Year: 1861

were tolersbly well filled with people, but
there was no crowd, no eagerness no excite
ment-scarcely even the noise of conversation.
The heavy ill-yentilsted chamber in which the
Senate sits was by no means crowded, although
free ingress was permitted till the Vice Presi-
dent took the chair, and the sitting COM
menced; nor were the commodious-at least
very spacious-galleries open to the public at
all thronged, even in the ladies' seats. But
many citizens, and among them q number of
private solders, seemed to take pleasure in
sitting down in the chairs assigned to individ-
ual Senators. and just before the Senate pro-
ceeded to business, q fine snore, proceeding
from bearded and belted man in scarlet shirt
showed thatOne Of the Garibaldini, a corps of
whom are quartered here, had sought oblivion
in the very center Of debate.


A more dreary proceeding than the reading
of the Message cannot well Be conceived The
clerks voice was low and monotonOus, the ST.
lence In the Senate was unbroken by a single
note OF appreciation; but in the other House I
hear there was more animation. An attempt
was made to sit with closed doors for the bet.
ter dispatch Of business, but this was not
agreed to by the majority.


An enthusiastic lady who came over with me
In the Arabia, was very indignant with a coun-
tryman of hers because he affirmed that he had
never seen more dignifed assembly than the
House Of Lords. "What !" she said "do YOU
mean fer a moment to say that they are equal
to our Senators'" In one respect the Senators
are certainly destitute Of the air of wisdom
which Is given by white hairs and veEerable
aspect. Few Of the Senators are men of sd-
vanced years and Mr.. Crittenlen is pointed
out az kind Of obsolete semi-fossilized politi-
clan' "a much out of place as Nestor wsuld be
IN q revel with Achilles and Patrocius In
another phase they are not so dignifed They
do not consider it unbecoming to write at their
desks in the midst of debate Writing il a
base mechanical process, after all and no man
looks well while he is engaged at it. Senator's
are like other men. Perhaps they are a little
fonder OF stationery. When the last Congress
was waS coming 70 close saw large man covered
with preparation, dragging huge box after
hlH into the railway station. He was followed
by two men with similar boxes. This was a Sem
ator who was taking home by mail his supply of
public stationery contained in these boxes
Ihen II must be conceded that dress has
something to do with the aspect If delbera-
tive body, and that Jim Crow hats and linen
olouses would detract from the appearance
OF the most aristOcratic mob in the world.
Pretermitting these things in the United
states Senate, there are noble heads, COM
msndlDg forms, and nigh intelIigences nearly
equal to the greatest issues before them Busi-
ness is transacted colloquislly and easily, but
there Is, am told, practice of making set
0rstlons which at one time threatened the





VINO act as pages, or messengers, would not
violate republican simplicity by its appropriate
neatness of attire, but they, as we'll az all the
servants Of the House, and the EMPLOYEES of
the public all over the State, display a readi.
ness to obltge a civility and courtesy which
produce pleasing surprise in the mind of an
Engllshmsn who remembers how the gentle
men at home, not liable to removal at the end
Of their four years, assist him In his inquiries
at the Circumlocution office But as we remark
such trfAes the message is going on. Mr. Ham
lin, Woe President, who is pOpnLariy believed
IN ths SOHth to be q gen iem0n of color, sits
In his chair above the clerk, who reads it very
much as commissioner in bankruptcy may be
seen In Basinghall street listening TO the
perusal of document from An assignee. The
message Is written on separate sheets; it has
been brought in by the Presidents sec retaries,
oelleVe, who appear on the floor and simply
announce their object, and the clerk then, by
order OF the Vice President. reads it sheet by
sheet at the desk, outstanding. The Senators
st ana listen' No" and then one hears a
whisper, cts too long" Whats the use of
going into that" That point is not badly
put" The demand for men and money pro-
duced no sensation. They would have swal-
lowed twice the totals readily and silently.
The general impression seemed to be that the
argumentative and historical parts of the mes
sage were unnecessary, but, as a Senator OBJ


q
facts OF the case as they appeared to the mind
OF the Executive in making such propositions,
ana that nothing should be taken for granted
or be supposed to be known to those who are
80 materially interested in the result


July 6.-Msrching of many troops through
the city. Some soldiers have bad habit of
begging money for whisky. There was q riot in
consequence Of the murder of a soldier in a
house in the city. His comrades assembled to
"a AAn
the same kind; finally they were dispersed by
United States dragons. There has also been
mutlny at Alexandria In a foreign regiment,
and captain refused to obey the orders of
his colonel, was supported by his company,
and quietly marched away into Washington,
where be gave up his sword, and surrendered
TO be tried by court-martial. Volunteers are
not regulars, and their mutines and riots are
not 90 dangerous as those of regulars. But the
mischief which threatens the United States
forces arises out Of the jealousies which exist
between the regular army and the volunteers
Ine civilian Generals, or "political' chiefs,
are obnoxious to the regulars, and Gen -Scott
has a battle to fight very much like that in
which Lord Clyde oontended 80 vigorously
"civilians" In India. There are men high In
influence and actual capacity for good or evil,
who declare that the United States army is a
nuisance, and that it would be much better to
employ good stump orators, or men who know
the wants Of the people" to conduct the
United States armies, than men who have
studied, at least theoretically, the art Of
making war all their lives. It may be read
lily imagined how General Scott deals with
such opinions and their organs. All these
gentlemen are for pushing on ahead and
making general attack on the enemy. They
think an army is like a round of canister
which can be fred of whenever the match is
applied. 1t strikes me from what have seen
that the Federal troops will have to be man.
aged with skill and caution In the face of the
COnfedsrates. The latter will fight with ami
mostly and desperation, tempered by military
knowledge of a certain kind that may neu-
tralize the advantages possessed in numbers
by the North as we'll as other points. The
politicians are eager to grasp the prize and to
bring their machinery into play, to round off
its rough edges, forgetting that they must first
clear the ground by armed force for the lover.
Every man, Of course, here believes he can
write leading article, row a boat, drive a
gig or fight battle, and have heard men,
with high military titles, who for their lives
could not form regiment in square or occupy
q farm house, talk about operations in the
field as il they were elementary portions of
the arithmetic table. These are not the only
difficulties with which the Cabinet has to con-