Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1879-12-05
From our regular correspondent.

Washington is beginning to re-assume
its society smile and political manners.
Congress, with its numerous nOn-descript
tran is beginning to arrive. The Execu-
tive and his cabinet have at length settled
down in their homes. Foreign ministers,
attaches Of legation, military and naval
officers may again be seen driving or prom
enadingor the great boulevard that stretch
es from the Treasury Department to the
Capitol. Dashing government clerks,
aristOcrstic daughters Of bankrupt old
regime, and stylish paryenudOm, opulent
in government contracts, vie in the dis
play Of Partisan fashions and American
manners on Pennsylvania Avenue. In
short, the political mill, Mammon's court,
and vanity fair, have been again brought
in proximity at the only place where they
can be seen in such development on this
side of the globe. What are these to us or
we to them that we should read about
them and write about themI Has not ev-
cry American citizen a political sphere in
his municipality, county or State? And as
for the sphereless sex, or, at least, those
whose sphere is in dispute, have they not
social realms of their oWn-little pent up
Uticas Of fashion, narrow and provincial
they may call them, but they contain the
germ, and the elements of all that we see
in Washington, Boston, or the proudest
court of Europe. But it is well for one,
both bodily and mentally, to get out of his
accustomed environment for little while,
and, as the most eminent Investigators
have not thought it beneath them to study
the loYeliest forms, of life and the most
primitive systems Of polity, the American
citizen and cheyenne will find their hOri-
zon broadened and their usefulness ehnan-
ced by studying political movements and
social tendencies, at the only seat Of Ma
tional Government that is accessible to
them. Those who imagine there is moth
ing worth knowing outside their own vii
lage in Virginia, will make greater mis-
take than the greatest mistake Of DR.. John
son, for the village which he mistook for
the world was London.
The habitue of Washington who has
been away during the summer will OBJ
serve but few changes. The city has
grown to such grand proportions that the
addition of a hundred or more houses make
no perceptible addition to the mass. 1t
is only when some new and imposing build
ing is added, like the annex to the Smith
sonian Institution, or the new Government
printing Office in South Washington, which
are dOOuG HAL llpLoGSu' lHal 1H0 alCHl-
tectural growth can be seen, becomes con-
spieuous. Few capitals have so many and
such splendid public offices as our own,
and on none.is so much money lsvished for
interior adornment and luxury. In this
respect the contrast between the U. S.
Treasury offices and the Bank of England
is striking and suggestive. In the Treas
ury Department, offices are richly carpet
ed, supplied with mirrors, easy chairs, and
lounges; in the other only coarse mating
covers the stone floor, and it is in other
respects furnished with little less severity
than a prison. The appearance Of the
committee rooms of the House OF Parlia-
ment contrast with the chambers Of our
congressional committees as does the
cell of recluse with ladY's boudoir.
Washington, D. c., Nov. 9th, 1879.