s moment, as I catch a narrow glimpse of its outskirts through the
rusty window-bars of the Old Capitol. Should the Southern Mazeppas,
whose banners have already floated in sight of Arlington Heights, ever
work their will here, I could name one Briton whose composure will not
be ruffled by compassion at hearing the news. If there is anything in
presentiments, surely one of these whispered warnings thus early in my
pilgrimage, though I was deafer than the adder just then.

There was in Washington, of course, the usual crowd--official,
political, and mercantile--with a vast supplement of hangers-on and
aspirants, that always follows the meeting of Congress; and, besides,
the influx never ceased of all officers who could get leave--of many who
could not--from the Army of the Potomac. Speaking impartially--for I
scarcely interchanged four words with an American during my stay--I
thought the military element the most repulsive.

It would be unfair to cavil at the absence of a martial bearing in men,
who, having followed other professions all their lives, so lately and
suddenly took up that of arms. In this singular war, whole regiments
have been sent into action (as at Antietam) without even an hour's
practice in file-firing, and have stood their ground, too, manfully,
though helplessly, the merest food for cannon. So it is not strange if
the lawyers, merchants, clerks, stock-brokers, bar-keepers, and
newspaper editors, who officer the volunteer corps, should laugh at
"setting-up" preliminaries to scorn, and consider a few days of rough
battalion-drill a satisfactory qualification for efficient service in
the field.

In spite of these disadvantages, it is indisputable that the Yankee will
fight right stubbornly, after his own fashion, though rarely with the
dash and fire of the Southerner. Considering the raw and heterogeneous
materials out of which the huge armies of the North have been formed,
the individual instances of personal cowardice are creditably rare. Even
in the cases of disorderly retreats, I believe discipline rather than
pluck to have been wanting. Martinets and formalists would certainly be
out of place here, and some of the technicalities of the art of war may
well be dispensed with; nevertheless, all these palliations do not alter
my unfavorable impression of the Federal officer on furlough.

Once out of the camp, and among familiar scenes again, the recent
centurion falls back, swiftly and easily, into