The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1881-02-05

passage of a resolution permitting Father
Theobald Mathew. the s'apostle of tenn
perance,' to occupy seat within the ban
Of the Senate during the period of his
sojourn al Washington. The opposition
was headed by Senator Jefferson Davis.
who declared. and who reiterated the
assertion. that. had he the power he
would exclude every abolitionist. foreign
and domestic. from the Senate chamber
If Father Mathew could have persuad-
cd some Of the Congressman who were
wrangling over the compromise measures
to take the total abstinence pledge, many
diSgracetul scenes would have been avoid
ed. British parliamentary history chroni-
cles the eating room Of the old Ilonse OF
Commons. where one Bethany supplied
chops. steaks, and port wine to manly
legislators at the commencement of the
present century, and there had been a
similar "retectory' in the basement of
Speaker Winthrop, by virtue of his pre-
rogative. abolished the sale of liquors at
its bar. Thcnceforth the quality of the
food served degenerated, and the refec-
tory was not much patronized by the
Representatives, whose gaStronomlc and
bibulous wants were gratuitously pur-
veyed for by avowed lobbyists, who adj
vanced their interests by iudicious distri-
buttons of -and-cham. The Sena-
tors retained their lunch room-a small.
circular apartment. known as the hole
in the WALL and it was generally under
stood that in some of the committee
rooms there were closets well supplied
with creature comforts.
Among other measures which were lib.
orally lobbied was bill rewarding the
discoverer of the an;rsthetic properties
of sulphuric ether. which enabled sur.
geons to perform operations without pain.
Large sums of money were expended at
Washington by the agents Of each of the
three alleged discoveries who sought the
award. The financial hacker of one of
these claimants. who occupied position
of trust in Massachusetts, railroad cor
poration, gradually stole some fifty thou
sand dollars from the company. which
was disburSed in lobbying at Washing
ton. under the delusive hope that an ap-
preparation of one hundred thousand dol
lars would soon be carried, from which
restoration could be made. The corpora
ton. fearing that it might .ieopardize the
passage of the appropriation, did not
bring the detaulter to punishment: but
he had ceased to be honest, and few
wears afterwards he was sentenced to the
penitentiary for robbing the mails.
Another hospitable and generous lobby
was at work, in Congress and out of it.
advocating renewal of the letters pat
ent originally given in 1928 to William
Woodworth, for a planning machine
These letters patent were for fourteen
years, and there had been two successive
renewals for seven years each. the inter
est OF the patentee in the last one hav-
ing been sold by him for one hundred
thousand dollars. 1t was now proposed
chat the patent be again renewed. and as
such a renewal would have been worth
at least hundred thousand dollars. the
advocates of the measure were lavish in
their expenditures. Mr.. Seward. who
Of l,o 40; ln
ent, had declined to serve on the com
mittee on patents. and he declared. on
the floor of the Senate. that he had SO
declined because he was not willing to
make his public duties even seem to come
in collision with any private duties that
he might previously have assumed.
Mr.. Seward entered the Senate when
General Taylor was inaugurated as oresi-
dent, and soon became the directing
spirit of the Administration, although
Colonel Built. who had been brought
from Louisiana to edit Tie Republir
President Taylors recognized organ.
spoke of him only with superclious con-
tempt. Senator Foote sought reputa-
ton by insulting him in public. and was
himself tainted by Mr.. Calhoun with
the disreput,b le fact of intimacy with
him in private. The newly elected Sena-
tor from New York persisted in main
tanning amicable relations with his re-
vilers, and quietly controlled the i'm
mensc patronage of his State. none OF
which was shared by the friends of Vice
President Fillmore. He was not at heart
reformer; lie probably cared but little
whether the negro was n slave or free
man: but he sought his own political
advancement by advocating in turn anti
Masonry and abolitionisn-by politically
coquetting with Archbishop Hughes, OF
Wilson, leading Know Nothing. Per-
sonally he was honest, but he was always
surrounded by intrigucrs and tricksters.
some of whose nests he would aid in
teathering. The most unscrupulous lob
byists that have ever haunted the Capt.
tol were devoted adherents of William
H. Seward.
Mr.. Buchanan had not shed many tears
! over the defeat of his rival. General CaSs
and he retired from the Department OF
State to his rural home. called Wheat
| land. where he began at an early day t
secure strength in the National Nomi
mating Convention of 1851: asserting con
tinually that he was Indifferent ON tn,
subject Yet at the same time he wa.
industriously corresponding with politi
clans in different sections of the country
and he was especially attentive to Mr.
Henry A. Wise, with whose aid he hoped
to secure the votes of the delegates from
Virginia in the next National Democratic
Convention.
Mr.. Wise, recalling the time when h
was power behind the throne of Johl
Tyler. encouraged Mr.. Buchanan to hi,
for Southern support. and intimated
readiness to coach - him so as to max
counsels were kindly taken. and in re
turn Mr.. Buchanan wrote to the fer
Lord of Accomac," in his most precis
handwriting: " Acquire more charactc
for prudence and moderation, and undo
the blessing Of Heaven you may be a
most anything in this country which yo
desire. There is no man living who's
success in public and in private ll