From Washington.
[special Correspondence of the Dispatch.]
WashingtonFeb. 15, 1861.
Signs are not so promising this morning.--The Peace Congress is further off from a settlement than was supposed.
A number of States have refused to accept Guthrie's proposition; Virginia is said to be one of them.--The Republicans insist upon waiting until the Commissioners from Michigan arrive.
All the Northern men in the Peace Congress are anxious not for an adjustment but for delay.
They want their expenses paid by their States until the 4th of March, so that they may be on the ground, ready to make a rush for the ..
Lincoln continues his idiotic exhibitions.--At Steubenville ‘"he feared that the great confidence expected in his ability was unfounded."’ Strange apprehension!
He thought the majority ought to rule, and the majority was to be the judge of the majority.
Very well: the popular majority against old Abe was above a million.
I was told last evening by a Federal judge, in whose court Lincoln used to practice, that he (Abe) is a good natured, free and easy, anecdote-telling, second-rate county court lawyer.
He never had the least pretensions to intellectual ability.
His speeches in the campaign against Douglas, were prepared by Republican committees.
‘"Do you think he is a Coercionist by nature?"’
‘"Not at all."’
‘"Can Seward control him?"’
‘"He will be a nose of wax in Seward's hands."’
Union-idolaters in Virginia, who look to Seward as their party leader in the future, may derive some comfort from the above statement.
But the New York Journal of Commerce, commenting favorably on the choice of provisional officers to preside over the Southern Confederation, has well said: ‘"It is the weak and the incompetent who plunge their people into war, and precipitate its terrible calamities."’
The Tribune is out in a dirty and abusive article on Virginia.
Gen. Duff Green's idea of ‘"moving Wall street to Richmond,"’ is made the text of its foul discourse.
The Tribune also publishes column after column of extracts from Republican newspapers to show that the North is opposed to any compromise whatever.
Mr. Hunter stated on yesterday that the effect of the Morrill tariff in New York city would be worse than a bombardment.
He added that it was of little use for him to oppose the measure, since the Republicans were bent on passing it.
A new lie, rather more outrageous than any of its predecessors, has been raised by the Republicans.
They accuse the Congressmen of the seceding States of stealing books out of the Congressional library to form the nucleus of another at Montgomery.
Thirty Clerks of the Census Bureau have been for two weeks employed in sending submission documents to North Carolina, and are still at it, I believe.
We are having heavy rains.
There was a hop last night at Brown's. Mrs. Tyler, wife of the ex-President, was ‘"the bright, particular star"’ of the evening.
Zed. 