day's date, that we had a visit from Supeintendent Wood last night. He gave us his views at considerable length on the cause of the war and its probable termination. His opinions and our own differed so slightly that it occurred to me to observe that it was very singular that we held the relation of prisoners of State to the government and the Superintendant that of a government employee, while our opinions on State affairs are so slightly different. It only shows what kind of rulers we have in these unfortunate days of the Republic. Call yourself a Republican and you can be a traitor with impunity; but avow yourself a Democrat and no act of patriotism will save you from the imputation of being a traitor. Who does not perceive this to be à fact.

This has been rather a dull day in prison incidents. We were made aware this afternoon that a government detective had been placed in the next room to us to watch our movements and to report our conversation. This is not the first time we have had similar intimations of an effort to entrap Mr. Sheward and myself. Our partisan persecutors— the Administration tyrants, finding no evidence against us to warrant them in their course towards us so far, are resorting to desperate and contemptible means to criminate us. They will fail signally. It is they, not we, who are traitors to the country, and our worst crime is that we have proven them to be so in fact.

Sept. 14th.-Sunday has come round again, but in prison it is much like other days. Those who are so fortunate as to have a change of shirts, put one on, and look clean for one day in the week. In the afternoon it was announced that there would be preaching in the yard, and in Room No. 17, the room which was formerly used as one of the legislative halls of Congress. In making the announcement that preaching would take place, Mr. W., who is as good-natured and accommodating as a

man can be in his position, announced as usual that those who wanted to hear the Gospel preached by a Secessionist, could be accommodated by going down into the yard-and those who preferred to have it preached from a Union point of view, could do so by going down to No. 17. As I did not care to hear the Gospel through either a Secession or an Abolition preacher, I remained in my room. My room companions went to hear the preaching-but they soon came back disgusted. The so-called Union preacher was a Boston Abolitionist, whose God is an Abolition Deity-whose Bible teaches nothing but Abolitionism and New England morality, and who would not go to heaven with a South

ern man.

Firing has been heard here all day. No doubt a battle is progressing in the direction of Harper's Ferry.

Sept. 15th.-Our prison Superintendent came near getting into a scrape to-day. He was walking along the street, with a lady on his arm, in the vi cinity of the prison, when a black fellow taunted him with being Secesh. Mr. W. wears a suit of gray, the Confederate color, which was the probable cause of his being taken for a Secesh by Mr. darkey. Mr. Wood only smiled at the darkey's impudence at first, but as the fellow persisted in his impertinence, W. dropped the lady for a moment, and making for the darkey, knocked him down by a well-directed blow in the face. Darkey ran off a little distance, pulled out a formidable looking knife, and called out to W. that he was a d son of a female dog. This was too much for W., who although a rank Republican, is no worshipper of negroes. He made for Mr. darkey on a runreached him-and in an instant had the fellow on his back, notwithstanding the knife which he had to defend himself with. When he attempted to

rise, Wood gave him a kick, which he repeated several times over-and having tired both hands and feet on the darkey's body, he made the fellow get up and walk over to the prison and into the guardhouse, where he is now. The whole scene which I have described took place in view of the prison.Those who saw it were considerably amused at the incident.

Prisoners are being brought here every day, and others are taken away. Not many State Prisoners, however, have been released since I came here.— The number here now is larger than it has been for some time. Every effort the State Prisoners make to have their cases heard seems to be futile. There is an evident determination on the part of those who have assumed authority in the matter, to give no satisfaction to the prisoners, nor to give them the least opportunity to be heard in their defense. A reign of terror and of despotism is as firmly established here as in any city on the globe.

Judge Mason, Mr. Sheward's counsel and mine, sent us a note to-day informing us that he conld find no one who assumed the responsibility of our arrest, and yet that he could not effect our discharge. This shows how matters affecting the rights of persons who happen to have fallen into the hands of the Abolition Philistines are regarded by those who have, for the time being, become invested with power temporarily. No one seems to be willing to shoulder the responsibility of our arrest, yet no one is willing to give us a hearing, or to discharge us from this prison. Is not this a pretty condition of things for our country to be placed in? Is not this a position to be subjected to which we State prisoners will be warranted in demanding satisfaction, and if refused, in obtaining it as best we can. Wo, I say, be to some of our persecutors-to some of the despots who have exercised towards us arbitrary

power. Their lives would be but a small atonement for the injuries and outrages they have inflicted upon most of those who have been in this loathsome den. If Secretary Stanton and Judge Advocate Turner, and General Wadsworth and Provost Marshal Doster, do not receive the punishment their treatment of the Prisoners of State deserves, it will be because there will not be any power either of law or of physical force to inflict it on them. Secretary Stanton, to illustrate his connection with the arrests, suffers his subordinates to use his name for the arrest of some one who becomes obnoxious to the Abolition-Republicans of his neighborhood, but when the attention of the Secretary is called to the arrest of the victim, who meanwhile is brought here from home and business, the Secretary knows nothing about it. Judge Advocate Turner, on being requested to give a prisoner a hearing, excuses himself by alleging that he has no orders from the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of War declares that he appointed Major Turner, Judge Advocate, for the sole purpose of hearing the statements of the prisoners. So, between these officers, with an occasional intimation that it is General Wadsworth, or General Halleck, or some other dignitary who has control of the matter, we Prisoners of State, or rather, victims of Abolition outrage, are kept here for weeks in atonement for the crime of disagreeing with the Administration.

Sept. 16.-Instead of continuing the events of Old Capitol life in the form presented up to this period, those worthy of most notice will be given under appropriate headings. In this form the reader will have a better idea of Old Capitol life, and what it is to have our country ruled by a Military Despotism.

HOW FREE CITIZENS BECOME TRANSFORMED INTO

SERVILE SOLDIERS.

One day after the President's Proclamation of the 22nd of September, I was walking in the Old Capitol yard, and met one of the 135th Pennsylvania Regiment, a company of which was performing duty at the Prison. During a brief conversation between us, he intimated that he for one would not continue in the service or obey any order designed to carry into practical effect the President's Proclamation of Emancipation. I doubted that he would disobey any order of the kind referred to, but he persisting in his own opinion of what he would do. I put this case to him to show how a eitizen loses not only his own will but his judgment in becoming a soldier. Suppose, said I, that Lieulenant Miller would order you to go up to Room No. 16, to-morrow morning and take with you a file of soldiers and bring me down into this yard and shoot me, would you not obey the order, although you may be fully aware that I had no trial, and consequently that no sentence had been pronounced upon me? The soldier hesitated a moment, but admitted when he replied that he would obey the order of the lieutenant. "Now then," said I, "do you presume to think that you will not obey an order to enforce the Proclamation of Emancipation?" The poor fellow had not a word to say.

The fact is, that soldiers are mere machines; they have neither will nor judgment of their own, except to follow the inclinations of their passions, which are often indulged by their officers to win the soldiers over to the behests of power.

Of all other forms of despotism, the Stratocratic is the most odious and intolerable. Indeed there is no other despotism but that which is sustained by military force and power; for without this security