We would take Mother Clayton, of course, and
Mammy and Jenny. I would thus have the chance to watch the contests in
Congress in which I was so profoundly interested. I wished to witness
Douglas' part in these great affairs. Some of the old giants were still
there: Calhoun, Webster. How would Douglas face these great men? Above
all, the shreds of a decaying past were stretching themselves forward to
enter the texture of the new weaving. How would the two pieces be
connected? Would it be a patchwork?
Douglas had come to me offering an appointment in Illinois. When I
declined this, he suggested a consulship on the continent, or in London.
But I could not see my way clear to leave America. I had too many
interests now, and I wished to see the unfolding of events here.
CHAPTER XXXVII
We found Washington much as Dickens had described it seven years before.
The avenues were broad. They began in great open spaces and faded into
commons equally unbounded. They seemed to lead nowhere. There were
numerous streets without houses. There were public buildings without a
public. There were thoroughfares that had no markings but ornaments. The
residences had green blinds and red and white curtains at the windows
almost without an exception. Grass grew in the avenues. The distances
were great, separating the new public buildings from easy access.
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