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diff --git a/28384-8.txt b/28384-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4de2265 --- /dev/null +++ b/28384-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16186 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of As I Remember, by Marian Gouverneur + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: As I Remember + Recollections of American Society during the Nineteenth Century + +Author: Marian Gouverneur + +Release Date: March 22, 2009 [EBook #28384] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AS I REMEMBER *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Lybarger and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +------------------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Note | + | | + | Obvious typographical errors have been corrected in | + | this text. For a complete list, please see the bottom of | + | this document. | + | Text printed using the Greek alphabet in the original book | + | is shown as follows: [Greek: logos] | + | Superscript letters are shown as follows: Jan^y | + | A letter with a breve is shown as follows: [)a] | + +------------------------------------------------------------+ + + + + +AS I REMEMBER + + +[Illustration: MRS. GOUVERNEUR.] + + + + +AS I REMEMBER + +_Recollections of American Society +during the Nineteenth Century_ + +BY + +MARIAN GOUVERNEUR + +ILLUSTRATED + +NEW YORK AND LONDON +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY +1911 + + +COPYRIGHT, 1911, BY + +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY + +Printed in the United States of America + + + + +TO THE MEMORY OF + +MY FATHER + +Judge James Campbell + +WHOSE BENIGN INFLUENCE I STILL FEEL + +AND TO + +MY HUSBAND + +Samuel L. Gouverneur, Jr. + +THE COMPANION AND PILLAR OF STRENGTH + +OF MY LATER YEARS + +THIS BOOK IS INSCRIBED + + + + +PREFACE + + +The rambling personal notes threaded together in these pages were +written at the urgent request of my family, and have provided a pleasant +diversion during otherwise lonely hours. The idea of their publication +was highly distasteful to me until the often repeated importunities of +many of those whose judgment commands my respect persuaded me that some +of the facts and incidents I have recalled would prove of interest to a +large circle of readers. The narrative is concerned with persons and +events that have interested me during the busy hours of a lengthy life. +I have been deeply impressed by the changes wrought by time in the modes +of education, which are now so much at variance with those of my +childhood, and in the manners and customs of those with whom I have +mingled. + +I should be guilty of an act of grave injustice if I failed to express +my grateful acknowledgments for the aid so unselfishly rendered, in a +score of ways, by my daughter, Mrs. Roswell Randall Hoes, without which +these pages would not, and could not, have been written. + +M. GOUVERNEUR. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER PAGE + + I.--EARLY LONG ISLAND DAYS 1 + + II.--NEW YORK AND SOME NEW YORKERS 21 + + III.--SCHOOL-DAYS AND EARLY FRIENDS 50 + + IV.--LIFE AND EXPERIENCES IN THE METROPOLIS 69 + + V.--LONG BRANCH, NEWPORT AND ELSEWHERE 96 + + VI.--SOME DISTINGUISHED ACQUAINTANCES 118 + + VII.--FASHION AND LETTERS 138 + +VIII.--WASHINGTON IN THE FORTIES 170 + + IX.--SOCIAL LEADERS IN WASHINGTON LIFE 194 + + X.--DIPLOMATIC CORPS AND OTHER CELEBRITIES 229 + + XI.--MARRIAGE AND CONTINUED LIFE IN WASHINGTON 256 + + XII.--SOJOURN IN CHINA AND RETURN 288 + +XIII.--THE CIVIL WAR AND LIFE IN MARYLAND 312 + + XIV.--VISIT TO THE FAR SOUTH AND RETURN TO WASHINGTON 335 + + XV.--TO THE PRESENT DAY 365 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +PAGE + +Mrs. Gouverneur _Frontispiece_ + +Samuel L. Gouverneur, Junior 116 + +Mrs. John Still Winthrop, _née_ Armistead, by Sully 146 + +Mrs. Charles Eames, _née_ Campbell, by Gambadella 178 + +Brigadier General Winfield Scott, U.S.A., by Ingham 202 + +Mrs. James Munroe, _née_ Kortright, by Benjamin West 258 + +Miniature of James Monroe, painted in Paris in 1794 by Semé 284 + +Mrs. Gouverneur's three daughters, Miss Gouverneur, Mrs. Roswell +Randall Hoes, Mrs. William Crawford Johnson 310 + + + + +AS I REMEMBER + + + + +CHAPTER I + +EARLY LONG ISLAND DAYS + + +I do not know of a spot where, had I been accorded the selection, I +should have preferred first to see the light of day, nor one more in +keeping with the promptings of sentiment, than the southern shore of +Long Island, N.Y., where I was born. My home was in Queens County, on +the old Rockaway Road, and often in childhood during storms at sea I +have heard the waves dash upon the Rockaway beach. Two miles the other +side of us was the village of Jamaica, and from our windows we caught +glimpses of the bay that bore its name. My first home was a large +old-fashioned house on a farm of many acres, ornamented by Lombardy +poplars which stood on each side of the driveway, a fashion introduced +into this country by Lafayette. My maternal grandfather, Captain John +Hazard, who had commanded a privateersman during the Revolution, +purchased the place from "Citizen" Edmond Charles Genet, the first +Minister of France to the United States, and I have the old parchment +deed of transfer still in my possession. During the War of the +Revolution my Grandfather Hazard's ship was captured by Admiral George +B. Rodney, and I have often heard my mother tell the story she received +from his lips, to the effect that after he was "comfortably housed in +irons" on Rodney's ship he overheard a conversation in which his name +was frequently mentioned. The subject under discussion was the form of +punishment he deserved, and the cheerful remark reached his ear: "Hang +the damned rebel." This incident made an indelible impression upon my +mother's memory, which was emphasized by the fact that her father bore +the scars of those irons to the day of his death. + +I have no recollection of my Grandfather Hazard, as he died soon after +my birth. Jonathan Hazard, his brother, espoused the English cause +during the Revolution. This was possibly due to the influences of an +English mother, whose maiden name was Sarah Owen, of Shropshire. I have +heard my mother say that her grandmother was a descendant of Dr. John +Owen, Chaplain of Oliver Cromwell. A piece of silver bearing the Owen +coat of arms is still in the possession of a member of my family. He +entered the British navy, changed his name to Carr, and soon rose to the +rank of Post-Captain. He eventually drifted back to America and died +unmarried at my grandfather's home on Long Island many years after the +war. The trite saying that history repeats itself is here forcibly +illustrated by brother fighting against brother. It brings to mind our +own fraternal troubles during the Civil War, which can never be effaced +from memory. + +Much of the furniture of my first home was purchased from Citizen Genet +when my grandfather took possession of the house and farm. We understood +that the French minister brought it with him from France, and many of +the pieces, some of which are mahogany, are still in my possession. A +bedstead which I still occupy has been said to be the first of its +design brought from France to this country. Hanging in my bedroom is a +set of engravings entitled "Diligence and Dissipation," after Hogarth, +and also a handsome old print of the Savior in the Pharisee's House, all +of which were purchased at the same time. Two alabaster ornaments are +memories of my earliest childhood, one of which was a column casting a +shadow that formed a likeness of Louis XVI. + +My Grandfather Hazard had many slaves, and I remember hearing of one of +them who ran away and took with him a carriage and pair of horses, and, +who, when called to account for the act, threatened my grandfather's +life. My mother, although suffering from a severe indisposition, ran out +of the house for succor. The slave was taken into custody, and was +eventually sent South and sold. Some of the other slaves I well +remember. Among them was a very old couple with numerous progeny who +lived not far from us in a hut in the woods on the Hazard estate. In +subsequent years I heard my mother remark, upon the occasion of a +marriage in the family connection, that when "Cuff" and "Sary" were +married her father gave the clergyman five dollars for his services. +Cuff was an old-fashioned, festive negro born in this country, and with +the firm belief that existence was bestowed upon him solely for his own +enjoyment. He possessed a genius for discovering holidays, and added +many to the calendar that were new to most of us. For example, sometimes +when he was given a task to accomplish, he would announce that he could +not work upon that day as it was "Paas Monday," or "Paas Tuesday," and +so on, continuing as the case required, through the week. He had supreme +contempt for what he called "Guinea niggers," a term he applied to those +of his race who came directly from Africa, in contradistinction to those +who had been born in this country. One of Cuff's predecessors in the +Hazard family was named Ben, and I have the original deed of his +purchase from Hendrick Suydam, dated April 28th, 1807. The price paid +was two hundred dollars. + +In the village of Jamaica was a well known academy where my mother +received the early part of her education. One of her preceptors there +was the Hon. Luther Bradish, who some years later became Lieutenant +Governor of the State of New York, and who at the time of his death was +president of the New York Historical Society. Her education was +continued at Miss Sarah Pierce's school in Litchfield, Connecticut, one +of the most fashionable educational institutions of that period. I have +heard my mother say that, accompanied by her father, she made the +journey to Litchfield in a chariot, the name applied to carriages in +those days, this, of course, being before there was any rail +communication with that place. In close proximity to Miss Pierce's +establishment was the law school of Judge James Gould, whose pupils were +a great social resource to Miss Pierce's scholars. This institution was +patronized by many pupils from the South, and during my mother's time +John C. Calhoun was one of its students. A few years ago a history of +the school was published, and a copy of the book was loaned me by the +late Mrs. Lucius Tuckerman of Washington, whose mother was educated +there and whose grandfather was the celebrated Oliver Wolcott of +Connecticut. After my mother's marriage, she and my father visited Miss +Pierce in Litchfield. This was during the Jackson campaign, while +political excitement ran so very high that a prominent physician of the +place remarked to my father, in perfectly good faith, that Jackson could +not possibly be elected President as he would receive no support from +Litchfield. + +In Jamaica was the last residence of the Honorable Rufus King, our +minister to England under Washington and twenty years later a candidate +for the presidency. His son, Charles King, was the beloved President of +Columbia College in New York, and his few surviving students hold his +memory in reverence. The house in which the King family resided was a +stately structure with an _entourage_ of fine old trees. It eventually +passed into other hands, and a few years ago the entire property was +generously donated by the Daughters of the American Revolution to the +town of Jamaica, and is now called "King's Manor." + +My grandfather, Captain John Hazard, was about fifty years old at the +time of his marriage to my grandmother, Miss Leupp, of New Jersey, who +died soon after, leaving an only child, my mother. A few years later he +married Lydia Blackwell at her home on Blackwell's Island, which her +father, Jacob Blackwell, had inherited from his father, Jacob Blackwell, +the son of Robert Blackwell, who was the progenitor of the family in +this country and gave his name to the island upon which he resided. +Several years later Captain Hazard was heard to remark that matrimony +was a lottery, and that he had drawn two prizes. I have in my possession +an old letter written by Miss Blackwell to my grandfather previous to +their marriage, which is so quaint and formal that I am tempted to give +it in full: + + Miss Blackwell's compliments to Captain Hazard and desires + to know how he does--and if well enough will be glad to see + him the first leisure day--as she has something of + consequence to communicate and is sorry to hear that he has + been so much indisposed as to deprive his friends of the + pleasure of his company for this last fortnight--May you + enjoy every happiness this imperfect estate affords is the + sincere wish of your friend, + + L. B. + + Let me see you on Sunday. + + Burn this. + +Captain Hazard brought his new bride to the old home on the Rockaway +Road where I was subsequently born, and she immediately took under her +protecting wing my mother, who was then but little more than an infant. +The babe grew and thrived, and never knew until she was a good-sized +girl that the woman who had so lovingly nurtured her was only a +step-mother. She learned the fact from a schoolmate who told her out of +revenge for some fancied wrong; and I shall always remember my mother +telling me how she hurried home feeling all the time that the cruel +story was untrue, only to have it confirmed by the lips of the woman who +had been as affectionate and unselfish as any mother could possibly have +been to her own child. In subsequent years, when my mother gathered her +own children around her, she held her step-mother up to us as the +embodiment of all female virtue and excellence, all of which is +confirmed by my own recollection of her remarkable character and +exemplary life. + +On the farm adjoining us lived a crusty old bachelor by the name of +Martin, who in his earlier life had been professionally associated with +Aaron Burr. No human being was allowed to cross his threshold, but I +recall that years after his death I saw a large quantity of silver which +he had inherited, and which bore a martin for a crest. He was a terror +to all the children in our vicinity, and it was his habit to walk on the +neighboring roads clad in a dressing gown. More than once as I passed +him he accosted me with the interrogative, "Are you Nancy Hazard's +brat?"--a query that invariably prompted me to quicken my pace. Mr. +Martin kept a fine herd of cattle, among which was an obstreperous bull +whose stentorian tones were familiar to all the residents of the +adjoining places. When the children of our household were turbulent my +mother would often exclaim, "Listen to Martin's bull roaring!" This +invariably had a soothing effect upon the children, and strange to say +this trivial incident has descended among my kindred to the fourth +generation, for my mother's great-grandchildren are as familiar with +"Martin's bull" as my sisters and brothers and I were in our own +childhood. + +Malcolm Campbell, my paternal grandfather, left Scotland subsequently to +our Revolution, accompanied by his wife and son James (my father), and +after a passage of several weeks landed in New York. His wife was Miss +Lucy McClellan. His father, Alexander Campbell, fought in the battle of +Culloden, and I have heard my father say that his grandfather's regiment +marched to the song of: + + "Who wadna fight for Charlie? + Who wadna draw the sword? + Who wadna up and rally, + At their royal prince's word? + Think on Scotia's ancient heroes, + Think on foreign foes repell'd, + Think on glorious Bruce and Wallace, + Who the proud usurpers quell'd." + +It is said he had previously been sent to Italy to collect arms and +ammunition for the "Young Pretender," the grandson of James II. The +battle of Culloden, which was fought on the 16th of April, 1746, and +which has often been called the "Culloden Massacre," caused the whole +civilized world to stand aghast. The order of the Duke of Cumberland to +grant no quarter to prisoners placed him foremost in the ranks of +"British beasts" that have disgraced the pages of history, and earned +for him the unenviable title of "The Butcher of Culloden." It has been +suggested in extenuation of his fiendish conduct that His Grace was +"deep in his cups" the night before the battle, and that the General to +whom the order was given, realizing the condition of the Duke, insisted +that his instructions should be reduced to writing. His Grace thereupon +angrily seized a playing card from the table where he was engaged in +gambling, and complied with the request. This card happened to be the +nine of diamonds, and to this day is known as "the curse of Scotland." A +long period elapsed before those who had sympathized with the Young +Pretender's cause were restored to the good graces of the English +throne, and it was Scotland that was compelled to bear the brunt of the +royal displeasure. The sins of the fathers were visited upon their +children, and it is not at all unlikely that the sympathies of Alexander +Campbell's son, Malcolm (my grandfather), for the last of the House of +Stuart developed a chain of circumstances that resulted, with other +causes, in his embarkation for America. + +During the early period of my childhood I became familiar with the +Jacobite songs which my father used to sing, and which had been handed +down in the Campbell family. I was so deeply imbued during my early life +with the Jacobite spirit of my forefathers that when I read the account +in my English history of George I, carrying with him his little +dissolute Hanoverian Court and crossing the water to England to become +King of Great Britain, I felt even at that late day that the act was a +personal grievance. Through the passage of many years a fragment of one +of these Jacobite songs still rings in my ears: + + "There's nae luck aboot the hoose, + There's nae luck ava [at all]; + There's little pleasure in the hoose + When our gude man's awa." + +Even now some of those songs appeal to me possibly in the same manner as +the "Marseillaise" to the French, or the "Ranz de Vaches" to the Swiss +who have wandered from their mountain homes, or as the strains of our +national hymn affect my own fellow countrymen in foreign lands, whose +hearts are made to throb when with uncovered heads they listen, and are +carried back in memory to the days of "auld lang syne." + +My grandfather, Malcolm Campbell, received the degree of Master of Arts +from the University of St. Andrews, the great school of Scottish +Latinity, and his diploma conferring upon him that honor is still in the +possession of his descendants. Before leaving Scotland he had formed an +intimacy with Andrew Picken, and during the voyage to America enjoyed +the pleasing companionship of that gentleman together with his wife and +their two children. Mrs. Picken was the only daughter of Sir Charles +Burdette of London, whose wife was the daughter of the Earl of Wyndham. +She and Andrew Picken, who was a native of Stewarton, in Ayrshire, a +younger branch of a noble family, four years previously had made a +clandestine marriage and, after vainly attempting to effect a +reconciliation with her father, resolved upon emigrating to America. +Their daughter, Mrs. Sara Jane Picken Cohen, widow of the Rev. Dr. +Abraham H. Cohen of Richmond, Virginia, wrote the memoirs of her life, +and in describing her parents' voyage to this country says: "It was one +of those old-time voyages, of nine weeks and three days, from land to +land, and a very boisterous one it was. There had been a terrific storm, +which had raged violently for several days." This friendship formed in +the mother country was naturally much strengthened during the long +voyage, and when the two families finally reached New York, Mrs. Cohen +writes: "Here we settled down our two families, strangers in a strange +land. But the lamp of friendship burned brightly and lit us on the way; +our children grew up together in early childhood, and as brothers and +sisters were born in each family they were named in succession after +each other." It is pleasant to state that this friendship formed so many +generations ago is still continued in my family, as my daughters and I +frequently enjoy in our Washington home the pleasing society of Mr. and +Mrs. Roberdeau Buchanan, the latter of whom is the great granddaughter +of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Picken. + +Soon after his arrival in New York Malcolm Campbell established a +classical school at 85 Broadway nearly opposite Trinity Church. He +edited the first American edition of Cicero's orations and of Cæsar's +commentaries, and also revised and corrected and published in 1808 +l'Abbé Tardy's French dictionary. His first edition of Cicero is +dedicated to the "Right Reverend Benjamin Moore, D.D., Bishop of the +Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New York, and President of +Columbia College," and another edition with the same text and imprint is +dedicated, in several pages of Latin, to the learned Samuel L. Mitchell, +M.D. He and his wife were buried in the graveyard of the Wall Street +Presbyterian Church. It may not be inappropriate in this connection to +refer to another instructor of an even earlier period which has come +within my notice, who taught reading, writing and arithmetic "with +becoming accuracy." In _The New York Journal Or The General Advertiser_ +of the 30th of April, 1772, appears the following advertisement: + + THE RESPECTABLE PUBLIC is hereby informed that, agreeable to + a former advertisement, a Seminary of Learning was opened at + New Brunswick, last November, by the name of _Queen's + College_,[1] and also a Grammar School, in order to prepare + Youth for the same. Any Parents or Guardians who may be + inclined to send their Children to this Institution, may + depend upon having them instructed with the greatest Care + and Diligence in all the Arts and Sciences usually taught in + public Schools; the strictest Regard will be paid to their + moral Conduct, (and in a word) to every Thing which may tend + to render them a Pleasure to their Friends, and an Ornament + to their Species. + + Also to obviate the Objection of some to sending their + Children on Account of their small Proficiency in English, a + proper Person has been provided, who attends at the Grammar + School an Hour a Day, and teaches Reading, Writing and + Arithmetic with becoming Accuracy--It is hoped that the + above Considerations, together with the healthy and + convenient Situation of the Place, on a Pleasant and + navigable River, in the midst of a plentiful Country; the + Reasonableness of the Inhabitants in the Price of Board, and + the easy Access from all Places, either by Land or Water + will be esteemed by the considerate Public, as a sufficient + Recommendation of this infant College, which (as it is + erected upon so Catholic a Plan) will undoubtedly prove + _advantageous_ to our new American World, by assisting its + SISTER SEMMINARIES to cultivate Piety, Learning, and + Liberty. + + _Per Order of the Trustees_, + + FREDERICK FRELINGHUYSEN, Tutor. + + N.B. The Vacation of the College will be expired on + Wednesday the 6th of May, any Students then offering + themselves shall be admitted into such Class, as (upon + Examination) they shall be found capable of entering. + +The signer of this interesting advertisement was graduated from +Princeton College in 1770, and subsequently became a lawyer. His +distinguished son, Theodore, was widely known as a philanthropist and +Christian statesman, and at various periods was United States Senator, +Chancellor of the New York University, President of Rutgers College, a +candidate for the Vice Presidency of the United States, and President of +the American Bible Society. A grandson of the signer was the Hon. +Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen, the well remembered United States +Senator and Secretary of State under President Arthur. + +Speaking of the Frelinghuysen family, I recall an amusing story told at +the expense of Newark, New Jersey. When the late Secretary Frelinghuysen +presented himself at the gates of Heaven he was surprised not to be +recognized by St. Peter, who asked him who he was. "I am the Hon. +Frederick T. Frelinghuysen," was the response. "From where?" "Newark, +New Jersey." "Newark?" quoth St. Peter, "I never heard of that place, +but I will look on my list. No, it isn't there. I can not admit you, Mr. +Frelinghuysen." So the old gentleman proceeded and knocked at another +gate in the boundless immensity. The devil opened it and looked out. The +same conversation occurred as with St. Peter. Newark wasn't "on the +list." "My Heavens, Mr. Satan, am I then doomed to return to Newark?" +exclaimed the New Jersey statesman, and went back to the Newark +graveyard. + +My father, James Campbell, was born in Callander, Scotland, and, as I +have before stated, came to this country with his parents as a very +young child. Both he and his father were clad in their Highland dress +upon their arrival in New York. His childhood was spent in the great +metropolis, and he subsequently studied law in Albany, with the Hon. +Samuel Miles Hopkins, the grandfather of Mrs. Arent Schuyler +Crowninshield. He was admitted to the bar, and almost immediately became +a Master in Chancery. In 1821 he was appointed Surrogate of New York, a +position which he retained for twenty years. He was always a pronounced +democrat, but notwithstanding this fact he was reappointed ten +successive times. In 1840, however, the Whig party was in the ascendency +in the New York Legislature, and through the instrumentality of William +H. Seward, who introduced a system called "pipe laying," the whole +political atmosphere was changed. "Pipe laying" was an organized scheme +for controlling votes, and derived its name from certain political +manipulations connected with the introduction of Croton water in New +York City. I have learned in later years that more approved methods are +frequently used for controlling votes. Modern ethics has discovered a +more satisfactory method through means of powerful corporations with +coffers wide open in the holy cause of electing candidates. + +This unfortunate state of affairs resulted in the removal of my father +from office, and he immediately resumed the practice of law. Some of his +decisions as Surrogate are regarded as precedents to this day. Two of +the most prominent of these are "Watts and LeRoy vs. Public +Administrator" (a decision resulting in the establishment of the Leake +and Watts Orphan House) and "In the matter of the last Will and +Testament of Alice Lispenard, deceased." He is said to have owned about +this time the largest private library in New York City, composed largely +of foreign imprints, as he seemed to have but little regard for American +editions. The classical portion of his library, especially the volumes +published in Paris, was regarded as unusually choice and well selected. +He had also a large collection of Greek Testaments which he read in +preference to the translations. He owned a copy of Didot's Virgil and I +have always understood that, with the exception of one owned in the +Brevoort family of New York, it was at that time the only copy in +America. He retained his scholarly tastes throughout his whole life, and +in looking back I delight to picture him as seated in his library +surrounded by his beloved books. In 1850, about two years after his +death, his library was sold at auction, the catalogue of which covers +114 closely printed pages. Among the purchasers were William E. Burton, +the actor, Chief Justice Charles P. Daly and Henry W. Longfellow. + +Professor Charles Anthon of Columbia College dedicated his Horace to my +father in the following choice words: + + To + My old & valued friend + James Campbell, Esq., + who, amid the graver duties of a judicial station, + can still find leisure to gratify a pure and + cultivated taste, by reviving the + studies of earlier years. + +The following letter from Professor Anthon, the original of which is +still retained by the family, was addressed to my mother shortly after +my father's death. + + COL[UMBIA] COLL[EGE], Sep. 3d 1849. + + Dear Madam, + + I dedicated the accompanying work to your lamented husband + in happier years, while he was still in the full career of + honourable usefulness; and, now that death has taken him + from us, I deem it but right that the volume which bore his + name while living, should still continue to be a memento of + him. May I request you to accept this humble but sincere + tribute to the memory of a most valued friend? + + I remain, very respectfully and truly, + + CHAS. ANTHON. + + Mrs. Campbell, + Houston Street. + +When Professor Anthon was about forty-eight years of age Edgar Allan Poe +described him as "about five feet, eight inches in height; rather stout; +fair complexion; hair light and inclined to curl; forehead remarkably +broad and high; eye gray, clear, and penetrating; mouth well-formed, +with excellent teeth--the lips having great flexibility, and consequent +power of expression; the smile particularly pleasing. His address in +general is bold, frank, cordial, full of _bonhomie_. His whole air is +_distingué_ in the best understanding of the term--that is to say, he +would impress anyone at first sight with the idea of his being no +ordinary man. He has qualities, indeed, which would have assured him +eminent success in almost any pursuit; and there are times in which his +friends are half disposed to regret his exclusive devotion to classical +literature." + +My father was a trustee of the venerable New York Society Library and +one of the directors of the old United States Bank in Philadelphia; and +I have in my possession a number of interesting letters from Nicholas +Biddle, its president, addressed to him and asking his advice and +counsel. For eighteen years he was a trustee of Columbia College in New +York, and enjoyed the close friendship of President William A. Duer, +Reverend and Professor John McVickar, James Renwick, Professor of +Chemistry, whose mother, Jennie Jeffery, was Burns's "Blue-e'ed +Lassie," and Professor Charles Anthon, all of whom filled chairs in +that institution with unquestioned ability. My father was also a member +of the St. Andrews Society of New York. After his death, President Duer +in an impressive address alluded to him in the following manner: + +"Two of our associates with whom I have been similarly connected and +have known from boyhood have also departed, leaving sweet memories +behind them, James Campbell and David S. Jones, the former a scholar and +a ripe and good one, once honoring the choice of his fellow citizens and +winning golden opinions as Surrogate of this city and county." + +President Duer had a most interesting family of children. His eldest +married daughter, Frances Maria, was the wife of Henry Shaeffe Hoyt of +Park Place, and died recently in Newport at a very advanced age. Eleanor +Jones Duer, another daughter, married George T. Wilson, an Englishman. +She was a great beauty, bearing a striking resemblance to Fanny Kemble, +and was remarkable for her strong intellect. Her marriage was +clandestine, and the cause, as far as I know, was never explained. Still +another daughter, Elizabeth, married Archibald Gracie King of Weehawken, +and was a Colonial Dame of much prominence in her later years. She was +the mother of the authoress, Mrs. John King Van Rensselaer. President +Duer's wife was Hannah Maria Denning of Fishkill, New York. I knew her +only as an elderly woman possessing a fine presence and social tastes. + +In my early life the students of Columbia College enjoyed playing +practical jokes upon its dignified professors. As an illustration, I +remember once seeing the death of Professor Renwick fictitiously +published in one of the daily journals, much to the sorrow and +subsequently the indignation of a large circle of friends. Professor +Anthon, too, although a confirmed bachelor, had to face his turn, and +his marriage to some unknown bride bearing an assumed name was an +occasional announcement. But the most amusing feature of the joke would +appear in the morning, when an emphatic denial would be seen in the +columns of the same newspaper, accompanied by a quotation in spurious +Latin. Professor Anthon lived with his two spinster sisters in one of +the college buildings, and their home was a rendezvous for an +appreciative younger generation. In connection with his duties at the +college, he was the head of the Columbia College Grammar School, and I +have always understood that he strictly followed the scriptural +injunction not "to spare the rod." His victims were repeatedly heard to +remark that these flagellations partially counterbalanced the lack of +exercise which he felt very keenly in his sedentary life. But with all +his austerity his pupils would occasionally be astonished over the +amount of humor that he was capable of displaying. His handwriting was +exquisitely minute in character, and I have in my possession two +valentines composed by him and sent to me which are quaintly beautiful +in language and, although sixty years old, are still in a perfect state +of preservation. + + _To Miss Marian Campbell._ + The Campbell is coming! Ye Gentles beware, + For Don Cupid lies hid in her dark flowing hair, + And her eyes, bright as stars that in mid-heaven roll, + Pierce through frock-coat and dickey right into the soul! + And ye lips which the coral might envy, I ween, + And ye pearl rows that peep from the red lips between, + And that soft-dimpled cheek, with the hue of the rose, + And that smile which bears conquest wherever it goes, + Oh, could I but think that you soon would be mine, + I'd send Marian each morning a sweet valentine. + Feb'y 14, 1844. + +(Written a few years later.) + + Sweet girl! within whose laughing eye + A thousand little Cupids lie, + While every curl, that floats above + Thy noble brow, seems fraught with love. + + Oh, list to me, my loved one, list! + Thy Tellkampf's suit no more resist, + But give to him, to call his own, + A heart where Kings might make their throne. + +John Louis Tellkampf, to whom Anthon so facetiously alludes in the +second valentine, was a young German who frequently came to our house, +and who, through my father's aid and influence, in subsequent years +became professor of German in Columbia College. When we first knew him +he spoke English with much difficulty, and it was a standing joke in our +household that once when he desired to say that a certain person had +been born he expressed the fact as "getting alive." + +Malcolm Campbell, a younger brother of mine, was graduated in 1850 from +Columbia College near the head of his class. Among his classmates were +Charles Seymour, subsequently Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church +of Illinois, and the distinguished lawyer Frederick R. Coudert, whose +father kept a boys' French school in Bleecker Street. My brother +subsequently studied law in the office of Judge Henry Hilton, and for +many years practiced at the New York bar. Upon a certain occasion he and +Samuel F. Kneeland were opposing counsel in an important suit during +which Mr. Kneeland kept quoting from his own work upon "Mechanics' +Liens." My brother endured this as long as his patience permitted and +then, slowly rising to his feet, said: "I have cited decisions on the +point in controversy, but my learned opponent cites nothing except his +own opinions printed in his own book. With such persistency has he done +this that I have been tempted to write these lines: + + "Oh, Kneeland! dear Kneeland, pray what do you mean + By such a fat book on the subject of Lien? + Was it for glory or was it for pelf, + Or just for the pleasure of quoting yourself?" + +It seems almost needless to add that this doggerel was followed by a +round of applause, and that Chief Justice Charles P. Daly and Judge +Joseph F. Daly, as well as Judge George M. Van Hoesen, who were on the +bench at this time, joined in the merriment. + +The commencement exercises of Columbia College, as I remember them, took +place every summer in St. John's Church opposite St. John's Park, and I +often attended them in my early days. Columbia College at this period +was in the lower part of the city between College and Park Places, and +was the original King's College of colonial days. All of the professors +lived in the college buildings in a most unostentatious manner, and I +readily recall frequent instances during my early childhood when, in +company with my father, I walked to the college and took a simple six +o'clock supper with Professor Anthon and his sisters. + +My mother met my father while visiting in New York, and the acquaintance +eventually resulted in a runaway marriage. They were married on the 10th +of June, 1818, and nine days later the following notice appeared in _The +National Advocate_: + + _Married._ + + At Flushing, L.I., by the Rev. Mr. [Barzilla] Buckley, James + Campbell esq. of this city, to Miss Mary Ann Hazard, + daughter of John Hazard, esq. of Jamaica, Long Island. + +The objection of my Grandfather Hazard to my mother's marriage was not +unnatural, as she was his only child, and being at this time well +advanced in years he dreaded the separation. But the happy bride +immediately brought her husband to live in the old home where she had +been born, where the young couple began their married life under +pleasing auspices, and my father continued his practice of law in New +York. I had the misfortune of being a second daughter. Traditionally, I +know that my grandfather most earnestly desired a grandson at that time, +and when the nurse announced my birth, she was not sufficiently +courageous to tell the truth, and said: "A boy, sir!" Her faltering +manner possibly betrayed her, as the sarcastic retort was: "I dare say, +an Irish boy." + +My ambitious parents sent me with my oldest sister, Fanny, at the early +age of four, to a school in the village of Jamaica conducted by Miss +Delia Bacon. My recollection of events occurring at this early period is +not very vivid, but I still recall the vision of three beautiful women, +Delia, Alice and Julia Bacon, who presided over our school. This +interesting trio were nieces of the distinguished author and divine, the +Rev. Dr. Leonard Bacon, who for fifty-seven years was pastor of the +First Congregational Church of New Haven. Many years subsequent to my +school days, Delia Bacon became, as is well known, an enthusiastic +advocate of the Baconian authorship of Shakespeare's plays. I have +understood that she made a pilgrimage to Stratford-on-Avon hoping to +secure the proper authority to reopen Shakespeare's grave, a desire, +however, that remained ungratified. She was a woman of remarkable +ability, and I have in my possession the book, written by her nephew, +which tells the story of her life. I was Miss Bacon's youngest pupil, +and attended school regularly in company with my sister, whither we were +driven each morning in the family carriage. My studies were not +difficult, and my principal recollection is my playing out of doors with +a dog named Sancho, while the older children were busy inside with their +studies. + +During my Long Island life, as a very young child, I was visiting my +aunts in Jay Street, New York, when I was taken to Grant Thorburn's seed +shop in Maiden Lane, which I think was called "The Arcade." There was +much there to delight the childish fancy--canaries, parrots, and other +birds of varied plumage. Thorburn's career was decidedly unusual. He +was born in Scotland, where he worked in his father's shop as a +nailmaker. He came to New York in 1794 and for a time continued at his +old trade. He then kept a seed store and, after making quite a fortune, +launched into a literary career and wrote under the _nom de plume_ of +"Laurie Todd." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Now Rutgers College. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +NEW YORK AND SOME NEW YORKERS + + +About 1828 my parents moved to New York, and immediately occupied the +house, No. 6 Hubert Street, purchased by my father, and pleasantly +located a short distance from St. John's Park, then the fashionable +section of the city. This park was always kept locked, but it was the +common play-ground of the children of the neighborhood, whose families +were furnished with keys, as is the case with Gramercy Park to-day. St. +John's Church overlooked this park, and the houses on the other three +sides of the square were among the finest residences in the city. Many +of them were occupied by families of prominence, among which were those +of Watts, Gibbes, Kemble, Hamilton and Smedberg. Next door to us on +Hubert Street lived Commander, subsequently Rear Admiral, Charles +Wilkes, U.S.N., and his young family. His first wife was Miss Jane +Jeffrey Renwick, who was a sister of Professor James Renwick of Columbia +College, and after her death he married Mary Lynch, a daughter of Henry +Lynch of New York and the widow of Captain William Compton Bolton of the +Navy. This, of course, was previous to his naval achievements, which are +such well known events in American history. In after life Admiral and +Mrs. Wilkes moved to Washington, D.C., where I renewed my friendship of +early days and where members of his family still reside, beloved and +respected by the whole community. + +Mr. Thomas S. Gibbes of South Carolina, whose wife was Miss Susan +Annette Vanden Heuvel, daughter of John C. Vanden Heuvel, a wealthy +land owner, lived on Hudson Street, facing St. John's Park. Their elder +daughter Charlotte Augusta, who married John Jacob Astor, son of William +B. Astor, was an early playmate of mine, and many pleasant memories of +her as a little girl cluster around St. John's Park, where we romped +together. When I first knew the Gibbes family it had recently returned +from a long residence in Paris, an unusual experience in these days, and +both Charlotte Augusta and her younger sister, Annette Gibbes, sang in a +very pleasing manner French songs, which were a decided novelty to our +juvenile ears. Mrs. Gibbes's sisters were Mrs. Gouverneur S. Bibby and +Mrs. John C. Hamilton. + +Directly opposite St. John's Park, on the corner of Varick and Beach +streets, was Miss Maria Forbes's school for young girls, which was the +fashionable school of the day. I attended it in company with my sister +Fanny and my brother James who was my junior. Miss Forbes occasionally +admitted boys to her school when accompanied by older sisters. Our life +there was regulated in accordance with the strictest principles of +learning and etiquette, and a child would have been deficient indeed who +failed to acquire knowledge under the tuition of such an able teacher. +School commenced promptly at eight o'clock and continued without +intermission until three. + +The principal of the school was the daughter of John Forbes, who for +thirty years was the librarian of the New York Society Library. He was a +native of Aberdeen in Scotland, and was brought to this country in +extreme youth by a widowed mother of marked determination and piety, +with the intention of launching him successfully in life. He early +displayed a fondness for books, and must have shown an uncommon maturity +of mind and much executive ability, as he was only nineteen when he was +appointed to the position just named. It is an interesting fact that he +accepted the librarianship in 1798 with a salary of two hundred and +fifty dollars a year in addition to the fines and two and a half per +cent. upon all moneys collected, besides the use or rental of the lower +front room of the library building. After many years of labor his salary +was raised to five hundred dollars. Upon his death in October, 1824, the +trustees, out of respect to his memory, voted to attend his funeral in a +body and ordered the library closed for the remaining four days of the +week. He married Miss Martha Skidmore, daughter of Lemuel Skidmore, a +prominent iron and steel merchant of New York, and I have no doubt that +Maria Forbes, their daughter and my early teacher, inherited her +scholarly tastes from her father, of whom Dr. John W. Francis in his +"Old New York" justly speaks as a "learned man." + +Miss Forbes was a pronounced disciplinarian, and administered one form +of punishment which left a lasting impression upon my memory. For +certain trivial offenses a child was placed in a darkened room and +clothed in a tow apron. One day I was subjected to this punishment for +many hours, an incident which naturally I have never yet been able to +forget. On the occasion referred to Miss Forbes was obliged to leave the +schoolroom for a few minutes and, unfortunately for my happiness, +appointed my young brother James to act as monitor during her absence. +His first experience in the exercise of a little authority evidently +turned his head, for upon the return of our teacher I was reported for +misbehavior. The charge against me was that I had smiled. It is too long +ago to remember whether or not it was a smile of derision, but upon +mature reflection I think it must have been. I knew, however, in my +childish heart that I had committed no serious offense and, as can +readily be imagined, my indignation was boundless. It was the first act +of injustice I had ever experienced. Feeling that the punishment was +undeserved, and smarting under it, with abundance of leisure upon my +hands, I bit the tough tow apron into many pieces. When Miss Forbes +after a few hours, which seemed to me an eternity, came to relieve me +from my irksome position and noticed the condition of the apron, she +regaled me with a homily upon the evils of bad temper, and gave as +practical illustrations the lives of some of our most noted criminals, +all of whom had expiated their crimes upon the gallows. + +In recalling these early school days it seems to me that the rudiments +of education received far more attention then than now. Spelling was +regarded as of chief importance and due consideration was given to +grammar. There were no "frills" then, such as physical culture, manual +training and the like, and vacation lasted but thirty days, usually +during the month of August. Some of my earliest friendships were formed +at Miss Forbes's school, many of which I have retained through a long +life. Among my companions and classmates were the Tillotsons, Lynches, +Astors, Kembles, Hamiltons, Duers, and Livingstons. + +But in spite of the severe discipline of Miss Forbes's school, her +pupils occasionally engaged in current gossip. It was in her schoolroom +I first made the discovery that this earth boasted of such valuable +adjuncts to the human family as title-bearing gentlemen, and in this +particular case it was a live Count that was brought to my notice. Count +Louis Fitzgerald Tasistro had recently arrived in New York, and his +engagement to Adelaide Lynch, a daughter of Judge James Lynch, of an old +New York family, was soon announced. On the voyage to America he had +made the acquaintance of a son of Lord Henry Gage of England, whose +principal object in visiting this country was to make the acquaintance +of his kinsman, Mr. Gouverneur Kemble. Through his instrumentality +Tasistro was introduced into New York's most exclusive set, and soon +became the lion of the hour. We girls discussed the engagement and +subsequent marriage of the distinguished foreigner (_sub rosa_, of +course), and to our childish vision pictured a wonderful career for this +New York girl. The marriage, however, soon terminated unfortunately, and +to the day of his death Tasistro's origin remained a mystery. He was an +intellectual man of fine presence and skilled in a number of foreign +languages. He claimed he was a graduate of Dublin College. Many years +later, after I had become more familiar with title-bearing foreigners, +Tasistro again crossed my path in Washington, where he was acting as a +translator in the State Department; but after a few years, owing to an +affection of the eyes, he was obliged to give up this position, and his +condition was one of destitution. Through the instrumentality of my +husband he obtained an annuity from his son, whom, by the way, he never +knew; and for some years, in a spirit of gratitude, taught my children +French. His last literary effort was the translation of the first two +volumes of the Comte de Paris's "History of the Civil War in America." +His devotion to my husband was pathetic, and I have frequently heard the +Count say during the last years of his life that he never met him +without some good fortune immediately following. + +After Mr. Gouverneur's death I received the following letter from +Tasistro, which is so beautiful in diction that I take pleasure in +inserting it: + + WASHINGTON, April 26, 1880. + + My dear Mrs. Gouverneur, + + Had I obeyed implicitly the impulses of my heart, or been + less deeply affected by the great loss which will ever + render the 5th of April a day of sad & bitter memories to + me, I should perhaps have been more expeditious in rendering + to you the poor tribute of my condolence for the terrible + bereavement which it has pleased the Supreme Ruler of all + things to afflict you with. + + My own particular grief in thus losing the best & most + valued friend I ever had on earth, receives additional + poignancy from the fact that, although duly impressed with + an abiding sense of the imperishable obligation, conferred + upon me by my lamented friend, I have been debarred, by my + own physical infirmities, from proffering those services + which it would have afforded me so much consolation to + perform. + + I should be loath, however, to start on my own journey for + that shadowy land whose dim outlines are becoming daily more + & more visible to my mental eye, without leaving some kind + of record attesting to the depth of my appreciation of all + the noble attributes which clustered around your husband's + character--of my intense & lasting gratitude for his + generous exertions in my behalf, & my profound sympathy for + you personally in this hour of sorrow & affliction. + + Hoping that you may find strength adequate to the emergency, + I remain, with great respect, + + Your devoted servant, + + L. F. TASISTRO. + +A valued friend of my father's was Dr. John W. Francis, the "Doctor +Sangrado" of this period, who, with other practitioners of the day, +believed in curing all maladies by copious bleeding and a dose of +calomel. He was the fashionable physician of that time and especially +prided himself upon his physical resemblance to Benjamin Franklin. He +had much dramatic ability of a comic sort, and I have often heard the +opinion expressed that if he had adopted the stage as a profession he +would have rivalled the comedian William E. Burton, who at this time was +delighting his audiences at Burton's Theater on Chambers Street. In my +early life when Dr. Francis was called to our house professionally the +favorite dose he invariably prescribed for nearly every ailment was +"calomel and jalap." + +One day during school hours at Miss Forbes's I was suddenly summoned to +return to my home. I soon discovered after my arrival that I was in the +presence of a tribunal composed of my parents and Dr. Francis. I was +completely at a loss to understand why I was recalled with, what seemed +to me, such undue haste, as I was entirely unconscious of any +misdemeanor. I soon discovered, however, that I was in great trouble. It +seems that a young girl from Santa Cruz, a boarding pupil at our school, +had died of a malady known at this period as "iliac passion," but now as +appendicitis. Her attending physician was Dr. Ralph I. Bush, a former +surgeon in the British Navy, and I soon learned to my dismay that I was +accused of having made an indiscreet remark in regard to his management +of my schoolmate's case, although to this day I have never known exactly +how Dr. Francis, as our family physician, was involved in the affair. I +stood up as bravely as I could under a rigid cross-examination, but, +alas! I had no remembrance whatever of making any remark that could +possibly offend. At any rate, Dr. Bush had given Dr. Francis to +understand that he was ready to settle the affair according to the +approved method of the day; but Dr. Francis was a man of peace, and had +no relish for the code. Possibly, with the reputed activity of Sir +Lucius O'Trigger, Dr. Bush had already selected his seconds, as I have +seldom seen a man more unnerved than Dr. Francis by what proved after +all to be only a trifling episode. Soon after my trying interview, +however, explanations followed, and the two physicians amicably adjusted +the affair. + +It seems that this unfortunate entanglement arose from a +misunderstanding. There were two cases of illness at Miss Forbes's +school at the same time, the patient of Dr. Bush already mentioned and +another child suffering from a broken arm whom Dr. Francis attended. He +set the limb but, as he was not proficient as a surgeon, the act was +criticized by the schoolgirls within my hearing. My sense of loyalty to +my family doctor caused me to utter some childish remark in his defense +which was possibly to the effect that he was a great deal better doctor +than Dr. Bush, who had failed to save the life of our late schoolmate. +In recalling this childish episode which caused me so much anxiety I am +surprised that such unnecessary attention was paid to the passing remark +of a mere child. + +Dr. Francis was as proficient in quoting wise maxims as Benjamin +Franklin, whom he was said to resemble. One of them which I recall is +the epitome of wisdom: "If thy hand be in a lion's mouth, get it out as +fast as thou canst." + +I may here state, by the way, that in close proximity to Dr. Francis's +residence on Bond Street lived Dr. Eleazer Parmly, the fashionable +dentist of New York. He stood high in public esteem and a few still +living may remember his pleasing address. He accumulated a large fortune +and I believe left many descendants. + +The girls at Miss Forbes's school were taught needle work and +embroidery, for in my early days no young woman's education was regarded +as complete without these accomplishments. I quote from memory an +elaborate sampler which bore the following poetical effusion: + + What is the blooming tincture of the skin, + To peace of mind and harmony within? + What the bright sparkling of the finest eye + To the soft soothing of a kind reply? + + Can comeliness of form or face so fair + With kindliness of word or deed compare? + No. Those at first the unwary heart may gain, + But these, these only, can the heart retain. + +It seems remarkable that after spending months in working such effusive +lines, or others similar to them, Miss Forbes's pupils did not become +luminaries of virtue and propriety. If they did not their failure +certainly could not be laid at the door of their preceptress. + +Miss Forbes personally taught the rudiments but Mr. Luther Jackson, the +writing master, visited the school each day and instructed his scholars +in the Italian style of chirography. Mr. Michael A. Gauvain taught +French so successfully that in a short time many of us were able to +place on the amateur boards a number of French plays. Our audiences were +composed chiefly of admiring parents, who naturally viewed the +performances with paternal partiality and no doubt regarded us as +incipient Rachels. I remember as if it were only yesterday a play in +which I took one of the principal parts--"Athalie," one of Jean Racine's +plays. + +This mode of education was adopted in Paris by Madame Campan, the +instructor of the French nobility as well as of royalty during the First +Empire. In her manuscript memoirs, addressed to the children of her +brother, "Citizen" Edmond Charles Genet, who was then living in America, +and of which I have an exact copy, she dwells upon the histrionic +performances by her pupils, among whom were Queen Hortense and my +husband's aunt, Eliza Monroe, daughter of President James Monroe and +subsequently the wife of Judge George Hay of Virginia. She gives a +graphic account of the Emperor attending one of these plays, when +"Esther," one of Racine's masterpieces, was performed. + +The dancing master, who, of course, was an essential adjunct of every +well regulated school, was John J. Charraud. He was a refugee from Hayti +after the revolution in that island, and opened his dancing-school in +New York on Murray Street, but afterwards gave his "publics" in the City +Hall. He taught only the cotillion and the three-step waltz and came to +our school three times a week for this purpose. Much attention was given +to poetry, and I still recall the first piece I committed to memory, +"Pity the Sorrows of a Poor Old Man." My father thoroughly believed in +memorizing verse, and he always liberally rewarded me for every piece I +was able to recite. I may state, by the way, that Blair's Rhetoric was +a textbook of our school and the one which I most enjoyed. + +Miss Forbes had a number of medals which the girls were allowed to wear +at stated periods for proficiency in their studies as well as for +exemplary deportment. There was one of these which was known as the +"excellence medal," and the exultant pupil upon whom it was bestowed was +allowed the privilege of wearing it for two weeks. Upon it was inscribed +the well known proverb of Solomon, "Many daughters have done virtuously, +but thou excellest them all." + +Among the pleasant memories of my early life are the dinners given by my +father, when the distinguished men of the day gathered around his +hospitable board. In New York at this time all the professional cooks +and waiters in their employ were colored men. Butlers were then unknown. +It was also before the days of _à la Russe_ service, and I remember +seeing upon some of these occasions a saddle of venison, while at the +opposite end of the table there was always a Westphalia ham. Fresh +salmon was considered a _pièce de résistance_. Many different wines were +always served, and long years later in a conversation with Gov. William +L. Marcy, who was a warm friend of my father, he told me he was present +on one of these occasions when seven different varieties of wine were +served. I especially remember a dinner given by him in honor of Martin +Van Buren. He was Vice-President of the United States at the time and +was accompanied to New York by John Forsyth of Georgia, a member of +Jackson's cabinet. Some of the guests invited to meet him were Gulian C. +Verplanck, Thomas Morris, John C. Hamilton, Philip Hone and Walter +Bowne. The day previous to this dinner my father received the following +note from Mr. Van Buren: + + My dear Sir, + + Our friend Mr. Forsyth, is with me and you must send him an + invitation to dine with you to-morrow if, as I suppose is + the case, I am to have that honor. + + Yours truly, + + M. VAN BUREN. + Sunday, June 9, '33. + + J. Campbell, Esq. + +Martin Van Buren was a political friend of my father's from almost his +earliest manhood. Two years after he was appointed Surrogate he received +the following confidential letter from Mr. Van Buren. As will be seen, +it was before the days when he wrote in full the prefix "Van" to his +name: + + _Private._ + + My dear Sir, + + Mr. Hoyt wishes me to quiet your apprehensions on the + subject of the Elector.[2] I will state to you truly how the + matter stands. My sincere belief is that we shall succeed; + at the same time I am bound to admit that the subject is + full of difficulties. If the members were now, and without + extraneous influence, to settle the matter, the result would + be certain. But I know that uncommon exertions have been, + and are making, by the outdoor friends of Adams & Clay to + effect a co-operation of their forces in favor of a divided + ticket. Look at the "National Journal" of the 23d, and you + will find an article, prepared with care, to make influence + there. A few months ago Mr. Adams would have revolted at + such a publication. It is the desperate situation of his + affairs that has brought him to it. The friends of Clay + (allowing Adams more strength than he may have), have no + hopes of getting him (Clay) into the house, unless they get + a part of this State. The certain decline of Adams in other + parts & the uncertainty of his strength in the east alarm + his friends on the same point. Thus both parties are led to + the adoption of desperate measures. Out of N. England Adams + has now no reason to expect more than his three or four + votes in Maryland. A partial discomfiture in the east may + therefore bring him below Mr. Clay's western votes, & if it + should appear that he (Adams) cannot get into the house, the + western votes would go to Crawford. If nothing takes place + materially to change the present state of things, we hope to + defeat their plans here. But if you lose your Assembly + ticket, there is no telling the effect it may produce, & my + chief object in being thus particular with you is to conjure + your utmost attention to that subject. About the Governor's + election there is no sort of doubt. I am not apt to be + confident, & _I aver that the matter is so._ But it is to + the Assembly that interested men look, and the difference of + ten members will (with the information the members can have + when they come to act) be decisive in the opinion of the + present members as to the complexion of the next house. + There are _other points of view_ which I cannot now state to + you, in which the result I speak of may seriously affect the + main question. Let me therefore entreat your serious + attention to this matter. _Be careful of this._ Your city is + a gossiping place, & what you tell to one man in confidence + is soon in the mouths of hundreds. You can impress our + friends on this subject without connecting me with it. Do + so. + + Your sincere friend, + + M. V. BUREN. + Albany, Octob. 28, 1824. + + James Campbell, Esq. + +The Mr. Hoyt referred to in the opening sentence of this letter was +Jesse Hoyt, another political friend of my father's who, under Van +Buren's administration, was Collector of the Port of New York. During my +child life on Long Island he made my father occasional visits, and in +subsequent years lived opposite us on Hubert Street. He was the first +one to furnish me with a practical illustration of man's perfidy. As a +very young child I consented to have my ears pierced, when Mr. Hoyt +volunteered to send me a pair of coral ear-rings, but he failed to carry +out his promise. I remember reading some years ago several letters +addressed to Hoyt by "Prince" John Van Buren which he begins with "Dear +Jessica." + +Table appointments at this time were most simple and unostentatious. +Wine coolers were found in every well regulated house, but floral +decorations were seldom seen. At my father's dinners, given upon special +occasions, the handsome old silver was always used, much of which +formerly belonged to my mother's family. The forks and spoons were of +heavy beaten silver, and the knives were made of steel and had ivory +handles. Ice cream was always the dessert, served in tall pyramids, and +the universal flavor was vanilla taken directly from the bean, as +prepared extracts were then unknown. I have no recollection of seeing +ice water served upon any well-appointed table, as modern facilities for +keeping it had yet to appear, and cold water could always be procured +from pumps on the premises. The castors, now almost obsolete, containing +the usual condiments, were _de rigueur_; while the linen used in our +home was imported from Ireland, and in some cases bore the coat of arms +of the United States with its motto, "_E Pluribus Unum_." My father's +table accommodated twenty persons and the dinner hour was three o'clock. +These social functions frequently lasted a number of hours, and when it +became necessary the table was lighted by lamps containing sperm oil and +candles in candelabra. These were the days when men wore ruffled shirt +fronts and high boots. + +I still have in my possession an acceptance from William B. Astor, son +of John Jacob Astor, to a dinner given by my father, written upon very +small note paper and folded in the usual style of the day: + + Mr. W. Astor will do himself the honor to dine with Mr. + Campbell to-day agreeable to his polite invitation. + + May 28th. + + James Campbell Esq. + Hubert Street. + +I well remember a stag dinner given by my father when I was a child at +which one of the guests was Philip Hone, one of the most efficient and +energetic Mayors the City of New York has ever had. He is best known +to-day by his remarkable diary, edited by Bayard Tuckerman, which is a +veritable storehouse of events relating to the contemporary history of +the city. Mr. Hone had a fine presence with much elegance of manner, and +was truly one of nature's noblemen. Many years ago Arent Schuyler de +Peyster, to whom I am indebted for many traditions of early New York +society, told me that upon one occasion a conversation occurred between +Philip Hone and his brother John, a successful auctioneer, in which the +latter advocated their adoption of a coat of arms. Philip's response was +characteristic of the man: "I will have no arms except those Almighty +God has given me." + +In this connection, and _àpropos_ of heraldic designs and their +accompaniments, I have been informed that the Hon. Daniel Manning, +Cleveland's Secretary of the Treasury, used upon certain of his cards of +invitation a crest with the motto, "Aquila non capit muscas" ("The eagle +does not catch flies"). This brings to my mind the following anecdote +from a dictionary of quotations translated into English in 1826 by D. N. +McDonnel: "Casti, an Italian poet who fled from Russia on account of +having written a scurrilous poem in which he made severe animadversions +on the Czarina and some of her favorites, took refuge in Austria. Joseph +II. upon coming in contact with him asked him whether he was not afraid +of being punished there, as well as in Russia, for having insulted his +high friend and ally. The bard's steady reply was 'Aquila non capit +muscas.'" Sir Francis Bacon, however, was the first in the race, as long +before either Manning or Casti were born he made use of these exact +words in his "Jurisdiction of the Marshes." + +In my early days John H. Contoit kept an ice cream garden on Broadway +near White Street, and it was the first establishment of this kind, as +far as I know, in New York. During the summer months it was a favorite +resort for many who sought a cool place and pleasant society, where they +might eat ice cream under shady vines and ornamental lattice work. The +ice cream was served in high glasses, and the price paid for it was +twelve and one-half cents. Nickles and dimes were of course unknown, but +the Mexican shilling, equivalent to twelve and one-half cents, and the +quarter of a dollar, also Mexican, were in circulation. + +There were no such places as lunchrooms and tearooms in my early days, +and the only restaurant of respectability was George W. Browne's "eating +house," which was largely frequented by New Yorkers. The proprietor had +a very pretty daughter, Mrs. Coles, who was brought prominently before +the public in the summer of 1841 as the heroine of an altercation +between August Belmont and Edward Heyward, a prominent South Carolinian, +followed by a duel in Maryland in which Belmont is said to have been so +seriously wounded as to retain the scars until his death. + +Alexander T. Stewart's store, corner of Broadway and Chambers Street, +was the fashionable dry goods emporium, and for many years was without a +conspicuous rival. William I. Tenney, Horace Hinsdale, Henry Gelston, +and Frederick and Henry G. Marquand were jewelers. Tenney's store was on +Broadway near Murray Street; Gelston's was under the Astor House on the +corner of Barclay Street and Broadway; Hinsdale's was on the east side +of Broadway and Cortlandt Street; and the Marquands were on the west +side of Broadway between Cortlandt and Dey Streets. + +James Leary bore the palm in New York as the fashionable hatter, and his +shop was on Broadway under the Astor House. As was usual then with his +craft, he kept individual blocks for those of his customers who had +heads of unusual dimensions. In his show window he sometimes exhibited a +block of remarkable size which was adapted to fit the heads of a +distinguished trio, Daniel Webster, General James Watson Webb, and +Charles Augustus Davis. Miss Anna Leary of Newport, his daughter and a +devout Roman Catholic, received the title of Countess from the Pope. + +The most prominent hostelry in New York before the days of the Astor +House was the City Hotel on lower Broadway. I have been informed that +the site upon which it stood still belongs to representatives of the +Boreel family, descendants of the first John Jacob Astor. Another, but +of a later period, was the American Hotel on Broadway near the Astor +House. It was originally the town house of John C. Vanden Heuvel, a +member of one of New York's most exclusive families. Upon Mr. Vanden +Heuvel's death this house passed into the possession of his son-in-law, +John C. Hamilton, who changed it into a hotel. Its proprietor was +William B. Cozzens, who was so long and favorably known as a hotel +proprietor. At this same time he had charge of the only hotel at West +Point, and it was named after him. If any army officers survive who were +cadets during Cozzens's _régime_ they will recall with pleasure his +kindly bearing and attractive manner. Mr. Vanden Heuvel's country +residence was in the vicinity of Ninetieth Street overlooking the Hudson +River. His other daughters were Susan Annette, who married Mr. Thomas S. +Gibbes of South Carolina, and Justine, who became the wife of Gouverneur +S. Bibby, a cousin of my husband. + +As I first remember Union Square it was in the outskirts of the city. +Several handsome houses had a few years previously been erected there by +James F. Penniman, the son-in-law of Mr. Samuel Judd, the latter of whom +amassed a large fortune by the manufacture and sale of oil and candles. +Miss Lydia Kane, a sister of the elder De Lancey Kane and a noted wit of +the day, upon a certain occasion was showing some strangers the sights +of New York, and in passing these houses was asked by whom they were +occupied. "That one," she responded, indicating the one in which the +Pennimans themselves lived, "is occupied by one of the _illuminati_ of +the city." + +Robert L. Stuart and his brother Alexander were proprietors of a large +candy store on the corner of Chambers and Greenwich Streets, under the +firm name of R. L. & A. Stuart. Their establishment was a favorite +resort of the children of the day, who were as much addicted to sweets +as are their more recent successors. "Broken candy" was a specialty of +this firm, and was sold at a very low price. Alexander Stuart frequently +waited upon customers, and as a child I have often chattered with him +over the counter. He never married. + +The principal markets were Washington on the North River, and Fulton on +the east side. The marketing was always done by the mistress of each +house accompanied by a servant bearing a large basket. During the season +small girls carried strawberries from door to door, calling out as they +went along; and during the summer months hot corn, carried in closed +receptacles made for the purpose, was sold by colored men, whose cries +could be heard in every part of the city. + +Mrs. Isaac Sayre's bakery was an important shop for all housewives, and +her homemade jumbles and pound cake were in great demand. Her plum cake, +too, was exceptionally good, and it is an interesting fact that it was +she who introduced cake in boxes for weddings. Her shop survived for an +extraordinary number of years and, as far as I know, may still exist and +be kept by some of her descendants. + +I must not omit to speak of a peculiar custom which in this day of +grace, when there are no longer any old women, seems rather odd. A +woman immediately after her marriage wore a cap made of some light +material, which she invariably tied with strings under her chin. Most +older women were horrified at the thought of gray hairs, and immediately +following their appearance false fronts were purchased, over which caps +were worn. I well recall that some of the most prominent women of the +day concealed fine heads of hair in this grotesque fashion. Baldheaded +men were not tolerated, and "scratches" or wigs provided the remedy. +Marriage announcements were decidedly informal. When the proper time +arrived for the world to be taken into the confidence of a young couple, +they walked upon Broadway arm in arm, thus announcing that their +marriage was imminent. + +A dinner given in my young days by my parents to Mr. and Mrs. William C. +Rives still lingers in my memory. Mr. Rives had just been appointed to +his second mission to France, and with his wife was upon the eve of +sailing for his new post of duty. I remember that it was a large +entertainment, but the only guests whom I recall in addition to the +guests of honor were Mr. and Mrs. James A. Hamilton. He was a son of +Alexander Hamilton, and was at the time United States District Attorney +in New York. It seems strange, indeed, that the other guests should have +escaped my memory, but a head-dress worn by Mrs. Hamilton struck my +young fancy and I have never forgotten it. As I recall that occasion I +can see her handsome face surmounted by a huge fluffy pink cap. This Mr. +and Mrs. Hamilton were the parents of Alexander Hamilton, the third, who +married Angelica, daughter of Maturin Livingston, and who, by the way, +as I remember, was one of the most graceful dancers and noted belles of +her day. + +Thomas Morris, son of Robert Morris the great financier of the +Revolution, was my father's life-long friend. He was an able +_raconteur_, and I recall many conversations relating to his early +life, a portion of which had been spent in Paris at its celebrated +Polytechnic School. One incident connected with his career is especially +interesting. When the sordid Louis Philippe, then the Duke of Orleans, +was wandering in this country, teaching in his native tongue "the young +idea how to shoot," he was the guest for a time of Mr. Morris. Several +years later when John Greig, a Scotchman and prominent citizen of +Canandaigua, New York, was about to sail for France, Mr. Morris gave him +a letter of introduction to the Duke. Upon his arrival in Havre after a +lengthy voyage he found much to his surprise that Louis Philippe was +comfortably seated upon the throne of France. Under these altered +conditions he hesitated to present his letter, but after mature +consideration sought an audience with the new King; and it is a pleasing +commentary upon human nature to add that he was welcomed with open arms. +The King had by no means forgotten the hospitality he had received in +America, and especially the many favors extended by the Morris family. +Mr. Morris's wife was Miss Sarah Kane, daughter of Colonel John Kane, +and she was beautiful even in her declining years. She also possessed +the wit so characteristic of the Kanes, who, by the way, were of Celtic +origin, being descended from John Kane who came from Ireland in 1752. +She was the aunt of the first De Lancey Kane, who married the pretty +Louisa Langdon, the granddaughter of John Jacob Astor. Their daughter, +Emily Morris, made frequent visits to our house. She was renowned for +both beauty and wit. I remember seeing several verses addressed to her, +the only lines of which I recall are as follows: + + That calm collected look, + As though her pulses beat by book. + +Another intimate friend of my father was Frederick de Peyster, who at a +later day became President of the New York Historical Society. He +habitually took Sunday tea with us, and always received a warm welcome +from the juvenile members of the family with whom he was a great +favorite. He was devoted to children, and delighted our young hearts by +occasional presents of game-chickens which at once became family pets. + +In 1823 and 1824 my father's sympathies were deeply enlisted in behalf +of the Greeks in their struggles for independence from the Turkish rule. +It will be remembered that this was the cause to which Byron devoted his +last energies. The public sentiment of the whole country was aroused to +a high pitch of excitement, and meetings were held not only for the +purpose of lending moral support and encouragement to the Greeks, but +also for raising funds for their assistance. Among those to whom my +father appealed was his friend, Rudolph Bunner, a highly prominent +citizen of Oswego, N.Y. Although a lawyer he did not practice his +profession, but devoted himself chiefly to his extensive landed estates +in Oswego county. He was wealthy and generous, a good liver and an +eloquent political speaker. He served one term in Congress where, as +elsewhere, he was regarded as a man of decided ability. He died about +1833 at the age of nearly seventy. The distinguished New York lawyer, +John Duer, married his daughter Anne, by whom he had thirteen children, +one of whom, Anna Henrietta, married the late Pierre Paris Irving, a +nephew of Washington Irving and at one time rector of the Episcopal +church at New Brighton, Staten Island. Mr. Bunner's letter in response +to my father's appeal is not devoid of interest, and is as follows: + + OSWEGO, 12 Jan'y 1824. + + My dear Sir, + + Though I have not written to you yet you were not so soon + forgotten. Nor can you so easily be erased from my memory as + my negligence might seem to imply. In truth few persons + have impressed my mind with a deeper sentiment of respect + than yourself; you have that of open and frank in your + character which if not in my own, is yet so congenial to my + feelings that I shall much regret if my habitual indolence + can lose me such a friend. Your request in favor of the + Greeks will be hard to comply with. If I can be a + contributor in a humble way to their success by my exertions + here they shall not want them, but I fear the _angusta res + domi_ may press too heavily upon us to permit of an + effectual benevolence. If you wanted five hundred men six + feet high with sinewy arms and case hardened constitutions, + bold spirits and daring adventurers who would travel upon a + bushel of corn and a gallon of whiskey per man from the + extreme point of the world to Constantinople we could + furnish you with them, but I doubt whether they could raise + the money to pay their passage from the gut of Gibraltar + upwards. The effort however shall be made and if we can not + shew ourselves rich we will at least manifest our good will. + Though Greece touches few Yankee settlers thro the medium of + classical associations yet a people struggling to free + themselves from foreign bondage is sure to find warm hearts + in every native of the wilderness. We admire your noble + efforts and if we do not imitate you it is because our + purses are as empty as a Boetian's skull is thick. We know + so little of what is _really_ projecting in the cabinets of + Europe that we are obliged to believe implicitly in + newspaper reports, and we are perhaps foolish in hoping that + the Holy Alliance intends to take the Spanish part of the + New World under their protection. In such an event our + backwoodsmen would spring with the activity of squirrels to + the assistance of the regenerated Spaniards and perhaps + _there_ we might fight more effectually the battle for + universal Freedom than either at Thermopylæ or Marathon. + There indeed we might strike a blow that would break up the + deep foundations of despotic power so as that neither art or + force could again collect and cement the scattered elements. + We are too distant from Greece to make the Turks feel our + physical strength and what we can do thro money and + sympathy is little in comparison with what we could if they + were so near as that we might in addition pour out the tide + of an armed northern population to sweep their shores and + overcome the tyrants like one of their pestilential winds. + Nevertheless, sympathy is a wonderful power and the sympathy + of a free nation like our own will not lose its moral + effect. I calculate strongly on this. It is a more refined + and rational kind of chivalry--this interest and activity in + the fate of nations struggling to break the oppressor's rod, + and it should be encouraged even where it is not directed so + as to give it all adequate force. They who would chill it, + who would reason about the why and the wherefore ought to + recollect that such things can not be called forth by the + art of man--they must burst spontaneously from his nature + and be directed by his wisdom for the benefit of his + kind.... We are all here real Radical Democrats and though + some of us came in at the eleventh hour we will not go back, + but on--on--on though certain of missing the penny fee. In + truth this is the difference between real conviction and the + calculating policy which takes sides according to what it + conceives the vantage ground. A converted politician is as + obstinate in his belief as one born in the faith. The man of + craft changes his position according to the varying aspect + of the political heavens. The one plays a game--the other + sees as much of reality (or thinks he sees) in politicks as + he does in his domestic affairs and is as earnest in the one + as the other. + + Salve--[Greek: Kai Chaire] + + R. BUNNER. + + + 8 o'clock. + + I have had a full meeting for your Greeks--and found my men + of more mettle than I hoped for. We will do something thro + the _Country_--We have set the Parsons to work and one + shilling a head will make a good donation. We think we can + give you 4 or 5 hundred dollars. + +Mr. Bunner was over sixty years old when he went to live in Oswego, but +he soon became identified with the interests of the place and added much +by his activities to its local renown. In an undated letter to my +father, he thus expatiates upon his situation in his adopted home, and +paints its advantages in no uncertain colors:-- + + I am here unquestionably an exile but I will never dispond + at my fate nor whimper because my own folly, want of tact or + the very malice of the times have placed me in Patmos when I + desire a more splendid theatre. I can here be useful to my + family--to my district. I can live cheaply, increase my + fortune, be upon a par with the best of my neighbors, which + I prefer to the feasts of your ostentatious mayor or the + more real luxury of Phil Brasher's Table. Our population is + small, our society contracted, but we are growing rapidly in + numbers; and the society we have is in my opinion and to my + taste fully equal to anything in your home. We possess men + of intelligence without pretention, active men as Jacob + Barker without his roguery--men whom nature intended to + flourish at St. James, but whose fate fortune in some fit of + prolifick humor fixed and nailed to this Sinope. We have + however to mitigate the cold spring breezes of the lake a + fall unrivalled in mildness and in beauty even in Italy, the + land of poetry and passion. We have a whole lake in front, + whose clear blue waters are without a parallel in Europe. We + have a beautiful river brawling at our feet, the banks of + which gently slope and when our village is filled I will + venture to say that in point of beauty, health and variety + of prospect it has _nil simile aut secundum_. + +Our house was the rendezvous of many of the learned and literary men of +the day, who would sit for hours in the library discussing congenial +topics. Among others I well recall the celebrated jurist, Ogden Hoffman. +He had an exceptionally melodious voice, and I have often heard him +called "the silver-tongued orator." It has been asserted that in +criminal cases a jury was rarely known to withstand his appeal. He +married for his second wife Virginia E. Southard, a daughter of Judge +Samuel L. Southard of New Jersey, who throughout Monroe's two +administrations was Secretary of War. In the "Wealthy Citizens of New +York," edited in 1845 by Moses Y. Beach, an early owner in part of _The +New York Sun_, the Hoffman family is thus described: "Few families, for +so few a number of persons as compose it, have cut 'a larger swath' or +'bigger figure' in the way of posts and preferment. Talent, and also +public service rendered, martial gallantry, poetry, judicial acumen, +oratory, all have their lustre mingled with this name." I regard this +statement as just and truthful. + +Still another valued associate of my father was Hugh Maxwell, a +prominent member of the New York bar. In his earlier life he was +District Attorney and later Collector of the Port of New York. The +Maxwells owned a pleasant summer residence at Nyack-on-the-Hudson, where +we as children made occasional visits. Many years later one of my +daughters formed an intimate friendship with Hugh Maxwell's +granddaughter, Virginia De Lancey Kearny, subsequently Mrs. Ridgely +Hunt, which terminated only with the latter's death in 1897. + +From my earliest childhood Gulian C. Verplanck was a frequent guest at +our house. He and my father formed an intimacy in early manhood which +lasted throughout life. Mr. Verplanck was graduated from Columbia +College in 1801, the youngest Bachelor of Arts who, up to that time, had +received a diploma from that institution of learning. Both he and my +father found in politics an all-absorbing topic of conversation, +especially as both of them took an active part in state affairs. I have +many letters, one of them written as early as 1822, from Mr. Verplanck +to my father bearing upon political matters in New York. For four terms +he represented his district in Congress, while later he served in the +State Senate and for many years was Vice Chancellor of the University of +the State of New York. He was an ardent Episcopalian and a vestryman in +old Trinity Parish. He was a brilliant conversationalist, and his +tastes, like my father's, were decidedly literary. In connection with +William Cullen Bryant and Robert C. Sands, he edited _The Talisman_, an +annual which continued through the year 1827. Mr. Verplanck lived to an +old age and survived my father for a long time, but he did not forget +his old friend. Almost a score of years after my father's death, on the +4th of July, 1867, Mr. Verplanck delivered a scholarly oration before +the Tammany Society of New York, in which he paid the following glowing +tribute to his memory: + + In those days James Campbell, for many years the Surrogate + of this city, was a powerful leader at Tammany Hall, and + from character and mind alone, without any effort or any act + of popularity. He was not college-bred, but he was the son + of a learned father, old Malcolm Campbell, who had been + trained at Aberdeen, the great school of Scotch Latinity. + James Campbell was, like his father, a good classical + scholar, and he was a sound lawyer. He was not only an + assiduous, a kind, sound and just magistrate, but one of + unquestioned ability. In his days of Surrogateship, the days + of universal reporting, either in the multitudinous volumes + in white law bindings on the shelves of lawyers, or in the + crowded columns of the daily papers, had not quite arrived + though they were just at hand. Had he lived and held office + a few years later, I do not doubt that he would have ranked + with the great luminaries of legal science. As it is, I fear + that James Campbell's reputation must share the fate of the + reputations of many able and eminent men in all professions + who can not + + Look to Time's award, + Feeble tradition is their memory's guard. + +The most prominent newspaper in New York in my early days was the +_Courier and Enquirer_, edited by General James Watson Webb, a man of +distinguished ability. He began his literary career by editing the +_Morning Courier_, but as this was not a very successful venture he +purchased the _New York Enquirer_ from Mordecai Manasseh Noah, and in +1829 merged the two papers. Several leading journalists began their +active careers in his office, among others James Gordon Bennett, +subsequently editor of _The New York Herald_, Henry J. Raymond, the +founder of _The New York Times_, and Charles King, father of Madam Kate +King Waddington and Mrs. Eugene Schuyler, who at one time edited _The +American_ and subsequently became the honored president of Columbia +College. James Reed Spaulding, a New Englander by birth, was also +connected with the _Courier and Enquirer_ for about ten years. In 1860 +he became a member of the staff of the New York _World_, which, by the +way, was originally intended to be a semi-religious sheet. During +President Lincoln's administration General Webb sold the _Courier and +Enquirer_ to the _World_, and the two papers were consolidated. William +Seward Webb of New York was a son of this General Webb, and the latter's +daughter, Mrs. Catharine Louisa Benton, the widow of Colonel James G. +Benton of the army, lived until recently in Washington, and is one of +the pleasant reminders left me of the old days of my New York life. + +_The New York Herald_ was established some years after the _Courier and +Enquirer_ and was from the first a flourishing sheet. It was +exceptionally spicy, and it dealt so much in personalities that my +father, who was a gentleman of the old school with very conservative +views, was not, to say the least, one of its strongest admirers. Several +years before the Civil War, at a time when the anti-slavery cauldron was +at its boiling point, its editor, the elder James Gordon Bennett, +dubbed its three journalistic contemporaries in New York, the World, the +Flesh, and the Devil--the _World_, representing human life with all its +pomps and vanities; the _Times_, as a sheet as vacillating as the flesh; +and the _Tribune_, as the virulent champion of abolition, the +counterpart of the Devil himself. + +During the winter of 1842 James Gordon Bennett took his bride, who was +Miss Henrietta Agnes Crean of New York, to Washington on their wedding +journey. As this season had been unusually severe, great distress +prevailed, and a number of society women organized a charity ball for +the relief of the destitute. It was given under the patronage of Mrs. +Madison (the ex-President's widow), Mrs. Samuel L. Gouverneur (my +husband's mother), Mrs. Benjamin Ogle Tayloe (Julia Maria Dickinson of +Troy, New York), and other society matrons, and, as can readily be +understood, was a financial as well as a social success. Tickets were +eagerly sought, and Mr. Bennett applied for them for his wife and +himself. At first he was refused, but after further consideration Mrs. +Madison and Mrs. Gouverneur of the committee upon invitations granted +his request on condition that no mention of the ball should appear in +the columns of the _Herald_. Mr. Bennett and his wife accordingly +attended the entertainment, where the latter was much admired and danced +to her heart's content. Two days later, however, much to the chagrin and +indignation of the managers, an extended account of the ball appeared in +the _Herald_. This incident will be better appreciated when I state that +at this time the personal mention of a woman in a newspaper was an +unheard-of liberty. It was the old-fashioned idea that a woman's name +should occur but twice in print, first upon the occasion of her marriage +and subsequently upon the announcement of her death. My husband once +remarked to me, upon reading a description of a dress worn by one of my +daughters at a ball, that if such a notice had appeared in a newspaper +in connection with his sister he or his father would have thrashed the +editor. + +John L. O'Sullivan, a prominent literary man and in subsequent years +minister to Portugal, edited a periodical called the _Democratic +Review_, which was published in magazine form. I well recall the first +appearance of _Harper's Magazine_ in June, 1850, and that for some time +it had but few illustrations. _The Evening_ Post was established in +1801, many years prior to the _Courier and Enquirer_. It was always +widely read, was democratic in its tone, and its editorials were highly +regarded. While I lived in New York, and also much later, it was edited +by William Cullen Bryant, who was as gifted as an editor as he was as a +poet. I have before me now a reprint of the first issue of this paper, +dated Monday, November 16, 1801. I copy some of the advertisements, as +many old New York names are represented: + + FOR SALE BY HOFFMAN & SETON + + Twelve hhds. assorted Glass Ware. + 2 boxes Listadoes, + 1 trunk white Kid Gloves, + 200 boxes Soap & Candles, + 60 bales Cinnamon, entitled to drawback. + Nov. 16. + + * * * * * + + FREIGHT + + For Copenhagen or Hamburgh, + The bark BERKKESKOW, Capt. + Gubriel Tothammer, is ready to receive + freight for either of the above places, if application + is made to the Captain on board, at Gouverneur's + Wharf. + + GOUVERNEUR & KEMBLE. + + * * * * * + + FOR SALE + + Gin in pipes; large and small green Bottle + Cases, complete; Glass Ware, consisting of + Tumblers, Decanters, &c.; Hair Brushes, long and + short; black and blue Dutch Cloth; Flour, by + + FREDERICK DE PEYSTER. + + A STORE HOUSE in Broad-street to let, apply + as above. Nov. 16. + + * * * * * + + THE SUBSCRIBER has for sale, remaining from + the cargo of the ship Sarson, from Calcutta, + an assortment of WHITE PIECE GOODS. + + Also + + 50 tierces Rice, 60 hhds. Jamaica Rum, + 15 bales Sea-Island 10,000 Pieces White + Cotton, Nankeens, + 29 tierces and 34 bls. A quantity of Large + Jamaica Coffee, Bottles in cases, + And as usual, Old + Madeira Wine, fit for immediate use. + + ROBERT LENOX. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[2] Possibly this word is "Election." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +SCHOOL-DAYS AND EARLY FRIENDS + + +I must return to my school days. After several years spent at Miss +Forbes's my parents decided to afford me greater advantages for study, +and especially for becoming more proficient in the French language, and +I was accordingly sent to Madame Eloise Chegaray's institution, which +for many years was regarded as the most prominent girls' school in the +country. It was a large establishment located on the corner of Houston +and Mulberry Streets, where she accommodated boarding pupils as well as +day scholars. Many years later this building was sold to the religious +order of the _Sacre Coeur_. The school hours were from nine until three, +with an intermission at twelve o'clock. The vacation, as at Miss +Forbes's, was limited to the month of August. The discipline was not so +rigid as at Miss Forbes's, as Madame Chegaray, who, by the way, taught +her pupils to address her as _Tante_, governed almost entirely by +affection. She possessed unusual grace of manner and great kindness of +heart, and her few surviving pupils hold her name and memory in the +highest esteem. Her early history is of exceptional interest. She was a +daughter of Pierre Prosper Désabaye, and came with her father and the +other members of his family from Paris to New York on account of his +straitened circumstances, caused by an insurrection in San Domingo, +where his family owned large estates. Madame Chegaray commenced as a +mere girl to teach French in a school in New Brunswick, New Jersey, kept +by Miss Sophie Hay, and was retained on account of the extreme purity of +her accent. + +I chance to have in my possession Madame Chegaray's own account of her +early struggles after leaving Miss Hay, from which I take great pleasure +in quoting: + + Among the royal _émigrés_ to this country was the Countess + de St. Memin who kept a school. As my brother Marc had + removed to New York we joined him and I was employed as + French governess in the school of Mademoiselle de St. Memin. + But I still knew nothing but to speak my own native tongue. + One day I was bewailing my ignorance in the presence of M. + Felix de Beaujour, Consul General of France to this country. + + "Mlle. Eloise," he said, "quand on sait lire on peut + toujours s'istruire." + + This gave me a new thought. I set seriously about studying. + I took classes. What I was to teach on the morrow I studied + the night before. I worked early and late. With the return + of Louis Philippe the St. Memins returned to France and I + became a teacher in the school of Madame Nau. Here I studied + and taught. On me fell all the burden of the school while + Madame Nau amused herself with harp and piano. For this I + had only $150 a year. To further assist my family I knit + woolen jackets. They were a great deal of trouble to me and + I was very grateful to Madame Isaac Iselin, the mother of + Mr. Adrain Iselin, who always found purchasers to give me + excellent prices. Ah, I was young then. I thought that I + earned that money. Now I know that it was only her delicate + manner of doing me a service. Madame Iselin bought my + jackets and then gave them away. + + Feeling that I was worth much to Madame Nau, and that I must + do more to relieve my brother Marc, my brother Gustave + having gone to sea with Captain de Peyster, I begged Madame + Nau to give me $250. This she refused. Her reply, "Me navra + le coeur," overwhelmed me. It was Saturday. I started home + in great distress and met on the way the dear admirable Miss + Sophy Hay to whom I told my sorrow. + + "Miss Hay," I exclaimed, "I will open a school for myself." + She tapped me on the forehead. "Do, dear Eloise, and God + will help you." + + How all difficulties were smoothed away! The dear Madame + Iselin took charge of all my purchases, advancing the money. + They were very simple, those splint chairs and carpets and + tables, for we were simpler-minded then. On the 1st of May + 1814 I opened my school on Greenwich Street with sixteen + pupils. Good M. Roulet gave me his two wards. I received + several scholars from a convent just closed and I had my + nieces Améline and Laura Bérault de St. Maurice and Clara + the daughter of Marc [Désabaye], who afterward married Ponty + Lemoine, the lawyer in whose office Charles O'Conor studied. + Thus was my school started, and I take this occasion to + express my gratitude to those who confided in so young an + instructress--for I was only twenty-two--the education of + their daughters, and I pray God to bless them and their + country.... + +Many well-known women were educated at this school, and one of the first +pupils was Miss Sarah Morris, the granddaughter of Lewis Morris, the +Signer, and the mother of the senior Mrs. Hamilton Fish. A younger +sister of Mrs. Fish, Christine, who many years later was a pupil of +Madame Chegaray, and who is now Mrs. William Preston Griffin of New +York, ministered to Madame Chegaray in her last illness, and told me +that her parting words to her were, "_Adieu, chère Christine, fidèle +amie._" In spite of her extreme youth Madame Chegaray took an +exceptionally serious view of life, even refusing to wear flowers in her +bonnets or to sing, although she had a very sweet voice. She dearly +loved France, but she was a broad-minded woman and her knowledge of +American affairs was as great as that of her own country. She rounded +out nearly a century of life, the greater part of which was devoted to +others, and I pay her the highest tribute in my power when I say that +she faced the many vicissitudes of life with an undaunted spirit, and +bequeathed to her numerous pupils the inestimable boon of a wonderful +example. + +All the teachers in Madame Chegaray's school were men, with the single +exception of Mrs. Joseph McKee, the wife of a Presbyterian clergyman. +Among those who taught were John Bigelow, who is still living in New +York at an advanced age, and who in subsequent years was Secretary of +State of New York and our Minister to France; Thatcher T. Payne; Edward +G. Andrew, who became in the course of years a Bishop in the Methodist +Church; Professor Robert Adrain, who taught mathematics, and who at the +same time was one of the faculty of Columbia College; and Lorenzo L. da +Ponte. The latter was a man of unusual versatility, and was especially +distinguished as a linguist. He taught us English literature in such a +successful manner that we regarded that study merely as a recreation. +Mr. da Ponte was a son of Lorenzo da Ponte, a Venitian of great +learning, who after coming to this country rendered such conspicuous +services in connection with Dominick Lynch in establishing Italian opera +in New York. He was also a professor of Italian for many years in +Columbia College, the author of a book of sonnets, several works +relating to the Italian language and of his own life, which was +published in three volumes. Mr. Samuel Ward, a noted character of the +day, the brother of Mrs. Julia Ward Howe and who married Emily Astor, +daughter of William B. Astor, wrote an interesting memoir of him. Madame +Chegaray taught the highest classes in French. "If I had to give up all +books but two," she was fond of saying, "I would choose the Gospels and +La Fontaine's Fables. In one you have everything necessary for your +spiritual life; in the other you have the epitome of all worldly +wisdom." + +When I entered Madame Chegaray's school she had about a hundred pupils, +a large number of whom were from the Southern States. How well I +remember the extreme loyalty of the Southern girls to their native soil! +I can close my eyes and read the opening sentence of a composition +written by one of my comrades, Elodie Toutant, a sister of General +Pierre G. T. Beauregard of the Confederate Army--"The South, the South, +the beautiful South, the garden spot of the United States." This +chivalric devotion to the soil whence they sprang apparently was +literally breathed into my Southern school companions from the very +beginning of their lives. Their loyalty possessed a fascination for me, +and although I was born, reared and educated in a Northern State, I had +a tender feeling for the South, which still lingers with me, for most of +the friendships I formed at Madame Chegaray's were with Southern girls. + +My first day at Madame Chegaray's, like many other beginnings, was +something of an ordeal, but it was my good fortune to meet almost +immediately Henrietta Croom, a daughter of Henry B. Croom, a celebrated +botanist of North Carolina, but who, with his family, had spent much of +his life in Tallahassee. Many are the pleasant hours we spent together, +but to my sorrow she graduated at an early age, and a few months later +embarked, in company with her parents, a younger brother and sister and +an aunt, Mrs. Cammack, upon a vessel called the _Home_ for Charleston, +South Carolina, where they had planned to make their future residence. +When they had been several days at sea their vessel encountered a severe +storm off Cape Hatteras, and after a brave struggle with the terrific +elements every member of the family sank with the ship within a few +miles of the spot where the Crooms had formerly lived. This occurred on +the 9th of October, 1836. They had as fellow voyagers a brother of +Madame Chegaray, who, with his wife and three children, had only just +left the school to make the voyage to Charleston. They, too, lost their +lives. Over Madame Chegaray's school as well as her household at once +hung a pall, and gloom and mourning prevailed on every side; indeed, the +whole city of New York shared in our sorrow. The newspapers of the day +were filled with accounts of this direful disaster, but there were few +survivors to tell the tale. My late playmate, Henrietta Croom, was one +of the most popular girls at school, possessing great attractions of +both mind and person, and, although at the time she was merely a child +in years, the New Year's address of a prominent daily newspaper of the +day contained an extended reference to her which strongly appealed to my +grief-stricken fancy. Though more than sixty years have passed I have +always preserved it with great care in memory of the "sweet damsel" of +long ago. The following are the lines to which I have just referred: + + Dear Home! what magic trembles in the word; + Each bosom's fountain at its sound is stirred, + Disgusted worldlings dream of early love + And weary Christians turn their eyes above-- + Well was't thou nam'd, fair bark, whose recent doom + Has many a household wrapt in deepest gloom! + On earth no more those voyagers' steps shall roam + That cast their anchor at an Heavenly "Home"! + High beat their hearts, when first their fated prow + Cut through the surge that boils above them now, + They saw in vision rapt their fatherland + And felt once more its odorous breezes bland-- + The frozen North receded from their sight + And fancy's dream entranced them with delight-- + Oh! who can tell what pangs their soul assail'd + When every hope of life and rescue fail'd, + When wild despair their throbbing bosoms wrung + And winds and waves a doleful requiem sung? + There stood the husband whose protecting arm + 'Till now had kept his lov'd ones safe from harm. + Remorseless grown, the demon of the storm + Swept from his grasp her trembling, fragile form. + Vague fear o'er children's lineaments convuls'd, + But selfish hands their frenzied cling repuls'd. + When death's grim aspect meets the startl'd view + To grovelling souls fair mercy bids adieu! + And thou, sweet damsel! who in girlhood's bloom + Descended then to fill an ocean tomb-- + What were _thy_ thoughts, when roaring for their prey + The foaming billows choked the watery way! + 'Tis said that souls have giv'n in parting hour + A vast and fearful and mysterious power. + A chart pictorial of the past is made, + In which minute events are all portray'd-- + One painful glance the scroll entire surveys + And then in death the blasted eye-balls glaze-- + Perchance at that dark moment when the maid + On life's dim verge her coming doom survey'd, + Such vision flash'd across her spirit pure, + And help'd the youthful beauty to endure. + Her infant sports beneath the spreading lime, + Her recent school-days, in a northern clime-- + Her gentle deeds--her treasur'd thoughts of love-- + All plum'd her pinions for a flight above! + +The Croom family owned large plantations in the South together with many +slaves. A short time after it was definitely known that not a member of +the family had survived, there was a legal contest over the estate by +the representatives of both sides of the household, the Crooms and the +Armisteads. Eminent members of the Southern bar were employed, among +whom were Judge John McPherson Berrien of Savannah and Joseph M. White +of Florida, often called "Florida White." After about twenty years of +litigation the suit was decided in favor of the Armisteads. It seems +that as young Croom, a lad of twelve, nearly reached the shore he was +regarded as the survivor, and his grandmother, Mrs. Henrietta Smith of +Newbern, North Carolina, his nearest living relative, became his heir. I +have always understood that this hotly contested case has since been +regarded as a judicial precedent. + +A few days after receiving the news of the shipwreck of the _Home_, I +found by accident in my father's library an _édition de luxe_, just +published in London, of "Les Dames de Byron." In it was an illustration +entitled "Leila," which bore a wonderful resemblance to my best friend, +Henrietta Croom. Beneath were the following lines, which seemed to +suggest her history, and the coincidence was so apparent that I +immediately committed them to memory, and it is from memory that I now +give them: + + She sleeps beneath the wandering wave; + Ah! had she but an earthly grave + This aching heart and throbbing breast + Would seek and share her narrow rest. + She was a form of life and light + That soon became a part of sight, + And rose where'er I turned mine eye-- + The morning-star of memory. + +Another schoolmate and friend of mine at Madame Chegaray's was Josephine +Habersham of Savannah, a daughter of Joseph Habersham and a +great-granddaughter of General Joseph Habersham, who succeeded Timothy +Pickering as Postmaster General during Washington's second term and +retained the position under Adams and Jefferson until the latter part of +1801. She was one of Madame Chegaray's star pupils in music. She +frequently made visits to my home, remaining over Saturday and Sunday, +and delighted the family by playing in a most masterly manner the +Italian music then in vogue. A few years after her return to her +Southern home she married her cousin, William Neyle Habersham, an +accomplished musician. For many years they lived in Savannah in the +greatest elegance, until the Civil War came to disturb their tranquil +dreams. Two young sons, both under twenty-one, laid down their lives for +the Southern cause during that conflict. After their great sorrow music +was their chief solace, and they delighted their friends by playing +together on various musical instruments. + +New Orleans was represented at our school by a famous beauty, Catharine +Alexander Chew, a daughter of Beverly Chew, the Collector of the Port of +New Orleans, and whose wife, Miss Maria Theodosia Duer, was a sister of +President William Alexander Duer of Columbia College. He and Richard +Relf, cashier of the Louisiana State Bank, were the business partners +and subsequently the executors of the will of Daniel Clark of the same +city, and it was against them that the latter's daughter, Myra Clark +Gaines, the widow of General Edmund Pendleton Gaines, U.S.A., fought her +famous legal battles for over half a century. Miss Chew married Judge +Thomas H. Kennedy of New Orleans and left many descendants. The sister +of General Pierre G. T. Beauregard, Elodie Toutant, whom I have already +mentioned, was also from Louisiana. She was a studious girl, and a most +attractive companion. The original family name was Toutant, but towards +the close of the sixteenth century the last male descendant of the +family died, and an only surviving daughter having married Sieur Paix de +Beauregard, the name became Toutant de Beauregard, the prefix _de_ +having subsequently been dropped. + +Still another friendship I formed at Madame Chegaray's school was with +Elizabeth Clarkson Jay, which through life was a source of intense +pleasure to me and lasted until her pure and gentle spirit returned to +its Maker. She was the daughter of Peter Augustus Jay, a highly +respected lawyer, and a granddaughter of the distinguished statesman, +John Jay. She was a deeply religious woman, and died a few years ago in +New York after a life consecrated to good works. + +One of the brightest girls in my class was Sarah Jones, a daughter of +one of New York's most distinguished jurists, Chancellor Samuel Jones. +She and another schoolmate of mine, Maria Brandegee, who lived in LeRoy +Place, were intimate and inseparable companions. The mother of the +latter belonged to a Creole family from New Orleans, named Déslonde, and +was the aunt of the wife of John Slidell of Confederate fame. The +Brandegees were devout Roman Catholics, while the members of the Jones +family were equally ardent Episcopalians. Archbishop Hughes of New York +was a welcome and frequent visitor at the Brandegee house, where, in my +younger days, I frequently had the pleasure of meeting him and listening +to his attractive conversation. In this manner Sarah Jones also came +into contact with him. Deeply impressed by his teachings, she followed +him to the Cathedral, where she soon became a regular attendant. In the +course of time she became a member of the Roman Catholic Church, and a +few years later entered the order of the _Sacre Coeur_, at +Manhattanville, where she eventually became Mother Superior and remained +as such for many years. + +Quite a number of years ago I was the guest of the family of Charles +O'Conor, the distinguished jurist and leader of the New York bar, at his +handsome home at Fort Washington, a suburb of New York. He was the son +of the venerable Thomas O'Conor, editor of _The Shamrock_, the first +paper published in New York for Irish and Catholic readers, and also the +author of a history of the second war with Great Britain. One afternoon +Mr. O'Conor suggested that I should accompany him upon a drive to the +Convent of the _Sacre Coeur_ a few miles distant. He was anxious to +confer with Madame Mary Aloysia Hardey, who was then Mother Superior. I +was delighted to accept this invitation, as Mr. O'Conor was an +exceptionally agreeable companion and his spare moments were but few and +far between. Before reaching our destination, I remarked that Madame +Jones, an old schoolmate of mine, was an inmate of this Convent, and +that I should be very glad to see her again. Upon our arrival, Sarah +Jones greeted me in the parlor and seemed glad to see me after the lapse +of so many years. Leading as she was the life of a _religieuse_, our +topics of conversation were few, but I noticed that she seemed +interested in discussing her own family, about whom evidently she was +not well informed. After a brief visit and while homeward bound, Mr. +O'Conor inquired whether Madame Jones knew that her father, the +Chancellor, was rapidly approaching death. I replied that apparently she +had no knowledge of his serious condition, and several days later I saw +his death announced in a daily newspaper. Many years after my interview +with Sarah Jones I met at the residence of Mrs. Henry R. Winthrop of New +York an older sister of hers, Mary Anna Schuyler Jones, who at the time +was the widow of the Reverend Dr. Samuel Seabury of the Episcopal +Church. We lunched together, and the conversation naturally drifted back +to other days and to my old schoolmate, her sister, Sarah Jones. She +told me that she had seen but little of her in recent years, but related +a curious episode in regard to meeting her under unusual circumstances. +It seems that Mrs. Seabury, accompanied by a young daughter, was +returning from a visit to Europe, when she noticed that the occupants of +the adjoining state-room were unusually quiet. In time she made the +discovery that they were nuns returning from a business trip abroad. +Upon examination of the passenger list, she discovered to her +astonishment that her sister, Madame Jones, was occupying the adjoining +room. They met daily thereafter throughout the voyage, and afterwards +returned to their respective homes. + +I especially remember an incident of my school-life which was decidedly +sensational. Sally Otis, a young and pretty girl and a daughter of James +W. Otis, then of New York but formerly of Boston, was in the same class +with me. One morning we missed her from her accustomed seat, but during +the day we learned the cause of her absence. The whole Otis family had +been taken ill by drinking poisoned coffee. Upon investigation the cook +reported that a package of coffee had been sent to the house, and, +taking it for granted that it had been ordered by some member of the +household, she had used it for breakfast. The whole matter was shrouded +in mystery, and gossip was rife. One story was that a vindictive woman +concentrated all of her malice upon a single member of the family +against whom she had a grievance and thus endangered the lives of the +whole Otis family. Fortunately, none of the cases proved fatal, but +several inmates of the house became seriously ill. + +A few years before I entered Madame Chegaray's school, Virginia Scott, +the oldest daughter of Major General Winfield Scott, enjoyed _Tante's_ +tutelage for a number of years. She was a rare combination of genius and +beauty, and, apart from her remarkable personality, was a skilled +linguist and an accomplished vocal and instrumental musician. This +unusual combination of gifts suggests the Spanish saying: "Mira +favorecida de Dios" ("Behold one favored of God!"). Her life, however, +was brief, though deeply interesting. In the first blush of womanhood +she accompanied her mother and sisters to Europe, and, after several +years spent in Paris, made a visit to Rome, where she immediately became +imbued with profound religious convictions. Through the instrumentality +of Father Pierce Connelly, a convert to Catholicism, she was received +into the Roman Catholic Church while in the Holy City, and made her +profession of faith in the Chapel of St. Ignatius, where the ceremony +took place by the special permission of the Most Rev. John Roothan, +General of the Jesuits. General Scott meanwhile had returned to the +United States, having been promoted to the rank of Commander-in-Chief of +the Army with headquarters in Washington. Accompanied by her mother, +Virginia Scott returned to America and, after a short time spent with +her parents in Washington, drove to Georgetown and, without their +knowledge or consent, was received there as an inmate of the "Convent of +the Visitation." Her family was bitterly opposed to the step, more +especially her mother, whose indignation was so pronounced that she +never to the day of her death forgave the Church for depriving her of +her daughter's companionship. General Scott, however, frequently visited +her in her cloistered home, and always manifested much consideration for +the Convent as well as for the nuns, the daily companions of his +daughter. Although she possessed a proud and imperious nature, combined +with great personal beauty and much natural _hauteur_, she soon became +as gentle as a lamb. She died about a year after entering the Convent, +but she retained her deep religious convictions to the last. She is +buried beneath the sanctuary in the chapel of the Georgetown Convent. In +connection with her a few lines often come to my mind which seem so +appropriate that I can not deny myself the pleasure of quoting them: + + She was so fair that in the Angelic choir, + She will not need put on another shape + Than that she bore on earth. + +I have heard it stated that during Virginia Scott's residence in Paris +there existed a deep attachment between herself and a young gentleman of +foreign birth. The story goes that in the course of time he became as +devoted to his religion as he had hitherto been to the beautiful +American, and that it was agreed between them that they should both +consecrate themselves thereafter to the service of God. He accordingly +entered at once upon a religious life. I have heard that they afterwards +met at a service before the altar, but that there was no recognition. As +intimate as I became with the members of the Scott family in subsequent +years, I never heard any allusion to this incident in their family +history, and I can readily understand that it was a subject upon which +they were too sensitive to dwell. + +Father Connelly, whom I have mentioned in connection with Miss Scott's +conversion, began his career as an Episcopal clergyman. There was a +barrier to his becoming a Roman Catholic priest, as he was married; but +his wife soon shared in his religious ardor, and when he entered the +priesthood she became a nun. He lacked stability, however, in his +religious views, and was subsequently received again into the Episcopal +Church. It was his desire that his wife should at once join him but she +refused to leave the Convent, and she finally became the founder of the +Order of the "Sisters of the Holy Child." I have heard that he took +legal measures to obtain possession of her, but if so he was +unsuccessful in his efforts. + +Another one of Madame Chegaray's distinguished pupils was Martha Pierce +of Louisville. As she attended this school some years before I entered, +I knew of her in these days only by reputation. But some years later I +had the pleasure of knowing her quite intimately, when she talked very +freely with me in regard to her eventful life. She told me that upon a +certain occasion in the days when women rarely traveled alone she was +returning to Kentucky under the care of Henry Clay, and stopped in +Washington long enough to visit the Capitol. Upon its steps she was +introduced to Robert Craig Stanard of Richmond, upon whom she apparently +made a deep impression, for one year later the handsome young Southerner +carried the Kentucky girl, at the age of sixteen, back to Virginia as +his bride. During her long life in Richmond her home, now the +Westmoreland Club, was a notable _salon_, where the _beaux esprits_ of +the South gathered. She survived Mr. Stanard many years. Beautiful, even +in old age, gifted and cultivated, her attractions of face and intellect +paled before her inexpressible charm of manner. She traveled much abroad +and especially in England. A prominent Kentuckian once told me that he +heard Washington Irving say that Mrs. Stanard received more attention +and admiration in the highest circles of English society than any other +American woman he had ever known. She corresponded for many years with +Thackeray, the Duke of Wellington and many other prominent Englishmen, +and in her own country was equally distinguished. In the course of one +of our numerous conversations she told me that after the death of Edward +Everett she loaned his biographer the letters she had received from that +distinguished orator. During the latter part of her life she gave up her +house in Richmond and came to Washington to reside, where she remained +until the end of her life. She left no descendants. Her husband's +mother, Jane Stith Craig, daughter of Adam Craig of Richmond, was +immortalized by Edgar Allan Poe, who, fictitiously naming her "Helen," +paid feeling tribute to her charms in those beautiful verses commencing: + + Helen, thy beauty is to me + Like those Nicean barks of yore, + That gently, o'er a perfumed sea, + The weary, way-worn wanderer bore + To his own native shore. + +Among my other schoolmates at Madame Chegaray's were Susan Maria +Clarkson de Peyster, a daughter of James Ferguson de Peyster, who +subsequently married Robert Edward Livingston; Margaret Masters, a +daughter of Judge Josiah Masters of Troy, New York, and the wife of John +W. King; Virginia Beverly Wood, a daughter of Silas Wood of New York, +who became the wife of John Leverett Rogers; and Elizabeth MacNiel, +daughter of General John MacNiel of the Army and wife of General Henry +W. Benham of the U.S. Engineer Corps. + +After a number of years spent in teaching, Madame Chegaray gave up her +New York school and moved to Madison, New Jersey (at one time called +Bottle Hill), with the intention of spending the remainder of her life +in retirement; but she was doomed to disappointment. Discovering almost +immediately that through a relative her affairs had become deeply +involved, she with undaunted courage at once opened a school in Madison +in the house which she had purchased with the view of spending there the +declining years of her life. Previous to this time I had been one of her +day scholars; I entered the second school as a boarding pupil. Once a +week we were driven three miles to Morristown to attend church. I recall +an amusing incident connected with this weekly visit to that place. One +Sunday a fellow boarder, thinking that perhaps she might find some +leisure before the service to perfect herself in her lesson for the +following day, thoughtlessly took along with her a volume of French +plays by Voltaire. During the service someone in a near pew observed the +author's name upon the book, and forthwith the Morristown populace was +startled to hear that among Madame Chegaray's pupils was a follower of +the noted infidel. It took some time to convince the public that this +book was carried to church by my schoolmate without her teacher's +knowledge; and the girl was horrified to learn that she was +unintentionally to blame for a new local scandal. While I was at Madame +Chegaray's I owned a schoolbook entitled "Shelley, Coleridge and Keats." +I brought it home with me one day, but my father took it away from me +and, as I learned later, burned it, owing to his detestation of +Shelley's moral character. On one occasion he quoted in court some +extracts from Shelley as illustrative of the poet's character, but I +cannot recall the passage. + +After two years spent in Madison, Madame Chegaray returned to New York +and reopened her school on the corner of Union Square and Fifteenth +Street in three houses built for her by Samuel B. Ruggles. At that time +the omnibuses had been running only to Fourteenth Street, but, out of +courtesy to this noble woman, their route was extended to Fifteenth +Street, where a lamp for the same reason was placed by the city. Madame +Chegaray taught here for many years, but finally moved to 78 Madison +Avenue, where she remained until, on account of old age, she was obliged +to give up her teaching. + +While I was still attending Madame Chegaray's school, my father, under +the impression that I was not quite as proficient in mathematics and +astronomy as it was his desire and ambition that I should be, employed +Professor Robert Adrian of Columbia College to give me private +instruction in my own home. Under his able tuition, I particularly +enjoyed traversing the firmament. I was always faithful to the planet +Venus, whose beauty was to me then, as now, a constant delight. In those +youthful days my proprietorship in this heavenly body seemed to me as +well established as in a Fifth Avenue lot, and was quite as tangible. I +regarded myself in the light of an individual proprietor, and, like +Alexander Selkirk in his far away island of the sea, my right to this +celestial domain there was none to dispute. + +After the flight of so many years, and in view, also, of the fact that +sometimes the world seems to us older women to be almost turned upside +down, it may not be uninteresting to speak of some of the books which +were familiar to me during my school days. One of the first I ever read +was "Clarissa Harlowe" by Samuel Richardson. "Cecilia," by Frances +Burney, was another well-known book of the day. Mrs. Amelia Opie was +also a popular authoress, and her novel entitled "White Lies" should, in +my opinion, grace every library. Miss Maria Edgeworth and Mrs. Ann Eliza +Bray, the latter of whom so graphically depicted the higher phases of +English life, were popular authoresses in my earlier days in New York. +Many years later some of the books I have mentioned were republished by +the Harpers. "Gil Blas," whose author, Le Sage, was the skilful +delineator of human nature, its attributes and its frailties, was much +read, and, in my long journey through life, certain portions of this +book have often been recalled to me by my many and varied experiences. I +must not fail to speak of the "Children of the Abbey," by Regina M. +Roche, where the fascinations of Lord Leicester are so vividly +portrayed; nor of another book entitled "The Three Spaniards," by George +Walker, which used to strike terror to my unsophisticated soul. + +When Madame Chegaray retired temporarily from her school life and moved +to Madison in New Jersey, Charles Canda, who had taught drawing for her, +established a school of his own in New York which became very prominent. +He had an attractive young daughter, who met with a most heartrending +end. On her way to a ball, in company with one of her girl friends, +Charlotte Canda was thrown from her carriage, and when picked up her +life was extinct. As there were no injuries found upon her body, it was +generally supposed that the shock brought on an attack of heart-failure. +Subsequently the disconsolate parents ordered from Italy a monument +costing a fabulous sum of money for those days, which was placed over +the grave of their only daughter in Greenwood Cemetery, where it still +continues to command the admiration of sightseers. This tragic incident +occurred in February, 1845, on the eve of the victim's seventeenth +birthday. + +While Madame Chegaray was my teacher there was a charming French society +in New York, her house being the rendezvous of this interesting social +circle. I recall with much pleasure the names of Boisseau, Trudeau, +Boisaubin, Thebaud and Brugiere. Madame Chegaray's sister, Caroline, +together with her husband, Charles Bérault, who taught dancing, and +their three daughters, resided with her. The oldest, Madame Vincente +Rose Améline (Madame George R. A. Chaulet), taught music for her aunt; +the second niece, Marie-Louise Joséphine Laure, married Joseph U. F. +d'Hervilly, a Frenchman, and in after life established a school in +Philadelphia which she named Chegaray Institute; while the youngest, +Pauline, married a gentleman from Cuba, named de Ruiz, and now resides +in Paris. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +LIFE AND EXPERIENCES IN THE METROPOLIS + + +My health was somewhat impaired by an attack of chills and fever while I +was still a pupil at Madame Chegaray's school. Long Island was +especially affected with this malady, and even certain locations on the +Hudson were on this account regarded with disfavor. In subsequent years, +when the building operations of the Hudson River railroad cut off the +water in many places and formed stagnant pools, it became much worse. As +I began to convalesce, Dr. John W. Francis prescribed a change of air, +and I was accordingly sent to Saratoga to be under the care of my +friend, Mrs. Richard Armistead of North Carolina. A few days after my +arrival we were joined by Mrs. De Witt Clinton and her attractive +step-daughter, Julia Clinton. The United States Hotel, where we stayed, +was thronged with visitors, but as I was only a young girl my +observation of social life was naturally limited and I knew but few +persons. Mrs. Clinton was a granddaughter of Philip Livingston, the +Signer, and married at a mature age. She had a natural and most profound +admiration for the memory of her illustrious husband, whom I have heard +her describe as "a prince among men," and she cherished an undying +resentment for any of his political antagonists. + +While we were still at the United States Hotel, Martin Van Buren, at +that time President of the United States, arrived in Saratoga and +sojourned at the same hotel with us. His visit made an indelible +impression upon my memory owing to a highly sensational incident. During +the evening of the President's arrival Mrs. Clinton was promenading in +the large parlor of the hotel, leaning upon the arm of the Portuguese +_Chargé d'Affaires_, Senhor Joaquim Cesar de Figanière, when Mr. Van +Buren espying her advanced with his usual suavity of manner to meet her. +With a smile upon his face, he extended his hand, whereupon Mrs. Clinton +immediately turned her back and compelled her escort to imitate her, +apparently ignoring the fact that he was a foreign diplomat and that his +conduct might subsequently be resented by the authorities in Washington. +This incident, occurring as it did in a crowded room, was observed by +many of the guests and naturally created much comment. In talking over +the incident the next day Mrs. Clinton told me she was under the +impression that Mr. Van Buren clearly understood her feelings in regard +to him, as some years previous, when he and General Andrew Jackson +called upon her together, she had declined to see him, although Jackson +had been admitted. This act was characteristic of the woman. It was the +expression of a resentment which she had harbored against Mr. Van Buren +for years and which she was only abiding her time to display. I was +standing at Mrs. Clinton's side during this dramatic episode, and to my +youthful fancy she seemed, indeed, a heroine! + +Mrs. Clinton was a social leader in Gotham before the days of the +_nouveaux riches_, and her sway was that of an autocrat. Her presence +was in every way imposing. She possessed many charming characteristics +and was in more respects than one an uncrowned queen, retaining her +wonderful tact and social power until the day of her death. I love to +dwell upon Mrs. Clinton because, apart from her remarkable personal +characteristics, she was the friend of my earlier life. Possessed as she +was of many eccentricities, her excellencies far counterbalanced them. +Of the latter, I recall especially the unusual ability and care she +displayed in housekeeping, which at that time was regarded as an +accomplishment in which every woman took particular pride. To be still +more specific, she apparently had a much greater horror of dirt than the +average housewife, and carried her antipathy to such an extent that she +tolerated but few fires in her University Place establishment in New +York, as she seriously objected to the uncleanness caused by the dust +and ashes! No matter how cold her house nor how frigid the day, she +never seemed to suffer but, on the contrary, complained that her home +was overheated. Her guests frequently commented upon "the nipping and +eager air" which Shakespeare's Horatio speaks of, but it made no +apparent impression upon their hostess. + +Mrs. Clinton's articulation was affected by a slight stammer, which, in +my opinion, but added piquancy to her epigrammatic sayings. She once +remarked to me, "I shall never be c-c-cold until I'm dead." An impulse +took possession of me which somehow, in spite of the great difference in +our ages, I seemed unable to resist, and I retorted, "We are not all +assured of our temperatures at that period." She regarded me for a few +moments with unfeigned astonishment, but said nothing. I did not suffer +for my temerity at that moment, but later I was chagrined to learn she +had remarked that I was the most impertinent girl she had ever known. I +remember that upon another occasion she told me that one of Governor +Clinton's grandchildren, Augusta Clinton, was about to leave school at a +very early age. "Doesn't she intend to finish her education?" I +inquired. "No," was the quick and emphatic but stuttering reply, "she's +had sufficient education. I was at school only two months, and I'm sure +I'm smart enough." Her niece, Margaret Gelston, who was present and was +remarkable for her clear wits, retorted: "Only think how much smarter +you'd have been if you had remained longer." In an angry tone Mrs. +Clinton replied, "I don't want to be any smarter, I'm smart enough." + +Mrs. Clinton's two nieces, the Misses Mary and Margaret Gelston, were +among my earliest and most intimate friends. They occupied a prominent +social position in New York and both were well known for their unusual +intellectuality. They were daughters of Maltby Gelston, President of the +Manhattan Bank, and granddaughters of David Gelston, who was appointed +Collector of the Port of New York by Jefferson and retained that +position for twenty years. Late in life Mary Gelston married Henry R. +Winthrop of New York. She died a few years ago leaving an immense estate +to Princeton Theological Seminary. "I pray," reads her will, "that the +Trustees of this Institution may make such use of this bequest as that +the extension of the Church of Christ on earth and the glory of God may +be promoted thereby." In the same instrument she adds: "As a similar +bequest would have been made by my deceased sister, Margaret L. Gelston, +had she survived me, I desire that the said Trustees should regard it as +given jointly by my said sister and by me." Some distant relatives, +thinking that her money could be more satisfactorily employed than in +the manner indicated, contested the will, and the Seminary finally +received, as the result of a compromise, between $1,600,000 and +$1,700,000. + +One of my earliest recollections is of John Jacob Astor, a feeble old +man descending the doorsteps of his home on Broadway near Houston Street +to enter his carriage. His house was exceedingly plain and was one of a +row owned by him. His son, William Backhouse Astor, who married a +daughter of General John Armstrong, Secretary of War under President +Madison, during at least a portion of his father's life lived in a fine +house on Lafayette Place. I have attended evening parties there that +were exceedingly simple in character, and at which Mrs. Astor was always +plainly dressed and wore no jewels. I have a very distinct recollection +of one of these parties owing to a ludicrous incident connected with +myself. My mother was a woman of decidedly domestic tastes, whose whole +life was so immersed in her large family of children that she never +allowed an event of a social character to interfere with what she +regarded as her household or maternal duties. We older children were +therefore much thrown upon our own resources from a social point of +view, and when I grew into womanhood and entered society I was usually +accompanied to entertainments by my father. Sometimes, however, I went +with my lifelong friend, Margaret Tillotson Kemble, a daughter of +William Kemble, of whom I shall speak hereafter. Upon this particular +occasion I had gone early in the day to the Kembles preparatory to +spending the night there, with the intention of attending a ball at the +Astors'. Having dined, supped, and dressed myself for the occasion, in +company with Miss Kemble and her father I reached the Astor residence, +where I found on the doorstep an Irish maid from my own home awaiting my +arrival. In her hand she held an exquisite bouquet of pink and white +japonicas which had been sent to me by John Still Winthrop, the _fiancé_ +of Susan Armistead, another of my intimate friends. The bouquet had +arrived just after my departure from home and, quite unknown to my +family, the Irish maid out of the goodness of her heart had taken it +upon herself to see that it was placed in my hands. I learned later +that, much to the amusement of many of the guests, she had been awaiting +my arrival for several hours. It seems almost needless to add that I +carried my flowers throughout the evening with much girlish pride and +pleasure. + +Among the guests at this ball was Mrs. Francis R. Boreel, the young and +beautiful daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Langdon, who wore in her dark +hair a diamond necklace, a recent gift from her grandfather, John Jacob +Astor. It was currently rumored at the time that it cost twenty thousand +dollars, which was then a very large amount to invest in a single +article of that character. Mrs. Langdon's two other daughters were Mrs. +Matthew Wilks, who married abroad and spent her life there, and the +first Mrs. De Lancey Kane, who made a runaway match, and both of whom +left descendants in New York. All three women were celebrated for their +beauty, but Mrs. Boreel was usually regarded as the handsomest of the +trio. Mrs. Walter Langdon was Dorothea Astor, a daughter of John Jacob +Astor, and her husband was a grandson of Judge John Langdon of New +Hampshire, who equipped Stark's regiment for the battle of Bennington, +and who for twelve years was a member of the United States Senate and +was present as President _pro tempore_ of that body at the first +inauguration of Washington. + +Another society woman whose presence at this ball I recall, and without +whom no entertainment was regarded as complete, was Mrs. Charles +Augustus Davis, wife of the author of the well-known "Jack Downing +Letters." Indeed, the name "Jack Downing" seemed so much a part of the +Davis family that in after years I have often heard Mrs. Davis called +"Mrs. Jack Downing." The Davises had a handsome daughter who married a +gentleman of French descent, but neither of them long survived the +marriage. + +In an old newspaper of 1807 I came across the following marriage notice, +which was the first Astor wedding to occur in this country: + + BENTZON--ASTOR. Married, on Monday morning, the 14th ult. + [September], by the Rev. Mr. [Ralph] Williston, Adrian B. + Bentzon, Esq., of the Isle of St. Croix, to Miss Magdalen + Astor, daughter of John Jacob Astor of this city. + +It was while on a cruise among the West Indies that Miss Astor met Mr. +Bentzon, a Danish gentleman of good family but moderate fortune. In the +early part of the last century many ambitious foreigners went to that +part of the world with the intention of making their fortunes. + +Another daughter of John Jacob Astor, Eliza, married Count Vincent +Rumpff, who was for some years Minister at the Court of the Tuileries +from the Hanseatic towns of Germany. She was well known through life, +and long remembered after death, for her symmetrical Christian +character. One of her writings, entitled "Transplanted Flowers," has +been published in conjunction with one of the Duchesse de Broglie, +daughter of Madame de Staël, with whom she was intimately associated in +her Christian works. + +Henry Astor, the brother of John Jacob Astor, was the first of the +family to come to America. I am able to state, upon the authority of the +late Rev. Dr. Morgan Dix, rector of Trinity church in New York, and a +life-long friend of the whole Astor connection, that he was a private in +a Hessian regiment that fought against our colonies in the Revolutionary +War. After its close he decided to remain in New York where he entered +the employment of a butcher in the old Oswego market. He subsequently +embarked upon more ambitious enterprises, became a highly successful +business man and at his death left a large fortune to his childless +widow. Dr. Dix has stated that it was probably through him that the +younger brother came to this country. However this may be, John Jacob +Astor sailed for America as a steerage passenger in a ship commanded by +Capt. Jacob Stout and arrived in Baltimore in January, 1784. He +subsequently went to New York, where he spent his first night in the +house of George Dieterich, a fellow countryman whom he had known in +Germany and by whom he was now employed to peddle cakes. After remaining +in his employ for a time and accumulating a little money he hired a +store of his own where he sold toys and German knickknacks. He +afterwards added skins and even musical instruments to his stock in +trade, as will appear from the following in _The Daily Advertiser_ of +New York, of the 2d of January, 1789, and following issues: + + J. Jacob Astor, + At No. 81, Queen-street, + Next door but one to the Friends Meeting-House, + Has for sale an assortment of + Piano fortes, of the newest construction, + Made by the best makers in London, which he will sell on + reasonable terms. + He gives Cash for all kinds of FURS: + And has for sale a quantity of Canada Beaver, and + Beaver Coating, Racoon Skins, and Racoon Blankets, + Muskrat Skins, &c. &c. + +It would seem that these Astor pianos were manufactured in London and +that George Astor, an elder brother of John Jacob Astor, was associated +with the latter in their sale. Indeed, one of them, formerly owned by +the Clinton family and now in Washington's Headquarters in Newburgh, +bears the name of "Geo. Astor & Co., Cornhill, London;" while still +another in my immediate neighborhood in Washington has the inscription +of "Astor and Camp, 79 Cornhill, London." Their octaves were few in +number, and a pupil of Chopin would have regarded them with scorn; but +upon these little spindle-legged affairs a duet could be performed. My +first knowledge of instrumental music was derived from one of these +pianos, and among the earliest recollections of my childhood is that of +hearing my three maiden aunts, my father's sisters, playing in turn the +inspiring Scotch airs upon the Astor piano that stood in their +drawing-room. One of their songs was especially inimical to cloistered +life and it, too, was possibly of Scotch origin. I am unable to recall +its exact words, but its refrain ran as follows: + + I will not be a nun, + I can not be a nun, + I shall not be a nun, + I'm so fond of pleasure + I'll not be a nun. + +I own an original letter written by John Jacob Astor from New York on +the 26th of April, 1826, addressed to ex-President James Monroe, my +husband's grandfather, which I regard as interesting on account of its +quaint style: + + Dear Sir, + + Permit me to congratulate you on your Honourable retirement + [from public life] for which I most sincerely wish you may + enjoy that Peace and Tranquility to which you are so justly + entitled. + + Without wishing to cause you any Inconveniency [sic] on + account of the loan which I so long since made to you I + would be glad if you would put it in a train of sittlelment + [sic] if not the whole let it be a part with the interest + Due. + + I hope Dear Sir that you and Mrs. Monroe enjoy the best of + health and that you may live many years to wittness [sic] + the Prosperity of the country to which you have so + generously contributed. + + I am most Respectfully Dear Sir your obed S. &c. + + J. J. ASTOR. + + The Honble James Monroe. + +It may here be stated that Mr. Astor's solicitude concerning Mr. +Monroe's financial obligation was duly relieved, and that the debt was +paid in full. + +John Jacob Astor's numerous descendants can lay this "flattering +unction" to their souls, that every dollar of his vast wealth was +accumulated through thrift while leading an upright life. + +An old-fashioned stage coach in my early days ran between New York and +Harlem, but the fashionable drive was on the west side of the city +along what was then called the "Bloomingdale Road." Many fashionable New +Yorkers owned and occupied handsome country seats along this route, and +closed their city homes for a period during the heated term. I recall +with pleasure the home of the Prussian Consul General and Mrs. John +William Schmidt, and especially their attractive daughters. Mr. Schmidt, +who came to this country as a bachelor, married Miss Eliza Ann Bache of +New York. Quite a number of years subsequent to this event, before they +had children of their own, they adopted a little girl whom they named +Julia and whom I knew very well in my early girlhood. As equestrian +exercise was popular in New York at that time, many of the young men and +women riding on the Bloomingdale Road would stop at the Schmidts' +hospitable home, rest their horses and enjoy a pleasing half-hour's +conversation with the daughters of the household. Among the fair riders +was Mary Tallmadge, a famous beauty and a daughter of General James +Tallmadge. During her early life and at a period when visits abroad were +few and far between, her father accompanied her to Europe. During her +travels on the continent she visited St. Petersburg, where her beauty +created a great sensation. While there the Emperor Nicholas I. presented +her with a handsome India shawl. She returned to America, married Philip +S. Van Rensselaer, a son of the old Patroon, and lived for many years on +Washington Square in New York. + +Alexander Hamilton and family also owned and occupied a house in this +charming suburb called "The Grange." It was subsequently occupied by +Herman Thorne, who had married Miss Jane Mary Jauncey, a wealthy heiress +of New York. He lived in this house only a few years when he went with +his wife to reside in Paris during the reign of Louis Philippe. Mr. +Thorne became the most prominent American resident there and excited +the envy of many of his countrymen by his lavish expenditure of money. +His daughters made foreign matrimonial alliances. He was originally from +Schenectady, for a time was a purser in the U.S. Navy, and was +remarkable for his handsome presence and courtly bearing. + +Jacob Lorillard lived in a handsome house in Manhattanville, a short +distance from the Bloomingdale Road. He began life, first as an +apprentice and then as a proprietor, in the tanning and hide business, +and his tannery was on Pearl Street. He then, with his brothers, +embarked in the manufacture and sale of snuff and tobacco, in which, as +is well known, he amassed an immense fortune. My earliest recollection +of the family is in the days of its great prosperity. One of Mr. +Lorillard's daughters, Julia, who married Daniel Edgar, I knew very +well, and I recall a visit I once made her in her beautiful home, where +I also attended her wedding a few years later. At this time her mother +was a widow, and shortly after the marriage the place was sold to the +Catholic order of the _Sacre Coeur_. Mrs. Jacob Lorillard was a daughter +of the Rev. Doctor Johann Christoff Kunze, professor of Oriental +Languages in Columbia College. + +Many years ago the wags of London exhausted their wits in fittingly +characterizing and ridiculing the numerous equipages of a London +manufacturer of snuff and tobacco. One couplet suggestive of the manner +in which this vast wealth was acquired, was + + Who would have thought it + That Noses had bought it. + +The suitor of the daughter of this wealthy Englishman was appropriately +dubbed "Up to Snuff." Alas, this ancestral and aristocratic luxury of +snuff departed many years ago, but succeeding generations have been "up +to snuff" in many other ways. The gold snuff-box frequently studded +with gems which I remember so well in days gone by and especially at the +home Gouverneur Kemble in Cold Spring, where it was passed around and +freely used by both men and women, now commands no respect except as an +ancestral curio. Dryden, Dean Swift, Pope, Addison, Lord Chesterfield, +Dr. Johnson, Garrick, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Keats, Charles Lamb, Gibbon, +Walter Scott and Darwin were among the prominent worshipers of the +snuff-box and its contents, while some of them indulged in the habit to +the degree of intemperance. In describing his manner of using the +snuff-box Gibbon wrote: "I drew my snuff-box, rapped it, took snuff +twice, and continued my discourse in my usual attitude of my body bent +forwards, and my fore-finger stretched out;" and Boswell wrote in its +praise: + + Oh, snuff! our fashionable end and aim-- + Strasburgh, Rappe, Dutch, Scotch--whate'er thy name! + Powder celestial! quintessence divine + New joys entrance my soul while thou art mine; + Who takes? who takes thee not? Where'er I range + I smell thy sweets from Pall Mall to the 'Change. + +While the spirit of patriotism was as prevalent in early New York as it +is now, it seems to me that it was somewhat less demonstrative. The 4th +of July, however, was anticipated by the youngsters of the day with the +greatest eagerness and pleasure. It was the habit of my father, for many +years, to take us children early in the morning to the City Hall to +attend the official observances of the day, an experience which we +naturally regarded as a great privilege. Booths were temporarily erected +all along the pavement in front of the City Hall, where substantial food +was displayed and sold to the crowds collected to assist in celebrating +the day. About noon several military companies arrived upon the scene +and took their positions in the park, where, after a number of +interesting maneuvers, a salute was fired which was terrifying to my +youthful nerves. Small boys, then as now, provided themselves with +pistols, and human life was occasionally sacrificed to patriotic ardor, +although I never remember hearing of cases of lockjaw resulting from +such accidents, as is so frequently the case at present. Firecrackers +and torpedoes were then in vogue, but skyrockets and more elaborate +fireworks had not then come into general use. I do not recall that the +national flag was especially prominent upon the "glorious fourth," and +it is my impression that this insignia of patriotism was not universally +displayed upon patriotic occasions until the Civil War. + +The musical world of New York lay dormant until about the year 1825, +when Dominick Lynch, much to the delight of the cultivated classes, +introduced the Italian Opera. Through his instrumentality Madame +Malibran, her father, Signor Garcia, and her brother, Manuel Garcia, who +by the way died abroad in 1906, nearly ninety-nine years of age, came to +this country and remained for quite a period. I have heard many sad +traditions regarding Malibran, whose name is certainly immortal in the +annals of the musical world. Mr. Lynch was the social leader of his day +in New York, was æsthetic in his tastes, and possessed a highly +cultivated voice. He frequently sang the beautiful old ballads so much +in vogue at that period. I have heard through Mrs. Samuel L. Hinckley, +an old friend of mine, who remembered the incident, that during a visit +to Boston when he sang Tom Moore's pathetic ballad, "Oft in the Stilly +Night," there was scarcely a dry eye in the room. In referring to the +introduction of the Italian Opera into this country Dr. John W. Francis +in his "Old New York" thus speaks of Dominick Lynch: "For this +advantageous accession to the resources of mental gratification, we were +indebted to the taste and refinement of Dominick Lynch, the liberality +of the manager of the Park Theater, Stephen Price, and the distinguished +reputation of the Venetian, Lorenzo Da Ponte. Lynch, a native of New +York, was the acknowledged head of the fashionable and festive board, a +gentleman of the ton and a melodist of great powers and of exquisite +taste; he had long striven to enhance the character of our music; he was +the master of English song, but he felt, from his close cultivation of +music and his knowledge of the genius of his countrymen, that much was +wanting, and that more could be accomplished, and he sought out, while +in Europe, an Italian _troupe_, which his persuasive eloquence and the +liberal spirit of Price led to embark for our shores where they arrived +in November, 1825." Stephen Price here referred to by Dr. Francis was +the manager of the old Park Theater. Dominick Lynch's grandson, Nicholas +Luquer, who with his charming wife, formerly Miss Helen K. Shelton of +New York, resides in Washington, and his son, Lynch Luquer, inherit the +musical ability of their ancestor. + +The great actors of the day performed in the Park Theater. I also +vividly remember the Bowery Theater, as well as in subsequent years +Burton's Theater in Chambers Street and the Astor Place Theater. When +William C. Macready, the great English actor, was performing in the +latter in 1849 a riot occurred caused by the jealousy existing between +him and his American rival, Edwin Forrest. Forrest had not been well +received in England owing, as he believed, to the unfriendly influence +of Macready. While the latter was considered by many the better actor, +Forrest was exceptionally popular with a certain class of people in New +York whose sympathies were easily enlisted and whose passions were +readily aroused. During the evening referred to, while Macready was +acting in the _rôle_ of Macbeth, a determined mob attacked the theater, +and the riot was not quelled until after a bitter struggle, in which the +police and the military were engaged, and during which twenty-one were +killed and thirty-three wounded. + +In consequence of this unfortunate rivalry and its bloody results, +Forrest became morbid, and his domestic infelicities that followed +served to still further embitter his life. In 1850 his wife instituted +proceedings for divorce in the Superior Court of the City of New York, +and the trial was protracted for two years. She was represented by the +eminent jurist, Charles O'Conor, while Forrest employed "Prince" John +Van Buren, son of the ex-President. The legal struggle was one of the +most celebrated in the annals of the New York bar. There was abundant +evidence of moral delinquency on the part of both parties to the suit, +but the verdict was in favor of Mrs. Forrest. She was the daughter of +John Sinclair, formerly a drummer in the English army and subsequently a +professional singer. James Gordon Bennett said of her in the _Herald_ +that "being born and schooled in turmoil and dissipation and reared in +constant excitement she could not live without it." + +I have heard it said that one day John Van Buren was asked by a +disgruntled friend at the close of a hotly contested suit whether there +was any case so vile or disreputable that he would refuse to act as +counsel for the accused. The quick response was: "I must first know the +circumstances of the case; but what have you been doing?" Dr. Valentine +Mott, who for many years was a resident of Paris, gave a fancy-dress +ball in New York in honor of the Prince de Joinville, son of Louis +Philippe. At this entertainment John Van Buren appeared in the usual +evening dress with a red sash tied around his waist. Much to the +amusement of the guests whom he met, his salutation was: "Would you know +me?" It will be remembered that he was familiarly called "Prince John," +owing to the fact that he had once danced with Queen Victoria prior to +her ascension to the throne. One day Van Buren met on the street James +T. Brady, a lawyer of equal ability and wit, who had recently returned +from a visit to England. In a most patronizing manner he inquired +whether he had seen the Queen. "Certainly," said Mr. Brady, "and under +these circumstances. I was walking along the street when by chance the +Queen's carriage overtook me, and the moment Her Majesty's eye lighted +upon me she exclaimed: 'Hello, Jim Brady, when did you hear from John +Van Buren?'" I recall another amusing anecdote about John Van Buren +during my school days. Mustaches were at that time worn chiefly by the +sporting element. Mr. Van Buren, who was very attentive to Catharine +Theodora Duer, a daughter of President William Alexander Duer of +Columbia College, and who, by the way, never married, adopted this style +of facial adornment, but the young woman objecting to it he cut it off +and sent it to her in a letter. Prince John Van Buren's daughter, Miss +Anna Vander Poel Van Buren, many years thereafter, married Edward +Alexander Duer, a nephew of this Catharine Theodora Duer. + +It was my very great pleasure to know Fanny Kemble and her father, +Charles Kemble. She was, indeed, the queen of tragedy, and delighted the +histrionic world of New York by her remarkable rendering of the plays of +Shakespeare. In later years when I heard her give Shakespearian +readings, I regarded the occasion as an epoch in my life. In this +connection I venture to express my surprise that the classical English +quotations so pleasing to the ear in former days are now so seldom +heard. It seems unfortunate that the epigrammatic sentences, for +example, of grand old Dr. Samuel Johnson have become almost obsolete. In +former years Byron appealed to the sentiment, while the more ambitious +quoted Greek maxims. The sayings of the old authors were recalled, +mingled with the current topics of the day. It would seem, however, that +the present generation is decidedly more interested in quotations from +the stock exchange. Edmund Burke said that "the age of chivalry is +gone, that of sophists, economists, and calculators has succeeded." + +Upon her return to England Fanny Kemble published her journal kept while +in the United States, which was by no means pleasing in every respect to +her American readers. It is said that in one of her literary effusions +she dwelt upon a custom, which she claimed was prevalent in America, of +parents naming their children after classical heroes, and gave as an +example a child in New York who bore the name of Alfonzo Alonzo +Agamemnon Dionysius Bogardus. The sister of this youth, she stated, was +named Clementina Seraphina Imogen. I think this statement must have been +evolved from her own brain, as it would be difficult to conceive of +parents who would consent to make their children notorious in such a +ridiculous manner. Fanny Kemble married Pierce Butler, a lawyer of +ability and cousin of the U.S. Senator from South Carolina of the same +name, and they were divorced in 1849, when the Hon. George M. Dallas was +counsel for Fanny Kemble and Rufus Choate appeared for her husband. + +Fanny Elssler, a queen of grace and beauty on the stage, delighted +immense audiences at the Park Theater. She came to this country under +the auspices of Chevalier Henry Wikoff, a roving but accomplished +soldier of fortune, who pitched his camp in both continents. Upon her +arrival in New York the "divine Fanny," as she was invariably called, +was borne to her destination in a carriage from which the horses had +been detached by her enthusiastic _adorateurs_, led by August Belmont. +She was, indeed, + + A being so fair that the same lips and eyes + She bore on earth might serve in Paradise. + +At this distant day it seems almost impossible to describe her. She +seemed to float upon the stage sustained only by the surrounding +atmosphere. In my opinion she has never had a rival, with the possible +exception of Taglioni, the great Swedish _danseuse_. I saw Fanny Elssler +dance the _cracovienne_ and the _cachucha_, and it is a memory which +will linger with me always. The music that accompanied these dances was +generally selected from the popular airs of the day. Many dark stories +were afloat concerning Fanny Elssler's private life, but to me it seems +impossible to associate her angelic presence with anything but her +wonderful art. She was never received socially in New York; indeed, the +only person that I remember connected with the stage in my early days +who had the social _entrée_ was Fanny Kemble. + +We attended the Dutch Reformed Church in New York of which the Rev. Dr. +Jacob Brodhead was for many years the pastor. My aunts, however, +attended one of the three collegiate churches in the lower part of the +city, and I sometimes accompanied them and, as there was a frequent +interchange of pulpits, I became quite accustomed to hear all of the +three clergymen. The Rev. Dr. John Knox, who endeared himself to his +flock by his gentle and appealing ministrations; the Rev. Dr. Thomas De +Witt, a profound theologian and courtly gentleman; and the Rev. Dr. +William C. Brownlee, with his vigorous Scotch accent, preaching against +what he invariably called "papery" (popery), and recalling, as he did, +John Knox of old, that irritating thorn in the side of the unfortunate +Mary Queen of Scots, made up this remarkable trio. During the latter +part of his life Dr. Brownlee suffered from a stroke of paralysis which +rendered him speechless, and his Catholic adversaries improved this +opportunity to circulate the report that he had been visited by a +judgment from Heaven. + +There were many shining lights in the Episcopal Church at this time in +New York. The Rev. Dr. William Berrian was the acceptable rector of St. +John's, which was then as now a chapel of Trinity Parish. The Rev. Dr. +Francis L. Hawks was the popular rector of St. Thomas's church, on the +corner of Broadway and Houston Streets. He was a North Carolinian by +birth, but is said to have been in part of Indian descent. I recall with +pleasure his masterly rendition of the Episcopal service. During the +Civil War he made it quite apparent to his parishioners that his +sympathies were with the South, and as most of them did not share his +views he moved to Baltimore, where a more congenial atmosphere +surrounded him. + +The Rev. Dr. Stephen H. Tyng, senior, was the rector of St. George's +Episcopal church in the lower part of the city. He was a theologian of +the Low-Church school and was greatly esteemed by all of his colleagues. +His son, the Rev. Dr. Stephen H. Tyng, junior, was in full sympathy with +the Low-Church views of his father, and will be recalled as an +evangelical preacher of exceptional power and wide influence. In the +summer of 1867 he preached, in defiance of the canons of the Episcopal +Church, in St. James's Methodist church in New Brunswick, N.J., thus +invading without authority the parishes of the Rev. Dr. Alfred Stubs and +the Rev. Dr. Edward B. Boggs of that city. His trial was of sensational +interest, and resulted, as will be remembered, in his conviction. The +attitude of the Tyngs, father and son, was humorously described by +Anthony Bleecker, a well-known wit of the day, in these verses: + + _Tyng, Junior._ + + I preach from barrels and from tubs, + In spite of Boggs, in spite of Stubs; + I'll preach from stumps, I'll preach from logs, + In spite of Stubs, in spite of Boggs. + + _Tyng, Senior._ + + Do, Steve; and lay aside your gown, + Your bands and surplice throw them down; + A bob-tail coat of tweed or kersey + Is good enough at least for Jersey. + + _Tyng, Junior._ + + What if the Bishops interfere, + And I am made a culprit clear; + Can't you a thunderbolt then forge, + And hurl it in the new St. George? + + _Tyng, Senior._ + + Be sure I can and out of spite + A wrathy sermon I'll indite; + I'll score the court and every judge + And call the whole proceedings fudge; + And worse than that each reverent name + I'll bellow through the trump of fame; + With Bishop Potter I'll get even, + And make you out the martyr Stephen. + +The Rev. Dr. Orville Dewey, renowned for his intellectual attainments, +preached in the Unitarian church in Mercer Street. In subsequent years +his sermons were published and I understand are still read with much +interest and pleasure. Archbishop John Hughes, whom I knew quite well, +was the controlling power in the Roman Catholic Church. He possessed the +affectionate regard of the whole community, and naturally commanded a +wide influence. A Roman Catholic told me many years ago that, upon one +of the visits of the Archbishop to St. Peter's church, he took the +congregation to task for their exclusiveness, exclaiming: "You lock up +your pews and exclude the marrow of the land." + +I knew very well the Rev. Charles Constantine Pise, the first +native-born Catholic to officiate in St. Joseph's church on Sixth +Avenue. He was of Italian parentage and was remarkable for his great +physical attractiveness. In addition to his fine appearance, he was +exceedingly social in his tastes and was consequently a highly agreeable +guest. He cultivated the muses to a modest degree, and I have several of +his poetical effusions, one of which was addressed to me. In spite of +the admiration he commanded from both men and women, irrespective of +creed, life seemed to present to him but few allurements. Archbishop +Hughes sent him to a small Long Island parish where, after laboring long +and earnestly, he closed his earthly career. An anecdote is related of +this pious man which I believe to be true. A young woman quite forgetful +of the proprieties and conventionalties of life, but with decided +matrimonial proclivities, made Father Pise an offer of her fortune, +heart and hand. In a dignified manner he advised her to give her heart +to God, her money to the poor, and her hand to the man who asked for it. +Prior to his rectorship of St. Joseph's church in New York, Father Pise, +who was an intimate friend of Henry Clay, served as Chaplain of the U.S. +Senate during a portion of the 22d Congress. At the National Capital as +well as in New York he was exceptionally popular, making many converts, +especially among young women, and preaching to congregations in churches +so densely crowded that it was difficult to obtain even standing room. + +I cannot pass the Roman Catholic clergy without some reference to the +Rev. Felix Varela, a priest of Spanish descent and, it is said, of noble +birth, who was sent from Cuba to Spain as one of the deputies to the +Cortes from his native island. His church was St. Peter's in Barclay +Street. It would be difficult for any words to do justice to his life of +self-abnegation or to his adherence to the precepts of his Divine +Master. It is with pleasure, therefore, that I relate the following +story, for the truth of which I can vouch. A policeman found a handsome +pair of silver candlesticks in the custody of a poor unfortunate man, +and as they bore upon them a distinctive coat of arms he arrested him. +On his way to prison the suspected criminal begged to see Father Varela +for a moment, and as his residence was _en route_ to the station house +the officer granted his request. This good priest informed the policeman +with much reluctance that the candlesticks had formerly belonged to +him, and that he had given them to his prisoner to buy bread for his +family. My father was so deeply in sympathy with the life and character +of this priest that, although of a different faith, he seldom heard his +name mentioned without an expression of admiration for his life and +character. + +There was a French Protestant church in Franklin Street ministered to by +the Rev. Dr. Antoine Verren, whose wife was a daughter of Thomas +Hammersley. I also remember very well a Presbyterian church on Laight +Street, opposite St. John's Park, the rector of which was the Rev. Dr. +Samuel H. Cox, an uncle of the late Bishop Arthur Cleveland Cox of the +Episcopal Church. Dr. Cox was a prominent abolitionist, and when we were +living on Hubert Street, just around the corner, this church was stoned +by a mob because the rector had expressed his anti-slavery views too +freely. + +The mode of conducting funerals in former days in New York differed very +materially from the customs now in vogue. While the coffins of the +well-to-do were made entirely of mahogany and without handles, I have +always understood that persons of the Hebrew faith buried their dead in +pine coffins, as they believed this wood to be more durable. +Pall-bearers wore white linen scarfs three yards long with a rosette of +the same material fastened on one shoulder, which, together with a pair +of black gloves, was always presented by the family. It was originally +the intention that the linen scarf should be used after the funeral for +making a shirt. Funerals from churches were not as customary as at the +present time. If the body was to be interred within the city limits +every one attending the services, including the family, walked to the +cemetery. It was unusual for a woman to be seen at a funeral. + +But the whole social tone of New York society was more _de rigueur_ than +now. Sometimes, for example, persons living under a cloud of +insufficient magnitude to place them behind prison bars, feeling their +disgrace, took flight for Texas. Instead of placing the conventional +_P.P.C._ on their cards the letters _G.T.T._ were used, meaning that the +self-expatriated ne'er-do-well had "gone to Texas." I have always +understood that in Great Britain the transgressor sought the Continent, +where he was often enabled to pass into oblivion. In this manner both +countries were relieved of patriots who "left their country for their +country's good." As an example, I remember hearing in my early life of +an Englishman named de Roos, who had the unfortunate habit of arranging +cards to suit his own fancy. When his _confrères_ finally caught him in +the act he left hurriedly for the Continent. + +In 1842 the U.S. sloop of war _Somers_ arrived in New York, and the +country was startled by the accounts of what has since been known as the +"Somers Mutiny." The Captain of the ship was Commander Alexander Slidell +Mackenzie, whose original surname was Slidell. He was a brother of the +Hon. John Slidell, at one time U.S. Senator from Louisiana, who, during +the Civil War, while on his passage to England on the _Trent_ as a +representative of the Southern Confederacy in England, was captured by +Captain Charles Wilkes of the U.S. Navy. The result of the alleged +mutiny was the execution, by hanging at the yard arm, of Philip Spencer, +a son of the celebrated New York lawyer, John C. Spencer, President +Tyler's Secretary of War, and of two sailors, Samuel Cromwell and Elisha +Small. It was charged that they had conspired to capture the ship and +set adrift or murder her officers. Being far from any home port, and +uncertain of the extent to which the spirit of disaffection had +permeated the crew, Mackenzie consulted the officers of his ship as to +the proper course for him to pursue. In accordance with their advice, +and after only a preliminary examination of witnesses and no formal +trial with testimony for the defense, they were, as just stated, +summarily executed. + +I speak from the point of view of the legal element of New York, as my +father's associates were nearly all professional men. The world was +aghast upon receiving the news that three men had been hurled into +eternity without judge or jury. Spencer was a lad of less than nineteen +and a midshipman. Although Captain Mackenzie's action was sustained by +the court of inquiry, which was convened in his case, as well as by the +_esprit de corps_ of the Navy, public feeling ran so high that a court +martial was ordered. His trial of two months' duration took place at the +Brooklyn Navy Yard, and resulted in a verdict of "not proven." The +judge-advocate of the court was Mr. William H. Norris of Baltimore, and +Mackenzie was defended by Mr. George Griffith and Mr. John Duer, the +latter of whom was the distinguished New York jurist and the uncle of +Captain Mackenzie's wife. At the request of the Hon. John C. Spencer, +Benjamin F. Butler and Charles O'Conor, leaders of the New York bar, +formally applied for permission to ask questions approved by the court +and to offer testimony, but the request was refused--"so that," as +Thomas H. Benton expressed it, "at the long _post mortem_ trial which +was given to the boy after his death, the father was not allowed to ask +one question in favor of his son." After a lapse of sixty-nine years, +judging from Mackenzie's report to the Navy Department, it almost seems +as if he possessed a touch of mediæval superstition. He speaks of +Spencer giving money and tobacco to the crew, of his being extremely +intimate with them, that he had a strange flashing of the eye, and +finally that he was in the habit of amusing the sailors by making music +with his jaws. Mackenzie in his official report stated that this lad +"had the faculty of throwing his jaw out of joint and by contact of the +bones playing with accuracy and elegance a variety of airs." James +Fenimore Cooper stated it as his opinion, "that such was the obliquity +of intellect shown by Mackenzie in the whole affair, that no analysis +of his motives can be made on any consistent principle of human action;" +and the distinguished statesman, Thomas H. Benton, whose critical and +lengthy review of the whole case would seem to carry conviction to +unprejudiced minds, declared that the three men "died innocent, as +history will tell and show." + +The proceedings of the Mackenzie trial were eagerly read by an +interested public. As I remember the testimony given regarding Spencer's +last moments upon earth, Mackenzie announced to the youthful culprit +that he had but ten minutes to live. He fell at once upon his knees and +exclaimed that he was not fit to die, and the Captain replied that he +was aware of the fact, but could not help it. It is recorded that he +read his Bible and Prayer-Book, and that the Captain referred him to the +"penitent thief;" but when he pleaded that his fate would kill his +mother and injure his father, Mackenzie made the inconsiderate reply +that the best and only service he could render his father was to die. + +I recall a conversation bearing upon the _Somers_ tragedy which I +overheard between my father and his early friend, Thomas Morris, when +their indignation was boundless. The latter's son, Lieutenant Charles W. +Morris, U.S.N., had made several cruises with the alleged mutineer +Cromwell. Meeting Mackenzie he stated this fact, saying at the same time +that he found him a well-disposed and capable seaman. Mackenzie quickly +responded that "he had a bad eye," and then Lieutenant Morris recalled +that the unfortunate man had a cast in one eye. + +A few years after his court-martial Mackenzie fell dead from his horse. +One of the wardroom officers of the _Somers_ was Adrian Déslonde of +Louisiana, whose sister married the Hon. John Slidell, of whom I have +already spoken as Commander Mackenzie's brother. + +I seldom hear the name of John Slidell without being reminded of a +witticism which I heard from my mother's lips, the author of which was +Louisa Fairlie, a daughter of Major James Fairlie, who, during the War +of the Revolution, served upon General Steuben's staff. She was, I have +understood, a great belle with a power of repartee which bordered upon +genius. During the youth of John Slidell he attended a dinner at a +prominent New York residence and sat at the table next to Miss Fairlie. +In a tactless manner he made a pointedly unpleasant remark bearing upon +the marriage of her sister Mary to the distinguished actor, Thomas +Apthorpe Cooper, a subject upon which the Fairlie family was somewhat +sensitive. Miss Fairlie regarded Mr. Slidell for only a moment, and then +retorted: "Sir, you have been _dipped_ not _moulded_ into society"--an +incident which, by the way, I heard repeated many years later at a +dinner in China. To appreciate this witticism, one may refer to the New +York directory of 1789, which describes John Slidell, the father of the +Slidell of whom we are speaking, as "soap boiler and chandler, 104 +Broadway." Miss Fairlie's pun seems to me to be quite equal to that of +Rufus Choate, who, when a certain Baptist minister described himself as +"a candle of the Lord," remarked, "Then you are a dipped, but I hope not +a wick-ed candle." It is said that upon another occasion, after the +return of Mr. Slidell from a foreign trip, he was asked by Miss Fairlie +whether he had been to Greece. He replied in the negative and asked the +reason for her query. "Oh, nothing," she said, "only it would have been +very natural for you to visit Greece in order to renew early +associations!" Many years thereafter Priscilla Cooper, the wife of +Robert Tyler and the daughter-in-law of President John Tyler, a daughter +of Thomas Apthorpe Cooper and his wife, Mary Fairlie, presided at the +White House during the widowhood of her distinguished father-in-law. + +As has already been stated, the father of the Hon. John Slidell was a +chandler, and he conducted his business with such success that in time +he became prominent in mercantile and financial circles, and eventually +was made president of the Mechanics Bank and the Tradesmen's Insurance +Company. His son John, who at first engaged in his father's soap and +tallow business as an apprentice, finally succeeded him, and the +enterprise was continued under the firm name of "John Slidell, Jr. and +Company." The house failed, however, and it is said that this fact, +together with the scandal attending his duel with Stephen Price, manager +of the Park Theater, in which the latter was wounded, were the +controlling factors that led the future Hon. John Slidell to remove his +residence to New Orleans. In this place he became highly celebrated as a +lawyer, and his successful political career is well known. He married +Miss Marie Mathilde Déslonde, a member of a well-known Creole family, +and many persons still living will recall her grace and _savoir faire_ +in Washington when her husband represented Louisiana in the United +States Senate. Miss Jane Slidell, a sister of the Hon. John Slidell, +married Commodore Matthew C. Perry, U.S.N., who opened the doors of +Japan to the trade of the world, and whose daughter, Caroline Slidell +Perry, became the wife of the late August Belmont of New York, while +Julia, another of Mr. Slidell's sisters, married the late Rear Admiral +C. R. P. Rodgers, U.S.N. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +LONG BRANCH, NEWPORT AND ELSEWHERE + + +When I was about ten years of age, accompanied by my parents, I made a +visit to Long Branch, which was then one of the most fashionable summer +resorts for New Yorkers. As we made the journey by steamboat and the +water was rough we were the victims of a violent attack of seasickness +from which few of the passengers escaped. Many Philadelphians also spent +their summers at this resort, and there was naturally a fair sprinkling +of people from other large cities. At that time there were no hotels in +the place, but there was one commodious boarding house which +accommodated a large number of guests. It bore no name, but was +designated as "Mrs. Sairs'," from its proprietress. In this +establishment our whole family, by no means small, found accommodations. +I recall many pleasant acquaintances we made while there, especially +that of Miss Molly Hamilton of Philadelphia. She was a vivacious old +lady, and was accompanied by her nephew, Hamilton Beckett, in whom I +found a congenial playmate. His name made a strong impression upon my +memory, as I was then reading the history of Thomas à Becket, the +murdered Archbishop of Canterbury. I have heard that this friend of my +childhood went eventually to England to reside. The Penningtons of +Newark had a cottage near us. William Pennington subsequently became +Governor of New Jersey. I also enjoyed the youthful companionship of his +daughter Mary, whom many years later I met in Washington. In the +interval she had become a pronounced belle and the wife of Hugh A. Toler +of Newark. + +The guests of the boarding house were inclined to complain that the +beach was too exclusively appropriated by two acquaintances of ours who +were living in the same house with us, Mrs. G. W. Featherstonhaugh and +Mrs. Thomas M. Willing, and their train of admirers. They were sprightly +young women and daughters of Bernard Moore Carter of Virginia. I +remember it was the gossip of the place that both of them could count +their offers of marriage by the score. Mrs. Willing was a skilled +performer upon the harp, an instrument then much in vogue, but whose +silvery tones are now, alas, only memory's echo. Mr. Featherstonhaugh, +who was by birth an Englishman, after residing in the United States a +few years, wrote in 1847 a book entitled "Excursion through the Slave +States from Washington on the Potomac to the Frontier of Mexico." I +recall that in this volume he spoke with enthusiasm of the _agréments_ +of the palate which he enjoyed during a few days' sojourn at Barnum's +Hotel in Baltimore. He dwelt particularly, with gastronomic ecstasy, +upon the canvas-back duck and soft-shell crab upon which he feasted, and +was inclined to draw an unfavorable comparison between the former hotel +and Gadsby's, the well-known Washington hostelry. Upon his journey he +visited Monticello, the former home of Thomas Jefferson. His encomium on +this distinguished man appealed to me as I am sure it does to others; he +spoke of him as the "Confucius of his country." Altogether, Mr. +Featherstonhaugh's experiences in America were as novel and entertaining +as a sojourn with Aborigines. + +Just off the beach at Long Branch was a high bluff which descended +gradually to the sea, and at this point were several primitive bath +houses belonging to Mrs. Sairs' establishment. Following the prevalent +custom, we wore no bathing shoes and stockings, but, accompanied by a +stalwart bathing master, we enjoyed many dips in the briny deep, and +were brought safely back by him to our bath house. There was no +immodest lingering on the beach; this privilege was reserved for the +advanced civilization of a later day. + +While I was still a young child, and some years after our visit to Long +Branch, my infant brother Malcolm became seriously ill. Dr. John W. +Francis, our family physician, prescribed a change of air for him, and +my parents took him to Newport. We found pleasant accommodations for our +family in a fashionable boarding house on Thames Street, the guests of +which were composed almost exclusively of Southern families. Newport was +then in an exceedingly primitive state and I have no recollection of +seeing either cottages or hotels, while modern improvements were +unknown. We led a simple outdoor life, taking our breakfast at eight, +dining at two and supping at six. It was indeed "early to bed and early +to rise." + +As I recall these early days in Newport, two fascinating old ladies, +typical Southern gentlewomen, the Misses Philippa and Hetty Minus of +Savannah, present themselves vividly to my memory. After we returned to +our New York home we had the pleasure of meeting them again and +entertaining them. Another charming guest of our establishment was the +wife of James L. Pettigru, an eminent citizen of South Carolina. She was +the first woman of fashion presented to my girlish vision, and her mode +of life was a revelation. She kept very late hours, often lingering in +her room the next morning until midday. As I was then familiar with Miss +Edgeworth's books for young people, which all judicious parents +purchased for their children, I immediately designated Mrs. Pettigru as +"Lady Delacour," whose habits and fashions are so pleasingly described +in that admirable novel, "Belinda." Although born and bred in South +Carolina, Mr. Pettigru remained loyal to the Union, and after his death +his valuable library was purchased by Congress. The members of another +representative South Carolina family, the Allstons, were also among our +fellow boarders at Long Branch. This name always brings to mind the +pathetic history of Theodosia Burr, Aaron Burr's only child, and her sad +death; while the name of Washington Allston, the artist, is too well +known to be dwelt upon. + +After a month's pleasant sojourn in Newport my brother's health had +materially improved and we returned to our New York home by the way of +Boston, where we were guests at the Tremont House. I blush to +acknowledge to the Bostonians who may peruse these pages that my chief +recollection of this visit is that I was standing on the steps of the +hotel, when I was accosted by a gentleman, who exclaimed: "You are a +Campbell, I'll bet ten thousand dollars!" I apologize for writing such a +personal reminiscence of such an historic town, but such are the freaks +of memory. This was prior to the maturer days of William Lloyd Garrison, +Wendell Phillips and Ralph Waldo Emerson. + +Before passing on to other subjects I must not omit mentioning that at +this period the currency used in the New England States differed from +that of New York. This fact was brought vividly before me in Newport +when I made an outlay of a shilling at a candy store. In return for my +Mexican quarter of a dollar I was handed a small amount of change. I +left the shop fully convinced that I was a victim of sharp practice, but +learned later that there was a slight difference between the shilling +used in New York and that used in New England. + +Many years later I visited Boston again, this time as the guest of Mr. +and Mrs. Robert C. Winthrop at their superb Brookline home; and, +escorted by Mr. Winthrop and Mr. and Mrs. Jabez L. M. Curry of Alabama, +who were also their house-guests, I visited all the points of historical +interest. Both Mr. Winthrop and Mr. Curry were then trustees of the +Peabody Fund. A few years after we separated in Boston Mr. and Mrs. +Curry went to Spain to reside, where, as American Minister, he was +present at the birth of King Alfonso of Spain. + +About fifteen years later I again visited Newport, but this time I was a +full-fledged young woman. During my absence a large number of hotels and +cottages had been erected, many of which were occupied by Southern +families who still continued to regard this Rhode Island resort as +almost exclusively their own. I recall the names of many of them, all of +whom were conspicuous in social life in the South. Among them were the +Middletons, whose ancestors were historically prominent; the Pinckneys, +descended from the illustrious Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, who uttered +the well-known maxim, "Millions for defense but not one cent for +tribute;" the Izards; the Draytons, of South Carolina; and the +Habershams of Georgia. During this visit in Newport I was the guest, at +their summer cottage, of my life-long friends, the Misses Mary and +Margaret Gelston, daughters of Maltby Gelston, former President of the +Manhattan Bank of New York. Not far from the Gelstons resided what Sam +Weller would call three "widder women." They were sisters, the daughters +of Ralph Izard of Dorchester, S.C., and bore distinguished South +Carolina names; Mrs. Poinsett who had been the wife of Joel Roberts +Poinsett, the well-known statesman and Secretary of War under Van Buren, +Mrs. Eustis, the widow of Gen. Abram Eustis, U.S.A., who had served in +the War of 1812, and Mrs. Thomas Pinckney, whose husband, the nephew of +General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, had been a wealthy rice planter in +South Carolina. The beautiful Christmas flower, the poinsettia, was +named in compliment to Mr. Poinsett. These interesting women for many +years were in the habit of leaving what they called their "Carolina" +home for a summer sojourn at Newport, where their house was one of the +social centers of attraction. With their graceful bearing, gentle voices +and cordial manners they were characteristic types of the Southern +_grandes dames_ now so seldom seen. A short distance from my hosts' +cottage lived the daughter of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, who was +also the widow of Robert Goodloe Harper, a prominent Federalist and a +United States Senator during the administrations of Madison and Monroe. +Mrs. Harper's sister married Richard Caton of Maryland, whose daughters +made such distinguished British matrimonial alliances. Her daughter, +Emily Harper, upon whose personality I love to dwell, was from her +earliest childhood endowed with strong religious traits. Her gentle +Christian character exemplified charity to all who were fortunate enough +to come within the radius of her influence. She was in every sense of +the word a deeply religious woman, and her influence upon those around +her was of the most elevating character. + +I shall always remember with the keenest enjoyment some of the pleasant +teas at this hospitable home of the Harpers in Newport. All sects were +welcomed, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Hebrews, Unitarians, and I doubt +not that an equally cordial reception would have awaited Mahommedans or +Hindoos. I once heard Miss Harper say that she shared with Chateaubriand +the ennobling sentiment that the salvation of one soul was of more value +than the conquest of a kingdom. Naturally the Harper cottage was the +rendezvous for Southerners and its hospitable roof sheltered many +prominent people, especially guests from Maryland. Mr. Maltby Gelston +told me at the time of this visit that Mrs. Harper was the only child of +a Signer then living. It is probable that he spoke from positive +knowledge, as he was an authority upon the subject, having married the +granddaughter of Philip Livingston, a New York Signer. A few years +later, when I was married in Washington, D.C., I was deeply gratified +when Miss Harper came from Baltimore to attend my wedding. The marked +attentions paid to her by Caleb Cushing, then Attorney-General under +President Pierce, were the source of much gossip, but she seemed +entirely indifferent to his devotion. I once heard him express great +annoyance after a trip to Baltimore because he failed to see her on +account of a headache with which she was said to be suffering, and he +inquired of me in a petulant manner whether headaches were an universal +feminine malady. Like her mother, she lived to a very advanced age and +when she departed this life the world lost one of its saintliest +characters. + +One of the most attractive cottages in Newport at the time of my second +visit was occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Henry Casimir de Rham of New York. It +was densely shaded by a number of graceful silver-maple trees. Mr. de +Rham was a prosperous merchant of Swiss extraction, whose wife was Miss +Maria Theresa Moore, a member of one of New York's most prominent +families and a niece of Bishop Benjamin Moore of New York. + +The social leaders of Newport at this period were Mr. and Mrs. Robert +Morgan Gibbes, whose winter home was in New York. Mr. Gibbes, who, by +the way, was a great-uncle of William Waldorf Astor, was a South +Carolinian by birth and had married Miss Emily Oliver of Paterson, New +Jersey. They lived in a handsome house, gave sumptuous entertainments, +and had an interesting family of daughters, several of whom I knew quite +well. One well-remembered evening I attended a party at their house +which was regarded as the social affair of the season. It made a lasting +impression upon my mind owing to a trivial circumstance which seems +hardly worth relating. It was the first time I had ever seen mottoes +used at entertainments, and at this party they were exceptionally +handsome. The one which fell to my share, and which I treasured for some +time, bore upon it a large bunch of red currants. These favors were +always imported, and a few years later became so fashionable that no +dinner or supper table was regarded as quite the proper thing without +them. I take it for granted that this custom was the origin of the +german favors which in the course of time came into such general use. + +In 1853 I made a third visit to Newport as the guest of Mrs. Winfield +Scott. General Scott's headquarters were then in Washington, but, as his +military views were widely divergent from those of Jefferson Davis, +President Pierce's Secretary of War, he was urging the President to +transfer him to New York. I have frequently heard the General jocosely +remark that he longed for a Secretary of War who would not "make him +cry." The Scotts at this period were spending their winters in +Washington and their summers in Newport. Meanwhile his numerous +admirers, in recognition of his distinguished services, presented him +with a house on West Twelfth Street which was occupied by him and his +family after his transfer to New York. The principal donor of this +residence was the Hon. Hamilton Fish. + +After a charming sojourn of several weeks in Newport, I was about +returning to my home when I casually invited General Scott's youngest +daughter, Marcella ("Ella"), then only a schoolgirl, to accompany me to +Miss Harper's cottage, as I wished to say good-bye. Upon entering the +drawing-room a cousin and guest of Miss Harper's, Charles Carroll +McTavish of Howard County, Maryland, appeared upon the threshold and was +introduced to us. He was then approaching middle life and I learned +later that he had served some years in the Russian Army. Marcella +Scott's appearance apparently fascinated him from the moment they met, +and from that day he began to be devotedly attentive to her. Mrs. Scott, +however, entirely disapproved of Mr. McTavish's attentions to her +daughter on account of her extreme youth. A few months later Marcella +returned to Madame Chegaray's school, where she became a boarding pupil +and was not allowed to see visitors. The following winter she was taken +ill with typhoid fever, and, when convalescent enough to be moved, was +brought to my home in Houston Street, New York, to recuperate, as the +Scotts were still living in Washington and the journey was considered +too long and arduous to be taken by an invalid. Meanwhile, Mr. McTavish +renewed his attentions to Miss Scott and the impression made was more +than a passing fancy for in the following June they were married in the +Twelfth Street house of which I have already spoken, General Scott +having in the interim succeeded in having his headquarters removed to +New York. + +I had the pleasure of being present at this wedding, which, in spite of +a warm day in June and the many absentees from the city, was one of +exceptional brilliancy. The Army and Navy were well represented, the +officers of both branches of the service appearing in full-dress +uniform. The hour appointed for the ceremony was high noon, but an +amusing _contretemps_ blocked the way. An incorrigible mantua-maker, +faithless to all promises and regardless of every sense of propriety, +failed to send home the bridal dress at the appointed time. This state +of affairs proved decidedly embarrassing, but the guests were informed +of the cause of the delay and patiently awaited developments. Behind the +scenes, however, quite a different spectacle was presented, while amid +much bustle and excitement a second wedding gown was being hurriedly +prepared. After an hour's delay, however, the belated garment arrived, +when the bride-elect was quickly dressed and walked into the large +drawing-room in all of her bridal finery, leaning, as was then the +custom, upon the arm of the groom. Archbishop Hughes conducted the +wedding service, and seized upon the auspicious occasion to make an +address of some length. Previous to the ceremony, my intimate friend, +the young bride's older sister, Cornelia Scott, who a few years +previous had become while in Rome a convert to Catholicism, asked me +with much earnestness of manner to do my best to entertain the +Archbishop, as she thought, in her kind way, that he might be somewhat +out of his element when surrounded by such a large and fashionable +assemblage. This was, indeed, a pleasing task, as it enabled me to renew +my earlier acquaintance with this gifted prelate. The only member of the +groom's family present at this ceremony was his handsome brother, +Alexander S. McTavish, who came from Baltimore for the occasion. Strange +to say, in view of the many presents usually displayed upon such +occasions nowadays, I do not remember, although I was a family guest, +seeing or hearing of a single bridal gift, but some of the wedding +guests I recall very distinctly. Among them were Mr. and Mrs. Charles +King, the former of whom was President of Columbia College and an +intimate friend of General Scott's; Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ray, whose +daughter Cornelia married Major Schuyler Hamilton, aide-de-camp to +General Scott during the Mexican war; Prof. Clement C. Moore and his +daughter Theresa; Mr. and Mrs. Edward Mayo of Elizabeth, N.J., the +former of whom was Mrs. Scott's brother; Mrs. Robert Henry Cabell, a +sister of Mrs. Scott's from Richmond; Major Thomas Williams, an aide to +General Scott, who was killed during the Civil War; and Major Henry L. +Scott, aide and son-in-law of General Scott. + +The same evening, after the wedding guests had departed and quiet again +reigned supreme in the household, I went to Mrs. Scott's room to sit +with her, as she seemed sad and lonely, and at the same time to talk +over with her, womanlike, the events of the day. In our quiet +conversation I remember referring to Archbishop Hughes's address to the +groom, and asked her if she had observed that he had dwelt upon the +bride "being taken from an affectionate father," while the remaining +members of the family were entirely ignored. Mrs. Scott immediately +bristled up and with much warmth of feeling said that she had noticed +the omission and believed that the action of the Archbishop was +premeditated. Just here was an undercurrent which as an intimate friend +of the family I fully understood. After Virginia Scott's death at the +Georgetown Convent Mrs. Scott was most outspoken in her denunciation of +the Roman Catholic Church, which she felt had robbed her of her +daughter. + +Some years after his marriage Charles Carroll McTavish applied to the +Legislature of Maryland for permission to drop his surname and to assume +that of his great-grandfather, Charles Carroll. As this request was +strenuously opposed by other descendants of the Signer, who regarded it +as inexpedient to increase the number of Charles Carrolls, the petition +of Mr. McTavish was not granted. Mary Wellesley McTavish, his sister, I +remember as a sprightly young woman of fine appearance. She made her +_début_ in London society as the guest of her aunt, Mary McTavish, wife +of the Marquis of Wellesley. After a brief courtship she married Henry +George Howard, a son of the Earl of Carlisle, and accompanied him to the +Netherlands, where he was the accredited British Minister. Mrs. George +Bancroft, wife of the historian, who accompanied her husband when he was +our Minister to England, gave me an interesting sketch of Mrs. Howard's +varied life. Death finally claimed her in Paris and her body was brought +back to this country and buried in Maryland, the home of her youth. Her +mother, who brought the remains across the ocean, soon after her +bereavement, established "The House of the Good Shepherd" in Baltimore. + +Three daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Carroll McTavish grew into +womanhood. The elder sisters, Mary and Emily, both of whom were well +known for their beauty and vivacity, entered upon cloistered lives. Just +as the two sisters were about taking this step, they made a request, +which caused much comment, to the effect that they should be assigned to +different convents. I understand that Mrs. McTavish, their mother, is +still living in Rome with the unmarried daughter. During Mrs. Scott's +residence in Paris she was invited to witness the ceremony of "taking +the veil" at a prominent convent, and writing to her family at home she +remarked: "How strange that human beings, knowing the fickleness of +their natures, should bind themselves for life to one limited space and +unvarying mode of existence." + +Hoboken, or, as it was sometimes called, Paulus Hook, was a great resort +in my earlier life for residents of the great metropolis. We children, +accompanied by my father or some other grown person, delighted to roam +in that locality over what was most appropriately termed the "Elysian +Fields." Professional landscape-gardening had not then been thought of, +but nature's achievements often surpass the embellishments of man. Our +cup of happiness was full to the brim when we were taken to this +entrancing spot overlooking the Hudson River, with its innumerable +sloops, steamboats and tugs adding so much to the picturesqueness of the +scene. As we strolled along, we regaled ourselves every now and then +with a refreshing glass of mead, a concoction of honey and cold water, +purchased from a passing vender; and when cakes or candy were added to +the refreshing drink life seemed very _couleur de rose_ to our childish +dreams. Then again we made occasional trips up the river, but the +steamboats and other excursion craft of that day were of course mere +pigmies compared with those of the present time. The cabin always had a +large dining table, on either side of which was a line of berths. Guests +were called to dinner at one o'clock by the vigorous ringing of a large +bell in the hands of a colored waiter dressed in a white apron and +jacket. I have often thought how surprised and pleased this old-time +servant, universally seen in every well-to-do household in those days, +would be if he could return to earth and hear himself addressed as +"butler." + +It was upon one of these trips up the Hudson that the widow of General +Alexander Hamilton and her daughter, Mrs. Hamilton Holly, were taking +their mid-day repast, at one end of the long table, when they were +informed that Aaron Burr was partaking of the same meal not far from +them. Their indignation was boundless, and immediately there were two +vacant chairs. Mrs. Holly was a woman of strong intellect, and a +friendship which I formed with her is one of the most cherished memories +of my life. She devoted her widowhood to the care of her aged mother. We +often engaged in confidential conversations, when she would discuss the +tragedies which so clouded her life. I especially remember her dwelling +upon the sad history of her sister, Angelica Hamilton, who, she told me, +was in the bloom of health and surrounded by everything that goes +towards making life happy when her eldest brother, Philip Hamilton, was +killed in a duel. He had but recently been graduated from Columbia +College and lost his life in 1801 on the same spot where, about three +years later, his father was killed by Aaron Burr. This dreadful event +affected her so deeply that her mind became unbalanced, and she was +finally placed in an asylum, where she died at a very advanced age. Mrs. +Hamilton lived in Washington, D.C., in one of the De Menou buildings on +H Street, between Thirteenth and Fourteenth Streets, and Mrs. Holly +resided in the same city until her death. + +Tragedy seemed to pursue the Hamilton family with unrelenting +perseverance until the third generation. In 1858 the legislature of +Virginia, desiring that every native President should repose upon +Virginia soil, made an appropriation for removing the remains of James +Monroe from New York to Richmond. He died on the 4th of July, 1831, +while temporarily residing in New York with his daughter, Mrs. Samuel L. +Gouverneur, and his body was placed in the Gouverneur vault in the +Marble Cemetery on Second Street, east of Second Avenue, where it +remained for nearly thirty years. The disinterment of the remains of +this distinguished statesman was conducted with much pomp and ceremony +and the body placed on board of the steamer _Jamestown_ and conveyed to +Richmond, accompanied all the way by the 7th Regiment of New York which +acted as a guard of honor. The orator of the occasion was John Cochrane, +a distinguished member of the New York bar; while Henry A. Wise, then +Governor of Virginia, delivered an appropriate address at the grave in +Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. My husband, Samuel L. Gouverneur, +junior, Monroe's grandson, accompanied the remains as the representative +of the family. After the ceremonies in Richmond were completed, but +before the 7th Regiment had embarked upon its homeward voyage, one of +its members, Laurens Hamilton, a grandson of Alexander Hamilton and a +son of John C. Hamilton, was drowned near Richmond. All the proceedings +connected with the removal of Mr. Monroe's remains, both in New York and +in Richmond, were published some years later by Udolpho Wolfe, a +neighbor and admirer of the late President. A copy of the book was +presented to each member of the 7th Regiment and one of them was also +given by the compiler to my husband. A few years later this same New +York regiment invaded Virginia, but under greatly different +circumstances. A terrible civil war was raging, and the Old Dominion for +a time was its principal battle ground. + +I recall an amusing anecdote which Mr. Gouverneur told me upon his +return from this visit to Richmond. While the great concourse of people +was still assembled at Monroe's grave in Hollywood Cemetery, Governor +Henry A. Wise, always proud of his State, remarked: "Now we must have +all the native Presidents of Virginia buried within this inclosure." +Immediately a vigorous hand was placed on his shoulder by a New York +alderman who had accompanied the funeral _cortège_, who exclaimed in +characteristic Bowery vernacular: "Go ahead, Governor, you'll fotch +'em." + +The only mode of travel on the Hudson River in my early days was by +boat. One of my recollections is seeing Captain Vanderbilt in command of +a steamboat. I have heard older members of my family say that he +designated himself "Captain Wanderbilt," and that his faithful wife's +endearing mode of accosting him was "Corneil." At any rate, it is +well-known that he began life by operating a rowboat ferry between +Staten Island and New York. In later years a sailboat was substituted +over this same route. The Hudson River Railroad was originally built +under the direction of a number of prominent men in the State who were +anything but skilled in such enterprises. In the beginning of its +career, while high officials bestowed fat offices upon friends and +relatives, its finances were in a chaotic condition. It was during this +state of affairs that Commodore Vanderbilt, with a master mind, grasped +the situation and reorganized the whole system, thereby greatly +increasing his own fortune, and placing the railroad upon a sound +financial basis. After such a remarkable career "blindness to the +future" seems unkindly given, as doubtless it would have been a source +of great satisfaction to this Vanderbilt progenitor could he have known +before passing onward that his hard-earned wealth would eventually +enrich his descendants, even the representatives of nobility. + +I have before me an invitation to a New York Assembly, dated the 29th of +January, 1841, addressed to my father and mother, which has followed my +wanderings through seventy years. All of the managers, a list of whom I +give, were representative citizens as well as prominent society men of +the day: + + Abm. Schermerhorn, J. Swift Livingston, + Edmd. Pendleton, Jacob R. LeRoy, + James W. Otis, Thos. W. Ludlow, + Wm. Douglas, Chas. McEvers, Jr., + Henry Delafield, William S. Miller, + Henry W. Hicks, Charles C. King. + +Abraham Schermerhorn belonged to a wealthy New York family, and Edmund +Pendleton was a Virginian by birth who resided in New York where he +became socially prominent. James W. Otis was of the Harrison Gray Otis +family of Boston and, as I have already stated, I was at school with his +daughter, Sally. William Douglas was a bachelor living in an attractive +residence on Park Place, where he occasionally entertained his friends. +He belonged to a thrifty family of Scotch descent and had two sisters, +Mrs. Douglas Cruger and Mrs. James Monroe, whose husband was a namesake +and nephew of the ex-President. Early in the last century their mother, +Mrs. George Douglas, gave a ball, and I insert some doggerel with +reference to it written by Miss Anne Macmaster, who later became Mrs. +Charles Russell Codman of Boston. These verses are interesting from the +fact that they give the names of many of the _belles_ and _beaux_ of +that time: + + I meant, my dear Fanny, to give you a call + And tell you the news of the Douglases ball; + But the weather's so bad,--I've a cold in my head,-- + And I daren't venture out; so I send you instead + A poetic epistle--for plain humble prose + Is not worthy the joys of this ball to disclose. + To begin with our entrance, we came in at nine, + The two rooms below were prodigiously fine, + And the _coup d'oeil_ was shewy and brilliant 'tis true, + Pretty faces not wanting, some old and some new. + But, oh! my dear cousin, no words can describe + The excess of the crowd--like two swarms in one hive. + The squeezing and panting, the blowing and puffing, + The smashing, the crushing, the snatching, the stuffing, + I'd have given my new dress, at one time, I declare, + (The white satin and roses), for one breath of air! + But oh! how full often I inwardly sighed + O'er the wreck of those roses, so lately my pride; + Those roses, my own bands so carefully placed, + As I fondly believed, with such exquisite taste. + Then to see them so cruelly torn and destroyed + I assure you, my dear, I was vastly annoyed. + The ballroom with garlands was prettily drest, + But a small room for dancing it must be confess'd, + If you chanc'd to get in you were lucky no doubt, + But oh! luckier far, if you chanced to get out! + And pray who were there? Is the question you'll ask. + To name the one half would be no easy task-- + There were Bayards and Clarksons, Van Hornes and LeRoys, + All famous, you well know, for making a noise. + There were Livingstons, Lenoxes, Henrys and Hoffmans, + And Crugers and Carys, Barnewalls and Bronsons, + Delanceys and Dyckmans and little De Veaux, + Gouverneurs and Goelets and Mr. Picot, + And multitudes more that would tire me to reckon, + But I must not forget the pretty Miss Whitten. + No particular belle claimed the general attention, + There were many, however, most worthy of mention. + The lily of Leonards' might hold the first place + For sweetness of manner, and beauty and grace. + Her cousin Eliza and little Miss Gitty + Both danc'd very lightly, and looked very pretty. + The youngest Miss Mason attracted much notice, + So did Susan Le Roy and the English Miss Otis; + Of _Beaux_ there were plenty, some new ones 'tis true, + But I won't mention names, no, not even to you. + I was lucky in getting good partners, however, + Above all, the two Emmetts, so lively and clever. + With Morris and Maitland I danc'd; and with Sedgwick, + Martin Wilkins, young Armstrong and droll William Renwick. + The old lady was mightily deck'd for the Ball + With Harriet's pearls--and the little one's shawl; + But to give her her due she was civil enough, + Only tiresome in asking the people to stuff. + There was supper at twelve for those who could get it, + I came in too late, but I did not regret it, + For eating at parties was never my passion, + And I'm sorry to see that it's so much the fashion. + After supper, for dancing we'd plenty of room, + And so pleasant it was, that I did not get home + Until three--when the ladies began to look drowsy, + The lamps to burn dim, and the Laird to grow boosy. + The ball being ended, I've no more to tell-- + And so, my dear Fanny, I bid you farewell. + +In the old pamphlet from which I have already quoted, edited in 1845 by +Moses Y. Beach and compiled for the purpose of furnishing information +concerning the status of New York citizens to banks, merchants and +others, I find the following amusing description of George Douglas: +"George Douglas was a Scotch merchant who hoarded closely. His wine +cellar was more extensive than his library. When George used to see +people speculating and idle it distressed him. He would say: 'People get +too many _idees_ in their head. Why don't they work?' What a blessing he +is not alive in this moonshine age of dreamy schemings." Mr. Beach +apparently was not capable of appreciating a thrifty Scotchman. + +This same pamphlet gives an account of a picturesque character whom I +distinctly remember as a highly prominent citizen of New York. His +parentage was involved in mystery, and has remained so until this day. I +refer to Mr. Preserved Fish, the senior member of the firm of Fish, +Grinnell & Co., which subsequently became the prominent business house +of Grinnell, Minturn & Co. Sustained by the apparel peculiar to infants, +he was found floating in the water by some New Bedford fishermen who, +unable to discover his identity, bestowed upon him the uncouth name +which, willingly or unwillingly, he bore until the day of his death. He +and the other members of his firm were originally from New Bedford, one +of the chief centers of the whale fisheries of New England, and came to +New York to attend to the oil and candle industries of certain merchants +of the former city. Few business men in New York in my day were more +highly respected for indomitable energy and personal integrity than Mr. +Fish. He became President of the Tradesmen's Bank, and held other +positions of responsibility and trust. He represented an ideal type of +the self-made man, and in spite of an unknown origin and a ridiculous +name battled successfully with life without a helping hand. + +In connection with the Douglas family, I recall a beautiful wedding +reception which, as well as I can remember, took place in the autumn of +1850, at Fanwood, Fort Washington, then a suburb of New York. The bride +was Fanny Monroe, a daughter of Colonel James Monroe, U.S.A., and +granddaughter of Mrs. Douglas of whose ball I have just spoken. The +groom was Douglas Robinson, a native of Scotland. It was a gorgeous +autumn day when the votaries of pleasure and fashion in New York drove +out to Fanwood, where groomsmen of social prominence stood upon the wide +portico to greet the guests and conduct them to the side of the newly +married pair. Mrs. Winfield Scott was our guest in Houston Street at the +time, but did not accompany us to the wedding as no invitation had +reached her. My presence reminded Mrs. Monroe that Mrs. Scott was in New +York, and she immediately inquired why I had not brought her with me. As +I gave the reason both Colonel and Mrs. Monroe seemed exceedingly +annoyed. It seems that her invitation had been sent to Washington but +had not been forwarded to her in New York. In those days Mrs. Scott's +distinguished presence and sparkling repartee, together with the fact +that her husband was Commander-in-Chief of the Army, added luster to +every assemblage. The Army was well represented at this reception and it +was truly "the feast of reason and the flow of soul." Colonel "Jimmy" +Monroe was a great favorite with his former brother-in-arms as he was a +genial, whole-souled and hospitable gentleman. My sister Margaret and I +were accompanied to Fanwood by an army officer, Colonel Donald Fraser, a +bachelor whom I had met some years before at West Point. The paths of +the bride and myself diverged, and it was a very long time before we met +again. It was only a few years ago, while she was residing temporarily +in Washington. She was then, however, a widow and was living in great +retirement. She is now deceased. + +When we alighted from our carriage the day of the Monroe-Robinson +wedding at Fanwood a young man whom I subsequently learned was Mr. +Samuel L. Gouverneur, junior, a cousin of the bride, walked over to me, +asked my name and in his capacity of groomsman inquired whether I would +allow him to present me to the bride. I was particularly impressed by +his appearance, as it was unusually attractive. He had raven-black hair, +large bluish-gray eyes and regular features; but what added to his charm +in my youthful fancy was the fact that he had only recently returned +from the Mexican War, in which, as I learned later, he had served with +great gallantry in the 4th Artillery. I had never seen him before, +although in thinking the matter over a few days later I remembered that +I had met his mother and sister in society in New York. I did not see +him again until five years later, when our paths crossed in Washington, +and in due time I became his bride. + +To return to the New York Assembly in 1841. Henry Delafield, whose name +appears on the card of invitation, belonged to a well-known family. His +father, an Englishman by birth, settled in New York in 1783 and is +described in an early city directory as "John Delafield, Insurance +Broker, 29 Water Street." The Delafields were a large family of brothers +and were highly prosperous. I remember once hearing Dr. John W. Francis +say: "Put a Delafield on a desert island in the middle of the ocean, +and he will thrive and prosper." Henry Delafield and his brother William +were almost inseparable. They were twins and strikingly alike in +appearance. General Richard Delafield, U.S.A., for many years +Superintendent of the Military Academy at West Point, was another +brother, as was also Dr. Edward Delafield, a physician of note, who +lived in Bleecker Street and in 1839 married Miss Julia Floyd of Long +Island, a granddaughter of William Floyd, one of the New York Signers. +About thirty-five years ago three of the Delafield brothers, Joseph, +Henry and Edward, all advanced in life, died within a few days of each +other and were buried in Greenwood Cemetery at the same time, the +funeral taking place from old Trinity Church. On this occasion all the +old customs were observed, and the coffins were made of solid mahogany. + +[Illustration: SAMUEL L. GOUVERNEUR, JUNIOR.] + +John Swift Livingston lived in Leonard Street, and I recall very +pleasantly a party which I attended at his house before the marriage of +his daughter Estelle to General John Watts de Peyster. The latter, +together with his first cousins, General "Phil" Kearny and Mrs. +Alexander Macomb, inherited an enormous fortune from his grandfather +John Watts, who was one of the most prominent men of his day and the +founder of the Leake and Watts Orphan House, which is still in +existence. John G. Leake was an Englishman who came to New York to live +and, dying without heirs, left his fortune to Robert Watts, a minor son +of John Watts. Robert Watts, however, did not long survive his +benefactor. Upon his death the Leake will was contested by his +relatives, but a decision was rendered in favor of the nearest kin of +the boy, who was his father. After gaining his victory John Watts +established this Orphan House and with true magnanimity placed Leake's +name before his own. Jacob R. LeRoy lived in Greenwich Street near the +Battery, which at this time was a fashionable section of the city. +His sister Caroline, whom I knew, became the second wife of Daniel +Webster. Mr. LeRoy's daughter Charlotte married Rev. Henry de Koven, +whose son is the musical genius, Reginald de Koven. Henry W. Hicks was +the son of a prominent Quaker merchant and a member of the firm of Hicks +& Co., which did an enormous shipping business until its suspension, +about 1847, owing to foreign business embarrassments. Thomas W. Ludlow +was a wealthy citizen, genial and most hospitably inclined. He owned a +handsome country-seat near Tarrytown, and every now and then it was his +pleasure to charter a steamboat to convey his guests thither; and I +recall several pleasant days I spent in this manner. When we reached the +Tarrytown home a fine collation always awaited us and in its wake came +music and dancing. Charles McEvers, junior, belonged to an old New York +family and was one of the executors of the Vanden Heuvel estate. His +niece, Mary McEvers, married Sir Edward Cunard, who was knighted by +Queen Victoria. William Starr Miller married a niece of Philip Schuyler, +who was a woman possessing many excellent traits of character. As far as +I can remember, she was the only divorced person of those days who was +well received in society, for people with "past histories" were then +regarded with marked disfavor. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +SOME DISTINGUISHED ACQUAINTANCES + + +In close proximity to St. John's Park, during my early life on Hubert +Street, there resided a Frenchman named Laurent Salles, and I have a +vivid recollection of a notable marriage which was solemnized in his +mansion. The groom, Lispenard Stewart, married his daughter, Miss Louise +Stephanie Salles, but the young and pretty bride survived her marriage +for only a few years. She left two children, one of whom is Mrs. +Frederick Graham Lee, whom I occasionally see in Washington, where with +her husband she spends her winters. + +When playing in St. John's Park in this same neighborhood, I made the +acquaintance of Margaret Tillotson Kemble, one of the young daughters of +William Kemble already mentioned as living on Beach Street, opposite +that Park. Mr. Kemble was the son of Peter Kemble, member of the +prominent firm of "Gouverneur and Kemble," shipping merchants of New +York, which traded with China and other foreign countries. This firm, +the senior members of which were the brothers Nicholas and Isaac +Gouverneur, was bound together by a close family tie, as Mrs. Peter +Kemble was Gertrude Gouverneur, a sister of the two Gouverneur brothers. +My intimacy with Margaret Tillotson Kemble, formed almost from the +cradle, lasted without a break throughout life. She was a second cousin +of my husband and married Charles J. Nourse, a member of the old +Georgetown, D.C., family. The last years of her life were entirely +devoted to good works. Her sister, Mary, married Dr. Frederick D. Lente, +at one time physician to the West Point foundry, at Cold Spring, N.Y., +and subsequently a distinguished general practitioner in New York and +Saratoga Springs. Ellen Kemble, the other sister, of whom I have already +spoken, never married. She was eminent for her piety, and her whole life +was largely devoted to works of charity. + +The Kemble house on Beach Street was always a social center and I think +I can truthfully say it was more than a second home to me. Mrs. William +Kemble, who was Miss Margaret Chatham Seth of Maryland, was a woman of +decided social tastes and a most efficient assistant to her husband in +dispensing hospitality. Gathered around her hearthstone was a large +family of girls and boys who naturally added much brightness to the +household. Mr. Kemble was a well-known patron of art and his house +became the rendezvous for persons of artistic tastes. It was in his +drawing-room that I met William Cullen Bryant; Charles B. King of +Washington, whose portraits are so well known; John Gadsby Chapman, who +painted the "Baptism of Pocahontas," now in the rotunda of the Capitol +at Washington; Asher B. Durand, the celebrated artist; and Mr. Kemble's +brother-in-law, James K. Paulding, who at the time was Secretary of the +Navy under President Martin Van Buren. Mr. Kemble was one of the +founders of the Century Club of New York, a life member of the Academy +of Design, and in 1817, at the age of twenty-one, in conjunction with +his older brother, Gouverneur Kemble, established the West Point +foundry, which for a long period received heavy ordnance contracts from +the United States government. The famous Parrott guns were manufactured +there. Captain Robert P. Parrott, their inventor and an army officer, +married Mary Kemble, a sister of Gouverneur and William Kemble, who in +early life was regarded as a beauty. Mr. William Kemble, apart from his +artistic tastes, owned a number of fine pictures, among which was a +Sappho by a Spanish master. It was given to Mrs. Kemble by the +grandfather of the late Rear Admiral Richard W. Meade, U.S.N. When the +Kemble family left Beach Street and moved to West Twenty-fifth Street +this picture was sold to Gouverneur Kemble for $5,000, and placed in his +extensive picture gallery at Cold Spring. + +Mrs. William Kemble was a woman of marked ability and an able +_raconteurse_. Early in life she had been left an orphan and was brought +up by her maternal uncle, Dr. Thomas Tillotson of the Eastern shore of +Maryland, whose wife was Margaret Livingston, a daughter of Judge Robert +R. Livingston and a sister of Chancellor Robert R. Livingston. Another +sister of Mrs. Tillotson was the widow of General Richard Montgomery, of +the Revolutionary War, who fell at the battle of Quebec. The Tillotsons, +Livingstons and Montgomerys all owned fine residences near Hyde Park on +the Hudson; and a close intimacy existed between the Tillotsons and the +Kembles owing to the fact that Mr. Kemble's first cousin, Emily +Gouverneur, married Mrs. Kemble's first cousin, Robert Livingston +Tillotson. William Kemble's younger brother, Richard Frederick, married +Miss Charlotte Morris, daughter of James Morris of Morrisania, N.Y. + +The summer home of William Kemble was in a large grove of trees at Cold +Spring and life under its roof was indeed an ideal existence. I was +their constant guest and although it was a simple life it teemed with +beauty and interest. Our days were spent principally out of doors and +the sources of amusement were always near at hand. As all of the Kembles +were experts with the oar, we frequently spent many hours on the Hudson. +Another unfailing source of pleasure was a frequent visit to West Point +to witness the evening parade. As we knew many of the cadets they +frequently crossed the river to take an informal meal or enjoy an hour's +talk on the attractive lawn. Lieutenant Colonel (subsequently General) +William J. Hardee, who for a long time was Commandant of Cadets at West +Point, I knew quite well. Later in his career he was ordered to +Washington, where as a widower he became a social lion, devoting himself +chiefly to Isabella Cass, a daughter of General Lewis Cass. His career +in the Confederate Army is too well known for me to relate. After the +Civil War I never saw him again, as he lived in the South. During one of +my visits at the Kembles General Robert E. Lee was the Superintendent of +the West Point Military Academy, but of him I shall speak hereafter. + +Among the cadets whom I recall are Henry Heth of Virginia, an officer +who was subsequently highly esteemed in the Army, and who, at the +breaking out of the Civil War, followed the fortunes of his native state +and became a Major General in the Confederate Army; Innis N. Palmer, +whom I met many years later in Washington when he had attained the rank +of General; and Cadet Daniel M. Beltzhoover of Pennsylvania, a musical +genius, who was a source of great pleasure to us but whose career I have +not followed. + +At this period in the history of West Point Cozzen's Hotel was the only +hostelry within the military enclosure. A man named Benny Havens kept a +store in close proximity to the Military Academy, but as it was not upon +government territory no cadet was allowed to enter the premises. +Although liquor was his principal stock in trade he kept other articles +of merchandise, but only as a cover for his unlawful traffic. The cadets +had their weaknesses then as now, and as this shop was "forbidden fruit" +many of them visited his resort under the cover of darkness. If caught +there "after taps," the punishment was dismissal. The following +selections from a dozen verses written by Lieutenant Lucius O'Brien, +U.S.A., and others, which I remember hearing the cadets frequently sing, +were set to the tune of "Wearing of the Green": + + Come, fill your glasses, fellows, and stand up in a row, + To singing sentimentally, we're going for to go; + In the army there's sobriety, promotion's very slow, + So we'll sing our reminiscences of Benny Havens, oh! + + Oh, Benny Havens, oh!--oh! Benny Havens oh! + So we'll sing our reminiscences of Benny Havens, oh! + + * * * * * + + Come, fill up to our Generals, God bless the brave heroes, + They're an honor to their country and a terror to her foes; + May they long rest on their laurels and trouble never know, + But live to see a thousand years at Benny Havens, oh! + + Here's a health to General Taylor, whose "rough and ready" blow + Struck terror to the _rancheros_ of braggart Mexico; + May his country ne'er forget his deeds, and ne'er forget to show + She holds him worthy of a place at Benny Havens, oh! + + To the "veni vidi vici" man, to Scott, the great hero, + Fill up the goblet to the brim, let no one shrinking go; + May life's cares on his honored head fall light as flakes of snow, + And his fair fame be ever great at Benny Havens, oh! + +Lieutenant O'Brien died in the winter of 1841 and the following verse to +his memory was fittingly added to his song: + + From the courts of death and danger from Tampa's deadly shore, + There comes a wail of manly grief, "O'Brien is no more," + In the land of sun and flowers his head lies pillowed low, + No more he'll sing "Petite Coquette" or Benny Havens, oh! + +Since then numerous other verses have been added, from time to time, +and, for aught I know to the contrary, the composition is still growing. +After the death of General Scott in 1866 the following verse was added: + + Another star has faded, we miss its brilliant glow, + For the veteran Scott has ceased to be a soldier here below; + And the country which he honored now feels a heart-felt woe, + As we toast his name in reverence at Benny Havens, oh! + +I wish that I could recall more of these lines as some of the prominent +men of the Army were introduced in the most suggestive fashion. Benny +Havens doubtless has been sleeping his last sleep for these many years, +but I am sure that some of these verses are still remembered by many of +the surviving graduates of West Point. + +In the vicinity of William Kemble's cottage at Cold Spring was the +permanent home of his older brother, Gouverneur Kemble. For a few years +during his earlier life he served as U.S. Consul at Cadiz, under the +administration of President Monroe. His Cold Spring home was of historic +interest and for many years was the scene of lavish hospitality. General +Scott once remarked that he was "the most perfect gentleman in the +United States." The most distinguished men of the day gathered around +his table, and every Saturday night through the entire year a special +dinner was served at five o'clock--Mr. Kemble despised the habitual +three o'clock dinners of his neighbors--which in time became historic +entertainments. This meal was always served in the picture gallery, an +octagonal room filled with valuable paintings, while breakfast and +luncheon were served in an adjoining room. All of the professors and +many of the officers at West Point, whom Mr. Kemble facetiously termed +"the boys," had a standing invitation to these Saturday evening dinners. +There was an agreement, however, among the younger officers that too +many of them should not partake of his hospitality at the same time, as +his dining table would not accommodate more than thirty guests. How well +I remember these older men, all of whom were officers in the Regular +Army: Professors William H. C. Bartlett, Dennis H. Mahan, the father of +Captain Alfred T. Mahan, U.S.N., Albert E. Church, and Robert W. Weir. +If by any chance Mr. Kemble, or "Uncle Gouv," as he was generally known +to the family connection, was obliged to be absent from home, these +entertainments took place just the same, presided over by his sister, +Mrs. Robert P. Parrott. Indeed, I recall that during a tour of Europe +Mr. Kemble made with ex-President Van Buren these Saturday dinner +parties were continued for at least a year. + +Carving was considered a fine art in those days, an accomplishment which +has largely gone out of style since the introduction of dinner _à la +Russe_. A law existed in Putnam County, in which Cold Spring is +situated, which forbade the killing of game during certain months in the +year. When a transgressor of this law succeeded in "laying low" a pair +of pheasants, they were nicknamed "owls"; and I have seen two "owls" +which, under these circumstances, were almost unobtainable, carved in +such a proficient manner by "Uncle Gouv" that, although we numbered over +a score, each person received a "satisfying" piece. His guests were most +appreciative of his hospitality, and I once heard General Scott say that +he would be willing to walk at least ten miles to be present at a dinner +at Gouverneur Kemble's. His wines were always well selected as well as +abundant. I have often known him to have a house party of many guests +who had the privilege of remaining indefinitely if they so desired. The +actress Fanny Kemble and her father, though not related to the New York +family, were guests in his home during one of their visits to America. +She was a great pedestrian, and I recall having a small stream of water +in the vicinity of Cold Spring called to my notice where, during her +rambles, she was known to stop and bathe her feet. + +Long before the War of the Revolution, Mr. Kemble's aunt, Margaret +Kemble, married General Thomas Gage, Commander-in-Chief of the British +forces in that conflict, and resided with him in England. While I was +living in Frederick, Maryland, I sent "Uncle Gouv"--he was then an old +man and very appreciative of any attention--a photograph of Whittier's +heroine, Barbara Frietchie. He in turn sent it to Viscount Henry Gage, a +relative of the British General. The English nobleman who was familiar +with the Quaker poet seemed highly pleased to own the picture and +commented favorably upon the firm expression of the mouth and chin of +this celebrated woman. + +Army officers were frequently stationed at Cold Spring to inspect the +guns cast at the Kemble foundry. Among these I recall with much pleasure +Major Alfred Mordecai of the Ordnance Corps. He was a highly efficient +officer and previous to the Civil War rendered conspicuous service to +his country. He was a Southerner and at the beginning of the war is said +to have requested the War Department to order him to some duty which did +not involve the killing of his kinsmen. His request was denied and his +resignation followed. + +In the midst of the Civil War, after a protracted absence from the +country in China, I arrived in New York, and one of the first items of +news that was told me was that the West Point foundry was casting guns +for the Confederacy. I speedily learned that this rumor was altogether +unfounded. It seems that some time before the beginning of hostilities +the State of Georgia ordered some small rifled cannon from the West +Point foundry with the knowledge and consent of the Chief of the +Ordnance Department, General Alexander B. Dyer. Colonel William J. +Hardee, then Commandant-of-Cadets, was selected to inspect these guns +before delivery; but when they were finished the war-cloud had grown to +such proportions that Robert P. Parrott, the head of the foundry at the +time, Gouverneur Kemble having retired from active business eight or ten +years previously, refused to forward them. They lay at the foundry for +some time, and were afterwards bought by private parties from New York +City and presented to the government, thereby doing active service +against the Confederacy. In his interesting book recently published +entitled "Retrospections of an Active Life," Mr. John Bigelow refers to +this unfortunate rumor. He says: "On the 21st of January, 1861, I met +the venerable Professor Weir, of the West Point Military Academy, in the +cars on our way to New York, when he told me that Colonel Hardee, then +the Commandant-of-Cadets at the Academy, was buying arms for his native +state of Georgia, and that the Kembles, whose iron works were across the +river from West Point at Cold Spring, were filling a large order for +him." I knew Professor Weir very well, and Mr. Bigelow's statement, I +think, is a mistake, as all of the professors at West Point were too +loyal to Mr. Gouverneur Kemble to allow wild rumors engendered by war to +remain uncontradicted. + +This seems a fitting place to recall the pleasant friendship I made with +General Robert E. Lee long before he became the Southern chieftain. I +have already stated that when I visited Cold Spring in other days he was +Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy. He was a constant visitor +at the Kembles, and his imposing presence and genial manner are so well +known as to render a description of them altogether superfluous. Some +years later when I was visiting at the home of General Winfield Scott in +Washington I renewed my pleasing friendship with him. There existed +between these two eminent soldiers a life-long attachment, and when the +Civil War was raging it seemed almost impossible to realize that Scott +and Lee represented opposite political views, as hitherto they had +always seemed to be so completely in accord. + +The Cold Spring colony was decidedly sociable, and a dinner party at one +of the many cottages was almost a daily occurrence. Captain and Mrs. +Robert P. Parrott entertained most gracefully, and their residence was +one of the show-places of that locality. I have heard Captain Parrott +facetiously remark that he had "made a loud noise in the world" by the +aid of his guns. + +The first time I ever saw Washington Irving, with whom I enjoyed an +extended friendship, was when he was a guest of Gouverneur Kemble. The +intimate social relations existing between these two friends began in +early life, and lasted throughout their careers, having been fostered by +a frequent interchange of visits. In his earlier life Mr. Kemble +inherited from his relative, Nicholas Gouverneur, a fine old estate near +Newark, New Jersey, which bore the name of "Mount Pleasant." Washington +Irving, however, rechristened the place "Cockloft Hall," and in a vein +of mirth dubbed the bachelor-proprietor "The Patroon." Irving described +this retreat in his "Salmagundi," and the characters there depicted +which have been thought by many to be fanciful creations were in reality +Gouverneur Kemble and his many friends. His place was subsequently sold, +but the intimacy between the two men continued, and it has always seemed +to me that there was much pathos connected with their friendship. Both +of them were bachelors and owned homes of more than passing historic +interest on the Hudson. Irving called Kemble's residence at Cold Spring +"Bachelor's Elysium," while to his own he applied the name of "Wolfert's +Roost." In the spring of 1856 in writing to Kemble he said: "I am happy +to learn that your lawn is green. I hope it will long continue so, and +yourself likewise. I shall come up one of these days and have a roll on +it with you"; and Kemble, upon another occasion, in urging Irving to +visit him added as an inducement, "come and we will have a game of +leap-frog." Referring to their last meeting Irving said of Kemble: "That +is my friend of early life--always unchanged, always like a brother, one +of the noblest beings that ever was created. His heart is pure gold." +That was in the summer of 1859, and in the following November Irving +died, at the ripe old age of seventy-six. Constant in life, let us hope +that in death they are not separated, and that in the Silent Land + + No morrow's mischief knocks them up. + +Let the cynic who spurns the consoling influences of friendship ponder +upon the life-intimacy of these two old men who, throughout the cares +and turmoils of a long and engrossing existence, illustrated so +beautifully the charm of such a benign relationship. + +Irving impressed me as having a genial but at the same time a retiring +nature. He was of about the average height and, although quite advanced +in years when I knew him, his hair had not changed color. His manner was +exceeding gentle and, strange to say, with such a remarkable vocabulary +at his command, in society he was exceedingly quiet. In his early life +Irving was engaged to be married to one of his own ethereal kind, but +she passed onward, and among his friends the subject was never broached +as it seemed too sacred to dwell upon. Her name was Matilda Hoffman and +she was a daughter of the celebrated jurist of New York, Judge Josiah +Ogden Hoffman. She died in 1809 in her eighteenth year. + +My last meeting with Irving is vividly impressed upon my memory as the +occasion was quite memorable. I was passing the winter in Washington as +the guest of my elder sister, Mrs. Eames, who a few years before had +married Charles Eames, Esq., of the Washington Bar. Irving, who was then +seventy-two years old, was making a brief visit to the Capital and +called to see me. This was in 1855, when William M. Thackeray was on his +second visit to this country and delivering his celebrated lectures upon +"The Four Georges." I had scarcely welcomed Mr. Irving into my sister's +drawing-room when Thackeray was announced, and I introduced the two +famous but totally dissimilar men to each other. Thackeray was a man of +powerful build and a very direct manner, but to my mind was not an +individual to be overpowered by sentiment. I can not remember after the +flight of so many years the nature of the conversation between Irving +and Thackeray apart from the mutual interchange that ordinarily passes +between strangers when casually presented. + +Later I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Thackeray quite a number of +times during his sojourn in Washington where he was much lionized in +society. One evening we were all gathered around the family tea table +when he chanced to call and join us in that cup which is said to cheer. +He entered into conversation with much enthusiasm, especially when he +referred to his children. He seemed to have a special admiration for a +young daughter of his, and related many pleasing anecdotes of her +juvenile aptitude. I think he referred to Anne Isabella Thackeray (Lady +Richie), who gave to the public a biographical edition of her father's +famous works. I remember we drifted into a conversation upon a recently +published novel, but the title of the book and its author I do not +recall. At any rate, he was discussing its heroine, who, under some +extraordinary stress of circumstances, was forced to walk many miles in +her stocking-feet to obtain succor, and the whole story was thrilling in +the extreme; whereupon the author of "Vanity Fair" exclaimed, "She was +shoeicidal." Although he was an Englishman, he was not averse to a +pun--even a poor one! I remember asking Mr. Thackeray whether during his +visit to New York he had met Mrs. De Witt Clinton. His response was +characteristic: "Yes, and she is a gay old girl!" + +James K. Paulding, the distinguished author who married the sister of +Gouverneur and William Kemble and lived at Hyde Park, farther up the +Hudson, frequently formed one of the pleasant coterie that gathered +around "Uncle Gouv's" board. "The Sage of Lindenwald," as ex-President +Martin Van Buren was frequently called by both friend and foe, also +repeatedly came from his home in Kinderhook to dine with Mr. Kemble, and +these memories call to mind a dinner I attended at "Uncle Gouv's" when +Mr. Van Buren was the principal guest. Although it was many years after +his retirement from the presidential office, the impression he made upon +me was that of a quiet, deliberate old gentleman, who continued to be +well versed in the affairs of state. + +A short distance from Cold Spring is Garrison's, where many wealthy New +Yorkers have their country seats. Putnam County, in which both +Garrison's and Cold Spring are located, was once a portion of Philipse +Manor. The house in the "Upper Manor," as this tract of land was called, +was The Grange, but over forty years ago it was burned to the ground. It +was originally built by Captain Frederick Philips about 1800, and was +the scene of much festivity. The Philipses were tories during the +Revolution, and it is said that this property would doubtless have been +confiscated by the government but for the fact that Mary Philips, who +was Captain Frederick Philips' only child, was a minor at the close of +the war in 1783. Mary Philips, whose descendants have spelled the name +with a final _e_, married Samuel Gouverneur, and their eldest son, +Frederick Philipse Gouverneur, dropped the name Gouverneur as a surname +and assumed that of Philipse in order to inherit a large landed estate +of which The Grange was a conspicuous part. + +When I first visited Garrison's the Philipse family was living at The +Grange in great elegance. Frederick Philipse was then a bachelor and his +maiden sister, Mary Marston Gouverneur, presided over his establishment. +Another sister, Margaret Philipse Gouverneur, married William Moore, a +son of the beloved physician, Dr. William Moore of New York, a nephew of +President Benjamin Moore of Columbia College and a first cousin of +Clement C. Moore who wrote the oft quoted verses, "'Twas the Night +before Christmas," which have delighted the hearts of American children +for so many decades. + +Frederick Philipse subsequently married Catharine Wadsworth Post, a +member of a prominent family of New York. It was while Mr. and Mrs. +Philipse were visiting her relatives that The Grange was destroyed by +fire. Miss Mary Marston Gouverneur had ordered the chimneys cleaned, in +the manner then prevalent, by making a fire in the chimney place on the +first floor, in order to burn out the débris. The flames fortunately +broke out on the top story, thus enabling members of the family to save +many valuable heirlooms in the lower apartments. Among the paintings +rescued and now in the possession of Frederick Philipse's daughters, the +Misses Catharine Wadsworth Philipse and Margaret Gouverneur Philipse of +New York, was the portrait of the pretty Mary Philipse, Washington's +first love. Tradition states she refused his offer of marriage to become +the bride of Roger Morris, an officer in the British Army. It is +generally believed that she was the heroine of Cooper's "Spy;" but she +had then laid aside the belleship of early youth and had become the +intellectual matron of after years. Some of the other portraits rescued +were those of Adolphus Philipse, second son of the first Lord of the +Manor; Philip Philipse, and his wife, Margaret Marston, whose second +husband was the Rev. John Ogilvie, for many years assistant minister of +Trinity Church of New York; Margaret Philipse, younger sister of Mary, +who married Roger Morris; Captain Frederick Philips, by Gilbert Stuart; +Mrs. Samuel Gouverneur; Nathaniel Marston and his wife, Mary Crooke; and +Mrs. Abraham Gouverneur who was the daughter of Jacob Leisler, at one +time the Acting Governor of the Province of New York. + +One visit I made to the Philipses at Garrison's is especially fresh in +my memory, as Eleanor Jones Duer, a daughter of President William A. +Duer of Columbia College, who subsequently married George T. Wilson of +Georgia, was their guest at the same time. She was a woman of much +culture and refinement, and in every way a delightful companion. A great +intimacy existed for many years between the Gouverneurs and Philipses of +Garrison's and the Duer family of New York. The Philipses, who at this +time lived very much in the old-fashioned style, were the last of the +old families with which I was familiar to have the cloth removed after +the dessert was served; and in doing this an elegant mahogany table +always kept in a highly polished condition was displayed. Upon it were +placed the fruits, nuts and wine. Another custom in the Philipse family +which, as far as I know, was unique in this country was that of having +four meals a day. Breakfast was served at eight, luncheon at one, dinner +at six and supper at nine o'clock. + +During another visit I made at The Grange I had the pleasure of meeting +Mr. and Mrs. Henry Sheaffe Hoyt (Frances Maria Duer), who were house +guests there and who had just returned from an extended European tour. +She was another daughter of President Duer of Columbia College and died +not long ago in Newport, R.I., at a very advanced age. Mrs. John King +Van Rensselaer, a daughter of Mrs. Archibald Gracie King (Elizabeth +Denning Duer), is her niece. + +Before leaving the banks of the Hudson River I must speak of my former +associations with Newburgh. From my earliest life we children were in +the habit of making frequent visits to my mother's relatives, the Roe +family, who resided there. We all eagerly looked forward to these trips +up the Hudson which were made upon the old _Thomas Powell_ and later +upon the _Mary Powell_. My mother's relative, Maria Hazard, married +William Roe, one of the most highly respected and prosperous citizens of +Newburgh. They lived in a stately mansion surrounded by several acres +of land in the heart of the city. Mrs. Roe was a remarkable woman. I +knew her only as an elderly matron; but, like women of advanced age in +China, where I spent a number of years of my early married life, she +controlled everyone who came within her "sphere of influence." I +remember, for example, that upon one occasion when I was visiting her, +Thomas Hazard Roe, her elder son, who at the time was over sixty years +of age and a bachelor and who desired to go upon some hunting +expedition, said to her: "Mother, have I your permission to go to the +Adirondacks?" She thought for a few moments and replied: "Well, Hazard, +I think you might go." + +About the year 1840 Newburgh was recommended by two of the earliest +prominent homeopathic physicians of New York City, Doctors John F. Gray +and Amos G. Hull, as a locality well-adapted to people affected with +delicate lungs, and upon their advice many families built handsome +residences there. In my early recollection Newburgh had a fine hotel +called the Powelton, which bade fair to become a prominent resort for +New Yorkers. In the zenith of its prosperity, however, it was burned to +the ground and was never rebuilt. I hardly think that anyone will have +the assurance to dispute the healthfulness of this place when I state +that my cousin, Thomas Hazard Roe, of whom I have just spoken, died +there in 1907 after having more than rounded a full century of years. He +was in many ways a remarkable man with a mind well stored with +knowledge, and he retained all of his mental faculties unclouded until +the end of his life. His sister, Mary Elizabeth, the widow of the late +William C. Hasbrouck, a prominent Newburgh lawyer and a few years his +junior, also died quite recently in Newburgh at the age of ninety-seven. +Her son, General Henry C. Hasbrouck, U.S.A., also died but a short time +since, but her daughter, Miss Maria Hasbrouck, whose whole life has been +devoted to her family, still resides in the old homestead. The third +and youngest member of this interesting trio, Miss Emily Maria Roe, is +now living in Newburgh at an advanced age, surrounded by a large +connection and beloved by everyone. + +One of the most prominent families in Newburgh in years gone by was that +of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Powell, from whom the celebrated river boats were +named. Mrs. Powell's maiden name was Mary Ludlow, and she belonged to a +well-known New York family. Her brother, Lieutenant Augustus C. Ludlow, +who was second in command on board the _Chesapeake_, under Captain James +Lawrence of "Don't give up the ship" fame, is buried by the latter's +side in old Trinity church-yard in New York. Mrs. Powell took great +pride and pleasure in the boat named in her honor, the _Mary Powell_, +and I have frequently seen her upon my trips up the Hudson, sitting upon +the deck of her namesake and chatting pleasantly with those around her. + +Newburgh was also the home of Andrew Jackson Downing, the author of +"Landscape Gardening," "Cottage Residences," and other similar works. I +received my first knowledge of horticulture from a visit I made to his +beautiful residence, which was surrounded by several acres. It was my +earliest view of nature assisted by art, and to my untutored eye his +lawn was a veritable Paradise. Some years later, when I was visiting the +Scotts in Washington, Mr. Downing called and during our conversation +told me that he had come to the Capital, upon the invitation of the +government, to lay out the Smithsonian grounds. His wife was Miss +Caroline De Wint of Fishkill, New York, a granddaughter of Mrs. Henry +William Smith (Abigail Adams), the only daughter of President John Adams +who reached maturity. After spending some months in Washington, Mr. +Downing was returning to his Newburgh home when the _Henry Clay_, a +Hudson River steamboat upon which he had taken passage, was destroyed +by fire and he perished while attempting to rescue some of the +passengers. This was in 1852. + +There are some persons still living who will readily recall, in +connection with social functions, the not uncommon name of Brown. The +particular Brown to whom I refer was the sexton of Grace Episcopal +Church, on the corner of Broadway and Tenth Street, where many of the +_soi-disant crème de la crème_ worshiped. He must have possessed a +christian name, but if so I never heard it for he was only plain Brown, +and Brown he was called. He was born before the days when spurious +genealogical charts are thrust at one, _nolens volens_; but probably +this was lucky for him and the public was spared much that is +uninteresting. In connection with his duties at Grace Church he came in +contact with many fashionable people, and was enabled to add materially +to his rather small income by calling carriages from the doorsteps for +the society folk of the great metropolis. In this and other ways his +pursuits gradually became so varied that in time he might have been +safely classed among the _dilettanti_. The most remarkable feature of +his career, however, was the fact that, in spite of his humble calling, +he became a veritable social dictator, and many an ambitious mother with +a thousand-dollar ball upon her hands (this being about the usual sum +spent upon an evening entertainment at that time), lacked the courage to +embark upon such a venture without first seeking an interview with +Brown. I knew but little about his powers of discrimination, as we as a +family never found his services necessary, but when requested I know he +furnished to these dependent hostesses lists of eligible young men whom +he deemed proficient in the polka and mazurka, the fashionable dances of +the day. Strange as it may appear, I can vouch for the truth of the +statement that many an exclusive hostess was glad to avail herself of +these lists of the accommodating Brown. The dances just mentioned were, +by the way, introduced into this country by Pierro Saracco, an Italian +master who taught me to dance, and who was quite popular in the +fashionable circles of his day. Many years later, when I was residing in +Maryland, he came to Frederick several times a week and gave dancing +lessons to my two older daughters. + +Brown was a pleasant, genial, decidedly "hail-fellow-well-met" man, as I +remember him, and was in a way the precursor of Ward McAllister, though +of course on a decidedly more unpretentious plane. One cannot but +express surprise at the consideration with which Brown's _protégés_ were +treated by the _élite_, nor can one deny that the social destinies of +many young men were the direct result of his strenuous efforts. I +remember, for example, one of these who at the time was "a youth to +fortune and to fame unknown," whom Brown took under his sheltering wing +and whose subsequent social career was shaped by him. He is of foreign +birth, with a pleasing exterior and address and, through the +instrumentality of his humble friend who gave him his first start, is +to-day, although advanced in life, one of the most conspicuous +financiers in New York, and occasionally has private audiences with +presidents and other magnates. Moreover, I feel certain that he will +welcome this humble tribute to his benefactor with much delight, as the +halo which now surrounds his brow he owes in a large degree to his early +introduction into the smart set by the sexton of Grace Church. The last +I ever heard of Brown, he visited Europe. After his return from his +well-earned holiday he died and was laid to rest in his own native soil. +Peace to Brown's ashes--his work was well done! It cannot be said of +him, as of many others, that he lived in vain, as he was doubtless the +forerunner of the later and more accomplished leader and dictator of New +York's "Four Hundred." + +A poetaster paid him the following facetious tribute: + + Oh, glorious Brown, thou medley strange + Of churchyard, ballroom, saint, and sinner, + Flying by morn through fashion's range + And burying mortals after dinner. + Walking one day with invitations, + Passing the next at consecrations, + Tossing the sod at eve on coffins, + With one hand drying tears of orphans, + And one unclasping ballroom carriage, + Or cutting plumcake up for marriage; + Dusting by day the pew and missal, + Sounding by night the ballroom whistle, + Admitted free through fashion's wicket, + And skilled at psalms, at punch, and cricket. + +An amusing anecdote is told of Brown's financial _protégé_ whose name I +have withheld. When he was still somewhat uncertain of his social status +he received an invitation to a fancy ball given by a fashionable matron. +This recognition he regarded as a conspicuous social triumph, and in his +desire to do the proper thing he sought William R. Travers--"Bill +Travers," as he was generally called--to ask his advice in regard to the +proper costume for him to wear. The inquiring social aspirant had a head +well-denuded of hair, and Mr. Travers, after a moment's hesitation, +wittingly replied: "Sugarcoat your head and go as a pill!" + +Though not a professional wit, Brown was at least capable of making a +pun quite equal to those inflicted upon society by some of his +superiors. As sexton of Grace Church, he officiated at the wedding of +Miss Phoebe Lord, a daughter of Daniel Lord, whose marriage to Henry +Day, a rising young lawyer, was solemnized in this edifice. At the close +of the reception following the marriage ceremony someone laughingly +called upon Brown for a toast. He was equal to the occasion as he +quickly replied: "This is the Lord's Day!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +FASHION AND LETTERS + + +One of the show places of New York State, many years ago, was the +residence of John Greig, a polished Scotch gentleman who presided with +dignity over his princely estate in Canandaigua in central New York, and +there dispensed a generous hospitality. Mr. Greig was the agent for some +of the English nobility, many of whom owned extensive tracts of land in +America. The village of Canandaigua was also the home of the Honorable +Francis Granger, a son of Gideon Granger, Postmaster General under +Jefferson and Madison. Francis Granger was the Postmaster General for a +brief period under President William Henry Harrison, but the latter died +soon after his inauguration and his successor did not retain him in his +cabinet. It is said of Francis Granger that he was a firm believer in +the words of ex-Governor William L. Marcy in the United States Senate in +1832 that "to the victors belong the spoils of the enemy," and that +during his month of cabinet service eighteen hundred employees in his +department were dismissed. The Democrats evidently thought that "turn +about was fair play," as a few years later, under President Polk, the +work of decapitation was equally active. Ransom H. Gillett, Register of +the Treasury at that time, became so famous at head-chopping, that he +was soon nicknamed "Guillotine." + +Mr. Granger, with his fine physique and engaging manner (he was often +called "the handsome Frank Granger"), was well adapted to the +requirements of social life and especially to those of the National +Capital, where the _beaux esprits_ usually congregated. His only +daughter, Adele Granger, often called "the witty Miss Granger," was at +school at Madame Chegaray's with my elder sister Fanny, and in my +earlier life was frequently a guest in our Houston Street home, prior to +her sojourn in Washington, where her father for many years represented +his district in Congress. We looked forward to her visits as one +anticipates with delight a ray of sunshine. She was always assured of +the heartiest of welcomes in Washington, where she was the center of a +bright and intellectual circle. She finally married Mr. John E. Thayer, +a Boston capitalist, and after his death became the wife of the Hon. +Robert C. Winthrop of the same city. She presided with grace over a +summer home in Brookline and a winter residence in Boston, at both of +which she received hosts of distinguished guests. To illustrate the +importance with which she was regarded, one of her guests remarked to +me, during one of my visits at the Brookline home, that Mrs. Winthrop +was more than one woman--that in that locality she was considered an +"institution." In the latter part of Mr. Winthrop's life I received a +very graceful note from him enclosing the following ode written by him +in honor of the golden jubilee of Queen Victoria: + + BOSTON, MASS. + 90 Marlborough Street, 20 Feb'y 1888. + + Dear Mrs. Gouverneur: + + Your kind note and the pamphlet reached me this morning. I + thank you for them both. + + I have lost no time in hunting up a spare copy of my little + Ode on the Queen's Jubilee. + + I threw it into a newspaper with not a little misgiving. I + certainly did not dream that it would be asked for by a lady + seven or eight months after its date. I appreciate the + compliment. + + Yours truly, + + ROBT. C. WINTHROP. + + Mrs. M. Gouverneur. + + ODE. + + Not as our Empress do we come to greet thee, + Augusta Victoria, + On this auspicious Jubilee: + Wide as old England's realms extend, + O'er earth and sea,-- + Her flag in every clime unfurled, + Her morning drum-beat compassing the world,-- + Yet here her sway Imperial finds an end, + In our loved land of Liberty! + + Nor is it as our Queen for us to hail thee, + Excellent Majesty, + On this auspicious Jubilee: + Long, long ago our patriot fathers broke + The tie which bound us to a foreign yoke, + And made us free; + Subjects thenceforward of ourselves alone, + We pay no homage to an earthly throne,-- + Only to God we bend the knee! + + Still, still, to-day and here, thou hast a part, + Illustrious Lady, + In every honest Anglo-Saxon heart, + Albeit untrained to notes of loyalty: + As lovers of our old ancestral race,-- + In reverence for the goodness and the grace + Which lends thy fifty years of Royalty + A monumental glory on the Historic page, + Emblazoning them forever as the Victorian Age; + + For all the virtue, faith and fortitude, + The piety and truth + Which mark thy noble womanhood, + As erst thy golden youth,-- + We also would do honor to thy name, + Joining our distant voices to the loud acclaim + Which rings o'er earth and sea, + In attestation of the just renown + Thy reign has added to the British Crown! + + Meanwhile no swelling sounds of exultation + Can banish from our memory, + On this auspicious Jubilee, + A saintly figure standing at thy side, + The cherished consort of thy power and pride, + Through weary years the subject of thy tears, + And mourned in every nation,-- + Whose latest words a wrong to us withstood, + The friend of peace,--Albert, the Wise and Good! + + Boston, June, 1887. ROBERT C. WINTHROP. + +At Geneseo, in the beautiful Genesee Valley, and a few miles from +Canandaigua, in one of the most fertile portions of the State of New +York, resided a contemporary and friend of Mrs. Robert C. Winthrop, Miss +Elizabeth Wadsworth, a daughter of James Wadsworth, a well-known +philanthropist and one of the wealthiest landed proprietors in the +state. He was also the father of Major General James S. Wadsworth, a +defeated candidate for Governor of New York, who was killed in 1864 at +the battle of the Wilderness. Miss Wadsworth was celebrated for her +grace of manner. I had the pleasure of knowing her quite well in New +York, where she generally passed her winters. Quite early in life and +before the period when the fair daughters of America had discovered, to +any great extent, the advantages of matrimonial alliances with foreign +_partis_, she married the Honorable Charles Augustus Murray, a member of +the English Parliament and of a Scotch family, the head of which was the +Earl of Dunmore. She lived but a few years, and died in Egypt, where her +husband was Consul General, leaving a young son. Her husband's ancestor, +John Murray, Lord Dunmore, was the last Colonial Governor of Virginia. +It has been asserted that but few, if any, Colonial Governors, not even +the sportive Lord Cornbury of New York who, upon state occasions, +dressed himself up in female attire in compliment to his royal cousin, +Queen Anne, had quite as eventful a career. Lord Dunmore originally came +to America as Governor of the Province of New York, but was subsequently +transferred to Virginia. While in New York he was made President of the +St. Andrew's Society, a Scotch organization which had been in existence +about twenty years and whose first President was Philip Livingston, the +Signer. In an old New York directory of 1798 I find the following names +of officers of this society for the preceding year: Walter Ruturfurde +(sic), President; Peter M'Dougall and George Turnbull, Vice Presidents; +George Douglass, Treasurer; George Johnson, Secretary; John Munro, +Assistant Secretary; the Rev. John M. Mason and the Rev. John Bisset, +Chaplains; Dr. James Tillary, Physician; and William Renwick, James +Stuart, John Knox, Alexander Thomson, Andrew D. Barclay, and John +M'Gregor, Managers. + +It was not at all flattering to the pride of Virginia that Lord Dunmore +lingered so long in New York after his order of transfer to the Old +Dominion. He also greatly incurred the displeasure of the Virginians by +occasionally dissolving their Assembly, and they found him generally +inimical to their interests. Finally matters were brought to an issue, +and Dunmore, in defense of his conduct, issued a proclamation against "a +certain Patrick Henry and his deluded followers." His final act was the +burning of Norfolk in 1776, which at that time was the most flourishing +city in Virginia. During Lord Dunmore's life in Colonial Virginia, a +daughter was born to him and at the request of the Assembly was named +"Virginia." It is said that subsequently a provision was made by the +Provincial Legislature, by virtue of which she was to receive a very +large sum of money when she became of age. Meanwhile, the War of the +Revolution severed the yoke of Great Britain, and Lord Dunmore returned +to England with his family. Time passed and the little girl born in the +Virginia colony grew into womanhood. Her father had died and as her +circumstances became contracted she addressed a letter to Thomas +Jefferson, then President of the United States, under the impression +that he was Governor of Virginia. Jefferson sent the letter to James +Monroe, who was then Governor of Virginia, and he in turn referred it +to the Legislature of that State. This letter is now in my possession +and is as follows: + + Sir: + + I am at a loss how to begin a letter in which I am desirous + of stating claims that many long years have been forgotten, + but which I think no time can really annihilate until + fulfilment has followed the promise. I imagine that you must + have heard that during my father Dunmore's residence in + America I was born and that the Assembly, then sitting at + Williamsburg, requested that I might be their God-daughter + and christened by the name of Virginia; which request being + complied with, they purposed providing for me in a manner + suitable to the honor they conferred upon me and to the + responsibility they had taken on themselves. I was + accordingly christened as the God-daughter of that Assembly + and named after the State. Events have since occurred which + in some measure may have altered the intentions then + expressed in my favor. These were (so I have understood) + that a sum of money should be settled upon me which, + accumulating during my minority, would make up the sum of + one hundred thousand pounds when I became of age. It is true + many changes may have taken place in America, but that fact + still remains the same. I am still the God-daughter of the + Virginians. By being that, may I not flatter myself I have + some claims upon their benevolence if not upon their + justice? May I not ask that State, especially you, sir, + their Governor, to fulfil in some respects the engagements + entered into by their predecessors? Your fathers promised + mine that I should become their charge. I am totally + unprovided for; for my father died without making a will. My + brothers are married, having families of their own; and not + being bound to do anything for me, they regard with + indifference my unprotected and neglected situation. Perhaps + I ought not to mention this circumstance as a proper + inducement for you to act upon; nor would I, were it not my + excuse for wishing to remind you of the claims I now + advance. I hope you will feel my right to your favor and + protection to be founded on the promises made by your own + fathers, and in the situation in which I stand with regard + to the State of Virginia. You will ask, sir, why my appeal + to your generosity and justice has been so tardy. While my + father lived, I lived under his protection and guidance. He + had incurred the displeasure of the Virginians and he feared + an application from me would have seemed like one from him. + At his decease I became a free agent. I had taken no part + which could displease my God-fathers, and myself remained + what the Assembly had made me--their God-daughter, + consequently their charge. I wish particularly to enforce my + dependence upon your bounty; for I feel hopes revive, which + owe their birth to your honor and generosity, and to that of + the State whose representative I now address. Now that my + father is no more, I am certain they and you will remember + what merited your esteem in his character and conduct and + forget that which estranged your hearts from so honorable a + man. But should you not, you are too just to visit what you + deem the sins of the father upon his luckless daughter. + + I am, sir, your obt. etc. + +In 1831 the small but pretty Gramercy Park in New York was established +by Samuel B. Ruggles. I have heard that this plot of ground was +originally used as a burying ground by Trinity parish. As I first +recollect the spot, there were but four or five dwellings in its +vicinity. One of the earliest was built by James W. Gerard, a prominent +lawyer, who was regarded as a most venturesome pioneer to establish his +residence in such a remote locality. Next door to Mr. Gerard, a few +years later, lived George Belden, whose daughter Julia married Frederick +S. Tallmadge. Mr. Tallmadge died only a few years ago, highly respected +and esteemed by a large circle of friends. + +In 1846 I was one of the guests at a fashionable wedding in a residence +on the west side of this park, which was possibly the first ceremony of +the kind to take place in this then remote region. The bride's mother, +the widow of Richard Armistead of New Bern, N.C., who habitually spent +her winters in New York, had purchased the house only a few months +previously. The bride, Susan Armistead, was an intimate friend of mine, +and a well-known belle in both the North and the South. The groom, a +resident of New York, was John Still Winthrop, of the same family as the +Winthrops of Massachusetts. The guests composed an interesting +assemblage of the old _régime_, many of whose descendants are now in the +background. I met on that occasion many old friends, among whom the +Kings, Gracies, Winthrops and Rogers predominated. Mrs. De Witt Clinton +honored the occasion, dressed in the fashion of a decade or two +previous. Her presence was a very graceful act as she then but seldom +appeared in society, her only view of the gay world being from her own +domain. Her peculiarity in regard to dress was very marked as she +positively declined to change it with the prevailing style but clung +tenaciously to the old-fashioned _modes_ to the end of her life. Miss +Armistead was an ideal-looking bride in her white dress and long tulle +veil and carried, according to the custom then prevalent, a large flat +bouquet of white japonicas with white lace paper around the stems. In +the dining-room, a handsome collation was served, with a huge wedding +cake at one end of the table and pomegranates, especially sent from the +bride's southern home, forming a part of the repast. The health of the +newly wedded couple was drunk in champagne and good cheer prevailed on +every side. The whole house bore a happy aspect with its floral +decorations and its bright Liverpool coal fires burning in the grates. +Furnaces, by the way, were then unknown. In New York there was at that +time a strong prejudice against anthracite coal, and Liverpool coal was +therefore generally used, the price of which was fifteen dollars a ton. +I have many close and tender associations connected with this bride of +so many years ago, especially as our friendship, formed in our early +life, still extends to her descendants. Some years after Mrs. Winthrop's +marriage, and in her earlier widowhood, four generations traveled +together, and then, as at other times, dwelt under the same roof. They +were Mrs. Nathaniel Smith, Mrs. Richard Armistead, Mrs. John S. Winthrop +and her son, John S. Winthrop, who, with his interesting family, now +resides in Tallahassee. + +In 1841, Lord Morpeth, the seventh Earl of Carlisle and a worthy +specimen of the English nobility, visited the United States, and while +here investigated the subject of the inheritance of slaves by English +subjects. His report seems to have been favorably received, as a law was +passed subsequent to his return declaring it illegal for Englishmen to +hold slaves through inheritance. England's sympathetic heart about this +time was in a perennial throb for "the poor Africans in chains," +apparently quite oblivious to the fact that the "chains" had been +introduced and cemented by her fostering hand. + +I recall with unusual pleasure an entertainment where Lord Morpeth was +the guest of honor, at the residence of William Bard on College Place, +at that time a fashionable street in the vicinity of old Columbia +College. I have always remembered the occasion as I was then introduced +to Lord Morpeth and enjoyed a long and pleasant conversation with him. +Our host was a son of Dr. Samuel Bard, physician to General Washington +during the days when New York was the seat of government. + +[Illustration: MRS. JOHN STILL WINTHROP, NÉE ARMISTEAD, BY SULLY + +_From a portrait owned by John Still Winthrop of Tallahassee._] + +Mr. and Mrs. John Austin Stevens lived on Bleecker Street and had a +number of interesting daughters. They were an intellectual family and I +attended an entertainment given by them in honor of Martin Farquhar +Tupper, the author of "Proverbial Philosophy." Mr. Stevens' sister, +Lucretia Ledyard Stevens, married Mr. Richard Heckscher of +Philadelphia. + +Another gentlewoman of the same period was Mrs. Laura Wolcott Gibbs, +wife of Colonel George Gibbs of Newport. The first Oliver Wolcott, a +Signer, Governor of Connecticut and General in the Revolutionary War, +was her grandfather; while the second of the same name, Secretary of the +Treasury under Washington and Adams, Governor of his State and United +States Judge, was her father. I am in the fullest sympathy with the +following remarks concerning her made at her funeral by the Rev. Dr. +Henry W. Bellows: "I confess I always felt in the presence of Mrs. Gibbs +as if I were talking with Oliver Wolcott himself, and saw in her +self-reliant, self-asserting and independent manner and speech an +unmistakable copy of a strong and thoroughly individual character, +forged in the hottest fires of national struggle. The intense +individuality of her nature set her apart from others. You felt that +from the womb she must have been just what she was--a piece of the +original granite on which the nation was built.... The force, the +courage, the self-poise she exhibited in the ordinary concerns of our +peaceful life would in a masculine frame have made, in times of national +peril, a patriot of the most decided and energetic character--one able +and willing to believe all things possible, and to make all the efforts +and sacrifices by which impossibilities are accomplished." + +Mrs. Gibbs was literally steeped and moulded in the traditions of the +past; in fact, she was a reminder of the noble women of the +Revolutionary era, many of whom have left records behind them. She was +gifted with a keen sense of humor, and her talent in repartee was +proverbial. Although many years my senior, I found delightful +companionship in her society, and her home was always a great resource +to me. Her accomplished daughter, the wife of Captain Theophile +d'Oremieulx, U.S.A., was particularly skilled in music. Her son, Wolcott +Gibbs, the distinguished Professor of Harvard University, maintained to +the last the high intellectual standard of his ancestors. He died +several years ago. I was informed by his mother that at one period of +its history Columbia College desired to secure his services as a +professor, but that the Hon. Hamilton Fish, one of its trustees and an +uncompromising Episcopalian, objected on the ground of his Unitarian +faith and was sustained by the Board of Trustees. It seemed a rather +inconsistent act, as at another period of its history a Hebrew was +chosen as a member of the same faculty. + +As nearly as I can remember, it was in the summer of 1845 that I spent +several weeks as the guest of the financier and author, Alexander B. +Johnson, in Utica, New York. Mrs. Johnson's maiden name was Abigail +Louisa Smith Adams, and she was the daughter of Charles Adams, son of +President John Adams. During my sojourn there her uncle, John Quincy +Adams, came to Utica to visit his relatives, and I had the pleasure of +being a guest of the family at the same time. He was accompanied upon +this trip by his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Charles Francis Adams, a young +grandson whose name I do not recall, and the father of Mrs. Adams, Peter +C. Brooks, of Boston, another of whose daughters was the wife of Edward +Everett. Upon their arrival in Utica, the greatest enthusiasm prevailed, +and the elderly ex-President was welcomed by an old-fashioned torchlight +procession. In response to many urgent requests, Mr. Adams made an +impromptu speech from the steps of the Johnson house, and proved himself +to be indeed "the old man eloquent." Although he was not far from eighty +years old, he was by no means lacking in either mental or physical +vitality. Mrs. Charles Francis Adams impressed me as a woman of unusual +culture and intellectuality, while her father, Peter C. Brooks, was a +genial old gentleman whom everyone loved to greet. He was at that time +one of Boston's millionaires; and many years later I heard his grandson, +the late Henry Sidney Everett, of Washington, son of Edward Everett, +say of him that when he first arrived in Boston he was a youth with +little or no means. + +After the Adams party had rested for a few days a pleasure trip to +Trenton Falls, in Oneida County, was proposed. A few prominent citizens +of Utica were invited by the Johnsons to accompany the party, and among +them several well-known lawyers whose careers won for them a national as +well as local reputation. Among these I may especially mention the +handsome Horatio Seymour, then in his prime, whose courteous manners and +manly bearing made him exceptionally attractive. Mr. Adams bore the +fatigue of the trip remarkably well and his strength seemed undiminished +as the day waned. His devoted daughter-in-law remained constantly beside +him while at the Falls to administer to his comfort and attend to his +wants; in fact, she was so solicitous concerning him that she requested +that she might, in going and coming, occupy a carriage as near him as +possible. I cannot but regard her as a model for many of the present +generation who fail to be deeply impressed by either merit or years. + +The Adamses were charming guests, and I have always felt that I was +highly privileged to visit under the same roof with them, and especially +to listen to the words of wisdom of the venerable ex-President. I have +heard it stated, by the way, that during his official life in +Washington, Mr. Adams took a daily bath in the Potomac. This luxury he +must have missed in Utica, as at this time it offered no opportunities +for a plunge except in the "raging canal." Mrs. Charles Francis Adams +accompanied her husband when he went to England, during our Civil War, +to represent the United States at the Court of St. James. The consummate +manner in which he conducted our relations with Great Britain at that +critical period marked him as an accomplished statesman and a +diplomatist of the rarest skill. The nature of his task was one of +extreme delicacy, and it is highly probable that, but for his masterly +efforts, England would have recognized the independence of the Southern +Confederacy. The energy and fidelity with which he met the requirements +of his mission undermined his health and, returning to this country, he +retired to his old home in Quincy. + +While in Utica I drove in the family carriage with Mrs. Johnson and her +sister, Mrs. John W. King, to Peterboro, about twenty-five miles +distant, to visit Mr. and Mrs. Gerrit Smith. Mr. Smith had already +commenced his crusade against slavery, and the family antipathy to the +institution was so strong that two of his nieces, sisters of General +John Cochrane, who later became President of the Society of the +Cincinnati, refused to wear dresses made of cotton because it was a +Southern staple. As I remember this great anti-slavery agitator, he was +a remarkably handsome man with an air of enthusiasm which seemed to +pervade his whole being. From 1853 to 1855 he was in Congress, and I had +the pleasure of listening to one of his scathing speeches on the floor +of the House of Representatives in denunciation of slavery. I recall his +unusual felicity in the use of Scriptural quotations, one of which still +lingers in my ears: "Where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty." +His daughter Elizabeth married Charles Dudley Miller, a prominent +citizen of Utica. She was a woman of very pronounced views, as may be +judged, in part, by the fact that some years after my marriage, and +while living in Washington, I met her by accident one day at the Capitol +and to my surprise discovered that she was wearing bloomers! + +In September, 1849, I was returning to my home in New York from another +visit to the Johnsons in Utica, when, upon the invitation of Mrs. +Hamilton Fish, whose husband was then Governor of the Empire State, I +stopped in Albany and visited them. They were of course occupying the +gubernatorial mansion, but its exact location I cannot exactly recall. +Life was exceedingly simple in the middle of the last century, even in +the wealthiest families, and through all these years I seem to remember +but a single incident connected with the family life of these early +friends--the trivial fact that the breakfast hour was seven o'clock. +Mrs. Fish was a model mother and was surrounded by a large and +interesting family of children, some of whom are among the highly +prominent people of the present time. + +_Apropos_ of the Fish children, an amusing story is told of the keen +sense of humor of the late William M. Evarts, who presented in every-day +life such a stern exterior. When, on one occasion, he was a guest of the +Fish family at their summer home on the Hudson, his attention was called +to a large and beautifully executed painting of a group of children +which, as was quite apparent, was greatly treasured by the ex-Governor. +Mr. Evarts gazed upon the portrait for some minutes in silence and then +exclaimed in a low tone, "little Fishes." Mr. Fish stood near his guest +but, not catching the exact drift of his remark, replied: "Sir, I do not +understand." The bright response was: "Yes, I said little fishes, +_sardines_,"--reminding one of Artemus Ward's definition of sardines, +"little fishes biled in ile." + +Another witticism of Mr. Evarts's which seems to me deserving of +preservation is said to have been uttered during his residence in +Washington, when he was Secretary of State under President Hayes. A +party of distinguished Englishmen was visiting the National Capital and +Mr. Evarts escorted it to Mount Vernon. After inspecting the mansion and +the grave of Washington the party walked to the end of the lawn to view +the attractive scenery of the Potomac River. One of the Englishmen who +seemed decidedly more conversant with certain phases of American +history than the others asked Mr. Evarts whether it were really true +that Washington could throw a shilling across the Potomac. "Yes," said +Mr. Evarts, in a diplomatic tone, "it is quite true." The same evening +at a dinner, the Secretary of State repeated the conversation to a +mutual friend and added: "He could do even better than that; he could +toss a Sovereign across the Atlantic!" + +The day after my arrival in Albany, President Zachary Taylor and his +suite were the guests of Governor and Mrs. Fish, and the same day a +dinner was given in his honor which was attended by prominent State +officials. Meanwhile, a concourse of people had surrounded the mansion, +anxious to see the President and to demand a speech. Old "Rough and +Ready" appeared at an open window and faced the multitude, but was not +as "ready" in speech as with his sword. He made a brave attempt, +however, to gratify the people, but he seemed exceedingly feeble and his +voice was decidedly weak. In the course of his remarks his aide and +son-in-law, Colonel William W. S. Bliss, came to his rescue and prompted +him, as it were, from behind the scenes; so that everything passed off, +as I understood the next day, to the satisfaction of his audience. +Possibly this was one of Taylor's last appearances in public, as he died +the following summer. + +Although Mrs. Fish was at this time a comparatively young woman, she +presided over the Governor's mansion with the same grace and ease so +characteristic of her career in Washington when her husband was +Secretary of State under President Grant. In my opinion, and I know but +few who had a better opportunity of judging, Mrs. Fish was in many +respects a remarkable woman. For eight years her home was a social +center, and she was regarded as the social dictator of the Grant +administration. When any perplexing questions of a social nature arose +during her _régime_, the general inquiry was: "What does Mrs. Fish +say?" This in time became a standing joke, but it illustrates the fact +that her decisions usually were regarded as final. + +One of the social leaders in New York during my younger life was Mrs. +Isaac Jones, who, in her own set, was known as "Bloody Mary." Why this +name was applied to her I cannot say, as she was not in the least either +cruel or revengeful, as far as I knew, but on the contrary was suave and +genial to an unusual degree. She lived on Broadway, directly opposite +the site where the New York Hotel formerly stood, and her entertainments +were both numerous and elaborate. She was one of the daughters of John +Mason, who began life as a tailor but left at his death an estate valued +at a million dollars, which was a large fortune for those days. Isaac +Jones was president of the Chemical Manufacturing Company and later +became prominently connected with the Chemical Bank of New York. A +brother of Mrs. Jones married Miss Emma Wheatley, a superior young woman +who, unfortunately for her father-in-law's peace of mind, was an +actress. This alliance was most distasteful to the whole Mason +connection, and when John Mason was approaching death George W. Strong, +a prominent lawyer, was hastily summoned by his daughters to draft his +will. Almost immediately following Mr. Mason's funeral a legal battle +was commenced over his estate. He left outright to his three daughters +their proportionate share of his fortune, but to his son who had +displeased him by his marriage he devised an annuity of only fifteen +hundred dollars. Charles O'Conor, the counsel for the son, in his +argument in behalf of his client, said that Mr. Mason's daughters, +instead of sending for a clergyman to console his dying moments, had +demanded the immediate presence of a respectable lawyer, "a lawyer so +respectable that throughout his entire practice he never had a poor +client." Mr. O'Conor succeeded in breaking this will, and young Mason +was given his proper share in his father's estate. + +One of John Mason's daughters became the wife of Gordon Hammersley, +whose son Louis married the beautiful Miss Lilly Warren Price of Troy, +the daughter of Commodore Cicero Price of the United States Navy. She +subsequently married the Duke of Marlborough, and afterwards Lord +William Beresford. The Marlborough-Hammersley ceremony was performed in +this country by a justice of the peace, and the new Duchess of +Marlborough went to England to live upon her husband's depleted estates. +It is said that she was allowed by her late husband's family an annual +income of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars; and Blenheim, which +had long felt the strain of "decay's effacing fingers," began again, +through the agency of the Hammersley wealth, to resemble the structure +once occupied by that tyrant of royalty, the imperious Sarah Jennings. + +Very little seemed to be known about Louis Hammersley, as he lived a +retired life, and when seen in public was almost invariably accompanied +by his father, Gordon Hammersley. When the two appeared upon the street, +they were sometimes facetiously dubbed "Dombey and Son." They were +familiar figures on Broadway, where they invariably walked arm in arm. +John Hammersley, a brother of Gordon, was the æsthetic member of this +well-known family. One of his pet diversions was the giving of unusual, +and sometimes sensational, dinners. To celebrate the completion of the +trans-continental railroad, he planned what he called a Roman dinner. +His guests were furnished with togas and partook of the meal in a +reclining position, like the Romans of old. This unique entertainment +was, of course, thoroughly enjoyed, but did not become _à la mode_ as +the flowing toga could hardly compete with trim waistcoats and clinging +trousers, even on festive occasions. + +Fifty years ago, more or less, a house was erected in New York on the +southwest corner of Fifth Avenue and Fifteenth Street by Mrs. Charles +Maverick Parker, and, to the astonishment of Gothamites, it was said to +have cost one hundred thousand dollars! Later it became the home of the +Manhattan Club. Many old residents visited it on its completion, as such +a costly structure was regarded with nothing short of amazement. I +remember it was an _on dit_ of the town that upon one occasion, when +Mrs. Parker was personally escorting some unusually prominent person +through the mansion, she pointed to a pretty little receptacle in her +bedroom and exclaimed as she passed: "That is where I keep my old shoes. +I wear old shoes just as other people do." The cost and pretentiousness +of her establishment caused her to be nicknamed "Mrs. House Parker." Her +residence was built of brown stone, which so strongly appealed to the +taste of New Yorkers that in time the same material was largely employed +in the erection of dwellings. High ceilings were then much in vogue and +were greatly admired. In our house in Houston Street, where I passed my +late childhood and early womanhood, the ceilings were unusually high, +while all of the doors were of massive mahogany set in ornamental white +frames. In subsequent years I met so many persons who in former days had +been our neighbors in Houston Street that I was conceited enough to +designate that locality as "the cradle of the universe." Anthony +Bleecker Neilson was our next-door neighbor in this famous old street, +and during my life in China twin sons of his, William and Bleecker, were +again my neighbors in Foo Chow, where they were both employed in the +_Hong_ (firm) of Oliphant & Company. + +A rival to Mrs. Parker's fine house was not long in appearing. Directly +opposite a stately residence was built by Mrs. Richard K. Haight which +subsequently became the New York Club. A great rivalry existed between +these two matrons which even extended to hats, feathers, gowns and all +the furbelows so dear to the feminine heart. In fact, the far-famed +houses of Montague and Capulet could not have maintained more skillful +tactics; and all the while the Gothamites looked on and smiled. A few +years later Eugene Shiff, who had spent the greater portion of his life +in France, built a large house on Fifth Avenue which he surmounted with +a mansard roof. These pioneers having set the pace, imposing residences +were erected in rapid succession, and the process has been continued +until the present day. + +In December, 1851, New York was agog over the arrival upon the shores of +America of Louis Kossuth. As everyone knows, he was the leader of the +Hungarian revolution of 1848-9, and became the first governor of the +short-lived Hungarian Republic. When this was overthrown by Austria and +other countries, Kossuth fled to Turkey and subsequently sailed for this +country on the U.S. Frigate _Mississippi_. When his arrival became +known, thousands of people thronged the streets anxious to catch a first +glimpse of the distinguished foreigner. One might have fancied from the +enthusiasm displayed that he was one of our own conquering heroes +returning home. Americans were even more sympathetic then than now with +all struggles for political freedom, as the history of our own trying +experiences during the Revolution was, from a sentimental point of view, +even more of a controlling influence than it is to-day. Several months +later I heard Kossuth deliver an address at the National Hotel in +Washington before a large assembly chiefly composed of members of +Congress, when his subject was "Hungary and her woes." I vividly recall +the impression produced upon his audience when, in his deeply melodious +tones, he invoked the "Throne of Grace" and closed with the appealing +words: "What is life without prayer?" I have never before or since +observed an audience so completely under the sway of an orator, as it +seemed to me that there was not a person in the room who at the moment +would not have been willing to acquiesce in whatever demands or appeals +he might present. Kossuth's countenance suggested such profound +depression that one could readily credit the assertion he made during +his remarks, "I have been trained to grief." He wore during the delivery +of his address the picturesque costume of the Magyars of his country. + +New York had an unusually large coterie of _littérateurs_, many of whom +it was my good fortune to know. Some of these had only recently returned +from Brook Farm "sadder but wiser" and, at all events, with more +practical views concerning "the world's broad field of battle." Brook +Farm had its origin in 1841, and completely collapsed in 1847. It was +chiefly intended to be the fulfillment of a dream of the Rev. Dr. +William Henry Channing of "an association in which the members, instead +of preying upon one another and seeking to put one another down, after +the fashion of this world, should live together as brothers, seeking one +another's elevation and spiritual growth." It was essentially +socialistic in its conception and execution and, although professedly +altruistic in its nature, was in reality a visionary scheme which +reflected but little credit upon the judgment of either its originators +or its patrons. Its company was composed of "members" and "scholars," to +whom may be added a celebrated list of those who sojourned at the Farm +for brief periods and were known as "visitors." The whole scheme was +without doubt one of the most visionary expressions of New England +transcendentalism, and it failed because in the nature of things no such +ventures ever have succeeded and, until human nature is essentially +revolutionized, probably never can. Among its most distinguished members +were Nathaniel Hawthorne, Charles A. Dana, later the brilliant and +accomplished editor of _The New York Sun_, and George Ripley. George +William Curtis was one of its scholars, and among its visitors were the +Rev. William Henry Channing, Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Amos +Bronson Alcott, Orestes Augustus Bronson, Theodore Parker and Elizabeth +P. Peabody--forming together one of the most brilliant intellectual +galaxies that were ever associated in a single enterprise. + +Of this number I especially recall George William Curtis, a genius of +the first brilliancy and remarkable withal for his versatile +conversational powers. I was talking to him on one occasion when someone +inquired as to his especial work in the co-operative fold of Brook Farm. +His laughing reply was, "Cleaning door knobs." George Ripley was a +distinguished scholar and a prominent journalist. His wife, a daughter +of Francis Dana, became a convert to Catholicism and is said to have +found much to console her in that faith until her death from cancer in +1861. Margaret Fuller, though not possessed of much outward grace, was a +prolific votary of the pen. I occasionally met her in society before she +started on an European tour where she met her destiny in the person of +the Marquis Giovanni Angelo Ossoli, to whom she was secretly married in +1847. Some years later she embarked with her husband and little boy upon +a sailing vessel for America, and all were lost off the coast of New +York in July, 1850. Horace Sumner, a younger brother of the +distinguished Massachusetts statesman, also perished at the same time. + +About 1845 I met Anne C. Lynch of Providence, who came to New York to +promote her literary ambitions, and was a pleasing addition to this same +intellectual circle. She was the author of several prose works and also +of some poetical effusions which were published in 1848 and received +high commendation. She married Vincenzo Botta, a learned Italian who at +one time was a professor in the University of Turin. Their tastes were +similar and the marriage was a very happy one. They lived for many +years on Thirty-seventh Street in New York, where they maintained a +charming _salon_. On Sunday evenings their home was the rendezvous of +many of the literary lights of the metropolis as well as of +distinguished strangers. Some years before her marriage, Mrs. Botta was +visiting in Washington, where she formed a friendship with Henry Clay. +Upon her return to New York he committed to her care a valuable gold +medal, but upon arriving at her home she discovered to her dismay that +it was missing from her trunk. It was the general impression that it had +been stolen from her on her way to New York. About the same time I also +knew Donald G. Mitchell ("Ik Marvel"), but this was before he had +entered upon his active and distinguished literary career, and when he +was a temporary sojourner in New York. He was contributing at that time +some much appreciated letters to various magazines under the signature +of "The Lorgnette," which were subsequently republished as a volume +bearing the same title. + +N. P. Willis was another literary genius of the same period whom I had +the pleasure of knowing. He was cordially welcomed into the social world +of New York; but, unfortunately for his popularity, he wrote a prose +effusion entitled, "Those Ungrateful Blidgimses," which was generally +recognized as a direct attack upon two old ladies who were held in high +esteem in New York. It was known to many persons that he had had a +misunderstanding with them and that he had employed this manner of +taking his revenge. New York society frowned upon what was generally +considered his ungallant conduct, and for many years the doors of some +of the most prominent houses in the city were closed against him. As I +remember reading his story at the time, I thought its title was but a +poor disguise, as the sisters were named Bridgens, the christian name of +one of them being Cornelia. This name was distorted into "Crinny," who, +by the way, was a woman of decided ability. It was against her that the +author's animosity was chiefly directed. It seems that the Misses +Bridgens and Mr. Willis chanced to be sojourning at the same time in +Rome, where the scene of his narrative is laid. Miss Crinny was a +sufferer from an attack of Roman fever and, under these dire +circumstances, Mr. Willis represents himself as her attendant, and in +this capacity refuses to condone the peculiarities of the poor old +lady's sick-room. His patience in gratifying her morbid fancies is +graphically described in a vein of ridicule and he tells how by the hour +he threaded what he terms her "imaginary locks." He also dwells at +length upon her conversational powers and likens her tongue to the +elasticity of an eel's tail, which would wag if it were skinned and +fried. Charles Dudley Warner has described this writing of Mr. Willis as +"funny but wicked"; it was more than that--it was cruel! Willis made +another reference to the two sisters in his "Earnest Clay" where he +speaks of "two abominable old maids by the names of Buggins and +Blidgins, representing the _scan. mag._ of Florence." + +The New York public was in no hurry to reopen its doors to Mr. Willis; +indeed, it was not until after his marriage to Miss Cornelia Grinnell, +his second wife, that he was again kindly received. I recall with much +pleasure a visit I made at Mrs. Winfield Scott's in New York, after that +city had ceased to be my home, when we went together to dine with Mr. +and Mrs. N. P. Willis at Idlewild, their country home on the Hudson. +These were the days when Mrs. Scott was sometimes facetiously called +_Madame la Général_. This charming residence of Mr. Willis was several +miles south of Newburgh, on high ground overlooking the river, and from +its porches there was an enchanting view of West Point. Mr. Willis told +us that when he first came to that vicinity he called the attention of +a countryman from whom he had purchased the land to some uncultivated +acres and asked a suggestion regarding them. "That," said the man, +waving his hand in the direction of the trees, "is nothing but an +Idlewild." The word lingered in Mr. Willis's mind, and he subsequently +adopted it as the name of his new home. + +While living in New York we frequently attended parties at the +hospitable home of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin F. Butler in Washington Place. +He was an elegant gentleman of the old school and had served as Attorney +General in the cabinets of Presidents Jackson and Van Buren. They were +people of deep religious convictions, and consequently all their +entertainments were conducted upon the strictest code of the day. For +example, dancing was never permitted and wine was never served. In place +of dancing there was a continuous promenade. I generally attended these +parties accompanied by my father, who enjoyed meeting the legal lights +of the country, some of whom were always there. Exceptionally handsome +suppers were served at these entertainments, and every effort was made +by Mr. and Mrs. Butler to make up, as it were, for the lack of dancing +which was sorely missed by those more gayly inclined. + +A hundred thousand dollars was considered a highly respectable fortune +in New York between sixty and seventy years ago. Seven per cent, was the +usual rate of interest, the cost of living was low, and life was, of +course, much simpler in every way. I recall a prominent young man about +this period, Henry Carroll Marx, commonly called "Dandy Marx," who was +said to be the happy possessor of the amount I have named. He was +devoted to horses and from his home on Broadway he could frequently be +seen driving tandem on the cobblestone streets. I do not remember his +entering the social arena; possibly he avoided it in order to escape the +wiles of designing mothers, whom one occasionally encountered even in +those ancient days. His faultless attire, which in elegance surpassed +all his rivals, won for him the nickname of "Dandy." He also rendered +himself conspicuous as the first gentleman in New York to wear the long, +straight, and pointed waxed mustache. His two maiden sisters were +inseparable companions and nearly every day could be seen walking on +Broadway. Miss Lydia Kane, one of the wits of my day and of whom I have +already spoken, facetiously called them "number 11"--two straight marks! + +In 1845 Burton's Theater was an unfailing source of delight to the +pleasure-loving public. William E. Burton was an Englishman of rare +cultivation, and was the greatest comedian New York had ever known. +Although so gifted, his expression of countenance was one of extreme +gravity. His presentation of Aminadab Sleek in the "Serious Family" has, +in my opinion, never been surpassed. He frequently acted in minor +comedies, but the "Serious Family" was his greatest _rôle_. Niblo's +Garden on Broadway, near Houston Street, was a source of great delight +in those days to all Gothamites. It was in this theater that the Ravel +family had its remarkable athletic performances. When I recall their +graceful, youthful physiques, I am reminded of Hamlet's philosophical +musings in the graveyard: "Where be your gibes now, your gambols, your +songs, your flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table on a +roar?" P. T. Barnum was a conspicuous figure about this time. His museum +was on Broadway, at the corner of Ann Street, and not far from the City +Hall. He was considered a prince of humbugs and perhaps gloried in his +reputation as such. I distinctly remember the excitement which he +created over a mummified old colored woman who, he asserted, had been a +nurse of Washington, and to whom he gave the name of Joice Heth. She was +undoubtedly a very aged negress, but she still retained full powers of +articulation and was well coached to reply in an intelligent manner to +the numerous inquiries respecting her pretended charge. It is needless +to add that she was only one of Barnum's numerous fakes. + +Philip Kearny, a handsome gentleman of a former school, who lived at the +corner of Broadway and Leonard Street, was a lavish entertainer. He was +a widower when I knew him, but his daughter, the wife of Major Alexander +S. Macomb, U.S.A., the son and aide of Major General Alexander Macomb, +Commander-in-Chief of the Army, lived with him. Major Macomb was +conspicuous for his attractive personality and imposing presence and was +said to bear a striking resemblance to Prince Albert, the father of +Edward VII. His wife was one of the three heirs of John Watts, who owned +a princely estate. The other two were her brother, the gallant General +Philip Kearny, and her cousin, General John Watts de Peyster, a son of +that most accomplished gentleman, Frederick de Peyster, of whom I have +already spoken. Mrs. Macomb was a generous and attractive woman who +dispensed with a liberal hand the wealth she had inherited. Her pretty +cousins, Mary and Nancy Kearny, whom I knew quite well, daughters of her +father's brothers, were her constant guests. Another frequent visitor of +this household was Mrs. "Phil" Kearny, as she was invariably called, +whose maiden name was Diana Moore Bullitt, a famous Kentucky belle, +well-known for her grace and intellectual attractions. Her sister +Eloise, usually called "Lou" Bullitt by her intimate friends, married +Baron Frederick de Kantzow of Sweden, a courtly foreigner who had +commercial relations with the merchant princes of New York. Tradition +states that the Baroness de Kantzow, though not possessed of Mrs. +Kearny's beauty, was a more successful slayer of hearts than her sister, +and it is said that she had adorers by the score. A third Bullitt +sister, Mary, married General Henry Atkinson and after his death Major +Adam Duncan Steuart, both of the United States Army, the latter of whom +was stationed for many years at Fort Leavenworth. + +Mrs. Macomb's health failed at an early period of life and to restore it +she sought a foreign clime; but, alas, her many friends were never +gladdened again by her kindly welcome, as she died abroad. In my young +womanhood I frequently attended parties at the Kearny house where +dancing and other social pleasures enlivened the scene. In this +connection it seems proper to refer at greater length to John Watts and +his interesting trio of daughters. I have already spoken of his son +Robert, who died unmarried at an early age. His two older daughters, +Susanna, wife of Philip Kearny, and Mary Justina, wife of Frederick de +Peyster, did not long survive their marriages; but a third daughter, +Elizabeth, the wife of Henry Laight, who never had children, lived many +years with her father and managed the affairs of his household. An +amusing story was told me many years ago regarding Mrs. Laight which is +well worthy of mention. As a young girl she was deeply in love with the +young man who eventually became her husband, but her father was so +devoted to her and so very dependent upon her that he violently opposed +her marrying anyone. Accordingly, a secret marriage was planned by the +young people to take place in Trinity Church. As the youthful pair was +standing in front of the altar, surrounded by a few sympathetic friends, +the rector reached the words, "Who giveth this woman to be married to +this man?" when, to the astonishment of the assembled group, a gruff, +loud voice in the rear of the church shouted "I do." Old John Watts had +opposed his daughter's marriage with all his might, but when he learned +by chance that she was to be married clandestinely, he graciously +accepted the inevitable and without the knowledge of anyone hurried to +the church and, entering it by a side door, duly performed his part as +just related. This anecdote was told me by Arent Schuyler de Peyster, a +distant cousin of General John Watts de Peyster. Many years later, when +I repeated it to Mrs. Diana Bullitt Kearny, she remarked in her +characteristic manner: "He was mean enough not to even allow her the +satisfaction of a runaway marriage." This estimate of his character, +however, does not seem to agree with that given by others. The Laights +were prominent in New York society. One of them, Edward Laight, whom I +knew as a society beau, was remarkably handsome. He was a good deal of a +flirt and transferred his affections with remarkable facility from one +young woman to another. His sister married a Greek, Mr. Eugene Dutilh, a +gentleman of culture and refinement, who owned a beautiful place at +Garrison's-on-the-Hudson which he sold about 1861 to Hamilton Fish. + +Philip Kearny and his family lived next door to Peter A. Jay, and I +frequently met the young people of his household at Mrs. Macomb's +parties. Gouverneur Morris, a son of the distinguished statesman, and +Edward Kearny were _habitués_ of this establishment, as were also Ridley +and Essex Watts, both of whom I knew well. General "Phil" Kearny from +his youthful days was an enthusiastic soldier, but he was not a graduate +of West Point, having been appointed to the regular army from civil life +by President Van Buren in 1837. He served throughout the Mexican War, +where he had the misfortune to lose an arm at the battle of Churubusco, +and was killed during the Civil War in 1862 at the battle of Chantilly. + +Speaking of General Macomb, I am reminded of a social _on dit_ of many +years ago. Mrs. August Belmont (Caroline Slidell Perry) lived in a fine +house on Fifth Avenue and frequently gave large receptions. His sister, +Sarah Perry, subsequently Mrs. R. S. Rodgers, was an early friend of +mine. The elegant Major Alexander S. Macomb, who was his father's +namesake and aide, on entering Mrs. Belmont's drawing-room was +unfortunate enough to brush against a handsome vase and completely +shatter it. It was generally conceded that his hostess was conscious of +the disaster, but "was mistress of herself though China fall" and +appeared entirely unconscious of the mishap. Some months later at the +house of Lady Cunard (Mary McEvers), a similar accident happened. The +unfortunate guest, however, in this case was immediately approached by +his hostess, who with much elegant grace begged him not to be disturbed +as the damage was trifling. Immediately society began an animated +discussion, when even the judicial powers of Solomon might have found it +embarrassing to decide which of the two women should be accorded the +greater degree of _savoir faire_. + +In 1844, accompanied by my father, I attended the wedding of Estelle +Livingston, daughter of John Swift Livingston, to John Watts de Peyster. +At the time of this marriage, Mr. de Peyster was considered the finest +_parti_ in the city; while, apart from his great wealth, he was so +unusually talented that it was generally believed a brilliant future +awaited him. It was a home wedding, and the drawing-room was well filled +with the large family connection and other invited guests. At this time +Mr. Livingston was a widower, but his sister Maria, Mrs. John C. Stevens +of Hoboken, did the honors of the occasion for her brother. The young +bride presented a charming appearance in all her finery, and at the +bountiful collation following the ceremony champagne flowed freely. +This, however, was no unusual thing, as that beverage was generally seen +at every entertainment in those good old days. Mrs. John C. Stevens +lived at one time in Barclay Street, and I have heard numerous stories +concerning her eccentricities. In 1849 she gave a fancy-dress ball but, +as she had failed to revise her visiting list in many years, persons who +had long been dead were among her invited guests. She was especially +peculiar in her mode of dress, which was not always adapted to her +social position. It is therefore not at all surprising that unfortunate +mistakes were occasionally made in regard to her identity. Another of +her eccentricities consisted in the fact that she positively refused, +when shopping, to recognize even her most intimate friends, as she said +it was simply impossible for her to combine business with pleasure. In +spite of her peculiarities, however, she possessed unusual social charm. +Her husband was prominent in society and business circles. He was +founder of the New York Yacht Club as well as its first president, and +commanded the _America_ in the memorable race in England in 1851, which +won the celebrated cup that Sir Thomas Lipton and other English +yachtsmen have failed to restore to their native land. Mary Livingston, +the younger daughter of John Swift Livingston, was a _petite_ beauty. +She married a distant relative, a son of Maturin Livingston. I am told +that her brother, Johnston Livingston, is still living in New York at a +very advanced age. + +Joseph Kemmerer's band was an indispensable adjunct to all social +gatherings in the days of which I am speaking. The number of instruments +used was always in proportion to the size of the entertainment. The +inspiring airs of Strauss and Labitzky, then in vogue, were popular with +the younger set. These airs bring back pleasant memories, as I have +frequently danced to them. The waltz in my day was a fine art and its +votaries were numerous. I recall the fact that Edward James of Albany, a +witty young gentleman with whom I occasionally danced, was such a +devotee to the waltz that, not possessing sufficient will power to +resist its charms and having a delicate constitution, he nearly danced +himself into another world. Two attractive young brothers, Thomas H. and +Daniel Messinger, who were general beaux in society, played their parts +most successfully in the social world by their graceful dancing, and no +ball was considered complete without their presence. These brothers +were associated in the umbrella industry, and Miss Lydia Kane, some of +whose witty remarks I have already quoted, dubbed them the "reigning +beaux!" Daniel Messinger eventually married Miss Elizabeth Coles +Neilson, a daughter of Anthony Bleecker Neilson, and became a Lieutenant +Colonel in the Union Army during the Civil War. + +The British Consul General in New York from 1817 to 1843 was James +Buchanan. He was Irish by birth, and many young British subjects +visiting the United States made his home their headquarters. He had +several daughters and, as the whole family was social in its tastes, I +often enjoyed meeting these sturdy representatives of John Bull at his +house. Those I knew best came from "the land of brown heath and shaggy +wood," as in our family we were naturally partial to Scotchmen and, as a +rule, regarded them as desirable acquaintances. Many of these were +graduates of Glasgow University and young men of unusual culture and +refinement. I especially remember Mr. McCorquodale, a nephew of Dr. +Thomas Chalmers, the distinguished Presbyterian Divine of Scotland. He +met his future wife in New York in the person of a wealthy and +attractive widow. Her maiden name I do not recall, although I am +acquainted with certain facts concerning her lineage. She was the +granddaughter of Madame de Genlis. + +I doubt whether any of these young Scotchmen whom I met remained +permanently in this country, as they always seemed too loyal to the +"Land o' Cakes" to entirely expatriate themselves. Another young +Scotchman, Mr. Dundas, whom I knew quite well through the Buchanans, +embarked for his native land on board the steamer _President_. This ship +sailed in the spring of 1841 and never reached her destination. What +became of her was never known and her fate remains to this day one of +the mysteries of the sea. In the fall of 1860 the U.S. man-of-war +_Levant_, on her voyage from the Hawaiian Islands to Panama, disappeared +in the same mysterious manner in the Pacific Ocean; and, as was the case +with the _President_, no human being aboard of her was ever heard of +again. There were many conjectures in regard to the fate of this ship, +but the true story of her doom has never been revealed. I remember two +of the officers who perished with her. One of them was Lieutenant Edward +C. Stout, who had married a daughter of Commodore John H. Aulick, +U.S.N., and whose daughters, the Misses Julia and Minnie Stout, are well +remembered in Washington social circles; and the other was Purser Andrew +J. Watson, who was a member of one of the old residential families of +the District of Columbia. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +WASHINGTON IN THE FORTIES + + +My first visit to Washington was in 1845. I started from New York at +eight o'clock in the morning and reached Philadelphia late the same +afternoon. I broke the journey by spending the night at Jones's Hotel in +the lower part of the city, which was the usual stopping place of +travelers who made this trip. A few years later when the journey from +New York to Washington was made in twelve hours, it was thought that +almost a miracle had been performed. + +Mrs. Winfield Scott in 1855 characterized the National Capital as "an +ill-contrived, ill-arranged, rambling, scrambling village"; and it was +certainly all of that when I first saw it. It is not improbable that the +cause of this condition of affairs was a general feeling of uncertainty +as to whether Washington would remain the permanent seat of government, +especially as the West was naturally clamoring for a more centrally +located capital. When I first visited the city the ubiquitous +real-estate agent had not yet materialized, and corner lots, now so much +in demand, could be purchased at a small price. Taxation was moderate +and Congress, then as now, held itself responsible for one-half of the +taxes. As land was cheap there was no necessity for economy in its use, +and spacious fronts were built regardless of back-buildings. In other +cases, when one's funds were limited, the rear of the house was first +built and later a more imposing front was added. The contrast between +the houses of New York, built closely together in blocks, and those in +Washington, with the abundant space around them, was a great surprise +to me. Unlike many other cities, land in Washington, then, as now, was +sold and taxed by the square foot. + +My elder sister Fanny had married Charles Eames, Esq., of the Washington +Bar, and my visit was to her. Mr. Eames entered Harvard in 1827 when +less than sixteen years of age, and was a classmate of Wendell Phillips +and of John Lothrop Motley, the historian. The distinguished Professor +of Harvard University, Andrew P. Peabody, LL.D., in referring to him +many years after his death said that he was "the first scholar of his +class, and was regarded as a man of unlimited power of acquisition, and +of marked ability as a public speaker." After leaving Harvard he studied +law, but ill health prevented him from practicing his profession. He +accompanied to Washington George Bancroft, President Polk's Secretary of +the Navy, by whom he was made principal correspondence clerk of the Navy +Department. He remained there but a few months when he became associate +editor of _The Washington Union_ under the well-known Thomas Ritchie, +usually known as "Father Ritchie." He was subsequently appointed by Polk +a commissioner to negotiate a treaty with the Hawaiian Islands, and took +passage upon the U.S. Frigate _Savannah_ and sailed, by way of Cape +Horn, for San Francisco. He unexpectedly found awaiting his arrival in +that city Dr. Gerrit P. Judd, Prime Minister of the King, with two young +Hawaiian princes. After the treaty was made, he returned east and for +six months edited _The Nashville Union_, when he again assumed charge of +_The Washington Union_. President Pierce subsequently appointed him +Minister to Venezuela, where he remained until 1859, and then returned +to Washington, where he practiced his profession for the remainder of +his life. It was while arguing an important case before the Supreme +Court that he was stricken, and he died on the 16th of March, 1867. He +sustained a high reputation as an admiralty lawyer as well as for his +knowledge of international jurisprudence. I have now before me a letter +addressed to his widow by Wendell Phillips only three days after his +death. It is one of the valued possessions of Mr. Eames's daughter, who +is my niece and the wife of that genial Scotchman, Alexander Penrose +Gordon-Cumming. It reads: + + + QUINCY, Illinois, March 19, 1867. + + My dear friend, + + I have just crossed from the other side of the Mississippi, + and am saddened by learning from the papers my old and dear + friend's death. + + The associations that bind us together go back many, many + years. We were boys together in sunny months full of frolic, + plans and hopes. The merriment and the seriousness, the toil + and the ambition of those days all cluster round him as + memory brings him to me in the flush of his youth. I have + seen little of him of late years, as you know, but the roots + of our friendship needed no constant care; they were too + strong to die or wilt, and when we did meet it was always + with the old warmth and intimacy. I feel more alone in the + world now he has gone. One by one the boy's comrades pass + over the river and life loses with each some of its + interest. + + I was hoping in coming years, as life grew less busy, to see + more of my old playmate, and this is a very unexpected blow. + Be sure I sympathize with you most tenderly, and could not + resist the impulse to tell you so. Little as we have met, I + owe to your kind and frank interest in me a sense of very + warm and close relation to you--feel as if I had known you + ever so many years. I hope our paths may lead us more + together so that I may learn to know you better and gather + some more distinct ideas of Eames' later years. All his + youth I have by heart. + + With most affectionate regards believe me + + Very faithfully yours, + + WENDELL PHILLIPS. + + Mrs. Eames. + + I think women never fully realize the strange tenderness + with which men cling to college mates. No matter how much + opinions or residence separate grown-up men, to have been + classmates is a tie that like blood never loosens. Any man + that has a heart feels it thrill at the sight of one of + _those_ comrades. Later friendships may be close, never so + tender--this makes boys of us again at any moment. + Unfamiliar tears obey its touch, and a singular sense of + loneliness settles down on survivors--Good-bye. + +The young Hawaiian princes to whom I have just referred and who, by the +way, were mere boys, accompanied Dr. Judd to New York where my younger +brother, Malcolm, thinking he might make the acquaintance of some genial +playmates, called to see them. Upon his return from his visit his only +criticism was, "those dusky princes certainly give themselves airs." + +My sister, Mrs. Eames, lived in a house on G Street near Twenty-first +Street in what was then known as the First Ward. This general section, +together with a part of Indiana Avenue, some portions of Capitol Hill, +Sixth and Seventh Streets, and all of that part of the city bounded on +the north by K Street, on the south by Pennsylvania Avenue, and westward +of Fourteenth Street to Georgetown, was at this time the fashionable +section of the city. Like many other places in its formative period, +Washington then presented the picture of fine dwelling houses and +shanties standing side by side. I remember, for example, that as late as +1870 a fine residence on the corner of I and Fifteenth Streets was +located next to a small frame house occupied by a colored undertaker. +The latter's business was prosperous, but his wealthy neighbor objected +to the constant reminder of death caused by seeing from his fine bay +window the numerous coffins carried in and out. He asked the undertaker +to name his price for his property, but he declined, and all of his +subsequent offers were ignored. Finally, after several years' patient +waiting, during which offer after offer had been politely but positively +rejected, the last one being an almost princely sum, the owner sold his +home and moved away, leaving his humble neighbor in triumphant +possession. This is simply a fair example of the conditions existing in +Washington when I first knew it. + +Two rows of houses on Pennsylvania Avenue, known as the "Six and Seven +Buildings," were fashionable dwellings. Admiral David D. Porter, then a +Lieutenant in the Navy, occupied one of them. Miss Catharine L. Brooke +kept a girls' school in another, while still another was the residence +of William Lee of Massachusetts. I have been informed that while serving +in a consular office abroad, under the appointment of President Monroe, +Mr. Lee was commissioned by him to select a dinner set for the White +House. + +Architects, if I remember correctly, were almost unknown in Washington +at this time. When a person was sufficiently venturesome to build a +house for himself, he selected a residence suited to his tastes and +directed a builder to erect one like it. Speculative building was +entirely unknown, and if any resident of the District had embarked upon +such a venture he would have been regarded as the victim of a vivid but +disordered fancy. + +Mrs. C. R. Latimer kept a fashionable boarding house in a large brick +dwelling facing Lafayette Square where the Belasco Theater now stands. +Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton Fish boarded with her while the former was a +Representative in Congress, and Mr. and Mrs. Sanders Irving, so well and +favorably known to all old Washingtonians, also made this house their +home. Many years later it was the residence of William H. Seward, and he +was living there when the memorable attempt was made in 1865 to +assassinate him. As is well known, it subsequently became the home of +James G. Blaine. When Hamilton Fish was elected to the Senate, he +purchased a house on H Street, between Seventeenth and Eighteenth +Streets, which was afterwards known as the "Porter house." Previously +it had been owned and occupied by General "Phil" Kearny. + +The shops of Washington in 1845 were not numerous, and were located +chiefly upon Pennsylvania Avenue, Seventh Street then being a +residential section. The most prominent dry-goods store was kept by +Darius Clagett at the corner of Ninth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. +Mr. Clagett, invariably cordial and courteous, always stood behind his +counter, and I have had many pleasant chats with him while making my +purchases. Although he kept an excellent selection of goods, it was +usually the custom for prominent Washington folk to make their larger +purchases in Baltimore. A little later Walter Harper kept a dry-goods +store on Pennsylvania Avenue, near Eighth Street, and some years later +two others appeared, one kept by William M. Shuster on Pennsylvania +Avenue, first between Seventh and Eighth Streets, and later between +Ninth and Tenth; and the other by Augustus and Thomas Perry on the +corner of Ninth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. Charles Demonet, the +confectioner, made his appearance a little later on Pennsylvania Avenue, +between Seventeenth and Eighteenth Streets; but Charles Gautier, on +Pennsylvania Avenue, between Twelfth and Thirteenth Streets, was his +successful rival and was regarded more favorably in aristocratic +circles. Madame Marguerite M. Delarue kept a shop on the north side of +the same avenue, also between Twelfth and Thirteenth Streets, where +small articles of dress dear to the feminine heart could be bought. +There were several large grocery stores on the south side of +Pennsylvania Avenue, between Sixth and Seventh Streets. Benjamin L. +Jackson and Brother were the proprietors of one and James L. Barbour and +John A. Hamilton of another, although the two latter had their business +house at an earlier day on Louisiana Avenue. Louis Vavans was the +accomplished cook and caterer, and sent to their rooms the meals of +many persons temporarily residing in Washington. Joseph Redfern, his +son-in-law, kept a grocery store in the First Ward. Franck Taylor, the +father of the late Rear Admiral Henry C. Taylor, U.S.N., was the +proprietor of a book store on Pennsylvania Avenue, near Four-and-a-Half +Street, where many of the scholarly men of the day congregated to +discuss literary and current topics. His store had a bust of Sir Walter +Scott over its door, and he usually kept his front show-windows closed +to prevent the light from fading the bindings of his books. The Center +Market was located upon the same site as at present, but of course it +has since been greatly enlarged and improved. All the stores on +Louisiana Avenue sold at retail. I remember the grocery store of J. +Harrison Semmes on Ninth Street and Louisiana Avenue, opposite the +Center Market; and the hardware store kept by Joseph Savage on +Pennsylvania Avenue, between Sixth and Seventh Streets, and at another +time between Third and Fourth Streets. + +On Fifteenth Street opposite the Treasury was another well-known +boarding house, conducted by Mrs. Ulrich and much patronized by members +of the Diplomatic Corps. Willard's Hotel was just around the corner on +the site of the New Willard, and its proprietor was Caleb Willard. +Brown's Hotel, farther down town, on Pennsylvania Avenue and Sixth +Street, was a popular rendezvous for Congressional people. It was first +called the Indian Queen, and was kept by that prince of hosts, Jesse +Brown. After his death the name was changed to the Metropolitan. + +The National Hotel on the opposite corner was the largest hostelry in +Washington. It boasted of a large Southern _cliéntèle_, and until +President Buchanan's administration enjoyed a very prosperous career. +Subsequent to Buchanan's inauguration, however, a mysterious epidemic +appeared among the guests of the house which the physicians of the +District failed to satisfactorily diagnose. It became commonly known as +the "National Hotel disease," and resulted in numerous deaths. A notice +occasionally appeared in the current newspapers stating that the +deceased had died from this malady. Mrs. Robert Greenhow, in her book +published in London during the Civil War, entitled "My Imprisonment and +the First Years of Abolition Rule at Washington," attributes the +epidemic to the machinations of the Republicans, who were desirous of +disposing of President Buchanan. John Gadsby was its proprietor at one +time, from whom it usually went by the name of "Gadsby's." President +Buchanan was one of its guests on the eve of his inauguration. + +When I first knew Washington, slavery was in full sway and, with but few +exceptions, all servants were colored. The wages of a good cook were +only six or seven dollars a month, but their proficiency in the culinary +art was remarkable. I remember once hearing Count Adam Gurowski, who had +traversed the European continent, remark that he had never anywhere +tasted such cooking as in the South. The grace of manner of many of the +elderly male slaves of that day would, indeed, have adorned a court. +When William L. Marcy, who, although a master in statesmanship and +diplomacy, was not especially gifted in external graces, was taking +final leave of the clerks in the War Department, where as Secretary he +had rendered such distinguished services under President Polk, he shook +hands with an elderly colored employee named Datcher, who had formerly +been a body servant to President Monroe, and said: "Good-bye, Datcher; +if I had had your manners I should have left more friends behind me." +Some years later, and after my marriage into the Gouverneur family, I +had the good fortune to have passed down to me a venerable colored man +who had served my husband's family for many years and whose name was +"Uncle James." His manner at times was quite overpowering. On entering +my drawing-room on one occasion to greet George Newell, brother-in-law +and guest of ex-Governor Marcy, I found him seated upon a sofa and +apparently engaged in a "brown study." Referring at once to "Uncle +James," he inquired: "Who is that man?" Upon my replying, "An old family +servant," he remarked: "Well, he is the most polite man I have ever +met." + +Some years later my sister, Mrs. Eames, moved into a house on the corner +of H and Fourteenth Streets, which she and her husband had built and +which she occupied until her death in 1890. I naturally shrink from +dwelling in detail upon her charm of manner and social career, and +prefer rather to quote an extract from a sketch which appeared in one of +the newspapers just after her death: + + ... During the twenty-eight years of her married life in + Washington Mrs. Eames's house was one of the favorite + resorts of the most conspicuous and interesting men of the + nation; it was a species of neutral ground where men of all + parties and shades of political opinion found it agreeable + to foregather. Though at first in moderate circumstances and + living in a house which rented for less than $300 a year, + there was no house in Washington except, perhaps, the + President's, where one was sure of meeting any evening + throughout the year so many people of distinction. + +[Illustration: MRS. CHARLES EAMES, NEÉ CAMPBELL, BY GAMBADELLA. + +_Owned by Mrs. Gordon-Cumming._] + + Mr. and Mrs. Marcy were devoted to Mrs. Eames; her _salon_ + was almost the daily resort of Edward Everett, Rufus Choate, + Charles Sumner, Secretary [James] Guthrie, Governor [John + A.] Andrews of Massachusetts, Winter Davis, Caleb Cushing, + Senator Preston King, N.P. Banks, and representative men of + that ilk. Mr. [Samuel J.] Tilden when in Washington was + often their guest. The gentlemen, who were all on the most + familiar terms with the family, were in the habit of + bringing their less conspicuous friends from time to time, + thus making it quite the most attractive _salon_ that has + been seen in Washington since the death of Mrs. Madison, and + made such without any of the attractions of wealth or + luxury. + + The relations thus established with the public men of the + country at her fireside were strengthened and enriched by a + voluminous correspondence. Her father, who was a very + accomplished man, had one of the largest and choicest + private libraries in New York, of which, from the time she + could read, Mrs. Eames had the freedom; in this library she + spent more time than anyone else, and more than anywhere + else, until her marriage. As a consequence, it is no + disparagement to any one else to say that during her + residence there she was intellectually quite the most + accomplished woman in Washington. Her epistolary talent was + famous in her generation. + + Her correspondence if collected and published would prove to + have been not less voluminous than Mme. de Sevigné's and, in + point of literary art, in no particular inferior to that of + the famous French woman. + +After three or four months spent in Washington, I returned to my home in +New York; and several years later, in the spring of 1848, suffered one +of the severest ordeals of my life. I refer to my father's death. No +human being ever entered eternity more beloved or esteemed than he, and +as I look back to my life with him I realize that I was possibly more +blessed than I deserved to be permitted to live with such a well-nigh +perfect character and to know him familiarly. From my earliest childhood +I was accustomed to see the sorrowing and oppressed come to him for +advice. He was especially qualified to perform such a function owing to +his long tenure of the office of Surrogate. Widows and orphans who could +not afford litigation always found in him a faithful friend. With a +capacity of feeling for the wrongs of others as keenly as though +inflicted upon himself, his sympathy invariably assumed a practical form +and he accordingly left behind him hosts of sorrowing and grateful +hearts. A short time before his death I visited a dying widow, a devoted +Roman Catholic, whom from time to time my father had assisted. When I +was about to leave, she said: "Say to your father I hope to meet him +among the just made perfect." This remark of a poor woman has been to me +through all these years a greater consolation than any public tribute or +imposing eulogy. Finely chiseled monuments and fulsome epitaphs are not +to be compared with the benediction of grateful hearts. + +The funeral services were conducted, according to the custom of sixty +years ago, by the Rev. Dr. William Adams and the Rev. Dr. Philip +Milledoler. Members of the bar and many prominent residents of New York, +including his two physicians, Doctors John W. Francis and Campbell F. +Stewart, walked behind the coffin, which, by the way, was not placed in +a hearse but was carried to the Second Street Cemetery, where his +remains were temporarily placed. There were six clergymen present at his +funeral--the Rev. Doctors Thomas De Witt, Thomas E. Vermilye, Philip +Milledoler, William Adams, John Knox and George H. Fisher, all ministers +of the Reformed Dutch Church except the Rev. Dr. Adams, the +distinguished Presbyterian divine. + +I find myself almost instinctively returning to the Scott family as +associated with the most cherished memories of some of the happiest days +of my life. During my childhood I formed a close intimacy with Cornelia +Scott, the second daughter of the distinguished General, which continued +until the close of her life. When I first knew the family it made its +winter home in New York at the American Hotel, then a fashionable +hostelry kept by William B. Cozzens, on the corner of Barclay Street and +Broadway. In the summer the family resided at Hampton, the old Mayo +place near Elizabeth in New Jersey, where they kept open house. Colonel +John Mayo of Richmond, whose daughter Maria was the wife of General +Scott, had purchased this country seat many years before as a favor to +his wife, Miss Abigail De Hart of New Jersey, and Mrs. Scott +subsequently inherited it. Colonel John Mayo, who was a citizen of +large wealth and great prominence, was so public-spirited that not long +subsequent to the Revolutionary War, and entirely at his own expense, he +built from his own plans a bridge across the James River at Richmond. I +have heard Mrs. Scott graphically describe her father's trips from +Richmond to Elizabeth in his coach-of-four with outriders and grooms, +and his enthusiastic reception when he reached his destination. + +I have frequently heard it said that Mrs. Scott as a young woman refused +the early offers of marriage from the man who eventually became her +husband because his rank in the army was too low to suit her taste, but +that she finally relented when he became a General. I am able to +contradict this statement as Mrs. Scott told me with her own lips that +she never made his acquaintance until he was a General, in spite of the +fact that they were both natives of the same State. This did not by any +means, however, indicate a marriage late in life, as General Scott +became a Brigadier General on the 9th of March, 1814, when he was +between twenty-seven and twenty-eight years of age. In the _Sentinel_, +published in Newark, New Jersey, on the 25th of March, 1817, the +following marriage notice appears: + + Married--at Belleville, Virginia, at the seat of Col. Mayo, + General Winfield Scott of the U.S. Army to Miss Maria D. + Mayo. + +Mrs. Scott's record as a belle was truly remarkable, and in the latter +years of her life when I knew her very intimately she still retained +traces of great beauty. Her accomplishments, too, were extraordinary for +that period. She was not only a skilled performer upon the piano and +harp, but also a linguist of considerable proficiency, while her grace +of manner and brilliant powers of repartee added greatly to her social +charms. On one occasion during Polk's administration she attended a +levee at the White House, and as she passed down the line with the other +guests she received an enthusiastic welcome and was soon so completely +surrounded by an admiring throng that for a while Mrs. Polk was left +very much to herself. It was Mrs. Scott who wrote in the album of a +friend the verse entitled, "The Two Faults of Men." Two other verses +were written under it several years later by the Hon. William C. +Somerville of Maryland, at one time our Minister to Sweden, and the +author of "Letters from Paris on the Causes and Consequences of the +French Revolution." + + Women have many faults, + The men have only two; + There's nothing right they say, + And nothing right they do. + + _Reply_ + + That men are naughty rogues we know, + The girls are roguish, too. + They watch each other wondrous well + In everything they do. + + But if we men do nothing right, + And never say what's true, + What precious fools you women are + To love us as you do. + +Many years ago General and Mrs. Scott traveled with their youthful +family through Europe, and while at the French Capital Mrs. Scott +attended a fancy-dress ball where she represented Pocahontas and was +called _La belle sauvage_. I have talked to two elderly officers of our +Army, Colonel John M. Fessenden and General John B. Magruder, the latter +subsequently of Confederate fame, and both of them told me that at this +entertainment she was an object of general admiration. Many years later, +long after Mrs. Scott's death, I was visiting her daughter, Mrs. Henry +L. Scott, for the last time at the old Elizabeth home, accompanied by my +young daughter Maud, when the latter was invited to a fancy-dress ball +given to children at the residence of General George Herbert Pegram. At +first I was at my wits' end to devise a suitable gown for her to wear, +when Mrs. Scott brought out the historic fancy dress worn by her mother +so many years before in Paris and gave it to me. It seems almost +needless to add that the child wore the dress, and that I have it now +carefully put away among my treasured possessions. Many years subsequent +to Mrs. Scott's visit to Paris, her sister, Mrs. Robert Henry Cabell of +Richmond, published for the benefit of a charity her letters written +from abroad to her family in Virginia, containing many interesting +recollections of Paris. + +At the beginning of the Mexican War the Scotts were living in New York +but, for a reason I do not now recall, Mrs. Scott decided to spend a +winter during the General's absence in Philadelphia. She secured a +portion of a furnished house at 111 South Sixth Street, and in the +spring of 1847 I was invited to be her guest. The evening of the day of +my arrival I attended a party at the residence of Judge John Meredith +Read, a descendant of George Read, a Signer from Delaware. Upon the +urgent request of Mrs. Scott I went to this entertainment entirely +alone, as she and her daughter Cornelia were indisposed and she wished +her household to be represented. Judge Read was a widower and some years +later I renewed my acquaintance with him in Washington. During my visit +in Philadelphia, Mrs. Scott was suddenly called away and hesitated about +leaving us two young girls in the house alone, her younger daughters +being absent at school. Finally, she made arrangements for us to spend +the days of her absence in Burlington, New Jersey, with Miss Susan +Wallace, a friend of hers and a niece of the Hon. William Bradford, +Attorney-General during a portion of Washington's last administration. +This, however, was not altogether a satisfactory arrangement for us +young people and we became decidedly restless, but to Burlington we went +just the same. Meanwhile, news came from Mexico of a great American +victory and the public went wild with enthusiasm. Philadelphia made +plans to celebrate the glad event on a certain evening, and Cornelia +Scott and I decided to return to Philadelphia for the festivities. We +carefully planned the trip and took as our protector a faithful colored +man named Lee. Arabella Griffith, an adopted daughter of Miss Wallace, +also accompanied us, and as another companion we took Mrs. Scott's pet +dog _Gee_ whom, before the evening was over, we found to be very +troublesome. We made the trip to Philadelphia by water and landed in an +out-of-the-way portion of the city. Owing to the dense crowds assembled +to view the decorations, illuminations and fireworks, we were unable to +procure a carriage and consequently were obliged to walk, while, to cap +the climax, in pushing through the crowd we lost Miss Griffith. General +Scott's name was upon the lips of everyone, and his pictures were seen +hanging from many windows; yet the daughter of the hero who was the +cause of all the enthusiasm was a simple wayfarer, rubbing elbows with +the multitude, unrecognized and entirely ignored. I may state, by the +way, that Arabella Griffith subsequently became the wife of General +Francis C. Barlow and that, while her husband was fighting the battles +of his country during the Civil War, she did noble service in the Union +hospitals as a member of the United States Sanitary Commission, and died +in the summer of 1864 from a fever contracted in the hospitals of the +Army of the Potomac. + +I remained in Philadelphia much longer than I had originally +anticipated, and unexpected warm weather found me totally unprepared. I +immediately wrote to my sister Margaret and asked her to send me some +suitable apparel. Her letter in reply to mine, which I insert, gives +something of an idea of New York society of that period. As she was +quite a young girl her references to Miss Julia Gerard whom she knew +quite well and "Old Leslie Irving," who, by the way, was only a young +man, must be regarded merely as the silly utterances of extreme youth:-- + + Dear Sister, + + I received your letter and as it requires an immediate + answer, I shall commence writing you one. I believe in my + last I mentioned to you that I was going to Virginia Wood's + [Mrs. John L. Rogers] the following evening. I went with + [William B.] Clerke [a young broker] and had quite a + pleasant time. There were two young ladies there from + Virginia whose names I do not know, Dr. Augustine Smith's + daughter, myself, Mr. Galliher, Mr. Rainsford, Mr. Bannister + and Mr. Pendleton [John Pendleton of Fredericksburg, + Virginia]. I was introduced to the latter and liked him + quite well. I had a long talk with him. His manners are + entirely too coquettish to suit me; he does nothing but + shrug his shoulders and roll up his eyes--perhaps it is a + Virginia custom. He seems to think Miss Gerard [Julia, + daughter of James W. Gerard] his _belle_ ideal or _beau_ + ideal of everything lovely, etc. I told him that I thought + her awful, that she had such an inanimate sickly expression, + and I abused her at a great rate! I expect he thinks I am a + regular devil! + + Tonight I am going to the opera. "Lucretia Borgia" is to be + performed. I have learned a song from Lucia. So you can + imagine how much the rooster has improved! + + On Thursday evening I was at the Moore's [Dr. William + Moore]. Frank Bucknor came for me and brought me home. His + sister [Cornelia Bucknor, subsequently the wife of Professor + John Howard Van Amringe of Columbia College] was there, Beek + Fish [Beekman Fish], Bayard Fish, Dr. [Adolphus] Follin, old + Leslie Irving and Frank Van Rensselaer. Miss Moore told me + that May came for us that evening to go to the Academy. I am + dreadfully sorry that you will not be able to go to the + Kemble [Mrs. William Kemble] ball; they are going to have + it on Monday. I dare say it will be very pleasant and old + Chrystie will be there. Emily B. [Emily Bucknor] and Frank + [Bucknor] are going. + + My hat has come home, and it is very pretty; it is a sherred + blue crape, without any ribbon--trimmed very simply with + blue crape and illusion mixed and the same inside. + + Mrs. William Le Roy has been to see you. Ma thinks that you + had better come home when you first expected--on Tuesday or + Wednesday. I am very much disappointed that you are not here + to go to the Kembles as you have a dress to wear. + + You can tell Adeline [Adeline Camilla Scott], if you please, + that Mr. Pendleton wants to know the use of sending her to + school when her head is filled with beaux and parties. I + told him her mother did it to keep her out of mischief. + Bucknor says he thinks it is time for you to come home. If + you stay much longer my spring fever will come on and I + shall get so many things there will be no money left for + you. Besides Mr. Pendleton is going to the Bucknor's some + day next week and I am going to get him to stop for me, and + if you are home I shall invite you to go along. Beek Fish + will be there the same evening with his flute. He told Emily + B. that his sister [Mrs. Thomas Pym Remington of + Philadelphia] had written them that you had been in + Philadelphia and that she was so delighted to see you. + + Leslie Irving told me that he had seen a letter in the + Commercial Advertiser from Thomas Turner [subsequently Rear + Admiral Turner, U.S.N.] to Hamilton Fish. He thought of + sending it to you, but he thought some one else had probably + done so. I hear that they [the Fishes] are to have a party. + The Bankheads [General James Bankhead's daughters] are going + to spend the summer at West Point. Pa and Jim are better. Pa + rode out yesterday and walked out to-day. He has been in a + great state of excitement about General Scott. It was + reported two days ago that he was killed and he was afraid + it was true. Vera Cruz, I believe, is taken. I cannot write + any longer, I'm so tired. I will send Cornelia's [Cornelia + Scott] purse by H. Forbes [Harriet Forbes, Mrs. Colhoun of + Philadelphia]. + + M. CAMPBELL. + + Saturday April 10th. + + Pa thinks it is time for you to come home. Do you know of + any opportunity? I shall not send anything to you. You see + you never will take my advice in anything. I told you to + bring your pink dress with you but you would not. I suppose + I shall not hear from you again. Pa says you can do as you + please about staying longer. + +Elizabeth, New Jersey, was a quaint old town whose inhabitants seemed +almost exclusively made up of Barbers, Ogdens and Chetwoods, with a +sprinkling of De Harts. There was a steamboat plying between +Elizabethport (now a part of the City of Elizabeth) and New York, and we +were its frequent patrons. Ursino, the country seat of the Kean family, +then as now was one of the historic places of the neighborhood. As I +remember the beautiful old home, it was occupied by John Kean, father of +the late senior U.S. Senator from New Jersey. At an earlier period the +latter's great-grandfather had married Susan Livingston, a daughter of +Peter Van Brough Livingston of New York, and resided at Ursino. After +the death of her husband she married Count Julian Niemcewicz, who was +called the "Shakespeare of Poland" and who came to America with +Kosciusco, upon whose staff he had served. She was also the grandmother +of Mrs. Hamilton Fish. Another noted estate in the same general +neighborhood, was "Abyssinia," owned and occupied for a long period by +the Ricketts family, whose walls were highly decorated by one of its +artistic members. I am informed that it still stands but that it is +used, alas, for mechanical purposes! + +I recall with intense pleasure another of my visits to New Jersey when I +was a guest at the home of General and Mrs. Scott in Elizabeth. Isabella +Cass of Detroit, daughter of General Lewis Cass, was also there at the +same time. She attended school in Paris while her father was Minister to +France and received other educational advantages quite unusual for women +at that time. While residing in Washington at a subsequent period she +was regarded as one of the reigning belles. She married a member of the +Diplomatic Corps from the Netherlands and lived and died abroad. A +constant visitor of the Scott family whom I recall with great pleasure +was Thomas Turner, subsequently an Admiral in our Navy. He was a +Virginian by birth and a near relative of General Robert E. Lee; but, +though possessing the blood of the Carters, he remained during the Civil +War loyal to the national flag. His wife was Frances Hailes Palmer of +"Abyssinia." + +Still another guest of the Scotts in Elizabeth was the erratic but +decidedly brilliant Doctor William Starbuck Mayo. Although Mrs. Scott +was a Mayo, they were not related. He was from the northern part of the +State of New York, while Mrs. Scott, as is well known, was from +Virginia. Doctor Mayo, however, was an ardent admirer of Mrs. Scott and +made the fact apparent in much that he said and did. He was the author +of several works, one of which was a romance entitled "Kaloolah," which +he dedicated to Mrs. Scott. When I met him in Washington he was on his +first bridal tour, although pretty well advanced in years. His bride was +Mrs. Henry Dudley of New York, whose maiden name was Helen Stuyvesant. +She was the daughter of Nicholas William Stuyvesant and one of the heirs +of the large estate of Peter G. Stuyvesant. During Van Buren's +administration, Doctor Mayo was a social light in Washington. + +There was another Dr. Mayo--Robert Mayo of Richmond--who, in some +respects, created a temporary commotion in public life in Washington and +elsewhere. He was a Virginian by birth, and at one time figured +prominently as a politician. He engaged in the presidential campaign of +1828 as an ardent partisan of General Jackson and during that period +edited in Richmond the _Jackson Democrat_. He subsequently, however, +parted company with his presidential idol, and in 1839 published a +volume entitled, "Political Sketches of Eight Years in Washington," +which is almost exclusively devoted to an arraignment of General +Jackson's administration. In an original letter now before me, written +by Martin Van Buren to Governor William C. Bouck, of New York, which has +never before appeared in print, he speaks in an amusing manner of Dr. +Mayo. I insert the whole letter, as his allusions to General Jackson are +of exceptional interest. No one can well deny that the parting +admonition of Polonius to his son Laertes is a masterpiece of human +wisdom, but this letter of the "Sage of Lindenwald" to Governor Bouck +reveals ability by no means inferior to that of this wise councilor of +Denmark. + + [EX-PRESIDENT VAN BUREN TO GOV. WILLIAM C. BOUCK OF N.Y.] + + Confidential. + + Lindenwald, + Jan^y. 17th 1843. + + My dear Sir, + + I embrace the occasion of a short visit of my son Major Van + Buren to Albany before he goes South to drop you a few + lines. Although I have not admitted it in my conversations + with those who are given to croaking, and thus alarm our + friends, I have nevertheless witnessed with the keenest + regret the distractions among our friends at Albany; & more + particularly in relation to the state printing. It is + certainly a lamentable winding up of a great contest + admirably conducted &, as we supposed, gloriously + terminated. Without undertaking to decide who is right or + who is wrong, and much less to take any part in the + unfortunate controversy, I cannot but experience great pain + from the eying of so bitter a controversy in the face of the + enemy among those who once acted together so honorably & so + usefully, and for all of whom I have so much reason to + cherish feelings of respect & regard. Permit me to make one + suggestion, & that relates to the importance of a speedy + decision, one way or the other. Nothing is so injurious in + such cases as delay. It is almost better to decide wrong + than to protract the contest. Every day makes new enemies & + increases the animosities of those who have already become + so, & extends them to other subjects; and yet nothing is so + natural as to desire to put off the decision of + controversies among friends. Most happy would I be to find + that you had been able to mitigate, if not altogether to + obviate, existing difficulties by providing places for one + or more of the competitors in other branches of the public + service to which they are adapted & with which they would be + as well satisfied. + + It has afforded me unfeigned satisfaction to learn, as I do + from all quarters, that you keep your own secrets in regard + to appointments, & don't feed every body with promises or + what they construe into promises--a practice which so many + public men are apt to fall into, & by which they make + themselves more trouble & subject themselves to more + discredit than they dream of. Persevere in that course, + consider carefully every case & make the selection which + your own unbiassed judgment designates as the best, & above + all let the people see as clear as day that you do not yield + yourself to, or make battle against, any cliques or sections + of the party, but act in good faith and to the best of your + ability for the good of the whole, and you may be assured + that the personal discontents which you would to some extent + occasion, if you had the wisdom of Solomon & were pure as an + angel, will do you no harm & be exceedingly evanescent in + their duration. The Democratic is a reasonable & a just + party & more than half of the business is done when they are + satisfied that the man they have elected means to do right. + The difficulty with a new administration is in the + beginning. At the start little matters may create a distrust + which it will take a series of good acts to remove. But once + a favourable impression is made & the people become + satisfied that the right thing is intended, it takes great + errors, often repeated, to create a counter current. Will + you excuse me if, from a sincere desire for your success, I + go farther & touch upon matters not political, or at least + not wholly so? Your situation of course excites envy & + jealousy on the part of some. It is impossible from the + character of man that it should be otherwise, bear yourself + ever so meekly & you cannot avoid it. There will therefore + in Albany, as well as elsewhere, be people who will make ill + natured remarks & there will be still more who will make it + their business, in the hope of benefitting themselves, to + bring you exaggerated accounts of what is said, and if they + lack materials they will tell you, if they find that you + like to listen to small things, a great deal that never has + been said. It is my deliberate opinion that these + mischievous gossips cause public men more vexation, yes, ten + fold, than all the cares & anxieties of office taken + together. I have seen perhaps as much of this as any man of + my age, & claim to be a competent judge of the evil & its + remedies. The greatest fault I ever saw in our excellent + friend Gen^l. Jackson, was the facility with which (in + carrying out his general principle that it was the duty of + the President to hear all) he leant his ear, though not his + confidence, to such people. Though very sagacious & very apt + to put the right construction upon all such revelations, it + was still evident that he was every day more or less annoyed + by them. I endeavored to satisfy him of the expediency of + shutting their mouths, but did not succeed, & I am as sure + as I can be of any such thing that if the truth could be + known it would appear that he had experienced more annoyance + from such sources than from all the severe trials through + which he had to pass & did pass with such unfading glory. + Having his case before me, I determined to profit by the + experience I had acquired in so good a school. I had no + sooner taken possession of the White House than I was beset + by these harpies. The way in which I treated the whole crew, + with variations of course according to circumstances, will + appear from the following dialogue in a single case. The + celebrated Dr. Mayo called upon me & in his stuttering & + mysterious way commenced by asking when he could have a few + minutes very private conversation with me. Knowing the man, + I anticipated his business & told him now, I will hear you + now. He then told me he had discovered a conspiracy to + destroy me politically the particulars of which he felt it + to be his duty to lay before [me]. I replied instantly, & + somewhat sternly, Dr., I do not wish to hear them. I have + irrefragable proof, he replied. I don't care, was the + response. It is in writing, Sir, said he. I won't look at + it, Sir. What, said he, don't you want to see it if it is in + writing & genuine? An emphatic No, Sir, closed the + conversation. The Dr. raised his eyes and hands as if he + thought me demented, & making a low bow & ejaculating a long + Hah-hah retreated for the door. The story about the Dr. got + out and, partly by mine & I believe in part also by his + means, & alarmed all the story tellers who heard of it. A + few repetitions of the same dose to others impressed the + whole crew with a conviction that nothing was to be gained + by bringing such reports to me. The consequence was that + although Washington is perhaps the most gossiping place in + the world, I escaped its contamination altogether, and had + no trouble except such as unavoidably grew out of my public + duties; and although I had perhaps a more vexatious time + than any of my predecessors in that respect I was the only + man, they all say, who grew fat in that office. + + I was happy to learn from my son John by a letter received + yesterday the high opinion he entertains of your discreet & + honorable bearing in the midst of the difficulties by which + you are beset. I hope he & Smith, [another son of Martin Van + Buren], exercise the discretion by which their course has + heretofore been governed, in meddling as little with things + political that do not belong to them as possible. They know + that such is my wish, as any contest there must necessarily + be more or less between my friends; and I shall be obliged + to you to give them from time to time such advice upon the + subject as you may think proper. Be assured that they will + take it in good part. You may, if you please, at your + convenience, return me the suggestions I sent you, as I may + have occasion to weave some parts of them into letters that + I am frequently obliged to write; the rough draft was made + with a pencil & is now illegible. Be assured that your not + using them occasioned me no mortification, as I before told + you it would not. You had a nearer & could take a safer view + of things than myself. Don't trouble yourself to answer this + letter as it requires none; only excuse me for writing you + one so unmercifully long. + + Remember me kindly to Mrs. Bouck, & believe me to be + + Very sincerely your friend, + + M. VAN BUREN. + + His Excellency, + Wm. C. Bouck. + +In 1850 General and Mrs. Scott moved to Washington and Hampton was +closed for many years. They lived in one of the houses built by Count De +Menou, French Minister to this country from 1822 to 1824, on H Street, +between Thirteenth and Fourteenth Streets, on the present site of the +Epiphany Parish House. These residences were commonly called the "chain +buildings," owing to the fact that their fences were made almost +entirely of iron chains. Two of them, thrown into one, were occupied by +the Scotts and were owned by my father-in-law, Samuel L. Gouverneur, +senior. In the third, the property of Mrs. Beverly Kennon, lived the +venerable Mrs. Alexander Hamilton and her only daughter, Mrs. Hamilton +Holly. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +SOCIAL LEADERS IN WASHINGTON LIFE + + +I passed many delightful hours in the Washington home of General Scott +and had a standing invitation to come and go as I pleased. Upon his +return from the war with Mexico, crowned with the laurels of victory, he +immediately became one of the most prominent lions of the day. He had +successfully invaded a practically unknown country reeking with the +terrible _vomito_, a disease upon which the Mexicans relied to kill +their foes more expeditiously than ammunition, and had well earned for +himself the plaudits of a grateful country. I distinctly remember that +he received flattering letters from the Duke of Wellington and other +distinguished foreigners congratulating him upon his military success. +His headquarters were now established in Washington, and his house +became one of the most prominent social centers of the National Capital. +About this time Mrs. Scott was much in New York, where her third +daughter, Marcella, subsequently Mrs. Charles Carroll McTavish, was +attending school, and consequently her daughter Cornelia, who not long +before had married her father's aide, Henry Lee Scott of North Carolina, +was virtually mistress of the establishment. Mrs. Henry Lee Scott's +social sway in Washington was almost unprecedented. She was as grand in +appearance as she was in character, and during one of her visits to Rome +she sat for a distinguished artist as a model for his pictures of the +Madonna. General Scott seemed to derive much pleasure and satisfaction +from the society of his former companions in arms, who were always +welcomed to his hospitable board. Among those I especially recall were +Colonels John Abert, Roger Jones, William Turnbull and Ichabod B. Crane, +whose son, Dr. Charles H. Crane, later became Surgeon General of the +Army. These occasions were especially delightful to me as a young woman, +and I always regarded it as an exceptional privilege to be present. + +The Whig party meanwhile nominated General Scott for the presidency. The +opposing candidate was Franklin Pierce. One day during the campaign +Scott, in replying to a note addressed to him by William L. Marcy, +Secretary of War in Polk's cabinet, began his note: "After a hasty plate +of soup"--supposing that his note would be regarded as personal. Marcy, +who was a keen political foe, was too astute a politician, however, not +to take advantage of the chance to make Scott appear ridiculous. He +classified the note as official, and the whole country soon resounded +with it. I saw General Scott when he returned from his Mexican campaign, +covered with glory, to confront his political enemies at home, and I was +also with him in 1852 when the announcement arrived that he had been +defeated as a presidential candidate. Were I called upon to decide in +which character he appeared to the greater advantage, that of the victor +or the vanquished, I should unhesitatingly give my verdict to the +latter. There was a grandeur in his bearing under the adverse +circumstances with which the success and glamour of arms could not +compare. + +The Rev. Dr. Smith Pyne, the beloved rector of St. John's Episcopal +Church, often mingled with the distinguished guests gathered at the +residence of General Scott. He was full of life and fun and good cheer +and would even dare, when occasion offered, to aim his jokes and puns at +General Scott himself. At one of the General's dinners, for example, +while the soup was being served, he addressed him as "Marshal +_Turenne_." It is said that upon one occasion, when the good rector +failed by polite efforts to dismiss a book-agent, he was regretfully +compelled to order him from his house. "Your cloth protects you," said +the offended agent. "The cloth protects _you_," replied Dr. Pyne, "and +it will not protect you long if you do not leave this instant." In spite +of this incident, it was well known that the Doctor had a tender and +sympathetic nature. After he had officiated at the funerals of his +parishioners it is said that his wife was frequently compelled to exert +all her efforts to arouse him from his depression. About this same +period, Ole Bull, the great Norwegian violinist who was second only to +Paganini, was receiving an enthusiastic reception from audiences +"panting for the music which is divine." Upon this particular evening +Dr. Pyne sat next to me, when he suddenly exclaimed: "If honorary +degrees were conferred upon musicians, Ole Bull would be Fiddle D.D." At +another time, when Dr. Edward Maynard, a well-known Washington dentist, +was remodeling his residence on Pennsylvania Avenue, now a portion of +the Columbia Hospital, Dr. Pyne was asked to what order of architecture +it belonged and replied: "_Tusk-can_, I suppose,"--a pretty poor pun, +but no worse, perhaps, than most of those one hears nowadays. The Rev. +Dr. Pyne performed the marriage ceremony, at the "chain buildings," of +General Scott's second daughter, Adeline Camilla, and Goold Hoyt of New +York. It was a quiet wedding and only the members of the family were +present. I remember the bride as one of the most beautiful women I have +ever known; her face reminded me of a Roman cameo. + +General Scott was something of an epicure. I have seen him sit down to a +meal where jowl was the principal dish, and have heard his exclamation +of appreciation caused in part, possibly, by his recollection of similar +fare in other days in Virginia. He did the family marketing personally, +and was very discriminating in his selection of food. Terrapin, which +he insisted upon pronouncing t_a_rrapin, was his favorite dish, and he +would order oysters by the barrel from Norfolk. On one occasion he +attended a banquet where all the States of the Union were represented by +a dish in some way characteristic of each commonwealth. Pennsylvania was +represented by a bowl of sauer-kraut; and in speaking of the fact the +next morning the General remarked: "I partook of it with tears in my +eyes." + +New Year's day in Washington was a festive occasion, especially in the +home where I was a guest. General and Mrs. Scott kept open house and of +course most of the Army officers stationed in Washington, and some from +the Navy, called to pay their respects. All appeared in full-dress +uniform, and a bountiful collation was served. I was present at several +of these receptions and recall that after the festivities of the day +were nearly over General Scott, who of course had paid his respects to +the President earlier in the day, always called upon two venerable +women--Mrs. "Dolly" Madison, who then lived in the house now occupied by +the Cosmos Club, and Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, his next door neighbor. +During the winter of 1850, which I spent with the Scotts, I participated +with them in the various social enjoyments of the season. + +Early in the month of January, 1851, and not long after the +re-assembling of Congress, that genial gentleman, William W. Corcoran, +gave his annual ball to both Houses of Congress, and it was in many ways +a notable entertainment. As this was long previous to the erection of +his public art gallery, his house was filled with many paintings and +pieces of statuary. Powers's "Greek slave," which now occupies a +conspicuous place in the Corcoran Art Gallery, stood in the +drawing-room. General Scott did not care especially for large evening +entertainments, but he always attended those of Mr. Corcoran. In this +instance I was the only member of the household who accompanied him, +and the ovation that awaited his arrival was enthusiastic; and as I +entered the ballroom with him I received my full share of attention. +Among the prominent guests was General "Sam" Houston, arrayed in his +blue coat, brass buttons and ruffled shirt. His appearance was patrician +and his courtesy that of the inborn gentleman. I once laughingly +remarked to General Scott that General Houston in some ways always +recalled to me the personal appearance of General Washington. His +facetious rejoinder was: "Was ever the Father of his Country so +defamed?" I met at this entertainment for the first time Charles Sumner, +who had but recently taken his seat in the U.S. Senate and of whom I +shall speak hereafter. Caleb Cushing was also there, and Cornelia Marcy, +the beautiful daughter of William L. Marcy, was one of the belles of the +ball. I have stated that General Scott did not generally attend evening +entertainments; in his own way, however, he took great interest in all +social events, and upon my return from parties, sometimes at a very late +hour, I have often found him awaiting my account of what had transpired. + +I have spoken of General Houston's appearance. I now wish to refer to +his fine sense of honor. He was married on the 22d of January, 1829, to +Miss Eliza Allen, daughter of Colonel John Allen, from near Gallatin, +the county town of Sumner county in Tennessee, and separated from her +directly after the marriage ceremony under, as is said, the most painful +circumstances. The wedding guests had departed and General Houston and +his bride were sitting alone by the fire, when he suddenly discovered +that she was weeping. He asked the cause of her tears and was told by +her that she had never loved him and never could, but had married him +solely to please her father. "I love Doctor Douglas," she added, "but I +will try my best and be a dutiful wife to you." "Miss," said Governor +Houston, even waiving the fact that he had just married her, "no white +woman shall be my slave; good-night." It is said that he mounted his +horse and rode to Nashville where he resigned at once his office as +Governor and departed for the Cherokee country, where and elsewhere his +subsequent career is well known. Having procured a divorce from his +wife, he married Margaret Moffette in the spring of 1840. + +During the same winter I attended a party given by Mrs. Clement C. Hill, +as a "house-warming," at her residence on H Street. Many years later +George Bancroft, the historian, occupied this residence and it is still +called the "Bancroft house." Mr. Hill was a member of a prominent +Maryland family which owned large estates in Prince George County, and +his wife was recognized as one of the social leaders in Washington. + +Another ball which I recall, which I attended in company with the +Scotts, was given by Colonel and Mrs. William G. Freeman at their +residence on F Street, near Thirteenth Street, the former of whom was at +one time Chief of Staff to General Scott. I well remember that General +Scott accompanied his daughter and me and that he wore at the time the +full-dress uniform of his high rank. As he measured six feet four in his +stocking-feet, the imposing nature of his appearance cannot well be +described. Mrs. Freeman, whose maiden name was Margaret Coleman, was one +of the joint owners of the Cornwall coal mines in Pennsylvania. Her +sister, Miss Sarah Coleman, shared her house for many years, and old +Washingtonians remember her as the "Lady Bountiful" whose whole life was +devoted to good works. Colonel and Mrs. Freeman's two daughters, Miss +Isabel Freeman and Mrs. Benjamin F. Buckingham, still reside in +Washington. + +The first guest whom I recall at this ball was the sprightly Mary Louisa +Adams. She made her home with her grandfather, John Quincy Adams, who +lived in one of the two white houses on F Street, between Thirteenth +and Fourteenth Streets, now called the "Adams house." She was the +venerable ex-President's principal heir, and subsequently married her +relative, William Clarkson Johnson of Utica. George B. McClellan was +also a guest at this entertainment as one of the young beaux. His +presence made an indelible impression upon my memory as I was dancing a +cotillion with him when, to my nervous horror, the pictures in the +ballroom began to spin and I made myself conspicuous by nearly fainting. +I did not, however, lose consciousness like the heroines of the old +tragedies, and was conducted to a retired seat where, at the request of +General Scott, I was attended by Dr. Richard Henry Coolidge, Surgeon in +the Army, who was also a guest. General Scott's admiration for this +distinguished gentleman, personally as well as professionally, was very +great. I have often heard the General say that Dr. Coolidge not only +prescribed for the physical condition of his patients but also by the +example of his Christian character elevated their moral tone. He +concluded his eulogy with the words: "Dr. Coolidge walks humbly before +his God." His widow, Mrs. Harriet Morris Coolidge, daughter of Commodore +Charles Morris, U.S.N., one of the distinguished heroes of the War of +1812, is still living in Washington. I occasionally see her in her +pleasant home on L Street where she welcomes a large circle of friends, +giving one amid her pleasant surroundings a pleasing picture of a serene +old age. + +During my many visits to the Scott household after the Mexican War, I +always occupied a comfortable brass camp bedstead which had formerly +belonged to the Mexican General, Santa Anna. It seems that just after +the battle of Cerro Gordo this warrior made a hasty flight, leaving +behind him his camp furniture and even, it is said, his wooden leg. This +bedstead was captured as a trophy of war, and finally came into General +Scott's possession. The memory of this man's brutal deeds, however, +never disturbed my midnight repose. Texas history tells the story of the +Alamo and of the six brave men there put to death by his orders, +suggesting in a certain degree the atrocities of the Duke of Cumberland +of which I have already spoken. Santa Anna, however, had Indian blood in +his veins--an extenuating circumstance that cannot be offered in defense +of the "Butcher of Culloden." + +There was always more or less gossip afloat concerning the alleged +strained relations existing between General and Mrs. Scott, owing +largely to the fact that the conditions attending and surrounding their +respective lives were fundamentally different and often misunderstood. +General Scott was a born commander while _Madame la Général_ from her +earliest life had had the world at her feet. Such a combination +naturally resulted in an occasional discordant note, which unfortunately +was usually sounded in public. Their private life, however, was serene, +and they were invariably loyal to each other's interests. When Mrs. +Scott, for example, learned that James Lyon of Richmond, an intimate +friend of the General and herself and a trustee for certain of her +property, had, although a Whig, voted against her husband when a +presidential candidate, she at once revoked his trusteeship. At another +time she wrote some attractive lines which she feelingly dedicated to +her husband. + +I recall an amusing incident related by General Scott just after a +journey to Virginia that well illustrates the exigencies that awaited +persons traveling in those days in carriages. For a brief period before +the inauguration of President Harrison, General Scott was in Richmond, +and in due time, as he thought, started for the station to catch a train +for Washington to be present when the President-elect should take his +oath of office. He missed the train, however, and immediately secured a +carriage to convey him to Washington, as his presence there was +imperative; but after a hard day's journey the horses could go no +further, and he was obliged to seek shelter for the night. Stopping at a +house near the roadside and inquiring whether he could be accommodated, +he was told that there was but one vacant room and that it had been +engaged some days in advance by a German butcher, accompanied by his +wife and daughter. This party meanwhile arrived and upon being informed +of General Scott's predicament generously offered to share the room with +him. It was arranged that the women should occupy one of the beds and +General Scott and the butcher the other. The women, after retiring +early, gave the signal, "All right," when the men took possession of the +second bed. After some pretty fast traveling the next morning, General +Scott reached his destination. While he was relating this laughable +experience to us some years later, I inquired whether he had enjoyed a +comfortable rest. "No," was his emphatic response, "the butcher snored +the whole night." During this visit to Richmond, General Scott was +invited by an old friend to accompany her and her two sisters to a Roman +Catholic church to hear some fine music. Upon arriving at the door they +were met by the sexton, who, somewhat flurried by seeing General Scott, +announced in stentorian tones the advent of the strangers--"three cheers +(chairs) for the Protestant ladies." + +[Illustration: BRIGADIER GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT, U.S.A., BY INGHAM. + +_The original portrait was burned many years ago_.] + +While I am relating Scott anecdotes, I must not omit to speak of an +amusing experience the old General was fond of relating which occurred +while he was traveling in the West. In his official capacity he was a +sojourner for a short period in Cincinnati, and, upon leaving that now +prosperous city, he directed that P.P.C. cards be sent to all persons +who had called upon him. It seems that the social _convenances_ had not +yet dawned upon this city, now the abode of arts and sciences, as the +town wiseacre, learned in many things as well as social lore, was +called upon for an elucidation of the three mysterious letters. +Apparently he was not as able an exponent as was Daniel at Balshazzar's +feast, who so readily deciphered "the handwriting on the wall." He +construed the letters to signify _pour prendre café_, an invitation +which was gladly accepted, much to General Scott's astonishment, who +decided then and there to confine himself in future to plain English. + +The charming old resident society predominated in those days in the +District of Columbia, and wealth was not a controlling influence in +social life. The condition of society was, therefore, different from +that of to-day, when apparently the + + ... strongest castle, tower or town, + The golden bullet beateth down. + +The old Washingtonians are now sometimes designated as "cave dwellers," +and, generally speaking, the public bows to the golden calf. The term +"old Washingtonians," as now used, applies to residents descended from +the original settlers of Maryland and Virginia, as well as to +Presidential families and the representatives of Army and Navy officers +of earlier days. Their social code is, in some respects, entirely +different and distinct from that of any other city, and was formed many +decades ago by the ancestors of the "cave dwellers," who were so +peculiarly versed in the varied requirements and adornments of social +life that to-day no radical innovations are acceptable to their +descendants. + +Speaking of the Army and Navy, I am reminded of an amusing anecdote +which has been generally circulated regarding the wife of a wealthy +manufacturer from a small western town who, after building a handsome +home in the heart of a fashionable section of the city, announced that +her visiting list was growing so large that she must in some way reduce +it and that she had decided to "draw it" on the Army and Navy. It seems +almost needless to say that this remark created much unfavorable +comment, as Washington is especially proud of the Army and Navy officers +she has nurtured. + +Among the families who were socially prominent at the National Capital +when I first knew it, were the Seatons, Gales, Lees, Freemans, Carrolls, +Turnbulls, Hagners, Tayloes, Ramsays, Millers, Hills, Gouverneurs, +Maynadiers, Grahams, Woodhulls, Jesups, Watsons, Nicholsons, +Warringtons, Aberts, Worthingtons, Randolphs, Wilkes, Wainwrights, Roger +Jones, Pearsons, McBlairs, Farleys, Cutts, Walter Jones, Porters, +Emorys, Woodburys, Dickens, Pleasantons, McCauleys, and Mays. + +I often recall with pleasure the days spent by me at Brentwood, a fine +old country seat near Washington, and picture to my mind those forms of +"life and light" arrayed in the charms of simplicity which were there +portrayed. The far West had not then poured its coffers into the +National Capital, and the mining element of California was then unknown. +It is true that Washington, with its unpaved streets and poorly lighted +thoroughfares, was then in a primitive condition, but it is just as true +that its social tone has never been surpassed. Brentwood was the +residence of Mrs. Joseph Pearson, who dispensed its hospitalities with +ease and elegance. For many years it was a social _El Dorado_, where +resident society and distinguished strangers were always welcome. +Although it was then remote from the heart of the city, most of its +numerous visitors were inclined to linger, once within its walls, to +enjoy the charmed circle which surrounded the Pearson family. Both the +daughters of this house, Eliza, who married Carlisle P. Patterson, +Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey, and Josephine, who became the +wife of Peter Augustus Jay of New York, were Washington beauties. Their +social arena, however, was not confined to this city, as they made +frequent visits to New York, where they were regarded as great belles. +Christine Kean, an old friend of mine who was a younger sister of Mrs. +Hamilton Fish, both of whom were daughters of Peter Philip James Kean of +New Jersey, was intimate with the "Pearson girls," and made frequent +visits to Brentwood, where she shared in their social reign. Christine +Kean married William Preston Griffin, a naval officer from Virginia, who +survived their marriage for only a few years. I was accustomed to call +her "sunshine" as she carried joy and gladness to every threshold she +crossed. She was superintendent of nurses in the sanitary corps during +the Civil War, and as such rendered conspicuous service in the State of +Virginia. She still resides in New York, admired and beloved by a large +circle of friends, and those charming traits of character which have +always made her so universally beloved are now hallowing the declining +years of her life. + +I often met Joseph C. G. Kennedy at General Scott's, usually called +"Census" Kennedy. One day we were shocked to learn that Solon Borland, +U.S. Senator from Arkansas, standing high in political circles but +called by General Scott "a western ruffian," had assaulted Mr. Kennedy +and broken his nose. I knew both Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy in after life. He +was a gentleman of the old school, beloved and respected by everyone. +His death in 1887 was a shocking tragedy. A lunatic with a fancied +grievance met him on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Fifteenth +Street, and stabbed him. Mr. Kennedy was a grandson of Andrew Ellicott, +who, his descendants claim, conceived the original plans of the city of +Washington instead of Pierre Charles l'Enfant, to whom they are +generally attributed. + +While visiting in Washington I had the pleasure of renewing my +acquaintance with Isaac Hull Adams of the Coast Survey. He was a +bachelor, and his sister, Miss Elizabeth Combs Adams, always lived with +him. They were children of Judge Thomas Boylston Adams, a son of +President John Adams, and resided in the old Adams homestead in Quincy, +Massachusetts. I had originally known both of them in earlier life in +New York, and it was a sincere pleasure to meet them again. Miss Adams +was a generous and broad-minded woman who inherited the intellectuality +of her ancestors. Her reminiscences of the White House during the Monroe +administration, when her uncle, John Quincy Adams, was Secretary of +State, were of the deepest interest. She also loved to dwell upon the +days of the administration which followed, when she was a constant +visitor at the White House as the guest of her uncle, the President. I +called upon her a few years ago in Quincy, while I was visiting in +Boston, and found her living quietly in the old home, surrounded by her +many household gods. She died soon after I saw her, but the memory of +her friendship is enduring. + +Before making my visit to Quincy I wrote to Miss Adams asking her +whether she was equal to seeing me. She was then nearly ninety-two years +old, having been born on the 9th of February, 1808. In a few days I +received the following letter from her own pen: + + 21 ELM STREET, QUINCY, MASS., November 16, 1899. + + My dear Mrs. Gouverneur: + + I was very glad to receive your note saying that you would + come to see us in a few days. I am a very poor writer, not + holding the old pen of the "ready writer," and my brother + Isaac Hull is a great invalid and not able to get about, so + lame. + + I began two or three notes to you but my fingers are so stiff + I do not hold the pen, but wish to tell you that we shall be + glad to see you. We are both tired of being invalids. We do + not forget good old times far back in the century. The steam + cars leave Boston at the South Station. I think I sent you a + letter yesterday, but if you fail to get it, I shall be very + sorry. + + I have so many letters to write and can but just keep the pen + going. It is a lovely day, but I never go out now and Isaac + Hull is suffering all sorts of pains. Comes down when he can. + Sorry to send such a poor sample. I have not been at Jamaica + Plain for two years. + + We live in the oldest house and are the oldest couple in "all + Connecticut," as Hull used to sing. + + Very truly yours, + + E. C. ADAMS. + + As I say, the very oldest and the head of five generations. I + am so forgetful. + +"Hull" Adams, as he was generally called, had a fine tenor voice and I +have frequently heard him sing in duet with Archibald Campbell, who sang +bass. Adams and Campbell were lifelong friends and were fellow students +at West Point. The latter was graduated from West Point in 1835 and +resigned from the Army in 1838. He subsequently became a civil engineer +and was a Commissioner to establish the boundaries between the United +States and Canada. His wife was Miss Mary Williamson Harod of New +Orleans, and a niece of Judge Thomas B. Adams. Her father, Charles +Harod, who was president of the Atchafalaya Bank of New Orleans, was an +aide-de-camp to General Jackson at the battle of New Orleans and, with +Commodore Daniel T. Patterson in command of our naval forces, met and +arranged with the pirate Jean Lafitte to bring in his men to fight on +the American side. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell were lifelong residents of the +District, where she is especially remembered for her many pleasing +traits. Their son, Charles H. Campbell, still resides in Washington and +married a daughter of the late Admiral David D. Porter, U.S.N. For many +years, the Archibald Campbells lived on H Street in a house which is now +a portion of The Milton. + +I remember when Commander Matthew F. Maury, U.S.N., the distinguished +author of "The Geography of the Sea," was stationed in the old Naval +Observatory and preparing those charts of the ocean which so gladdened +the hearts of mariners, quite unconscious meanwhile of the sensational +career which awaited him. He and Mrs. Maury resided in Washington and, +aided by their daughters, dispensed a lavish hospitality. A few years +later, however, when Virginia seceded from the Union, Maury resigned +from the Navy and linked his destiny with his native State. I learned +much of his subsequent career from General John Bankhead Magruder, a +distant relative of my husband, who also resigned from the service and +espoused the Southern cause. At the time of General Lee's surrender, +Maury was in England and the following May sailed for St. Thomas, where +he heard of Lincoln's assassination. He then went to Havana, whence he +sent his son to Virginia, and took passage for Mexico. He had approved +of the efforts of the Archduke Maximilian to establish his empire in +America and had already written him a letter expressive of his sympathy. +Without waiting, however, for a reply he followed his letter, and upon +his arrival in Mexico in June was warmly welcomed by Maximilian, by whom +he was asked to accept a place in his Ministry; but the flattering offer +was declined and in its place he received an appointment as Director of +the Imperial Observatory. It seems superfluous to add what everyone +knows, or ought to know, that Maury was a Christian gentleman of rare +accomplishments and one of the most proficient scientists of his day. + +General Magruder was with Maury when they learned of Lincoln's +assassination, and accompanied him to Mexico, where he served as Major +General in Maximilian's army until the downfall of the usurping Emperor. +In referring to his experiences in Mexico he dwelt with much emphasis +upon the Empress Carlota and her interesting personality. He described +her as especially kind and sympathetic and as treating Maury and himself +with distinguished consideration at her court. This pleasing +experience, however, was not of long duration. A cloud hung over the +Mexican throne and it became apparent that Maximilian's reign was +drawing to a close. Realizing this state of affairs, Magruder and Maury +left Mexico, the former returning to the United States while the latter +sailed for Europe. The Empress Carlota returned to Austria, leaving +Maximilian to fight alone a hopeless cause. Louis Napoleon's vision of +an European Empire on American soil soon vanished, and Maximilian's +tragic death and Carlota's subsequent derangement caused a throb of +sympathy which was felt throughout the civilized world. + +During the Mexican War, General Magruder, though a good officer and one +of the bravest and most chivalrous of men, never lost sight of his +position in the _beau monde_. He never went into battle, however +pressing the emergency, without first brushing his hair well, smoothing +his mustache and arranging his toggery after the latest and most +approved style. Often during the rage of the battle, while the shot were +raining around him like hail and his men and horses and guns were +exposed to a destructive and merciless fire, he would stand up with his +tall, straight figure in full view of the Mexicans and, assuming the +most impressive and fashionable attitudes, would eye the enemy through +his glass with all the coolness and grace suited to a glance through an +opera glass at a beautiful woman in an opposite box. I have always heard +that he could not be provoked by any circumstances to commit an impolite +or an ungenteel act. But he came very near forfeiting his reputation in +this respect at the battle of Contreras. Upon being ordered to take a +certain position with his battery, he found himself exposed to a +terrible fire from the enemy's big guns. In the midst of this hot fire, +an aide of one of the generals, from whom Magruder had not received his +order to occupy this position, rode up to the gallant officer and told +him that he had orders for him from General ----. "But, my dear fellow," +interrupted the polite Captain, "you must dismount and take a glass of +wine with me; do--I have some excellent old Madeira." The aide +dismounted and the wine was hastily drunk by the impatient young +Lieutenant, who did not enjoy it very much as there was a constant fire +of grape and canister rattling about them all the time. But Captain +Magruder desired very much to have a little agreeable chat over his +wine, as, he remarked, it was no use popping away with his diminutive +pieces against the heavy guns of the enemy. "But I am ordered by General +---- to direct you to fall back, abandon your position, and shelter your +pieces," was the impatient response. "My dear fellow," replied the +Captain, "do take another sip of that wine--it is delicious!" "But you +are ordered by General ---- to retire, Captain; and you are being cut +up." "Much obliged to you, my dear friend, but if you will only make +yourself comfortable for a few minutes, I will get some sardines and +crackers." "I must go," impatiently remarked the Lieutenant, mounting +his horse; "what shall I report to the General?" "Well, my dear fellow, +if you are determined to go, please present my compliments to General +---- and tell him that, owing to a previous engagement with General +----, I am under the necessity of informing him that before I leave this +spot I will see him in the neighborhood of a certain gentleman whose +name is not to be mentioned in polite society." So, at all events, goes +the story, and I presume we may believe as much or as little of it as we +please. + +General Magruder, while our guest in our country home near Frederick, in +Maryland, related to me many interesting incidents connected with +Maury's career. The General seemed to possess an unusual appreciation of +the good things of life and told me with much gusto about the numerous +delicacies with which Mexico abounded. His descriptions served to +recall to my mind the fact that when he was in our regular army he had +the reputation of "faring sumptuously every day." When in command at +Newport, Rhode Island, he gave a ball, during which he employed the +services of some of the soldiers under his command for domestic +purposes, and for this act was reprimanded by the War Department. After +the Civil War he went to Texas and died in Houston in the winter of +1871. He was a brave soldier and was twice brevetted for gallantry and +meritorious conduct on the battlefields of the Mexican War. + +General John B. Magruder and his brother, Captain George A. Magruder of +the Navy, who early in life became orphans, were brought up by their +maternal uncle, General James Bankhead, U.S.A. General "Jack" Magruder, +as he was usually called, developed rather lively traits of character, +while his younger brother George was so deeply religious that, during +his naval career, his nickname was "St. George of the Navy." When both +young men had reached manhood, General Bankhead read them a homily, +having special reference, however, to his nephew "Jack." "I have reared +you both with the utmost care and circumspection," he said, "but you, +John, have not my approval in many ways." Jack's response was +characteristic. "Uncle," he said, "I can account for it in the following +manner--George has followed your precepts, but I have followed your +example." At the outbreak of the Civil War, Captain Magruder resigned +from the Navy and went with his family to Canada, where his daughter +Helen married James York MacGregor Scarlett, whose title of nobility was +Lord Abinger, his father having been raised to the peerage as a "lower +Lord." + +Another Virginia family of social prominence, whose members mingled much +in Washington society while I was still visiting the Winfield Scotts, +was that of the Masons of "Colross," the name of their old homestead +near Alexandria in Virginia. Mrs. Thomson F. Mason was usually called +Mrs. "Colross" Mason to distinguish her from another family by the same +name, that of James M. Mason, United States Senator from Virginia. The +family thought nothing of the drive to Washington, and no entertainment +was quite complete without the "Mason girls," who were especially bright +and attractive young women. Open house was kept at this delightful +country seat and many were the pleasant parties given there. One of the +daughters, Matilda, married Charles H. Rhett, a representative South +Carolinian, and my friend, Cornelia Scott, was one of her bridesmaids. +Florence, another sister, who was generally called "Folly," married +Captain Thomas G. Rhett of the Army, a brother of her sister's husband. +He resigned at the beginning of the Civil War, as a South Carolinian +would indeed have been a _rara avis_ in the Federal Army in 1861, and +became an officer in the Confederate Army; while from 1870 to 1873 he +was a Colonel of Ordnance in the Army of the Khedive. Miss Betty Mason, +the oldest of these sisters, was a celebrated beauty and became the wife +of St. George Tucker Campbell of Philadelphia. + +It was about this time I first made the acquaintance of Emily Virginia +Mason, who recently died in Georgetown after a long and active life. We +were accustomed to have long conversations over the tea table concerning +bygone days, and I sadly miss her bright presence. Her memories of a +varied life both in Washington and Paris were highly entertaining and as +one of her auditors I never grew weary while listening to her graphic +descriptions of persons and things. She was a daughter of John T. Mason +and a sister of Stevens Thompson Mason, the first governor of Michigan, +often called the "Boy Governor." She was very active during the Civil +War as a Confederate nurse and continued her kindly acts thereafter in +other fields of benevolence. She wrote a life of General Robert E. Lee +and several other books, and made a compilation of "Southern Poems of +the War," which was subsequently published under that title. + +One may readily turn from Emily Virginia Mason to her life-long friend, +the daughter of Senator William Wright of New Jersey. It was during her +father's official life in Washington that Miss Katharine Maria Wright +met and married Baron Johan Cornelis Gevers, _Chargé d'affaires_ from +Holland to the United States. After her marriage she seldom visited her +native country but made her home in Holland until her death a few years +ago. Her son also entered the diplomatic service of his country and a +few years ago was living in Washington. + +After my father's death we continued as a family to live in our Houston +Street home in New York, but in 1853 we found the character of the +neighborhood, which had been so pleasant in years gone by, changing so +rapidly that we sold our house and moved to Washington. We secured a +pleasant old-fashioned residence on G Street, between Seventeenth and +Eighteenth Streets, which in subsequent years became the Weather Bureau. +Next door to us lived Mrs. Graham and her daughter, Mrs. Henry K. +Davenport, the grandmother and mother respectively of Commodore Richard +G. Davenport, U.S.N. Mrs. Graham was the widow of George Graham, who, +for a time during Monroe's administration, acted as Secretary of War. +While he was serving in this capacity, his brother, John Graham, was a +member of the same cabinet, serving as Secretary of State. Mrs. +Davenport was the mother of a family of sons known familiarly to the +neighborhood as Tom, Dick and Harry. In the same block lived Mr. +Jefferson Davis, who was then in the Senate from Mississippi. I remember +hearing Mrs. Davis say that it was worth paying additional rent to live +near Mrs. Graham, as she had such an attractive personality and was such +a kind and attentive neighbor. A few doors the other side of us resided +Captain and Mrs. Henry C. Wayne, the former of whom was in the Army and +was the son of James M. Wayne of Georgia, a Justice of the Supreme +Court; while across the street was the French Legation. Next door, at +the corner of G and Eighteenth Streets, lived Edward Everett. Mr. and +Mrs. Robert D. Wainwright lived on the next block in a house now +occupied by General and Mrs. A. W. Greely. I attended the wedding of +Miss Henrietta Wainwright, soon after we arrived in Washington, to +William F. Syng of the British Legation. She was the aunt of +Rear-Admiral Richard Wainwright, U.S.N., who, as Commanding Officer of +the _Gloucester_, rendered such conspicuous service at the battle of +Santiago. Not far away, on the corner of Twenty-first and G Streets, +lived Lieutenant Maxwell Woodhull of the Navy and his wife; and their +children still reside in the same house. On F Street, near Twenty-first +Street, was the home of Colonel William Turnbull, U.S.A., whose wife was +a sister of General George Douglas Ramsay, U.S.A., who was so well known +to all old Washingtonians. General Ramsay was very social in his tastes, +and many years before this time he and Columbus Monroe were the +groomsmen at the wedding at the White House when John Adams, the son of +John Quincy Adams, married his first cousin, Miss Mary Hellen. General +and Mrs. Ramsay lived on Twenty-first Street, not far from his sister, +Mrs. William Turnbull. Mrs. John Farley (Anna Pearson), a half-sister of +Mrs. Carlisle P. Patterson, lived on F Street, near Twenty-first Street, +and the latter's sister, Mrs. Peter Augustus Jay (Josephine Pearson), +began her matrimonial life on the northwest corner of F and Twenty-first +Streets. + +William Thomas Carroll's residence on the corner of Eighteenth and F +Streets witnessed a continuous scene of hospitality. Mrs. Carroll was +never happier than when entertaining. She lived to an advanced age, and +until almost the very last, remained standing while receiving her +guests. I have heard that she retained two sets of servants, one for the +daytime and the other for the night. In her drawing-room hung many +portraits of family ancestors arrayed in the antique dress of olden +times. She was a daughter of Governor Samuel Sprigg of Maryland and was +a handsome and accomplished woman. Her four daughters, who materially +assisted her in dispensing hospitality, were very popular young women. +Violetta Lansdale, the oldest, married Dr. William Swann Mercer of the +well-known Virginia family; Sally is the present Countess Esterhazy; +Carrie married the late T. Dix Bolles of the Navy; and Alida is the wife +of the late John Marshall Brown of Portland, Maine. The Carroll house is +still standing and became the residence of the late Chief Justice +Melville Fuller of the U.S. Supreme Court. I have always heard that the +Carroll house, a substantial structure with large rooms, was built by +Tench Ringgold, who was U.S. Marshal of the District of Columbia longer +than any of his predecessors. He occupied this position during the whole +of President Monroe's administration, and I have heard it related in the +Gouverneur family that, when Monroe was retiring from office, he asked +his successor, John Quincy Adams, on personal grounds, to retain Mr. +Ringgold. This request was granted and Mr. Monroe made the same appeal +to Andrew Jackson shortly after the latter's inauguration, and received +the cordial response, "Don't mention it, don't mention it." On the +strength of this interview, Ringgold naturally assumed he was safe for +another term, but, to the surprise of many, he was succeeded two years +later by Henry Ashton, who retained the office for about three years. +"Old Hickory," as everybody knows, had a mind of his own. + +It was often very pleasant in my new surroundings to welcome to +Washington some of my early New York friends; and among these none were +more gladly received than Frances and Julia Kellogg of Troy. My +intimacy with these sisters goes back as far as my school days at Madame +Chegaray's, where Frances Kellogg was a boarding pupil and in a class +higher than mine when I was a day-scholar. It was the habit of these +sisters to spend their winters in Washington and their summers at West +Point; and it was during their sojourn at the latter place that Frances +became engaged to George H. Thomas of the Army who, although a Virginian +by birth, rendered such distinguished services during our Civil War as +Commander of the Army of the Cumberland. Many years after General +Thomas's death, his widow built a house on I Street, where she and Miss +Kellogg presided during the remainder of their lives. During one of our +many conversations, Mrs. Thomas told me that when her husband was +informed that a house was about to be presented to him by admiring +friends, in recognition of his conspicuous services during the Civil +War, he at once declined the offer, saying that he had been sufficiently +remunerated, and requested that the money raised for the purpose should +be given in charity. A distinguished Union General, who had already +accepted a house, remonstrated with him and said: "Thomas, if you refuse +to accept that house it will make it awkward for us." General Thomas's +characteristic response was: "You may take as many houses as you please, +but I shall accept none." + +At this time the house 14 Lafayette Square, now Jackson Place, still +standing but very much altered, was owned and occupied by Purser and +Mrs. Francis B. Stockton and the latter's sister, daughters of Captain +James McKnight of the Marine Corps and nieces of Commodore Stephen +Decatur. Purser Stockton once told me that he had purchased this home +for seven thousand dollars. The house prior to his ownership had been +the residence of a number of families of distinction, among others the +Southards and Monroes. + +After giving up our home in New York I made a visit of some weeks to my +friends, the family of William Kemble, who was still residing on St. +John's Park in New York. While there we were invited to an old-fashioned +supper at the home of Mr. Peter Goelet, a bachelor, on the corner of +Nineteenth Street and Broadway, presided over by his sister, Mrs. Hannah +Greene Gerry. Upon the lawn of this house Mr. Goelet indulged his +ornithological tastes by a remarkable display of various species of +turkeys with their broods, together with peacocks and silver and golden +pheasants. As can be readily understood, this was a remarkable sight in +the heart of a great city, and caused much admiration from passers-by. + +It has been said that at one time William W. Corcoran's father kept a +shoe store in Georgetown, and that the son, one of the most conspicuous +benefactors of the city of Washington, was very proud of the fact. I +have also heard it said, although I cannot vouch for the truth of the +statement, that the son cherished his father's business sign as one of +his valued possessions. Whether or not these allegations agree or +conflict with the explicit statement concerning his father made by +William W. Corcoran himself, is left for others to judge. The latter +wrote concerning his father: "Thomas Corcoran came to Baltimore in 1783, +and entered into the service of his uncle, William Wilson, as clerk, +beginning with a salary of fifty pounds sterling a year.... He brought +his family to Georgetown and commenced the shoe and leather business on +Congress Street," etc., etc. Be the facts as they may, a witticism of +William Thomas Carroll was a _bon mot_ of the day many years ago in +Washington. Upon being asked upon one occasion whether he knew the elder +Mr. Corcoran, he replied: "I have known him from first to _last_ and +from _last_ to first." Mr. Carroll for thirty-six years was Clerk of the +Supreme Court of the United States, and Chief Justice Roger B. Taney +paid him a well-earned tribute when he stated that he was "an +accomplished and faithful officer, prompt and exact in business, and +courteous in manner, and during the whole period of his judicial life +discharged the duties of his office with justice to the public and the +suitors, and to the entire satisfaction of every member of the Court." + +At the period of which I am speaking, some of the clerical positions in +the various departments of the government were filled by members of +families socially prominent. Francis S. Markoe and Robert S. Chew, for +example, were clerks in the State Department, and Archibald Campbell and +James Madison Cutts held similar positions. For many years women were +not employed by the government. It is said that the first one regularly +appointed was Miss Jennie Douglas, and that she received her position +through the instrumentality of Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the +Treasury, at the request of General Francis E. Spinner, Treasurer of the +United States. She was assigned to the duty of cutting and trimming +treasury-notes, a task that had hitherto been performed with shears by +men. General Spinner subsequently stated that her first day's work +"settled the matter in her and in women's favor." James Madison Cutts, +at one time Second Comptroller of the Treasury under Buchanan, married +Ellen Elisabeth O'Neill, who, with her sister Rose, subsequently Mrs. +Robert Greenhow, resided in the vicinity of Washington. Both sisters +possessed much physical beauty. Madison Cutts, as he was generally +called, was a nephew of "Dolly" Madison, and his father, Richard Cutts, +was once a Member of Congress from New Hampshire. + +It is to the kindness of Mrs. Madison Cutts that I owe the memory of a +pleasant visit to Mrs. Madison. She took me to call upon her one +afternoon, and I shall never forget the impression made upon me by her +turban and long earrings. Her surroundings were of a most interesting +character and her graceful bearing and sprightly presence, even in +extreme old age, have left a lasting picture upon my memory. Her niece, +"Dolly" Paine, was living with her at her residence on the corner of H +Street and Madison Place, now forming a part of the Cosmos Club. Todd +Paine, her son, unfortunately did not prove to be a source of much +satisfaction to her. He survived his mother some years and eventually +the valuable Madison manuscripts and relics became his property. At the +time of his death in Virginia this interesting collection was brought to +Washington, where, I am informed, some of it still remains as the +cherished possession of the McGuire family. Mr. and Mrs. Madison Cutts +were devotees of society and consequently they and Mrs. Madison met upon +common ground. The afternoon of my memorable visit to this former +mistress of the White House I remember meeting quite a number of +visitors in her drawing-room, as temporary sojourners at the National +Capital were often eager to meet the gracious woman who had figured so +conspicuously in the social history of the country. + +I knew Madison Cutts's daughter, Rose Adele Cutts, or "Addie" Cutts, as +she was invariably called, when she first entered society. Her +reputation for beauty is well known. I always associate her with +japonicas, which she usually wore in her hair and of which her numerous +bouquets were chiefly composed. Her father frequently accompanied her to +balls, and in the wee small hours of the night, as he became weary, I +have often been amused at his summons to depart--"Addie, _allons_." As +quite a young woman, Addie Cutts married Stephen A. Douglas, the "Little +Giant," whom Lincoln defeated in the memorable presidential election of +1860. It is said that her ambition to grace the White House had much to +do with the disruption of the Democratic party, as it was she who urged +Douglas onward; and everyone knows that the division of the Democratic +vote between Stephen A. Douglas and John C. Breckenridge resulted in the +election of Lincoln. Some years after Douglas's death, his widow married +General Robert Williams, U.S.A., by whom she had a number of children, +one of whom is the wife of Lieutenant Commander John B. Patton, U.S.N. + +Mrs. Madison Cutts's sister, Mrs. Robert Greenhow, was a woman of +attractive appearance and unusual ability. Her husband was a Virginian +by birth and a man of decided literary tastes. When I first knew her she +was a widow, and but few romances can excel in interest one period of +her career. She was a social favorite and her house was the rendezvous +of the prominent Southern politicians of the day. This, of course, was +before the Civil War, during a portion of which she made herself +conspicuous as a Southern spy. At the commencement of the struggle her +zeal for the Southern cause became so conspicuous and offensive to the +authorities in Washington that she was arrested and imprisoned in her +own house on Sixteenth Street, near K Street. Later she was confined in +the "Old Capitol Prison." General Andrew Porter, U.S.A., whose widow +still resides in Washington and is one of my cherished friends, was +Provost Marshal of the District of Columbia at this time, and as such +Mrs. Greenhow was in his charge during her imprisonment. This duty was +made so irksome to him that, upon one occasion, he exclaimed in +desperation that he preferred to resign his position rather than to +continue such an uncongenial task. It has been stated that information +conveyed by her to the Confederates precipitated the Battle of Bull Run, +which was so disastrous to the Union Army. Her conduct, even in prison, +was so aggressive that the government officials decided she was +altogether too dangerous a character to remain in Washington. They +accordingly sent her, accompanied by her young daughter Rose, within the +Southern lines, fearing that even behind prison bars her ingenuity +might devise some method of communicating with the enemy. From the South +she went to London, where she published, in 1863, a volume entitled, "My +Imprisonment and the First Years of Abolition Rule at Washington," to +which I have already referred. I have heard that this book had quite a +circulation in Great Britain, but that an attempt was made to suppress +it in the United States. The last year of the war, Mrs. Greenhow was +returning to America with considerable money acquired by the sale of her +book, which she carried with her in gold. She took passage upon a +blockade-runner which, after pursuit, succeeded in reaching the port of +Wilmington, North Carolina. She was descending from her ship into a +small boat to go on shore when she made a false step and fell into the +water. Her gold tied around her neck held her down and she was drowned. +Her remains were recovered and brought to the town hall, where they laid +in state prior to an imposing funeral service. She was regarded +throughout the South as a martyr to its cause. + +Old Washingtonians who recall Mrs. Greenhow's eventful career will +associate with her, in a way, Mrs. Philip Phillips, who was also active +in the Southern cause, and whose husband represented Alabama with much +ability for one term in Congress. He subsequently remained in +Washington, where he was known as a distinguished advocate before the +Supreme Court. Mrs. Phillips's enthusiastic friendship for the South +made serious trouble for herself and family. The first year of the war, +all of them were sent across the Union lines, and went to New Orleans, +where General Benjamin F. Butler was in command. A few days after her +arrival she Was brought before him charged with "making merry" over the +passing funeral of Captain George Coleman De Kay of New York, an officer +in the Union Army. When General Butler inquired why she laughed, she +replied: "Because I was in a good humor." Unable longer to suppress his +indignation, Butler exclaimed: "If such women as you and Mrs. Greenhow +are let loose, our lives are in jeopardy." Mrs. Phillips's reply was: +"We of the South hire butchers to kill our swine." Another day a search +was made in Mrs. Phillips's house for information concerning the +Confederacy which she was thought to have. When personally searched and +compelled to remove her shoes, she suggested that it was impossible for +a Northern man to get his hand inside a Southern woman's shoe. General +Butler finally ordered Mrs. Phillips to be confined on an island near +New Orleans, and placed over her a guard whose duty it was to watch her +night and day. I have often heard her give an account of her life under +these trying circumstances. She said she lived in a large "shoe +box"--whatever that meant--and that her meals were served to her three +times a day upon a tin plate. From what I have already said, it is +apparent that she was an exceedingly witty woman. One day, while walking +on the streets in Washington, she was joined by a distinguished prelate +of the Roman Catholic Church, and inquired whether he could lay aside +his cloth long enough to listen to a conundrum? Upon receiving a +favorable response, she asked: "Why is His Holiness, the Pope, like a +goose?" The reply was: "Because he sticks to his Propaganda!" + +I shall always recall with pleasure a dinner party I attended at the +residence of Edward Everett. As Mrs. Everett was in very delicate health +and seldom appeared in public, Mr. Everett presided alone. The +invitations were for six o'clock, and dinner was served promptly at that +hour. I was taken into the dining-room by Mr. Philip Griffith, one of +the Secretaries of the British Legation. We had just finished our second +course when, to the surprise of everyone, a tall and gaunt gentleman was +ushered into the dining-room. It was Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia, +then a member of Congress and subsequently Vice-President of the +Southern Confederacy. Mr. Everett at once arose and shook hands with Mr. +Stephens and with an imperturbable expression of countenance motioned +the butler to provide another seat at the table. For a moment there was +a slight confusion, as the other guests were obliged to move in order to +make room for the new comer; but everything was speedily arranged and +Mr. Stephens began his dinner with the third course. No explanation was +offered at the moment, but later, while we were drinking our coffee in +the drawing-room, I noticed Mr. Everett and Mr. Stephens engaged in +conversation. + +A few days later, through Mr. Colin M. Ingersoll, a Representative in +Congress from Connecticut, the cause of Mr. Stephens' late appearance at +the dinner was made clear to me. It seems that Mr. Everett and the +French Minister, the Count Eugène de Sartiges, his next door neighbor, +were giving dinner parties the same evening. The dinner hour at the +French Legation was half-past six o'clock, while Mr. Everett's was half +an hour earlier. Through the mistake of a stupid coachman, Mr. Stephens +was landed at the door of Count de Sartiges's home and entered it under +the impression that it was Mr. Everett's residence. He walked into the +drawing-room and suspected nothing, as nearly all the guests were +familiar to him. Count de Sartiges, however, surprised at the presence +of an unbidden guest, anxiously inquired of Mr. Ingersoll the name of +the stranger, and upon being informed remarked: "I'll be very polite to +him." Seating himself by Mr. Stephens' side, an animated conversation +followed. Meanwhile other guests arrived and the Count de Sartiges +became diverted, while Mr. Stephens, still unconscious of his mistake, +turned to Mr. Ingersoll, who stood near, and in an irritated tone of +voice said: "Who is this Frenchman who is tormenting me, and where is +Mr. Everett?" Mr. Ingersoll explained that the Frenchman was the Count +de Sartiges, and that Mr. Everett was probably presiding over his own +dinner in the adjoining house. + +My _vis à vis_ at Mr. Everett's table was Miss Ann G. Wight, a woman +with an unusual history. She was born in Montgomery County, Maryland, +and as a child was placed in a convent. She eventually became a nun and +an inmate of the Convent of the Visitation in Georgetown, where she +assumed the name of "Sister Gertrude." She was an intellectual woman and +was deeply beloved by her associates. Without any apparent cause, +however, she planned an escape from the convent and sought the residence +of her relative, General John P. Van Ness, dropping her keys, as I have +understood, in Rock Creek as she passed over the Georgetown bridge. Mrs. +Charles Worthington, a Catholic friend of mine who was educated at this +same convent, gave me the following explanation of her conduct: There +was an election for Mother Superior, and Miss Wight, deeply disappointed +that she was not chosen to fill the position, was dissatisfied and when +it became her turn to answer the front-door bell, suddenly determined to +leave. She was, however, recognized by one of the priests, who followed +her to General Van Ness's residence, where he insisted upon seeing her. +At first she refused to meet him, but, upon informing the General that +he must learn from her own lips whether her departure was voluntary, she +consented to see him in the presence of her relative. She admitted that +she had in no way been influenced. When I first met Miss Wight she was +more devoted to "the pride, pomp and circumstance" of the world than +many who had not led such deeply religious lives. She was still living +at the residence of General Van Ness, and I have heard that she always +remained a Roman Catholic. During the Everett dinner my escort, Mr. +Philip Griffith, remarked to me in an undertone: "We have an escaped nun +here; are we going to have an _auto da fé_?" I responded that I believed +it to be a matter of record that _autos da fé_ were solely a courtly +amusement. + +Mrs. Sidney Brooks, formerly Miss Fanny Dehon of Boston, was another of +Mr. Everett's guests. She was a relative of our host, and it was her +custom to make prolonged visits to the Everett home. Her presence in +Washington was always hailed with delight. She was a pronounced blonde, +and her reputation as a brilliant conversationalist was widely extended. + +Rufus Choate was an occasional visitor in Washington subsequent to his +brilliant senatorial career which ended in 1845. That I had the pleasure +of intimately knowing this man of wit and erudition is one of the +brightest memories of my life. His quaint humor was inexhaustible and +some of his bright utterances will never perish. When a younger sister +of mine was lying desperately ill in Washington in 1856 he called to +inquire about her condition, and the tones of his sympathetic voice +still linger in my ear. It has been fittingly said of Mr. Choate that +even one's name uttered by him was in itself a delicate compliment. It +is to him we owe the inspiring quotation, "Keep step to the music of the +Union," which he uttered in his speech before the Whig convention of +1855. I have heard some of Mr. Choate's clients dwell upon his mighty +power as an advocate, and it seems to me that words of law flowing from +such lips might have been suggestive of the harmony of the universe. The +chirography of Mr. Choate was equal to any Chinese puzzle; it was even +more difficult to decipher than that of Horace Greeley. I once received +a note from him and was obliged to call upon my family to aid me in +reading it. He had a fund of humor which was universally applauded by an +admiring public. Once, in replying to a toast on Yale College at the +"Hasty-Pudding" dinner, he said that "everything is to be irregular this +evening." He followed this remark by poking a little fun at the expense +of the College by reading a portion of the will of Lewis Morris, one of +the Signers and the father of Gouverneur Morris. This document was +executed in 1760 in New York, and in it he expresses his "desire that my +son, Gouverneur Morris, may have the best education that is to be had in +Europe or America, but my express will and directions are that he be +never sent for that purpose to the Colony of Connecticutt, lest he +should imbibe in his youth that low craft and cunning so incident to the +People of that Colony, which is so interwoven in their Constitutions +that all their art cannot disguise it from the World; though many of +them, under the sanctifyed garb of Religion, have endeavored to impose +themselves on the World for honest men." The laughter which followed the +reading of this extract was as _regular_ as the remarks were +_irregular_. It may be added that Lewis Morris died two years after +making this will, when his son Gouverneur was between ten and eleven +years of age, and that his desires were respected, as his son was +graduated from King's (now Columbia) College in New York in 1768, when +only sixteen years old. His father, cold in the grave, had his revenge +on the "Colony of Connecticutt" and the hatchet, for aught we know to +the contrary, was forever buried, while old Elihu's college still +survives in New Haven. + +An anecdote relating to Gouverneur Morris still lingers in my memory. +Before his marriage, quite late in life, to Miss Anne Cary Randolph, his +nephew, Gouverneur Wilkins, was generally regarded as heir to his large +estate. When a direct heir was born, Mr. Wilkins was summoned to the +babe's christening. One of the guests began to speculate upon the name +of the youngster, when Mr. Wilkins quickly said, "Why, _Cut-us-off-sky_, +of course," in imitation of the usual termination of such a large number +of Russian names. + +In 1852 John F. T. Crampton was British Minister to the United States +and I had the pleasure of knowing him quite well. He was a bachelor of +commanding presence, and it was rather a surprise to Washingtonians that +he evaded matrimonial capture! He lived in Georgetown in an old-time and +spacious mansion, surrounded by ample grounds. The proverbial +tea-drinking period had not arrived, but Mr. Crampton, notwithstanding +this fact, gave afternoon receptions for which his house, by the way, +was especially adapted. In 1856, during the Crimean War, an +unpleasantness arose between Great Britain and this country in +connection with the charge that Crampton had been instrumental in +recruiting soldiers in the United States for service in the British +Army. Accordingly, in May of the same year, President Pierce broke off +diplomatic relations with him and he was recalled. There was never, +however, any severe reflection made upon him by his home Ministry, and +after his return to England he was made a Knight of the Bath by Lord +Palmerston, and a little later became the British Minister at St. +Petersburg. In the autumn of 1856, while in Russia, he married Victoire +Balfe, second daughter of Michael William Balfe, the distinguished +musical composer, from whom he was divorced in 1863. + +I frequently attended receptions at the British Legation, and I +particularly recall those in the spring of the year when they took the +form of _fêtes champêtres_ upon the well-kept lawn. On these occasions +the Diplomatic Corps was well represented, as well as the resident +society. I have heard a curious story about Henry Stephen Fox, the +English Minister in Washington from 1836 to 1844. He evidently +represented the sporting element of his day, as it was said he was _en +évidence_ all night and seldom visible by daylight. He was, moreover, +exceedingly careless about some of the reasonable responsibilities of +life which rendered it difficult for his creditors to secure an +audience. They, however, surrounded his house in the First Ward one +evening and demanded in clamorous tones that he should name a definite +time when he would satisfy their claims. Fox appeared at a front window +and pleasantly announced that, as they were so urgent in their demands, +he would state a time which he hoped would meet with their satisfaction, +and accordingly named in stentorian voice the "Day of Judgment." + +One of the constant visitors at our home on G Street was John +Savile-Lumley, who was appointed in 1854 as the Secretary of the British +Legation under Crampton, and in the following year became the English +_Chargé d'affaires_ in Washington. I remember him as a fine looking +gentleman and an especially pleasing specimen of the English race. He +was the natural son of John Lumley-Savile, the eighth Earl of +Scarborough, by a mother of French origin. After leaving Washington, he +represented his country in Rome and other prominent courts of Europe, +and, upon his retirement from the diplomatic service in 1888, was raised +to the peerage as Baron Savile of Rufford in Nottinghamshire. The last I +heard of him was through one of Lord Ronald Gower's charming books of +travel, where it states that he was representing Great Britain at the +court of Leopold I. in Belgium. He died in the fall of 1896. His younger +brother lived in London where, for a period, he acted as a sort of +major-domo in society, and but few entertainments were considered +complete without him. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +DIPLOMATIC CORPS AND OTHER CELEBRITIES + + +I have already spoken of the Count de Sartiges, who so ably represented +the French Government in the United States. He had not been very long in +this country when he married Miss Anna Thorndike of Boston, and while +residing in Washington they dispensed a lavish hospitality. Just before +he came to this country, the Count spent several years in Persia, which +was then regarded as an out-of-the-way post of duty. I recall quite an +amusing incident which occurred at an entertainment given by the +Countess de Sartiges to which I was accompanied by George Newell, +brother-in-law of William L. Marcy. Mr. Newell had not been in +Washington long enough to, become acquainted with all the members of the +Diplomatic Corps, and, crossing the room to where I stood, he inquired: +"Who is the Aborigine who has been sitting next to me?" I looked in the +direction indicated and recognized the well-known person of General Juan +Nepomuceno Almonte, the Mexican Minister, whose features strongly +portrayed the Indian type. Some matrimonial alliances in Mexico at this +time, by the way, were more or less complicated; for example, General +Almonte's wife was his own niece. + +The first Secretary of the French Legation was Baron Geoffrey Boilleau, +who remained in this country for several years. While stationed in +Washington, he married Susan Benton, a daughter of Thomas H. Benton, +U.S. Senator from Missouri and a political autocrat in his own State, +another of whose daughters, Jessie Ann, was the wife of General John C. +Fremont. At a later day, both Boilleau and Fremont became involved in +difficulties of a serious character in consequence of which the former, +while Minister to Ecuador, was recalled to France, where, as I am +informed, he was convicted and confined for a period in the +_Conciergerie_. I am not fully acquainted with the exact details of the +charges upon which he was tried, but they had their origin in the +negotiation of certain bonds of the proposed Memphis and El Paso +Railroad. In my opinion, however, no one who knew Baron Boilleau well +ever doubted his integrity. He was a man of decidedly literary tastes +and, like many persons of that character, possessed but meager knowledge +of business. It seems that General Fremont had obtained from the +Legislature of Texas a grant of state lands in the interests of the +railroad just referred to, which was to be a portion of a projected +transcontinental line from Norfolk, Virginia, to San Diego and San +Francisco. It has been stated that "the French agents employed to place +the land-grant bonds of this road on the market made the false +declaration that they were guaranteed by the United States. In 1869 the +Senate passed a bill giving Fremont's road the right of way through the +territories, an attempt to defeat it by fixing on him the onus of the +misstatement in Paris having been unsuccessful. In 1873 he was +prosecuted by the French government for fraud in connection with this +misstatement. He did not appear in person, and was sentenced by default +to fine and imprisonment, no judgment being given on the merits of the +case." + +Prince Louis de Bearn, Secretary of the French Legation, was a gentleman +of most pleasing personality. He was a strikingly handsome bachelor at +the time I knew him and was much seen in the gay world. He was never +called "Prince" in those days, but "Count"; but in a letter now before +me, written in 1904 by his son, who was recently an attaché of the +French Embassy in Washington, he claims that both his father and +grandfather were Princes by right of birth. He also states that the +title was borne by his family before the Revolution of 1789. During his +official life in Washington, Prince de Bearn married Miss Beatrice +Winans, daughter of Ross Winans of Baltimore. Chevalier John George +Hulsemann, the Austrian Minister, was a convivial old bachelor and was +much esteemed at the Capital for his genial qualities. He lived on F +Street, below Pennsylvania Avenue, and was stationed in Washington for +many years. + +Chevalier Giuseppe Bertinatti, the Italian Minister, commenced his +diplomatic career in Washington as a bachelor. He did not occupy a house +of his own, but lodged at the establishment of Mrs. Ulrich, which was +the headquarters of many foreigners. Fifty years ago and more, the +members of the Diplomatic Corps, with few exceptions, lived either in +modest residences or in boarding houses, in striking contrast with many +of the imposing mansions now occupied by the official representatives of +foreign lands. His mission was a diplomatic success and while at the +capital he married Mrs. Eugénie Bass, a handsome widow from Mississippi, +and soon departed upon another mission, taking his American bride with +him. Soon after the announcement of his prospective marriage, Count +Bertinatti issued invitations to a large dinner given in honor of his +_fiancée_. When the gala day arrived, Mrs. Bass, though quite +indisposed, was persuaded to be present at the dinner, but, feeling +decidedly ill, she retired from the table and in a short time became +much nauseated. When this state of affairs was explained to General +George Douglas Ramsay, one of the guests of the evening, his quick sally +was, "a Bass relief!" + +Baron Frederick Charles Joseph von Gerolt, whom I knew very well and who +represented King William of Prussia, is still affectionately recalled by +his few survivors who cling to early associations. His departure from +Washington with his family was more deeply regretted than that of some +other foreign residents whom I remember, as they had made many friends +and had lived in Washington so long that they were regarded almost as +permanent residents. The Misses Bertha and Dorothea von Gerolt were +graceful dancers and were very popular. Dorothea married into the +Diplomatic Corps and accompanied her husband to Greece. I have heard +that Bertha became deeply attached to the Chevalier A. P. C. Van +Karnabeek, secretary of the Netherlands Legation, but that, owing to +religious considerations, her parents frowned upon the alliance. She +accordingly determined to enter upon a cloistered life and went to the +Georgetown convent where she became a nun, and was known until the day +of her death in 1890 as "Sister Angela." Baron von Gerolt was an +intellectual man and, prior to his career in the United States, his name +was much associated with Baron Alexander von Humboldt; but as neither he +nor Madame von Gerolt were proficient English scholars when they first +arrived they naturally depended upon others for instruction. I can vouch +for the truth of the statement that upon one occasion they were advised +by members of his own legation to greet those whom they met with the +words, "I'm damned glad to see you." + +Mr. Alfred Bergmans, Secretary of the Belgian Legation, married Lily +Macalister, a Philadelphia heiress, who, in her widowhood, returned to +this country and made Washington her home. Madame Bergmans was a devotee +to society and was particularly fond of dancing. She was a _petite +blonde_, and, even after it ceased to be fashion, she wore her light +hair down her back in many ringlets. When George M. Robeson, President +Grant's Secretary of the Navy, saw her for the first time one evening +while she was dancing, he exclaimed, "That is the tripping of the light +fantastic toe." She married quite late in life J. Scott Laughton, who +was considerably her junior, but did not long survive the alliance. + +Many members of the Diplomatic Corps of this period married American +women. Baron Guido von Grabow, one of the secretaries of the Prussian +Legation whom I knew very well, married Mrs. Edward Boyce, whose maiden +name was Nina Wood. She was a granddaughter of President Zachary Taylor +and was well known and beloved by old Washingtonians. Her marriage to +Baron von Grabow offers strong encouragement to persistent suitors. He +was deeply in love with her prior to her first marriage, but she +rejected him for Edward Boyce, who was a member of a prominent +Georgetown family. Mr. Boyce lived only a few years, and her subsequent +married life with Baron von Grabow was long and happy. + +Alexandre Gau, _Chancelier_ of the Prussian Legation, married my younger +sister, Margaret, who was regarded as a remarkable beauty as well as an +accomplished linguist and pianist. Her wedding took place in our G +Street home in the same room where five months later her funeral +services were held. Mr. Gau did not long survive her and was interred by +her side in my father's old burial plot in Jamaica, Long Island. + +Don Calderon de la Barca, the Spanish Minister to the United States, +together with his wife, who was Miss Fanny Inglis, and her sister, Miss +Lydia Inglis, were presiding social spirits in Washington for many +years. The latter married a Mr. McLeod, and, becoming financially +embarrassed, established on Staten Island a school for girls which was +ably conducted. These sisters were members of a Scotch family of +distinguished lineage. One of Mrs. McLeod's pupils was Mary E. Croghan, +a prominent heiress from Pittsburgh. She was still attending school on +Staten Island when Captain Edward W. H. Schenley of the Royal Navy, a +Scotch relative of Mrs. McLeod, came to America to visit her. In +inviting him to be her guest she felt that, as he was an elderly man, +he would prove to be quite immune to the attractions of mere school +girls. I met Captain Schenley about this same time in New York, and his +"make up" was of such a remarkable character that it was a favorite _on +dit_ that, when he was dressed for standing, a sitting posture was quite +an impossibility. Young Miss Croghan must have discovered fascinations +in this Scotchman as she eloped with him from Mrs. McLeod's school and +after a brief period accompanied him to England, where she spent the +remainder of her life. Mrs. McLeod was severely criticised by her +patrons for carelessness, and her school was somewhat injured by Miss +Croghan's matrimonial adventure. + +Don Leopoldo Augusto De Cueto was another Spanish Minister, whom I +regarded as an agreeable acquaintance. During his _régime_ filibustering +against Spanish possessions, and especially Cuba, was a favorite pastime +of American citizens and rendered the position of the Spanish Minister +in Washington one of delicacy and difficulty. Residing in Washington +during De Cueto's tenure of office was a Cuban named Ambrosio José +Gonzales, who, in the Civil War, became Inspector General of Artillery +in the Confederate Army, under General Beauregard. As he was well versed +in music and had a remarkable voice, he frequently, upon request, sang +selections from the popular operas then in vogue. Among the songs +frequently heard in drawing-rooms was "Suoni la Tromba," from Bellini's +opera "I Puritani di Scozia," which had been interdicted by the Spanish +Government. One evening when De Cueto was spending an informal evening +with my sisters and myself at our G Street home, Mr. Gonzales happened +to call and was asked to sing. He seated himself at the piano and for +sometime sang various airs for us. Finally, not knowing that "Suoni la +Tromba" was under the Spanish ban, I asked him to sing it. During the +song De Cueto was politely attentive, and at its conclusion had the +politeness to applaud it. Imagine, however, my surprise when I heard a +few days later, through a mutual friend, that Gonzales had boasted that +he sang the song in De Cueto's presence, proudly adding that he had +looked the Spaniard full in the eye when he uttered the word +_libert[)a]_. + +Mr. José de Marcoleta, the Nicaraguan Minister to the United States, was +an elderly and punctilious Spaniard. He was indefatigable in the +observance of all social duties, and I met him wherever I went. He was a +bachelor but, soon after his arrival in Washington, announced his +engagement to Miss Mary West of Boston, who unfortunately died before +her wedding day. I am under the impression that he eventually married +another American. I remember once when he called to see us I asked him +to tell me something about Nicaragua, which was then an almost unknown +country. My surprise can hardly be described when he told me he had +never seen the country which he represented, but was a native of Spain. + +Baron Waldemar Rudolph Raasloff represented Denmark in a manner +creditable both to his country and our own. He told me that some years +previous to his mission to America he came to New York in the capacity +of an engineer and was engaged on work in New York harbor, "blowing up +rocks." Possibly he was thus employed at "Hell Gate," at that time one +of the most dangerous obstacles to navigation in that vicinity. + +The well-known "Octagon," as the old Tayloe home on the corner of New +York Avenue and Eighteenth Street is still called, during my early +residence in Washington was closed. Many superstitious persons regarded +it with fear, as its reputation as a haunted house was then, in their +opinion, well established. I have been told by the daughters of General +George D. Ramsay that upon one occasion their father was requested by +Colonel John Tayloe, the father of Benjamin Ogle Tayloe, to remain at +the Octagon over night, when he was obliged to be absent, as a +protection to his daughters, Anne and Virginia. While the members of the +family were at the evening meal, the bells in the house began to ring +violently. General Ramsay immediately arose from the table to +investigate, but failed to unravel the mystery. The butler, in a state +of great alarm, rushed into the dining-room and declared that it was the +work of an unseen hand. As they continued to ring, General Ramsay held +the rope which controlled the bells, but, it is said, they were not +silenced. The architect of the Octagon was Dr. William Thornton, of the +West Indies, who designed the plans of the first capitol in Washington +and who was the controlling spirit of the three Commissioners appointed +by Congress to acquire a "territory not exceeding ten miles square" for +the establishment of a permanent seat of government. These men were +Daniel Carroll, Thomas Johnson, first Governor of the State of Maryland, +and David Stuart. Most of this land, which included Georgetown and +Alexandria, was primeval forest and was owned chiefly by Daniel Carroll, +Notley Young, Samuel Davidson and David Burns. + +The Commissioners had great difficulty in dealing with Burns, who owned +nearly all of what is now the northwestern section of the city, as he +was a closefisted and hardheaded Scotchman, who was unwilling to part +with his lands without being roundly paid for them. When argument with +him proved fruitless, it is said that General Washington, realizing the +gravity of the situation, rode up several times from Mount Vernon to +discuss the situation with "stubborn Mr. Burns." At length, in despair, +he remarked: "Had not the Federal City been laid out here, you would +have died a poor planter." "Ay, mon," was Burns's ready response, "and +had you no married the widder Custis wi' a' her nagres ye'd ha'e been a +land surveyor the noo', an' a mighty poor ane at that!" It is further +related that Washington finally succeeded in winning Burns over to his +way of thinking, and that the canny Scotchman, realizing how largely he +was to profit by the transaction, actually became generous and gave to +the Commissioners, in fee simple, his apple orchard which is now the +beautiful Lafayette Square. + +In passing through Lafayette Square, I have often sat down upon a bench +to rest near the "wishing tree," a dwarf chestnut so well known to +residents of the District, and I have been impressed by the many +superstitious persons, both men and women, who have stopped for a moment +and silently stood under its branches. Many are the credulous believers +in its power to satisfy human desires, and the season when its branches +are full of nuts is regarded by these as a specially propitious time for +their realization. With many persons this tree is the basis of their +only superstition. + +I remember the case of a young girl who had been working very hard to +obtain a position in one of the departments but without success and who, +thoroughly discouraged, came to the tree early one morning and made the +wish that to her and her family meant the actual necessities of life. +She then sat down to rest upon a near-by bench before going home, and +while there became engaged in conversation with a pleasing looking +woman, to whom she poured forth her heart as she related her hopes and +disappointments about obtaining a government position. As her listener +was a sympathetic person, she asked the young woman her name and +address, and in a few days the poor girl received a notice to go to a +certain department for examination. It seems that her companion under +the tree was the wife of an influential Senator, who was so touched by +the young woman's efforts, as well as by her childish faith in the +"wishing tree," that she took pleasure in seeing that her great desire +was gratified. + +At this time Washington was not far behind other large cities in games +of chance, and gambling was frequently indulged in quite openly. Edward +Pendleton's resort, a luxurious establishment down town, was regarded as +quite _à la mode_, and I have heard it said that he had able assistance +from social ranks. I have often wondered why a man who indulged in this +sport was called a gambler, as the term "gamester," used many years ago, +seems decidedly more appropriate. I own two volumes of a very old book, +published in the eighteenth century, entitled "The Gamesters," in which +the heroes are professional gamblers. I have seen Mrs. Pendleton's +costly equipage, drawn by horses with brilliant trappings and followed +by blooded hounds, coursing the length of Pennsylvania Avenue, while its +owner seemed entirely unconscious of the aching hearts which had +contributed to all her grandeur. Cards were universally played in +private homes and whist was the fashionable game, General Scott being +one of its chief devotees. I have often thought how much the old General +would have enjoyed "bridge," as there was nothing that gave him more +pleasure than playing the "dummy hand." + +My old friend, Mrs. Diana Bullitt Kearny, the widow of General "Phil" +Kearny, in our many chats in her latter days, gave me many reminiscences +of Washington at a time when I was not residing there. She described a +fancy-dress ball given by her while residing in the old Porter house on +H Street, which must have been about 1848, as General Kearny had just +returned from the Mexican War. She dwelt particularly upon the costume +of Emma Meredith, one of her guests and the daughter of Jonathan +Meredith of Baltimore, who came to Washington to attend the party. She +represented a rainbow and her appearance was so gorgeous that Mrs. +Kearny said the Heavenly vision seemed almost within the grasp of common +mortals. Miss Meredith's supremacy as a belle has never been eclipsed. I +recall a painful incident connected with her life. A young naval +officer was deeply in love with her and, it is said, was under the +impression that she intended to marry him. At a theater party one +evening he discovered his mistake and, taking the affair to heart, +returned to his quarters and the same evening swallowed a dose of +corrosive sublimate. Physicians were immediately summoned and, although +he regretted the act and expressed a desire to live, they were unable to +save him. It is said that about the same time Miss Meredith left her +home in Baltimore to visit her sister, Mrs. Gardiner G. Howland, whose +husband was one of the merchant princes of New York, and that, as she +crossed the Jersey City Ferry, one of the first objects which met her +eyes was the funeral cortege of her disappointed lover _en route_ to his +final resting place. Subsequent to this tragedy, I met Miss Meredith in +Saratoga, surrounded by the usual admiring throng. She never married. I +heard of her in recent years, at a summer resort near Baltimore, and, +although advanced in years, I understood she still possessed exceptional +powers of attraction. Only a short time ago I heard a young man remark +that he knew her very well and that he would rather converse with her +than with women many years her junior. + +Mrs. Kearny was said to be the last of the "Lafayette girls." In 1825, +when Lafayette made his memorable visit to the United States as the +guest of the nation, she was living with her parents in Louisville, and +at the tender age of five strewed flowers in the pathway of the +distinguished Frenchman. She remembered the incident perfectly and in +our numerous conversations I have repeatedly heard her allude to it. She +told me that, seated at General Lafayette's side in the carriage which +conveyed him through the city, was the great-uncle, Colonel Richard C. +Anderson, who led the advance of the American troops at the Battle of +Trenton. General Robert Anderson, U.S.A., whose memory the country +honors as the defender of Fort Sumpter, was his son. The General's +widow, a daughter of General Duncan L. Clinch, U.S.A., resided in +Washington until her death a few years ago. She was a woman of rare +intelligence and, although a great invalid for many years, gathered +around her an appreciative circle of friends, who were always charmed by +her attractive personality. + +In my earliest recollection of Washington the old Van Ness house was +still sheltered by many trees. The foliage was so dense that it may have +been the desire of the occupants to shield themselves in this manner +from public view. When I first knew the landmark it was occupied by +Thomas Green, an old-time resident of the District. He married, as his +second wife, Ann Corbin Lomax, a daughter of Major Mann Page Lomax of +the Ordnance Department of the Army. During the Civil War, Mr. Green's +sympathies were with the South, but he took no active part in the +conflict. One of his idiosyncrasies was to pick up, on and around his +spacious grounds, scraps of old iron, such as horse shoes, hay rakes and +the like, which were placed in a corner of his capacious cellar. +Suspicion was centered upon his house by information given to the +government by an old family servant who thought he was doing the country +a service, and directions were accordingly given that it should be +searched. While this order was in process of execution, the discovery of +the scrap-iron is said to have played an important part and in some +unaccountable manner to have aroused further suspicion. Whatever the +logic of the situation may have been is not intelligible, but the fact +remains I that Mr. and Mrs. Green and the latter's sister, Miss Virginia +Lomax, were arrested in a summary manner and taken to the Old Capital +Prison, where for a time they were kept in close confinement, during +which Miss Lomax suffered severe indisposition and, as is said, never +entirely recovered from the effects of her incarceration. About +twenty-five years after the War, while staying at the same house with +her in Warrenton, Virginia, I quite longed to hear her reminiscences of +prison life; but when I expressed my desire to a member of her family, I +was requested not to broach the subject as, even at this late day, it +was painful to her as a topic of conversation. + +During the War of 1812, Major Lomax was sent upon a mission to Canada by +the U.S. Government and, one day during his brief sojourn, dined in +company with some British officers. During the dinner a toast was +offered by one of the sons of John Bull: "To President Madison, dead or +alive." The responding toast by Major Lomax was: "To the Prince Regent, +drunk or sober." The British officer who had proposed the toast to +Madison immediately sprang to his feet and with much indignation +inquired: "Do you mean to insult me, sir?" The quick rejoinder was: "I +am responding to an insult!" + +I met Charles Sumner soon after his first appearance in the United +States Senate as the successor of Daniel Webster, who had become +Secretary of State. He was a man of striking appearance and bore himself +with the dignity so characteristic of the statesmen of that period. +"Sumner is one of them literary fellows," was the facetious criticism of +the Hon. Zachariah Chandler of Michigan, who a few years later became +one of his colleagues in the Senate, and who in earlier life was +accumulating a large fortune while Mr. Sumner, in his Massachusetts +home, was engaged in those intellectual and scholarly pursuits which +eventually made him one of the ripest and most accomplished students in +the land. Chandler, however, in his own way, furnished a conspicuous +example to aspiring youths of the day, both by his earlier and +subsequent life, of what may be accomplished by determined application. + +For a decade or more preceding the Civil War the political sentiment of +Washington, especially in reference to the violent anti-slavery +agitation then engrossing the thought of the country, was decidedly in +sympathy with the attitude of the South. It is not, therefore, +surprising that Sumner, whose radical views were known from Maine to +Texas, should have been received at first in Washington society with but +little cordiality. As the years passed along, he was rapidly forging +himself ahead to the leadership of his party in the Senate and, of +course, became strongly inimical to Buchanan's administration. He was +regarded with confidence and esteem by his own party, and, although +naturally both disliked and feared by his political opponents, it could +be truthfully said of him that he was + + A man that fortune's buffets and rewards + Hast ta'en with equal thanks, + +and that no attempts to socially ostracize or to deride him for his +political views and his intense application to his sense of duty +deterred the great Massachusetts statesman from pursuing the "even tenor +of his way." + +An anecdote went the rounds of the Capital to the effect that, one +morning when a gentleman called to see Sumner at his rooms on +Pennsylvania Avenue, a colored attendant answered the door and after +glancing at his card informed him that it would be impossible to disturb +his master, as he was rehearsing before a looking-glass a speech which +he expected to deliver the following morning. Whether this was +originally told by a friend or foe of Mr. Sumner is not known. Mr. +Sumner once requested me to take him to see a young Washington belle who +combined Parisian grace with Kentucky dash. I refer to Miss Sally +Strother, an acknowledged beauty of decidedly Southern views, who lived +on Seventh Street near F Street, now a commercial center. Mr. Sumner and +I walked to her house from my home on G Street and found several guests +in her drawing-room, where the topic of conversation, in the course of +the evening, drifted to the subject of spiritualism. It was announced +that at a recent _séance_ the spirit of Washington had appeared and +uttered the usual platitudes, whereupon Miss Strother, without a +moment's hesitation, remarked: "I wonder what General Washington would +say about Mr. Sumner?" Someone undertook to define Washington's views, +but Miss Strother interrupted and said: "I know just what he would +say--that he was a very intelligent, a very handsome, but a very bad +man." This remark was naturally productive of much mirth, but failed to +arouse any manifestation of feeling or disapprobation on the part of Mr. +Sumner. Later, as we were walking homeward he remarked: "I have +_l'esprit d'escalier_ and my retorts do not come until I am well-nigh +down the flight of stairs." Sally Strother went abroad, where she +married Baron Fahnenberg of Belgium, and shared a fate similar to that +of many of her country-women, as she was finally separated from her +husband. She cherished, however, a pride of title and bequeathed $60,000 +to erect in Spa, Belgium, a handsome chapel as well as a vault to +contain the remains of her mother, brother and herself. Her Kentucky +relatives, however, including the family of Mrs. Basil Duke, succeeded +in breaking the will on the ground that her mother's will, through which +she had inherited her property, did not permit it to leave the family. +The chapel and vault, accordingly, were not built, and all her property +reverted to her relatives. + +In addition to his commanding presence, nature bestowed upon Mr. Sumner +a clear and melodious voice, which rendered it quite unnecessary for him +to resort to Demosthenic methods of cultivation. For many years his +inspiring words could be heard upon the floor of the Senate in all of +the leading debates of the day, and his masterly orations will go down +to posterity as an important contribution to the history of many +national administrations. + +I well remember Preston S. Brooks's cowardly assault upon Charles Sumner +in the Senate Chamber in the spring of 1856. Public indignation ran very +high, and his political opponents referred to him thereafter as "Bully +Brooks." Socially, as well as politically, he was popular. He possessed +a gentle and pleasing bearing and it would have been difficult for +anyone to associate him with such a cruel outrage. His uncle, Andrew P. +Butler, who was in the U.S. Senate from South Carolina at the same time, +was a fine-looking and venerable gentleman, but he was one of the class +then designated as "fire-eaters." + +There existed between Mr. Sumner and Henry W. Longfellow a strong +friendship which was contracted in early life. I have often heard the +Massachusetts statesman recite some of his friend's poetical lines, +which seemed to me additionally beautiful when rendered in his deep and +sonorous voice. In the latter years of his life he resided in the house +which is now the Arlington Hotel Annex, where he surrounded himself with +his remarkable collection of books and articles of _virtu_ which he +exhibited with pride to his guests. I especially recall an old clock +presented to him by Henry Sanford, Minister to Belgium, as an artistic +work of exceptional beauty. Mr. Sumner, by the way, was an accomplished +connoisseur in art. I have heard him strongly denounce Clark Mills's +equestrian statue of General Andrew Jackson, now standing in the center +of Lafayette Square. He told me that on one occasion he was conducting a +party of Englishmen through the streets of the National Capital and, as +they were driving along Pennsylvania Avenue, he seated himself in such a +position as to entirely obstruct the view of what he called this +"grotesque statue," calling the attention of his guests, meanwhile, to +the White House on the other side of the street. + +I felt honored in calling Charles Sumner my friend, and I take especial +pleasure in repeating the encomium that "to the wisdom of the statesman +and the learning of the scholar he joined the consecration of a patriot, +the honor of a knight and the sincerity of a Christian." George Sumner, +his brother, did not appear in the land of his birth as a celebrity, but +he had a remarkable career abroad. He hobnobbed with royalty throughout +the European continent and was highly regarded for his profound +learning. He studied at the Universities of Heidelberg and Berlin and +traveled extensively through Europe, Asia and Africa. He never tarried +long in his "native heath," and furnished conspicuous evidence that "a +prophet is not without honor save in his own country." Alexander von +Humboldt praised the accuracy of his researches and Alexis de +Tocqueville referred to him as being better acquainted with European +politics than any European with whom he was acquainted. + +While Sumner was in the Senate, George T. Davis of Greenfield, +Massachusetts, was a member of the House of Representatives. I knew him +very well and he was a constant visitor at our home. He was celebrated +for his flashes of wit, which sometimes stimulated undeveloped powers in +others, and I have often seen dull perceptions considerably sharpened at +his approach. Oliver Wendell Holmes speaks of his witty sayings in the +"Autocrat of the Breakfast Table," and his conversational powers were so +brilliant that they won the admiration of Thackeray. Robert Rantoul, +also from Massachusetts, and a colleague of Davis, was a "Webster Whig" +and a powerful exponent of the "Free-Soil" faith. Davis, who was so +bright and clever in the drawing-room, could not, however, compete with +Rantoul on the floor of the House in parliamentary debate. The epitaph +on Rantoul's monument says that "He died at his post in Congress, and +his last words were a protest in the name of Democracy against the +Fugitive-Slave Law." One of the verses of Whittier's poem, entitled +"Rantoul," reads as follows:-- + + Through him we hoped to speak the word + Which wins the freedom of a land; + And lift, for human right, the sword + Which dropped from Hampden's dying hand. + +I first met the eccentric Count Adam Gurowski at the convivial tea table +of Miss Emily Harper in Newport, upon one of those balmy summer evenings +so indelibly impressed upon my memory. He was, perhaps, in many +respects, one of the most remarkable characters that Washington has ever +known. He was a son of Count Ladislas Gurowski, an ardent admirer of +Kosciusko, and was active in revolutionary projects in Poland in +consequence of which he was condemned to death by the Russian +authorities. He managed, however, to escape and in 1835 published a work +entitled "La Verité sur la Russie," in which he advocated a union of the +various branches of the Slavic race. This book was so favorably regarded +in Russia that its author was recalled and employed in the civil +service. He came to this country in 1849, and, after being employed on +the staff of _The New York Tribune_, came to Washington, where his +linguistic attainments and the aid of Charles Sumner secured for him a +position as translator in the State Department, which he held from 1861 +to 1863. + +The Count was a medley of strange whims and idiosyncrasies that almost +baffle description. Together with his strong individuality, he possessed +a trait which made many enemies and ultimately proved his undoing. I +refer to his uncontrollable desire to contradict and to antagonize. It +was simply impossible to find a subject upon which he and anyone else +could agree. There were, however, extenuating circumstances. "Chill +penury," forced upon him by the state of his financial affairs, had much +to do with his cynical and acrimonious spirit. Prosperity is certainly +conducive to an amiable bearing, and I believe that Gurowski would have +been more conciliatory if adversity had not so persistently attended +his pathway. It is highly probable, too, that Gurowski would have +retained his position under the government indefinitely but for his +unfortunate disposition. He wrote a diary from 1861 to 1863 which he was +so indiscreet as to keep in his desk in the State Department; and, +unknown at first to him, some of its pages were brought to the attention +of certain officials of the government. They contained anything but +complimentary references to his chief, William H. Seward, Secretary of +State, and he was discharged. Meanwhile he had antagonized his +benefactor, Mr. Sumner, by opposing, in a caustic manner, his views in +reference to the conduct of the Civil War, and by other similar +indiscretions was making new enemies almost every day. + +The intense bitterness and intemperance of Gurowski in the expression of +his views is well illustrated in a conversation quoted by one of his +friends in _The Atlantic Monthly_ more than forty years ago. It had +reference to a period preceding the Civil War when the "Fugitive-Slave +Law" was engrossing the attention of the country. "What do I care for +Mr. Webster," he said. "I can read the Constitution as well as Mr. +Webster." "But surely, Count, you would not presume to dispute Mr. +Webster's opinion on a question of constitutional law?" "And why not? I +tell you I can read the Constitution as well as Mr. Webster, and I say +that the 'Fugitive-Slave Law' is unconstitutional--is an outrage, and an +imposition of which you will all soon be ashamed. It is a disgrace to +your humanity and to your republicanism, and Mr. Webster should be hung +for advocating it. He is a humbug or an ass--an ass, if he believes such +an infamous law to be constitutional, and if he does not believe it, he +is a humbug and a scoundrel for advocating it." + +The Count's sarcastic reference to Secretary Seward is equally amusing. +It seems that one of his duties, while in the State Department, was to +keep a close watch upon the European newspapers for matters of interest +to our government, and also to furnish the Secretary of State, when +requested, with opinions on diplomatic questions, or, as Gurowski +expressed it, "to read the German newspapers and keep Seward from making +a fool of himself." The first duty, he said, was easy enough, but the +latter was rather difficult! + +In 1854 Gurowski published his book, "Russia as it is," which was soon +followed by another work entitled, "America and Europe." Both of them +met with a favorable reception, but, after losing his government +position, it became a difficult matter for him to eke out a maintenance, +and his disposition, if possible, became still more embittered. At an +evening party I took part by chance in an animated discussion upon the +subject of dueling. Suddenly my eye lighted upon Count Gurowski, who had +just entered the room. Calling him to my side I asked him in facetious +tones how many men he had killed. He quickly responded, "Wonly (only) +two!" + +Count Gurowski's fund of knowledge was in many ways highly remarkable, +especially upon his favorite theme of royalty and nobility, past and +present. He was intensely disliked by the Diplomatic Corps in +Washington, many of whose members regarded him as a Russian spy, a +suspicion which, of course, was without the slightest foundation. Baron +Waldemar Rudolph Raasloff, the Danish Minister, once refused to enter a +box at the opera where I was seated because Gurowski was one of the +party. The Count seemed to be in touch with sources of information +relating to diplomats and their affairs which were unknown to others--a +fact which naturally aroused dislike and jealousy. He once announced to +me, for example, that the _attachés_ of the French Legation were in a +state of great good humor, as their salaries had been raised that day. +I once heard a member of a foreign legation say to another: "Gurowski is +an emanation of the Devil." "The Devil, you say," was the response, +"why, he is the Devil himself." In discussing with a foreigner the +Count's exile by the Russian government, I said that I knew of relatives +of his in high position in Russia. Evidently controlled by his +prejudices, he replied: "It must be a family of contrasts, as his +position in this country is certainly a low one." If he intended to +convey the impression that the Count was "low" in his pocket, his +statement was certainly correct, but not otherwise. It is true that his +unhappy disposition made him more enemies than friends, but he was by no +means devoid of admirable traits, even if he so frequently preferred to +conceal them. The finer side of his nature and his pleasing qualities +only were presented to my sister, Mrs. Eames, who always welcomed him to +her house. One day when he called the condition of his health seemed so +precarious that she insisted upon his becoming her guest. He accepted +the invitation, but did not long survive, and in the spring of 1866 his +turbulent spirit passed away while under my sister's roof. Much respect +was paid to his memory and the most distinguished men and women in +Washington attended his funeral. He is buried in the Congressional +Cemetery, where a crested tablet surmounts his grave. Little was +generally known of his immediate family relations, but Robert Carter, +one of his most intimate friends and the author of the article in _The +Atlantic Monthly_, already referred to, states that he was a widower and +had a son in the Russian Navy and a married daughter in Switzerland. + +Early in life his brother, Count Ignatius Gurowski, met the Infanta +Isabella de Bourbon, sister of the Prince Consort of Spain, while she +was receiving her education at the _Sacre Coeur_ in Paris, and eloped +with her. They were pensioned by the Spanish government for a while +under Queen Isabella's reign and made their home in Brussels. I have +heard, however, that when Isabella was forced from the throne the +pension ceased and their circumstances became quite reduced. It is said +that the Prince Consort, Ignatius Gurowski's brother-in-law, suggested +to him soon after his marriage that it might be well for him to be +created a Duke of the realm. This friendly offer was declined with +indignation. "I would prefer," said Gurowski, "being an old Count to a +new Duke!" + +Sometime ago I saw the statement in a newspaper to the effect that +descendants of Ignatius Gurowski were living in the United States. This +suggests, although remotely, the inquiry heard many years ago: "Have we +a Bourbon among us?"--referring, of course, to the last Dauphin, whom +many believed to exist in the person of the Rev. Eleazer Williams, who +resided in St. Lawrence County, New York. The Rev. Dr. Francis L. Hawks +had such an abiding faith that Williams was actually the Dauphin that he +wrote an article in 1853 for _Putnam's Magazine_ expressive of his +views. If the newspaper story and Dr. Hawks's claims be true, this +country has accordingly been the retreat of more than one member of the +ill-fated Bourbon family. Several years ago I was surprised to hear it +stated that the father of Kuroki, the famous Japanese General, was a +brother of Adam and Ignatius Gurowski. This information, I am informed, +came from a nephew of General Kuroki who was receiving his education in +Europe. "My uncle Kuroki," he is said to have written, "is of Polish +origin. His father was a Polish nobleman by the name of Kourowski, who +fled from Russia after the Revolution of 1831. He finally went to Japan +and married a Japanese. As the name of Kourowski is difficult to +pronounce in Japanese, my uncle pronounced it Kuroki. The General's +father, upon his death bed said to him that perhaps some day he would +be able to take vengeance upon the Russians for their cruel treatment of +unhappy Poland." + +One of the most notable men of my acquaintance in Washington was Caleb +Cushing. I first met him when he was Attorney-General in President +Pierce's Cabinet, and the friendship formed at that time lasted for many +years. He was among the guests at my wedding, and Miss Emily Harper, +whom he accompanied, told me that he especially commented upon that +portion of the service which reads, "those whom God hath joined +together, let no man put asunder." His remarks evidently appealed to her +as an ardent Roman Catholic. Ralph Waldo Emerson declared Mr. Cushing to +be the most eminent scholar of the country, and Wendell Phillips went +still further and said: "I regard Mr. Cushing as the most learned man +living." His habit was one of constant acquirement. He was what I should +call "a Northern man with Southern principles," an expression which +originated in 1835, and was first applied to Martin Van Buren. I have +heard Cushing defend slavery with great eloquence and although, like +him, I was born and bred in the North, I regarded that institution, in +some respects, as far less iniquitous than the infamous opium trade +which so enriched British and American merchants, and of which I saw so +much during my life in China. + +It must have been from his Pilgrim forefather that Mr. Cushing inherited +a decided antipathy for Great Britain, and it was once said that he +carried this prejudice so far that he refused to visit England. This +statement, however, is untrue, as I have before me an amusing article, +written many years ago by his private secretary, during his mission to +Spain, which contradicts it. He gives some amusing incidents connected +with his visit of a few days in London when he and Mr. Cushing were _en +route_ to Spain. "Mr. Cushing's headwear," he writes, "was a silk hat +which must have been the fashion of about the time he discarded +umbrellas. It was slightly pointed at the top and there was, so to say, +no back or front to it and there was no band for it. As I knew he +intended paying several visits, I asked him if he would not exchange his +hat, which at the time was thoroughly soaked, for a new and lighter one. +The old man took off his ancient hat, examined it critically and then +said slowly and deliberately, as if delivering an opinion on the bench, +'No, sir, I think that I shall wait and see what the fashions are in +Madrid.' It was said with much earnestness, as if it had been a state +question. A third person would have found it irresistibly funny, but +there was nothing laughable in it to General Cushing. In fact, his sense +of humor was of a very grim order." He also writes: "The old man was an +inveterate smoker, and yet, during the whole period of my intercourse +with him, I did not see him light a score of fresh cigars. He bought +them, that is certain, but he must have been averse to lighting them in +public for he almost invariably had a stump between his lips. Ask him if +he would have a cigar and the answer would be, 'Thank you, sir, I think +I have one,' and out would come a dilapidated case, from which he would +shake from one to half a dozen butts as the supply ran." + +While Cushing was Attorney-General under President Pierce, he formed a +friendship with Madame Calderon de la Barca, of whom I have already +spoken, who, upon his arrival in Madrid, was one of the first persons to +greet him. She was then a widow and occupied a high social position at +the Spanish court. Cushing and she thoroughly enjoyed the renewal of +their earlier friendship in Washington, and the last visit he made in +Madrid was when he bade her a final farewell. In 1843, and prior to his +mission to Spain, Mr. Cushing was appointed by President Tyler Minister +to China, where his able diplomacy has been the subject of recognition +and admiration to this day. He carried with him the following +remarkable letter which he was charged by the President to deliver in +person to the Emperor. It may have been--who knows?--the first lesson in +occidental geography submitted to the "Brother of the Sun and the Sister +of the Moon and Stars." Had the President of the United States been +called upon to address a country Sunday School, he could hardly have +exhibited a more conscious effort to adapt himself to the level of his +hearers. This is the letter:-- + + I, John Tyler, President of the United States of + America--which states are Maine, New Hampshire, + Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New York, + New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, + North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, + Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, + Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas and Michigan--send this letter + of peace and friendship, signed by my own hand. + + I hope your health is good. China is a great empire, + extending over a great part of the world. The Chinese are + numerous. You have millions and millions of subjects. The + twenty-six United States are as large as China, though our + people are not so numerous. The rising sun looks upon the + great mountains and great rivers of China. When he sets he + looks upon mountains and rivers equally large in the United + States. Our territories extend from one great ocean to the + other; and on the west we are divided only from your domain + by the sea. Leaving the mouth of one of our great rivers and + going constantly towards the setting sun we sail to Japan + and the Yellow Sea. + + Now, my words are that the governments of two such great + countries should be at peace. It is proper and according to + the will of heaven that they should respect each other and + act wisely. I therefore send to your Court Caleb Cushing one + of the wise and learned men of this country. On his first + arrival in China he will inquire for your health. He has + strict orders to go to your great city of Pekin and there + to deliver this letter. He will have with him secretaries + and interpreters. + + The Chinese love to trade with our people and sell them tea + and silk for which our people pay silver and sometimes other + articles. But if the Chinese and Americans will trade there + should be rules so that they shall not break your laws or + our laws. Our minister, Caleb Cushing, is authorized to make + a treaty to regulate trade. Let it be just. Let there be no + unfair advantage on either side. Let the people trade not + only at Canton, but also at Amoy, Ningpo, Shanghai, Fushan + and all such other places as may offer profitable exchanges + both to China and the United States, provided they do not + break your laws or our laws. We shall not take the part of + the evil doers. We shall not uphold them that break your + laws. Therefore we doubt that you will be pleased that our + messenger of peace, with this letter in hand, shall come to + Pekin and there deliver it, and that your great officers + will, by your order, make a treaty with him to regulate the + affairs of trade, so that nothing may happen to disturb the + peace between China and America. Let the treaty be signed by + your own imperial hand. It shall be signed by mine, by the + authority of the great council, the Senate. + + And so may your health be good and may peace reign. + + Written at Washington this twelfth day of July, in the year + of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-three. + + Your good friend, + + JOHN TYLER, + President. + +Mr. Cushing accordingly negotiated our first treaty with China on the 3d +of July of the following year, and his ability at that time, as well as +thereafter, won for him, irrespective of party affiliations, an enviable +place in the history of American diplomacy. He was sent upon his mission +to Spain in 1874 by the party which he had opposed from its first +organization, and his diplomatic erudition was indispensable to the +State Department during the Grant administration. + +Certain events in the career of Mr. Cushing serve to recall the days of +Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Pierce, whose lives were clouded by a grief that +saddened the whole of their subsequent career. A short time before +Pierce's inauguration, the President-elect with Mrs. Pierce and their +only son, a lad of immature years, were on their way to Andover in +Massachusetts, when the child was accidentally killed. Mrs. Pierce never +could be diverted from her all-absorbing sorrow, and I shall always +remember the grief-stricken expression of this first Lady of the Land. +Her maiden name was Jane Means Appleton, and she was the daughter of the +Rev. Dr. Jesse Appleton, President of Bowdoin College. During the Pierce +administration, Judge John Cadwalader, the father of the present John +Cadwalader of Philadelphia, was a member of Congress. The son was then a +mere lad, but he bore such a strong resemblance to the President's son +that one day when Mrs. Pierce met him she was completely overcome. After +this boy had become a man and had attained exceptional eminence at the +bar, he feelingly alluded to this touching incident of his earlier days. + +I was very intimately acquainted with Elizabeth and Fanny MacNeil, +President Pierce's nieces, who were occasional visitors at the White +House. They were daughters of General John MacNeil, U.S.A., who had +acquitted himself with distinction in the War of 1812. Elizabeth +married, as before stated, General Henry W. Benham of the Engineer Corps +of the Army, and Fanny became the wife of Colonel Chandler E. Potter, +U.S.A. Dr. Thomas Miller was our family physician for many years. He +came to Washington from Loudoun County, Virginia, and married Miss +Virginia Collins Jones, daughter of Walter Jones, an eminent lawyer. +During the Pierce administration he was physician to the President's +family. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +MARRIAGE AND CONTINUED LIFE IN WASHINGTON + + +I met my future father-in-law, Samuel L. Gouverneur, Sr., for the first +time in Cold Spring, New York. Mr. Gouverneur, accompanied by his second +wife, then a bride, who was Miss Mary Digges Lee, of Needwood, Frederick +County, Maryland, and a granddaughter of Thomas Sim Lee, second Governor +of the same state, was the guest of Gouverneur Kemble. When I first knew +Mr. Gouverneur he possessed every gift that fortune as well as nature +can bestow. To quote the words of Eliab Kingman, a lifelong friend of +his and who for many years was the Nestor of the Washington press, "he +even possessed a seductive voice." General Scott, prior to my marriage +into the family, remarked to me that there "was something in Mr. +Gouverneur lacking of greatness." + +The history of my husband's family is so well known that it seems almost +superfluous to dwell upon it, but, as these reminiscences are purely +personal, I may at least incidentally refer to it. Samuel L. Gouverneur, +Sr., was the youngest child of Nicholas Gouverneur and his wife, Hester +Kortright, a daughter of Lawrence Kortright, a prominent merchant of New +York and at one time president of its Chamber of Commerce. He was +graduated from Columbia College in New York in the class of 1817, and +married his first cousin, Maria Hester Monroe, the younger daughter of +James Monroe. This wedding took place in the East Room of the White +House. My husband, Samuel L. Gouverneur, Jr., was the youngest child of +this alliance. _The National Intelligencer_ of March 11, 1820, contained +the following brief marriage notice: + + _Married_ + + On Thursday evening last [March 9th], in this City, by the + Reverend Mr. [William] Hawley, Samuel Laurence Gouverneur, + Esq., of New York, to Miss Maria Hester Monroe, youngest + daughter of James Monroe, President of the United States. + +For a number of years Samuel L. Gouverneur, Sr., was private secretary +to his father-in-law, President Monroe. In 1825 he was a member of the +New York Legislature, and from 1828 to 1836 Postmaster of the City of +New York. For many years, like the gentlemen of his day and class, he +was much interested in racehorses and at one time owned the famous +horse, _Post Boy_. He was also deeply interested in the drama and it was +partially through his efforts that many brilliant stars were brought to +this country to perform at the Bowery Theater in New York, of which he +was a partial owner. Among its other owners were Prosper M. Wetmore, the +well-known author and regent of the University of the State of New York, +and General James A. Hamilton, son of Alexander Hamilton and acting +Secretary of State in 1829, under Jackson. Mr. Gouverneur was a man of +decidedly social tastes and at one period of his life owned and occupied +the De Menou buildings on H Street in Washington, where, during the life +of his first wife, he gave some brilliant entertainments. It was from +this house that his son, and my future husband, went to the Mexican War. +Many years subsequent to my marriage I heard Rear Admiral John J. Almy, +U.S.N., describe some of the entertainments given by the Gouverneur +family, and he usually wound up his reminiscences by informing me that +sixteen baskets of champagne were frequently consumed by the guests +during a single evening. My old friend, Emily Mason, loved to refer to +these parties and told me that she made her _début_ at one of them. The +house was well adapted for entertainments, as there were four spacious +drawing-rooms, two on each side of a long hall, one side being reserved +for dancing. + +At the time of the Gouverneur-Monroe wedding the bride was but sixteen +years of age, and many years younger than her only sister, Eliza, who +was the wife of Judge George Hay of Virginia, the United States +District-Attorney of that State, and the prosecuting officer at the +trial of Aaron Burr. Mrs. Hay was educated in Paris at Madame Campan's +celebrated school, where she was the associate and friend of Hortense de +Beauharnais, subsequently the Queen of Holland and the mother of +Napoleon III. The Rev. Dr. William Hawley, who performed the marriage +ceremony of Miss Monroe and Mr. Gouverneur, was the rector of old St. +John's Church in Washington. He was a gentleman of the old school and +always wore knee breeches and shoe buckles. In the War of 1812 he +commanded a company of divinity students in New York, enlisted for the +protection of the city. It is said that when ordered to the frontier he +refused to go and resigned his commission, and I have heard that +Commodore Stephen Decatur refused to attend St. John's Church during his +rectorship, because he said he did not care to listen to a man who +refused to obey orders. + +[Illustration: MRS. JAMES MONROE, NÉE KORTRIGHT, BY BENJAMIN WEST. + +_Original portrait owned by Mrs. Gouverneur._] + +Only the relatives and personal friends attended the Gouverneur-Monroe +wedding at the White House; even the members of the Cabinet were not +invited. The gallant General Thomas S. Jesup, one of the heroes of the +War of 1812 and Subsistance Commissary General of the Army, acted as +groomsman to Mr. Gouverneur. Two of his daughters, Mrs. James Blair and +Mrs. Augustus S. Nicholson, still reside at the National Capital and are +prominent "old Washingtonians." After this quiet wedding, Mr. and Mrs. +Gouverneur left Washington upon a bridal tour and about a week later +returned to the White House, where, at a reception, Mrs. Monroe gave up +her place as hostess to mingle with her guests, while Mrs. Gouverneur +received in her place. Commodore and Mrs. Stephen Decatur, who lived on +Lafayette Square, gave the bride her first ball, and two mornings later, +on the twenty-second of March, 1820, Decatur fought his fatal duel with +Commodore James Barron and was brought home a corpse. "The bridal +festivities," wrote Mrs. William Winston Seaton, wife of the editor of +_The National Intelligencer_, "have received a check which will prevent +any further attentions to the President's family, in the murder of +Decatur." The invitations already sent out for an entertainment in honor +of the bride and groom by Commodore David Porter, father of the late +Admiral David D. Porter, U.S.N., were immediately countermanded. + +I never had the pleasure of knowing my mother-in-law, Mrs. Maria Hester +Monroe Gouverneur, as she died some years before my marriage, but I +learned to revere her through her son, whose tender regard for her was +one of the absorbing affections of his life and changed the whole +direction of his career. At an early age he was appointed a Lieutenant +in the regular Army and served with distinction through the Mexican War +in the Fourth Artillery. On one occasion subsequent to that conflict, +while his mother was suffering from a protracted illness, he applied to +the War Department for leave of absence in order that he might visit her +sick bed; and when it was not granted he resigned his commission and +thus sacrificed an enviable position to his sense of filial duty. Many +years later, after my husband's decease, in looking over his papers I +found these lines written by him just after his mother's death:-- + +"A man through life has but _one_ true friend and that friend generally +leaves him early. Man enters the lists of life but ere he has fought his +way far that friend falls by his side; he never finds another so fond, +so true, so faithful to the last--_His Mother_!" + +Mrs. Gouverneur was somewhat literary in her tastes and, like many +others of her time, regarded it as an accomplishment to express herself +in verse on sentimental occasions. One of my daughters, whom she never +saw, owns the original manuscript of the following lines written as a +tribute of friendship to the daughter of President John Tyler, at the +time of her marriage:-- + + TO MISS TYLER ON HER WEDDING DAY. + + The day, the happy day, has come + That gives you to your lover's arms; + Check not the tear or rising bloom + That springs from all those strange alarms. + + To be a blest and happy wife + Is what all women wish to prove; + And may you know through all your life + The dear delights of wedded love. + + 'Tis not strange that you should feel + Confused in every thought and feeling; + Your bosom heave, the tear should steal + At thoughts of all the friends you're leaving. + + Happy girl may your life prove, + All sunshine, joy and purest pleasure; + One long, long day of happy love, + Your husband's joy, his greatest treasure. + + Be to him all that woman ought, + In joy and health and every sorrow; + Let his true pleasures be only sought + With you to-day, with you to-morrow. + + Believe not that in palace walls + 'Tis only there that joy you'll find; + At home with friends in your own halls + There's more content and peace of mind. + + More splendor you may find 'tis true, + And glitter, show, and elevation, + But if the world of you speak true, + You prize not wealth or this high station. + + Your heart's too pure, your mind too high, + To prize such empty pomp and state; + You leave such scenes without a sigh + To court the joys that on you wait. + +After meeting Mr. and Mrs. Gouverneur, my future husband's father and +his second wife, at Cold Spring, I renewed my acquaintance with them in +Washington, where they were living in an old-fashioned house on New York +Avenue, between Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets. We often welcomed Mrs. +Gouverneur as a guest at our Washington home and I was subsequently +invited to visit her at their country seat, Needwood, Frederick County, +Maryland, located upon a tract of land chiefly composed of large farms +at one time owned exclusively by the Lee family. I quote Mrs. +Gouverneur's graceful letter of invitation:-- + + My dear Miss Campbell, + + I can not refrain from writing to remind you of your promise + to us; this must be about the time fixed upon, (at least we + all feel as if it was), and the season is so delightful, not + to mention the strawberries which will be in great + perfection this week--these reasons, together with our great + desire to see you, determined me to give you warning that we + are surely expecting you, and hope to hear very soon from + you to say when we may send to the _Knoxville_ depot for + you. I would be so much gratified if Mrs. Eames would come + with you; it would give us all the sincerest pleasure, and I + do not think that such a journey would be injurious. You + leave Washington to come here on the early (6 o'clock) + train, get out at the Relay House, and wait until the + western cars pass, (about 8 o'clock), get into them, and + reach Knoxville at 12 o'clock. So you see that altogether + you have only six hours, and you rest more than half an hour + at the Relay House. From Knoxville our carriage brings you + to "Needwood" in less than an hour. If there is any + gentleman you would like to come as an escort Mr. G. and + myself will be most happy to see him. Dr. Jones, you know, + does intend to travel about a little and said he would come + to see us; perhaps he will come with you, or Mr. Hibbard I + should be most happy to see--anyone in short whom you choose + to bring will be most welcome. Tell Mr. Hibbard I read his + speech and admired it as I presume everyone does. Good-bye, + dear Miss Campbell. I hope you will aid me in persuading + Mrs. Eames to come with you. My warmest regards to Mrs. + Campbell and your sisters, in which my sister [Mrs. Eugene + H. Lynch] and Mr. Gouverneur unite. + + Believe me, yours most truly, + + M. D. GOUVERNEUR. + + Needwood, May 22nd, 1854. + +I accepted the invitation and, while I was Mrs. Gouverneur's guest, my +sister Margaret was visiting one of the adjoining places at the home of +Colonel John Lee, whose wife's maiden name was Harriet Carroll. She was +a granddaughter of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, and their home was the +former residence of another ancestor, Governor Thomas Sim Lee of +Maryland. During my visit at Needwood I renewed the acquaintance of my +future husband, which I had formed a number of years before at the +wedding of Miss Fanny Monroe and Douglas Robinson, of which I have +previously spoken. It is unnecessary to refer to his appearance, which I +have already described, but I am sure it is not unnatural for me to add +that a year after the conclusion of the Mexican War he was brevetted for +gallantry and meritorious conduct in the battles of Contreras and +Churubusco. While his general bearing spoke well for his military +training, his mind was a storehouse of information which I learned to +appreciate more and more as the years rolled by. But of all his fine +characteristics I valued and revered him most for his fine sense of +honor and sterling integrity. Like his mother, Mr. Gouverneur was +literary in his tastes and occasionally gave vent to his feelings in +verse. In 1852 Oak Hill, the stately old Monroe place in Virginia where +he had spent much of his early life, was about to pass out of the +family. He was naturally much distressed over the sale of the home so +intimately associated with his childhood's memory, and a few days prior +to his final departure wrote the following lines. In after years nothing +could ever induce him to visit Oak Hill. + + FAREWELL TO OAK HILL, 1852, ON DEPARTING THENCE. + + The autumn rains are falling fast, + Earth, the heavens are overcast; + The rushing winds mournful sigh, + Whispering, alas! good-bye; + To each fond remembrance farewell and forever, + Oak Hill I depart to return to thee never! + + The mighty oaks beneath whose shade + In boyhood's happier hours I've played, + Bend to the mountain blast's wild sweep, + Scattering spray they seem to weep; + To each moss-grown tree farewell and forever, + Oak Hill I depart to return to thee never! + + The little mound now wild o'ergrown, + On the bosom of which my tears have oft flown, + Where my mother beside her mother lies sleeping, + O'er them the rank grass, bright dew drops are weeping; + To that hallowed spot farewell and forever, + Oak Hill I depart to return to thee never! + + Oh, home of my boyhood, why must I depart? + Tears I am shedding and wild throbs my heart; + Home of my manhood, oh! would I had died + And lain me to rest by my dead mother's side, + Ere my tongue could have uttered farewell and forever, + Oak Hill I depart to return to thee never! + +Mr. Gouverneur's pathetic allusion to the graves of his mother and +grandmother affords me an opportunity of saying that in 1903 the +Legislature of Virginia appropriated a sum of money sufficient to +remove the remains of Mrs. Monroe and her daughter, Mrs. Gouverneur, +from Oak Hill. They now rest in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia, +on opposite sides of the grave of James Monroe. + +The friendship of Mr. Gouverneur and myself ripened into a deep +affection, and the winter following my visit to Needwood we announced +our engagement. I was warmly welcomed into the Gouverneur family, as +will appear from the following letter: + + I can not longer defer, my dear Marian, expressing the great + gratification I experienced when Sam informed me of his + happiness in having gained your heart. It is most agreeable + to me that you of all the women I know should be the object + of his choice. How little I anticipated such a result from + the short visit you made us last summer. Sam is in an + Elysium of bliss. I have lately had a charming letter from + him, of course all about his lady love. I think you too have + every reason to anticipate a life of happiness, not more + marred than we must all look for in this world. Sam is very + warm-hearted and affectionate and possesses a fine mind, as + you know, and when he marries, you will have nothing to wish + for. These are his own sentiments and I assure you I + entirely agree with him. + + Mr. Gouverneur is greatly gratified and both wrote and told + me how nobly you expressed yourself to him. + + I am going to Baltimore to-day to meet Mr. G. and perhaps + may go to Washington. If I do you will see me soon after I + arrive there. I feel as if I should like so much to talk to + my future daughter. I take the warmest interest in + everything concerning Sam's happiness, and my heart is now + overflowing with thankfulness to you for having contributed + so much to it. + + Please remember me in the kindest manner to your mother, + whose warm hospitality I have not forgotten, and to the + girls. My sincere congratulations to Margaret who Mary + [Lee] writes me is as happy as the day is long. Ellen + desires me to present her congratulations to you and + Margaret. + + Believe me, very sincerely yours, + + M. D. GOUVERNEUR. + + Needwood, Feb. 14th. + +I was married in Washington in the old G Street house, and the occasion +was made especially festive by the presence of many friends from out of +town. We were married by the Rev. Dr. Smith Pyne, rector of St. John's +Episcopal Church, and I recall his nervous state of mind, owing to the +fact that he had forgotten to inquire whether a marriage license had +been procured; but when he was assured that everything was in due form +he was quite himself again. Among those who came from New York to attend +the wedding were General Scott; my father's old friend and associate, +Hugh Maxwell; his daughter, now the wife of Rear Admiral John H. Upshur, +U.S.N.; and Miss Sally Strother and her mother. Miss Emily Harper and +Mrs. Solomon B. Davies, who was Miss Bettie Monroe, my husband's +relative, came from Baltimore and, of course, Mr. and Mrs. Gouverneur +and Miss Mary Lee from Needwood were also present. + +My own family circle was small, as my sister, Mrs. Eames, and her young +children were in Venezuela, where her husband was the U.S. Minister; but +I was married in the presence of my mother, my two younger sisters, +Margaret and Charlotte, and my brothers, James and Malcolm. Mr. +Gouverneur's only sister, Elizabeth, who some years before had married +Dr. Henry Lee Heiskell, Assistant Surgeon General of the Army, +accompanied by her husband and son, the late James Monroe Heiskell, of +Baltimore, a handsome and promising youth, were also there. Among the +other guests were Charles Sumner, Caleb Cushing and Stephen A. Douglas, +none of whom at that time were married; Peter Grayson Washington, then +Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, and a relative of my husband; Miss +Katharine Maria Wright, who shortly thereafter married Baron J. C. +Gevers, _Chargé d'affaires_ from Holland; her brother, Edward Wright, of +Newark; John G. Floyd of Long Island; James Guthrie, Secretary of the +Treasury, and his two daughters; William L. Marcy, Secretary of State, +and his wife; their daughter, Miss Cornelia Marcy, subsequently Mrs. +Edmund Pendleton; Baron von Grabow and Alexandre Gau of the Prussian +Legation, the latter of whom married my sister, Margaret, the following +year; Mr. and Mrs. William T. Carroll; Lieutenant (subsequently Rear +Admiral) James S. Palmer of the Navy; Jerome E. Kidder of Boston, and +General William J. Hardee, U.S.A. + +A few days before my marriage I received the following letter from +Edward Everett:-- + + BOSTON, 23 Feb. + + My dear Miss Campbell, + + I had much pleasure in receiving this morning Mrs. + Campbell's invitation and your kind note of the 20th. I am + greatly indebted to you for remembering me on an occasion of + so much interest and importance, and I beg to offer you my + sincere congratulations. + + Greatly would it rejoice me to be able to avail myself of + your invitation to be present at your nuptials. + + But the state of my health and of my family makes this + impossible. But I shall certainly be with you in spirit, and + with cordial wishes for your happiness. + + Praying my kindest remembrance to your mother and sisters, I + remain, + + my dear Miss Campbell, + + Sincerely your friend, + + EDWARD EVERETT. + + P.S. I suppose you saw in the papers a day or two ago that + poor Miss Russell is gone. + +The Miss Russell referred to by Mr. Everett was Miss Ida Russell, one +of three handsome and brilliant sisters prominent in Boston in the +society of the day. + +Soon after my marriage my husband and I made a round of visits to his +numerous family connections. It is with more than usual pleasure that I +recall the beautiful old home of Mr. Gouverneur's aunt, Mrs. Thomas +Cadwalader, near Trenton, which a few years later was destroyed by fire. +A guest of the Cadwaladers at the same time with ourselves was my +husband's first cousin, the Rev. Robert Livingston Tillotson of New +York, who studied for the Episcopal ministry and subsequently entered +the Roman Catholic priesthood. + +From Trenton, we journeyed to Yonkers, New York, to visit the Van +Cortlandt family at the historic manor-house in that vicinity. It was +then owned and occupied by Mr. Gouverneur's relatives, Dr. Edward N. +Bibby and his son, Augustus, the latter of whom had recently changed his +name from Bibby to Van Cortlandt, as a consideration for the inheritance +of this fine old estate. Dr. Bibby married Miss Augusta White of the Van +Cortlandt descent, and for many years was a prominent physician in New +York City. When I visited the family, he had retired from active +practice and was enjoying a serene old age surrounded by his children +and grandchildren. Henry Warburton Bibby, the Doctor's second son, was +also one of this household at the time of our visit. He never married +but retained his social tastes until his death a few years ago. + +In the drawing-room of the Van Cortlandt home stood a superb pair of +brass andirons in the form of lions, which had been presented to Mrs. +Augustus Van Cortlandt by my husband's mother as a bridal present. They +had been brought by James Monroe upon his return from France, where he +had been sent upon his historic diplomatic mission by Washington. The +style of life led by the Van Cortlandt family was fascinating to me as, +even at this late date, they clung to many of the old family customs +inherited from their ancestors. Our next visit was to the cottage of +William Kemble in Cold Spring, and it seemed to me like returning to an +old and familiar haunt. My marriage into the Gouverneur family added +another link in the chain of friendship attaching me to the members of +the Kemble family, as they were relatives of my husband. I was +entertained while there by the whole family connection, and I recall +with especial pleasure the dinner parties at Gouverneur Kemble's and at +Mrs. Robert P. Parrott's. Martin Van Buren was visiting "Uncle Gouv" at +the time, and I was highly gratified to meet him again, as his presence +not only revived memories of childhood's days during my father's +lifetime in New York, but also materially assisted in rendering the +entertainments given in my honor at Cold Spring unusually delightful. +From Cold Spring we drove to The Grange, near Garrison's, another +homestead familiar to me in former days, and the residence of Frederick +Philipse, where I renewed my acquaintance with old friends who now +greeted me as a relative. At this beautiful home I saw a pair of +andirons even handsomer than those at the Van Cortlandt mansion. They +were at least two feet high and represented trumpeters. The historic +house was replete with ancestral furniture and fine old portraits, one +of which was attributed to Vandyke. + +The whole Philipse and Gouverneur connection at Garrison's were devoted +Episcopalians and were largely instrumental in building a fine church at +Garrison's, which they named St. Philips. In more recent years a +congregation of prominent families has worshiped in this edifice--among +others, the Fishes, Ardens, Livingstons, Osborns and Sloanes. For many +years the beloved rector of this church was the Rev. Dr. Charles F. +Hoffman, a gentleman of great wealth and much scholarly ability. He and +his brother, the late Rev. Dr. Eugene A. Hoffman, Dean of the General +Theological Seminary in New York, devoted their lives and fortunes to +the cause of religion. Residents of New York are familiar with All +Angels Church, built by the late Rev. Dr. Charles F. Hoffman on West End +Avenue, of which he was rector for a number of years. During his life at +Garrison's, both Dr. and Mrs. Hoffman were very acceptable to my +husband's relatives, especially as the Doctor was connected with the +family by right of descent from a Gouverneur forbear. Charles F. Hoffman +married Miss Eleanor Louisa Vail, a daughter of David M. Vail of New +Brunswick, New Jersey, who in every way proved herself an able helpmeet +to him. Mrs. Hoffman was educated at Miss Hannah Hoyt's school in New +Brunswick, a fashionable institution of the day, and at a reunion of the +scholars held in recent years, she was mentioned in the following +appropriate manner: "Nearly half a century ago, in the well-known Miss +Hoyt's school, was Eleanor Louisa Vail who was noted for her good +lessons and considerate ways towards all. She never overlooked those who +were less fortunate than herself, but gave aid to any who needed it, +either in their lessons or in a more substantial form. In the wider +circle of New York the benevolent Mrs. Hoffman, the wife of the late +generous rector of All Angels Church, but fulfilled the promise made by +the beautiful girl of former days." Mr. and Mrs. Charles F. Hoffman's +daughter, Mrs. J. Van Vechten Olcott, is as beloved in her generation as +her mother was before her. + +Samuel Mongan Warburton Gouverneur, a younger brother of Frederick +Philipse, was living at The Grange at the time of my visit. Some years +later he built a handsome house in the neighborhood which he called +"Eagle's Rest," and resided there with his sister, Miss Mary Marston +Gouverneur. After his death, the place was sold to the late Louis +Fitzgerald, who made it his home. + +After six months spent in the mountainous regions of Maryland, not far +from Cumberland, on property owned by my husband's family, Mr. +Gouverneur and I returned to Washington and began our married life in my +mother's home. Soon after we had settled down, my eldest daughter was +born. The death of my sister, Mrs. Alexandre Gau, from typhoid fever +soon followed. It was naturally a terrible shock to us all and +especially to me, as we were near of an age and our lives had been side +by side from infancy. My mother, in her great affliction, broke up her +home and Mr. Gouverneur and I rented a house on Twelfth Street, near N +Street, a locality then regarded as quite suburban. Here I endeavored to +live in the closest retirement, as the meeting with friends of former +days only served to bring my sorrow more keenly before me. + +Meanwhile my whole life was devoted to the little girl whom we had named +Maud Campbell, and who, of course, had become "part and parcel" of my +quiet life. Mr. Gouverneur was the last surviving member of his family +in the male line, and the whole family connection was looking to me to +perpetuate his name. Soon after the birth of my daughter my husband +received the following characteristic letter from Mr. Gouverneur's aunt, +Mrs. David Johnstone Verplanck, who before her marriage was Louisa A. +Gouverneur, a gifted woman whose home was in New York: + + THURSDAY, April 10th. + + My dear Sam, + + In return for your kind recollections I hasten to offer my + most sincere congratulations to yourself and Mrs. G. As + husband and father you have now realized all the romance of + life, the pleasures of which I have little doubt you already + begin to feel deeply intermingled with many anxious hours. + It is wisest and best to enjoy all that good fortune sends + and fortify ourselves to meet and endure the trials to which + our Destiny has allotted. + + Tell Mrs. G. that we must send for the girdle the old woman + sent the Empress Eugénie. She had a succession of seven + sons, and requested her to wear it for luck. As it was very + dirty the royal lady sent it back. It might be procured and + undergo the purifying influence of water. All I can say at + present to console your disappointment I hope a son will + soon consummate all your joys and wishes. You know it rests + with you to keep the name of Gouverneur in the land of the + living. It is nearly extinct and you its only salvation. + + I regret to hear your father is unwell at Barnum's [Hotel, + Baltimore]. I hope he will soon be with us. I long to see + him. + + Believe me always your friend, + + LOUISA VERPLANCK. + +I also append a letter received by Mr. Gouverneur from Mrs. William +Kemble (Margaret Chatham Seth), which recalled many tender associations. + + NEW YORK 11th April. + + I need not tell you, my dear friend, how much we were all + gratified by your kind remembrance of us, in the midst of + your own anxiety and joy, to give us the first news of our + dear Marian's safety. Give my very best love to her and a + kiss to Miss Gouverneur with whom I hope to be better + acquainted hereafter. + + Mr. and Mrs. Nourse with our dear little Charlie left us + yesterday for Washington. You will probably see them before + you receive this. I feel assured that Marian is blessed in + being with her mother who has every experience necessary for + her. Therefore it is idle for me to give my advice but I + must say, keep her quiet, not to be too smart or anxious to + show her baby--at first--and she will be better able to do + it afterwards. May God bless you all three and that this + dear pledge committed to your charge be to you both every + comfort and joy that your anxious hearts can wish. Please to + give my best regards and wishes to Mrs. Campbell and her + daughter from + + your sincerely attached friend and cousin, + + M. C. KEMBLE. + +On the corner of Fourteenth and P Streets, and not far from our home, +was the residence of Eliab Kingman, an intimate friend of Mr. +Gouverneur's father. This locality, now such a business center, was +decidedly rural, and Mr. Kingman's quaint and old-fashioned house was in +the middle of a small farm. It was an oddly constructed dwelling and the +interior was made unusually attractive by its wealth of curios, among +which was a large collection of Indian relics. After his death I +attended an auction held in the old home and I remember that these +curiosities were purchased by Ben Perley Poore, the well-known +journalist. Although many years his senior, my husband found Mr. Kingman +and his home a source of great pleasure to him, and he formed an +attachment for his father's early friend which lasted through life. The +Kingman house was the rendezvous of both literary and political circles. +William H. Seward was one of its frequent visitors and I once heard him +wittily remark that it might appropriately be worshiped, as it resembled +nothing "that is in the Heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or the +water under the earth." For a number of years Mr. Kingman was a +correspondent of _The Baltimore Sun_ under the _nom de plume_ of "Ion." +His communications were entirely confined to political topics and he was +such a skilled diplomatist that the adherents of either party, after +perusing them, might easily recognize him as their own advocate. Thomas +Seaton Donoho, of whom I shall speak presently, was a warm friend of Mr. +Kingman and the constant recipient of his hospitality. Among his poems +is a graceful sonnet entitled + + E. KINGMAN. + + Ever will I remember with delight + Strawberry Knoll; not for the berries red, + As, ere my time, the vines were out of bed, + And gone; but many a day and many a night + Have given me argument to love it well, + Whether in Summer, 'neath its perfumed shade, + Whether by moonlight's magic wand arrayed, + Or when in Winter's lap the rose leaves fell, + For pleasant faces ever there were found, + For genial welcome ever met me there, + And thou, my friend, when thought went smiling round, + Madest her calm look, reflecting thine, more fair. + Those who have known thee as a Statesman, know + Thy noon-day: I have felt thy great heart's sunset glow! + +Mr. Kingman married Miss Cordelia Ewell of Virginia, a relative of +General Richard S. Ewell of the Confederate Army. She was in some +respects a remarkable character, a "dyed-in-the-wool" Southerner and a +woman of unusual personal charm and ability. In dress, manner and +general appearance she presented a fitting reminder of the _grande dame_ +of long ago. Her style of dress reminded one of the Quaker school. Her +gray gown with a white kerchief crossed neatly upon her breast and her +gray hair with puffs clustered around her ears, together with her quaint +manner of courtesying as she greeted her guests, suggested the familiar +setting of an old-fashioned picture. She was an accomplished performer +upon the harp as well as an authority upon old English literature. In +all the years I knew her I never heard of her leaving her house. She had +no children and her constant companion was a venerable parrot. + +John Savage, familiarly known as "Jack" Savage, was an intimate friend +of the Kingmans and also a frequent guest of ours. He was an Irish +patriot of 1848 and was remarkable for his versatility. He had a fine +voice, and I remember seeing him on one occasion hold his audience +spell-bound while singing "The Temptation of St. Anthony." He was an +accomplished journalist and the author of several books, one of which, +"The Modern Revolutionary History and Literature of Ireland," has been +pronounced the best work extant "on the last great revolutionary era of +the Irish race." + +After the Civil War I often met at Mr. Kingman's house General Benjamin +F. Butler, whose withering gift of sarcasm is still remembered. Simon +Cameron, Lincoln's first Secretary of War, was also a frequent visitor +there. He was an unusually genial and cordial gentleman, and some years +later Mr. Kingman and my husband, upon his urgent invitation, visited +him at his handsome country place, Lochiel, in Pennsylvania. His fine +graperies made such a vivid impression upon my husband that his +description of them almost enabled me to see the luscious fruit itself +before me. + +My old friends, Purser Horatio Bridge, U.S.N., and his wife, lived on +the corner of K and Fourteenth Streets at a hotel then known as the +Rugby House. Mrs. Bridge was a sister of the famous beauty, Miss Emily +Marshall, who married Harrison Gray Otis of Boston. Mr. Bridge, while on +the active list, had been stationed for a time in Washington and, +finding the life congenial and attractive, returned here after his +retirement and with his wife made his home at the Rugby House. While +there the hotel was offered for sale and was bought by Mr. Bridge, who +enlarged it and changed its name to The Hamilton, in compliment to Mrs. +Hamilton Holly, an intimate friend of Mrs. Bridge and the daughter of +Alexander Hamilton. Mrs. Holly, my old and cherished friend, lived in a +picturesque cottage on I Street, on the site of the present Russian +embassy, where so many years later the wife and daughter of Benjamin F. +Tracy, Harrison's Secretary of the Navy, lost their lives in a fire that +destroyed the house. Among the attractions of this home was a remarkable +collection of Hamilton relics which subsequent to Mrs. Holly's death was +sold at public auction. The sale, however, did not attract any +particular attention, as the craze for antiques had not yet developed +and the souvenir fiend was then unknown. + +It was while I was living on Twelfth Street that I first met Miss +Margaret Edes, so well known in after years to Washingtonians. She was +visiting her relatives, the Donoho family, which lived in my immediate +vicinity. Her host's father was connected with _The National +Intelligencer_, and the son, Thomas Seaton Donoho, was named after +William Winston Seaton, one of its editors. Thomas Seaton Donoho was a +truly interesting character. He was decidedly romantic in his ideas and +many incidents of his life were curiously associated with the ivy vine. +He planted a sprig of it in front of his three-story house, which was +built very much upon the plan of every other dwelling in the +neighborhood, and called his abode "Ivy Hall"; while his property in the +vicinity of Washington he named "Ivy City," a locality so well known +to-day by the same name to the sporting fraternity. His book of poems, +published in Washington in 1860, is entitled "Ivy-wall"; and, to cap the +climax, when a girl was born into the Donoho family she was baptized in +mid-ocean as "Atlantic May Ivy." In addition to his poems, he published, +in 1850, a drama in three acts, entitled, "Goldsmith of Padua," and two +years later "Oliver Cromwell," a tragedy in five acts. + +Soon after my marriage, Mr. Gouverneur acted as one of the pallbearers +at the funeral of his early friend, Gales Seaton, the son of William +Winston Seaton, and a most accomplished man of affairs. In those days +honorary pallbearers were unknown and the coffin was borne to the grave +by those with whom the deceased had been most intimately associated. The +Seatons owned a family vault, and the body was carried down into it by +Mr. Seaton's old friends. After the funeral I heard Mr. Gouverneur speak +of observing a coffin which held the remains of Mrs. Francis Schroeder, +who was Miss Caroline Seaton, and whose husband, the father of Rear +Admiral Seaton Schroeder, U.S.N., was at one time U.S. Minister to +Sweden and Norway. Seaton Munroe, a nephew of Gales Seaton, was +prominent in Washington society. He never married and many persons +regarded him as the Ward McAllister of the Capital. When Colonel Sanford +C. Kellogg, U.S.A., then military _attaché_ of the U.S. Embassy in +Paris, heard of Munroe's death, he wrote to a mutual friend: "I do not +believe the man lives who has done more for the happiness and welfare of +others than Seaton Munroe." He was one of the prominent founders of the +Metropolitan Club, which commenced its career in the old Morris house on +the corner of Vermont Avenue and H Street; and later, when it moved to +the Graham residence on the corner of Fifteenth and H Streets, he +continued to be one of its most popular and influential members. + +In April, 1858, occurred the famous Gwin ball, so readily recalled by +old Washingtonians. It was a fancy-dress affair, and it was the +intention of Senator and Mrs. William McKendree Gwin of California that +it should be the most brilliant of its kind that the National Capital +had ever known. Of course Mr. Gouverneur and I did not attend, owing to +my deep mourning, but I shall always remember the pleasure and amusement +we derived in dressing Mr. Kingman for the occasion. We decked him out +in the old court dress which Mr. Gouverneur's grandfather, James Monroe, +wore during his diplomatic mission in France. As luck would have it the +suit fitted him perfectly, and the next day it was quite as gratifying +to us as to Mr. Kingman to hear that the costume attracted marked +attention. + +The ball was rightly adjudged a brilliant success. Among the guests was +President Buchanan, though not, of course, in fancy dress. Senator Gwin +represented Louis Quatorze; Ben Perley Poore, "Major Jack Downing"; Lord +Napier, George Hammond--the first British Minister to the United States; +Mrs. Stephen A. Douglas, Aurora; Mrs. Jefferson Davis, Madame de Staël; +and so on down the list. It is probable that the wife of Senator +Clement C. Clay, of Alabama, who represented Mrs. Partington, attracted +more attention and afforded more amusement than any other guest. +Washington had fairly teemed with her brilliant repartee and other +bright sayings, and upon this occasion she was, if possible, more than +ever in her element. She had a witty encounter with the President and a +familiar home-thrust for all whom she encountered. Many of the public +characters present, when lashed by her sparkling humor, were either +unable or unwilling to respond. She was accompanied by "Ike," Mrs. +Partington's son, impersonated by a clever youth of ten years, son of +John M. Sandidge of Louisiana. Mr. John Von Sonntag Haviland, formerly +of the U.S. Army, wrote a metrical description of this ball, and in +referring to Mrs. Clay, thus expresses himself:-- + + Mark how the grace that gilds an honored name, + Gives a strange zest to that loquacious dame + Whose ready tongue and easy blundering wit + Provoke fresh uproar at each happy hit! + Note how her humour into strange grimace + Tempts the smooth meekness of yon Quaker's face. + + * * * * * + + But--denser grows the crowd round Partington; + 'Twere vain to try to name them one by one. + +Mr. Haviland added this to the above:--"Mrs. Senator Clay, with knitting +in hand, snuff-box in pocket, and 'Ike, the Inevitable,' by her side, +acted out her difficult character so as to win the unanimous verdict +that her personation of the loquacious _mal-aprops_ dame was the leading +feature of the evening's entertainment. Go where she would through the +spacious halls, a crowd of eager listeners followed her footsteps, +drinking in her instant repartees, which were really superior in wit and +appositeness, and, indeed, in the vein of the famous dame's _cacoëthes_, +even to the original contribution of Shillaber to the nonsensical +literature of the day." + +One of the guests at this ball was the wife of the late Major General +William H. Emery, U.S.A., whose maiden name was Matilda Bache. She was +arrayed for the evening in the garb of a Quakeress, and it is to her +that Mr. Haviland alludes in his reference to the "smooth meekness of +yon Quaker's face." + +At the commencement of the Civil War, Senator Gwin was arrested on a +charge of disloyalty and imprisoned until 1863. He then went to Paris, +where he became interested in a scheme for the colonization by +Southerners of the State of Sonora in Mexico, in consequence of which he +was sometimes facetiously called the "Duke of Sonora." While thus +engaged, he was invited to meet the Emperor, Napoleon III., in private +audience, and succeeded in enlisting his sympathies. It is said that, +upon the request of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, he formulated a +plan for the colony which, after receiving the Emperor's approval, was +submitted to Maximilian. The latter was then in Paris and requested Mr. +Gwin's attendance at the Tuileries where, after diligent inquiry, the +scheme received the approbation of Maximilian. Two weeks after the +departure of the latter for Mexico, Mr. Gwin left for the same country, +carrying with him an autograph letter of Napoleon III. to Marshal +Bazaine. The scheme, however, received no encouragement from the latter, +and Maximilian failed to give him any satisfactory assurances of his +support. Returning to France in 1865, he secured an audience with the +Emperor, to whom he exposed the condition of affairs in Mexico. Napoleon +urged him to return to that country immediately with a peremptory order +to Marshal Bazaine to supply a military force adequate to accomplish the +project. This request was complied with but Mr. Gwin, after meeting with +no success, demanded an escort to accompany him out of the country. This +was promptly furnished, and he returned to his home in California. + +It seems fitting in this connection to speak of a brilliant ball in +Washington in 1824. Although, of course, I do not remember it, I have +heard of it all my life and have gathered here and there certain facts +of interest concerning it, some of which are not easily accessible. I +refer to the ball given by Mrs. John Quincy Adams, whose husband was +then Secretary of State under Monroe. Mrs. Adams' maiden name was Louisa +Catharine Johnson and she was a daughter of Joshua Johnson, who served +as our first United States Consul at London, and a niece of Thomas +Johnson of Maryland. She gave receptions in Washington on Tuesday +evenings which were attended by many of the most distinguished men and +women of the day. This period, in fact, is generally regarded as, +perhaps, the most brilliant era in Washington society. A generous +hospitality was dispensed by such men as Madison, Monroe, Adams, +Calhoun, Wirt, Rush, Southard, General Winfield Scott and General +Alexander Macomb. The British _Chargé d'affaires_ at this time was Henry +Unwin Addington. The Russian Minister was the Baron de Tuyll; while +France, Spain and Portugal were represented by gentlemen of +distinguished manners and rare accomplishments. The illustrious John +Marshall was Chief Justice, with Joseph Story, Bushrod Washington, Smith +Thompson and other eminent jurists by his side. In Congress were such +men as Henry Clay, William Gaston, Rufus King, Daniel Webster, Andrew +Jackson, Thomas H. Benton, William Jones Lowndes, John Jordan Crittenden +and Harrison Gray Otis; while the Navy was represented by Stephen +Decatur, David Porter, John Rodgers, Lewis Warrington, Charles Stewart, +Charles Morris and others, some of whom made their permanent home at the +Capital. + +The ball given by the Secretary of State and Mrs. Adams was in honor of +General Andrew Jackson, and was not only an expression of the pleasant +personal relations existing between John Quincy Adams and Jackson only +shortly before the former defeated the latter for the Presidency, but +also a pleasing picture of Washington society at that time. General +Jackson was naturally the hero of the occasion, and there was a throng +of guests not only from Washington but also from Baltimore, Richmond and +other cities. A current newspaper of the day published a metrical +description of the event, written by John T. Agg: + + MRS. ADAMS' BALL. + + Wend you with the world to-night? + Brown and fair and wise and witty, + Eyes that float in seas of light, + Laughing mouths and dimples pretty, + Belles and matrons, maids and madams, + All are gone to Mrs. Adams'; + There the mist of the future, the gloom of the past, + All melt into light at the warm glance of pleasure, + And the only regret is lest melting too fast, + Mammas should move off in the midst of a measure. + + Wend you with the world to-night? + Sixty gray, and giddy twenty, + Flirts that court and prudes that slight, + State coquettes and spinsters plenty; + Mrs. Sullivan is there + With all the charm that nature lent her; + Gay McKim with city air, + And winning Gales and Vandeventer; + Forsyth, with her group of graces; + Both the Crowninshields in blue; + The Pierces, with their heavenly faces, + And eyes like suns that dazzle through; + Belles and matrons, maids and madams, + All are gone to Mrs. Adams'! + + Wend you with the world to-night? + East and West and South and North, + Form a constellation bright, + And pour a splendid brilliance forth. + See the tide of fashion flowing, + 'Tis the noon of beauty's reign, + Webster, Hamiltons are going, + Eastern Floyd and Southern Hayne; + Western Thomas, gayly smiling, + Borland, nature's protégé, + Young De Wolfe, all hearts beguiling, + Morgan, Benton, Brown and Lee; + Belles and matrons, maids and madams,' + All are gone to Mrs. Adams'! + + Wend you with the world to-night? + Where blue eyes are brightly glancing, + While to measures of delight + Fairy feet are deftly dancing; + Where the young Euphrosyne + Reigns the mistress of the scene, + Chasing gloom, and courting glee, + With the merry tambourine; + Many a form of fairy birth, + Many a Hebe, yet unwon, + Wirt, a gem of purest worth, + Lively, laughing Pleasanton; + Vails and Tayloe will be there, + Gay Monroe so debonair, + Hellen, pleasure's harbinger, + Ramsay, Cottringers and Kerr; + Belles and matrons, maids and madams, + All are gone to Mrs. Adams'! + + Wend you with the world to-night? + Juno in her court presides, + Mirth and melody invite, + Fashion points, and pleasure guides; + Haste away then, seize the hour, + Shun the thorn and pluck the flower. + Youth, in all its spring-time blooming, + Age the guise of youth assuming, + Wit through all its circles gleaming, + Glittering wealth and beauty beaming; + Belles and matrons, maids and madams, + All are gone to Mrs. Adams'! + +The "Mrs. Sullivan" referred to was Sarah Bowdoin Winthrop, the wife of +George Sullivan of Boston, son of Governor James Sullivan of +Massachusetts; while "Winning Gales" was the wife of Joseph Gales, +editor of _The National Intelligencer_. "Forsyth" was the wife of +Senator John Forsyth of Georgia, who subsequently served as Secretary of +State during Jackson's administration; and "the Crowninshields in blue" +were daughters of Benjamin W. Crowninshield, Secretary of the Navy under +Madison and Monroe. "The Pierces, with their heavenly faces," were +handsome Boston women who in after life became converts to the Roman +Catholic faith and entered convents. The "Vails" were Eugene and Aaron +Vail, who were protégés of Senator William H. Crawford, of Georgia. They +married sisters, daughters of Laurent Salles, a wealthy Frenchman living +in New York. Aaron Vail accompanied Martin Van Buren to England as +Secretary of Legation and for a season, after Van Buren's recall, acted +as _Chargé d'affaires_. "Tayloe" was Benjamin Ogle Tayloe, the +distinguished Washingtonian. "Ramsay" was General George Douglas Ramsay, +the father of Rear Admiral Francis M. Ramsay, U.S.N.; and "Hellen" was +Mrs. Adams's niece, who subsequently became her daughter-in-law through +her marriage to her son, John Adams. President Monroe attended this ball +and both he and John Quincy Adams were somewhat criticised for their +plain attire, which was in such striking contrast with the elaborate +costumes and decorations worn by the foreign guests. + +In his boyhood Mr. Gouverneur formed an intimacy with George H. Derby, +better known in literary circles under the _nom de plume_ of "John +Phoenix." He is well remembered by students of American humor as a +contemporary and rival of Artemus Ward. He was a member of a prominent +Boston family, and of the class of 1846 at West Point. He was a gallant +soldier, having been wounded during the Mexican War at Cerro Gordo, and +was promoted for his bravery in that battle. Scarcely anyone was immune +from his practical jokes, but, fortunately for his peace of mind, Mr. +Gouverneur was acquainted with an incident of his life which, if known, +would make him a butt of ridicule; and he accordingly felt perfectly +safe in his companionship and well enjoyed his humorous exploits. One +day Derby and Mr. Gouverneur were sauntering through the streets of +Washington when the keen eye of the humorist was attracted by a sign +over a store door which read, "Ladies' Depository"--the old-fashioned +method of designating what would now be called a "Woman's Exchange." +Turning to his companion, Derby remarked: "I have a little business to +transact in this shop and I want you to go inside with me." They entered +and were met by a smiling female to whom Derby remarked: "My wife will +be here to-morrow morning. I am so pleased to have discovered this +depository. I hope that you will take good care of her. Expect her at +eleven. Good-morning." + +In the early '50's Adjutant General Roger Jones determined to adopt a +new uniform for the U.S. Army, and Derby was thus afforded a conspicuous +opportunity to exercise his wit. He was an excellent draughtsman and set +to work and produced a design. He proposed changing the entire system of +modern tactics by the aid of an iron hook to be attached to the seat of +each soldier's trousers, this hook to be used by the three arms of the +service--cavalry, infantry and artillery. He illustrated it by a series +of well-executed designs, and quoted high medical authority to prove its +advantages from a sanitary point of view. He argued that the heavy +knapsack induced a stooping position and a contraction of the chest but, +hung on a hook by a strap over the shoulders, it would brace the body +and back and expand the chest. The cavalrymen were to be rendered more +secure in their seats when hooked to a ring in the saddle. All +commissioned officers were to carry a light twenty-foot pole, with a +ring attached to the end, to be used during an engagement in drawing +stragglers back into the ranks. He made a drawing of a tremendous battle +during which the Generals and Colonels were thus occupied, and in many +other ways expatiated upon the value of the hook. When Jefferson Davis, +the Secretary of War, saw Derby's designs and read his recommendations, +he felt that his dignity was wounded and the service insulted, and he +immediately issued an order that Derby be court-martialed. William L. +Marcy, then Secretary of State, was told of the transaction and of the +cloud hanging over Derby. He looked over the drawings and saw a +regiment, their backs towards him and drawn up in line, with knapsacks, +blankets and everything appertaining to camp life attached to each +soldier by a hook. Marcy, who saw the humorous side at once, said to +Davis: "It's no use to court-martial this man. The matter will be made +public and the laugh will be upon us. Besides, a man who has the +inventive genius that he has displayed, as well as the faculty of +design, ill-directed though they be, is too valuable to the service to +be trifled with." Derby therefore was not brought to grief, and in time +Davis's anger was sufficiently mollified for him to enjoy the joke. I am +enabled to state, through the courtesy of the present Assistant +Secretary of War, that the drawings referred to are not now to be found +in the files of the War Department; and a picture, which at the time was +the source of untold amusement and of wide-spread notoriety, seems to be +lost to the world. + +[Illustration: MINIATURE OF JAMES MONROE, PAINTED IN PARIS IN 1794, BY +SEMÉ. + +_Original owned by Mrs. Gouverneur._] + +An incident connected with the Indian War of 1856-58, in Washington +Territory, furnished another outlet for Derby's effective wit. A +Catholic priest was taken prisoner by the savages at that time and led +away into captivity, and in caricaturing the scene Derby represented an +ecclesiastic in full canonicals walking between two stalwart and +half-naked Indians, carrying a crook and crozier, with a tooth-brush +attached to one and a comb to the other; while the letters "I. H. S." on +the priest's chasuble were paraphrased into the words, "I hate +Siwashes." It must not be thought, however, that Derby's life was wholly +devoted to fun and frivolity, for he has been pronounced by an +accomplished military writer and critic to have been "an able and +accomplished engineer." He was the author of "The Squibob Papers" and of +"Phoenixiana; or Sketches and Burlesques," either of which would +worthily place him in the forefront of humorists in the history of +American literature. I own a copy of the latter book which was given by +the author to my husband. It seems strange, when one considers the +character and career of this gifted man, that subsequent to his death +nearly every member of his family should have met with a tragic end. + +Although not a practical joker, my husband found much in Derby that was +congenial, as many of their tastes were similar. Both of them were +devoted to literature and both were accomplished writers; but while +Derby published his works and was rewarded with financial success, Mr. +Gouverneur wrote chiefly for the newspaper press. He edited and +published a work by James Monroe, entitled "The People the Sovereigns," +but never sent to the press any works of his own production. I think +that the lack of encouragement from me was the chief obstacle that +deterred him from embarking upon a literary career. He commenced several +novels but never finished them, and his chief literary remains are +principally confined to the limits of his "commonplace-books." + +President Buchanan's niece, Harriet Lane, subsequently Mrs. Henry +Elliott Johnston of Maryland, presided with grace and dignity over the +White House during her uncle's administration. I first met Miss Lane +before the period when Buchanan represented the United States at the +Court of St. James. It was at a party given by Mrs. Hamilton Fish, +whose husband was then a U.S. Senator from the State of New York. Her +blond type of beauty made an indelible impression upon me, as she was +very much the same style as the daughters of General Winfield Scott. +Some years before her death, while she was living in Washington, I +incidentally referred to this resemblance between the Scotts and herself +and was not surprised to hear her say that others had spoken of it. To +an exceptionally fine presence, she added unusual intelligence and +brilliant power of repartee. I have often heard the story that at a +social function at the White House an accomplished courtier was +enlarging to Miss Lane upon her shapely hands--"hands," he ejaculated, +"that might have swayed the rod of empire." Her retort came without a +moment's hesitation, "or wake to ecstasy the living lyre." Emily +Schomberg, who married Hughes Hallett of England, wrote some years ago a +charming sketch of Harriet Lane Johnston which was published in Mrs. +Elizabeth F. Ellet's book entitled, "The Court Circles of the Republic." + +Among the prominent belles of the Buchanan administration, and an +intimate friend and companion of Harriet Lane, was Rebecca B. Black, +daughter of the eminent jurist, Judge Jeremiah S. Black of Pennsylvania, +Attorney-General and for a time Secretary of State under Buchanan. She +was the widow of Isham Hornsby of Washington, where, in her beautiful +home, she was surrounded by a charming circle and was much admired and +beloved. Peter Grayson Washington, a son of Lund Washington, whom I have +already mentioned in connection with my wedding, was a conspicuous +figure at the National Capital during the Buchanan _régime_. During the +Pierce administration he was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under +James Guthrie. He had an impressive bearing, and carried a gold-headed +cane which he boasted had originally belonged to his distinguished +relative, the first President. Although by birth a Virginian, Mr. +Washington never wavered in his loyalty to the Union. During the latter +part of the Civil War he made a visit to us in our Maryland home, and I +shall always remember the expression of his opinion that many leaders of +the Confederate cause were not true representatives of the South, citing +as examples some members of Jefferson Davis's cabinet. He concluded his +remarks with the facetious statement that "if they had only chosen a +second Washington as a leader they might have been successful." Earlier +residents of the District will recall Littleton Quinton Washington, a +prolific writer chiefly upon political subjects, and a younger +half-brother of Peter G. Washington. + +My old and valued friend, Mrs. Hamilton Holly, and Peter Grayson +Washington were the Godparents of my eldest daughter. At the earnest +request of the former, this ceremony took place in the house of Mrs. +Alexander Hamilton, in the De Menou buildings. Mrs. Holly and I +characterized the gathering as a revolutionary party, as so many of the +guests bore names prominent during our struggle for independence. I +never saw Mrs. Hamilton Holly again. Shortly after this pleasant +function I sailed for China, and just before starting on my long voyage +I received the following note, which saddened me more than I can well +express:-- + + SEP. 9th. + + My dear friend, + + For many days I have been blessed by your very kind letter, + but am too, too low to answer it. One day so weak as to be + obliged with my hand to wave Mrs. Furguson away (another + lady obtained admittance), lest in the effort to converse I + might find another home. My hand and head are exhausted. + + Most truly yours, + + E. H. HOLLY. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +SOJOURN IN CHINA AND RETURN + + +Prior to the Civil War, Mr. Gouverneur received an appointment from +James Buchanan as U.S. Consul to Foo Chow in China, and I decided to +accompany him upon his long journey. Meanwhile a second daughter had +been added to our family, much to the disappointment of the large circle +of relatives who were still anxiously expecting me to hand down the name +of Gouverneur. We named her Ruth Monroe. We took passage upon the +clipper ship _Indiaman_, a vessel of heavy tonnage sailing from New York +and commanded by a "down-east" skipper named Smith. No railroads crossed +the American continent in those days, and the voyage to the far East had +to be made either around Cape Horn or by way of the Isthmus of Panama or +around the Cape of Good Hope. We selected the latter route, leaving New +York in October and arriving in Shanghai the following March. My +preparations for such a protracted journey with two very young children +were carefully and even elaborately planned but, to my dismay, some of +the most important articles of food for the childrens' diet became unfit +for use long before we reached our destination. As one may readily +imagine, I was accordingly put to my wits' end for substitutes. We also +provided ourselves with a goodly amount of literature, and more +particularly books relating to China, among which were Father Evariste +Régis Huc's volume on "The Chinese Empire," and Professor S. Wells +Williams's work on "The Middle Kingdom." We read these _en route_ with +great interest but discovered after a few months' residence in the East +that no book or pen we then knew conveyed an adequate idea of that +remarkable country. + +We had a very favorable voyage, and sailing in the trade winds in the +Southern hemisphere was to me the very acme of bliss. I was thoroughly +in sympathy with the passage of Humboldt where he speaks of the tropical +skies and vegetation in the following beautiful manner:--"He on whom the +Southern Cross has never gleamed nor the Centaur frowned, above whom the +clouds of Magellan have never circled, who has never stood within the +shadow of great palms, nor clothed himself with the gloom of the +primeval forests, does not know how the soul seems to have a new birth +in the midst of these new and splendid surroundings. Nowhere but under +the equatorial skies is it permitted to man to behold at once and in the +same sweep of the eye all the stars of both the Northern and Southern +heavens; and nowhere but at the tropics does nature combine to produce +the various forms of vegetation that are parceled out separately to +other climes." + +The patience of our captain was sorely tried by the lack of wind while +passing through the Doldrums. This nautical locality, varying in breadth +from sixty to several hundred miles and shifting in extreme limits at +different seasons of the year, is near the equator and abounds in calms, +squalls and light, baffling winds which sometimes prevent the progress +of sailing vessels for weeks at a time. When we finally emerged from the +Doldrums, we were compensated for the trying delay by greeting the trade +winds so cherished by the hearts of mariners. We sailed many leagues +south of the Cape of Good Hope and much too far away even to catch a +glimpse of it, but we realized its proximity by the presence of the Cape +pigeons which hovered around our vessel. The albatross was also our +daily visitor and one or two of them were caught by the sailors, +regardless of the superstition of possible calamity attending such an +act. Our only stop during the long voyage was at the Moluccas or Spice +Islands, in the Malay Peninsula, and was made at the request of the +passengers who were desirous of exploring the beauties of that tropical +region. The waters surrounding these islands were as calm as a lake and +all around our ship floated the débris of spices. The vegetation was +more beautiful than I can describe and the shells which covered the +shores were eagerly collected by the passengers. + +Our fellow voyagers were four missionaries, who on Sundays conducted +divine service, and a Mr. Pemberton, a young Canadian who was _en +voyage_ to join the _Hong_ of Purden and Company in Shanghai. In these +early days it was the custom of parents of refractory or adventurous +sons to place them on board sailing vessels for lengthy outings. +Occasionally they were sent upon whaling voyages, where the hardships +were greater and the voyage more prolonged. On the _Indiaman_ there were +several of these youths and it was quite pathetic as well as comical to +see them ascend the rigging amid the jeers of a well-disciplined crew. +One of them, whose father had occupied an official position in the City +of New York, had been quite a society "swell" and claimed acquaintance +with me. At times he was required by the captain to hold my younger +child, a mere babe, in the arms. Every now and then we were startled by +her shrieks and for quite a time we could not detect the cause until we +finally discovered that his task was uncongenial and that, in order to +get rid of his charge, the incorrigible youth had administered an +occasional pinch. + +One Sunday afternoon while sailing in the Indian Ocean we had a narrow +escape from shipwreck. Every sail was set to catch the least breath of +air, and Mr. Gouverneur and the children were on deck with the captain, +when in the distance they saw what seemed to resemble a huge wall. The +moment the experienced eye of our skipper saw it he exclaimed, "My God, +we are gone!" It slowly but surely approached our ship and when it +reached us its force was so great that our sails almost dipped into the +ocean. The ship, however, gradually righted itself and we were naturally +more than grateful for our deliverance. I chanced to be resting in my +cabin at the perilous moment and in a most unceremonious manner was +thrown to the floor. After reaching the mouth of that stupendous river, +the Yangtze Kiang, we thought our long voyage was nearly ended, but we +soon discovered that we had not yet "crossed the Rubicon," and that +trouble was still in store for us. We had just passed the mouth of this +river and cast anchor when, to our surprise and dismay, we encountered a +severe storm, and during the night dragged anchor for about twenty +miles. The morning, however, dawned bright and clear, but our captain, +who had lost his temper during the storm, did not accord the Chinese +pilots who boarded us a very gracious reception. This was my first +glimpse of the Chinese within the limits of their own domain. + +When we reached the city of Shanghai it was quite dark, but we found +coolies awaiting us with chairs. I shall never forget my first +impressions of China. All of my anticipations of the beautiful Orient +were fully realized, and, as I was carried through the crowded streets, +visions of the Arabian Nights enchanted me and it seemed to me a +veritable region of delight. The streets of Shanghai, however, after the +broad thoroughfares of Washington, appeared like small and complicated +pathways. They were not lighted with public lamps at this time, but +myriads of lanterns of every conceivable shape and color carried by +wayfarers met the eye at every turn and made the whole scene appear like +fairyland. But, alas, the following morning I was undeceived, for +daylight revealed to my vision a very squalid and dirty city. We were +carried to the largest hotel in Shanghai, where it seemed as though I +were almost receiving a home greeting when the sign over the door told +me that it was the Astor House! Still another surprise awaited me. +Although in a strange land, one of the first persons to welcome me was a +former acquaintance, the wife of Mr. Robert Morrison Olyphant, the head +of the prominent _Hong_ of Olyphant and Company. Her maiden name was +Anna O. Vernon and I had formerly known her quite well in New York and +Newport. + +We did not linger long in Shanghai, but embraced the first opportunity +to reach Foo Chow. It was a coast voyage of several days and was +attended with much discomfort, as the choppy seas through which we +sailed made all of us very ill--a remarkable experience, considering the +fact that during the whole of our protracted voyage we had not suffered +an uncomfortable moment. We reached Foo Chow, however, in due time, and +Mr. Gouverneur at once assumed his official duties. Foo Chow is called +by the natives _Hok Chiu_, or "Happy City." It is also what is termed a +"Foo-City," signifying a place of the largest magnitude, and was the +sole Chinese port where royalty was represented. It is situated upon the +Min River, about twenty-five miles from its mouth, and is the capital of +the Province of Fokien. The navigation of the river Min was regarded as +dangerous, and the insurance rates for vessels navigating it were higher +than those of any other Chinese port. The place is surrounded by +castellated walls nine or ten miles in circumference, outside of which +are suburbs as extensive as the city itself. Its walls are about thirty +feet high and twelve wide at the top. Its seven gates are overlooked by +high towers, while small guardhouses stand at frequent intervals along +the walls. + +Upon our arrival in Foo Chow we found no house provided for the U.S. +Consul, and immediately made our residence with a missionary family, +where we were most comfortable, until the _Hong_ of Augustus Heard and +Company provided us with a residence for which we paid rent. The English +government took better care of its representative. Not far from us was +the British Consulate, a fine building reminding one in certain respects +of the White House. In another residence near by, and provided by his +government, lived the British interpreter, a Scotchman named Milne. +Walter H. Medhurst, the British Consul, and his interpreter were +descendants of early English missionaries. We found Foo Chow to be a +somewhat lawless city. Many of its inhabitants were mountaineers from +the surrounding region who had become pretty well starved out and had +found their way into the city. As a result of their early training, they +gave the authorities much trouble. + +I was naturally much impressed by some of the novel and curious customs +then prevalent. The seat of honor assigned a guest was on the left of +the host. The uncovered head for a man was a mark of disrespect and a +servant would accordingly be severely reprimanded if he appeared before +his master with his hat off. Persons in mourning wore white, in striking +contrast with the somber apparel used by ourselves. The shoe polish in +vogue was a chalky white substance. From these and other examples it can +readily be seen I was justified in feeling that I had been transferred +to another planet and had left "dull earth behind me." When we reached +Foo Chow, the gorgeous flowers and other vegetation were at their best. +The month of April was a season set apart by the Chinese to decorate +with flowers the graves of their ancestors; and coming from a land where +such a ceremony was unknown, it impressed me as a beautiful custom. It +suggests, moreover, the inquiry as to whether it was from the Chinese, +or from an innate conviction of the beautiful sentiment demanding an +outward expression, that induced the descendants of the Blue and the +Gray, at a later period, to strew with flowers the last resting-places +of those whose memories they delighted to honor. + +Next door to the U.S. Consulate lived a Parsee named Botelwalla, who was +an English subject. He never uncovered his head, and his tarpaulin hat +carried me back to the pictures in my geography while studying at Miss +Forbes's school. He was extensively engaged in the opium trade, and had +large quantities of it stored in his dwelling. One day he came to our +home to make a social visit and, taking it for granted that he was a +fire-worshiper, I inquired whether he came from Persia. He told me that +twelve hundred years ago his family emigrated from that country to +India, where their descendants had since resided. I recall an incident +which convinced me at the time that he was not a consistent follower of +his own religion. Mr. Gouverneur noticed smoke issuing one day from what +he thought was a remote portion of the Botelwalla home, and immediately +called out to the Parsee from an adjoining window that his house was on +fire. Without a moment's hesitation, he got all of his family together, +and for a while they worked most strenuously to subdue the flames and to +save from destruction the hundred thousand dollars' worth of opium +lodged in the Parsee's home. Somewhat later we were surprised to learn +that it was our own kitchen which was on fire. Our ignorance was due to +the fact that the walls of the two houses were so irregular and so oddly +constructed that it was at first exceedingly difficult, upon a +superficial view, to distinguish certain portions of our own home from +those of our neighbor. The one feature, however, connected with the fire +which impressed us most forcibly was the fact that Botelwalla, our +neighbor and fire-worshiper, did not allow his religious scruples to +interfere with the safety of his valuable personal possessions. My +attention, as well as admiration, was frequently directed to a number of +superb India cashmere shawls which I often saw airing on his upper +veranda and which, I think, were used for bed coverings. + +Soon after his arrival in Foo Chow, Mr. Gouverneur was fortunate in +securing the services of a Chinese interpreter named Ling Kein, a +mandarin of high order, who wore the "blue button," significant of his +rank. In addition to this distinction he wore on his hat the peacock +feather, an official reward of merit. He was a Chinese of remarkable +intelligence, well versed in English as well as in the Chinese +vernacular, and was also the master of several dialects. He surprised me +by his familiarity with New York, and upon inquiry I learned that he had +once taken a junk into that port, which was naturally regarded with +great curiosity by the Gothamites. He remembered many prominent New +Yorkers, one of whom was Daniel Lord, the distinguished lawyer, whom he +had met in a professional relation. He also recalled my old friend and +Mr. Gouverneur's kinsman, William Kemble, who lived next door to Mr. +Lord opposite St. John's Park. Ling Kein and his family lived in our +house, but they led such secluded lives that I seldom saw them; indeed, +we never laid eyes upon our interpreter except when his presence was +required. He was not in the employ of our government, but his salary of +one hundred dollars a month was paid from my husband's private means. +His services were invaluable and when we first began housekeeping he +secured our domestic staff for us. The butler was Ning Ping, a +Christianized Chinese, who took entire charge of the +establishment--going to market, regulating the servants and even handing +them their wages. For his services he received four dollars a month. + +I found this mode of life ideally pleasant and easy until I heard an +uproar one day in the servants' quarters in which my two nurses seemed +to be involved. I was entirely ignorant as to the cause of the commotion +and for some time held my peace, as one of the first lessons I learned +in China was not to probe too deeply into domestic affairs, since one +derived but little satisfaction from the attempt. As the confusion +continued, however, I summoned Ling Kein in order to ascertain the cause +of it. It seems that Ning Ping had paid the women their wages in Mexican +dollars which were not of the proper weight. There prevailed a crafty +method of clipping or punching the coins, and this dishonest Chinaman +had taken advantage of those whom he thought to be simply +unsophisticated women. The trouble was finally quelled by an agreement +that in future I should personally pay the nurses their wages. I gave +each of these women four dollars a month for their services. Our cook, +Ting Ting, who was a chef, and the four coolies, who were the chair +bearers, were also paid four dollars a month each. The gatekeeper, whose +duties were to open and close the front gate and to look after the +chairs of visitors, received a similar sum for his services. I also +employed by the month a native tailor, whose sole requirements for his +work were a chair and a table. He did the entire sewing of the +establishment and charged four dollars a month for his labor. At least +one of my experiences with him failed to confirm the extraordinary +powers of imitation possessed by the Chinese, for upon one occasion when +I trusted him with a handsome garment, with strict injunctions to follow +the model I gave him, he completely ignored my instructions and carried +out his own designs. + +Fortunately for us, this retinue of retainers provided its own food and +clothing, and I was in blissful ignorance as to where they stowed +themselves away for the night. A laundryman called once a week for our +clothes and his charges were two dollars a hundred for articles of every +description. I am almost ashamed to acknowledge that I never saw the +interior of our kitchen, but our cook served our dinners in the most +approved manner. We frequently had guests to dine with us and as the +butler, Ning Ping, was as much an expert in his department as the cook, +Ting Ting, was in his, I was delightfully irresponsible and often +wondered, as I sat at my own table, what the next course would be. Our +guests were principally men, usually the senior members of _Hongs_ and +officers of war-ships lying in the harbor, and it was the custom of each +to bring with him his "boy," who stood behind him throughout the repast. + +There was quite a number of missionaries in the city, and each religious +denomination provided its ministers with comfortable quarters. The +Baptists were especially well represented and also the "American Board," +which was established in Boston in 1812. The English residents had a +small chapel of their own which was well sustained by them. There was +one missionary who commanded my especial respect and admiration. I refer +to the Rev. Mr. William C. Burns, a Scotch Presbyterian clergyman. He +led a life of consecrated self-denial, living exclusively with the +natives and dressing in the Chinese garb which, with his Caucasian +features and blond complexion, caused him to present the drollest +appearance. Only those who have resided in China can understand the +repugnance with which anyone accustomed to the amenities of refined +society would naturally regard such a life. He gave up body and soul to +the spread of Christianity in a heathen land, recalling to my mind the +early Jesuits, Francis Xavier, Lucas Caballero and Cipriano Baraza, who +penetrated pathless forests and crossed unknown seas in conformity with +the requirements of their sacred mission. Mr. Burns died in China in the +earnest pursuit of his vocation. I own a copy of his life published in +New York in 1870, soon after his death. + +The Roman Catholic Church was well represented in Foo Chow and was under +the general direction of the order of the Dominicans. Each portion of +China, in fact, even the most remote, was under the jurisdiction of +some Roman Catholic Order, so that directly or indirectly almost every +Chinaman in the Empire was reached. The Catholics also had a large +orphan asylum in Foo Chow, over whose portals, in Chinese characters, +was the verse from the Psalms: "When my father and my mother forsake me, +then the Lord will take me up." Nothing brought back to me my far-away +Western home more pleasantly than the tones of the Angelus sounding from +the belfry of this institution. + +There was a native orphan asylum in Foo Chow, not far from the American +Consulate--a fact I have never seen stated in any of the numerous books +I have read relating to the "Middle Kingdom." With true Chinese insight, +the largest salary was paid the nurse who successfully reared the +greatest number of babies. When I lived in China, the laws for the +prevention of infanticide were as stringent as our own, but they were +often successfully evaded. Poverty was so grinding in the East that the +slaughter of children was one of its most pitiable consequences. Infants +were made way with at birth, before they were regarded with the eye of +affection. + +Fifty years ago slavery was prevalent among the Chinese, and one of its +saddest features consisted in the fact that its victims were of their +own race and color. Poverty-stricken parents sold their offspring to +brokers, and in Foo Chow it was recognized as a legitimate business. +Theoretically there were no slaves in Hong-Kong, which is British +territory, but in reality the city was full of them. Both men and women +slave-brokers infested the large cities of China, and boys and girls +between the ages of ten and twelve were sent from all the neighboring +villages to be sold in Foo Chow. The girls were purchased to be employed +as servants, and sometimes parents would buy them for the purpose of +training them until they reached the proper age and of then marrying +them off to their sons. In this way, as may readily be seen, some of +the young people of China were spared the vicissitudes and +discouragements of courtship so keenly realized in some other countries. +I have seen girl slaves sold with no other property except the clothes +upon their backs. Frequently their garments were of the scantiest +character and in some cases even these were claimed by the avaricious +brokers. Many of the waifs were purchased upon trial as a precaution +against leprosy which prevailed throughout the East. One of the tests +consisted in placing the child in a dark room under a blue light; if the +skin was found to be of a greenish hue, the slave passed muster; but, on +the other hand, if it was of a reddish tinge it indicated the early +stages of this fatal malady. Babies were not much in demand in Foo Chow +and did not even command the price of fresh pork! I learned at an orphan +asylum in Shanghai that they were purchased at twenty cents each. This +institution was conducted by missionaries who taught the girls all kinds +of domestic duties and, when they arrived at proper ages, saw that they +were given to suitable men for wives. + +Not far from the Consulate were the quarters of the Tartars. They seemed +to live very much to themselves, and most of the men were connected with +the military service of the country. It may not be generally known that +ever since the commencement of the Tartar dynasty, between two and three +centuries ago, the queue has been worn by the Chinese as a badge of +submission to the Tartars. The feet of the women were not compressed by +these early rulers and consequently the Court did not set the fashion as +in European countries. I understand that even now the bandaged feet are +universal. + +In those days there were no railroads or telegraphs in China. The +Emperor died while we were living in Foo Chow and the news did not reach +us until several weeks after the event, and then only through the medium +of a courier. The official announcement came to the Consulate upon a +long yellow card bearing certain Chinese characters. All of the +mandarins in our city, upon receiving the intelligence, gathered at the +various temples to bewail in loud tones and with tearful eyes the death +of their ruler. + +The palace of the Viceroy was naturally the chief objective point of all +foreigners and especially of officials upon their arrival in port. +Occasions frequently occurred when Mr. Gouverneur was compelled to go +through the formality of requesting an interview with this high +official. These audiences were always promptly granted and were +conducted with a great amount of pomp and ceremony very dear to the +inhabitants of "far Cathay," but exceedingly tiresome to others. Some +distance from us, and in another quarter of the city, was a large +building called Examination Hall, used by the natives exclusively in +connection with the civil service of the government. It was divided into +small rooms, each of which was large enough to accommodate only one +person, and in these the young men of that locality who were aspirants +for governmental positions were locked each year while they wrote their +test examination papers. The hall accommodated ten thousand students and +the time of examination was regarded by the Chinese as a critical period +in a young man's life, as his chances of future success largely depended +upon the ability displayed in his papers. These were carefully read by a +board of examiners, and official positions were assigned to those who +excelled in the examination. Intelligence was regarded as the chief +condition of executive favor and, although personal influence naturally +had its weight, its exercise did not seem to be as prevalent in China as +elsewhere. It may not be flattering to the pride of other nations, but +the fact remains that the civil service of China was the forerunner of +the reforms instituted in countries which we are accustomed to regard +as much more enlightened in governmental polity. + +While we were in China, the seas were infested with a formidable band of +native pirates that had committed depredations for many years. One day +two rival factions dropped anchor at the same time in the Min River, +directly opposite Foo Chow, and opened a brisk fire upon each other. +Many of the foreigners became much alarmed, as projectiles were flying +around at a lively rate. One of these which had entered the house of an +American missionary was brought to the Consulate, and Mr. Gouverneur was +urged to take some action. The natives of China were at times a +turbulent people who seemed glad for an excuse to stir up the community +and, in consequence of this battle of the sea-robbers, a mob formed in +Foo Chow which threatened disastrous results. The only foreign vessel in +the harbor was a United States man-of-war, the _Adams_, under the +command of James F. Schenck, subsequently a Rear Admiral in our Navy. +Only a few days previous the British ships had departed for the mouth of +the Peiho River, for the purpose of forcing opium upon the poor Chinese +at the cannon's mouth. The city authorities were requested to use their +influence in quelling the riots but seemed unequal to the emergency. +This state of affairs continued for several days, when one morning the +_Taotai_ (mayor), preceded by men beating gongs and followed by a large +retinue, arrived at the Consulate and requested protection for the city. +Upon a similar occasion during the previous summer, when a number of +British warships were in port, these belligerent pirates received +summary treatment by having their anchor cables cut, thus causing them +to float down the river. + +Upon Mr. Gouverneur's request the _Adams_ sent a detachment of marines +on shore. It was quartered around the Consulate and its presence quickly +had the desired moral effect upon all parties, and proved a source of +great relief to both foreign and native residents. Later all +apprehension was removed by the speedy departure of the unwelcome +marauders. Meanwhile the Consulate had received many valuables, +deposited there for safety. The morning following the departure of the +ships we noticed a large number of boxes in our courtyard and also +several sheep tied to the flag-staff. For a time we could not understand +the meaning of this queer collection and were compelled to assign it to +the usual incomprehensibilities of Chinese life. Mr. Gouverneur went in +search of our interpreter, hoping that he could explain the situation, +but to our surprise he had fled. We learned that he stood in great awe +of the pirates and feared their vengeance if he told all he knew about +them. Mr. Milne, the British interpreter, finally came to our rescue. It +seems that the sheep and boxes were parting gifts--"Kumshaws," as the +Chinese term them--from the pirates to the American and British Consuls +and Mr. Milne. + +At first we had no idea what the boxes contained, and Mr. Gouverneur +sought the advice of William Sloane, the head of the _Hong_ of Russell +and Company, who had long been a resident of China, as to what should be +done with this strange consignment. He strongly urged that, as a matter +of policy, they be accepted and the British Consul, Walter H. Medhurst, +agreed with him. The medley collection was accordingly divided into +three groups and some coolies were engaged to convey to the English +Consul and Mr. Milne their respective shares. The sheep took the lead, +and it was indeed a curious procession that we watched from our windows +as we breathed a sigh of relief over the departure of this +"embarrassment of riches," and commenced to plan for the disposal of our +own share. A few minutes later I chanced to glance out of the window +when, to my utter dismay, I saw the procession so recently _en route_ to +the British Consulate reenter our courtyard. We were informed that +Medhurst had weakened and refused to receive his share of the +"Kumshaws." Mr. Gouverneur was much annoyed by such vacillating conduct +and immediately notified the British Consul in emphatic language that if +he refused to accept the piratical gifts he would regard it as a +personal matter. This had the desired effect and a second time the +procession wended its way to the British Consulate. The boxes proved to +contain hams, rock candy, dates and other provisions which we +immediately sent to the American missionaries, while the sheep were +given to Mr. Sloane to do with them whatever he pleased. We found this +gentleman throughout our Chinese life to be a man of superior judgment +and an agreeable companion. After a long and successful career in the +East, he died in China just on the eve of his embarkation for America. +He never married and many years later I had the pleasure of becoming +acquainted with his brother, Samuel Sloane, the railroad magnate, at +Garrison's-on-the-Hudson; and, owing to our agreeable association with +his brother, both Mr. and Mrs. Sloane always welcomed me with great +cordiality. + +I have already referred to Commander (afterwards Rear Admiral) James F. +Schenck, U.S.N. Our association with him in Foo Chow was highly +agreeable. He was our frequent guest at the Consulate and we soon +discovered in him a man of rare wit; indeed, I have understood that +fifty years ago he was considered the most clever _raconteur_ in the +Navy. Commander Schenck's Executive Officer on the _Adams_ was +Lieutenant James J. Waddell, whom we regarded as a pleasing and +congenial guest. Subsequent to his life in Eastern waters, his career +was unusually interesting. He was a native of North Carolina and, +resigning his commission in the United States service at the opening of +the Civil War, subsequently entered the Confederate Navy, where he was +finally assigned to the command of the celebrated cruiser _Shenandoah_. +This ship, formerly the British merchantman _Sea King_, was bought in +England for £45,000 by James D. Bulloch, the Naval Agent of the Southern +Confederacy in Great Britain, to take the place of the _Alabama_, which +had been sunk by the _Kearsarge_ in June, 1864. She left London in the +fall of the same year and fitted out as an armed cruiser off Madeira. +She then went to Australia and, after cruising in various parts of the +Pacific, sailed for Behring Sea and the Arctic Ocean, where she met with +remarkable success in her depredations upon Northern shipping. She +captured thirty-eight vessels, mostly whalers, and the actual losses +inflicted by her were only sixty thousand dollars less than those +charged to the _Alabama_. Captain Waddell first heard of the downfall of +the Confederacy when off the coast of Lower California on the 2d of +August, 1865--between three and four months after the event--and, as he +had captured in that interval about a dozen ships and realized that his +acts might be regarded as piratical, he sailed for England where, early +in November, he surrendered the _Shenandoah_ to the British government. +She was turned over to the United States, was subsequently sold to the +Sultan of Zanzibar and was lost in 1879 in the Indian Ocean. She was the +only ship that carried the flag of the Confederacy around the world. In +December, 1861, Captain Waddell married a daughter of James Iglehart of +Annapolis, and died in that city a number of years ago. + +The American Consulate was the rendezvous of all Naval officers who came +into port, and I recall with gratification Lieutenant John J. B. +Walbach, a son of Colonel John DeBarth Walbach, a well-known officer of +the Army, Dr. Philip Lansdale, Dr. Benjamin F. Gibbs, Lieutenant George +M. Blodgett and Lieutenant (afterwards Rear Admiral) John C. Beaumont. +The latter was frequently my guest in Washington after my return to +America, and Doctors Lansdale and Gibbs I met again at the Capital, +where we took pleasure in discussing our Chinese observations and +experiences. While in China I also became acquainted with Captain and +Mrs. Eliphalet Nott of Schenectady, the former of whom was a nephew of +the venerable President Eliphalet Nott of Union College. He commanded +his own vessel, the _Don Quixote_, and was usually accompanied on his +voyages by his wife--a mode of life that impressed me as quite ideal. + +One day as I was passing through the streets of Foo Chow my attention +was directed to a gayly-dressed woman seated in a chair decked with +flowers. I was informed that she was a Chinese widow who was about to +sacrifice herself upon the pyre in accordance with the custom of the +country. I subsequently learned that when this woman reached the place +appointed for the ceremony, she found an immense assemblage, including +many mandarins and her own brother, the latter of whom had agreed to +apply the torch that should launch her into eternity. The crowd, +however, was disappointed, for at the last moment her courage failed her +and she announced that she must return home at once as she had forgotten +to feed her pig! The woman's life was saved, but the disappointment of +the throng found expression in a riot which, however, was speedily +quelled by the authorities. + +The Chinese nation was the victim of an outrageous wrong, and the +perpetrators were Americans and Englishmen whose unquenchable avarice +overcame their moral convictions. I refer to the iniquitous manner in +which opium was introduced into the country and subsequently sold to the +natives. Large fortunes were accumulated in this way, but it was nothing +more nor less than "blood money" wrung from the pockets of those who had +a right to expect better things from the representatives of Christian +countries. China at this time was unable to cope by force with the +Western nations, but she did not renounce the right to protect herself +from this outrage without a struggle. When, however, she asserted this +right, as she did on a certain occasion by seizing and burning the +deadly drug, she made herself liable for heavy indemnities and was +compelled to abandon the unequal struggle. In consequence of this act, +six hundred thousand dollars passed through Mr. Gouverneur's hands as +U.S. Consul. Even in recent years the Chinese Emperor has sought to +protect his subjects from the evils of opium. When I lived in China, +Congo tea was cultivated around Foo Chow, but in time it was abandoned +and the poppy took its place. A few years ago an edict was issued +prohibiting the cultivation of this flower and I understand that tea is +again a product of this region. When I resided in Foo Chow, some of the +most prominent business houses were involved in the smuggling of opium, +and one very large and wealthy firm--that of Jardine and +Matthewson--actually employed a heavily armed gunboat to assist it in +the accomplishment of this colossal outrage. It will be remembered that +when Li Hung Chang, then one of the richest men in the world, visited +this country a few years ago he frequently asked the wealthy men whom he +met where they got their money. Whether or not he had in mind at the +time the manner in which certain American and English fortunes had been +accumulated in his native land does not appear; but if his question had +been directed to the heads of some of the business houses in Foo Chow +and elsewhere in China while I was there, it certainly would have +produced, to say the least, no little embarrassment. + +Poor China has suffered much from the impositions and depredations of +foreigners. Pillage and theft have marked the paths of foreign invaders +in a manner wholly inconsistent with the code of honorable warfare, and +acts have been committed that would never be tolerated in conflicts +between Western nations. It was said that the title of Comte de Pelikao +was conferred by Louis Napoleon upon General Charles Montauban for +having presented the Empress Eugénie with some superb black pearls taken +from the Imperial Summer Palace when it was looted in 1860. At the same +time and in the same manner also disappeared many almost priceless gems, +costly articles of _vertu_, treasures in gold and silver and a wealth of +ancient manuscripts; while similar outrages were ruthlessly perpetrated +in the same unfortunate city only a few years ago as the closing chapter +in the Boxer troubles. Unhappy China! She has felt the aggressive hand +of her Western "brothers" ever since the unwilling invasion of her +shores. + +About this time China was the resort of many adventurous Americans, some +of whom doubtless "left their country for their country's good," with a +view of seeking their fortunes. We became very well acquainted with a +New Yorker named Augustus Joseph Francis Harrison, a master of a craft +sailing in Chinese waters. His early life had been spent in Morrisania +in New York, where he had become familiar with the name of my husband's +relative, Gouverneur Morris, and was thus led to seek our acquaintance. +One day he came to the Consulate apparently in ill health and told us he +was in a serious condition. It seems that he had employed an English +physician whose violent remedies had failed to benefit him and had +prompted him to declare that he had been mistaken for a horse! He begged +us for shelter and we accordingly gave him a room and retained him at +the Consulate as our guest. We knew but little of medical remedies, but +we did the best for him we could, and in due time were delighted to see +that our patient was convalescing. One day my husband and my daughter +Maud visited him in his room and, as a token of gratitude, he presented +to the little girl the "Pirates' God," one of his most cherished +treasures--a curious idol, which is still in her possession. On the back +of it he wrote the following history:--"This idol, together with the +whole contents of two large pirate boats, was captured after a severe +fight of three hours, they having undertaken to take us by surprise; +consequently thirty or forty were killed. The rest made good their +escape by jumping overboard and swimming ashore. The boats and contents, +too, were sold." + +Foo Chow was a region frequently visited by typhoons, in consequence of +which a municipal law required houses to be but one story high. During +the latter part of our residence in China we experienced the terrors of +a storm remarkable for its severity and in the course of which a portion +of the Consulate was blown down. After spending some anxious hours in an +underground passage in the middle of the night, we were finally obliged +to take refuge in the _Hong_ of Augustus Heard and Company. I shall +never forget, as we sat in this lonely cellar with the elements raging +above us, the imploring cries of my young children, "I want to go home." +It was while this storm was raging that Mr. Gouverneur received the +following note from George J. Weller, the representative of this +well-known firm:-- + + My dear Mr. Gouverneur, + + The Barometer is going up--the wind will probably abate a + little soon, and perhaps then Mrs. G. and the children can + come. _Make_ the coolies carry the chair. Three can do it. + +The semi-tropical climate of Foo Chow, however, did not agree with Mr. +Gouverneur, in consequence of which we decided to return home. His +campaign during the Mexican War had made serious inroads upon his +health, from which he never entirely recovered. It was hoped that his +life in the East would be beneficial, but it proved otherwise. +Meanwhile, the Civil War was raging in the United States, but the news +concerning it was very stale long before it reached us. We did not +receive the particulars of the battle of Bull Run, for example, until +three months after its occurrence. In view of the turbulent state of +affairs at home, the government thought it important that Mr. Gouverneur +should remain at his post of duty until the arrival of his successor, +and he decided to do so. During these days of uncertainty, however, my +husband deemed it wise that, if possible, I should return with the +children on a ship sailing under the protection of the British flag, and +I quite agreed with him. In due time the favorable opportunity presented +itself, and I embarked for America in the British merchantman _Mirage_. +The wisdom of Mr. Gouverneur's judgment was fully confirmed, as the next +American vessel sailing from Foo Chow after my departure was captured by +a Confederate privateer. When I went to China I took two little girls +with me, and returned with three. At the birth of the last daughter we +named her "Rose de Chine," in order to identify her more intimately with +the land of her nativity. Soon after her birth, several Chinese asked +me: "How many girls do you keep?" + +We were the only passengers on the _Mirage_ and, besides having very +superior accommodations on board, we were treated with every +consideration by its captain. We were three months upon the homeward +voyage and the captain called it smooth sailing. We fell in with many +vessels _en route_ and, to quote our skipper, we found them "like human +beings, some very friendly and others stern and curt." When in mid-ocean +we passed an American vessel, the _Anna Decatur_, which seemed like a +welcome from home as it was named after a former New York friend of +mine, Anna Pine Decatur, a niece of Commodore Stephen Decatur, who +married Captain William H. Parsons of the merchant service. Lieutenant +Stephen Decatur, U.S.N., a brother of Anna Pine Decatur, was a constant +visitor at our house in Houston Street in my young days. During one of +his cruises he was stricken with a serious illness which resulted in +total blindness. He subsequently married but, although he never had the +pleasure of seeing his wife and children, his genial nature was not +changed by his affliction. In 1869 he became a Commodore on the retired +list, but some of the family connection objected to his use of this +title, as in their opinion the world should recognize only one Commodore +Stephen Decatur, the naval hero of 1812. + +As we neared New York harbor I became decidedly impatient and was +congratulating myself one morning that our long voyage was almost over, +when I noticed that the usually pleasant expression on the captain's +face had changed to one of extreme anxiety. I inquired: "What is wrong, +Captain?" and to my dismay he replied: "Everything!" He then told me we +were just outside the pilot grounds, but that in all his experience, +even in Chinese waters, he had never known the barometer to fall so low; +and, to add to his anxiety, there was no pilot within sight! It was a +very cold February morning, the thermometer having reached the zero +mark, and I went at once to my cabin to prepare for the worst. The +captain meanwhile commenced to make preparations for a severe storm, but +before we realized it the tempest was upon us and our vessel was blown +far out to sea, where for three days we were at the mercy of the +elements. The rudder was tied, the hatches battened down and there was +nothing left to do but to sit with folded hands and trust to that +Providence whom even the waters obey. + +[Illustration: MRS. GOUVERNEUR'S THREE DAUGHTERS. + +_Miss Gouverneur, Mrs. Roswell Randall Hoes, Mrs. William Crawford +Johnson._] + +I remember sitting in my stateroom one of those terrible nights entirely +alone and without even the comforting sound of a human voice. Our life +preservers were within reach, but I fully realized that they would be of +but little avail in such a raging sea. During those anxious moments, +with my little children sound asleep in the adjoining cabin and quite +oblivious of impending danger, I wondered whether it would be my destiny +to close my earthly career on Rockaway Beach, near the spot where I had +first seen the light of day; but soon after those anxious moments I was +indeed grateful, as the captain told me that if the wind had been in +another quarter all of us would have perished within a few hours. +Gradually the winds and storm ceased and, the waters becoming calmer, we +finally reached our haven without even being subjected to the annoying +presence of a Custom House official, as the high seas had prevented his +visit. When I reached land I learned that the awful storm had extended +along the whole eastern coast and had carried death and devastation in +its track. The children and I were driven to my mother's late residence, +57 West Thirty-sixth Street, but she was no longer there to greet me, as +she had passed into the Great Beyond the year before my return; but my +sister Charlotte and my brother Malcolm were still living there, both of +whom were unmarried. I had received such kindness from the captain of +the _Mirage_ during the homeward voyage that I felt I should like to +make some fitting return, and accordingly his wife and daughter became +my guests. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE CIVIL WAR AND LIFE IN MARYLAND + + +As the time passed I became somewhat anxious over the delay in Mr. +Gouverneur's return to this country. It seems, however, that, with +neither of us knowing it, we were upon the sea at the same time. His +homeward voyage was made by the way of the Isthmus of Suez and +Marseilles. For a while it seemed difficult for either of us to realize +that we were in our own country once more, as the Civil War had turned +everything and everybody topsy turvy. When we left the country, party +animosities were pitched to a high key, but the possibility of a +gigantic civil war as a solution of political problems would have been +regarded as preposterous. On our return, however, the country was wild +with excitement over an armed struggle, the eventual magnitude of which +no one had yet dreamed of. Newly equipped regiments were constantly +passing in our vicinity for the seat of war, the national ensign and +other emblems of loyalty were displayed on every hand and a martial +spirit pervaded the very atmosphere. The war was the one important topic +of conversation at homes, in the streets and in places of business. The +passions of the people were so thoroughly aroused that they were +frequently expressed in severe denunciation of any who presumed to +entertain conservative views of the situation of affairs and who still +hoped for conciliation and peace. Suspicions were often created by +trivial but well-intended acts or remarks that were susceptible of a +double construction, and loyal sentiment was often so pronounced in its +denunciation of the South that no word or remark could be tolerated +that by any possibility could be construed as a criticism of the +administration, a disapproval of the war or of any detail relating to +its conduct. For example, not long after our return from China, while +Mr. Gouverneur and I were visiting my sister, Mrs. Eames, in Washington, +we were watching one day a newly equipped regiment from Vermont while +passing her residence _en route_ for the seat of war, when Mr. Eames +remarked, "Gouverneur, isn't that a fine regiment?" My husband, who then +and always thereafter was thoroughly loyal to the cause of the Union, +but whose military training had made him familiar with the precise +tactics and evolutions of regular troops, replied: "They need training," +when Mr. Eames, with much warmth of feeling, exclaimed: "You are a +secessionist, sir!" + +That, however, represented but a mild state of feeling compared with +that sometimes entertained between those who were loyal to the Union and +others who sympathized with the South. I recall one conspicuous instance +where such antagonistic views resulted in personal animosity that +severed tender personal relations of long standing. When I left the +country a lifelong intimacy had existed between Mrs. Charles Vanden +Heuvel, a granddaughter of Robert Morris, the great financier of the +Revolution, and Mrs. George Gibbs, granddaughter of the Connecticut +statesman, Oliver Wolcott; but after the outbreak of the war these two +elderly women differed so radically in their views concerning the +conflict that, for a period, their personal relations were severed. The +spirit of toleration was so utterly lacking in both the North and the +South that even those allied by ties of blood were estranged, and a +spirit of bitter resentment and crimination everywhere prevailed. This +state of feeling, under the circumstances, was doubtless inevitable, but +it emphasized better than almost anything else, except bloodshed itself, +the truth of General Sherman's declaration that "War is Hell!" + +The animosities engendered by the war ruptured family ties and familiar +associations in Maryland much more completely than in the North. One of +the Needwood families was that of Outerbridge Horsey, who was a +pronounced Southern sympathizer, while not far away at Mount O'Donnell, +a superb old estate, lived General Columbus O'Donnell, who ardently +espoused the cause of the Union. Mr. Horsey had a son born just after a +Southern victory whom he named Robert Victor Lee; but later, after a +Confederate defeat, General O'Donnell suggested that the name be changed +to Robert "Skedaddle" Lee, whereupon Mr. Horsey retorted that he thought +the name of a grandchild of General O'Donnell might appropriately be +changed to George "Retreat" McClellan. Of Charles Oliver O'Donnell, one +of the General's sons, I retain the pleasantest memories. He was a +gentleman of attractive personality and a genial nature. His first wife +was Lucinia de Sodré, daughter of Luis Pereira de Sodré, who at the time +of his daughter's marriage was the Brazilian Minister in Washington. Mr. +O'Donnell's second wife was Miss Helen Sophia Carroll of Baltimore. + +After remaining a few months in New York and a shorter period in +Washington, we visited Mr. Gouverneur's father, who was still living at +Needwood in Maryland. Here we found a radical change of scene, for we +were now in close proximity to the seat of war. On our journey southward +we were somewhat delayed by the rumor that General Lee was about to +enter Maryland, rendering it necessary for us to procure passes, which +was accomplished through the courtesy of General Edward Shriver, a +native of Frederick, who held at the time an important official position +in Baltimore. We had thought when we arrived in New York that public +feeling ran high, but it was mild compared with our observations and +experiences in Maryland, and we never dared to predict what a day would +bring forth. Mr. Gouverneur's father was a pronounced Northern man, but +his wife's relatives, as well as most of his neighbors, sympathized with +the South. Soon after the outbreak of the war, while we were yet in +China, and at the period when Maryland was wavering between the North +and South, and to anxious spectators secession seemed almost inevitable, +my father-in-law and ex-Governor Philip F. Thomas left one morning on a +hurried trip to Frederick, where the State Legislature was convened in +special session, instead of at the State Capitol in Annapolis, which was +then occupied by Union troops. A report had reached them that the +legislature would probably declare for secession and call a convention +to take into consideration an ordinance for the accomplishment of that +end, and they desired to exert whatever influence they could command to +retain the State in the Union. The national administration, however, was +equally alert, and a measure much more effective, in this instance, than +moral suasion was employed to defeat the adherents of the Southern +cause. General John A. Dix arrested ten members-elect of the State +Legislature, the mayor of Baltimore, a congressman and two editors; +while in Frederick, General Nathaniel P. Banks took into custody nine +other members who, under the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, +were confined for a time either in Fort Lafayette in New York or in Fort +Warren in Boston. I well remember that one of these was Severn Teackle +Wallis of Baltimore, a lawyer of exceptional prominence and ability and +a universal favorite in society. + +Shortly before the battle of Gettysburg, when Frederick County was +occupied by the Union troops, many of the officers dined at Needwood. A +little later, although over forty miles away, we knew that a great +battle was in progress, as we distinctly heard the steady firing of +heavy artillery. The news of the great Union victory finally reached us +and I listened in silent sympathy to the rejoicing of the Unionists and +heard the lamentations of the sympathizers with the Southern cause. + +After the battle of Gettysburg, the disorganized Southern army came +straggling along through Maryland, their objective point being Harper's +Ferry; while General George G. Meade with his troops was on South +Mountain, within sight of the former locality. During the night there +arose one of the most violent storms I have ever known, and we naturally +supposed that it would render the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers, which +meet at Harper's Ferry, absolutely impassable, as all bridges had, of +course, been destroyed. The storm raged with such fury that we were +actually afraid to go to bed. Mr. Gouverneur and I were elated because +we believed it meant the end of hostilities and the Union restored; for +in our opinion, it seemed impossible for human beings to successfully +contend with the elements and at the same time to live under the fire of +Meade's guns. It would therefore be difficult to describe our surprise +when we learned the next morning that Lee's troops had safely crossed +the Potomac and were again on the soil of Virginia. + +Several days later Mr. Gouverneur and I were driving on the national +turnpike, commonly called the Hagerstown pike, when we encountered the +Union army. Our destination was the country seat of ex-Governor Philip +F. Thomas, two miles from Frederick and within the shadow of Catoctin +mountain, which we were contemplating as a future home. Our travel was +not impeded except by an occasional inquiry in regard to our political +sentiments, as the Northern army was prone to believe that every +sojourner in Maryland at this time was an adherent of the South. This +national turnpike, which has been and still is a well-traveled +thoroughfare, was constructed at a cost of several million dollars and +was generally regarded as an extravagance of John Adams' administration. +In speaking of this road, which begins at Georgetown, D.C., and crosses +the mountains into Kentucky, Henry Clay once remarked that no one need +go abroad for scenery after viewing "the Valley of the Shenandoah, +Harper's Ferry, and the still more beautiful Middletown valley." + +We were so favorably impressed by the Thomas place that we decided to +purchase it and in a short time found ourselves permanent residents of +Frederick County, in Maryland. We changed the name from "Waverley" to +"_Po-ne-sang_," which was the name of a Chinese Mission and meant "a +small hill." After seeing the children and myself comfortably +established in our new home, Mr. Gouverneur felt that he was now free to +give his services to the country for which he had so valiantly fought +during the Mexican War. As he was still in exceedingly delicate health, +active service in the field with all the exposures of camp life was +entirely out of the question but, desirous of rendering such services as +he could, he wrote the following letter to Major General Henry W. +Halleck, Commander in Chief of our Army:-- + + On my return from China, where I held the office of Consul + of the U.S., in the early part of May last I had the honor, + through the Honorable Secretary of State, to offer my + services to the President of the United States in any + capacity in which my military or other experience might + enable me to serve my country in its present hour of peril. + To my communication to this effect I have received no reply. + + I have the honour now to tender to you my services on your + staff in some position wherein they may prove most + available. + + The record of my former services in Mexico is on the files + of the War Department, and I am without vanity led to + believe that the historical associations which place my name + in connection with that of James Monroe may give a prestige + in our cause not wholly valueless. In conclusion I beg to + add that the subject of compensation with me would be a + matter of indifference. + +General Halleck replied as follows:-- + + Washington, July 30, 1863. + + Samuel L. Gouverneur Jr. + New York. + + Sir, + + The law authorizing the appointment of additional aides has + been repealed. Moreover, I have long since refused to + nominate except for distinguished or meritorious military + services. It is true that some have been put upon my staff + without having rendered any service at all, but they were + not nominated by me, and I do not recognize their + appointment as legal. + + Yours &c., + + H. W. HALLECK, + Major General Commanding. + +General Halleck seemed to be ignorant of the fact that the chief +requisite for serving upon his staff was not wanting in the case of my +husband, who, as before stated, was brevetted for gallantry and +meritorious conduct at the battles of Contreras and Churubusco in the +Mexican War. + +Halleck's reply was a bitter disappointment to Mr. Gouverneur but a +tremendous relief to me, as I knew he was not in the condition of health +to serve even as a staff-officer. When he originally broached the +subject to me I did not try to dissuade him, as I felt that I had no +moral right to interfere with his ideas of duty to his country. The +Halleck letter, therefore, brought about a state of affairs in our +household much more satisfactory than my most sanguine anticipations. +Mr. Gouverneur, having done his full duty, gave up his idea of +re-entering the Army and, in a spirit of contentment, began to take up +life in our new home. + +During the month of August, 1863, we had just gotten fairly settled +when the Confederate guerrilla chieftain, John S. Mosby, appeared at our +door with his band of marauders. Their visit was brief and we were +spared the usual depredations--why, we knew not, unless it were owing to +the fact that Mr. Gouverneur's nephew, James Monroe Heiskell, a mere boy +of sixteen, who ran away from home and swam across the Potomac to join +Mosby's band, possibly accompanied him. Mosby's men in the East and +Morgan's rangers in the West represented a species of ignoble warfare. +In reality they did not benefit the cause which they professed to serve, +but merely molested inoffensive farmers by carrying off their stock and +thus depriving them of their means of livelihood. In recent years I +discussed with a Confederate officer, the late General Beverly +Robertson, Mosby's mode of warfare, and he surprised but gratified me +very much by saying that in his opinion, it was a great injury to the +Southern cause. It seems hardly just that, during President Grant's +administration and later, official positions should have been bestowed +upon Mosby while the interests of other Confederate officers who had +fought a fair and honorable fight and had battled, moreover, for their +country during the Mexican War, should have been neglected. + +These war experiences furnished strenuous days for us in our new home +and we lived in a state of constant excitement. I well recall the first +morning it was announced to us by one of the colored servants, while we +were at the breakfast table, that "the rebels were coming," and the +feeling of timidity that nearly overpowered me. Very soon some troops +under the command of General Bradley T. Johnson, a native of Frederick, +marched upon our lawn and encamped all around us. General Johnson +immediately came to our door and, although I was in anything but a +comfortable frame of mind, I summoned all my courage and met him at the +threshold. In a very courtly manner--too much so, in fact, to be +expected in time of war--he remarked, "You are a stranger here, madam." +I responded: "My life here has been short; my name is Gouverneur." He at +once said: "I suppose you are a relative of Mr. Gouverneur of the +Maryland Tract." I admitted the fact although I was not quite sure it +was discreet to do so, as the Union sentiments of my father-in-law were +generally well known, and I was talking to a Confederate General. He and +his officers spent some time with us and we found them exceedingly +friendly, and thus, at least for a time, the terrors of war were +averted. Many years later I met General Johnson in my own drawing-room +when he and his wife came from Baltimore to attend the wedding of my +daughter, Ruth Monroe, to his cousin, Doctor William Crawford Johnson, +of Frederick. We naturally discussed our first meeting when he was +greeted with less cordiality than he received during his present visit. + +Upon learning of the approach of the Confederates, we made rapid +preparations for their advent. As we had learned from our neighbors that +the South stood in great need of horses and we owned a number of them of +more than usual value, Mr. Gouverneur seized upon an ingenious plan for +concealing them. Under our house was a fine cellar which, unfortunately, +the horses refused to enter until the steps leading into it were +removed. When this had been done, they were led down one by one into a +darkened room, and bags were securely tied over their eyes to prevent +them from neighing. During the visit of the Confederates, which seemed +to us interminably long, owing to our anxiety about the horses, General +Johnson sat directly over their hiding place; but they behaved like +well-bred beasts and never uttered a sound. I had serious misgivings, +however, when I saw a mounted officer, riding around the house to make a +survey of the premises, stop at the upturned steps. For a moment I +thought all was over and my feelings were akin to those, I fancy, of a +person secreting stolen goods; but the investigation happily went no +further and he rode on. + +When the active preparations for hiding the horses were in progress my +children were running hither and thither and watching the process with +much interest and excitement. I called them to me and in my sternest +tones told them of the near approach of the soldiers and gave them to +understand that if they said "horse" or "rebel devil" in their presence +I should punish them severely. They had been taught by the negroes on +the place to call the Southerners "rebel devils," and I feared for the +result if they allowed their childish tongues to wag too freely. A few +hours later I spoke to one of the little girls upon some topic entirely +foreign to our original subject, but she was so overawed by my threat +and the presence of the troops that she seemed afraid to utter a word. +After a little encouragement, however, she crept up to my side and +whispered: "Mamma, they have taken all of our saddles!" General Johnson +was still sitting on our porch, when a soldier approached and asked for +an ax. One was immediately procured, when the General, asking the man's +name, said: "That ax is to be returned." This order struck me as +somewhat ludicrous when a little later I learned that the ax was to be +used in demolishing all of our fences! This precaution was deemed +important in order to facilitate, if necessary, a more speedy retreat. + +As night approached we were asked if a guard would be acceptable, and we +were only too glad to avail ourselves of such protection. As we were +closing the house for the night, after our strenuous day, one of the +soldiers on guard duty remarked to me, in a friendly voice: "Now I am +going to bed!" In my astonishment I said: "Where?" The smiling response +was: "On the porch, to be sure!" In this state of unrest there was no +repose for us that night and we did not even attempt to undress, as we +knew not what an hour might bring forth. Just before dawn there was a +knock upon the front door and, upon opening it, I found facing me a +guard who, without any apology, said: "I left my boots inside!" Before I +had locked the front door again and returned to my room, the Southerners +had "folded up their tents like the Arabs and as silently stolen away." +Only a short period had elapsed when several mounted officers dashed up +our driveway and anxiously inquired: "Where are the guards?" They gave +me only time enough to say, "They have gone," when they rode rapidly +away. We came to the conclusion that they were young men visiting their +relatives and friends in Frederick and that the retreat was so sudden +that no word of warning could be sent them. + +We realized the next day that the hasty departure of the Confederates +was timely, as the Union Army was encamped all around us. Some of the +officers came to see us and Mr. Gouverneur invited them to dine. This +was a period of sudden transitions, for that night the Union Army +retreated and the next day the Confederates were with us again, dining +upon the remnants of the meal left by their adversaries. It was all we +had to give them, as all our colored servants, having been told that +they would be captured and taken further South, had fled upon hearing of +the second visit of the Confederates. This was naturally a trying +experience for me, as no servant except a Chinese maid was left upon the +place and I was in a strange locality. But luckily I found the last set +of officers pleasant and congenial and ready to make due allowance for +all household deficiencies. Several of them were natives of Loudoun +County, Virginia, and were familiar with our name, as they had lived +near Oak Hill, the estate of Mr. Gouverneur's grandfather, where my +husband had passed a portion of his early life. We soon learned that +country life during war times without satisfactory servants was much +more than either Mr. Gouverneur or I had sufficient courage or strength +to bear. This state of affairs resulted in my husband going to New York, +where he secured a family of Irish immigrants consisting of a woman and +three men. The relative positions of the two armies in our general +vicinity had meanwhile shifted several times and we never knew from day +to day whether we were destined to greet friend or foe. + +On the particular morning of which I am about to speak, the Confederates +were again with us. They were apparently unacquainted with the +topography of the surrounding country and were naturally desirous of +securing such information as should enable them, in case of necessity, +to effect a speedy and secure retreat. We received an early call from +several of their officers who inquired the way to the "Alms House Road." +We had been so busily engaged in trying to settle ourselves down under +such adverse circumstances that we knew actually nothing of the +surrounding country; and, when Mr. Gouverneur informed our visitors of +this fact, they looked at one another in such a decidedly incredulous +way as to convince us that they thought we were withholding information. +My husband finally sent for John Demsey, one of our Irish immigrants, +who had driven considerably around the adjacent country, and one of the +officers in a rather offensive manner renewed his query about the "Alms +House Road." To our chagrin, John's answer was, "I do not know;" and Mr. +Gouverneur, realizing that affairs were assuming a rather serious +aspect, said: "John, you do know; tell the officer at once." With true +Irish perspicacity he exclaimed: "Oh, sir, you mean the 'Poor House +road'--I know that;" and forthwith gave the desired information. In +anything but pleasant tones the Irish youth was told by the officers to +accompany them as guide, and the order was obeyed with both fear and +alacrity. Mr. Gouverneur then exacted from the commanding officer his +word of honor that the man be permitted to return, and remarked at the +same time, in an ironical manner, that if they continued to tear down +our fences and commit other depredations we should all of us know the +location of the Alms House. + +At a much later period General Jubal A. Early's Army passed our door _en +route_, as at least he hoped, for Washington. General John B. Gordon +sent an orderly to our house with his compliments to ask for a map of +Frederick County, which we were unable to supply. All through the day +the Southern troops continued to march by, until, towards sunset, the +rear of the last column halted in front of our place. As we knew that a +battle was imminent, we awaited the result with beating hearts and +anxious hopes. When the firing of cannon began we know that the battle +of the Monocacy had begun and were truly grateful that it was four miles +away! The battle was short and decisive and the Southern Army was +repulsed. The wounded soldiers were conveyed to Frederick, where +hospitals were improvised, and the dead were laid to rest in Mount +Olivet Cemetery, on the outskirts of the city. Both Northern and +Southern sympathizers became skilled nurses and their gentle +ministrations resulted in several instances in romantic attachments. +Among the young physicians left in Frederick to attend the wounded +soldiers was Doctor Robert S. Weir, who subsequently became +distinguished as a surgeon in New York City. While stationed at the +hospital in Frederick, he met a daughter of Robert G. McPherson, whom at +the conclusion of the war he married. Mrs. McPherson was Miss Milicent +Washington, who was a direct descendant of Colonel Samuel Washington, a +younger brother of George Washington, and whose five wives are all +interred in the graveyard at the old family home, Harewood, in Jefferson +County, Virginia. Mrs. McPherson, one of whose ancestors was Miss Ann +Steptoe, who married Willoughby Allerton, was also a niece of "Dolly" +Madison. + +Prior to the battle of the Monocacy I discovered that our house was +again surrounded by quite a number of Northern soldiers. This was an +usual occurrence, to be sure, but this time they were making such a +careful scrutiny of the premises that I was led to inquire of one of +them what object they had in view. To my utter dismay I was informed +that as our house was upon a hill they had selected it as "a position," +and that our safest place was in the cellar. We soon realized the wisdom +of this retreat as shells began to fly around us from several directions +and with much rapidity. We spent the greater part of the day +underground, wondering all the while how long our involuntary +imprisonment would last, as these dark and dismal quarters were +naturally a great restraint upon the children and exceedingly depressing +to Mr. Gouverneur and myself. + +Although Northern in our sentiments, we sometimes preferred the visits +of the Confederates to those of their adversaries, owing to the greater +consideration which we received from them. Upon the arrival of our own +soldiers, their first act was to search the house from garret to cellar. +At first I indignantly inquired their object and was curtly informed +that they were searching for "concealed rebels." I gradually tolerated +this mode of procedure until one morning when we were routed up at five +o'clock, and then I protested. The Union soldiers took it for granted +that, owing to the locality of our home, we were Southern sympathizers, +and accordingly at times seemed to do everything in their power to make +us uncomfortable. During those trying days I frequently recalled the +wise saying of Marechal Villars, "Defend me from my friends, I can +defend myself from my enemies." We noticed, however, a great difference +in the conduct of the various detachments of the Union Army with which +we came in contact. We always greeted the appearance of the 6th Army +Corps with much enthusiasm. It was composed of stalwart and sturdy +veterans of the regular Army; and I trust its survivors will accept my +humble tribute of respect and esteem. Very early in the morning of the +day following the departure of some members of this corps from +_Po-ne-sang_ a private appeared at one of our rear doors and inquired +when the troops had departed. He had been indulging in a sound sleep +under one of the broken fences and was wholly unconscious that his +comrades had moved away. He hesitated for some minutes as to the course +he should pursue and then hurried off toward Hagerstown. We subsequently +learned that he was shot at a point not far distant and were impressed +anew by the bloody horrors attending our Civil War. + +General David Hunter made frequent visits to Frederick and his approach +was regarded with terror by those in sympathy with the Southern cause. +It was he who performed the unpleasant duty of sending persons suspected +of disloyalty further South, thereby often separating families. Many of +his victims were elderly people and it is difficult for me at this late +day to describe the amount of distress these orders occasioned. I +remember one case particularly well, that of Dr. John Thomas McGill, a +practicing physician who, together with his wife, was ordered to proceed +immediately. Mrs. McGill was in very delicate health and the fright +caused by such summary proceedings, which by the way were not carried +out, tremendous Union influences having been brought to bear, resulted +in death. Many years after the war I attended a supper party at the home +of Judge and Mrs. John Ritchie, when the guests drifted into war +reminiscences. Dr. McGill was present and, as the conversation +progressed, he was so overcome by his emotion that an apoplectic stroke +was feared. + +During the numerous visits of the Confederate army to Frederick County, +General "Joe" Johnston became a great favorite and for some time made +his headquarters in the city of Frederick. I learned from Colonel +William Richardson, a beloved citizen of that place, that the General +was especially solicitous concerning the welfare of the men under his +command. One day, for example, he found one of his soldiers eating raw +persimmons and at once reproved him for partaking of such unsuitable +food. The soldier explained that he was adapting his stomach to the +character of his rations. Although we did not see Stonewall Jackson's +troops pass on their march to Frederick, we were aware of their presence +there. Barbara Frietchie, whom Whittier has immortalized, lived in a +small house on West Patrick Street, adjoining Carroll Creek, but whether +she ever waved a Union flag as Stonewall Jackson's men were passing is a +question concerning which opinions differ. Southern sympathizers deny +it, while persons of Northern sentiments living in Frederick assert that +the verses of the Quaker poet represent the truth. At any rate, a woman +with such a name "lived and moved and had her being" in that city. She +was interred in the burying ground of the German Reformed Church, and +frequently pilgrimages are made to her grave, over which floats a Union +flag not far from where + + The clustered spires of Frederick stand + Green-walled by the hills of Maryland. + +I may state, in passing, that it was during the Civil War that the word +"shoddy" was coined. It was originally used to designate a class of +inferior goods intended for use in the army from the sale of which many +fortunes were made. Later the word was employed to designate those who +used such goods; and thus, by extension, one heard not only of "shoddy +people," but also of "shoddy parties," "shoddy clothes," and so on. + +We heartily shared in the rejoicings of the North when General Lee +surrendered. In our country home we had lived in an actual condition of +camp life so long that at its conclusion I remarked to my husband in a +jocular vein that I was prepared for a life with the Comanches! We +restored our damaged fences, dug up our silver which had been buried +many months under a tree in the garden, and Mr. Gouverneur began to turn +his attention to agriculture. Our farm was among the finest in Frederick +County, which is usually regarded as one of the garden spots of the +country. Our social relations had been entirely suspended, as the +distractions attending the war had kept us so actively employed; but +that was now a past episode and we began making pleasant acquaintances +from Frederick and the surrounding country. Among our first visitors +were Judge and Mrs. William P. Maulsby; Richard M. Potts and his +brother, George Potts; Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Trail; the Rev. Dr. and +Mrs. George Diehl and their daughter Marie, who in subsequent years +endeared herself to the residents of Frederick; Mrs. John McPherson and +her daughter, Mrs. Worthington Ross; Dr. and Mrs. Fairfax Schley; Judge +and Mrs. John Ritchie; Mr. and Mrs. Jacob M. Kunkel; and the Rev. +Marmaduke Dillon-Lee, an Englishman who had served in the British Army +and at this time was the rector of All Saints Episcopal Church in +Frederick. He had been selected for this pulpit on account of his +neutral political views and we found in him a congenial acquaintance. He +remained in Frederick, however, for only a short period after the war +and was succeeded by the deservedly beloved Rev. Dr. Osborne Ingle, who, +after a pastorate of nearly half a century, recently passed to his +reward. I can not pass this Godly man by without an encomium to his +memory. He came to Frederick as a very young man and throughout his long +rectorship he was truly a leader of his flock and, like the "Good +Shepherd of Old," the sheep knew him and loved him. + +It did not take long for Mr. Gouverneur and me to discover that neither +of us was adapted to a country life under the conditions prevailing at +the close of the War--so very different from those existing in that +locality at a later period. He knew nothing of practical farming and I +knew nothing of practical cooking. Although I was never entirely without +domestic service, as I always had with me the Chinese maid whom I had +brought from the East, we were not fitted, at the best, for such a life. +The result was that after one winter's experience we made _Po-ne-sang_ +only our summer home. During the trials and tribulations of that distant +winter I often recalled a remark which Lord Chesterfield is said to have +made to several persons whom he disliked: "I wish you were married and +settled in the country." It has even been asserted that, in his +absentmindedness and excitement incident to encountering an infuriated +cow, he addressed the beast with the same words. This was a favorite +anecdote of General Scott, and it appealed to me then as well as now, as +I regard country life a forlorn fate for all women excepting possibly +those who are endowed with large wealth with which to gratify every +passing whim. + +The primitive life we led at _Po-ne-sang_ was full of annoyances and +discouragements. For example, we had no running water in our house and +were supposed to supply ourselves from a cistern in the yard which had +contracted the bad habit of running dry and for inconvenient periods +remaining so. We were therefore compelled to carry all our water from a +neighbor's spring at least a quarter of a mile away. We tried to remedy +this defect by boring an artesian well, but all our attempts were +unsuccessful. Country life was distasteful to cooks as they preferred to +live in a city where they could make and mingle with friends, and I soon +learned that if I wanted to keep a servant I must hire one who had a +baby, and that is just what I did. Although country life was distasteful +to her, too, she took her dose of medicine because she could not help +herself as no one else would employ her. Often these babies were a +source of great care to me, as their mothers would neglect +them--sometimes from ignorance but more frequently from sheer +indifference. I remember one cook whose baby, owing to the lack of +proper attention, was actually in danger of starving to death. She kept +it in a wooden box under a tree in the garden, and I was obliged at +stated intervals to see that the child was fed. + +During our summers at _Po-ne-sang_ our servants made both hard and soft +soap in a large kettle which swung from an iron tripod in the yard. They +also made apple and peach butter, a German marmalade that was highly +regarded in that section of the country. The apples or peaches were +allowed to cook slowly all day in a kettle suspended from the tripod and +were stirred by wooden paddles, whose handles were long enough to enable +them to be worked at a convenient distance from the fire. In making this +marmalade, cider was regarded as an important ingredient and the sugar +was seldom added until the last. Mr. Gouverneur experimented somewhat in +wine making. His success was almost phenomenal and we enjoyed the fruits +of his labor for many years. He used Catawba grapes entirely, which were +brought to our door in wagon-loads by the country folk who surrounded +us. + +The Maryland mountaineers, as I knew them, were very similar in life and +character to those in North Carolina, of whom more or less has been +written the last few years. They had peculiar customs as well as quaint +modes of action and expression, and invented names for things and +conditions to suit themselves. I remember, for example, that when +persons showed signs of physical illness and the exact nature of their +maladies was uncertain they were said to have "the gobacks." Frederick +County was settled by the early Germans and many of their expressions +are still in vogue. A peach dried whole with the seed retained is +called a _hutzel_, and dried apples are _snitz_. In this connection I am +reminded of a German family named House, which resided in Frederick and +consisted of four maiden sisters. Their means were limited and they eked +out their living by stamping from original designs and taking in plain +sewing. Their front door was always locked and bolted, and to reach the +inmates it was necessary to pass through a gate leading into a long +alley and thence through a scrupulously clean kitchen and up the steep +and narrow back stairs to a small rear room, where sat these four +spinsters. The first one who met you said, "Good-morning," and the +others repeated the salutation in turn until the last one was reached, +who simply said, "Morning." This laughable procedure was followed in +their subsequent conversation, for one of them had only to lead off with +a remark and the others repeated the close of it. It is said that +Crissie, the youngest of the quartette, once had a beau with whom she +sat each night for many years in their prim parlor and that, when he +finally jilted her, one of her sisters was heard to remark, _àpropos_ of +the broken engagement: "Just think of all them candles wasted!" + +The second winter of our Maryland life was spent at a hotel in Frederick +where we formed a lasting friendship with our fellow boarders, Judge and +Mrs. John A. Lynch. With my historical as well as social tastes, I found +the McPherson household a source of great pleasure and intellectual +profit to me. I knew Mrs. "Fanny" McPherson, as she was invariably +called, only as an elderly woman who retained all the graces and charms +of youth. To listen to her tales of bygone days was a pleasure upon +which I even yet delight to dwell. She lived to a very great age +surrounded by her children, her grandchildren and her +great-grandchildren, and went to her grave beloved by all. She was the +granddaughter of Thomas Johnson, the first Governor of Maryland. I +remember reading on one occasion a letter which she took great pride in +showing me, written to her grandfather by Washington, offering him the +position of Secretary of State in his cabinet. This flattering offer he +declined, but to him is said to belong the honor of having nominated +Washington as Commander in Chief of the Army. + +Mrs. McPherson was nearly related to Mrs. John Quincy Adams, who was +Louisa Catharine Johnson of this same Maryland family, and, as she was +an occasional visitor at the White House during her relative's residence +there, she mingled with many prominent people. I recall a weird story +she once told me in connection with a daughter of Smith Thompson, +Secretary of the Navy under President Monroe. It seems she married the +Viscount Paul Alfred de Bresson, the third Secretary of the French +Embassy in Washington, and subsequently many elaborate entertainments +were given in her honor in Washington. She returned with her husband to +Europe and several months later her family received the announcement of +her death. As they had only recently received a letter from her, when +apparently she was in the best of health and spirits, they felt somewhat +skeptical and wrote at once for more definite information. A few weeks +later a package reached them containing her heart preserved in alcohol. +Mrs. McPherson's older daughter, Mrs. Worthington Ross, lived with her +mother and ministered with loving hands to her wants in her old age, +while the remainder of her life was devoted to unselfish labor in her +Master's vineyard. Her memory, as well as that of her only child, Fanny +McPherson Ross, who passed onward and upward before her, is still +revered in Frederick. + +Mr. Gouverneur and I also formed a pleasant acquaintance with Rev. Dr. +John McElroy, whose remarkable career in the Catholic Church is well +worthy of notice. Coming to this country as a mere lad, he engaged in +mercantile pursuits in Georgetown, D.C., and when about sixteen years +of age became a lay Jesuit and in 1817 entered the priesthood. After +ministering to Trinity church in Georgetown for several years, he was +transferred, at the request of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, to +Frederick, where he built St. John's church, a college, an academy, an +orphan asylum, and the first free school in the city. After remaining +there for twenty-three years and establishing a reputation for devotion +to his church and rare executive ability that made him one of the most +useful Jesuits in the country, he was sent back to his old church in +Georgetown and the following year went to the Mexican War as Chaplain in +the regiment commanded by Caleb Cushing. During our occasional +conversations it seemed to afford him more than usual pleasure to +discuss with me the ability of his distinguished military chief. After +the war he was sent to Boston, where he became pastor of St. Mary's +church, and built the Boston College and the Church of the Immaculate +Conception. At the age of ninety, he became blind and retired to the +scene of his early labors in Frederick, where, as the oldest Jesuit in +the world, he died in the fall of 1877. I remember meeting him one day +on the street when he proudly announced that it was his birthday and +that he was sixty-nine years of age. I knew him to be much older, and my +words of astonishment evidently revived his senses for, realizing that +he had reversed his figures, he corrected himself by adding, "I mean +ninety-six." At that time he was quite active, considering his extreme +age, and to the close of his life was much respected and beloved by the +residents of Frederick, irrespective of creed. I attended his funeral +and he was laid to rest in the burying ground of the old Novitiate which +he founded. It was then that I saw for the first time the grave of Chief +Justice Roger B. Taney. The two-story brick house in Frederick in which +he lived is still standing, but it would be regarded with contempt by +any of the present Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. +But how natural, for how changed are the times! In an eloquent address +subsequent to Taney's death, Charles O'Conor concluded with these words: +"May the future historian in writing of Judge Roger B. Taney sorrowfully +add, _Ultimus Romanorum_." + +Francis Scott Key, the author of "The Star-Spangled Banner," is also +buried in Frederick soil. For many years his remains reposed in an +unnoticed grave in Mount Olivet Cemetery but, through the efforts of the +citizens of Frederick, and especially of its women, an imposing monument +now towers above him surmounted by a superb male figure with +outstretched arms. While living in Maryland I frequently met Chief +Justice Salmon P. Chase at the residence of Mrs. Margaret Goldsborough, +and was much impressed by his imposing presence and courtly bearing. +Many years before, he had been a tutor in the Frederick College, which +still survives and whose walls bear the inscription "1797." Mrs. +Goldsborough was a lifelong resident of Frederick and a woman of a high +degree of intelligence. Her daughter, Miss Mary Catharine Goldsborough, +I always numbered among my most cherished friends. + +After a pleasant sojourn of a number of months in Frederick, we went to +spend the summer at _Po-ne-sang_, where we had the satisfaction of +entertaining quite a number of old friends, among whom was the Hon. +Lafayette S. Foster, then Vice-President _pro tempore_ of the United +States. Maryland was a familiar as well as a cherished State to him, as +in early life he had been a tutor in Centerville on the "Eastern Shore." +Mr. Foster's visit was decidedly uneventful to him, as he was there +entirely unheralded and without even a newspaper notice to announce his +coming and going. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +VISIT TO THE FAR SOUTH AND RETURN TO WASHINGTON + + +In the autumn of the same year I decided to make a long anticipated +visit to Mrs. John Still Winthrop in Tallahassee, whose marriage in +Gramercy Park I had attended so many years ago and which I have already +described. My two younger children accompanied me, but my oldest +daughter I left behind under her father's protecting care at the Misses +Vernon's boarding school in Frederick. This period seemed especially +suitable for such a long absence, as the whole time and attention of Mr. +Gouverneur was engrossed in editing for publication a posthumous work of +James Monroe, which was subsequently published by the Lippincotts under +the title, "The People the Sovereigns." We sailed from New York and +stopped _en route_ in Savannah to enable me to see my old friend and +schoolmate, Mrs. William Neyle Habersham. Sherman in his "March to the +Sea" had passed through Georgia, carrying with him destruction and +devastation, and the suffering which this and other campaigns of the war +had brought into the homes of these Southern people it would be +difficult to describe. The whole South seemed to be shrouded in +mourning, as nearly everyone I met had given up to the "Lost Cause" a +husband or a son, and in some cases both. Two gallant sons of the +Habershams, mere boys, had died upon the same battlefield, and when I +saw Mr. Habersham for the first time after the war he was so overcome +with grief that he was obliged to leave the room. Talented to an unusual +degree and possessing much fortitude, his wife fought bravely for the +sake of her dear ones still spared her, but every now and then her +sorrow asserted itself anew and seemed more than her bleeding soul could +bear. She was especially gifted with her pen, and about ten years after +the war, while her heart was still wrung with grief, she wrote the +following pathetic lines:-- + + Up above, the Pines make sweet music; sad, plaintive, for + must there not be a tone of "infinite sadness" in all the + places of Earth's finite gladness? From a spray of jessamine + I hear the chirp of a little bird--a young beginner; it + tries over and over again "its one plain passage of few + notes"--the prelude to the full-voice anthem which summer + will harmonize. Ah! what shades and sunlight! what coloring! + Green in the grass and trees, blue in the violets and sky, + gray in the moss, yellow in the jessamines, falling around + in a perfect Danæan shower of burnished gold! My truant + fancy sees all this--and more! A dear hand that held mine, a + "pure hand," a boy's hand, that ere many summers had spread + out their gorgeous pageantry had drawn the sword for that + dear summer-land of the jessamine and pine--had drawn the + sword and dropped it; dropped it from the earnest, vigorous + clasp of glorious young manhood to lie still and calm, + life's duty nobly done; ah, a short young life but ... and + then the other young soldier! for is not my sorrow a twin + sorrow? Can they be dissevered? In death they were not + divided. My eyes grow dim. Wipe away the mist, poor mother! + to see the dear faces of sons and daughters gracing the + board. Let the blue of the violets breathe to thee rather of + endless skies and an eternal Heaven, where earth's finite + sadness is beautified into infinite gladness. + +We finally reached Tallahassee, where we found the most cordial welcome +awaiting us. Mrs. Winthrop lived in the very heart of the city but our +surroundings were much more beautiful than I can describe, for the +orange trees and hyacinths and jessamine in full bloom and other wealth +of semi-tropical vegetation were suggestive of an earthly Paradise. +Since we last met my hostess had become a widow, but fortunately she and +her only son, who was then just emerging into manhood, had not felt the +personal vicissitudes of the struggle, as they had taken refuge in the +mountains of North Carolina. Before the war the Winthrops had owned +hundreds of slaves and most of them, in a state of freedom, were still +living in quarters only a short distance from the house and were working +on her plantations just as though the war had not made them free. But +both among those who suffered from the war and those who escaped its +ravages the unfriendly feeling entertained at this time against their +Northern brethren was naturally intense. I remember that one Sunday +morning a young son of Mrs. Custis, who with his mother was then an +inmate of the Winthrop household, asked his mother, who had just +returned from the early service of the Episcopal Church, whether "the +'Yankees' went up to the same communion table with the Southern people." + +During my Tallahassee life I made the acquaintance of Madame Achillé +Murat, who lived in an old mansion outside of the city limits. She was +Miss Catharine A. Willis of Virginia, and a great-grandniece of General +Washington. Upon her marriage to Achillé Murat he took her abroad, where +she was received with much distinction on account of her Washington +blood. Then, too, her marriage into such an illustrious French family +was an open sesame to the most exclusive circles of society. She was an +elderly woman when I met her, but her conversation abounded with the +most interesting reminiscences of her life in France. She died in the +summer of 1867. Achillé Murat was the son of Joachim Murat, the great +Marshal of Napoleon, whose sister Caroline he married and became King of +Naples. Many years later his two sons came to this country. One of them +settled in Bordentown in New Jersey, and Achillé Murat, after his +marriage to his Virginia bride, became a resident of Florida. Madame +Murat told me of some of the visits she made to France when the voyage +was long and tedious. She had many articles of _vertu_ around her, and I +especially recall a superb marble bust by Canova of her mother-in-law, +Queen Caroline. I expressed surprise at the extreme attractiveness of +the late Queen, as I had always understood that the Princess Pauline, +Napoleon's other sister, was the family beauty. Madame Murat, however, +told me I was mistaken and that her royal mother-in-law was, in that +respect, quite the equal of her sister. + +During my acquaintance with Madame Murat, Napoleon III. was on the +throne of France, and I learned from our many friendly chats that her +relations with her distinguished kinspeople were of the most cordial +character; and I am informed that for many years the Emperor gave her an +annuity. Hanging in her drawing-room, whose contents were replete with +historic association, were two handsome portraits of the Emperor and +Empress of France, which she called to my attention as recent gifts from +her royal relatives. That prince of hosts, Gouverneur Kemble, once told +me an amusing incident _àpropos_ of Achillé Murat's resourcefulness +under peculiar difficulties. On one occasion quite a number of foreign +guests appeared at the Frenchman's door and, although Florida is a land +"flowing with milk and honey," he was sorely perplexed to know what +would be "toothsome and succulent" to serve for their repast. Suddenly +an idea flashed upon him. He owned a large flock of sheep and, nothing +daunted, gave immediate orders to have the tips of their ears cut off. +These were served in due form, and his guests departed in total +ignorance of what they had eaten but fully convinced that America +produced the choicest of viands. + +Upon one of her numerous visits to France, Madame Murat was accompanied +to the Louvre by Mr. Francis Porteus Corbin, a Virginian whose +contemporaries proudly asserted was an adornment to any court. While +they were engaged in viewing the works of art, Madame Murat was joined +by Jerome Bonaparte, to whom she formally presented Mr. Corbin. When the +opportunity arose Bonaparte inquired of his kinswoman who "the elegant +gentleman" was. The ready response was: "Mr. Corbin, of Virginia." +"Well," was the ejaculation, "I had no idea there was so much elegance +in America." + +I think these pages will show that all through life I have had a decided +fancy for older men and women. I can hardly account for this taste +except by the fact that my predilections have always been of a decidedly +historical character. As another instance, I especially enjoyed my +meeting in the far South with Judge Thomas Randall, who made his home in +Tallahassee, but who was originally from Annapolis. He did not allow +advanced years to interfere with his social tastes, but frequently +accompanied us to parties, where his vivacity rendered him one of the +most acceptable of guests. Still another elderly gentleman with whom I +had the pleasure of becoming acquainted during this Southern sojourn was +Francis Wayles Eppes. He was the son of U.S. Senator John Wayles Eppes, +whose wife was Maria Jefferson, elder daughter of Thomas Jefferson. He +left Virginia many years prior to my acquaintance with him and settled +with several members of the Randolph family in Western Florida when it +was almost a wilderness. + +I left with keen regret this picturesque land of flowers and stately +oaks, but duty called me home, as my husband and little daughter were +growing impatient over our long absence. It would seem that the +observance of timetables differed in those days according to localities +and other circumstances. I was informed that the train I should take +from Tallahassee would leave _about_ such and such a time; but upon my +inquiring in Savannah as to whether the ship upon which I proposed to +embark for Baltimore would leave on time, I was explicitly told by its +captain that if I were a minute late I should not be one of its +passengers. + +After my return to Maryland, the home of our adoption, we abandoned the +idea of country life, sold our residence and took up our abode in +Frederick. My children were now reaching an age when education became an +important matter and I took advantage of the Frederick Female Seminary, +an institution that has since become a college, as an excellent place to +which to send my eldest daughter. It was during this period of +transition that it was my good fortune to meet for the first time the +wife of the Hon. Henry Gassaway Davis of West Virginia, who was a native +of Frederick and a daughter of Gideon Bantz. Her two older daughters, +Hallie, the widow of U.S. Senator Stephen B. Elkins, and Kate, who +subsequently became the wife of Robert M. G. Brown of the U.S. Navy, +were boarding pupils at the same school; and Mrs. Davis frequently +visited them while there. My daughters formed an intimate friendship +with Mrs. Brown, whom at a later day we often welcomed as a guest in our +Washington home. She has since passed "over the river," having survived +her mother for only a few months, and her memory is hallowed in my +family circle. Mrs. Elkins, the promising young girl of so many years +ago, is widely known in Washington and elsewhere for her womanly tact, +intelligence and fine presence. Grace, another of Mrs. Davis' daughters, +is now Mrs. Arthur Lee of Washington, but was born after my earlier +acquaintance with her mother in Frederick. Loved and admired, she +resides in Washington surrounded by an exclusive coterie, and devotes +much of her time and means to works of philanthropy. + +The prominent authoress, Mrs. Elizabeth F. Ellet, was repeatedly our +guest while we were living in Frederick. A volume of her poems had +appeared as early as 1835, and she subsequently published quite a number +of books which were highly regarded. When she first came to visit us, +her "Women of the American Revolution" had just appeared and her journey +to Maryland was for the purpose of collecting data for a new work which +later was published under the title of "The Court Circles of the +Republic." Besides being a gifted writer, Mrs. Ellet had considerable +histrionic ability, and I have now before me an old newspaper clipping +containing an account of an entertainment given by me in her honor when +she recited from "Pickwick Papers", "Widow Bedott" and "The Lost Heir." +Another party at which music and recitations were a prominent feature +was given to Mrs. Ellet in Frederick by Mrs. Charles E. Trail, a gifted +woman who thoroughly appreciated intellectual accomplishments wherever +found. + +My first acquaintance with the Hon. Joseph Holt, who at the time was +Judge Advocate General of the Army, began in Frederick in 1869. He was a +Kentuckian by birth and, after serving for a time as Postmaster General +under President Buchanan, succeeded, in 1860, John B. Floyd of Virginia +as Secretary of War. He made frequent visits to Frederick where he was +always the guest of the Rev. Dr. and Mrs. George Diehl. He was a typical +Kentuckian, over six feet tall, and in my opinion no one could have +known him well without being impressed by his intellectual ability. +After we returned to Washington to live, in 1873, Judge Holt was a +constant visitor at our home and I frequently attended handsome +entertainments given in his residence on Capitol Hill. Although I have +been in society more or less all of my life, I can say without hesitancy +that he more perfectly understood and practiced the art of +entertaining--it certainly _is_ an art, and possessed by but few--than +any other person I have ever known. His second wife, who was Miss +Margaret Anderson Wickliffe of Kentucky, had died in 1860 and, as he had +no children, he was living entirely alone. + +From my earliest acquaintance with Judge Holt I was deeply impressed by +the cloud of sadness that seemed to envelop him, and I never learned +until I had known him many years and really called him my friend that he +was laboring under a deep sense of wrong and injustice. Without entering +into exhaustive details, the main facts are substantially these: In 1865 +Mr. Holt was Judge Advocate General of the Army and as such was the +prosecuting officer before the Military Commission convened by order of +President Johnson for the trial of Mrs. Mary E. Surratt and others for +complicity in the assassination of Lincoln. The findings and sentence of +the Commission were accompanied by a recommendation signed by a majority +of its members in which they "respectfully pray the President, in +consideration of the sex and age of the said Mary E. Surratt, if he can, +upon all the facts in the case, find it consistent with his sense of +duty to the country, to commute the sentence of death, which the Court +have been constrained to pronounce, to imprisonment in the penitentiary +for life." This recommendation for executive clemency remained unknown +to the public until it was incidentally referred to by the Hon. Edwards +Pierrepont, counsel for the government in the trial of Mrs. Surratt's +son in 1867. This was followed in subsequent years, and after Andrew +Johnson had ceased to be President, by a controversy in which +reflections were made upon the personal and official integrity of Judge +Holt by the charge that he had never presented the recommendation for +clemency to the President. The matter finally sifted itself down to a +question of personal veracity between the ex-President and Judge Holt, +in which the latter affirmed that "he drew the President's attention +specially to the recommendation in favor of Mrs. Surratt, which he read +and freely commented on"; and was contradicted by the ex-President in +the assertion that "in acting upon her case no recommendation for a +commutation of her punishment was mentioned or submitted to me." + +The enemies of Holt accordingly held him indirectly responsible for Mrs. +Surratt's execution, and against such a charge he naturally rebelled +until the day of his death. The most cruel feature of the whole affair, +however, and the one which probably did more than anything else to +sadden and becloud the remaining days of Judge Holt's life, was the +personal disloyalty of an eminent citizen of his own State, who had been +his intimate friend from youth. I refer to James Speed, Andrew Johnson's +Attorney General. In 1883, after most of the prominent actors in the +scene were dead and the animosities caused by the controversy were +largely allayed--at a time, too, when Holt realized that he was growing +old and recognized more keenly than ever the importance of leaving +behind a final refutation of the calumnies that had been heaped upon +him--he appealed to Speed, who, he believed he had reason to assume was +in possession of the exact facts of the case; but all that could be +wrung from him were evasive words to the effect that he saw the petition +for clemency in the President's office, without intimating whether it +was before or after Mrs. Surratt's execution, and that he did not "feel +at liberty to speak of what was said at cabinet meetings." An exchange +of letters followed between the two in which Speed excused himself for +six months on the pleas of bereavement and press of business, and that +he had lost his glasses, when he finally replied:--"After very mature +and deliberate consideration, I have come to the conclusion that I +cannot say more than I have said." It is no wonder, then, that Holt, +driven to desperation by such treatment, wrote to Speed:--"Your +forbearance towards Andrew Johnson, of whose dishonorable conduct you +have been so well advised, is a great mystery to me. With the stench of +his baseness in your nostrils you have been all tenderness for him, +while for me ... you have been as implacable as fate." + +While spending the summer of 1888 in Princeton, Massachusetts, I read in +the _North American Review_ for July of the same year the correspondence +relating to the Surratt question between Holt and Speed in 1883. Knowing +Judge Holt as I did, having firm faith in his version of the +controversy, believing him to be a victim of gross injustice and +realizing withal how keenly through all these years he had felt the +sting of misrepresentation, I wrote him a lengthy letter. It was not +long before I received his reply, and I copy it here, as I believe it +casts an additional sidelight upon a subject which caused this brilliant +and high-minded gentleman bitter suffering from which he never wholly +recovered. I add several more letters written to me by him which are +beautiful in expression but pathetic in character. + + WASHINGTON, August 26th, 1888. + + Mrs. M. Gouverneur, + + My dear Madam: + + Your kind letter of the 14th instant was quite a surprise, + but a very agreeable one I assure you. My reply has been + thus long delayed from an impression that it would probably + more certainly reach your hands if addressed to you at + Frederick. + + I have read and re-read your letter with increasing + gratification and thankfulness. Truly am I grateful for the + friendly spirit that prompted you to make so thorough an + examination of the Speed correspondence as your _résumé_ of + it discloses. That _résumé_ is in every way admirable. It + has the clearness and logical force of a first-class + lawyer's brief. Indeed, I was on the point of asserting that + you have a good lawyer's head on your shoulders, but prefer + saying that you have a head which obeying the inspirations + of your heart enables you to discern and _appreciate_ the + truth and extricate it, as well, from the entanglements of + chicanery and fraud. Be assured, my dear Madam, that I shall + treasure up your letter fondly, at once as a consolation and + as a powerful support of the endeavors which I have been + making for years to rescue my name from the obloquy of an + accusation, than which nothing falser or fouler ever fell + from the lips of men or devils. + + It was a severe shock for my faith in human nature when + General Speed--with whom I had maintained relations of + cordial friendship for some fifty years--suddenly allowed + himself to become a compliant coadjutor of Andrew Johnson in + his diabolical plot to destroy me. The _rôle_ of suppressing + the truth, which he voluntarily assumed for himself and in + which--without explanation or defense--he persisted down to + his grave, amounted fully to this and to nothing less. Yet + during all of that time he _knew_ me to be innocent, as well + as I myself knew and know it, and this he never denied. + Alas, Alas! what a masquerade is human life, and amid its + heady currents how rarely do we pause to think of the + possibilities that lurk under the disguise of its spotless + reputations! + + I should be rejoiced to hear that the Summer has strewed + flowers and only flowers on the paths of your "outing," and + that you will be able to return to Washington glad of heart + and reinvigorated for the social duties in which you find + and bestow so much pleasure. For my own isolated and infirm + life home was thought to be the best place, and hence I have + remained here happily finding under my own roof a + contentment that has left me without envy of those whose + more fortunate feet have sought the seashore and the + mountain slopes. You yourself, however, acted wisely and + well in going away, since the world is still pressing to + _your_ lips the sparkling cups, which for my own are now but + a dim, receding memory. + + I congratulate you on Miss Rose's approaching marriage which + you have been so good as to announce, and sincerely hope + that all the bright visions which the coming event must be + awakening will have an abounding fulfilment. The invitation + with which you have honored me is accepted with thanks, and + I shall attend the ceremony with the higher gratification, + realizing as I shall how closely your own happiness is bound + up with that of your daughter.[3] + + Faithfully and gratefully your friend, + + J. HOLT. + + * * * * * + + WASHINGTON, Nov. 3d, 1888. + + My dear Mrs. Gouverneur: + + I am in receipt of your very welcome letter of the 1st + instant and hasten to send the "Index" as requested. Hope it + may be of service in illustrating and supporting your + application. I shall preserve the Admiral's [Rear Admiral + Francis A. Roe, U.S.N.] emphatic words as a cherished + testimonial. The language of Mrs. Stanard is also very + grateful to me. Her favorable opinion is the more prized and + precious because she has known me so long and so well. + + And now, my dear good friend, how can I sufficiently thank + you for your generous interest in this trouble of + mine--which has been a thorn in my life for so many + years--and for your surpassingly kind offices which have + been so effectively exercised in connection with it? Be + assured that while my poor words cannot adequately express + it, my heart will always throb with gratitude for the tokens + of good will with which you have so honored and gladdened + me. + + I feel much complimented by so early a receipt of the + invitation to Miss Rose's wedding, and I shall have great + joy in being present. + + * * * * * + + Faithfully yours, + + J. HOLT. + + * * * * * + + WASHINGTON, D.C., January 21st, 1891. + + Dear Mrs. Gouverneur: + + I regret to be obliged to acknowledge the receipt of your + welcome letter by the hand of another, owing to the + condition of my eyes. For many weeks their inflammation has + prevented me from reading or writing, and I fear that this + condition will continue for a good while to come. So soon as + I am able to do so I will either write or have the pleasure + of calling on you. In the meanwhile believe me most grateful + for your letter which, however, has been but imperfectly + read. The darkened chambers of my life never had more need + than at present of the sunshine which your sympathizing + letters have always brought me. + + Very sincerely yours, + + J. HOLT. + + * * * * * + + WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 26th, 1893. + + Dear Mrs. Gouverneur: + + Your last two letters have been received and I thank you + heartily for them. As tokens of your continued friendly + remembrance they are precious to me. I am much obliged for + the privilege of reading the letter of Mrs. Vance [Mrs. + Zebulon B. Vance], which is herewith returned. It is another + of the many indications I have had of the subtle and wide + spread circulation given to the Johnson-Speed calumny to + which you refer. It seems to me that the poison is beyond + the reach of any human antidote, and that I must look to God + alone for shelter from it. Your generous and effective good + offices in this matter, so deeply affecting my reputation + and happiness, have filled my heart with an enduring + gratitude. + + Your unflagging solicitudes, too, for my poor waning life + have much added to that debt of gratitude, great as it was + and is. Let the good Lord be praised for ever and ever that + spirits such as yours have been born into the world. + + I am obliged to address you in this brief and unsatisfactory + manner by the hand of another. After two years and a half of + continued treatment I have as yet received no relief + whatever, nor do the eminent physicians who have treated me + afford me any encouragement for the future. While the world + feasts, it is evident that _my_ lot is and must be _ashes_ + for _bread_. + + Hoping that you are drinking yourself freely from the + fountain of happiness you open for others, I remain + + Very sincerely your friend, + + J. HOLT. + + * * * * * + + WASHINGTON, D.C., April 12, 1893. + + My dear good friend: + + I regret much to be obliged to communicate with you by the + hand of another, but my poor life seems to be fixed by fate + on the down grade, and at present there is no encouragement + to believe that the future has anything better in store for + me. + + I send you a number of the North American Review containing + the correspondence to which you refer between General Speed + and myself. In it there is also a detached printed letter of + Colonel Brown which is important. And I must ask that both + this letter and the number of the Review be carefully + preserved and after their perusal by your friend be returned + to me, as I have no other copies and wish to preserve these. + I am sorry that the sad circumstances of my condition + prevent me from thanking you in person for your continued + interest in my reputation which has been so basely assailed, + but I trust as triumphantly vindicated. + + I thank you sincerely for what you have said of Mrs. Kearny. + It would be a great gratification to me to have an interview + with her on the long, long ago, but this is a pleasure which + I now have no encouragement to promise myself. + + Believe me most grateful for the repeated calls and + inquiries as to my health which you have been so good as to + make. Such calls are precious fountains of consolation that + will not go dry. + + Very sincerely your friend, + + J. HOLT. + +It has been asserted upon high authority that after the conviction and +sentence of Mrs. Surratt her daughter Anna, as well as Catholic priests +and prominent men in Washington, attempted to see the President in order +to intercede for executive clemency in her behalf, but were denied +admission by Preston King, Collector of the Port of New York and then a +guest at the White House, and by U.S. Senator James Lane of Kansas. It +has also been said that Mrs. Stephen A. Douglas succeeded in reaching +the President by pushing herself past the guards, but her attempts in +behalf of the condemned woman were fruitless. + +I knew Preston King very well and his political career interested me +deeply. He was from St. Lawrence County, New York, and in my girlhood I +often heard it asserted that the mantle of Silas Wright had fallen upon +him. I saw much of him in 1849 when I was visiting the Scotts in +Washington, and was particularly impressed by his exceptionally +sensitive nature. General Scott once told me that at one period of his +military career he was ordered to quell a disturbance between Canadians +and Americans near Ogdensburg, the home of Mr. King, and that the latter +was so seriously affected by the scenes he witnessed at that time that +it was long before he recovered his normal condition of mind. During +President Johnson's administration Mr. King, while Collector of the Port +of New York, boarded a Jersey City ferry boat one morning, attached +weights to his person and jumped into the river. When the news of his +death reached me I was not surprised as I had seen evidences of his +nervous temperament which might well result in acts indicative of an +unbalanced mind. He was a man of big heart and exceptional ability, and +in his death the State of New York lost one of her most gifted and +distinguished sons. + +The Frederick County agricultural fairs, as far back as my memory of +that quaint Maryland town goes, have always been a feature of special +interest not only to the farmers of that productive region but also from +a social point of view. In bygone days some of the most distinguished +men of the nation made addresses at these "cattle shows," as they were +called by the country folk. I recall the visit of President Grant on one +of these occasions when he was the guest of Mrs. Margaret Goldsborough. +He was accompanied by General Sherman and made a brief address. The +evening of the day these distinguished guests arrived Mrs. Goldsborough +gave a dinner in their honor, which Mr. Gouverneur and I attended. The +entertainment was served in the style then prevalent among old Maryland +families in that vicinity, the _pièces de resistance_ being chicken, +fried to perfection, at one end of the table together with an old ham on +the opposite end. To these were added "side trimmings," enough to almost +bury the table under their weight. President Grant was then filling his +first term as Chief Executive of the nation and, although Mr. Gouverneur +had known him in Mexico, it was my first glimpse of the distinguished +man. As a whole we were a merry party, but Grant was a reticent guest. +General Sherman, however, as usual made up for all deficiencies in this +line, and as he sat next to me I found him to be a highly agreeable +conversationalist. This dinner party proved a great social success and +at its conclusion a number of prominent citizens called to pay their +respects to the guests of honor. + +The next year Horace Greeley was the orator of the day at the Frederick +fair, and it fell to our lot to entertain him. He wrote the following +letter to my husband:-- + + NEW YORK TRIBUNE, New York, Oct. 1, 1871. + + Dear Sir: + + I expect to be duly on hand to fulfil my engagement to speak + at your County Fair and to stop with you, if that shall be + agreeable to those who have invited me. Will you please see + Mr. C. H. Keefer who invites me and say to him that I am + subject to his order and, with his consent, I shall gladly + accept your invitation. + + Yours, + + HORACE GREELEY. + + S. L. Gouverneur, Esq., + Frederick, Maryland. + +As Mr. Greeley about this time was appearing upon the political horizon +as a prospective presidential candidate, much interest was naturally +centered in his visit. His appearance was decidedly interesting. He was +of the blond type, past middle life and in dress anything but _à la +mode_. I am no student of physiognomy, but if the question had been +asked I should have said that his most prominent trait of character was +benevolence. He wore during this memorable visit the characteristic +white hat, miniature imitations of which during his presidential +candidacy became a campaign badge. I am the fortunate possessor of two +of these souvenirs. They are made of white metal and are attached to +brown ribbons, the color of the latter standing for B. Gratz Brown, the +candidate for Vice-President upon the Greeley ticket. + +This visit was the pleasing forerunner of a sincere friendship between +my husband and Horace Greeley. In our intimate association of a few days +we recognized as never before his conscientious purpose and intellectual +power, and Mr. Gouverneur was so deeply impressed by his remarkable +ability and sterling character that later in the same year he started a +newspaper in Frederick, which he called _The Maryland Herald_, with a +view of advocating his nomination for the Presidency. My husband had +never before been especially interested in politics, but he now entered +the political arena with all the enthusiasm of his intense nature, and, +at a mass meeting in Frederick, was chosen a delegate to the National +Liberal Republican Convention in Cincinnati, which resulted in the +nomination of Greeley and Brown. Although this party was largely +composed of Republicans who had become dissatisfied with the Grant +administration, it will be remembered that its candidates were +subsequently endorsed by the Democratic party at its convention in +Baltimore, and that the fusion of such hitherto discordant political +elements added exceptional interest to the subsequent campaign. The +venerable Thomas Jefferson Randolph, grandson of the author of the +Declaration of Independence, although he had reached the advanced age of +eighty years, was chosen as the temporary chairman of the Baltimore +Convention. The proceedings of the Cincinnati delegates were replete +with interest and the enthusiasm was intense. During the uproarious +demonstration in the convention hall, immediately following Greeley's +nomination, Mr. Gouverneur's friend, John Cochrane of New York, of whom +I have spoken elsewhere, in the excitement of the moment gave expression +to his delight in an Indian war dance, and other usual scenes of boyish +hilarity prevailed. + +My husband's paper had been the first of the Maryland press, and long +before the Convention, to place the name of Greeley at the head of its +columns, but others followed, and for a time the movement, both in that +State and elsewhere, appeared to gain strength and to assume formidable +proportions. Subsequent events, however, proved that it would have been +better if the newborn babe had been strangled at its birth, as it was +destined to enjoy but a brief and precarious existence. Although the +movement commanded the support of the united Democracy and enlisted the +active sympathies of able men from the Republican ranks--such as Carl +Schurz, Whitelaw Reid, Charles A. Dana, Charles Francis Adams, Lyman +Trumbull, David Davis, Andrew G. Curtin and many more--the voice of the +people pronounced for Grant, and in the latter part of the same month +that witnessed his defeat, poor Greeley died of a broken heart! + +Greeley's defeat was a severe blow to Mr. Gouverneur. As the member from +Maryland of the national committee of the Liberal Republican Party, he +had engaged in the contest with his characteristic ardor, and his +strenuous but unsuccessful efforts had made inroads upon his health that +he could but ill afford. Under the circumstances, a change of scene and +employment seemed highly expedient, and we accordingly decided to break +up our attractive home in Frederick and return to Washington, where so +much of Mr. Gouverneur's life had been spent and where I, too, had so +many pleasant associations. It was in the summer of 1873 that this plan +was consummated, and we began our second Washington life in a house +which we bought on Corcoran Street, near Fourteenth Street. It was one +of a row of dwellings built as an investment by the late George W. +Riggs, the distinguished banker, and was in a portion of the city which +still abounded in vacant lots. Houses in our vicinity were so widely +scattered that we had an almost uninterrupted view of that part of the +District boundary which is now Florida Avenue. As these were the days of +horse cars, it was my habit to stand in my vestibule and wait for a car, +as I could see it approaching a long distance off, although we lived +half a block from the route, which was on Fourteenth Street. The entire +northwestern section of the city, which is now a semi-palatial region, +was also, at that time, largely a sea of vacant lots. The only house on +Dupont Circle was "Stewart Castle," and the fashionable part of the city +was still that portion below Pennsylvania Avenue, bounded on the east by +Seventeenth Street, although the general trend in the erection of fine +residences was towards the northwest. Many of the streets were not +paved, but the _régime_ of Alexander R. Shepherd, familiarly called +"Boss Shepherd," changed all of this, and the work of grading commenced. +It was a trying ordeal for property owners, as it left many houses high +in the air and others below the customary grade, while many from the +ranks of the poorer classes, unable to meet the necessary assessments, +were forced to part with their homes. In the course of several years, +however, the situation righted itself. Cellars were dug and English +basements became prevalent, and it is only occasionally that one now +sees a house far above the level of the street. We sometimes hear the +praises of Mr. Shepherd sung, and without a doubt he made Washington +the beautiful city it is to-day, but he accomplished it only at a +tremendous cost--the sacrifice of many homes. Next followed the paving +of the streets with wooden blocks; and I was much surprised when they +were being laid on Fourteenth Street, as I recalled the time during my +earlier days in New York when they were used in paving Broadway, and I +also well remember how speedily they degenerated and decayed. I was +told, however, that this form of block was an improvement upon the old +style, and was induced to believe it until I saw Fourteenth Street and +Pennsylvania Avenue masses of holes and ruts! + +After we were fairly settled in our new home I made the pleasing +discovery that my next door neighbors were our old acquaintances, Mr. +and Mrs. Edmund Pendleton Gaines. Mrs. Gaines was Frances Hogan, a +former neighbor of ours in Houston Street in New York. William Hogan, +her aged father, was living with her, and their close proximity recalled +many early memories. He was a gentleman of broad culture and a +proficient linguist, and at an early age had accompanied his father to +the Cape of Good Hope. He formed an intimacy with Lord Byron at Harrow, +where he received the early portion of his education. Byron was not then +a student but was occupying a small room at Harrow, which he called his +"den." Another of Mr. Hogan's daughters, who is still living, wrote me +that at this time Lord Byron was a young man and her father a little +boy. She says: "Lord Byron often admitted my father to his room, when he +would make him repeat stories of his African life and describe the +occasional appearance of an orang-outang walking through the streets of +Cape Town." After his father's return to New York, Mr. Hogan attended +Columbia College, from which he was graduated in 1811, and afterwards +studied law. He subsequently purchased land in the Black River country +and did much to develop that portion of his native State. The town of +Hogansburg in Franklin County was named after him. He became a county +judge and member of Congress and later resided in Washington, where he +was employed in the Department of State, first as an examiner of claims +and then as an official interpreter. + +A short distance from our home and on the same street lived Dr. and Mrs. +Alexander Sharp with their large and interesting family of children, one +of whom, bearing the same name as his father, recently died in +Washington while a Captain in the Navy. Dr. Sharp's wife was a younger +sister of Mrs. U. S. Grant, and her husband was ably filling at the time +the position of U.S. Marshal of the District of Columbia. A few doors +from Mrs. Sharp's lived her sister-in-law, the widow of Louis Dent; and +in the same block, but nearer Thirteenth Street, were the residences of +two agreeable Army families, Colonel and Mrs. Almon F. Rockwell and +Colonel and Mrs. Asa Bacon Carey, the latter of whom was the niece of +the late Senator Redfield Proctor of Vermont. I formed a pleasant +friendship almost immediately with Mrs. Sharp and was always received +with much cordiality in her home. Corcoran Street, in fact, from a +social point of view, proved to be an ideal locality until its +tranquillity was disturbed by the advent of Mr. ---- and family, the +former of whom was the Washington representative of a prominent New York +daily paper whose columns had been strongly denunciatory of Grant and +antagonistic to his election, while they abounded in praises of Greeley. +Both Mr. and Mrs. ----were persons of much culture, but they were +unfortunate in their selection of a home, as the personal and political +sentiment of the neighborhood was friendly to Grant, while his family +connections, the Dents and Sharps, residing in that part of the city, +were deservedly popular. My own position was one of much delicacy. +Although I was especially fond of Mrs. Dent and Mrs. Sharp, I could not, +in view of Mr. Gouverneur's active interest in the Greeley campaign, be +quite so enthusiastic over the Grant administration as were most of my +neighbors, and, therefore, when I was invited by a mutual friend to call +upon Mrs. ----I had no hesitation in doing so. I was taken to task for +my act, however, by some of my friends, but I survived the rebuke and am +still alive to tell the tale. I was told that, several months after the +family just referred to was established in its Corcoran Street home, +Mrs. ----was returning unaccompanied to her residence one evening, when +a colored man, carrying a bucket of mud in one hand and a brush in the +other, ran after her and besmeared her clothing; but the Dents and +Grants were not of the class of people to approve of such a ruffianly +act, nor were any of the other decent residents in the community. If +Mrs. Sharp ever had any feeling in connection with my calling upon Mrs. +----, I never knew of it. Our relations were of the most cordial +character from the first, and when her niece, Nellie Grant, was married +to Algernon Sartoris she brought me a box of wedding cake, coupling with +it the remark that she knew of no one more entitled to it than +I--referring, I presume, to the associations connecting the Gouverneur +family with the White House. After the close of the Grant +administration, Dr. Sharp was appointed a paymaster in the Army and for +many years resided with his family in Yankton, Dakota. I remained in +touch with Mrs. Sharp, however, and for a long period we kept up an +active correspondence. + +At this period Vice-Presidents were not so much _en évidence_ as later, +and Vice-President and Mrs. Schuyler Colfax lived quietly in Washington +and mingled but little in the social world. During his life at the +Capital, Mr. Colfax repeatedly delivered his eloquent oration on +Lincoln, which concluded with the lines of N. P. Willis on the death of +President William Henry Harrison:-- + + Let us weep in our darkness, but weep not for him-- + Not for him who, departing, leaves millions in tears, + Not for him who has died full of honor and years, + Not for him who ascended Fame's ladder so high, + From the round at the top he has stepped to the sky. + +Directly back of us on Q Street lived an old and intimate friend of +mine, Mrs. Septimia Randolph Meikleham, the last surviving grandchild of +Thomas Jefferson. She was the widow of Dr. David Scott Meikleham of +Glasgow, who was a relative of Sir Walter Scott and died in early life +in New York. Mrs. Meikleham was the seventh daughter (hence her name +"Septimia," suggested by her grandfather) of Governor Thomas Mann +Randolph of Virginia and his wife Martha, the younger daughter of Thomas +Jefferson. She was born at Monticello and was familiarly known to her +intimate friends as "Tim," a name in surprising contrast with her +elegance and dignity. She bore a striking resemblance to her +grandfather, and, although a woman of commanding presence, was simple +and unaffected in manner. Strong in her convictions, attractive in +conversation and loyal in her friendships, she and her home were sources +of great delight to me, and it was pleasing to both of us that her +children and mine should have been brought into intimate contact. Mrs. +Meikleham and I often dwelt upon this family intimacy extending unbroken +from Jefferson and Monroe down to the fourth generation. In the same +block with Mrs. Meikleham lived Mr. and Mrs. John W. Douglas, the former +of whom, some years later, during the Harrison administration, was one +of the District Commissioners. A daughter of his is the wife of Henry B. +F. Macfarland, the late Senior Commissioner of the District, who, as +well as his wife, is universally respected and beloved in Washington. On +the same street, but on the other side of Fourteenth Street, Colonel and +Mrs. Robert N. Scott resided for many years; while just around the +corner, on Iowa Circle, in what was then a palatial home, lived Allan +McLane and his only child, Anne, who married from this house John +Cropper of New York. She is now a widow but lives in Washington, where +she is greatly beloved. In this same general region, on the corner of N +and Fourteenth Street, lived Lieutenant Commander (now Rear Admiral) and +Mrs. Francis J. Higginson, and the latter's attractive sister, Miss Mary +Haldane. + +Not far from our dwelling on Corcoran Street lived the attractive wife +of _Monsieur_ Grimaud de Caux, _Chancelier_ of the French legation, who +left unfading memories behind her. During our many delightful chats I +was much interested in the accounts of her early life and experiences in +Ireland, and I especially recall many things she told me concerning the +members of the Wilde family, with whom she had been quite intimately +associated. I learned from her that Oscar Wilde inherited his æsthetic +tastes largely from his mother. She was a woman of unusual type and +habitually dressed in white--at a time, too, before white garments had +become so generally prevalent. I was also told that Oscar Wilde's father +was an oculist of some prominence, and that he built a mansion so +singular in its construction that the wits of Dublin called it "Wilde's +eye-sore." + +Another of my intimate friends of those days was Mrs. Mary Donelson +Wilcox, widow of the Hon. John A. Wilcox, formerly Secretary of the U.S. +Senate, a Member of Congress and a veteran of the Mexican War. She was a +woman of rare intellectual ability, and subsequent to her husband's +death was for a time one of the official translators of the government. +She was the daughter of Colonel Andrew Jackson Donelson, a nephew of +President Jackson as well as his adopted son and private secretary. +General Jackson when President was a widower, and it was while Mrs. +Donelson was presiding as mistress of the White House that Mrs. Wilcox +was born. Her memory remained clear until her last illness, and her +recollections of prominent men and events, extending back to her +childhood, and especially those of her early life at the White House, +were of exceptional interest. I was especially amused by her account of +the prompt manner in which General Jackson sent her mother back to +Tennessee because she refused to accord social recognition to the wife +of General John H. Eaton, his Secretary of War. As is well known, this +was "Peggy O'Neal" who, before her marriage to Eaton, was the widow of +Purser John B. Timberlake of our Navy, who committed suicide while +serving in the Mediterranean. The relation which she sustained to the +disruption of Jackson's cabinet has passed into history and is too well +known to bear repetition here. As Colonel Donelson shared the views of +his wife, he resigned his position as the President's private secretary +and returned with her to Tennessee. He was succeeded by Nicholas P. +Trist of the State Department, but a few months later, through the +kindly offices of personal friends, they were both restored to Jackson's +favor and resumed their former functions in the White House. + +Just across the street from our home lived Mr. and Mrs. Bernard P. +Mimmack and the latter's mother, Mrs. Mary Bailey Collins, widow of +Captain Charles Oliver Collins of the U.S. Army, and a typical +representative of the New York gentlewomen of former days. She was one +of the Bailey family, which was much identified with the history of New +York, and she and her daughter, Mrs. Mimmack, were valuable additions to +our community. Of Mr. Mimmack, only recently deceased, I can speak only +in terms of the warmest praise. He was a true friend to me and many +times during my widowhood placed his ripe judgment and wide experience +at my command. + +As I first remember Professor and Mrs. Joseph Henry, they were living +with their three daughters in a portion of the Smithsonian Institution. +He was a man whose public career and private life commanded universal +respect, while his scientific discoveries, both at Princeton College and +at the National Capital, marked him as one of the most distinguished men +of his day. I am not qualified to pronounce upon his scholarly +attainments nor upon the estimate in which he is held by the learned +world of to-day, but it may be assumed that the eulogistic words of the +late Professor Simon Newcomb, himself a scientific giant, represent the +truth. "Professor Joseph Henry, first secretary of the Smithsonian +Institution," he wrote, "was a man of whom it may be said, without any +reflection on men of our generation, that he held a place which has +never been filled. I do not mean his official place, but his position as +the recognized leader and exponent of scientific interests at the +National Capital. A world-wide reputation as a scientific investigator, +exalted character and inspiring presence, broad views of men and things, +the love and esteem of all, combined to make him the man to whom all who +knew him looked for counsel and guidance in matters affecting the +interests of science. Whether anyone could since have assumed this +position, I will not venture to say; but the fact seems to be that no +one has been at the same time able and willing to assume it." + +The society circle in Washington in 1873 was small compared with that of +to-day. There was much less form and ceremony, fewer social cliques and +a greater degree of affability. The "Old Washingtonians" were more _en +évidence_ than now and the political element came and went without +disturbing in any marked degree the harmony of the social atmosphere. +There were, however, many in public life whose families were cordially +received into the most exclusive circles of Washington society and +enriched it by their presence. Mrs. Hamilton Fish held social sway by +the innate force of character and general attractiveness with which +nature had so lavishly endowed her. Mrs. James G. Blaine, whose husband +was in Congress when I first knew them, shared in his popularity. Mrs. +George M. Robeson, wife of Grant's Secretary of the Navy, lived on K +Street and kept open house. The Secretary of the Treasury and Mrs. +William A. Richardson, who lived in the old Hill house on H Street, were +well known and very popular. Francis Kernan, the junior Senator from New +York, with his wife and daughter, was seen everywhere. Thomas Kernan, +their son, who eventually became a Roman Catholic priest, was a great +dancer and a general favorite. Roscoe Conkling, the senior Senator from +New York, was socially disposed, but his wife, who was a sister of +Horatio Seymour, although well fitted for social life, took but little +part in it. She was a pronounced blond, wore her hair in many ringlets +and was _petite_ in figure. Senator and Mrs. Henry L. Dawes and their +intellectual daughter, Miss Anna, were highly esteemed by +Washingtonians. General Ambrose B. Burnside, Senator from Rhode Island +and a widower, lived on H Street, where he lavishly entertained his +friends. Senator Joseph R. Hawley and wife of Connecticut and the +latter's bright sister, Miss Kate Foote, resided in the Capitol Hill +neighborhood; while Senator Henry B. Anthony, also of Rhode Island and a +widower, was famous for his grasshopper turkeys, with which he liberally +supplied his guests at his home on the southwest corner of H and +Fourteenth Streets. This was the period when William E. Chandler was +beginning his prominent and successful political career. He lived with +his first wife and interesting family of boys on Fourteenth Street below +G Street. + +The social leader in Washington in 1873 was Mrs. Frances Lawrence +Ricketts, whose husband, General James B. Ricketts, U.S.A., had served +his country during the Civil War and on account of disabilities was +awarded a handsome pension. They lived on G Street between Eighteenth +and Nineteenth Streets and her Friday afternoons were festive +occasions. Mrs. Ricketts was no mean philanthropist in her way and a +certain wag once wrote-- + + Here comes Mrs. Ricketts + With a pocketful of tickets. + +The doggerel had a basis in fact as she frequently appeared in public +with tickets to sell for the benefit of some charitable object; and she +sold them, too, as but few had the courage to refuse her. She was an +exceedingly fine looking woman with a cordial manner and graceful +bearing. Mrs. Julia A. K. Lawrence, her mother, the widow of John Tharp +Lawrence, originally of the Island of Jamaica, lived with her, was quite +as fond of society as the daughter, and, although advanced in years, +seemed to have more friends and admirers than any woman I have ever +known. + +One day by chance I met her in the drawing-room of a mutual friend, Mrs. +Sallie Maynadier, where she shocked us by fainting. One of my daughters +wrote her a note of sympathetic inquiry and received in reply the +following answer. I regarded it as a somewhat remarkable note as its +writer was then approaching her ninetieth birthday. + + Pray accept my grateful thanks, my dear Miss Gouverneur, for + your kind attention in writing me such a lovely note. I wish + I had known you brought it. I would have been so much + pleased to see you in my room, which I could not leave + yesterday though very much better. I think the fainting was + from the heat of Mrs. Maynadier's parlour and the agitation + of the previous day, at the prospect of parting with my very + dear friends in the delicate state of dear Kate Eveleth's + health! I hope to hear to-day how she bore the journey, the + beautiful day very much in her favor! I can not close this + note without expressing my sincere wish that your mamma and + yourself will be so kind as to come and see me during the + winter. I know that Mrs. Gouverneur does not "pay visits" + but as I can no longer have the pleasure of meeting you at + our dear friend's I hope she will make an exception in favor + of such an old woman as myself, one too who has known and + loved so many of your father's family for generations, + dating back to President Monroe's family, when I was a child + in England and used to play often with your grandmamma + [Maria Hester Monroe]. Can you believe that a vivid memory + can turn back so many years? Ask your mamma to favour me and + come yourself to see + + Yours very truly, + + JULIA LAWRENCE. + + 1829 G Street, + Tuesday morning. + +An old family friend of Mrs. Lawrence and her daughter, the late Dr. +Basil Norris, U.S.A., a native of Frederick, resided in the Ricketts +home, and I am certain that his memory is still revered in the District. +When Mrs. Ricketts, upon her husband's death, broke up her Washington +home, Dr. Norris went to San Francisco to reside. A daughter of mine on +her way to join her husband in Honolulu was taken seriously ill in that +city and was attended by him with consummate skill. He was then on the +retired list of the Army, but had a large and fashionable practice in +his newly adopted home. + +In connection with Mrs. Lawrence my memory brings vividly before me my +old and valued friends, Mrs. Maynadier, widow of General William +Maynadier of the Ordnance Department of the Army, and her witty sister, +Kate Eveleth. To render acts of kindness seemed their natural avocation, +and I never think of them without recalling Sir Walter Scott's +description of a ministering angel. I have heard Mrs. Maynadier say that +at the time of her marriage her husband, then a young officer, was +receiving a salary of only six hundred dollars; and yet she reared a +large circle of children, her daughters marrying into prominent families +and her sons becoming professionally well known. Their father was Aide +to General Scott in the Black Hawk War and performed similar duty under +General Alexander Macomb. Their mother lived to see the fourth +generation of her descendants, many of whom still reside in the +District. + +When I returned to Washington, I found the old Decatur house facing +Lafayette Square owned and occupied by General and Mrs. Edward F. Beale, +who had recently returned from a long residence in California. Mr. +Gouverneur had known the General--"Ned" Beale, as he was usually +called--in other days and I soon derived much pleasure from Mrs. Beale's +acquaintance. She was a woman of the most aristocratic bearing and was +especially qualified to meet the exacting requirements of the most +exclusive society. The household was rendered additionally brilliant by +her two daughters, both of whom were then unmarried. The sparkling +vivacity of the elder, Miss Mary Beale, who subsequently became Madame +Bakhmeteff of Russia, is easily recalled; while her sister, now Mrs. +John R. McLean, is so well known in Washington and elsewhere as to +render quite superfluous any attempt to describe her many charming +qualities. Their home was a social rendezvous, and I especially recall +an entertainment I attended there when I met many social celebrities. +General Beale had collected numerous relics of early California which +seemed peculiarly adapted to the historic mansion, and these objects of +interest, together with the highly polished floors, the many and +brilliant lights and the large assemblage of society folk in their "best +bibs and tuckers," presented a scene which is not readily effaced from +one's memory. Among others I met that evening were General Ambrose E. +Burnside, whom I had known as a cadet at West Point, and my old friend, +Captain (afterwards General) Richard Tyldin Auchmuty of New York, who +since I had last seen him had passed through the Civil War. This +reception was given in honor of the then young but gifted tragedian, +John E. McCullough, with whom the Beale family had formed a friendship +in the far west. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] My youngest daughter, Rose de Chine Gouverneur, and Chaplain Roswell +Randall Hoes, U.S.N., were married in Washington on the 5th of December, +1888. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +TO THE PRESENT DAY + + +Shortly after our return to Washington we received an invitation to a +party at the house of Mr. and Mrs. William A. Richardson, the former +Secretary of the Treasury in Grant's cabinet. In my busy life I have +never seemed inclined to devote much time to the shifts and vagaries of +fashionable attire. Although as a woman I cannot say that I have been +wholly averse to array myself in attractive garments, they were always +matters of secondary consideration with me and have yet to cause me a +sleepless night. My indifference now confronted me, however, with the +query as to what I should wear upon this particular occasion, and I was +compelled, as merchants say, "to take account of stock," especially as +my invitation reached me at too late a day to have a new gown made. +Although while living in Frederick I did pretty much as I pleased in +regard to dress, I realized that in Washington, willing or unwilling, I +might be compelled to do, to a certain extent, what other people +pleased; but such demands have their reasonable limits, and I therefore +determined to ignore the dictates of fashionable sentiment and practice +a little originality on my own account. I accordingly decided to wear a +handsome and elaborate dress of a fashion of at least a generation +before--a light, blue silk with its many flounces embroidered in straw +in imitation of sheaves of wheat. In former years I had worn with this +gown black velvet gloves which were laced at the side--a Parisian fancy +of the day, a pattern of which had been sent me by Mrs. Schuyler +Hamilton. These also I concluded to wear with the antiquated dress; and +thus arrayed I attended the party and had a thoroughly good time, +supposing, as a matter of course, that the incident was closed. The _New +York Graphic_, however, seemed to think otherwise and dragged me into +its columns in an article which was subsequently copied into other +papers. Although at first I felt somewhat chagrined, upon further +consideration I was inclined to be pleased, at least with that part of +the narrative that made a passing allusion to my attire. This is what +the _Graphic_ said:-- + + Among the ladies frequently seen in society this winter is + Mrs. Marian Campbell Gouverneur, daughter of the late James + Campbell of New York and the wife of Samuel L. Gouverneur, + the only surviving grandson of ex-President James Monroe. + Mrs. Gouverneur is an elegant lady of pleasing manners, + sparkling vivacity and possesses a fund of humor and a mind + stored with a variety of charming information. She has + traveled a great deal and seen much of the fashionable + world. Mr. Gouverneur's mother was married in the White + House and--think of it!--on a Spread Eagle--that is to say, + on the carpet of which that very elastic bird made the + central figure. Suppose Miss Nellie Grant, of whose + engagement rumor outside of Washington talks so loud and + this city appears to know nothing, should take it into her + head to be married on a Spread Eagle, would not the other + Eagle, the public, stretch its wings and utter a prolonged + shriek? Now I ask you candidly, have we retrograded in + matters of taste or become less loyal to the true spirit of + our Republican institutions? Mrs. Gouverneur has the most + wonderful collection of American and Asiatic antiques. She + favors antique styles, even in matters of the toilet, and at + a party last week had her dress looped with the ornaments + which formed part of Mr. Monroe's court dress when Minister + to France. She also wore black velvet mittens of that date. + +While my sister, Mrs. Eames, was residing in Paris with her son and +daughter, her home on the corner of H and Fourteenth Streets was +occupied by Ward Hunt and his wife of Utica. Judge Hunt had recently +been appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court, and I immediately renewed +my associations of former days with his family. Next door to the Hunts +lived Mr. and Mrs. Titian J. Coffey, the former of whom had accompanied +ex-Governor Andrew G. Curtin of Pennsylvania upon his mission to Russia; +and the adjoining residence, the old "Hill house," was the home of Mr. +and Mrs. James C. Kennedy, the latter of whom was Miss Julia Rathbone of +Albany. Their hospitality was lavish until the death of Mr. Kennedy, +when his widow returned to Albany where a few years later she married +Bishop Thomas Alfred Starkey of New Jersey. Mrs. Robert Shaw Oliver, +wife of the present efficient Assistant Secretary of War, is her niece. + +After Mrs. Kennedy left Washington, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Elkin Neil of +Columbus, Ohio, with their daughter, Mrs. William Wilberforce Williams, +lived in the "Hill house." They were people of large means and +entertained on an extensive scale. Mrs. Neil belonged to the Sullivant +family of Ohio whose women were remarkable for their beauty. The wife of +William Dennison, one of the District Commissioners, was Mr. Neil's +sister and her daughter, Miss Jenny Dennison, was one of the belles of +the Hayes administration. There were so many representatives of the +"Buckeye State" at that time in Washington that someone facetiously +spoke of the city as the "United States of Ohio." Mr. and Mrs. Matthew +W. Galt, parents of Mrs. Reginald Fendall, lived in the next house in +the H Street block, while adjoining them resided Colonel and Mrs. James +G. Berret. I knew Colonel Berret very well. Nature had been very lavish +in her gifts to him, as he was the fortunate possessor of intelligence, +sagacity and fine personal appearance. It was his frequent boast, +however, that through force of circumstances he had received but "three +months' schooling," but he took advantage of his subsequent +opportunities and became an efficient mayor and postmaster of the City +of Washington, while a prince might well have envied him his dignified +and imposing address. He sold his attractive home to Justice William +Strong of the U.S. Supreme Court, who with his family resided in it for +many years and then moved into a house on I Street, near Fifteenth +Street, which in late years has been remodeled and is now the spacious +residence of Mr. Charles Henry Butler. + +Directly across the street and in the middle of the block, between +Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets, lived Colonel and Mrs. John F. Lee. +This is a house which I link with many pleasing associations. Mrs. Lee, +whom I knew as Ellen Ann Hill, was a member of one of Washington's +oldest families and with her husband had a country home in Prince George +County in Maryland. She was a deeply religious woman and one of the +saints upon earth. She gave me _carte blanche_ to drop in for an +informal supper on Sunday evenings--a privilege of which I occasionally +availed myself. Colonel Lee was a Virginian by birth and a graduate of +West Point, but at the beginning of the Civil War resigned his +commission. His brother, Samuel Phillips Lee, however, who was then a +Commander in the Navy, remained in the service and eventually became a +Rear Admiral. Although differing so widely in their political views, the +two brothers were respected and beloved by their associates, and never +allowed their opinions upon matters of state to interfere with their +fraternal affection. The only daughter of Colonel Lee, Mrs. Henry +Harrison, usually spends her winters in Washington. + +Next door to the Lees on the east lived Senator and Mrs. Zachariah +Chandler, the parents of Mrs. Eugene Hale; while still further down the +street was the residence of Doctor William P. Johnston, a favorite +physician of long standing and father of Mr. James M. Johnston and Miss +Mary B. Johnston, the latter of whom is President of the Society of Old +Washingtonians of which I enjoy the honor of being a member. It is at +her home on Rhode Island Avenue that the privileged few who are members +of this exclusive organization meet once each month to listen to papers +read on topics relating to earlier Washington and to discuss persons and +events connected with its history. The insignia of the society is an +orange ribbon bearing the words inscribed in black: "Should auld +acquaintance be forgot?" A prominent member of this organization is Mrs. +Anna Harris Eastman, widow of Commander Thomas Henderson Eastman, +U.S.N., and daughter of the beloved physician, the late Medical Director +Charles Duval Maxwell, U.S.N. + +In the opinion of many old Washingtonians no history of the District of +Columbia would be complete without some mention of The Highlands, the +home of the Nourse family. In years gone by I remember that this +ivy-covered stone house was deemed inaccessible, as it was reached only +by private conveyance or stage coach. The first time I crossed its +threshold I could have readily imagined myself living in the colonial +period, as the furniture was entirely of that time. When I first knew +Mrs. Nourse, who was Miss Rebecca Morris of Philadelphia, the widow of +Charles Josephus Nourse, she was advanced in life, but notwithstanding +the infirmities of age, she had just acquired the art of china painting, +and was filling orders the proceeds of which she gave in aid of St. +Alban's which was then a country parish. I frequently passed a day at +this ancestral home, and I especially recall seeing a wonderful +Elizabethan clock in the hallway which I am told is still, in defiance +of time, striking the hours in the home of a descendant. Near The +Highlands is Rosedale, occupied for many years by the descendants of +General Uriah Forrest, who built it subsequent to 1782. He was the +intimate friend of General Washington, and its present occupant, Mrs. +Louisa Key Norton, daughter of John Green and widow of John Hatley +Norton of Richmond, is my authority for the statement that one day after +dining with her grandfather, General Forrest, Washington walked out upon +the portico and, lost in admiration of the beautiful view, exclaimed: +"There is the site of the Federal City." Mrs. Norton's sister, Miss +Alice Green, married Prince Angelo de Yturbide, and it was their son, +Prince Augustine de Yturbide, who was adopted by the Emperor Maximilian. + +One of the pleasing local features connected with the Grant +administration, which at the time made no special impression upon me, +was the fact that there were then but few, if any, social cliques in +Washington, and that society-going people constituted practically one +large family. A stranger coming to the Capital at that time and properly +introduced was much more cordially received than now. Such, for example, +was the condition of affairs when Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Jeffrey came to +Washington to spend a winter. They rented the old Pleasanton house on +Twenty-first Street below F Street and entertained with true Southern +hospitality. The Jeffrey family was of Scotch extraction and Mrs. +Jeffrey was Miss Rosa Vertner of Kentucky, where she was favorably known +as a poetess. The first wife of Alexander Jeffrey was Miss Delia W. +Granger, a sister of my old and valued friend, Mrs. Sanders Irving. As +soon as they were settled in their home, Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey gave a +large evening entertainment which Mr. Gouverneur and I attended. We much +enjoyed meeting there a number of Kentuckians temporarily residing in +Washington--among others, Mrs. John Key of Georgetown and her sister, +Mrs. Hamilton Smith; Mrs. William E. Dudley; and Wickliffe Preston and +his sister, a decided blonde who wore a becoming green silk gown. Madame +Le Vert and her daughter, Octavia Walton Le Vert, were also there and +it is with genuine pleasure I recall the unusual vivacity of the former. +This gifted woman was a pronounced belle from Alabama and had passed +much of her life in Italy, where she had much association with the +Brownings. During her absence abroad the ravages of our Civil War made +serious inroads upon her financial circumstances, and when she visited +Washington at the period of which I am speaking she gave a series of +lectures upon Mr. and Mrs. Robert Browning in Willard's Hall on F +Street. They received the endorsement of fashionable society and, at the +conclusion of her last appearance, Albert Pike, the later apostle of +Freemasonry, offered as an additional attraction a short discourse upon +his favorite theme. Madame Le Vert's maiden name was Octavia Walton, and +she was the granddaughter of George Walton, one of the Signers from +Georgia, and the daughter of George Walton, the Territorial Governor of +Florida. In 1836 she married Dr. Henry S. Le Vert, son of the +fleet-surgeon of the Count de Rochambeau at Yorktown, Va. In 1858 her +"Souvenirs of Travel" appeared, and later she wrote "Souvenirs of +Distinguished People" and "Souvenirs of the War," but, for personal +reasons, neither of the two was ever published. + +My first acquaintance with George Bancroft, the historian, dates back to +the year 1845, when he came from New England to deliver a course of +lectures and was the guest of my father in New York. One of the evenings +he spent with us stands out in bold relief. He was a man of musical +tastes, and Justine Bibby Onderdonk, a friend of mine and a daughter of +Gouverneur S. Bibby, who only a few days before had made a runaway match +with Henry M. Onderdonk, the son of Bishop Benjamin T. Onderdonk of New +York, happened to be our guest at the same time. Her musical ability was +of the highest order and she delighted Mr. Bancroft by singing some of +his favorite selections. Later, when he was Secretary of the Navy +during the Polk administration, I saw Mr. Bancroft very frequently. I +am not aware whether it is generally known that he began his political +life in Massachusetts as a Whig. When I first knew him, however, he was +a Democrat and the change in his political creed placed him in an +unfavorable light in his State, most of whose citizens were well nigh as +intolerant of Democrats as their ancestors had been of witches in early +colonial days. + +Upon my return to Washington I soon renewed my acquaintance with Mr. and +Mrs. Bancroft, and the entertainments I attended in their home on H +Street, between Sixteenth and Seventeenth Streets, revived pleasant +recollections of Mrs. Clement C. Hill, whose house they purchased and of +whose social leadership I have already spoken. Mr. Bancroft at this time +was well advanced in years, and in referring to his age I have often +heard him say: "I came in with the century." In spite of the fact, +however, that he had exceeded the years usually allotted to man, he +could be seen nearly every day in the saddle with Herrman Bratz, his +devoted German attendant, riding at a respectful distance in the rear. I +may add, by the way, that a few doors from the Bancrofts lived Dr. +George Clymer of the Navy with his wife and venerable mother-in-law, the +latter of whom was the widow of Commodore William B. Shubrick, U.S.N. + +Colonel Alexander Bliss, Mrs. Bancroft's son and familiarly known to +Washingtonians as "Sandy" Bliss, lived just around the corner from his +mother's. His wife was the daughter of William T. Albert, of Baltimore, +but when I knew him best he was a widower. A few doors from Colonel +Bliss lived Senator Matthew H. Carpenter, a political power of the first +magnitude during President Grant's second presidential term, whose +daughter Lilian was a reigning belle. Equestrian exercise was not then +quite so popular in Washington as later, but it had its devotees, among +whom was Colonel Joseph C. Audenreid, U.S.A., an unusually handsome man +with a decidedly military bearing. He was generally accompanied by his +daughter Florence, then a child, and was often to be seen riding out +Fourteenth Street towards the Soldiers' Home, which was then the +fashionable drive. + +John L. Cadwalader, a cousin of Mr. Gouverneur and now one of the most +prominent members of the New York bar, was Assistant Secretary of State +under Hamilton Fish during the Grant _régime_. He was a bachelor and was +accompanied to Washington by his two sisters, both of whom lived with +him in a fine residence on the corner of L Street and Connecticut +Avenue, which has since been torn down to make way for a large apartment +house. It was while the Cadwaladers were occupying this residence that I +first made the acquaintance of Dr. S. Weir Mitchell. Miss Mary +Cadwalader brought him to see us in our Corcoran Street home and during +the visit announced her engagement to him. He was then the highly +eminent physician alone, as he had not yet entered the arena of fiction +and poetry in which he has since attained such wide-spread distinction. +It gives me pleasure to add that he suggested to me, while I was +visiting in Philadelphia many years later, that I should write these +reminiscences. + +All of the large balls and parties of this date, including the +bachelors' germans, which I frequently attended, were given at Lewis G. +Marini's on the south side of E Street, near Ninth Street. Marini was an +Italian and the dancing master of the day. Twice a week he went to +Annapolis to teach the midshipmen, who, when subsequently ordered to +duty in Washington, became very acceptable beaux, as they danced the +same step that their master had taught his pupils here. The bachelors' +germans were organized among others by Robert F. Stockton, Hamilton +Fish, Jr., John Davis, and Hamilton Perkins; while soon thereafter +Seaton Munroe became one of its officers. I especially recall a german +given by the bachelors at Marini's, on the twenty-second of February, +1876, when Lady Thornton, wife of Sir Edward Thornton, British Minister +to the United States, received the guests. The decorations were +unusually elaborate, consisting chiefly of American flags draped along +the walls from floor to ceiling; while at one end of the room, in +compliment to the hostess of the evening, the stars and stripes made way +to two British flags. A small cannon and a miniature ship were placed +below the music gallery, while above them was a semicircle of cutlasses +and a _chevaux-de-frise_ of glistening spears behind which were the +musicians. In an old scrap book I find a brief notice of this +entertainment which mentions the belles of the ball, some of whom became +matrons of a later day in Washington and elsewhere. This is the +list:--Miss Zeilin, Miss Dunn, Miss Kilbourn, Miss Emory, Miss Campbell, +Miss Kernan, Miss Dennison, Miss Keating of Philadelphia, Miss +Patterson, Miss Jewell, Miss Badger, Miss Warfield, Madame Santa Anna, +Mrs. Gore Jones, Madame Mariscal, Madame Dardon, Mrs. Belknap, Mrs. +Robeson, Mrs. Frederick Grant and Miss Dodge ("Gail Hamilton"). + +In the old Stockton house, next door to the residence of William W. +Corcoran, lived Mr. and Mrs. Elijah Ward who probably entertained more +lavishly than any other family of that day. Mr. Ward was then in +Congress from New York. His wife possessed much grace of manner and a +subtle charm quite impossible to describe. I enjoyed her intimate +friendship and often availed myself of a standing invitation to take tea +with her. In her drawing-room one constantly met acceptable recruits +from social and political life, all of whom she charmed by her affable +conversation and unaffected bearing. Upon her return to New York Miss +Virginia Stuart, her daughter by a former marriage, married the Rev. +Alexander McKay-Smith, assistant rector at St. Thomas' Church. Soon +after his marriage he received a call to St. John's Church in +Washington, where he remained the beloved rector until in 1902 he was +elected Bishop-Coadjutor of Pennsylvania. + +It was about this same period that I formed a friendship with Lieutenant +Commander and Mrs. Arent Schuyler Crowninshield. He was then Ordnance +Officer of the Washington Navy Yard and lived in the quaint old house +later assigned to the second line officer of that station. Mrs. +Crowninshield's sister, Elizabeth Hopkins Bradford, lived with her and I +attended her wedding there. She married Edmund Hamilton Smith of +Canandaigua, New York, a son of Judge James C. Smith of the Supreme +Court of that State, and the ceremony was performed by the Rev. Dr. John +Vaughan Lewis of St. John's Church, Washington. This wedding made an +indelible impression upon my memory owing to an unfortunate circumstance +which attended it. The mother of the bride-elect and the latter's +youngest sister, Louise, were traveling in Europe and had arranged their +return passage in ample time, as they supposed, to be present at the +ceremony. The ship met with an accident off the coast of Newfoundland, +however, and during the delay the wedding took place. There was much +anxiety concerning the safety of the bride's mother and sister which +naturally cast an atmosphere of gloom over the marriage feast, but in a +few days the ship came into port and unalloyed happiness prevailed. +After Mr. Crowninshield's promotion to a Captaincy in the Navy he was +ordered to command the _Richmond_ in the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and +there I repeatedly met him and his fascinating wife. He remained there, +however, for less than a year, when he was placed in command of the +ill-fated _Maine_, and about ten months before she was destroyed was +ordered to Washington as Chief of the Bureau of Navigation with the +rank, first of Commodore and then of Rear Admiral. He served as such +with marked efficiency during the Spanish-American War, and several +years later commanded the flagship of the European Squadron. He retired +in 1903 on his own application and died five years later, deeply +regretted by a large circle of official and personal friends. Mrs. +Crowninshield is so well and favorably known to the public as an +authoress that it would be impossible for me to add any leaves to the +laurels she now wears; but I cannot refrain from paying a tribute to her +remarkable loyalty as a friend and expressing my admiration for those +uncommon traits of character which, with her commanding presence, have +made her so deeply respected and so greatly admired. + +The first loan-exhibition given in Washington that I now recall was near +the close of Grant's administration, and was for the benefit of the +Church of the Incarnation. It was in an old house on the corner of +Fifteenth and H Streets, since torn down to make way for the George +Washington University. As much interest was shown in the enterprise and +many of the old Washington families sent valuable relics, a large sum of +money was realized. Among the contributors were William W. Corcoran, +Miss Olive Risley Seward, Senator John P. Jones of Nevada, and Seth +Ledyard Phelps, the latter of whom was at the time one of the District +Commissioners and owned a large number of Chinese curios gathered by him +during his life in the East. I, too, was glad to aid so worthy a cause +and sent some of my most cherished possessions. Before the exhibition +was formally opened, I attended a private view of the collection given +in honor of William W. Corcoran and Horatio King. Of Mr. Corcoran I have +elsewhere spoken; with Mr. King I was also well acquainted. In 1839, +while a young man, he was appointed to a position in the Post Office +Department and eleven years later was connected with its foreign service +in which he originated and perfected postal arrangements of great +importance to the country. His promotion was rapid and he finally became +Postmaster General under President Buchanan, a position which he held +with credit both to the administration and himself. About 1873, when I +first knew Mr. and Mrs. King, they lived in a modest home at 707 H +Street where, every Saturday evening, many _littérateurs_ and prominent +men of state were accustomed to gather and discuss the important +literary and political problems of the day. John Pierpont read a poem at +the first of these receptions and Grace Greenwood rendered some choice +selections, while George William Curtis and other men of note +contributed their share to the success of other similar occasions. These +literary reunions are said to have been the first of their kind ever +held in Washington. + +I was invited one evening in 1877 by Mrs. Madeleine Vinton Dahlgren, +widow of Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren, U.S.N., who was then living at +the corner of L and Fourteenth Streets, to attend a meeting of the +Washington Historical Society held in her drawing-rooms. It was +Washington's birthday and James A. Garfield, then Senator from Ohio, was +the orator of the evening. In one portion of his remarks he seemed to go +out of his way to emphasize the statement that Mary Ball, Washington's +mother, was a very plain old woman. Why he considered that her lack of +prominent lineage necessarily added greater luster to the Father of His +Country, was not apparent to quite a number of his audience, for even +the numerous votaries of the Patron Saint of Erin, "the beautiful isle +of the sea," took honest pride in according him a gentle descent:-- + + St. Patrick was a gintleman, + He came from dacent people. + +Mrs. Dahlgren was a woman of unusual intellectual ability. She was the +daughter of Samuel Finley Vinton of Ohio, who for many years represented +his district in Congress and was chairman of the Ways and Means +Committee. In 1879 she published a small volume entitled "Etiquette of +Social Life in Washington." She followed this book with another, whose +title I do not recall, in which she dwelt at length upon society in +Washington. It was not well received as her criticisms upon the wives of +Cabinet Officers and others were such as to invoke general disfavor and +arouse bitter resentment. Mrs. Dahlgren's ablest work, however, was the +life of her husband, which was published in 1882 in a volume of over six +hundred and fifty pages. She had a fine command of the English language +and excellent literary discrimination in the use of its words, as +appears everywhere in her writings and especially in the following +tribute to her husband in the preface of his Life:-- + +"Admiral Dahlgren was a man of science, of inventive genius, of +professional skill; but beyond all these, he was a _patriot_. While +climbing, at first with slow and toilsome but reliant steps, and, later +on, with swifter, surer progress, that summit to which his genius urged +him, he was often and again confronted by the clamor of discontent, the +jealousies of his profession, and the various forms of opposition his +rapid, upward course evoked; and until the present generation of actors +in the great drama in which he played so conspicuous part shall have +passed away, it will be difficult to gain an impartial opinion. Yet +Death having arrested his ultimate conceptions while yet midway in his +career, and set the final seal upon his actions, we are content to leave +the verdict of a 'last appeal' to his beloved country and the hearts of +a grateful people." + +Two years later I attended another meeting of this Historical Society at +the residence of Henry Strong, who built and owned the house on K Street +now occupied by Mrs. Stephen B. Elkins, and for a time resided there. It +was a brilliant assemblage and it deemed itself fortunate in having +Moncure D. Conway, the distinguished historical writer and essayist, as +the orator of the evening. He spoke upon the leaders of the Federal +party during the formative period of our national government, and soon +made it apparent that his sympathies were not with them. He was strongly +denunciatory of the Federalists, going so far even as to brand some of +them as traitors, and especially criticized Jay's Treaty with England in +1794 which was their pet creation. He spoke at some length of Oliver +Wolcott, one of the most prominent Federalists of that day, entirely +ignorant meanwhile of the fact that some members of the Tuckerman +family, his descendants, were in the audience. At this time Mr. Conway +was writing the life of Thomas Paine, which has since been published, +and the morning after his lecture on the Federal party he called upon me +to ascertain whether any unpublished information relating to Paine, +which might aid him in his projected biography of the latter, was to be +found in the private papers of James Monroe which were in my possession. +During our conversation I ventured to remark to Mr. Conway that possibly +he was not aware that the previous evening certain descendants of Oliver +Wolcott were in his audience. He responded that he had no desire to give +offense but that unfortunately he could not adapt history to suit the +views of the descendants of early statesmen. + +To use a terse expression of Hamlet, I have often heard that Paine was +one of the unfortunates who were not treated by our government +"according to their deserts." It is now conceded by students of our +national history that no man rendered more effective service to the +American Revolution than "Tom" Paine. His devotion to the cause and his +conspicuous sacrifices in its behalf were repeatedly acknowledged by +Washington, Franklin and all the lesser lights of the day. After +independence had been secured, still imbued with the spirit of liberty, +his pen and his presence were not wanting when required in behalf of +the liberties of the French people. He was imprisoned with hundreds of +others in the Luxembourg, where he languished for nearly eleven months +in daily expectation of being hurried to the guillotine. Following the +fall of Robespierre he was liberated through the kindly offices of James +Monroe, who had succeeded Gouverneur Morris as our Minister to France, +and was at once crowned with honors by the government in whose behalf he +had suffered. During the term of his imprisonment, it was his belief +that a single word from Washington would effect his release, and he had +a right to expect it, but he waited in vain. He was wholly unconscious, +meanwhile, that the mind of Washington had been poisoned against him by +one high in public counsels, and while still in ignorance of this fact +addressed him the well-known denunciatory letter which evoked such +wide-spread criticism. Washington, however, was not to blame, for he had +been deceived in the house of his friends; but of this Paine was +entirely ignorant. Delaware Davis, a son of Colonel Samuel B. Davis of +Delaware who rendered such distinguished service during the War of 1812, +told me a few years ago that his father was present at a dinner where +Paine was asked what he thought of Washington. Doubtless in a spirit of +acrimony he uttered the following lines: + + Take from the rock the rough and rudest stone, + It needs no sculptor, it is Washington; + But if you chisel, let the strokes be rude, + And on his bosom write ingratitude. + +There is probably no period of our national history when party rivalries +were so intense and the expression of political animosities were more +bitter than they were a century ago between the disciples of Jefferson +and Hamilton. Epithets in popular discourse were openly hurled at +political antagonists that decent men would not tolerate to-day, and the +public press gave expression to charges and insinuations against +honorable partisans such as none but the very yellowest and most +debauched journals would now deem it expedient to print. As a single +illustration, I have in my possession what is called "An infallible +remedy to make a true Federalist." It is without date and was given to +me by a descendant of Thomas Jefferson who knew nothing of its origin +except that it was a Boston production. It speaks for itself, and is as +follows:-- + + Take the head of an old hypocrite, one ounce of Nero's + conspiracy, two ounces of the hatred of truth, five scruples + of liars' tongues, twenty-five drops of the spirit of Oliver + Cromwell, fifteen drops of the spirit of contentment. Put + them in the mortar of self-righteousness and pound them with + the pestle of malice and sift them through the skin of a + Doctor of Divinity and put the compound into the vessel of + rebellion and steep it over the fire of Sedition twenty-four + hours, and then strain it in the rag of high treason. After + which put it in the bottle of British influence and cork it + with the disposition of Toryism, and let it settle until the + general court rises, and it will then be fit for use. This + composition has never been known to fail, but if by reason + of robust constitution it should fail, add the anxiety of + the stamp act, and sweeten with a Provisional Army. + + The above articles may be had of the following gentlemen who + are appointed wholesale venders of British Agents in + America. + + F. TARGET. + +The last days of the Grant administration were filled with forebodings +and excitement. I shall always remember, when the news reached +Washington that Rutherford B. Hayes had been nominated by the Republican +party, the eager inquiries: "Who is Hayes?" It was then I heard for the +first time an expression which constantly occurs nowadays--"A dark +horse." Samuel J. Tilden, as is well known, was the standard bearer of +the Democracy. The fight was long and bitter, as almost up to the day of +the inauguration the question as to which candidate was successful was a +matter of doubt. The Electoral Commission, the compromise agreed upon by +both parties, was composed of the same number of Republicans and +Democrats with Justice Joseph P. Bradley of the Supreme Court as the +fifteenth member, chosen on account of his neutral position. It decided +that the Republican nominee was entitled to the electoral votes of +Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina, and the Electoral College +accordingly awarded the Presidency to Mr. Hayes by a vote of 186 to 185. + +The Tilden campaign was engineered by Manton Marble, an able man and the +editor of the New York _World_. I had known Mr. Tilden when he was a +great adherent of Martin Van Buren. He was a small, insignificant +looking man whose whole life was given up to politics. As I remember him +in general, he was expounding upon his favorite subject regardless of +"time and tide." His father had been affiliated with the celebrated +"Albany Regency," and the son, inheriting his views, became one of the +ablest as well as shrewdest political leaders that the Democratic party +in New York has ever known. As a lawyer his great ability was +universally recognized, and yet his last will was successfully +contested, although it had been drawn up by him with almost infinite +care and with the most scrupulous regard for details and engrossed with +his own hand. + +I saw the Hayes inaugural-parade from a window on the corner of +Fifteenth Street and New York Avenue. All through the day there was a +suppressed feeling of uncertainty and excitement, but at the appointed +hour the President-elect drove to the Capitol in the usual manner and +took the oath of office. The procession which escorted him to the White +House was by no means so imposing as others I had seen, among them that +of eight years later at Cleveland's first inauguration, when General +Fitzhugh Lee rode at the head of the Virginia troops and received a +greater ovation than the new President himself. It was late in February +before it was definitely known what the final decision of the Electoral +Commission would be, and the uncertainty arising from this fact, +together with the prevailing political disquietude, doubtless had much +effect in limiting the size of the parade. + +I soon made the acquaintance of President and Mrs. Hayes and was always +a welcome guest at the White House. The latter was of commanding +presence and endowed with great beauty, while she possessed moral and +intellectual traits that not only endeared her in time to the residents +of the Capital but also won for her the respect and admiration of the +people at large. She was also a woman of strong convictions and +exceptional strength of character, and rarely failed to make her +influence felt in behalf of what she believed to be right. Although, for +example, the attitude she assumed in regard to the use of wine at the +White House entertainments was a radical departure from precedent and +evoked the antagonism of many of her friends and admirers, she believed +herself to be right and successfully persevered in her course to the +end; so that William M. Evarts, Hayes's Secretary of State, kept pretty +close to the truth when he asserted years thereafter that "during the +Hayes administration water flowed at the White House like champagne!" +She was a woman of deeply religious experience and a devout member of +the Methodist Church. Washington society felt the influence of her +example, and during her residence at the White House the Sabbath was +more generally observed at the National Capital than during any other +administration I have known. As time passed and we became better +acquainted, my respect and admiration for her greatly increased. I +repeatedly spent the evening with her informally at the White House when +our intercourse was unhampered by red-tape, and it was then, of course, +that I saw her at her best. Her _rôle_ was by no means without its +embarrassments. She necessarily knew that many persons of prominence and +influence viewed with serious doubt the legality of her husband's title +to the Presidential chair and that there were those who even alluded to +him as "His Fraudulency"; but the world was none the wiser, so far as +she was concerned, and she pursued the "even tenor of her way," and by +the subtle influence of her character and conduct won both for her +husband and herself the admiration of many who, but for her, would +probably have remained their enemies. + +In 1863 Stephen J. Field of California was appointed by President +Lincoln a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and made his residence in +one of the three dwelling-houses on Second Street facing the Capitol, +which is said to have been a gift from his brothers, David Dudley, the +eminent lawyer; Cyrus W., the father of the Atlantic cable; and the Rev. +Dr. Henry M., the eminent Presbyterian divine and versatile editor of +_The New York Evangelist_. Here the brothers met every February to +celebrate the birthday of David Dudley Field. For many years after the +destruction of the first Capitol by the British in the War of 1812, the +Field house and the two which adjoined it were used by Congress as the +seat of its deliberations. Henry Clay served within its walls as Speaker +for about ten years, and Mrs. Field took much pride in showing her +guests the mark on the wall where his desk stood. At one period before +its occupancy by Judge Field this residence was used as a boarding +house, and in its back parlor John C. Calhoun breathed his last. During +the Civil War it was used by the government with the two adjoining +houses as the "Old Capitol Prison"--but of this I have spoken in another +place. Justice Field was "a gentleman of the old school" and one of the +most courtly men in public life, while his wife was well known for her +tact, culture and exquisite taste. Their home was enriched with many +curiosities collected at home and abroad, and I especially recall a bust +of the young Emperor Augustus, an exact copy of the original in the +Vatican. Mrs. Field's sister, Miss Sarah Henderson Swearingen, +accompanied her to Washington and some years later was married from this +home to John Condit-Smith. My old friend, Dr. Charles W. Hoffman, who +for twenty years was the librarian of the U.S. Supreme Court, was a near +neighbor and friend of Judge and Mrs. Field. After a life well spent he +retired to the home of his birth in Frederick, Maryland, where he lived +for many years, surrounded by his well-loved books and art treasures. He +never married. + +When I first knew Mr. and Mrs. James G. Blaine they were living on +Fifteenth Street between H and I Streets. Miss Abigail Dodge, "Gail +Hamilton," a cousin of Mrs. Blaine, resided with them and added greatly +to the charm of the establishment. The world in general as well as his +eulogists have done full justice to Mr. Blaine's amazing tact and charm +of manner; but I may be pardoned the conceit if I offer my own tribute +by referring to a graceful remark he made the first time I had the +pleasure of meeting him. I heard someone say: "Here comes Mr. Blaine," +and as I turned and he was formally presented to me I saw before me a +distinguished looking middle-aged man of commanding presence, who, as he +raised his hat to greet me, remarked in a low and pleasant voice: "I bow +to the name!" + +The social column so generally in vogue in all the large newspapers +throughout the country was introduced into Washington about 1870. Miss +Augustine Snead, who wrote under the _nom de plume_ of "Miss Grundy," +was the first woman society reporter I ever knew. She represented +several newspapers, and she and her mother, Mrs. Fayette Snead, herself +a graceful writer under the pen name of "Fay," were seen at many +entertainments. Both of them were wide-awake and clever women. I happen +to have preserved an article which appeared in the society column of +_The Evening Star_, written by Miss Snead, which is largely made up of +puns upon the society men of the day, some of whom are now gray-haired +veterans and some, alas! are no longer here. She wrote:-- + +"Our society men are sighing for their rights and complain that whereas +it is only once in four years they have the privilege of being courted +and receiving special attention the social columns of the newspapers +should give them more space. We have detailed one of our corps for the +purpose with the following result. It (s)Eames to us that the officers +of the Marine Corps are Muse-ing on an exhibition of their Zeal in the +invention of a patent Payne-killer, in proof that they have not leaned +upon a broken Reed. Some one may call us Palmer (H)off of bad puns, but +we have not given A(u)lick amiss. No wonder the Marine Corps, in hourly +dread of annihilation, has its anxieties increased by the continuance of +the Alarm at the Navy Yard, the officers of that formidable little +vessel having proved through the season that it is well named, by each +striking eight _belles_ per hour." + +"Eames" was my nephew, Charles Campbell Eames. "Muse" was General +William S. Muse, U.S.M.C., now residing on the Eastern Shore of +Maryland, who usually spends a portion of each year at the Capital. +"Zeal in" referred to Lieutenant William F. Zeilin, U.S.M.C., a son of +General Jacob Zeilin, U.S.M.C. "Payne" was Frederick H. Paine, formerly +in the Navy, who still makes Washington his home. "Reed" was General +George C. Reid, U.S.M.C., now residing in Washington. "(H)off" was +Captain William Bainbridge Hoff, U.S.N., who died a few years ago; and +"Palmer" was Lieutenant Aulick Palmer, formerly in the Marine Corps and +now U.S. Marshal of the District of Columbia. + +When I first knew the distinguished scientist, Professor Theodore E. +Hilgard, he and his wife were living on N Street, near Twelfth Street. +For many years he was Superintendent of the Coast Survey, and after an +interval of a number of years was succeeded by his nephew, Mr. Otto H. +Tittmann. The latter and his wife are now among the widely-known and +popular residents of Washington. The French Government in appreciation +of Professor Hilgard's scientific achievements presented to him a superb +vase which is now owned by Dr. Thomas N. Vincent. + +About thirty years ago my daughters and I formed a friendship with +Senator and Mrs. James B. Beck of Kentucky and their daughter, the wife +of General Green Clay Goodloe of the U.S. Marine Corps. Mr. Beck was one +of the Democratic leaders in the Senate and was regarded as among the +ablest men of his party. He was proud of his Scotch blood and loyal in +his friendships. His wife was Miss Jane Washington Augusta Thornton, +whose grandfather, Colonel John Thornton of Rappahannock County, +Virginia, was a first cousin of General Washington. Both the Senator and +his wife have passed onward, but our affection still lives in General +and Mrs. Goodloe, who are among the best and truest friends I have ever +known. + +Just before the close of the Hayes administration, Walter D. Davidge, +whose home for many years was on Sixth Street, built a large mansion on +the corner of H and Seventeenth Streets and upon its completion he and +Mrs. Davidge, who was Miss Anna Louisa Washington, gave a housewarming. +Champagne flowed freely upon this occasion and it is said that the +supper was one of the handsomest and most elaborate ever served in +Washington. The same winter my daughters attended a brilliant ball given +at Stewart Castle by its chatelaine, Mrs. William M. Stewart, whose +husband was one of the U.S. Senators from Nevada. She was the daughter +of Senator Henry S. Foote, who represented Mississippi in ante-bellum +days, and gave the ball in honor of several Virginia girls who were her +guests. She was assisted in the entertainment by her two elder +daughters, both of whom were married. Stewart Castle was well adapted +for such a social function as it was one of the few mansions in +Washington that had a spacious ballroom. This residence was quite +suburban, and the Hillyer house on Massachusetts Avenue which stood on a +high terrace was the only other dwelling in the immediate vicinity. I +remember that when the home of the British Embassy was in the course of +erection, the wisdom of the location was greatly questioned, owing to +its remoteness from the fashionable center of the city. + +During the Arthur administration, Mr. Edward C. Halliday and his wife +came to the National Capital to spend a winter. I had known him many +years before when he visited the widow of General Alexander Macomb in +her home on the corner of I and Seventeenth Streets, where the Farragut +apartment house now stands. He was of a Scotch family which originally +settled in New York, and his father for some years was President of the +St. Andrews Society of that city. After residing several months in +Washington Mr. Halliday built several houses opposite the British +Embassy on N Street, the largest of which he reserved for his own +residence. It was here that Mr. and Mrs. Halliday entertained with such +true Scotch hospitality. Their Friday evenings were bright spots on the +social horizon, especially for the young people, as dancing was one of +their special features. Just before the close of her second social +season Mrs. Halliday gave a fancy-dress ball, which was a happy +inspiration, varying as it did the monotony of germans, receptions and +teas. On this occasion the minuet was danced by the younger guests +dressed in Louis XIV. costumes. + +In the spring of 1880 the long and painful illness of my husband closed +in death. He had been handicapped by years of ill health, and, although +he had the intellectual power, the ability, the wings to spread, there +was, alas, no surrounding air to bear them up! The ambition was there +and the intense desire, but strength was lacking and he bore his +affliction with sublime fortitude. For a while after his departure I +felt akin to a ship lost at sea; my moorings were nowhere within sight. +I had leaned on him through so many years of married life, constantly +sustained by his high code of integrity and honor, that his death was +indeed a bereavement too terrible for words to express. I care to say no +more. + +The summer of the same year, accompanied by my daughters, I sought the +quietude of the mountains of Virginia. Tarrying in the same house with +me was Mrs. John Griffith Worthington of Georgetown, D.C., with whom I +formed a lasting friendship. The Worthington family resided in the +District long before it became the seat of government and owned +extensive property. Even in extreme old age Mrs. Worthington was one of +the most truly beautiful women I have ever seen. She was Miss Elizabeth +Phillips of Dayton, Ohio, and a lineal descendant of President Jonathan +Dickinson of Princeton University. Her daughter Eliza, Mrs. William +Henry Philip, represented the same type of woman. John G. Worthington's +sister married Judge William Gaston, the eminent jurist of North +Carolina. + +The administration of Garfield was of short duration. The tragedy which +brought to a speedy close his earthly career is too well known to be +dwelt upon at length. The mortal attack upon him in 1881 by the fanatic +Charles J. Guiteau in the old Pennsylvania railroad station on the +corner of Sixth and D Streets shocked the civilized world, and his long +and painful illness at Elberon was closely watched by a sympathizing +public until it closed in death. Dr. D. W. Bliss was the Garfield family +physician but the most eminent specialists of the country were called +into consultation. It is the first time within my memory that I ever +heard of the issue of official bulletins by physicians announcing the +condition of their patients. At the trial of Guiteau he was defended by +his brother-in-law, George M. Scoville, while Judge John K. Porter of +New York and Walter D. Davidge of the Washington bar were employed to +assist in the prosecution. This trial was of such absorbing interest +that men and women crowded to the City Hall, where admission was granted +only by ticket. No one could possibly have seen Guiteau without a +feeling akin to pity, as he displayed every indication of possessing an +unbalanced mind. + +The administration of President Arthur proved a source of delight to +Washington society and afforded abundant demonstration, as in the cases +of Jefferson, Jackson, Van Buren and Buchanan before him, that a +"Mistress of the White House" in the person of a wife is not an absolute +necessity. Mrs. John E. McElroy, the President's sister, spent much of +her time in Washington and presided with grace over the social functions +of the White House. The President himself was a gentleman of dignified +and imposing presence and of great social as well as political tact. He +instinctively seemed to know the proper thing to do and exactly when to +do it. I was deeply touched by his thoughtfulness when my second +daughter, Ruth Monroe, was married in December, 1882. Although we were +still in mourning and had no personal acquaintance with the President +nor other association at that time with the White House, General Arthur +on that occasion sent superb flowers to my home from the conservatory of +the Executive Mansion. I regarded the act as exceedingly gracious, but +it was in every way characteristic of the man. The circumstances under +which he succeeded to the Presidential chair were so painful and some of +his former political affiliations were so distasteful to many that the +early portion of his administration was attended with a certain degree +of embarrassment; yet, by sheer force of character, unquestioned ability +and magnificent tact he so effectively worked his way into the hearts of +the people that he left the Presidential chair as highly esteemed as any +of his predecessors and carried with him into retirement the applause of +the people irrespective of party affiliation. + +I made the acquaintance of General and Mrs. Adolphus W. Greely soon +after his return from his Arctic expedition. Both he and Rear Admiral +Winfield Scott Schley, U.S.N., the rescued and the rescuer, were then +receiving the ovations of the public. During our early acquaintance the +Greelys purchased a delightful old-fashioned house on G Street, below +Pennsylvania Avenue, where they still reside surrounded by a charming +group of sons and daughters. General Greely is always an object of +interest wherever he goes and deservedly so, as scientific attainments, +distinguished bearing and engaging manners such as his can never fail to +win applause. Mrs. Greely, the bride of his youth and the companion of +his maturer years, wins all hearts and holds them. + +It would be both unjust and ungrateful to make no mention of Mrs. Phoebe +Hearst, the mother of William R. Hearst of New York. She came to +Washington an entire stranger as the wife of the late Senator George +Hearst of California, but soon endeared herself to all old residents by +her personal magnetism, her social tact and her philanthropic acts. +Deeply in sympathy with the work of women, her benevolence in this +particular field was unbounded. Her entertainments were lavish and I was +often numbered among her guests. I especially recall an evening +reception given by her in honor of a company of authors attending a +congress in Washington. It was remarkable for the number of +distinguished men and women gathered from all parts of the country, some +of whom I had never met before, and among them Mark Twain, Francis +Marion Crawford and William Dean Howells. + +As I lay down my pen, memories of many old friends are passing before me +and of their children, too. Then there are others with whom I formed +ties later in life of the most enduring character. This is especially +true of my old and cherished neighbors, Rear Admiral and Mrs. Francis A. +Roe. With his work well done he now rests from his labors, but his widow +is yet my valued friend. Still another is Rear Admiral Winfield Scott +Schley, U.S. N. who, surrounded by admiring friends in Washington, lives +quietly and unostentatiously and bears his laurels well; and last, but +anything in the world but least, Mrs. Julian James, a representative of +a distinguished New York family, the daughter of Theodorus Bailey Myers, +who has made her home in Washington for many years, and is now the "Lady +Bountiful" of the National Capital. Beautiful in person as well as in +character, she distributes her wealth with a lavish hand, and richly +deserves the words "well done." + +In looking backward through the years of a long and active life I have +seen varied relays of humanity, all of them acting their parts and +filling their appropriate niches--great and small often standing +shoulder to shoulder and engaged in the same strife. Many of them, my +friends in childhood as well as old age, have long since passed into the +life beyond. _Vanitas Vanitatis!_ may be the exclamation of the +moralizing cynic, but to me many of these memories are a blessed +heritage, and I am grateful to the Father of All for permitting me to +catch from them the inspiration to prepare these rambling notes. + + + + +INDEX + + +Abert, John, 195. + +Abinger, Lord, 211. + Lady, 211. + +Adams, Abigail, 134. + Abigail Louisa Smith, 148. + Charles, 148. + Charles Francis, 149, 352. + Mrs. Charles Francis, 148, 149, 352. + Elizabeth Combs, 205-207. + Isaac Hull, 205-207. + John (1), 57, 134, 147, 148, 206, 316. + John (2), 214, 282. + Mrs. John, 214, 282. + John Quincy, 31, 32, 148, 149, 199, 200, 206, 214, 279, 280, 282. + Mrs. John Quincy, 279, 280, 332. + Mary Louisa, 199. + Thomas Boylston, 206, 207. + William, 180. + +Addington, Henry Unwin, 279. + +Addison, Joseph, 80. + +Adrian, Robert, 53, 66. + +Agg, John T., 280. + +Albert, Prince, 163. + William T., 372. + +Alcott, Amos Bronson, 158. + +Alfonso XIII., of Spain, 100. + +Allen, Eliza, 198. + John, 198. + +Allerton, Willoughby, 324. + Mrs. Willoughby, 324. + +Allston, Washington, 99. + +Almonte, Juan Nepomuceno, 229. + Mrs. Juan Nepomuceno, 229. + +Almy, John J., 257. + +Anderson, Richard C, 239. + Robert, 239. + Mrs. Robert, 239, 240. + +Andrews, Edward G., 53. + John A., 178. + +Anne, Queen, 141. + +Anthon, Charles, 13-16, 18. + +Anthony, Henry B., 361. + +Appleton, James Means, 255. + Jesse, 255. + +Armistead, Richard, 145. + Mrs. Richard, 69, 146. + Susan, 73, 145. + +Armstrong, John, 72. + Mr., of New York, 112. + +Arthur, Chester A., 11, 390, 391. + +Ashton, Henry, 215. + +Astor, Dorothea, 74. + Eliza, 75. + Emily, 53. + George, 76. + "George and Company," 76. + Henry, 75. + John Jacob (1), 33, 36, 39, 72-77. + John Jacob (2), 22. + Magdalen, 74. + William B., 22, 23, 53, 72. + William Waldorf, 102. + "Astor and Camp," 76. + +Atkinson, Henry, 163. + Mrs. Henry, 163. + +Auchmuty, Richard Tyldin, 364. + +Audenreid, Florence, 373. + Joseph C., 372. + +Augustus, Emperor, 385. + +Aulick, John H., 169. + + +Bache, Eliza Ann, 78. + Matilda, 278. + +Bacon, Alice, 19. + Delia, 19. + Francis, 34. + Julia, 19. + Leonard, 19. + +Badger, Miss, 374. + +Bakhmeteff, Madame, 364. + +Balfe, Michael William, 227. + Victoire, 227. + +Ball, Mary, 377. + +Bancroft, George, 171, 199, 371, 372. + Mrs. George, 106, 372. + +Bankhead, James, 186, 211. + The Misses, 186. + +Banks, Nathaniel P., 178, 315. + +Bannister, Mr., 185. + +Bantz, Gideon, 340. + +Baraza, Cipriano, 297. + +Barbour, James L., 175. + +Barca, de la, Don Calderon, 233. + Madame Calderon, 233, 252. + +Barclay, Andrew D., 142. + +Bard, Samuel, 146. + William, 146. + +Barker, Jacob, 43. + +Barlow, Francis C., 184. + +Barnum, P. T., 162. + +Barron, James, 259. + +Bartlett, William H. C., 123. + +Bass, Mrs. Eugénie, 231. + +Bazaine, François Achillé, 278. + +Beach, Moses Y., 44, 113. + +Beale, Edward F., 364. + Mrs. Edward F., 364. + Mary, 364. + +Bearn, de, Louis, 230, 231. + Princess, 231. + +Beauharnais, de, Hortense, 258. + +Beaujour, de, Felix, 51. + +Beaumont, John C., 304. + +Beauregard, de, Paix, 58. + Toutant, 58. + Pierre G. T., 54, 58, 234. + +Beck, James B., 387. + Mrs. James B., 387. + +Becket, à, Thomas, 96. + +Beckett, Hamilton, 96. + +Belden, George, 144. + Julia, 144. + +Belknap, William G., 374. + +Bellini, Giovanni, 234. + +Bellows, Henry W., 147. + +Belmont, August, 35, 85, 95. + Mrs. August, 95, 165. + +Beltzhoover, Daniel M., 121. + +Benham, Henry W., 64, 255. + Mrs. Henry W., 64, 255. + +Bennett, James Gordon, 46, 47, 83. + Mrs. James Gordon, 47. + +Benton, James G., 46. + Mrs. James G., 46. + Jessie Ann, 229. + Mr., 281. + Susan, 229. + Thomas H., 92, 93, 229, 279. + +Bentzon, Adrian B., 74. + Mrs. Adrian B., 74. + +Bérault, Améline, 52. + Charles, 67. + Madame Charles, 67. + Laura, 52. + Marie-Louise Joséphine Laure, 67. + Pauline, 68. + Vincente Rose Améline, 67. + +Beresford, William, 154. + +Bergmans, Alfred, 232. + Madame Alfred, 232. + +Berret, James G., 367. + Mrs. James G., 367. + +Berrian, William, 86. + +Berrien, William McPherson, 56. + +Bertinatti, Giuseppe, 231. + Madame Giuseppe, 231. + +Bibby, Augustus, 267. + Edward N., 267. + Mrs. Edward N., 267. + Gouverneur S., 36, 371. + Mrs. Gouverneur S., 22. + Henry Warburton, 267. + +Biddle, Nicholas, 14. + +Bigelow, John, 53, 126. + +Bisset, John, 142. + +Black, Jeremiah S., 286. + Rebecca B., 286. + +Blackwell, Jacob, 5. + Lydia, 5. + Robert, 5. + +Blaine, James G., 174, 361, 385. + Mrs. James G., 361, 385. + +Blair, Hugh, 30. + Mrs. James, 258. + +Bleecker, Anthony, 87. + +Bliss, Alexander, 372. + Mrs. Alexander, 372. + D. W., 390. + William W. S., 152. + +Blodgett, George M., 87. + +Boggs, Edward B., 87. + +Boilleau, Baron Geoffrey, 229, 230. + The Baroness, 229. + +Bolles, T. Dix, 215. + Mrs. T. Dix, 215. + +Bolton, William Compton, 21. + Mrs. William Compton, 21. + +Bonaparte, Jerome, 339. + +Boreel, Mrs. Francis R., 73. + +Borland, Mr., 281. + Solon, 205. + +Boswell, James, 80. + +Botelwalla, (a Parsee), 294. + +Botta, Vincenzo, 158. + Mrs. Vincenzo, 158, 159. + +Bouck, William C., 189, 193. + +Bowne, Walter, 30. + +Boyce, Edward, 233. + Mrs. Edward, 233. + +Bradford, Elizabeth Hopkins, 375. + William, 183. + +Bradish, Luther, 3. + +Bradley, Joseph P., 382. + +Brady, James T., 83, 84. + +Brandegee, Maria, 58. + +Brasher, Philip, 43. + +Bratz, Herrman, 372. + +Bray, Mrs. Ann Eliza, 66. + +Breckenridge, John C., 220. + +Bresson, de, Paul Alfred, 232. + +Bridge, Horatio, 274. + Mrs. Horatio, 274. + +Bridgens, Cornelia, 159, 160. + The Misses, 159. + +Brodhead, Jacob, 86. + +Broglie, de, Duchesse, 75. + +Bronson, Orestes Augustus, 158. + +Brooke, Catharine L., 174. + +Brooks, Peter C., 148. + Preston S., 244. + Mrs. Sidney, 225. + +Brown, B. Gratz, 351. + Colonel, 348. + Jesse, 176. + John Marshall, 215. + Mrs. John Marshall, 215. + Mr., 281. + Robert M. G., 340. + Mrs. Robert M. G., 340. + (Sexton), 135, 136, 137. + +Browne, George W., 35. + +Browning, Robert, 371. + Mrs. Robert, 371. + +Brownlee, William C., 86. + +Bryant, William Cullen, 45, 48, 119. + +Buchanan, James, 176, 177, 218, 242, 276, 285, 286, 288, 341, 376, 390. + James, (British Consul in N.Y.), 168. + Roberdeau, 9. + Mrs. Roberdeau, 9. + +Buckingham, Mrs. Benjamin F., 199. + +Buckley, Barzilla, 18. + +Bucknor, Cornelia, 185. + Emily, 186. + Frank, 185, 186. + +Bull, Ole, 196. + +Bullitt, Diana Moore, 163. + Eloise, ("Lou"), 163. + Mary, 163. + +Bulloch, James D., 304. + +Bunner, Anne, 40. + Rudolph, 40, 42, 43. + +Burdette, Charles, 9. + +Burke, Edmund, 84. + +Burney, Frances, 66. + +Burns, David, 236, 237. + Robert, 14. + William C., 297. + +Burnside, Ambrose E., 361, 364. + +Burr, Aaron, 6, 99, 108, 258. + Theodosia, 99. + +Burton, William E., 13, 26, 82, 162. + +Bush, Ralph I., 27, 28. + +Butler, Andrew P., 244. + Benjamin F., 92, 161. + Mrs. Benjamin F., 161. + Gen. Benjamin F., 221, 222, 274. + Charles Henry, 368. + Pierce (1), (Senator), 85. + Pierce (2), 85. + +Byron, Lord, 40, 84, 354. + + +Caballero, Lucas, 297. + +Cabell, Mrs. Robert Henry, 105, 183. + +Cadwalader, John (1), 255. + John (2), 255. + John L., 373. + Mary, 373. + Mrs. Thomas, 267. + +Calhoun, John C., 4, 279, 384. + +Cameron, Simon, 274. + +Cammack, Mrs., 54. + +Campan, Madame, 29, 258. + +Campbell, Alexander, 7, 8. + Archibald, 207, 218. + Mrs. Archibald, 207. + Charles H., 207. + Mrs. Charles H., 207. + Charlotte, 265, 311. + Fanny, 19, 22, 139, 171. + James (1), 6, 12-15, 18, 31-33, 40, 45, 179, 180, 366. + Mrs. James, 14, 18, 262, 266, 271, 311. + +Campbell, James (2), 22, 23, 265. + Malcolm (1), 6, 8, 9, 45. + Malcolm (2), 17, 98, 173, 265, 311. + Margaret, 115, 184, 187, 233, 262, 264-266. + Marian, 16, 261, 262, 264, 266. + St. George Tucker, 212. + Mrs. St. George Tucker, 212. + Miss, 374. + +Canda, Charles, 67. + Charlotte, 67. + +Canova, Antonio, 338. + +Carey, Asa Bacon, 355. + Mrs. Asa Bacon, 355. + +Carlisle, Earl of, 106, 146. + +Carlota, Empress, 208, 209. + +Caroline, Queen of Naples, 337, 338. + +Carpenter, Lilian, 372. + Matthew, 372. + +Carr, Jonathan, 2. + +Carroll, Alida, 215. + Carrie, 215. + Charles, 101, 106, 262. + Daniel, 236. + Harriet, 262. + Helen Sophia, 314. + Sallie, 215. + Violetta Lansdale, 215. + William Thomas, 214, 217, 266. + Mrs. William Thomas, 214, 266. + +Carter, Bernard Moore, 97. + Robert, 249. + +Cass, Isabella, 121, 187. + Lewis Cass, 121, 188. + +Casti, Giovanni Battista, 34. + +Caton, Richard, 101. + Mrs. Richard, 101. + +Caux, de, Grimaud, 358. + Madame Grimaud, 358. + +Chalmers, Thomas, 168. + +Chandler, William E., 361. + Mrs. William E., 361. + Zachariah, 241, 368. + Mrs. Zachariah, 368. + +Channing, William Henry, 157, 158. + +Chapman, John Gadsby, 119. + +Charraud, John T., 29. + +Chase, Salmon P., 218, 334. + +Chateaubriand, François Auguste, 101. + +Chaulet, Mrs. George R. A., 67. + +Chegaray, Madame Eloise, 50-54, 57, 58, 61, 63-67, 69, 103, 139, 216. + +Chesterfield, Lord, 80, 329. + +Chew, Beverly, 57. + Mrs. Beverly, 57, 58. + Catharine Alexander, 57. + Robert S., 218. + +Choate, Rufus, 85, 94, 178, 225. + +Chopin, Fréderic François, 76. + +Chrystie, Mr., 186. + +Church, Albert E., 123. + +Clagett, Darius, 175. + +Clark, Daniel, 58. + +Clay, Clement C., 277. + Mrs. Clement C., 277. + Henry, 31, 32, 63, 89, 159, 279, + 317, 384. + +Clerke, William B., 185. + +Cleveland, Grover, 34, 383. + +Clinch, Duncan L., 240. + +Clinton, Augusta, 71. + Mrs. DeWitt, 69, 70, 71, 129, 145. + Julia, 69. + +Cochrane, John, 109, 150, 352. + +Codman, Charles Russell, 111. + +Coffey, Titian J., 367. + Mrs. Titian J., 367. + +Cohen, Abraham H., 9. + Mrs. Abraham H., 9. + Mrs. Sara Jane Picken, 9. + +Coleman, Margaret, 199. + Sarah, 199. + +Coles, Mrs. (of New York), 35. + +Colfax, Schuyler, 356. + Mrs. Schuyler, 356. + +Colhoun, Mrs. William H., 187. + +Collins, Charles Oliver, 359. + Mrs. Charles Oliver, 359. + Mrs. Mary Bailey, 359. + +Condit-Smith, John, 385. + Mrs. John, 385. + +Conkling, Roscoe, 361. + Mrs. Roscoe, 361. + +Connelly, Pierce, 61, 62. + Mrs. Pierce, 63. + +Contoit, John H., 34. + +Conway, Moncure D., 378, 379. + +Coolidge, Mrs. Harriet Morris, 200. + Richard Henry, 200. + Mrs. Richard Henry, 200. + +Cooper, James Fenimore, 92, 131. + Priscilla, 94. + Thomas Apthorpe, 94. + Mrs. Thomas Apthorpe, 94. + +Corbin, Francis Porteus, 339. + +Corcoran, Thomas, 217. + William W., 197, 217, 374, 376. + +Cornbury, Lord, 141. + +Cottringer, Mr., 281. + +Coudert, Frederick R., 17. + +Cox, Arthur Cleveland, 90. + Samuel H., 90. + +Cozzens, William B., 36, 180. + +Craig, Adam, 64. + Mrs. Adam, 64. + Jane Stith, 64. + +Crampton, John F. T., 226-228. + Mrs. John F. T., 227. + +Crane, Charles H., 195. + Ichabod B., 195. + +Crawford, Francis Marion, 392. + William H., 32, 282. + +Crean, Henrietta Agnes, 47. + +Crittenden, John Jordan, 279. + +Croghan, Mary E., 233, 234. + +Cromwell, Oliver, 2, 381. + Samuel, 91, 93. + +Crooke, Mary, 131. + +Croom, Henry B., 54. + Henrietta, 54, 55, 57. + +Cropper, John, 358. + Mrs. John, 358. + +Crowninshield, Arent Schuyler, 375. + Mrs. Arent Schuyler, 12, 375-376. + Benjamin W., 282. + The Misses, 280, 282. + +Cruger, Mrs. Douglas, 111. + +Cumberland, Duke of, 7, 201. + +Cunard, Edward, 117. + Lady, 166. + +Curry, Jabez L. M., 99. + Mrs. Jabez L. M., 99. + +Curtin, Andrew G., 352, 367. + +Curtis, George William, 158, 377. + +Cushing, Caleb, 101, 102, 178, 198, 251, 252, 254, 255, 265, 333. + +Custis, Mrs. Daniel Parke, 236. + Mrs. Sallie Smith, 337. + +Cutts, Mrs. Rose Adelle ("Addie"), 219. + James Madison, 218, 219. + Mrs. James Madison, 218-220. + Richard, 218. + + +Dahlgren, John A., 377, 378. + Mrs. John A., 377. + Mrs. Madeleine Vinton, 377, 378. + +Dallas, George M., 85. + +Daly, Charles P., 13, 18. + Joseph F., 18. + +Dana, Charles A., 157, 352. + Francis, 158. + Mrs. Francis, 158. + +Da Ponte, Lorenzo, 53, 82. + Lorenzo L., 53. + +Dardon, Madame, 374. + +Darwin, Charles, 80. + +Davenport, Mrs. Henry K., 213 + Richard G., 213. + +Davidge, Walter D., 387, 390. + Mrs. Walter D., 387. + +Davidson, Samuel, 236. + +Davies, Solomon B., 265. + Mrs. Solomon B., 265. + +Davis, Charles Augustus, 36, 74. + Mrs. Charles Augustus, 74. + David, 352. + Delaware, 380. + Henry Gassaway, 340. + Mrs. Henry Gassaway, 340. + George T., 245. + Grace, 340. + Hallie, 340. + Jefferson, 103, 213, 284, 287. + Mrs. Jefferson, 213, 276. + John, 373. + Kate, 340. + Samuel B., 380. + Winter, 178. + +Dawes, Anna, 361. + Henry L., 361. + Mrs. Henry L., 361. + +Day, Henry, 137. + +De Genlis, Madame, 168. + +De Hart, Abigail, 180. + +De Kay, George Coleman, 221. + +De Koven, Henry, 117. + Mrs. Henry, 117. + Reginald, 117. + +De Menou, Jules, 193. + +De Peyster, Arent Schuyler, 34, 165. + Captain, 51. + Frederick (1), 49. + Frederick (2), 39, 163, 164. + Mrs. Frederick, 164. + James Ferguson, 64. + John Watts, 116, 163, 165, 166. + Mrs. John Watts, 116, 166. + Susan Maria Clarkson, 64. + +De Rham, Henry Casimir, 102. + Mrs. Henry Casimir, 102. + +De Ruiz, Domingo Leoncio, 68. + Mrs. Domingo Leoncio, 68. + +De Sodré, Lucinia, 314. + Luis Pereira, 314. + +De Staël, Madame, 75, 276. + +De Veaux, Mr., of New York, 112. + +De Wint, Caroline, 134. + +De Witt, Thomas, 86, 180. + +De Wolf, Mr., 281. + +Decatur, Anne Pine, 309. + Stephen (1), 216, 258, 259, 279, 309, 310. + Mrs. Stephen, 259. + Stephen (2), 309. + +Dehon, Fanny, 225. + +Delafield, Edward, 116. + Mrs. Edward, 116. + Henry, 111, 115, 116. + John, 115. + Joseph, 116. + Richard, 116. + William, 116. + +Delarue, Marguerite M., 175. + +Demonet, Charles, 175. + +Demsey, John, 323. + +Denning, Hannah Maria, 15. + +Dennison, Jenny, 367. + Miss, 374. + William, 367. + Mrs. William, 367. + +Dent, Louis, 355. + Mrs. Louis, 355. + +Derby, George H., 282-285. + +Désabaye, Caroline, 67. + Clara, 52. + Gustave, 51. + Marc, 51, 52. + Pierre Prosper, 50. + +Déslonde, Adrian, 93. + Marie Mathilde, 95. + +Dewey, Orville, 88. + +D'Hervilly, Joseph U. F., 68. + Madame Joseph U. F., 67, 68. + +Dickinson, Jonathan, 389. + Julia Maria, 47. + +Didot, Firmin, 13. + +Diehl, George, 328, 341. + Mrs. George, 328, 341. + Marie, 328. + +Dieterich, George, 75. + +Dillon-Lee, Marmaduke, 328. + +Dix, John A., 315. + Morgan, 75. + +Dodge, Mary Abigail, 374, 385. + +Donelson, Andrew Jackson, 358, 359. + +Donoho, Thomas Seaton, 272, 275. + +D'Oremieulx, Theophile, 147. + +Douglas, Dr., 198. + George, 113, 142. + Mrs. George, 111, 114. + Jennie, 218. + John W., 357. + Mrs. John W., 357. + Stephen A., 219, 220, 265. + Mrs. Stephen A., 219, 220, 276, 349. + William, 111. + +Downing, Andrew Jackson, 134. + Mrs. Andrew Jackson, 134. + "Jack," 276. + Mrs. "Jack," 74. + +Dryden, John, 80. + +Dudley, Mrs. Henry, 188. + Mrs. William E., 370. + +Duer, Anna Henrietta, 40. + Catharine Theodore, 84. + Edward Alexander, 84. + Mrs. Edward Alexander, 84. + Eleanor Jones, 15, 131. + Elizabeth Denning, 132. + Frances Maria, 15, 132. + John, 40, 92. + Mrs. John, 40. + Maria Theodosia, 58. + William A., 14, 15, 58, 84, 132. + Mrs. William A., 15. + +Duke, Mrs. Basil, 243. + +Dundas, Mr., 168. + +Dunmore, Earl of, 141-143. + +Dunn, Miss, 374. + +Durand, Asher B., 119. + +Dutilh, Eugene, 165. + Mrs. Eugene, 165. + +Dyer, Alexander B., 125. + + +Eames, Charles, 128, 171, 172, 313. + Mrs. Charles, 128, 171-173, 178, 179, 249, 261-262, 265, 313, 367. + Charles Campbell, 386. + Fanny, 172. + +Early, Jubal A., 324. + +Eastman, Mrs. Anna Harris, 369. + Thomas Henderson, 369. + Mrs. Thomas Henderson, 369. + +Eaton, John H., 359. + Mrs. John H., 359. + +Edes, Margaret, 275. + +Edgar, Daniel, 79. + Mrs. Daniel, 79. + +Edgeworth, Maria, 66, 98. + +Edward VII., 163. + +Elkins, Stephen B., 340. + Mrs. Stephen B., 340, 378. + +Ellet, Mrs. Elizabeth, 286, 340, 341. + +Ellicott, Andrew, 205. + +Elssler, Fanny, 85, 86. + +Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 99, 158, 251. + +Emery, William H., 278. + Mrs. William H., 278. + +Emmett, the Messrs. of N.Y., 112. + +Emory, Miss, 374. + +Eppes, Francis Wayles, 339. + John Wayles, 339. + Mrs. John Wayles, 339. + +Esterhazy, The Countess, 215. + +Eugénie, Empress, 270, 307, 338. + +Eustis, Abram, 100. + Mrs. Abram, 100. + +Evarts, William M., 151, 152, 383. + +Eveleth, Kate, 362, 363. + +Everett, Edward, 64, 148, 149, 178, 214, 222-225, 266. + Mrs. Edward, 148, 222. + Henry Sidney, 149. + +Ewell, Cordelia, 273. + Richard S., 273. + + +Fahnenberg, Baron, 243. + +Fairlie, James, 94. + Louisa, 94. + Mary, 94. + +Farley, Mrs. John, 214. + +Featherstonhaugh, G. W., 97. + +Fendall, Mrs. Reginald, 367. + +Fessenden, John M., 182. + +Field, Cyrus W., 384. + David Dudley, 384. + Henry M., 384. + Stephen J., 384. + Mrs. Stephen J., 384, 385. + +Figanière, Joaquim Cesar de, 70. + +Fish, Bayard, 185. + Beekman, 185, 186. + "Fish, Grinnell and Company," 113. + +Fish, Hamilton (1), 103, 148, 150, 151, 152, 165, 174, 186, 286, 373. + Mrs. Hamilton, 52, 150, 152, + 153, 174, 187, 205, 286, 360. + Hamilton (2), 373. + Preserved, 113, 114. + +Fisher, George H., 180. + +Fitzgerald, Louis, 269. + +Floyd, John B., 341. + John G., 266. + Julia, 116. + Mr., 281. + William, 116. + +Follin, Adolphus, 185. + +Foote, Henry S., 388. + Kate, 361. + +Forbes, Harriet Blackwell, 187. + John, 22. + Mrs. John, 23. + Maria, 22-24, 26-28, 30, 50, 294. + +Forrest, Edwin, 82, 83. + Mrs. Edwin, 83. + Uriah, 369, 370. + +Forsyth, John, 30, 31, 282. + Mrs. John, 280, 282. + +Foster, Lafayette S., 334. + +Fox, Henry Stephen, 227, 228. + +Francis, John W., 23, 26-28, + 69, 81, 82, 98, 115, 180. + +Franklin, Benjamin, 26, 28, 379. + +Fraser, Donald, 115. + +Freeman, Isabel, 199. + William G., 199. + Mrs. William G., 199. + +Frelinghuysen, Frederick, 11. + Frederick Theodore, 11. + Theodore, 11. + +Fremont, John C., 230. + Mrs. John C., 230. + +Frietchie, Barbara, 125, 327. + +Fuller, Margaret, 158. + Melville, 215. + +Furguson, Mrs., 287 + + +Gadsby, John, 177. + +Gage, Henry (1), 24. + Henry (2), 125. + Thomas, 124. + Mrs. Thomas, 124. + +Gaines, Edmund Pendleton (1), 58. + Mrs. Edmund Pendleton, 58. + Edmund Pendleton (2), 354. + Mrs. Edmund Pendleton (2), 354. + Mrs. Myra Clark, 58. + +Gales, Mrs. Joseph, 280, 282. + +Galliher, Mr., 185. + +Galt, Matthew W., 367. + Mrs. Matthew W., 367. + +Garcia, Manuel, 81. + Signor, 81. + +Garfield, James A., 377, 389, 390. + +Garrick, David, 80. + +Garrison, William Lloyd, 99. + +Gaston, William, 279, 389. + Mrs. William, 389. + +Gau, Alexandre, 233, 266. + Mrs. Alexandre, 233, 270. + +Gautier, Charles, 175. + +Gauvain, Michael A., 29. + +Gelston, David, 72. + Henry, 35. + Maltby, 71, 72, 100, 101. + Margaret, 71, 72, 100. + Mary, 71, 72, 100. + +Genet, Edmond Charles, 1, 2, 29. + +George I., 8. + +Gerard, James W., 144, 185. + Julia, 185. + +Gerolt, von, Bertha, 232. + The Baroness, 232. + Frederick Charles Joseph, 231, 232. + The Baroness, 232. + +Gerry, Mrs. Hannah Greene, 217. + +Gevers, Johan Cornelis, 213, 266. + The Baroness, 213. + +Gibbes, Annette, 22. + Charlotte Augusta, 22. + Robert Morgan, 102. + Mrs. Robert Morgan, 102. + Thomas S., 21, 36. + Mrs. Thomas S., 21, 22, 36. + +Gibbon, Edward, 80. + +Gibbs, Benjamin F., 304. + George, 147. + Mrs. George, 147, 313. + Laura Wolcott, 147. + Wolcott, 147. + +Gillett, Ransom H., 138. + +Goelet, Peter, 217. + +Goldsborough, Margaret, 334, 350. + Mary Catharine, 334. + +Gonzales, Ambrosio José, 234, 235. + +Goodloe, Green Clay, 387. + Mrs. Green Clay, 387. + +Gordon, John B., 324. + +Gordon-Cumming, Alexander Penrose, 172. + Mrs. Alexander Penrose, 172. + +Gould, James, 4. + +Gouverneur, Mrs. Abraham, 131. + Elizabeth, 265. + Emily, 120. + Frederick Philipse, 130. + Gertrude, 118. + Isaac, 118. + Louisa A., 270. + Margaret Philipse, 130. + Mary Marston, 130, 131, 269. + Maud Campbell, 183, 270, 271, 307, 362. + Nicholas, 118, 127, 256. + Rose de Chine, 309, 346. + Ruth Monroe, 288, 320, 390. + Samuel, 130. + Mrs. Samuel, 130, 131. + Samuel L. (1), 193, 256-258, 261, 262, 264, 265, 272, 314, 315, 320. + Mrs. Samuel L. (1), (first wife, Maria Hester Monroe), 47, 109, 256, + 257, 259, 260, 264. + Mrs. Samuel L. (1), (second wife, Mary Digges Lee), 256, 261, 262, + 265. + Samuel L. (2), 25, 109, 115, 256, 259, 262-264, 267, 270-272, 275, + 276, 282, 283, 285, 288, 290, 292, 294, 295, 300-303, 306-309, 312, + 313, 316-320, 322, 323, 325, 328, 330, 332, 335, 350-353, 356, 364, + 366, 370, 373, 389. + Mrs. Samuel L. (2), _Preface_, 25, 139, 206, 270, 271, 308, 344, 346, + 347, 348, 362, 366. + Samuel Mongan Warburton, 269. + +"Gouverneur and Kemble," 48, 118. + +Gower, Ronald, 228. + +Grabow, von, Guido, 233, 266. + The Baroness, 233. + +Graham, George, 213. + Mrs. George, 213. + John, 213. + +Granger, Adele, 139. + Delia W., 370. + Francis, 138. + Gideon, 138. + +Grant, Frederick, 374. + Nellie, 356, 366. + Ulysses S., 152, 232, 254, 319, 349, 350, 351, 352, 355, 356, 361, + 365, 370, 372, 373, 376, 381. + Mrs. Ulysses S., 355. + +Gray, John F., 133. + +Greeley, Horace, 225, 350, 351, 352, 355, 356. + +Greely, Adolphus W., 214, 391. + Mrs. Adolphus W., 214, 391. + +Green, Alice, 370. + John, 370. + Thomas, 240. + Mrs. Thomas, 240. + +Greenhow, Robert, 220. + Mrs. Robert, 177, 218, 220, 221, 222. + Rose, 220. + +Greenwood, Grace, 377. + +Greig, John, 39, 138. + +Griffin, William Preston, 205. + Mrs. William Preston, 52, 205. + +Griffith, Arabella, 184. + George, 92. + Philip, 222, 224. + +Grinnell, Cornelia, 160. + +"Grinnell, Minturn and Co.," 133. + +Guiteau, Charles J., 390. + +Gurowski, Adam, 177, 246-250. + Ignatius, 249, 250. + Ladislas, 246. + +Guthrie, James, 178, 266, 286. + +Gwin, William McKendree, 276, 278. + Mrs. William McKendree, 276. + + +Habersham, Joseph (1), 57. + Joseph (2), 57. + Josephine, 57. + William Neyle, 57, 335. + Mrs. William Neyle, 57, 335. + +Haight, Mrs. Richard K., 155. + +Haldane, Mary, 358. + +Hale, Eugene, 368. + +Halleck, Henry W., 317, 318. + +Hallett, Hughes, 286. + Mrs. Hughes, 286. + +Halliday, Edward C., 388. + Mrs. Edward C., 388, 389. + +Hamilton, Alexander (1), 78, 108, 109, 257, 274, 380. + Mrs. Alexander (1), 193, 197, 287. + Alexander (2), 38. + Mrs. Alexander (2), 38. + Angelica, 108. + Gail, 374, 385. + James A., 38, 257. + Mrs. James A., 38. + John A., 175. + John C., 30, 36, 109. + Mrs. John C., 22. + Laurens, 109. + Molly, 96. + Philip, 108. + Schuyler, 105. + Mrs. Schuyler, 105, 365. + +Hammersley, Gordon, 154. + Mrs. Gordon, 154. + John, 154, 246. + Louis, 154. + Mrs. Louis, 154. + Thomas, 90. + +Hammond, George, 276. + +Hardee, William J., 120, 121, 125, 126, 266. + +Hardey, Madame Mary Aloysia, 59. + +Harod, Charles, 207. + Mary Williamson, 207. + +Harper, Emily, 101, 103, 246, 251, 265. + +Harper, Robert Goodloe, 101. + Mrs. Robert Goodloe, 101. + Walter, 175. + +Harrison, Augustus Joseph Francis, 307. + Benjamin, 274, 357. + Mrs. Henry, 368. + William Henry, 138, 201, 356. + +Hasbrouck, Henry C., 133. + Maria, 133. + William C., 133. + Mrs. William C., 133. + +Havens, Benny, 121-123. + +Haviland, John Von Sonntag, 277. + +Hawks, Francis L., 86, 87, 250. + +Hawley, Joseph R., 361. + Mrs. Joseph R., 361. + William, 257, 258. + +Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 157. + +Hay, George, 29, 258. + Mrs. George, 29, 258. + Sophie, 50, 51. + +Hayes, Rutherford B., 151, 367, 381-383, 387. + Mrs. Rutherford B., 383. + +Hayne, Mr., 281. + +Hazard, John, 1-3, 5, 18. + Mrs. John ("Nancy"), 6. + Jonathan, 2. + Maria, 132. + Mary Ann, 18. + Theodore E., 387. + +"Heard (Augustus) and Company," 293, 308. + +Hearst, George, 391. + Mrs. George (Phoebe), 391. + William R., 391. + +Heckscher, Richard, 146. + Mrs. Richard, 146. + +Heiskell, Henry Lee, 265. + Mrs. Henry Lee, 265. + James Monroe, 265, 319. + +Hellen, Mary, 214, 281, 282. + +Henry, Joseph, 359, 360. + Mrs. Joseph, 359. + Patrick, 142. + +Heth, Henry, 121. + Joice, 162. + +Heyward, Edward, 35. + +Hibbard, Mr., 262. + +Hicks, Henry W., 111, 117. + +"Hicks and Company," 117. + +Higginson, Francis J., 358. + Mrs. Francis J., 358. + +Hilgard, Theodore E., 387. + Mrs. Theodore E., 387. + +Hill, Clement C., 199. + Mrs. Clement C., 199, 372. + Ellen Ann, 368. + +Hilton, Henry, 17. + +Hinckley, Mrs. Samuel L., 81. + +Hinsdale, Horace, 35. + +Hoes, Roswell Randall, 346. + Mrs. Roswell Randall, _Preface_, 346. + +Hoff, William Bainbridge, 387. + +Hoffman, Charles F., 268, 269. + Mrs. Charles F., 269. + Charles W., 385. + Eugene A., 268. + Josiah Ogden, 128. + Matilda, 128. + Ogden, 43. + Mrs. Ogden, 44. + +"Hoffman and Seaton," 48. + +Hogan, Frances, 354. + William, 354. + +Hogarth, William, 2. + +Holly, Mrs. Hamilton, 108, 193, 274, 287. + +Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 245. + +Holt, Joseph, 341-344, 346-348. + +Hone, John, 34. + Philip, 30, 34. + +Hopkins, Louise, 375. + Samuel Miles, 12. + +Hornsby, Isham, 286. + Mrs. Isham, 286. + +Horsey, Outerbridge, 314. + +Hortense, Queen, 29. + +House, Crissie, 331. + The Misses, 331. + +Houston, Sam, 198, 199. + Mrs. Sam (first wife, Eliza Allen), 198. + Mrs. Sam (second wife, Margaret Moffette), 199. + +Howard, Henry George, 106. + Mrs. Henry George, 106. + +Howe, Mrs. Julia Ward, 53. + +Howells, William Dean, 392. + +Howland, Gardiner G., 239. + Mrs. Gardiner G., 239. + +Hoyt, Goold, 196. + Mrs. Goold, 196. + Hannah, 269. + +Hoyt, Henry Shaeffe, 15, 132. + Mrs. Henry Sheaffe, 15, 132. + Jesse, 31, 32, 33. + +Huc, Evariste Régis, 288. + +Hughes, John, 59, 88, 89, 104-106. + +Hull, Amos G., 133. + +Hulsemann, John George, 231. + +Humboldt, von, Alexander, 232, 245, 289. + +Hunt, Ward, 367. + Mrs. Ward, 367. + Mrs. Ridgely, 44. + +Hunter, David, 326. + + +Iglehart, James, 304. + +Ingersoll, Colin M., 223. + +Ingle, Osborne, 328. + +Inglis, Fanny, 233. + Lydia, 233. + +Irving, Leslie, 185, 186. + Pierre Paris, 40. + Mrs. Pierre Paris, 40. + Sanders, 174. + Mrs. Sanders, 174, 370. + Washington, 40, 63, 127, 128, 129. + +Iselin, Adrian, 51. + Isaac, 51, 52. + +Izard, Ralph, 100. + + +Jackson, Andrew, 4, 30, 70, 161, 189, 191, 207, 215, 244, 257, 279, 280, + 282, 358, 359, 390. + Benjamin L., 175. + Luther, 29. + Thomas J. ("Stonewall"), 327. + +James II., 7. + +James, Edward, 167. + Mrs. Julian, 392. + +"Jardine and Matthewson," 306. + +Jauncey, Jane Mary, 78. + +Jay, Elizabeth Clarkson, 58. + John, 58, 379. + Peter Augustus, 58, 165, 204. + Mrs. Peter Augustus, 204, 214. + +Jefferson, Maria, 339. + Martha, 357. + Thomas, 57, 72, 97, 138, 142, 339, 357, 380, 381, 390. + +Jeffrey, Alexander, 370. + Mrs. Alexander, 370. + +Jeffrey, Jennie, 14. + +Jennings, Sarah, 154. + +Jesup, Thomas S., 258. + +Jewell, Miss, 374. + +Johnson, Alexander B., 148. + Mrs. Alexander B., 148, 150. + Andrew, 342, 343, 345, 347-349. + Bradley T., 319, 320, 321. + George, 142. + Joseph E. ("Joe"), 326. + Joshua, 279. + Louisa Catharine, 279, 332. + Samuel, 80, 84. + Thomas, 236, 279, 331. + Mrs. William Clarkson, 200. + William Crawford, 320. + +Johnston, Mrs. Harriet Lane, 286. + Mrs. Henry Elliott, 285. + James M., 369. + Mary B., 369. + William P., 368. + +Joinville, de, Prince, 83. + +Jones, David S., 15. + Dr., 262. + Mrs. Gore, 374. + Isaac, 153. + Mrs. Isaac, 153. + John P., 376. + Mary Anna Schuyler, 60. + Roger, 195, 283. + Samuel, 58, 60. + Madame Sarah, 58-60. + Virginia Collins, 255. + Walter, 255. + +Joseph II., of Austria, 34. + +Judd, Gerrit P., 171, 173. + Samuel, 36. + + +Kane, De Lancey, 37, 39. + Mrs. De Lancey, 39, 74. + John, 39. + Lydia, 37, 162, 168. + Sarah, 39. + +Kantzow, de, Frederick, 163. + The Baroness, 163. + +Kean, Christine, 52, 205. + John, 187. + Peter Philip James, 205. + +Kearny, Mrs. Diana Bullitt, 165, 238. + Edward, 165. + Mary, 163. + +Kearny, Nancy, 163. + Philip (1), 163-165. + Mrs. Philip (1), 164. + Philip (2), 116, 163, 165, 175, 238. + Mrs. Philip (2), 163, 238, 239, 348. + Virginia De Lancey, 44. + +Keating, Miss, 374. + +Keats, John, 80. + +Keefer, C. H., 350. + +Kellogg, Frances, 216. + Julia, 216. + Sanford C., 276. + +Kemble, Charles, 84. + Ellen, 119. + Fanny, 15, 84-86, 124. + Gouverneur, 24, 80, 119, 123-127, 129, 130, 256, 268, 338. + Margaret, 124. + Margaret Tillotson, 73, 118. + Mary, 118, 119. + Peter, 118. + Mrs. Peter, 118. + Richard Frederick, 120. + Mrs. Richard Frederick, 120. + William, 73, 118, 119, 123, 129, 217, 268, 295. + Mrs. William, 119, 120, 185, 186, 271. + +Kemmerer, Joseph, 167. + +Kennedy, James C., 367. + Mrs. James C., 367. + Joseph C. G., 205. + Mrs. Joseph C. G., 205. + Thomas H., 58. + Mrs. Thomas H., 58. + +Kennon, Mrs. Beverly, 193. + +Kernan, Francis, 361. + Mrs. Francis, 361. + Miss, 361, 374. + Thomas, 361. + +Kerr, Mr., 281. + +Key, Francis Scott, 334. + Mrs. John, 370. + +Kidder, Jerome E., 266. + +Kilbourn, Miss, 374. + +King, Archibald Gracie, 15. + Mrs. Archibald Gracie, 15, 132. + Charles, 4, 46, 105. + Mrs. Charles, 105. + Charles B., 119. + +King, Charles C., 111. + Horatio, 376, 377. + Mrs. Horatio, 377. + John W., 64. + Mrs. John W., 64, 150. + Preston, 178, 349. + Rufus, 4, 279. + +Kingman, Eliab., 256, 272-274, 276. + Mrs. Eliab., 273. + +Kneeland, Samuel F., 17. + +Knox, John (1), 142. + John (2), 86, 180. + John, of Scotland, 86. + +Kortright, Hester, 256. + Lawrence, 256. + +Kosciusko, Thaddeus, 187, 246. + +Kossuth, Louis, 156, 157. + +Kourowski, Mr., 250. + +Kunkel, Jacob M., 328. + Mrs. Jacob M., 328. + +Kunze, Johann Christoff, 79. + +Kuroki, General, 250. + + +Labitzky, Joseph, 167. + +Lafayette, de, Marquis, 1, 239. + +Lafitte, Jean, 207. + +La Fontaine, Jean, 53. + +Laight, Edward, 165. + Henry, 164. + Mrs. Henry, 164. + +Lamb, Charles, 80. + +Lane, Harriet, 285, 286. + James, 349. + +Langdon, John, 74. + Louisa, 39. + Walter, 73, 74. + Mrs. Walter, 73, 74. + +Lansdale, Philip, 304. + +Latimer, C. R., 174. + +Laughton, J. Scott, 233. + +Lawrence, James, 134. + John Tharp, 362. + Mrs. John Tharp, 362. + Mrs. Julia A. K., 362, 363. + +Leake, John G., 12, 116. + +Leary, Anna, 36. + James, 35. + +Lee, Mrs. Arthur, 340. + Fitzhugh, 383. + Frederick Graham, 118. + John, 262. + Mrs. John, 262. + +Lee, John F., 368. + Mrs. John F., 368. + Mary, 265. + Mary Digges, 256. + Robert E., 121, 126, 188, 208, 212, 213, 314, 316, 327. + Samuel Phillips, 368. + Thomas Sim, 256, 262. + William, 174. + Mr., 281. + +Leisler, Jacob, 131. + +Lemoine, Ponty, 52. + Mrs. Ponty, 52. + +L'Enfant, Pierre Charles, 205. + +Lenox, Robert, 49. + +Lente, Frederick D., 118. + Mrs. Frederick D., 118. + +Leopold I., 228. + +LeRoy, Caroline, 117. + Charlotte, 117. + Herman, 12. + Jacob R., 111, 116, 117. + Susan, 112. + Mrs. William, 186. + +Le Sage, Alain René, 66. + +Leupp, Miss, 5. + +Le Vert, Henry S., 371. + Mrs. Henry S., 370, 371. + Octavia Walton, 370. + +Lewis, John Vaughan, 375. + +Li Hung Chang, 306. + +Lincoln, Abraham, 46, 208, 219, 220, 274, 342, 356, 384. + +Ling Kein (Mandarin), 295, 296. + +Lippincotts, the publishers, 335. + +Lipton, Thomas, 167. + +Lispenard, Alice, 13. + +Livingston, Angelica, 38. + Estelle, 116, 166. + John Swift, 111, 116, 166, 167. + Johnston, 167. + Margaret, 120. + Maria, 166. + Mary, 167. + Maturin, 38, 167. + Mrs. Maturin, 167. + Peter Van Brough, 187. + Philip, 69, 101, 142. + Robert Edward, 64. + Robert R. (Chancellor), 120. + Robert R. (Judge), 120. + Susan, 187. + +Lomax, Ann Corbin, 240. + Mann Page, 240, 241. + Virginia, 240. + +Longfellow, Henry W., 13, 244. + +Lord, Daniel, 137, 295. + Phoebe, 137. + +Lorillard, Jacob, 79. + Mrs. Jacob, 79. + Julia, 79. + +Louis XIV., 276, 389. + +Louis XVI., 3. + +Lowndes, William Jones, 279. + +Ludlow, Augustus C., 134. + Mary, 134. + Thomas W., 111, 117. + +Lumley-Savile, John, 228. + +Luquer, Lynch, 82. + Nicholas, 82. + Mrs. Nicholas, 82. + +Lynch, Adelaide, 24. + Anne C., 158. + Dominick, 53, 81, 82. + Mrs. Eugene H., 262. + Henry, 21. + James, 24. + John A., 331. + Mrs. John A., 331. + Mary, 21. + +Lyon, James, 24, 201. + + +Macalister, Lily, 232. + +Macfarland, Henry B. F., 357. + Mrs. Henry B. F., 357. + +Mackenzie, Alexander Slidell, 91, 92, 93. + +Macmaster, Anne, 111. + +MacNeil, Elizabeth, 64, 255. + Fanny, 255. + John, 64, 255. + +Macomb, Alexander, 163, 279, 363, 388. + Mrs. Alexander, 116. + Alexander S., 163, 165. + Mrs. Alexander S., 163-165. + +Macready, William C., 82. + +McAllister, Ward, 136, 276. + +McClellan, George B., 200. + Lucy, 7. + +McCorquodale, Mr., 168. + +McCullough, John E., 364. + +McDonnel, D. N., 34. + +McElroy, John, 332. + Mrs. John E., 390. + +McEvers, Charles, Jr., 111, 117. + Mary, 117, 166. + +McGill, John Thomas, 326. + Mrs. John Thomas, 326. + +McKay-Smith, Alexander, 374. + Mrs. Alexander, 374. + +McKee, Joseph, 53. + +McKim, Mr., 280. + +McKnight, James, 216. + +McLane, Allan, 358. + Anne, 358. + Mrs. John R., 364. + +McLeod, Mr., 233. + Mrs., 233, 234. + +McPherson, Mrs. John ("Fannie"), 328, 331, 332. + Robert G., 324. + Mrs. Robert G., 324. + +McTavish, Alexander S., 105. + Charles Carroll, 103, 104, 106. + Mrs. Charles Carroll, 106, 107, 194. + Emily, 106. + Mary, 106. + Mary Wellesley, 106. + +McVickar, John, 14. + +M'Dougall, Peter, 142. + +M'Gregor, John, 142. + +Madison, James, 47, 72, 101, 138, 219, 241, 279, 282. + Mrs. James ("Dolly"), 47, 178, 197, 218, 219, 324. + +Magruder, George A., 211. + Helen, 211. + John B., 182, 208-211. + +Mahan, Alfred T., 123. + Dennis H., 123. + +Maitland, Mr., of New York, 112. + +Malibran, Madame, 81. + +Manning, Daniel, 34. + +Marble, Manton, 382. + +Marcoleta, de, José, 235. + +Marcy, Cornelia, 198, 266. + William L., 30, 138, 177, 178, 195, 198, 229, 266, 284. + Mrs. William L., 178, 266. + +Marini, Lewis G., 373, 374. + +Mariscal, Madame, 374. + +Markoe, Francis S., 218. + +Marlborough, Duke of, 154. + Duchess of, 154. + +Marquand, Frederick, 35. + Henry G., 35. + +Marshall, Emily, 274. + John, 279. + +Marston, Nathaniel, 131. + Mrs. Nathaniel, 131. + +Martin, Mr. (of Jamaica, N.Y.), 6. + +Marvel, Ik, 159. + +Marx, Henry Carroll, 161. + +Mary, Queen of Scots, 86. + +Mason, Betty, 212. + Emily Virginia, 212, 213, 257. + Florence, 212. + James M., 212. + John, 153, 154. + John M., 142. + John T., 212. + Matilda, 212. + Miss, of New York, 112. + Stevens Thompson, 212. + Mrs. Thomson F. ("Colross"), 212. + +Masters, Josiah, 64. + +Masters, Margaret, 64. + +Maulsby, William P., 328. + Mrs. William P., 328. + +Maury, Matthew F., 207-210. + Mrs. Matthew F., 208. + +Maximilian, Archduke, 208, 278, 370. + +Maxwell, Charles Duval, 369. + Hugh, 44, 265. + +Maynadier, William, 363. + Mrs. William ("Sallie"), 362, 363. + +Maynard, Edward, 196. + +Mayo, Edward, 105. + Mrs. Edward, 105. + John, 180, 181. + Mrs. John, 180. + Maria D., 180, 181. + Robert, 188, 189, 191, 192. + William Starbuck, 188. + Mrs. William Starbuck, 188. + +Meade, George G., 316. + Richard W., 120. + +Medhurst, Walter H., 293, 303. + +Meikleham, David Scott, 357. + Mrs. David Scott (Septimia Randolph), 357. + +Mercer, William Swann, 215. + Mrs. William Swan, 215. + +Meredith, Emma, 238, 239. + Jonathan, 238. + +Messinger, Daniel, 167, 168. + Mrs. Daniel, 168. + +Messinger, Thomas H., 167. + +Milledoler, Philip, 180. + +Miller, Charles Dudley, 150. + Mrs. Charles Dudley, 150. + Thomas, 255. + Mrs. Thomas, 255. + William Starr, 111, 117. + +Mills, Clark, 244. + +Milne, Mr., 293, 302. + +Mimmack, Bernard P., 359. + Mrs. Bernard P., 359. + +Minus, Hetty, 98. + Philippa, 98. + +Mitchell, Donald G., 159. + S. Weir, 373. + Samuel L., 10. + +Moffette, Margaret, 199. + +Monroe, Bettie, 265. + Columbus, 214. + Eliza, 29, 258. + Fannie, 114, 262. + James, 29, 44, 77, 101, 108, 109, 123, 142, 174, 177, 206, 213, 215, + 256, 257, 263, 264, 267, 276, 279, 282, 285, 317, 332, 335, 357, + 363, 366, 379, 380. + Mrs. James, 77, 258, 264. + James (nephew of President), 114. + Mrs. James, 111, 114. + Maria Hester, 256-258, 363. + Mr. 281. + +Montauban, Charles, 307. + +Montgomery, Richard, 120. + Mrs. Richard, 120. + +Moore, Benjamin, 10, 102, 130. + Clement C., 105, 130, 131. + Maria Theresa, 102. + Theresa, 105. + Thomas, 81. + William (1), 130, 185. + William (2), 130. + Mrs. William (2), 130. + +Mordecai, Alfred, 125. + +Morgan, John Hunt, 319. + Mr., 281. + +Morpeth, Lord, 146. + +Morris, Charles, 200, 279. + Charles W., 93. + Charlotte, 120. + Emily, 39. + Gouverneur (1), 226, 307, 380. + +Morris, Mrs. Gouverneur (1), 226. + Gouverneur (2), 165. + James, 120. + Lewis, 226. + Rebecca, 369. + Robert, 38, 313. + Roger, 131. + Mrs. Roger, 131. + Sarah, 52. + Thomas, 30, 38, 39, 93. + Mrs. Thomas, 39. + Mr., of New York, 112. + +Mosby, John S., 319. + +Motley, John Lothrop, 171. + +Mott, Valentine, 83. + +Munro, John, 142. + Seaton, 275, 276, 373. + +Murray, Charles Augustus, 141. + Mrs. Charles Augustus, 141. + John (Lord Dunmore), 141. + Virginia, 142. + +Murat, Achillé, 337. + Madame Achillé, 337, 338, 339. + Joachim, 337. + +Muse, William S., 386. + +Myers, Theodorus Bailey, 392. + + +Napier, Lord, 276. + +Napoleon I., 337, 338. + III., 209, 258, 278, 307, 338. + +Nau, Madame, 51. + +Neil, Robert Elkin, 367. + Mrs. Robert Elkin, 367. + +Neilson, Anthony Bleecker, 155, 168. + Bleecker, 155. + Elizabeth Coles, 168. + William, 155. + +Newcomb, Simon, 360. + +Newell, George, 178, 229. + +Nicholas I., of Russia, 78. + +Nicholson, Mrs. Augustus S., 258. + +Niemcewicz, Julian, 187. + +Ning Ping (a Chinese servant), 295-297. + +Noah, Mordecai Manasseh, 46. + +Norris, Basil, 363. + William H., 92. + +Norton, John Hatley, 370. + Mrs. John Hatley (Louisa Key), 370. + +Nott, Eliphalet (1), 305. + Eliphalet (2), 305. + Mrs. Eliphalet (2), 305. + +Nourse, Charles J. (1), 118, 271. + Charles J. (2), 271. + Charles Josephus, 369. + Mrs. Charles Josephus, 369. + + +O'Brien, Lucius, 121, 122. + +O'Conor, Charles, 52, 59, 60, 83, 92, 153, 334. + +O'Donnell, Charles Oliver, 314. + Mrs. Charles Oliver, 314. + Columbus, 314. + +O'Neal, Peggy, 359. + +O'Neill, Ellen Elizabeth, 218. + Rose, 218. + +O'Sullivan, John L., 48. + +Ogilvie, John, 131. + Mrs. John, 131. + +Olcott, Mrs. J. Van Vechten, 269. + +Oliver, Emily, 102. + Robert Shaw, 367. + Mrs. Robert Shaw, 367. + +"Olyphant and Company," 155, 292. + +Olyphant, Robert Morrison, 292. + Mrs. Robert Morrison, 292. + +Onderdonk, Benjamin T., 371. + Henry M., 371. + Mrs. Henry M., 371. + Justine Bibby, 371. + +Opie, Mrs. Amelia, 66. + +Orleans, Duke of, 39. + +Ossoli, Giovanni Angelo, 158. + The Marchionesse, 158. + +Otis, Harrison Gray, 111, 274, 279. + Mrs. Harrison Gray, 274. + James W., 60, 111. + Miss, of New York, 112. + Sally, 60, 111. + +Owen, John, 2. + Sarah, 2. + + +Paganini, Nicolo, 196. + +Paine, "Dolly," 219. + Frederick H., 386. + Thomas, 379, 380. + Todd, 219. + +Palmer, Aulick, 387. + Frances Hailes, 188. + Innis N., 121. + +Palmer, James S., 266. + +Palmerston, Lord, 227. + +Paris, de, Comte, 25. + +Parker, Mrs. Charles Maverick, 155. + Theodore, 158. + +Parmly, Eleazer, 28. + +Parrott, Robert P., 119, 125-127. + Mrs. Robert P., 119, 124, 126, 268. + +Parsons, William H., 309. + Mrs. William H., 309. + +Partington, Ike, 277. + Mrs., 277. + +Patterson, Carlisle P., 204. + Mrs. Carlisle P., 204, 214. + Daniel T., 207. + Miss, 374. + +Patton, John B., 220. + Mrs. John B., 220. + +Paulding, James K., 119, 129. + +Pauline, Princess, 338. + +Payne, Thatcher T., 53. + +Peabody, Andrew P., 171. + Elizabeth P., 158. + +Pearson, Anna, 214. + Eliza, 204. + Joseph, 204. + Josephine, 204, 214. + +Pegram, George Herbert, 183. + +Pelikao, de, Comte, 307. + +Pemberton, Mr., 290. + +Pendleton, Edmund, 111. + Mrs. Edmund, 266. + Edward, 238. + Mrs. Edward, 238. + John, 185, 186. + +Penniman, James F., 36. + +Pennington, Mary, 96. + William, 96. + +Perkins, Hamilton, 373. + +Perry, Augustus, 175. + Caroline Slidell, 95, 165. + Matthew C., 95. + Mrs. Matthew C., 95. + Sarah, 165. + Thomas, 175. + +Pettigru, James L., 98. + Mrs. James L., 98. + +Phelps, Seth Ledyard, 376. + +Philip, Mrs. William Henry, 389. + +Philippe, Louis, 39, 51, 78, 83. + +Philips, Frederick, 130, 131. + Mary, 130. + +Philipse, Adolphus, 131. + Catharine Wadsworth, 131. + Frederick, 130, 131, 268, 269. + Mrs. Frederick, 131. + Margaret, 131. + Margaret Gouverneur, 131. + Mary, 131. + Philip, 131. + Mrs. Philip, 131. + +Phillips, Elizabeth, 389. + Philip, 221. + Mrs. Philip, 221, 222. + Wendell, 99, 171, 172, 251. + +Phoenix, John, 282. + +Picken, Andrew, 8, 9. + Mrs. Andrew, 9. + +Pickering, Timothy, 57. + +Picot, Mr., of New York, 112. + +Pierce, Franklin, 102, 103, 171, 195, 227, 251, 252, 255, 286. + Mrs. Franklin, 255. + Martha, 63. + Sarah, 4. + The Misses, 280, 282. + +Pierpont, John, 377. + +Pierrepont, Edwards, 342. + +Pike, Albert, 371. + +Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth, 100. + Thomas, 100. + Mrs. Thomas, 100. + +Pise, Charles Constantine, 88, 89. + +Pleasanton, Mr., 281. + +Poe, Edgar Allan, 14, 64. + +Poinsett, Joel Roberts, 100. + Mrs. Joel Roberts, 100. + +Polk, James K., 138, 171, 177, 182, 195, 372. + Mrs. James K., 182. + +Poore, Ben Perley, 272, 276. + +Pope, Alexander, 80. + +Porter, Andrew, 220. + Mrs. Andrew, 220. + David, 259, 279. + David D., 174, 207, 259. + John K., 390. + +Post, Catharine Wadsworth, 131. + +Potter, Chandler E., 255. + Mrs. Chandler E., 255. + +Potts, George, 328. + Richard M., 328. + +Powell, Thomas, 134. + Mrs. Thomas, 134. + +Powers, Hiram, 197. + +Preston, Wickliffe, 370. + +Price, Cicero, 154. + Lilly Warren, 154. + Stephen, 81, 82, 95. + +Proctor, Redfield, 355. + +"Purden and Company," 290. + +Pyne, Smith, 195, 196, 265. + + +Raasloff, Waldemar Rudolph, 235, 248. + +Racine, Jean, 29. + +Rainsford, Mr., 185. + +Ramsay, Francis M., 282. + George Douglas, 214, 231, 235, 236, 281, 282. + Mrs. George Douglas, 214. + +Randall, Thomas, 339. + +Randolph, Anne Cary, 226. + Thomas Jefferson, 352. + Thomas Mann, 357. + Mrs. Thomas Mann, 357. + +Rantoul, Robert, 245. + +Rathbone, Julia, 367. + +Ray, Cornelia, 105. + Robert, 105. + Mrs. Robert, 105. + +Raymond, Henry J., 46. + +Read, George, 183. + John Meredith, 183. + +Redfern, Joseph, 176. + +Reid, George C., 386. + Whitelaw, 352. + +Relf, Richard, 58. + +Remington, Mrs. Thomas Pym, 186. + +Renwick, James, 14, 15, 21. + Mrs. James, 21. + Jane Jeffrey, 21. + William, 112, 142. + +Reynolds, Joshua, 80. + +Rhett, Charles H., 212. + Mrs. Charles H., 212. + Thomas G., 212. + Mrs. Thomas G., 212. + +Richardson, Samuel, 66. + William, 326, 327. + William A., 361, 365. + Mrs. William A., 361, 365. + +Richie, Lady, 129. + +Ricketts, Mrs. Frances Lawrence, 361-363. + +Ricketts, James B., 361. + +Riggs, George W., 353. + +Ringgold, Tench, 215. + +Ripley, George, 158. + +Ritchie, John, 326, 328. + Mrs. John, 326, 328. + Thomas, 171. + +Rives, William C., 38. + Mrs. William C., 38. + +Robertson, Beverly H., 319. + +Robeson, George M., 232, 361. + Mrs. George M., 361, 374. + +Robespierre, M. M. I., 380. + +Robinson, Douglas, 114, 262. + Mrs. Douglas, 262. + +Rochambeau, de, Count, 371. + +Roche, Regina M., 67. + +Rockwell, Almon F., 355. + Mrs. Almon F., 355. + +Rodgers, C. R. P., 95. + Mrs. C. R. P., 95. + John, 279. + Robert S., 165. + Mrs. Robert S., 165. + +Rodney, George B., 1. + +Roe, Emily Maria, 133. + Francis A., 346, 392. + Mrs. Francis A., 392. + Mary Elizabeth, 133. + Thomas Hazard, 133. + William, 132. + Mrs. William, 132. + +Rogers, John Leverett, 64. + Mrs. John Leverett, 64, 185. + +Roothan, John, 61. + +Ross, Fanny McPherson, 332. + Mrs. Worthington, 328, 332. + +Roulet, Mr., of New York, 52. + +Ruggles, Samuel B., 65, 144. + +Rumpff, Vincent, 75. + The Countess, 75. + +Rush, Benjamin, 279. + +"Russell and Company," 302. + +Russell, Ida, 266, 267. + +Ruturfurde (Rutherford), Walter, 142. + + +Sairs, Mrs. Deborah, 96. + +Salles, Laurent, 118, 282. + Louise Stephanie, 118. + +Sandidge, John M., 277. + +Sands, Robert C., 45. + +Sanford, Henry, 244. + +Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez, 200, 201. + Madame Antonio Lopez, 374. + +Saracco, Pierro, 135. + +Sartiges, de, Eugène, 223, 224, 229. + The Comtesse, 229. + +Sartoris, Algernon, 356. + +Savage, John, 273. + Joseph, 176. + +Savile, Baron, 228. + +Savile-Lumley, John, 228. + +Sayre, Mrs. Isaac, 37. + +Scarborough, Earl of, 228. + +Scarlett, James York MacGregor, 211. + +Schenck, James F., 301, 303. + +Schenley, Edward W. H., 233, 234. + +Schermerhorn, Abraham, 111. + +Schley, Fairfax, 328. + Mrs. Fairfax, 328. + Winfield Scott, 391, 392. + +Schmidt, John William, 78. + Mrs. John William, 78. + Julia, 78. + +Schomberg, Emily, 286. + +Schroeder, Francis, 275. + Mrs. Francis, 275. + Seaton, 275. + +Schurz, Carl, 352. + +Schuyler, Mrs. Eugene, 46. + Philip, 117. + +Scott, Adeline Camilla, 186, 196. + Cornelia, 104, 180, 183, 184, 187, 194, 212. + Henry Lee, 105, 183, 194. + Mrs. Henry Lee, 194. + Marcella ("Ella"), 103, 104, 194. + Robert N., 357. + Mrs. Robert N., 357. + Virginia, 61-63, 106. + Walter, 80, 176, 357, 363. + Winfield, 61, 62, 103-105, 114, 122-124, 126, 134, 180, 181, 184, + 186-188, 193-203, 205, 211, 238, 256, 265, 279, 286, 329, 349, 363. + Mrs. Winfield, 103, 105-107, 114, 160, 170, 180-184, 187, 188, 193, + 194, 197, 201, 211. + +Scoville, George M., 390. + +Seabury, Samuel, 60. + Mrs. Samuel, 60. + +Seaton, Caroline, 275. + Gales, 275. + William Winston, 275. + Mrs. William Winston, 259. + +Sedgwick, Mr., of New York, 112. + +Selkirk, Alexander, 66. + +Semmes, J. Harrison, 176. + +Seth, Margaret Chatham, 119, 271. + +Sevigné, de, Madame, 179. + +Seward, Olive Risley, 376. + William H., 12, 174, 247, 248, 272. + +Seymour, Charles, 17. + Horatio, 149, 361. + +Shakespeare, William, 19, 71, 84. + +Sharp, Alexander (1), 355, 356. + Mrs. Alexander (1), 355, 356. + Alexander (2), 355. + +Shelley, Percy Bysshe, 65. + +Shelton, Helen K., 82. + +Shepherd, Alexander R., 353, 354. + +Sherman, William T., 313, 335, 350. + +Shiff, Eugene, 156. + +Shillaber, Benjamin P., 277. + +Shriver, Edward, 314. + +Shubrick, William B., 372. + Mrs. William B., 372. + +Shuster, William M., 175. + +Sinclair, John, 83. + +Skidmore, Lemuel, 23. + Martha, 23. + +Slidell, Jane, 95. + John (1), 58, 94, 95. + John (2), 91, 93-95. + Julia, 95. + +"Slidell, John, Jr., and Company," 95. + +Sloane, Samuel, 303. + Mrs. Samuel, 303. + William, 302, 303. + +Small, Elisha, 91. + +Smith, Augustine, 185. + Captain, 288, 291. + Edmund Hamilton, 375. + Mrs. Edmund Hamilton, 375. + Elizabeth, 150. + Gerrit, 150. + Mrs. Gerrit, 150. + Mrs. Hamilton, 370. + Mrs. Henrietta, 56. + Mrs. Henry William, 134. + James C., 375. + Mrs. Nathaniel, 146. + +Snead, Augustine, 385, 386. + Mrs. Fayette, 386. + +Somerville, William C., 182. + +Southard, Samuel L., 44, 279. + Virginia E., 44. + +Spaulding, James Reed, 46. + +Speed, James, 343-345, 347, 348. + +Spencer, John C., 91, 92. + Philip, 91, 92, 93. + +Spinner, Francis E., 218. + +Sprigg, Samuel, 215. + +Stanard, Robert Craig, 63. + Mrs. Robert Craig, 63, 64, 346. + +Stark, John, 74. + +Starkey, Thomas Alfred, 367. + Mrs. Thomas Alfred, 367. + +Stephens, Alexander H., 222, 223. + +Steptoe, Ann, 324. + +Steuart, Adam Duncan, 164. + Mrs. Adam Duncan, 163, 164. + +Steuben, Frederick William, 94. + +Stevens, John Austin, 146. + Mrs. John Austin, 146. + John C., 166, 167. + Mrs. John C., 166. + Lucretia Ledyard, 146. + +Stewart, Alexander T., 35. + Campbell F., 180. + Charles, 279. + Lispenard, 118. + Mrs. Lispenard, 118. + William M., 388. + Mrs. William M., 388. + +St. Memin, de, Comtesse, 51. + +Stockton, Francis B., 216. + Mrs. Francis B., 216. + Robert F., 373. + +Story, Joseph, 279. + +Stout, Edward C., 169. + Jacob, 75. + Julia, 169. + Minnie, 169. + +Strauss, Johann, 167. + +Strong, George W., 153. + Henry, 378. + William, 368. + +Strother, Sally, 242, 243, 265. + +Stuart, Alexander, 37. + David, 236. + Gilbert, 131. + James, 142. + Robert L., 37. + Virginia, 374. + +"Stuart, R. L. and A.," 37. + +Stubs, Alfred, 87. + +Stuyvesant, Helen, 188. + Nicholas William, 188. + Peter G., 188. + +Sullivan, George, 282. + Mrs. George, 280, 282. + James, 282. + +Sultan of Zanzibar, 304. + +Sumner, Charles, 178, 198, 241-244, 246, 247, 265. + George, 245. + Horace, 158. + +Surratt, Anna, 348. + Mrs. Mary E., 342-344, 348. + +Suydam, Hendrick, 3. + +Swearingen, Mrs. Sarah Henderson, 385. + +Swift, Dean, 80. + +Syng, William F., 214. + Mrs. William F., 214. + + +Taglioni, Maria, 86. + +Tallmadge, Frederick S., 144. + Mrs. Frederick S., 144. + James, 78. + Mary, 78. + +Taney, Roger B., 218, 333, 334. + +Tardy, l'Abbé, 9. + +Target, F., 381. + +Tasistro, Louis Fitzgerald, 24, 25, 26. + Mrs. Louis Fitzgerald, 24. + +Tayloe, Anne, 236. + Benjamin Ogle, 235, 281, 282. + Mrs. Benjamin Ogle, 47. + John, 235. + Virginia, 236. + +Taylor, Franck, 176. + Henry C., 176. + Zachary, 122, 152, 233. + +Tellkampf, John Louis, 17. + +Tenney, William I., 35. + +Thackeray, Anne Isabella, 129. + William M., 64, 128, 129, 245. + +Thayer, John E., 139. + Mrs. John E., 139. + +Thomas, George H., 216. + Mrs. George H., 216. + Mr., 281. + Philip F., 315-317. + +Thomson, Alexander, 142. + +Thompson, Smith, 279, 332. + +Thorburn, Grant, 19. + +Thorndike, Anna, 229. + +Thorne, Herman, 78. + Mrs. Herman, 78. + +Thornton, Edward, 374. + Lady Edward, 374. + Jane Washington Augusta, 387. + John, 387. + William, 236. + +Tilden, Samuel J., 178, 382. + +Tillary, James, 142. + +Tillotson, Robert Livingston, 120, 267. + Thomas, 120. + Mrs. Thomas, 120. + +Timberlake, John B., 359. + Mrs. John B., 296, 297. + +Ting Ting (Chinese cook), 296, 297. + +Tittmann, Otto H., 387. + Mrs. Otto H., 387. + +Tocqueville, de, Alexis, 245. + +Todd, Laurie, 20. + +Toler, Hugh A., 96. + Mrs. Hugh A., 96. + +Tothammer, Gubriel, 48. + +Toutant, Elodie, 54, 58. + +Tracy, Benjamin F., 274. + +Trail, Charles E., 328. + Mrs. Charles E., 328, 341. + +Travers, William R., 137. + +Trist, Nicholas P., 359. + +Trumbull, Lyman, 352. + +Tuckerman, Bayard, 34. + Mrs. Lucius, 4. + +Tupper, Martin Farquhar, 146. + +Turnbull, George, 142. + William, 195, 214. + Mrs. William, 214. + +Turner, Thomas, 186, 188. + Mrs. Thomas, 188. + +Tuyll, de, Theodore, 279. + +Twain, Mark, 392. + +Tyler, Elizabeth, 260. + John, 91, 94, 252-254, 260. + Robert, 94. + Mrs. Robert, 94. + +Tyng, Stephen H. (1), 87. + Stephen H. (2), 87. + + +Ulrich, Mrs. Hannah, 176, 231. + +Upshur, John H., 265. + Mrs. John H., 265. + + +Van Amringe, John Howard, 185. + +Van Buren, Abraham, 189. + Anna Vander Poel, 84. + John, 32, 33, 83, 84, 192. + Martin, 30-32, 69, 70, 100, 119, 124, 130, 161, 165, 188, 189, 192, + 193, 251, 268, 282, 382, 390. + Smith, 192. + +Van Cortlandt, Augustus, 267. + Mrs. Augustus, 267. + +Van Hoesen, George M., 18. + +Van Rensselaer, Frank, 185. + Mrs. John King, 15, 132. + Philip S., 78. + Mrs. Philip S., 78. + +Van Karnabeek, A. P. C., 232. + +Van Ness, John P., 224. + +Vail, Aaron, 281, 282. + David M., 269. + Eleanor Louisa, 269. + Eugene, 281, 282. + Mrs. Eugene, 282. + +Vance, Mrs. Zebulon B., 347. + +Vanden Heuvel, Mrs. Charles, 313. + John C., 22, 36. + Justine, 36. + Susan Annette, 21, 36. + +Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 110. + +Vandeventer, Mr., 280. + +Vandyke, Anthony, 268. + +Varela, Felix, 89. + +Vermilye, Thomas E., 180. + +Vernon, Anna O., 292. + The Misses, 335. + +Verplanck, Mrs. David Johnstone, 270. + Gulian C., 30, 44, 45. + Louisa Verplanck, 271. + +Verren, Antoine, 90. + +Vertner, Rosa, 370. + +Victoria, Queen, 83, 84, 117, 139, 140. + +Villars, Marechal, 325. + +Vincent, Thomas N., 387. + +Vinton, Samuel Finley, 377. + +Vivans, Louis, 175. + +Voltaire, François M. A., 65. + + +Waddell, James J., 303, 304. + +Waddington, Madam Kate King, 46. + +Wadsworth, Elizabeth, 141. + James, 141. + James S., 141. + +Wainwright, Henrietta, 214. + Richard, 214. + Robert D., 214. + Mrs. Robert D., 214. + +Walbach, John DeBarth, 304. + John J. B., 304. + +Walker, George, 67. + +Wallace, Susan, 183, 184. + +Wallis, Severn Teackle, 315. + +Walton, George (1), 371. + George (2), 371. + Octavia, 371. + +Ward, Artemus, 151, 282. + Elijah, 374. + Mrs. Elijah, 374. + Samuel, 53. + Mrs. Samuel, 53. + +Warfield, Miss, 374. + +Warner, Charles Dudley, 160. + +Warrington, Lewis, 279. + +Washington, Anna Louisa, 387. + Bushrod, 279. + George, 57, 74, 76, 131, 146, 147, 152, 162, 198, 236, 243, 267, 324, + 332, 337, 370, 377, 379, 380, 387. + Littleton Quinton, 287. + Lund, 286. + Milicent, 324. + Peter Grayson, 266, 286, 287. + Samuel, 324. + +Watson, Andrew J., 169. + +Watts, Elizabeth, 164. + Essex, 165. + John, 12, 116, 163, 164. + Mary Justina, 164. + Ridley, 165. + Robert, 116, 164. + Susanna, 164. + +Wayne, Henry C., 214. + Mrs. Henry C., 214. + James M., 214. + +Webb, Catharine Louisa, 46. + James Watson, 36, 46. + +Webb, William Seward, 46. + +Webster, Daniel, 36, 117, 241, 245, 247, 279, 281. + +Weir, Robert S., 324. + Mrs. Robert S., 324. + Robert W., 123, 126. + +Weller, George J., 308. + Sam, 100. + +Wellesley, Marquis of, 106. + Marchionesse of, 106. + +Wellington, Duke of, 64, 194. + +West, Mary, 235. + +Wetmore, Prosper M., 257. + +Wheatley, Emma, 153. + +White, Augusta, 267. + Joseph M., 56. + +Whitten, Miss, of New York, 112. + +Whittier, John G., 125, 245, 327. + +Wickliffe, Margaret Anderson, 342. + +Wight, Ann G., 224. + +Wikoff, Chevalier Henry, 85. + +Wilcox, John A., 358. + Mrs. John A., 358, 359. + Mrs. Mary Donelson, 358. + +Wilde, Oscar, 358. + +Wilkes, Charles, 21, 91. + Mrs. Charles, 21. + +Wilkins, Gouverneur, 226. + Martin, 112. + +Wilks, Mrs. Matthew, 74. + +Willard, Caleb, 176. + +William, King of Prussia, 231. + +Williams, Eleazer, 250. + Robert, 220. + Mrs. Robert, 220. + S. Wells, 288. + Thomas, 105. + Mrs. William Wilberforce, 367. + +Willing, Mrs. Thomas M., 97. + +Willis, N. P., 159-161, 337, 356. + Mrs. N. P., 160. + +Williston, Ralph, 74. + +Wilson, George T., 15, 132. + Mrs. George T., 15, 132. + William, 217. + +Winans, Beatrice, 231. + Ross, 231. + +Winthrop, Henry R., 72. + Mrs. Henry R., 60, 72. + Mrs. John Still, 73, 145, 146, 335, 336. + John S., Jr., 146. + Robert C., 99, 139. + Mrs. Robert C., 99, 139, 141. + Sarah Bowdoin, 282. + +Wirt, William, 279. + +Wise, Henry A., 109. + +Wolcott, Oliver (1), 147. + Oliver (2), 4, 147, 313, 379. + +Wolfe, Udolpho, 109. + +Wood, Nina, 233. + Silas, 64. + Virginia Beverly, 64, 185. + +Woodhull, Maxwell, 214. + Mrs. Maxwell, 214. + +Worthington, Mrs. Charles, 224. + Eliza, 389. + Mrs. John Griffith, 389. + +Wright, Edward, 266. + Katharine Maria, 213, 266. + Silas, 349. + William, 213. + +Wyndham, Earl of, 9. + + +Xavier, Francis, 297. + + +Young, Notley, 236. + +Yturbide, de, Madame Alice, 370. + de, Angelo, 370. + de, Augustine, 370. + + +Zeilin, Jacob, 386. + Miss, 374. + William F., 386. + + +--------------------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Notes | + | | + | Page 7: Comberland amended to Cumberland | + | Page 11: distingushed amended to distinguished; Semminaries | + | _sic_ | + | Page 29: Hayti _sic_ | + | Page 52: Berault amended to Bérault | + | Page 53: Venitian _sic_ | + | Page 75: Tuilleries amended to Tuileries | + | Page 76: racoon _sic_ | + | Page 80: "home Gouverneur Kemble" _sic_ | + | Page 93: dintinguished amended to distinguished | + | Page 123: eariler amended to earlier | + | Page 129: editon amended to edition | + | Page 155: strongely amended to strongly | + | Page 157: unsually amended to unusually; it amended to its | + | ("Brook Farm had its origin....") | + | Page 185: Angustine amended to Augustine | + | Page 186: Bucknor's _sic_ | + | Page 227: Palmerson amended to Palmerston | + | Page 229: Goeffrey Boilleau amended to Geoffrey Boilleau | + | Page 240: Fort Sumpter _sic_ | + | Page 244: Belguim amended to Belgium | + | Page 323: comanding amended to commanding | + | Page 372: Audenried amended to Audenreid | + | Page 380: af amended to of ("spirit of acrimony") | + | Page 384: intercouse amended to intercourse | + | Page 395: Alfonzo amended to Alfonso | + | Page 396: Beaujoir amended to Beaujour; Giuseppi amended to | + | Giuseppe | + | Page 398: Index entry for Mr. and Mrs. Titian T. Coffey | + | removed and replaced by index entry for Mr. and Mrs. Titian | + | J. Coffey. | + | Page 399: Daponte amended to Da Ponte | + | Page 405: Everiste amended to Evariste; Kantzou amended to | + | Kantzow | + | Page 408: Marquard amended to Marquand; Isaiah Masten | + | amended to Josiah Masters | + | Page 409: Lathrop amended to Lothrop | + | Page 410: Palmerson amended to Palmerston | + | Page 414: Thackaray amended to Thackeray | + | Page 415: Louis Vavans (p. 175) has been indexed as Louis | + | Vivans. | + | | + | Hyphenation has generally been standardized. However, when a | + | word appears hyphenated and unhyphenated an equal number of | + | times, both versions have been retained (churchyard/ | + | church-yard; earrings/ear-rings; housewarming/house-warming; | + | lifelong/life-long; midday/mid-day; stateroom/state-room; | + | transcontinental/trans-continental; warships/war-ships). | + | | + | Accented letters have generally been standardized, unless | + | different versions of the word appear an equal number of | + | times (cortege/cortège; resistance/résistance). | + +--------------------------------------------------------------+ + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of As I Remember, by Marian Gouverneur + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AS I REMEMBER *** + +***** This file should be named 28384-8.txt or 28384-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/3/8/28384/ + +Produced by Suzanne Lybarger and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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