Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1866-03-30
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THE OLD CAPITOL,

Star informs the people of that city that
| for twenty-five cents each they can OBJ.
tain admission to that famous building
known as the Old Capitol Prison. 1t was
in this ediice that the American Con-
gress met in the olden times to consider
how it might best repair the ravages Of
war. This was in the days when there
were statesmen in Ireland when JAMES
MADISON occupied the Presidential chair,
and HENRY CLAY presided over the do
alterations of the House of Represents
tives. Within few yards of the place
where Congress assembled stood tho
blackened ruins of the Capitol, which
had been burnt by the invaders. and
almost every member could tell some
sad story about the suffering which tho
war had brought upon his constituents.
But those sagacious men wasted little
time in discussing the causes of tbs
quarrel with Great Britain. in denouno-
ing the disloyal people Of Massachusetts
who had failed to sustain the Govern
ment, or in considering amendments to
the Constitution. They went to work
dispassionately and energetically to re-
store, by practical measures, the financial
and commercial prosperity ofthe country.
But it is not because SO llustrious body
was, once assembled under its roof that
the, doors of the Old Capitol are now
thrown open, and that the public are
invited to explore its halls and chambers.
1t is not because it has been made me.
morable as the abode of some venerated
patriot, or as the scene Of some great
event of American history, that it has
now become a place Of interest to tha
American people. Times have sadly
changed since the old Capitol resounded
with the voices of the able and eloquent
statesmen Of fifty years ago. The build.
ing is shown now to visitors as tho
dungeons of the Tower of London aro
shown, or the prison house that ndjoins
the Ducal palace at Venice. The rooms
in which men and women have been
confined in Washington, IN contempt OF
rights and laws, and the inscriptions
which the unhappy prisoners have ef.
upon the walls may be seen now by tho
curious traveller who is unable to visit
despotic Europe. The advertisement
further says: " The cell that confined
the notorious Andersonyille murderer,
and the yard wherein he paid the penalty
of his crimes, certainly excites within
every one desire TO see. The room Of
the Rebel female spy, BELLE BoYD.
with her picture in it. The cell Of
Sergeant TERRY, who was shot for deser.
ton. The room where WIRE was dis.
sected. A mans heart in spirits, are
objects of curiosity" Not only, then.
can tho people pace the cells within
which many victim Of arbitrary power
has whiled away the weary hours Of bis
captivity, but they can tread the ground
upon which a man has died, and enter
the room in which his body was dissectcd.
and feast their eyes upon "a mans
heart in spirits" All these things, the
worthy jaDitor who receives the entrance
money, terms objects Of curiosity"
We would suggest that other curiosities
be added to the museum of our young
Bastile, for it does not compare, as vet,
in objects of interest, with those dun
geons of the old world which are most
renowned for the deeds Of iniquity done
within their walls. Mr.. SEwARD's little
bell, and several other articles of that
sort, can readily be collected in Wash
ington, and they ought to be placed al
once in the Old Capitol A nucleus
may thus be formed around which we
can collect memorials that must satisfy
posterity of the wisdom and greatness Of
this generation. - Baltimore Gazette.