The Portland daily press., 1865-03-09
and many raore are attractsd by ths fact tbat


and many more are attracted by the fact that
1t Is the last night Of the session. In thesen
ate, the Conscript Fathers, worn and faded by
labor, resume the weary task they briefly laid
down an hour or two ago. There are more
persons on the floor than usual, including Sec
rotary Fessenden, rejoiced to feel the burden
OF the Treasury sliding from his shoulders |;
Assistant Secretary Harrington, Chief JUS
tice Chase, Judge Miller, PrestoA King and
others. Senators and their distinguished Wis
TORS chat together upon the sofas, but there
is no interruption of the usual stately deco
rum. q SHinafadg II L % 4
In the House there is much more than the
ordinary upstir and hustle. At times, indeed,
the confusion is SO great that only practiced
ear can distinguish what is said, and only a
mind well versed in the rules and proceedings
OF the House can understand much Of what is
going forward. While half the members ap-
pear to be talking in their usual voice, three,
i've, perhaps dozen are on their feet at once,
endeavoring by call and gesture to catch the
Speakers eye. Some one recognized, some
thing is moved, something is done, and the
matter is as ineligible to an uninitiated spec
| tator as would have been the proceedings OF
the Building Committee of Babel at its first
session after the confusion of tongues. To
the quick ear and clear mind of Coliax, how
ever, every thing is plain and straight, and
business goes on as regularly as it would do
amid profoundest quiet. Is ..s. ~ yA
Midnight comes. The General Appropria-
ton Bill, known as the Omnibus" is slowly
numbering through the Senate receiving, ever
and anon, packages and parcels of ominous
| weight, till it ispiled up behind and before
and all over like an old-iashioned stage coach,
and needs to be, for the safety of its load, as
staunch as the 'Dsacon's One Hoss Shay"
This is dull but stay, here comes something
rousing. A clause respecting arbitrary ar
rests" calls up Senator Lane of Indiana. His
! winged words stir the Senate like the blast OF
a trumpet, and once the galleries break into a
cheer which is quickly and sternly suppressed.
The ladies have mostly disappeared from the
galleries, but the gentlemen's side is still well
filled. The House is somewhat thinner and a
| 6OOu uCal iuOiC HuiCis 1 uC S3eliiCllOS are Jill
but ladies have been freely admitted to the
floor, and number still remain to attest the
gallant courtesy Of the popular branch. The
Clerk is calling the roll. Many members loll
YEARLY in their chairs or reeline upon sofas
but some are still wide awake and ready for
business.
A few hours more and the gray dawn be-
/ gins to come in through the lobby windows
In the House the Members, at least the weak
er ores, are stretched in every direction upon
sofas and couches extemporized from chairs
| Enough are awake and active however, 10 cor.
tinue the course of business, needing only
now and then to disturb quiet to carry
close vote or get quorum. In the Senate
the case is much the same, though the drowsi
ness is less general. A very few spectators
still linger in the galleries of both Houses
probably interested in some private bill,-and
few jealous reporters. And SO the early
morning changes to day, rainy and cheerless
At about eight o'clock both Houses take a re-
cess Of two or three hours, after which they
reassemble in their respective halls. From
this point, however, the closing scenes of the
session become blended with those of another
event which may be the subject of another
| letter IT g