White House to press his claims for q posi-
D tion that had been promised to him. Tn
Q President heard him through and replies
r in very excussble anger, Really, Mr.
: - think you might wait till 1 bur
my little boy"
, "Certainly, certainly, Mr.. Lincoln
When does The funeral take place"
8 And sure enough the fellow called tb
8 day after the funeral
An old gentleman, an ex-CongRossmsn
related his experience, q day or two sinoe
in my hearing, ss follows. he was ID
dressing g small audience, inoludingthre
members Of the House, at . dinnsrstsbll
. aThere Was q time" said he, "When th
n people had some respect for 3 msuber q
l. Congress. / remember when the citizen
d Of small town would turn ont to NEE
him at railroad station, and tender hiI
the Wsrmsst Inequalities but two year
ago, l was travelling in the West an
IS whenever It became known that I WAS
Congressman, the hotel-keepers made N
q pay in advance, while, when they though
/, I was 8 gentleman, they'd trust me fot
q month. found that the general opinio
was that Congress was getting demoralixe
0 and made up my mind that I Wouldn
q run again to save my district form hell II
{ self"
r I am sorry to observe that Miss Ann
o Dickinson hss not taken the kind RdVise
a gave her some months sgo-to get marie
An
g appearing before the country as 3 STUN
d speaker. But perhaps she is not to blsm
d for disregarding my counseis. At any rat
! she ought to abandon the rostTum, as Oh
can do that without waiting for pEoposa
g on the subject. A very weak minded ma
!. applsudsd very loudly when she close
the door Of the Supreme Court Of th
Y United States with her lilly white hand
+ and forbid the adjudication Of the question
d Of slavey before that tribunal" This va
g ell very fine for drsmstic effect, but sensi
= bic men would prefer to see the hlly;{
}. hands aforesaid darning pair OF stSs
}. ings, or playing "When this orael WSf l
/ over" on the parlor piano.
Asa mutusl consequence OF Miss Dick
"a inson's championship Of the Republican
nartv Miss Webb has taken up the gsunt
II Istt in behsH ofthe Democrats. She mad
e her debut ct Brooklyn few weeks since
4 where she was introduced by Hon. 8. :
o Cox, and has since spoken st Cincinnati
Y I an informed, under the auspices o
The Democratic Literary Association.
; think the fair stumpsrs had better agre'
. upon an armistiee, and seek employms1
for their talents In 9 sphere better suite
4 to their sge and sex. MACK.