, was of two weeks' duration: first, by steamboat on the Cumberland
and the Ohio to Pittsburg; thence by stage coach to the national
Capitol.

At the time mentioned, railroads scarcely had an existence south
of the Ohio and west of the Alleghanies; and save the single
wire from Washington to Baltimore, no telegraph line had been
constructed.

How striking the commentary, alike upon human accomplishment,
and upon opportunity under our free institutions, is here presented!
The wearisome and hazardous journey of half a month by steamboat
and stage coach had been succeeded by one in palace car of a day
and a night of comparative ease and safety, and the clerk had risen
from a humble place in the Department to that of Senator from one of
the great States in the Union.

XL
ENDORSING THE ADMINISTRATION

DIFFICULTY EXPERIENCED BY DEMOCRATIC MEMBERS IN PROCURING APPOINTMENTS
FOR THEIR CONSTITUENTS--A NEW MEMBER THREATENS TO FRAME RESOLUTIONS
OF CONDEMNATION--HE DOES THE VERY OPPOSITE--AN EXPLANATORY ANECDOTE.

The Democratic members of the forty-ninth Congress who yet survive
will probably recall something of the difficulty they experienced in
procuring for aspiring constituents prompt appointments to positions
of honor, trust, and profit, under the then lately inaugurated
administration. An earnest desire was felt, and vehemently expressed
at times, by those who had been long excluded from everything that
savored of Federal recognition, for sweeping changes all along the
line.

A new member of the House, from one of the border States, believing
that his grievances were far too heavy to be meekly borne, made
open declaration of war, and asserted with great confidence and
with the free use of words nowhere to be found in "Little Helps to
Youthful Beginners," that at the approaching Democratic convention
of his State, resolutions of condemnation of no uncertain sound
would be adopted. Some conciliatory observations, which I ventured
to offer, were treated with scorn, and the irate member, still
breathing out threatenings, hastily turned his footsteps homeward.

A few mornings later, I was agreeably surprised to find in _The
Post_ a telegram to the effect that upon the assembling of the
convention aforementioned, the honorable gentleman above designated,
securing prompt recognition from the chair, had, under a suspension
of the rules, secured the unanimous adoption of a resolution
enthusiastically and unconditionall