The Daily Gate City

Editorial Correspondence.
WASHINGTON,
Tuesday morning, Jan. 8.
As I intimated in my letter of last evening, I visited both the Senate and the House of Representatives yesterday, and was introduced to a number of the members. Either the Statesmen of the present day lack something of the awe-inspiring appearance of the great men who have passed from the stage of action, or else I have lost something of the reverence with which I used to look upon men in high station. I remember some years ago I was in the presence of Daniel Webster an hour or more, and stood the whole time gazing with open-mouthed and speechless admiration and wonder upon his majestic form, his massive brow, his large and deep-set eyes overhung by dark and heavy brows. I could not have spoken a word to him had the fate of empires depended upon the speaking of that word. I think I am quite as modest now as then, but it seemed quite as easy to talk to Senators and Representatives here as it does in our own State where great men have not yet made their appearance. As a general rule, and one almost without exception, I find that my preconceived notions of the appearance and manner of distinguished men here, derived from descriptions or picture prints, were not at all realized. John M. Clayton, for instance, is a quite large and portly old gentleman, with a large and long face, and massive roll of double chin, and has a very kind and pleasant expression of countenance. He talks like a genial-hearted old man right along upon whatever comes uppermost, with an evident interest in the matter, and not for the purpose of saying something. Crittenden is growing old, and although he has the appearance of a man of talent as clearly marked as any member of the Senate, he does not fill the idea I had formed of his appearance from prints and descriptions. His manner is that of a sensible gentleman of the old school, just sufficiently cordial and polite to be agreeable, with plain straightforwardness enough to indicate its sincerity. Senator Seward is the only man here whose appearance and manner entirely surpassed my previous conceptions, and there might be danger, therefore, of overdoing the matter should I attempt to give my ideas of him at any length. He seems a rather spare man, of medium height, and, while there is nothing particularly grand or noble in his appearance, you feel that he is a man of mark, and you see the evidence of it in his eyes and features, and, as it were, in the entire make and movement of the man. Sumner is rather a tall, Scotch-Irish looking New Englander, plain and naturally communicative and agreeable in his manners, and seems to feel a decided interest in Iowa matters. Gen. Cass, Gov. Dodge, and our own Senator Jones I had seen before, and therefore had no need to correct previous impressions. Senator Jones, by the way, is in much better repute here and has more influence in the Senate than many of us in Iowa have been accustomed to give him credit for. Mr. Clayton, in speaking to me of some of his own efforts in behalf of Iowa, took occasion to express a very decided esteem and warm appreciation of Jones, and as far as I can learn he is regarded with much favor by Senators generally. You know I am in the habit of "giving the devil his due," and as I expect to have ample occasion hereafter to say hard things of Jones, I take the present opportunity to make public the good that I learn in his favor. There is a striking difference in the composition of the Senate of this day and the same body a few years ago. Had I entered the Senate Chamber then, my eyes would have been directed in search of the forms of great men whose names had become historical, and whose fame as statesmen and great political leaders had filled the country and reached every civilized nation of the earth. But now I could hardly recall to mind the names of half a dozen who had achieved a reputation sufficiently great to excite a desire in my mind to look upon their faces. Clay, Calhoun and Webster, and Benton, Buchanan, Wright, and Ewing, are no longer in the Senate, and the prestige which they gave that body in public regard is sadly shaken by an hour's visit to the Senate Chamber. The House of Representatives is without organization, the members are, a large majority of them, entirely new and fresh hands, and the parties are without acknowledged leaders. We cannot, therefore, look for the exhibition of much dignity, ability or efficiency, in that branch of the Legislature.