The
Clerks And Managers At Hotels, The Officials At Railway Stations,
The Cashiers At Banks, The Women In The Shops - Ah!
They are the
worst of all.
An American woman who is bound by her position to
serve you - who is paid in some shape to supply your wants, whether
to sell you a bit of soap or bring you a towel in your bed-room at a
hotel - is, I think, of all human creatures, the most insolent. I
certainly had a feeling of regret at parting with my colored friend -
and some regret also as regards a few that were white.
As I drove down Pennsylvania Avenue, through the slush and mud, and
saw, perhaps for the last time, those wretchedly dirty horse
sentries who had refused to allow me to trot through the streets, I
almost wished that I could see more of them. How absurd they
looked, with a whole kit of rattletraps strapped on their horses'
backs behind them - blankets, coats, canteens, coils of rope, and,
always at the top of everything else, a tin pot! No doubt these
things are all necessary to a mounted sentry, or they would not have
been there; but it always seemed as though the horse had been loaded
gipsy-fashion, in a manner that I may perhaps best describe as
higgledy-piggledy, and that there was a want of military precision
in the packing. The man would have looked more graceful, and the
soldier more warlike, had the pannikin been made to assume some
rigidly fixed position instead of dangling among the ropes. The
drawn saber, too, never consorted well with the dirty outside woolen
wrapper which generally hung loose from the man's neck. Heaven
knows, I did not begrudge him his comforter in that cold weather, or
even his long, uncombed shock of hair; but I think he might have
been made more spruce, and I am sure that he could not have looked
more uncomfortable. As I went, however, I felt for him a sort of
affection, and wished in my heart of hearts that he might soon be
enabled to return to some more congenial employment.
I went out by the Capitol, and saw that also, as I then believed,
for the last time. With all its faults it is a great building, and,
though unfinished, is effective; its very size and pretension give
it a certain majesty. What will be the fate of that vast pile, and
of those other costly public edifices at Washington, should the
South succeed wholly in their present enterprise? If Virginia
should ever become a part of the Southern republic, Washington
cannot remain the capital of the Northern republic. In such case it
would be almost better to let Maryland go also, so that the future
destiny of that unfortunate city may not be a source of trouble, and
a stumbling-block of opprobrium. Even if Virginia be saved, its
position will be most unfortunate.
I fancy that the railroads in those days must have been doing a very
prosperous business. From New York to Philadelphia, thence on to
Baltimore, and again to Washington, I had found the cars full; so
full that sundry passengers could not find seats. Now, on my return
to Baltimore, they were again crowded. The stations were all
crowded. Luggage trains were going in and out as fast as the rails
could carry them. Among the passengers almost half were soldiers.
I presume that these were men going on furlough, or on special
occasions; for the regiments were of course not received by ordinary
passenger trains. About this time a return was called for by
Congress of all the moneys paid by the government, on account of the
army, to the lines between New York and Washington. Whether or no
it was ever furnished I did not hear; but it was openly stated that
the colonels of regiments received large gratuities from certain
railway companies for the regiments passing over their lines.
Charges of a similar nature were made against officers, contractors,
quartermasters, paymasters, generals, and cabinet ministers. I am
not prepared to say that any of these men had dirty hands. It was
not for me to make inquiries on such matters. But the continuance
and universality of the accusations were dreadful. When everybody
is suspected of being dishonest, dishonesty almost ceases to be
regarded as disgraceful.
I will allude to a charge made against one member of the cabinet,
because the circumstances of the case were all acknowledged and
proved. This gentleman employed his wife's brother-in-law to buy
ships, and the agent so employed pocketed about 20,000l. by the
transaction in six months. The excuse made was that this profit was
in accordance with the usual practice of the ship-dealing trade, and
that it was paid by the owners who sold, and not by the government
which bought. But in so vast an agency the ordinary rate of profit
on such business became an enormous sum; and the gentleman who made
the plea must surely have understood that that 20,000l. was in fact
paid by the government. It is the purchaser, and not the seller,
who in fact pays all such fees. The question is this: Should the
government have paid so vast a sum for one man's work for six
months? And if so, was it well that that sum should go into the
pocket of a near relative of the minister whose special business it
was to protect the government?
American private soldiers are not pleasant fellow-travelers. They
are loud and noisy, and swear quite as much as the army could
possibly have sworn in Flanders. They are, moreover, very dirty;
and each man, with his long, thick great-coat, takes up more space
than is intended to be allotted to him. Of course I felt that if I
chose to travel in a country while it had such a piece of business
on its hands, I could not expect that everything should be found in
exact order.
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