osts, and the constituents flocked to the capital; that able
newspaper, too, found space to return, with interest, the attacks of Mr.
Worthington's organ, the Newcastle Guardian. These amenities are much too
personal to reproduce here, now that the smoke of battle has rolled away.
An epic could be written upon the conflict, if there were space: Canto
One, the first position carried triumphantly, though at some expense, by
the Worthington forces, who elect the Speaker. That had been a crucial
time before the town meetings, when Jethro abdicated. The Worthington
Speaker goes ahead with his committees, and it is needless to say that
Mr. Chauncey Weed is not made Chairman of the Committee on Corporations.
As an offset to this, the Jethro forces gain on the extreme right, where
the Honorable Peleg Hartington is made President of the Senate, etc.

For twelve hot weeks, with a public spirit which is worthy of the highest
praise, the Committee sit in their shirt sleeves all day long and listen
to arguments for and against consolidation; and ask learned questions
that startle rural witnesses; and smoke big Florizel cigars (a majority
of them). Judge Abner Parkinson defends his bill, quoting from the
Constitution and the Declaration of Independence and the Bible; a
celebrated lawyer from the capital riddles it, using the same
authorities, and citing the Federalist and the Golden Rule in addition.
The Committee sit open-minded, listening with laudable impartiality; it
does not become them to arrive at a hasty decision on a question of such
magnitude. In the meantime the House passes an important bill dealing
with the bounty on hedgehogs, and there are several card games going on
in the cellar, where it is cool.

The governor of the state is a free lance, and may be seen any afternoon
walking through the park, consorting with no one. He may be recognized
even at a distance by his portly figure, his silk hat, and his dignified
mien. Yes, it is an old and valued friend, the Honorable Alva Hopkins,
patron of the drama, and sometimes he has a beautiful young woman (still
unattached) by his side. He lives in a suite of rooms at the Pelican. It
is a well-known fact (among Mr. Worthington's supporters) that the
Honorable Alva promised in January, when Mr. Bass retired, to sign the
Consolidation Bill, and that he suddenly became open-minded in March, and
has remained open-minded ever since, listening gravely to arguments, and
giving much s