Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-03-30
WASHINGTON LETTER.
TIE DEVIL AND BEN. BUTLER.


TIE DEVIL AND BEN. BUTLER.
THE ARLINGTON, March %, $780,
rode 10 the Capitol yesterday through
fearful world of dust. There was a pul
verified continent afioat on every square
To one who has never suffered no word
can tell the extent depth and strength o
this curse. The cruel oppressor of th
Hebrew children who stood out witt
hardened heart, after the punishment o.
frogs and mice, would have incontinently
come down before windy day in Wash
ington. He would have covered hi
kingly skull with sackcloth and ashes t
shield him from the evil, and cried out il
loud voice at the cussed Jews $50 ant
be --n
What with the wide, unpaved streets
and avenues, the light sandy soil anC
winds, we have the Capital on the move
most of the time. There are certain re-
bellious, unreconstructed winds in Vir.
ginia that come up every day and
meet certain other loyal winds from
Vermont and Connecticut that rush
down to Washington, and there
meeting continue in wrath, throwing
dirt at each other, very like the vindic-
tive Democrats and gaseous Republicans
in Congress. Standing upon the broad steps
that lead TO the Senate Chamber, | saw
the city enveloped in a gray cloud that
rolled and swelled and bellied up in
wrath, and felt deep sorrow for the poor
people who go to make up the population
of this dreadful place.
Entering the Capitol l passed along the
wide, beautiful corridor, and for a second
glanced at the gorgeous reception room of
the Senate Chamber. 1t was alive with
woman, gayly Observation-Disclosures
merrily, and others earnestly with the
law makers of the Senatorial Fog bank.
The gildcd walls and frescoed ceiling,
from which tumbled a multitude of
naked babes and half dressed females;
the tall and wide mirrors on every
hand; the soft carpets and the
stunning upholstery, all seemed to fit and
frame in the women who ratified out their
small talk to the dignified Senators. To
one who has knocked about this world a
good deal, the character and pursuits of
these women were unmisiakable. Some
were strangers, gazing curiOusly at the
legislative surrounding, but the majority
were the instruments of the rings and
Hobbies that shape and influence legisla-
ton so as to fill their pockets with public
plumber.
From the receptiOn-rOOm of the Senate,
through the wide and narrow halls, and
dark passages, through the rotunda to the
hall of the House, one passes, or meets in
groups or streams, the same material,
garnished by creatures of the male gen
der, carrying in their cOuntenanccs the
same evidences of prostitution.
/ noticed all the more closely, for l was
on my way to the reporters gallery to
hear debate upon the better way to ar
rest polygamy in Utah, and legisIate for
the better spread of mOralsand Christiani-
ty. In the reporters gallery sat the Devil.
A quiet well dressed gentleman
''Hs jacket was red and his breeches were blue,
With a nice little hole where the tail came
through"
And his Satanic Majesty had on his coun-
tenance smile of sardonic satisfaction.
He looked down through the softened
light upon his children, talking aid laugh
ing, and moving to and fro. They were
the Saints of the Cave legislating for
the Sinners of Utah. His Majesty
laughed quiet laugh, scarcely audible, as
he watched the venerable Ben. Butler
swing his pOnderous belly over his slender
legs, and Mcphistopheles actually rubbed
his delicately gloved hands in glee when
Benjamin spoke of the great Republican
party being committed to this moral
move. The twin relics of barbarism,
slavery and polygamy, must die together,
cried Benjamin.
':Ah, yes" said the Devil, Sand they
die rich and Benjamin administers upon
their estates. l was with him in
New Orleans, and his co-administra-
tor was J. Wilson Shaffer, Quarter
master. Quartermastering was good
business during the war, and J. Viii
son and old Ben. halved on the
quarterings. 1t was rich unto fatness.
Now Benjamin, who has more influ-
ence over Ulysses than any man in the
country, has had j. Wilson appointed
Governor of Utah, and set on foot the
great moral monument that further profits
may accrue. There is another estate TO
administer upon, and the two are ready.
What delicious old fellow he is. When
he comes TO me at last l shall be tempted
TO unscrew my tail and hand it over TO
him."
His Majesty ceased that be might en-
Joy for moment in silence the man of
all men who approaches nearer the evil
one in his mental, physical and moral ma
turc. He looks like devil. Over his
evcntful past one looks in vain for one
good and one kind word, one generous
emotion. But for his clear, subtle INTEL
lcct that keeps him in accord with his
fellow-men, all humanity would rise up
to destroy.
"Ahl" said the Devil again, 'there
goes my good friend, the Hon. Monte
yuma Brick. Hear his rounded sentences
ashe denounces the degradation of poly
gamy. He does not tell us what l know,
and that is of the half-starved,
wrctched woman he keeps, down back
alley, hid away from his ordinary
social life. Now listen to the earnest elO-
quence of my excellent friend, the Hon.
Wesley Puff. He sold his cadetship so
cunningly the committee has not found
it out. He sells his vote every day for
cash. What precious fellow he is. His
soul is heavy with wrath at the Ubiquitous
Mormons course it is. And here
they came-mIne, all mine. We have
turned the national halls of legislation in
to engines of high moral reform. All the
thieves, all the rascais, all the sharpers,
and debauched, soulless hypOcaites are here
busy as bees, coming over their wicked
designs with glass of morality. The old
shad-bellied, hook-nosed fathers of the
Government said the foundations of the
Republic were based upon the virtue of the
citizens. and now tho poison wolled up
from cesspools and drains undermines the
fabric, while all that is destructive is done
under the name of high morality"
| turned from his Satanic Majesty to
watch. the work going on below. Mr..
Hooper, the delegate from Utah, got the
floor and began readings lengthy appeal in
behalf of his constituents. Hooper is a
plain, uneducated, honest man, believing
in the faith of his people, and very popular
among the members of the Cave. / could
not but feel sorry for Understanding alone