me,
and proffered their services very freely.

MAY 16TH.--Met John Tyler, Jr., to-day, who, with his native cordiality,
proffered his services with zeal and earnestness. He introduced me at
once to Hon. L. P. Walker, Secretary of War, and insisted upon
presenting me to the President the next day. Major Tyler had recently
been commissioned in the army, but is now detailed to assist the
Secretary of War in his correspondence. The major is favorably known in
the South as the author of several Southern essays of much power that
have been published in a Review, signed "Python."

The principal hotel is the Exchange, as in Richmond; the entrance to the
bar, reading-room, etc. is by a flight of stairs from the street to the
second story, with stores underneath. Here there is an incessant influx
of strangers coming from all directions on business with the new
government. But the prevalent belief is that the government itself will
soon travel to Richmond. The buildings here will be insufficient in
magnitude for the transaction of the rapidly increasing business.

MAY 17TH.--Was introduced to the President to-day. He was overwhelmed
with papers, and retained a number in his left hand, probably of more
importance than the rest. He received me with urbanity, and while he
read the papers I had given him, as I had never seen him before, I
endeavored to scrutinize his features, as one would naturally do, for
the purpose of forming a vague estimate of the character and
capabilities of the man destined to perform the leading part in a
revolution which must occupy a large space in the world's history. His
stature is tall, nearly six feet; his frame is very slight and seemingly
frail; but when he throws back his shoulders he is as straight as an
Indian chief. The features of his face are distinctly marked with
character; and no one gazing at his profile would doubt for a moment
that he beheld more than an ordinary man. His face is handsome, and his
thin lip often basks a pleasant smile. There is nothing sinister or
repulsive in his manners or appearance; and if there are no special
indications of great grasp of intellectual power on his forehead and on
his sharply defined nose and chin, neither is there any evidence of
weakness, or that he could be easily moved from any settled purpose. I
think he has a clear perception of matters demanding his cognizance, and
a nice discrimination of details. As a politician he attaches the utmost
impo