titutions and laws of the States respectively, and all orders of any
such officer, tending to restrict or control or interfere with the full
and normal exercise of the jurisdiction of such civil judicial tribunals
_are illegal and void_.

_3d. Resolved_, That the military law of the Confederate States is, by
the courts and the enactments of Congress, limited to the land and naval
forces and the militia when in actual service, and to such other persons
as are within the lines of any army, navy, corps, division or brigade of
the army of the Confederate States.

Yesterday, the _Dispatch_ contained an article, copied from the
_Philadelphia Inquirer_, stating that a certain person who had been in
prison here, arrested by order of Gen. Winder, for disloyalty, and for
attempting to convey information to the enemy, had succeeded in
obtaining his release; and, for a _bribe_ of $100, a passport to leave
the Confederacy had been procured from Gen. Winder's alien detectives.
The passport is printed in the Philadelphia paper, and the bearer, the
narrative says, has entered the United States service.

This must have been brought to the attention of the President; for a
lady, seeking a passport to go to her son, sick and in prison in the
North, told me that when she applied to Gen. Winder to-day, he said _the
President had ordered him to issue no more passports_. And subsequently
several parties, government agents and others, came to me with orders
from the Secretary (which I retain on file), to issue passports for
them. I hope this may be the end of Winder's reign.

A letter from Gen. Lee states that, in view of certain movements, he
had, without waiting for instructions, delivered the sword, horse, etc.
of Gen. Kearney, lately killed, to his wife, who had made application
for them. The _movements_ referred to we shall know more about in a few
days.

Gen. Van Dorn dispatches the department that his army is safe; that he
took thirteen guns and 700 prisoners. So it was not so disastrous a
defeat. But the idea of charging five times his number!

OCTOBER 10TH.--Mr. Brooks called this morning to get me to draft a
passport bill, which he said he would get Congress to pass. I doubt it.
I wrote the bill, however. He says fifteen or twenty members of Congress
visit his house daily. They dine with him, and drink his old whisky.
Mr. B. has a superb mansion on Clay Street, which he bought at a
sacrifice. He made his money at trade. In one