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^mtyrsmt Wl^ly Jntylligpciir, BY JAMES A. HO TT. TERMS: TWO DOLLARS AHB A HALF FSB ANHTJM, IN UNITSO 8TATKS C?BBKXCT. RATES OF ADVERTISING. ? Adrertisemonts inserted at the rates of One Dol? lar per square of twelve lines for the first insertion and Fifty Cents for each subsequent insertion. Liberal deductions made to those who advertise by | the year. fgSJ* For announcing a candidate, Five Dollars So advance. Ail Independent Family Journal'---Devoted to Politics, Literature and General Intelligence. VOL 2. ANDERSON, S. C, THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 1867. NO. 33. ?-?-!-!-? , ? The Intelligencer Job Office* Having reeently made considerable additions to this department,: we are prepared to execute JJdDIB WdDEE ? ip?S In the neatest stylo and on the most reasonable terms. Legal Blanks, Bill Heads, Posters, Cards, Handbills. Pamphlets, Labels, and in fr ;t. every style of work usually done in a country Printing Office. 86?" In all cases, the' money will be required' upon delivery of the Work. . Orders, accompanied with the cash, will receive prompt attention. The Armies of the Confederacy. I? a late issue of the Mobile Advertiser, a distinguished general officer of the late Confederate army makes the following defense against a very unjust charge brought against the army oy a physician of Louisville, Kentucky. Such a defense was hardly necessary, from the evident absurdity of the charge; but as the ac? cusation vfas made, it gives us pleasure to preserve and present to the public so complete a vindication as the following : CAUSES OF INDT8CIPLTNE IN THE CONFEDE? RATE ARMIES. It has recently been stated in the news? papers that a physician of Louisville) Kentucky, attributes the failure of the Confederate cause to the excessive use of tobacco and whisky in the Confederate, armies. .Everything that can explain the disas? ters which overcame those great armies must be of deep interest to the military J student, and to our whole people. There? fore, we have considered Dr.-'a- theo? ry carefully, as the respectability of the author requires; and our conclusion is that tobacco and whisky troubled the Confederate armies very little. At many times it was impossible for our troops to 1>roeure tobacco ; while whisky could on y be obtained from the medical officers, and for proper medical purposes. . Many and various causes have been as? signed for our failure, each earnestly, and ingeniously sustained by such arguments as the peculiar bias of the speaker's mind might suggest. Some clever men think the omission by our government to use the vast stores of cotton accumulated within our borders to create a sound credit^ was a prime cause of our "downfall. They say there were millions of bales in the Southern States which might have been sent to Europe during the first two years of the war, and have furnished funds sufficient for the ne? cessities of our young country. That it was the plain duty and manifest policy of our statesmen to take possession of this cotton, paying the owners a fair price for it, and lor all they might pro? duce. That our currency, based on this cotton, would have been as good as gold. Our planters would have worked earnest? ly in support of the war and the country. Our soldiers having good pay Would have been able io maintain their families at home; would have had no motive for de? sertion ; would not have felt the war to be an oppression of the poor man for the benefit of the rich. That confidence, con? tentment, comfort, would have been on joyod by aH classes throughout the South; and. that all would have been united in unconquerable opposition, to their inva? ders. . This all seems plain enough now that it is, forever, too late. Others think the "twenty-negro-bill" was. our ruin. Others consider the sub? stitute laws the first agents of demorali? zation in our armies and our country. While some believe that tobacco and whisky sapped the energy and efficiency of our armies, and 6truck a bright star from the galaxy of nations. Few soldienrot the active armies of the late Southern Confederacy can hear such an opinion expressed without some indig? nation. It may be true that officers and sol? diers, while absent from the armies, used tobacco and whisky too freely; such in? stances were probably often seen about our larger towns and centres of resort, .and it is from that opinions .have been formed so unjust tc our soldiers. The array of Italy, under the then young Napoleon, won. more* battles du? ring the campaign of 1796 than did the army of Northern Virginia in the same space of time. But it had not such odds to contend against as we encountered. It was composed of veterans trained in the strictest discipline of constant war. It operated in an abundant country?was well supplied. Its field of operations was .narrower, and it was led by the most skillful general the world has ever seen. The Austrian army, whether comman? ded by BraHieu, Alvmzi or Wurmser was always hampered by the dictation of campaign from the Aulic Council in Vi? enna?continually repeated its blunders and exposed itself to be beaten in detail by Bonaparte. The brilliant results achieved by the army of Italy over the six Austrian ar? mies, each twice its .force, which in the course of eleven months it put to rout, were justly attributable to the blunders of the Austrians and to the matchless sjgll in war of Napoleon Bonaparte. ...But the glory of the army of northern Virginia is its own. Whether we regard it under Gen. Johnston, or in detached corps, careering through" the valley, un? der that great soldier and good man, Jackson : atChicaroauga with Longstroet, at Petersburg under Beau regard, or eve? rywhere with its great Virginia general, that "grey bearded man in the black slouch hat who* is riding grandly down into history" in the fame of its exploits, it will be found always the same undaunted, victorious army of pure-minded, devoted men. From the auspicious dawning of the "First Manassas" to the sad sunset at Ap pomattox, those soldiers were true to themselves and to their country. Their Victories were not the results of the blun? ders of their enemy, nor of the skill alone o^f their commanders, but were the just rtw'ard of the valor and the virtues of the troops. Our armies in the West wore less uni? formly successful than that of Northern Virginia. But they will.furnish posteri? ty with abundant illustrations of the for? titude and self-sacrifice with which brave men encounter adversity through the un eqnaled devotion and patriotism which characterized the Coniecerate troops on campaign*. During the winter and spring of i860, our army at Vicksburg, numboring about 25,000 . men, lay in its lines for many months, without tents or any other shel? ter. The soldiers were scantily clad, few of them had blankets?many of them Wdre Without shoes?during some weeks of the most inclement season they were without any meat?they received no cof? fee, no tobacco, no whisky, but subsisted on corn alone, sometimes musty, and al? ways Very coarsely cracked in the horse mills of the neighboring planters. Yet these men evinced the most unfal? tering determination in their duty. They made no murmur. There were no unu? sual desertions. They asked, through their colonels, that tho general command? ing would look to their condition and ap? ply such remedy as he could, at the same time avowing their determination to en? dure their present privations, and even greater if their country's necessity im? posed thorn. Tbe last scene of all that ends this strange, eventful history, must always be contemplated with respect and Inter? est by those who take pleasure in the no? ble traits of men. When Mobile was at? tacked it was chiefly defended by the scarred veterans of the army of Tennes? see. For three weeks these noble fel? lows withstood the attack of tenfold their numbers. Along the weak lines of Span? ish Fort and Blakely the disparity was even greater. On every occasion, from the beginning to the end of these trying scenes, the troops who defended Mobile exhibited in the highest degree the self respect and tho virtue of the patriot sol? dier. All orders were obeyed and execu? ted by that little army, up to the last moment, with a quietude and alacrity worthy of any troops of an}* army. Af? ter the city was evacuated and the army had arrived at Meridian, it was encamped tor several weeks in that vicinity, and prepared to march and join Joe Johnston. All of us knew that Lee had surrendered, and that Mr. Davis was probably cap? tured : we believed, top, that, wo must soon surrender, yet there was no depar? ture from the usual discipline and good order of our camp. There was no levi? ty, no drinking, but a deep and solemn sadness pervaded all hearts, as wo await? ed the moment when we were to surren? der our arras and our cause forever. Much as the self-denial, the virtue, the religion of our revolutionary armies have been eulogized, the honest, historian will find them overmatched by the recent il? lustrations drawn from the war of the Southern Confederacy. The F?deral authorities, with far great? er advantage* than we had for maintain? ing the discipline of: their" armies, soon discarded the appointment of officers by election, and before tho war ended it was competent for a corps commander in that service to degrade an unworthy officer by his simple order. ? In some European services they pro? mote for well established merit only. The soldier who is promoted to corporal is transferred to another company, and the sergeant who is promoted to lieutenant is transferred to another regiment. While our line officers were thus ren? dered responsible to the soldiers of their command, the officers of our staff corps were made irresponsible to the generals within whoso departments they were serving. m Quartermasters, commissaries, etc., were held accountable only to the central power in Richmond, vested in the hands of the respective departments. Under no emergency which might arise, could supplies be issued without first procuring, the sanction of the chief of bureau in Kichmond. A general commanding a department remote from the capitol, was thus embar? rassed in his control over the munitions upon which the movements aud the effi? ciency of his troops depended. Furthermore, he was impeded in his duty of correcting the wrongs, sometimes the malfeasance of staff officers, who in his immediate presence, were abusing the trust and powers confided to them j for he could not correct one of them without previous reference of the case to the chief in Richmond. The demoralization, the inefficiency, which resulted from this anomalous con? dition of affairs, is incalculable. Scarcely less, perhaps, than that which followed the election of officers. At least our peo? ple more plainly felt this evil than the other, for it was operating under their immediate observation. There was scarce? ly a town in tbe South which did not have its quartermaster and commissary. Sometimes ten or twelve of these were congregated in one town, and the people were unable to discover the good service they were rendering to tbe country. It is not surprising that .the idleness and the unfaithfulness of this class of officers be? came a proverb and reproach. With so many causes of harm to the constancy and 0fficiency of our soldiers, it is inexplicable that the discipline of our armies was not earlier guarded by regu? lations, based on 60und military experi? ence and principle. There were undoubtedly "officers and men in our service who drank too much whisky. They would have drank less bad a more wholesome discipline con? trolled them. But since war was made, there have never been seen armies so free from the vices common to troops on cam? paign as those with which it has been our privilege to serve during tho existence of the Southern Confederacy. More drunk? enness, gaming, and gross sensuality might have been seen in one year within thermits of a "small garrison" of the United States before the war, than we ob? served in four years of service with the soldiers of every portion of the Southern States. Not only were they exempt from the evils of gaming, drinking and incon? tinence, but they were imbued by a doep religious feeling raroly known to any ar? my. And we were in few encampments from which the sound of prayer and praise did not daily ascend to that God to whom we looked, as we still do, to judge us and our cause. - The Murder of Colonel Steedman. We gave last week a brief account of the brutal murder of our gallant and hon? orable friend, Col. Marcellus Steedman, copied "from the Edgefield Advertiser.? Since then the annexed communication has appeared in the Charleston News, and for the satisfaction of the numerous friends of the deceased in this section, we insert the same in to-day's issue. Every man who was attached to Jenkins' famous Brigade will remember the distinguished and faithful services rendered by the la? mented hero, whose life ended thus tragi? cally : To the Editor of the Daily News: Col. J. M. Steedman, in the vigor of his manhood, and in the midst of his useful? ness as one of the best of citizens, came suddenly to his death under the following heart-rending circumstances, illustrating the deplorable state of affairs to which our once peaceful and happy country has come: Engaged in merchandizing in a part of Lexington District, where, since the ter? mination of the war, it became necessary to guard against the depredations of bur? glars, tie and his little family occupied apartments within his store. On the night of the 8th January, as they were sitting around a bright winter's fire, the doors and windows all bolted and locked, seemmg to give security to all within, the dogs, as faithful sentinels, gave evi? dence of approaching danger without. The Colonel arose, advanced toward, the front door, when bis wife, taking counsel "from her fears," from information that day derived from a negro woman, of which she had also advised the Colonel, remonstrated with him against the im? prudence of opening it, begging him, in? stead, to go up stairs and look out at the window; but this fearless man, haviug faced danger on many a bloody fiold du? ring the late war, now that peace pre? vailed, regarding it as weakness not to feel secure within his own castle, heeded not her gentle admonition. Ho had barely unlocked and opened tho door, when his devoted wife's worst fears were fully re? alized by the report of a gun, tho entiro load from it having lodged in her hus? band's body. He still, however, retain? ing a proper presence of mind, had barely time to close and bolt the door before the vile assassins?three negro men?were thundering at it, to force an ontrance.?: The Colonel called for his gun ; the reao lute wife hastily handed it to him. He warned the assailants that so suro as they entered he would shoot them. Still they knocked, kicked and pushed the door to opon it; the wounded Colonel and his fooble, though resolute wife, pressing in return to keep it closed. What an awful moment I The Colonel, being no longer able to stand or use his gun, laid his dy? ing body against tho foot of the door, still to aid his wife in keeping it closed, directing her at the same time to shoot them if they entered. Declaring aloud hor purpose to do so, she called the name of one of the fiends, the supposed leader of the band, and told him to go away; that if money was what they were after, they could get none there, as all had been sent away. This, perhaps, with the fear that tho Colonel was still able to resist, and would unto death, caused them to desist from further efforts. The Colonel lived but about three hours after receiv? ing the fatal wound; his wife and two little children, with perhaps a nurse, being the only witnesses of the awful scenes within that beleagured house, not know? ing how soon it might be set on fire, and that then they would have to choose be? tween being bnrned alive or meeting death by the violent hands of the mur? derers of the husband arid father, there lying a corpse. , The day after the murder a jury of in queBt was properly empannelled by the nearest magistrate, and succeeded in drawing out such evidence from various witnesses as justified the rendering a ver? dict that they believed the deceased came to his death by a wound' frorii a gun, fired from the hands of one of a party of three negroes?Henry, Emery and Joe? known to have been prowling about the neighborhood doing mischief, and all of whom the jurors, aforesaid believed to have been parties of this infamous crime of murder with the intention to rob. The two former went off with Sher? man's army and had but recently return? ed to this part of the country?entirely too'lazy to work for an honest living, and fully imbued with the Radical idea of equality, boastingly telling other negroes of the various murders they had commit? ted, and saying that they had papers from the "Yankees' which would protect them from harm, do what they would, should the white people here attempt to molest them. Of course they found but few be? lievers fn their miraculous stories. Still it appears they succeeded in making a dupe of the fellow Joe, who became in? volved with them in this their last sad transaction. This, I presume, is not the only in? stance in which returned ^loyalists" have succeeded in working upon the evil pas? sions ot those who, having stuck to the "manor born,"" woo/Id have been satisfied, even under the changed system of things, to have "earned their bread by the sweat of their brow." I am glad, however, to be able to assure you that in this instance these returned "loyalists" have received no sympathy from any of the colored race, except the too easily beguiled Joe, as already stated. On the contrary, their "American fellow-citizens of African de? scent" have manifested a laudable dispo? sition to ferret out their lodging places and have them brought to condign pun? ishment?many declaring that burning to death would be but a just reward for their infamous crimes. Great was the excitement when tho neighbors and friends of the deceased as? sembled the day after the murder, and learned all the incidents attending it.? The dead?so much esteemed by all? could not be brought again to life and usefulness; but how to avenge the in? famous crimes of his murderers, tho de? stroyers of the bright hopes of the now widowed wife and orphaned children, was the all-absorbing question! It was ascer-, tained from a negro that the villain Eme? ry, with perhaps both tho others, had fled early in the night,?shortly after the re? port of the gun was heard?for Aiken.? Active, energetic, determined young men were soon started in pursuit; but the. electric spark, from Quattlebaum's Mills? the nearest telegraphic office?had al-j ready accomplished the good work, in part, before their arrival. The citizens, who had got the news soon after, secured him as a prisoner. He confessed not only all, but told where Henry hadgone, a few miles off. He, too, was soon secured, and acknowledged firing tho fatal gun, and that robbery was their only motive. Joe made good his escape, and has not been captured, so far as I have heard, but par? ties have been in close pursuit. These*two prisoners were brought back to where they had committed so foul a murder, that * even their hardened con? sciences smote them. Imploring forgive? ness lirom tbe poor bereaved woman, whose happiness they had destroyed, she answered them in tho true sentiments of | her bleeding heart, "Never in this world can I forgive you I" They were soon marched away, toward Lexington jail, in tears. I know nothing farther of this matter. This much I .think is strictly true. I have heard other rumors, but ru? mors will not always justify being recor? ded in truth. I had written tho most of this article before I saw tho account of this same murder in }-our paper of the 18th, copied from the Edgefietd Advertiser, a paper generally correct in its statements, but not altogether so in this case, as regards some of tho incidents connected with this foul murder. P. Q. Louisville, January 20,1867. - ? ? Congressional. Washington, Jan. 22; In the Senate, a memorial was present? ed from the Chamber of Commerce of Memphis, asking aid for the Southern Pacific Railroad. The tariff bill was dis? cussed, and, after a short executive ses? sion, adjourned. In the House,^tho bill to punish the placing of obstructions on railroads car? rying mails was referred to tho Post Of? fice Committee. A bill was introduced, declaring valid certain acts and proclamations of the President from 1861 to 1865. It shields 1 officers from acts committed in the dis? charge of duty, and declares all officers shall be presumed to have acted under orders. The bill was recommitted to the Committee, with the privilege to report at any time; The same Committee re? ported a bill declaring it the rale of all United States Courts that persons guilty of treason, murder, bribery and other felony, who had given, aid, comfort or counsel to tho enemies of the United State?, or bad engaged in rebellion, shall not be allowed to practice in said courts. Mr. Boutwell spoke in its favor, saying if five Judges of the Supreme Court did not have sufficient self-respect to adopt rules to exclude rebel traitors, it was time for Congress to step in and make rules for them. Every device of the minority to stave off the Vote was resorted to. The House was still in session at 7 o'clock. Washington, Jan. 23. The House remained in session till 8 o'clock this morning. Forty votes by yeas and nays were taken?only a third as many as during the famous fight over the Kansas-Nebraska bill. The majority finally yielded, Mr. Boutwell proposing an adjournment to 10 o'clock, and between that hour and noon, should be at the dis? posal of the Democrats, who wished to debate the bill. There was no promise, however, on the part of the Democrats that they would allow a vote at noon. BoutweU's bill, making a rule for the United States Courts, excluding from practice Confederates, and others, passed 100 to 42. In the House, the Republicans voting against BoutweU's bill were Hale, La? tham, McLure and Stillwell. The Judiciary Committee obtained leave to report the eight hour system of labor at any time. The bill limiting the time for filing claims in the Court of Claims to six years, Two hours were consumed in hearing excuses, <fcc, of those absent last night without leave.. The bill providing for the successor of the Presidential office was taken up, dis? cussed, ordered to be printed and referred to the Judiciary Committee. In the Senate, various petitions were presented, including one for reimburse? ment of the money taken by the St. Al? ban raiders. A long bill, defining the homestead laws, was referred to the Committee on Pnblie Lands. The bill passed By the House at noon to-day, prescribing rules for the <jualifi<Hl tion of lawyers practicing in the United States Courts, was referred to the Judicia? ry Committee A bill for the relief of the heirs of John E. Bouligny, formerly member of Con? gress from Louisiana, passed. It confirms the title to 75,000 acres of land in Louisi? ana to his heirs. The tariff bill was taken up, long speeches were made, and the Senate ad? journed. "Washington, Jan. 24. In the Senate, petitions were presented from the Ohio wool-growers for increased protection. The Finance Committee re? ported the civil appropriation bill, with amendments. The tariff bill was discuss? ed and a large number of amendments of? fered, tho only one accepted adding to the free list books in all public libraries. Ad? journed. In the House, after unimportant pro? ceedings, the bill giving Agricultural Col? lege-scrip to Tennessee, with amendments to extend the operations of the bill to all the States, provoked debate. Maynard dfsliked having Tennessee yoked to the rebel States. Stokes also spoke, and was taunted with his. early secession lettersi Stokes said he had repented and entered the Federal army, and said he was ready to enter the saddle and stay there three years longer, when Mr. Randall, of Penn? sylvania, said "Oh! bosh j" and the regu? lar report says in paronthesis laughter. The bill* was further discussed. Kelly, of Tennessee, maintaining that this was the only Southern State with a Republican Government. South Carolina, Texas, &c, be maintained, were not States. The debate progressed, and an amendment was agreed to that no Confedera te should be professor. The President Was called a usurper. Cooper,, of Tennessee, was called to order for calling Kelley, of Penn? sylvania, a liar, and the bill passed. The enabling Act was taken up, and the Committee of Ways and Means in? structed to inquire into the expediency of repealing the cotton tax. Washington, Jan: 25. In the Senate, Mr. Wilson presented the petition of the Adjutant-General of Arkansas, to the effect that that State had furnished 10,000 Union soldiers, and ask? ing that the record of their devotion be printed. He also gave notice of a bill to increase and equalize the pay of army of? ficers. The bill to reg?late judicial proceedings, and to amend the Act relative to the habeas corpus, was passed, and goes to the President It provides certain machinery by which certain cases mgy bo transferred from State to Federal courts. A bill to place the redemption lands, forfeited for non-payment of taxes, in tho unrepresented States, in tho hands of a single commissioner, was referred to the Committee on Finance. It provides for an appeal to the Secretary of tho Treasu? ry in certain cases. In the House, the joint resolutidn ap? propriating $100,000 for tho removal of wrecks, &c, from Sandy Hook Channel, was passed. A bill appropriating 89,500 to pay for t house in Anandale, Fairfax County, Va.. burned for military purposes, was taken up. It was argued that the bill would establish a precedcnt,-which would coun? tenance many millions; The bill passed. ?yeas 99, nays 27< ' In answer to a question. Stevens said he would dispose of his enabling bill in some way to-morrow. Adjourned. The bill giving suffrage to the people of the Territories, regardless of color is a a law from the lapse of time, not by Presi? dential approval. ' . An Ominous Sign.?The Richmond Times has tho following notice of a very ominous sign of degeneracy in this coun? try : That political and social demoralization go band-in-hand, we have a painful illus? tration at present in many of the large Northern citios. The decent, conserva? tive press teems with strictures upon the once extraordinary, but now common, spectacle of drunkenness among the fash? ionable women of the people of "grand moral ideas." That such sights were common in Sodom and Gomorrah before a fate of brimstone and fire fell upon those places, we have every reason to be? lieve. We know, from the reiterated as? sertions of history, that all the corrupt and wicked nations of antiquity commen? ced rotting and going to pieces in this way. When woman takes to liquor, the house or community in which such prac? tices prevail may be safely considered to fco in a very desperate way. There is no sign of the decadence of popular virtue and morality so alarming as this. The mission of woman in America has hereto? fore been a high and lofty one. She has been the custodian of those virtues and proprieties which have not been safe in the keeping of the sterner sex. It is a most gloomy and ominous symptom of social and moral disintegration, when we see females, moving in circles deemed re? spectable, fall victims to vices and de? baucheries which have hitherto been as? signed almost exclusively to the male sex. All moral and religious barriers must be broken down in a community where wo? men with features of loveliness, and draped with all the adornments of the la? test fashions, stagger from their carriages and reel through tho throngs of Broad? way, in the blaze of mid-day and the glare of gas-light. Rome saw such ap? palling sights when plunging to her doom, all reeking with corruption and wicked? ness. But has the North, in the pride and zenith of its boasted power and vir? tue, come to this ? If so, let her mourn in all her borders. ? It is a pity .that the women haven't en anti-stay law. The Great Impeacher. "Mack," the Washington correspondent of tho Cincinnati Commercial, farmahve the' following personal sketch: There is no man in the present Con gress who has succeeded better in "get-' ting his name into the papers," than Mr. James M. Ashley, of the Toledo district..' To advertise himself as extensively in con-f nection with a patent medicine as he has been advertised gratuitously in connec? tion with his impeachment nostrum would ?. have cost him half a million at least, and then it would be the pills or the lozenges or the powders that would have been known; whereas, now its the doctor*.? . The porsonal history of the great.Im?.', peacher is interesting; especially as It shows a Sort of consistent inconsistency, from tho first to last?if I can say "last" at tho present time, as I wish I could.? Mr. Ashley commenced life.as an.adven-j. tnrer, and his last public effort is in beau* , tiful harmony with, that characteristic. He saw tbe light of this wicked world on the 14th of November, 1824, and is con- , sequently in the forty-third,year of his ? age. When, he was. sweet fifteen he r started from his home in Pennsylvania^, for the Great West; His first emplqy>J ment was as clerk on a trading boat on the Mississippi. Hei went down to NeW Orleans and back again several times, driving sharp bargains with the plahta- ? tion darkies in the exchange for calico and jewelry for the products of tho farrn. Wonder if it was while thus engaged that.:; he imbibed that strong love ot liberty which has since been the master passion in his breast ? He got tired of the tnv ding business after awhile, and cast an-* < chor in that haven of all adventurous, youths?a printing office. Men who are unfit for the printing business, always go. to studying law, and Ashley was no e** * ception to the rule. He studied law for a while, but still hadn't found his forte,. and was determined to find that Or perish, in the attempt. So ho tried boat-building/ on the-Mississippi. Here again he was ' unlucky, and had the misfortune to lose all tho profitB of his trade with the planta tion niggers; He Went back to the law again, but didn't stick to it. His next move waato ?o to Tolodo and start a paper. Gen. Jim teadmah batted him" fifty or a hundred dollars, and he made his debut as the edi? tor of a Democratic journal, showing those. . strong principles of liberty, ahd so forth, which he had imbibed from the* flatboat traffic, hadn't yet permeated his sy6lcm. However, he failed as an editor very soon, and foreswore Democracy and edit? ing at one and the same time. Next ho went into the drug business in Toledo,' but he soon swamped himself in that, too. Perhaps the people Were afraid to trust a man with such variegated experience as his to make, up their prescriptions. What is more natural than a man who had raTfl?3 a flatboat, sold pinchbeck jewelry to the* negroes along the Mississippi half learned the printing business* failed as a boat builder, studied lawi rut) a paper into tbe ground, and failed in tho drug business run for Congress; Ashley hit upon this expedient as the ohly possible thing to save him from the poor hOusc, and he suc? ceeded. He has been in Congress eight years, ahd has two more years still ahead of him; In persohat ?ppeafahee, the great Im? 1 peacher is quite respectable. Those who have noticed- his large head and bushy hair, and who remembers the impression of a fir?fc glance at Stephen A. Douglas, will have noticed some similarity. Th?-^ likeness does hot penetrate below tbe Skull, I am sorry to say, but still there are points about the head and face of tbe great Impeacher that remind one of - Douglas. A stranger coming to Wash? ington and visiting the House gallery, will soon notice Ashley?-he can't vovjf., Well help it. He will see somebody rush? ing around among the aisles, and talking to this member and that member, and ap? parently burdened with the whole'busi? ness of the establishment, and if he'il ask who is that? he'll be told that it's Ashley* A gentleman was once trying to bring the identity of the Toledo member to the/ mind of a lady. He tried to describe him as a small man, and a fat man, and ? light haired man, and a early-headed man, ahd a clean-shaved man, and a man with a ; great, round head; but all to no purpose. ! until the lady's own recollection came to'* her assistance, and she exclaimed, in a sort of "eureka" transport : "Oh, yes I You mean that gentleman who was run? ning around the floor, and saying -Mr Speaker,' every,once in a while, but never j could get recognized." That was he, ex? actly; the very man, "saying Mr. Speaker, every once in a while." That's pretty much all he ever can get a chance to say,, for he tries to make so many speeches that members are constantly on guard against him to prevent his making one. Of late he has hecome very unpopular im the House. Jealousy, no doubt. There; are eo many raeh in Congress who waa t to be party leaders, that it is no wonder they should all unite to make common* cause against a towering genius like Ash? ley. Schenck, Blngham, Stevens,, and a host of others are "after him," as-the say? ing is, in a studied purpose to ignore him. The Nebraska bill was killed by his guar? dianship more than anything else. Men had no objection' to the bill particularly j; that is, many of them hadn't, hut they'd be d?dif they'd be "led" by any such man as Ashley. 'Twas ever thuB with great meti. Men are so slow and.so re* luctant in nothing as in recognizing the^ transcending greatness of heaven-ioapiredj leaders. It has been so since the days or Casar, who had his jealous rivals and wa^ killed by them finally. It was so wijtb. Napoleon; it was so in, our country, with Clay and Webster, and in,our own ixnme diate day with Lincoln; and-why not wi^ Ashley I