Democratic enquirer. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1867-1873, 1869-01-27
Gentral Snttllieenfe.
THE CAPITOL in WASHINGTON.
Ben Wade In the Dome for the Firsl
Time--The librarian OF the COngres.
alnwnnN W,Ahatarv IN NH

Special Correspondence Missouri Demoeratl
WAsHrNoToN, Dec. 29.--The Capitol Is
always study to me. Tive close under
1t as toad lives under poplar tree, yet
it never grows familiar common place,
tawdry, --rathera larger, grander whiter
temble, like Saint Peters, where you will
SEQ pope, priest, worshiper, usher belittled
by much study, but all the while the sweep
of the dome grows bolder; the aisles are
higher and the abutments are cut clearer
and keener
Pictures of the Capitol you have in oil
your albums, and know what it is-a
great crystallized bird, with pair Of mar
bl. wings, and IN iron dome for head
It stands ON the brink of level plain,
overhanging the city. Lay three dominoes
together, two lengthwise against the ends
of the third, and stand pullet's egg up
right in the middle-that will be o minia.
ture of the Capitol.
The character of this splendid building
is not impaired by the half desolateness Of
it's surroundings, At the foot of the steep
which it overhangs, a fragment Of q park
of beautiful lawn and timber stretches out
A similar bit OF park adjoins 1t on the
high plateau above. The rest is broken
village, negro shanty and Milesian cabin,
mansions left by the ebb and grade Of
streets suspended in the mir, quaint afiec-
tation of Gothic cottages and dingy pal
aces in brick falling to grave decay. Amidst
them all the mighty white monument Of
the Capitol stands like an apparition and u
relic-sometimes in the grey twilight O.
seeming remnant of the classical age;
again, in the fresh morning the premature
aCropolis of city and q nation yet to
come
CONTRASTS IN THE CAPITOL.
There are many curious comparative
facts about the capitol, of which l often
think when I walk there. 1t is tho most
extraordinarily composite structure in the
world In the main classical, it still con-
tains the crudeness and quaintness OF q
Flemish Guddhuis. Here are Corinthian
capitals powerful monoliths, as Aorid MS
they ever blossomed in Athens, and nearby
are homely capitals devised by Jefferson, of
corn in the ear, the bearded sheaf
of the wheat and tho tawny leaf
OF the tobacco Parts of the mason
ry are formidable as the arches of the
coliseum, yet there is dome Of iron
which no year of our Lord but this could
have framed and put together A battery
sends "a spark of fire, like winged lamp
lighter, from the eye of the dome TO the
coal-pit, yet the heather deities swarm ON
every ceiling. Take the Chaplain out of
Congress and there is not ono Christian
symbol in all this mighty pile to tell whe-
ther tho nation worshiped Jove or JehO-
vah. The beautiful clock that in the old
hall looks down upon the ghosts Of memo
ries, might have kept time when Cesar
was stabbed dead in the Senate House. All
lands have paid contribution here. The
stAtuary was chiseled by the Arno and tho
Tiber; the stairways were quarried in Ten
nessee. He who cut yonder bdS relief fired
the internal machine upon Louis Philippe.
The hand that modelled yonder head of
Washington felt the wrinkles of Voltaire
and measured the lips of Rousseau. III
this bronze door a Yankee artists wife
standing for his model under the Pincian
Hill, represents the Lady Boabdille. who,
perhaps, had heard Columbus speak. No
edifice Of like strength and vastness known
to man was ever erected with the same
celebrity. Whoever lived in this city fifty
six years ago saw only the blackened
walls of the Old Capitol defacing
this site. No building of the ele-
gance and super6ces of this was
probably ever erected 80 cheaply, Tho
dome excepted, and the climate considered,
it should stand, if its doom were now 10
come, as longas the arches of the palace of
the Caesars. Over its three acres Of aisles
and alcoves twice repeated in successive
floors, one can wander of rainy or u sunny
day, never in want of suggestions, delights,
rspectives, studies. He can ascend the
lanthorn and look upon landscape whose
physical outlines are fast filing in with as
strong historical associations. There are
bold UiS-a.Uts Of cotemporary character to
be met in every den and gulf Of the base
mont.
yIs-A-vIs.
For instance, coming down from the
DOME the other day, I heard familiar
voice-a slightly nasal, very gristly voice.
Could it beP No Uncle Ben. Wade so
high in the airP
Yea truly. Preceded by o lady and his
clerk, the veritable Pope of Bashan, cane
in hand, was climbing the iron steps Be-
hind him, putting end painting, for she was
fat and scant Of breath, came Mrs. Wade.
"Dear me !" says Mrs. w., 9" think we
shall mover get up y
"Its furder than I believed" said Uncle
Ben, who had lately had some sorry expe-
rience OF the slipperiness Of great nights.
1 tackled on behind, like a caboose to nm
OK train, and concluded to re-ascend with
this remarkable party. The steepncss of
the stairs of the dome affords large oppor-
tunities for making discoveries on the way
up. Of course you must be cahoose to do
this. For example, you can see the nails
IL the soles Of o mans shoes in this way,
and guess at the size of his foot and de-
termine his shoemaker. But it took all
my eyes to find foot places, and heard
Uncle Ben, gasp out once,
"This is the first time ever came up in
this dome"
"Indeed, Mr.. Wade ~ said the polite
picture dealer in the eye thereof, landing
his royal and mesty party, dreadfully
blown and demoralized, "Your first visit,
sir2 Pray take s,ool."
They sat them down under Brumidis
umbrella, monstrously gay with allegories,
and exchanged apoplectlc spasms OF intor-
nation. thought over many things: Of
the curiosity OF the mind which could 70
so far up in the nation and such little
way up In its architecture; of the fact that
so old a man postponed a duty so long, of
how mournful a visit this might be, con-
sidering, and OF how human nature is often
loftiest in disappointment Salt River is
now n synoym for ''going up the dome. -
Here we pay our debts, blow off as much
wind as We spent IN ourmoments of enthu-
siasm, presaging large things Of ourselves,
but it is seldom that the veterans OF poll
tics come to such airy perches to say with
Wolsey:
Farewell, long farewell, to all my greatness I"
THE LIBRARIAN.
Another character Of the capitol sSpof
ford, and If were asked to say who of
the employees Of the government was the
hardest worker, l should mention him. He
is custodian and catalogue of l75, 900 vol.
umes, the largest library this side Of tho
sea. Ho probably knows, by actual inspec-
l,a,, 49, a. hoo,,o,, A., r.