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diff --git a/old/60934-0.txt b/old/60934-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index aed65e8..0000000 --- a/old/60934-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,14467 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's A Belle of the Fifties, by Virginia Clay-Clopton - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: A Belle of the Fifties - Memoirs of Mrs. Clay of Alabama, covering social and - political life in Washington and the South, 1853-1866. Put - into narrative form by Ada Sterling - -Author: Virginia Clay-Clopton - -Editor: Ada Sterling - -Release Date: December 16, 2019 [EBook #60934] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BELLE OF THE FIFTIES *** - - - - -Produced by Richard Tonsing, MWS, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - - - - - A BELLE OF THE FIFTIES - - -[Illustration: - - MRS. CLAY - - of Alabama -] - - - - - A Belle of the Fifties -Memoirs of Mrs. Clay, of Alabama, covering Social and Political Life in - Washington and the South, 1853–66 Put into narrative form by Ada - Sterling - - - _Illustrated from contemporary portraits_ - -[Illustration] - - New York - Doubleday, Page & Company - 1905 - - - - - Copyright, 1904, by - Doubleday, Page & Company - - Published, September, 1904 - - - - - To - THE DEAR MEMORY OF THE HUSBAND OF MY YOUTH - CLEMENT CLAIBORNE CLAY - - VIRGINIA CLAY-CLOPTON - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - PREFACE - - -The memoirs of “Mrs. Clay, of Alabama,” by which title Mrs. Clement C. -Clay, Jr. (now Mrs. Clay-Clopton), was known during the period comprised -by 1850–87, begin in the middle of the second decade of the nineteenth -century, the scenes being laid among the affluent plantations of North -Carolina and Alabama, and, continuing through two brilliant -administrations at the national capital, close, as she emerges from the -distresses which overtook her and her husband after the -never-to-be-forgotten tragedy that plunged a nation into mourning—the -death of Mr. Lincoln. - -In the researches made in order to obviate all possible inaccuracies in -these memoirs (a precaution always necessary where one’s life has been -long and experiences so varied), I have come upon no record of any other -woman of her time who has filled so powerful a place politically, whose -belleship has been so long sustained, or whose magnetism and compelling -fascinations have swayed others so universally as have those of Mrs. -Clay-Clopton. In the unrestful days at the capital which preceded the -Civil War her winning personality was such as to cause even those whom -she esteemed the enemies of her section, in those days when “sections” -were, to be covetous of her smiles. At no period of her long career have -her unique courage, her beautiful optimism, her inspiring buoyancy been -more accentuated than during the making of the present book. The -recalling of incident after incident, step by step, of so great a -procession of memories as are here set down is a task from which many -persons of twoscore years might shrink. At the ripe age of almost eight -decades Mrs. Clay-Clopton entered into the work with a heart as light as -a girl’s and a sustained energy and enthusiasm that have been as -remarkable as they are unparalleled. While preparing these pages I -enjoyed a daily intercourse with her extending over eight months, during -which time I often found myself spellbound by the descriptive powers -which nearly a half century ago compelled the admiration of leading men -and women of that day. - -“My wife was amazed at your eloquence,” wrote Attorney-General Jeremiah -Black in 1866, and in succeeding letters urged Mrs. Clay to put her -experiences with Messrs. Johnson, Holt and Stanton into book form. To -these and urgings as powerful from many quarters, reiterated during the -past forty years, until the present work was undertaken, Mrs. -Clay-Clopton has remained indifferent. Her recollections of a long life -are now gathered in response to a wide and insistently expressed desire -to see them preserved in a concrete form ere the crowding years shall -have made impossible the valuable testimony she is able to bear to -ante-bellum and bellum conditions in her dearly loved South land. To -that end many friends of Mrs. Clay-Clopton have lent an eager aid, and -it is an acknowledgment due to them that their names be linked here with -the work they have so lovingly fostered. - -The inception of the work as now presented is primarily due to Mrs. -Milton Humes, of Abingdon Place, Huntsville, Alabama, a daughter of the -late Governor Chapman, of that State, and the friend from her childhood -of Mrs. Clay-Clopton. For many years Mrs. Humes has ardently urged upon -our heroine the necessity for preserving her rich memories as a legacy, -not alone to the South, but to all lovers of the romantic and eventful -in our national history, to whatsoever quarter of the country they may -claim a particular allegiance. Through Mrs. Humes Mrs. Clay-Clopton and -I met; through her unintermitting energy obstacles that at first -threatened to postpone the beginning of the work were removed, and from -these initial steps she has brought a very Minerva-like wisdom and -kindness to aid the work to its completion. At the instance of Mrs. -Humes General Joseph Wheeler lent me a valuable sympathy; through the -courtesy of General Wheeler General James H. Wilson, to whom Clement C. -Clay, Jr., surrendered in 1865, kindly gave his consideration to the -chapters of the memoirs in which he personally is mentioned, correcting -one or two minor inaccuracies, such as misapplied military titles. -Through the continued forethought of Mrs. Humes and General Wheeler -Colonel Henry Watterson’s attention was directed to the work, and he, -too, generously scanned the manuscript then ready, at a considerable -expense of time, guiding my pen, all untutored in political phrases, -from some misleading slips. I owe a large debt of gratitude to Colonel -Robert Barnwell Rhett, who, though an invalid while I was a guest of Mr. -and Mrs. Humes in Huntsville, gave his unsparing counsels to me, -enlightening me as to personages and events appertaining to the -formation of the Confederate Government, which would have been -unobtainable from any books at present known to me. For the acquaintance -with Colonel Rhett I am, on behalf of the memoirs and for my personal -pleasure, again the debtor of Mrs. Humes. - -The aid of Mrs. Paul Hammond, formerly of Beech Island, South Carolina, -but now residing in Jacksonville, Florida, has been peculiarly valuable. -Possessed of a fine literary taste, a keen observer, and retaining a -vivid recollection of the personages she encountered when a _debutante_ -under Mrs. Clay’s chaperonage in 1857–’58 in Washington, the six or -seven weeks over which our intercourse extended were a continual -striking of rare lodes of incident, which lay almost forgotten in the -memory of her kinswoman, Mrs. Clay-Clopton, but which have contributed -greatly to the interest of certain chapters dealing with Washington life -in ante-bellum days. - -Thanks are due to Mrs. Bettie Adams for her unsparing efforts to -facilitate the getting together of the necessary manuscripts to support, -and, in some instances, to authenticate and amplify the remembrances -carried by our heroine of the crucial times of the great internecine -war; to Miss Jennie Clay, who in her editorial pursuits discovered -special dates and records and placed them at my disposal in order that -the repetition of certain commonly accepted errors might be avoided; and -to Mrs. Frederick Myers of Savannah, daughter of Mrs. Philip Phillips, -who sent for my perusal (thereby giving me valuable sidelights on the -times of ’61–62), her mother’s letters from Ship Island, together with -the latter’s journal, kept during her imprisonment by General Benjamin -F. Butler. - -The letters of Judge John A. Campbell, contributed by his daughter, Mrs. -Henrietta Lay, have been so well prized that they have become part of -the structure of her friend’s memoirs; to Mrs. Lay, therefore, also to -Mrs. Myra Knox Semmes, of New Orleans, Mrs. Cora Semmes Ives, of -Alexandria, Virginia; Mrs. Corinne Goodman, of Memphis, Tennessee; Mrs. -Mary Glenn Brickell, of Huntsville, Alabama; Mrs. George Collins Levey, -of England, and Judge John V. Wright, of Washington, D.C., thanks are -hereby given for incidents recalled and for suggestive letters received -since the work on the memoirs began. - - ADA STERLING. - -NEW YORK CITY, September 15, 1904. - - - - - CONTENTS - - - PAGE - CHAPTER I. CHILDHOOD, GIRLHOOD, MARRIAGE. - - A Bit of Family History—Plantation Scenes in North Carolina and - Alabama—A Caravan of the Early Thirties—“De Year de Stars - Fell”—I Partially “Scalp” My Cousin—The Strange Experience of an - Early Alabama Instructress—Miss Brooks, a Distinguished - Educator—My Uncle Takes My Training in Hand—A First Flight into - the Beautiful World—Charles Kean and Ellen Tree—I Meet a Famous - Belle—Mme. Le Vert Instructs Me in the Dance—An Intense Love - Affair—My Knight Fails Me—A Gallant Lover Appears—Social Doings - at a Primitive Capital—Poetswains in the Early Forties—A Dance - with William L. Yancey—My Premonitions Are Realised and “My Own - Comes to Me”—Marriage in the Morn of Life—The Homecoming of the - Bride 3 - - CHAPTER II. WASHINGTON PERSONAGES IN THE FIFTIES. - - Journey to the Capital—An Early “Congressional Limited”—A Stump - Orator of Alabama, the “Maker of Senators”—Arrival at the - Capital—The Night Clerk Refuses Us Accommodations at the - National Hotel—Undercurrents of Strife in Society—Mrs. - Pierce—Pennsylvania Avenue in the Fifties—Survey of Washington’s - Hostesses—Mme. de Bodisco and the Glacées—Her Second Marriage at - Old St. John’s—Foreign Legations—Reminiscence of Octavia Walton - in Washington—Mrs. Riggs Gives a Midnight Supper to Patti—Heller - Appears; Likewise the Grand Elephant Hannibal 19 - - CHAPTER III. A HISTORIC CONGRESSIONAL “MESS.” - - Our Mess at Historic Brown’s Hotel and at the Ebbitt House—Mrs. - Pugh and the Baron Hulseman—The Boy Henry Watterson—Congressmen - Clopton, Curry, Dowdell, L. Q. C. Lamar, and Shorter, Senator - Fitzpatrick, and Their Wives—Mr. Dowdell Goes to Hear - Gottschalk—Circumstances of the Sudden Death of Preston - Brooks—The Stockton Mansion and Its Romances—Our “Mess” - Considers the Prudence of Calling on a Certain Lady—Retribution - Overtakes Us—Master Benny, the Hotel Terror 42 - - CHAPTER IV. THE CABINET CIRCLES OF PRESIDENTS PIERCE AND BUCHANAN. - - Washington in 1856—Secret Visit of President Pierce—Personal - Recollections of Him—Secretaries Marcy, Cushing, and - Dobbin—Incidents of the Latter’s Kindness of Heart—Secretary of - War Jefferson Davis—Postmaster-General Brown—Secretary of State - Guthrie—Story of the Conquest of Chevalier Bertinatti 58 - - CHAPTER V. SOLONS OF THE CAPITAL. - - Society of Supreme Court Circles—Chief Justice Taney—Judge - Campbell—Professors Henry and Maury—A Visit to the Latter’s - Observatory—Thomas Hart Benton—George Wallace Tones: His - Romantic History as Surveyor-General of the Great Northwest. At - the Age of Ninety-one He Recalls a Day When He Meant to Kill - Seward—Meeting with Myra Clarke Gaines—Senator and Mrs. - Crittenden, a “Perfectly Happy Woman” 73 - - CHAPTER VI. FASHIONS OF THE FIFTIES. - - Aspect of Fashionable Society of the Pierce and Buchanan - Administrations—Perditas of the Period—Low Necks and Lace - Berthas—Kind Offices of American Consuls—Mr. Thomson and Miss - Lane’s Toy Terrier—He Reports Upon the Petticoats at - Brighton—Washington Dressmakers as Miracle-Workers—Mrs. Rich, a - True Reconstructionist—Belles and Beaux of the Period—Barton - Key—His Murder—Mrs. Sickles at Home—Revival of - Moustaches—General Sam Houston; His Strange Attire—A Glimpse of - This Hero in the Senate and in Society 86 - - CHAPTER VII. THE RELAXATIONS OF CONGRESSIONAL FOLK. - - Public Recreation—Flights to New York—Jenny Lind—Charlotte - Cushman—Mrs. Gilbert and the Comedian Brougham in - “Pocahontas”—Mr. Thackeray—Dr. Maynard—Blind Tom at the White - House—Marine Band Concerts on the White House Lawn—President - Pierce and the Countryman—President Buchanan and the - Indians—Apothleohola, a Cherokee Patriarch—Dr. Morrow and the - Expedition to Japan—Return of Same—Ruse of the Oriental - Potentate to Prevent Our Securing Germinating Rice—A Plague of - Japanese Handkerchiefs 101 - - CHAPTER VIII. THE BRILLIANT BUCHANAN ADMINISTRATION. - - Miss Lane Becomes Lady of the White House—Her Influence on - Washington Life—The Coming of Lord and Lady Napier—Their - Hospitality—They Give a Ball to Lords Cavendish and Ashley—Mrs. - Crittenden Puts to Rout a Younger Belle—Lord Napier Proposes a - Toast to the Chevalier Bayard—Washington Citizens Give a Ball to - the Napiers, at Which James Gordon Bennett Is Seen in the - Dance—Some Prominent Citizen Hostesses—Lilly Price, the Future - Duchess of Marlborough—Mr. W. W. Corcoran—His Lavish - Entertainments—Howell Cobb’s Appreciation—A Stranger’s Lack of - It—I Take the Daughter of a Constituent to See the Capitol 114 - - CHAPTER IX. A CELEBRATED SOCIAL EVENT. - - Mrs. Gwin’s Fancy Ball—To the White House for Inspection—Aunt - Ruthy Partington Presents Herself to Mrs. Gwin—Mrs. Pendleton is - Mystified—Senator Gwin and “My Boy Ike”—Lord and Lady Napier and - Others of “Our Furrin Relations”—The Squelching of a Brave - Baltimorean—Senator Seward Gives Welcome to the Stranger from - Beanville—Mr. Shillaber Offers “to Immortalise” Me 126 - - CHAPTER X. EXODUS OF SOUTHERN SOCIETY FROM THE FEDERAL CITY. - - Gayety Begins to Wane in the Capital—A Wedding in Old St. - John’s—Lord Lyons Replaces the Napiers—Anson Burlingame Rescues - Me from a Dilemma—Political Climax—Scenes in the Senate—Admiral - Semmes Declares His Intentions—Mr. Ruffin’s Menacing - Arsenal—Ex-President Tyler’s Grief—We Hear News from Morris - Island—Senators Clay, Davis, Fitzpatrick, Mallory, and Yulee - Withdraw from the Senate—Visits of Representatives Pendleton and - Vallandigham, and Senator Pugh, of Ohio—Joseph Holt Writes - Deploring the Possible Loss to Our Country of Senator Clay’s - “Genius and Patriotism” “A Plain New Hampshire Minister” Writes - of the Times—We Leave the Federal City—Mrs. Philip Phillips - Describes It a Few Weeks Later—Blair’s Alarm at Loss of Lee, - Magruder, and Other “Good Officers” 138 - - CHAPTER XI. WAR IS PROCLAIMED. - - I Go with Senator Clay to Minnesota—“Let’s Mob the - Fire-eater”—We See Our First Federal Soldiers at Cairo—Echoes of - Sumter—Once More in the Blossomy South—In Picturesque - Huntsville—We Hear from Montgomery of President Davis’s - Unceasing Industry—A Survey of Huntsville—The “Plebs” and - Aristocrats Compete for the Naming of the Town, and the - Descendants of a Poet Give Way before Its Discoverer—A Nursing - Mother of Alabama’s Great Men—The Fascinations of the Fair - Vixens of the Early Nineteenth Century—A Baptism at the Big - Spring—The Make-up of Our Army in ’61—We Hear from a Hero at - Harper’s Ferry—Letters from Washington—We Prepare to Go to - Richmond 153 - - CHAPTER XII. RICHMOND AS A NATIONAL CAPITAL. - - We Arrive in Richmond, Where We Meet Many Old Friends—An Evening - at the Mallorys’—We Establish Our Mess at Mrs. Du Val’s—Some of - Our Heroes—We Feast on Oysters and Terrapin—Greenbacks, - Canvas-backs, and Drawbacks—We Hear of the Fall of Nashville, - and General Buell’s Designs Upon Huntsville—Some of Richmond’s - Hostesses—Mrs. Stannard entertains; and the Famous Private - Theatrical Performance of “The Rivals”—Mrs. Burton Harrison - Recalls Her Triumph as Lydia Languish—The Caste—Mrs. Drew Acts - as “Coach”—Mrs. Ives, Our Hostess, Is Saved from Stage Fright by - a Bonnet Which Has Run the Blockade 168 - - CHAPTER XIII. GLIMPSES OF OUR BELEAGUERED SOUTH LAND. - - Richmond in ’62—John A. Campbell Gives an Opinion on Confederate - Money—An Exodus from the Capital—Mrs. Roger A. Pryor Rebukes a - Contemptuous Lady—Our Mail a Pandora’s Box—News of New - Orleans—William L. Yancey Returns from a Fruitless Trip to - England—And Mr. Lamar from Russia—An Astronomer Turns Martinet—A - Careful Search Is Made for General Pope Walker—Our Pastor’s - Prayers Curtailed—The Federals Are Worried by General Roddy—Miss - Mitchell “Confiscates” Some of My Property—“Hey! Git off ’Ginie - Clay’s Mare!”—General Logan, a Case of Mistaken Identity—My - Refugee Days Begin—A Glimpse of North Carolinian Hospitality—And - of the Battle of Seven Pines—The Seed-corn of Our Race Is - Taken—Return to Huntsville 178 - - CHAPTER XIV. REFUGEE DAYS IN GEORGIA. - - Detained in Macon—General Tracy Tells of Conditions at - Vicksburg—Senator Clay Writes of Grave Conditions in Richmond—A - War-time Dinner with President Davis—My Sister and I Turn - Seamstresses—Looking for Big Battles—Travel in ’63—Cliff and Sid - Lanier Write from “Tented Field”—News from “Homosassa” 193 - - CHAPTER XV. CLEMENT C. CLAY, JR., DEPARTS FOR CANADA. - - A Memory of Dahlgren’s Raid—Mr. Clay Accepts a Mission to - Canada—Mr. Lamar’s Ideas on National Friendships—My Husband - Takes His Departure—Troubled Petersburg and Still More Troubled - Richmond—Hospital Experiences—My Sister Accuses Me of “Running - from Yankees,” and Overtakes Me—We Nurse a Sick Soldier—I Get a - Passport, but Fail to Use It—A Distinguished Watermelon Man 203 - - CHAPTER XVI. THE SOUTH’S DEPARTED GLORIES. - - A Typical Plantation—Senator Hammond’s Little Republic on Beech - Island—Its General Influence—The Mill and the Miller—My Cousin, - Mrs. Paul Hammond, Writes a Description of “Redcliffe”—The - Hammond Negro as I Have Found Him—She Wins Them by - Subterfuge—Senator Clay Dances a Highland Fling and Startles - Some Gentle Methodists—St. Catharine’s; a Solemn Service There—A - Sight for Abolitionists—Choristers of the Field—A Comparison 211 - - CHAPTER XVII. CONDITIONS IN ’63 AND ’64. - - Cost of Clothing—Scarcity of Necessities—Memphis in Yankee - Hands—Revival of Spinning and Weaving—A Salt Famine—Senator - Hammond’s Sagacity—Potato Coffee and Peanut Chocolate—Mrs. Redd - Weaves Me a Notable Dress—London Takes Note of Richmond - Fashions—I Send a List of “Desirables” to Mr. Clay in - Canada—Novelties for the Toilette and Writing-Table—Difficulties - of Getting News—The President Writes Me of My Absent One, and - Secretary Mallory Rejoices at His Conduct of Canadian - Interest—Postal Deficiencies—Adventures of an Editor—Price of - Candles Rises—Telegrams Become Costly and My Sister - Protests—“Redcliffe” Mourns Her Master—Gloom and Apprehension at - News of Sherman’s March—We Are Visited by Two of Wheeler’s - Brigade—They Give Us Warning and the Family Silver Is Solemnly - Sunk in the Ground—I Hear a Story of Sherman and Wheeler 222 - - CHAPTER XVIII. THE DEATH OF MR. LINCOLN. - - Conflicting Advice Reaches Me from the Capital—Also Sad News - from Huntsville—Our Brother Tells of Political Opposition to the - President—Soldiers and Citizens Desire the Presence of General - Johnston in the Tennessee—Mr. Clay Communicates with Me by - “Personals”—I Beg to Be Sent to Canada, but am Met by - Opposition—The President Bids Me Take Refuge in the Capital—But - Another Urges Me to Leave the Line of Sherman’s Army—I Place - Myself Under General Howell Cobb’s Protection and Go to Macon—My - Husband Runs the Blockade, but Is Shipwrecked Off Fort - Moultrie—After Some Adventures He Reaches Macon—At the Home of - General Toombs—We Hear News from Richmond—Mr. Clay Makes for the - Capital and Reaches It—He Returns to Georgia—The Death of Mr. - Lincoln: “The Worst Blow Yet Struck at the South!” 235 - - CHAPTER XIX. C. C. CLAY, JR., SURRENDERS TO GENERAL WILSON. - - We Go to Lagrange—A Nest of “Rebels”—We Hear of President - Johnson’s Proclamation Concerning Mr. Clay—My Husband Resolves - to Surrender—He Telegraphs to General Wilson—We Proceed to - Atlanta—Courtesy of Colonel Eggleston—He Gives Us a Guard—On to - Macon—“Madam, Your Chief Is Taken”—Arrival at Macon—General - Wilson Relieves Us of Our Guard—The Generosity of Women - Friends—We Drive to Station—And See a Pathetic Cortege—“Say, - Johnny Reb, We’ve Got Your President!” 246 - - CHAPTER XX. PRISONERS OF THE UNITED STATES. - - We Have an All-Night Ride to Augusta—Our Party of Prisoners - Augments—I am Made Responsible for My Husband’s Appearance and - We Go Visiting—We Return to Captivity—I Board the Boat Somewhat - Hastily—And Unexpectedly Find Myself in the Arms of General - Wheeler—He Gives Me a Lesson in Forbearance—A Dismal Voyage—We - Reach Savannah and Are Transferred to the _Clyde_—Extracts from - My Diary—Mr. Davis’s Stoicism—We Anchor Off Fortress Monroe—Mr. - Clay Is Invited “to Take a Ride in a Tug”—Pathetic Separation of - the Davis Family—Little Jeff Becomes Our Champion—We See a Gay - Shallop Approaching—Two Ladies Appear and Search Us in the Name - of the United States Government—A Serio-comic Encounter—And - Still Another in Which “Mrs. Clay Lost Her Temper and Counselled - Resistance!”—We Undertake to Deceive Lieutenant Hudson, but - “Laugh on the Other Side” of Our Faces! 258 - - CHAPTER XXI. RETURN FROM FORTRESS MONROE. - - On Board the _Clyde_—I Find a Guard at My Door—An Unknown Hands - Me the Daily Papers—The News—I Write to Thirteen Distinguished - Men—To Joseph Holt—A Friendly Soldier Posts My Letters—We Arrive - in Savannah and Make Our Way to the Pulaski House—Savannah’s - Generous People—Soldiers, Black and White—The Chaining of Mr. - Davis—I Write to General Miles—Little Jeff Makes a Friend—“Bully - for Jeff”—“Mordecai and Haman” 269 - - CHAPTER XXII. RECONSTRUCTION DAYS BEGIN. - - I Arrive in Macon After Various Discomforts—My Baggage Is - “Examined” by General Baker—A Curious Oversight of the - Government’s Agents—I Am Rescued from a Dilemma by John A. - Wyeth, Knight-Errant—I Recover My Letters from the War - Department, but with Difficulty—A Stricken Patriarch and a - Spartan Mother—Huntsville Metamorphosed—“Reconstruction” Signs - Appear—A Slave Emulates His New Masters—He, too, in Time, Is - Metamorphosed—The Freedman’s Bureau versus “Ole - Missus’s”—Southern Ladies and Camomile Flowers 278 - - CHAPTER XXIII. NEWS FROM FORTRESS MONROE. - - We Hear Discouraging News of the Nation’s Prisoners—Denunciation - of Joseph Holt and His Witnesses by the Reverend Stuart - Robinson—He Exposes the “Infamous Perjuries of the Bureau of - Military Justice”—Their Confession and Flight from the - Country—Charles O’Conor Writes Me; Also Ben Wood, Who Offers to - Advance the Cost of Mr. Clay’s Defense; Also Judge Black Writes - Cheeringly—I Hear Through R. J. Haldeman of the Friendliness of - Thaddeus Stevens; and from General Miles; Also, in Time, from - Mr. Clay—His Letter Prophesies Future Racial Conditions, and - Advises Me How to Escape the Evils to Come—Freed from Espionage, - He Describes the “Comforts” of Life in Fortress Monroe—One of - the Tortures of the Inquisition Revived 286 - - CHAPTER XXIV. ONCE MORE IN THE FEDERAL CAPITAL. - - Communications Are Reopened with Washington—Duff Green Makes - Application to the President on My Behalf—I Hear from Mrs. Davis - of Her Misfortunes—I Borrow $100 and Start for the - Capital—Scenes on Cars and Boat—I Meet Many Sympathisers—And - Arrive at Last at Cincinnati—Yankee Ideas and Yankee - Notions—Mrs. Pugh Visits Me—Also Senator and Mrs. Pendleton, Who - Take Me Home—Once More en Route for Washington—Within Its - Precincts 300 - - CHAPTER XXV. SECRETARY STANTON DENIES RESPONSIBILITY. - - Arrival at Willard’s—Expecting Enemies, I Find Many Old - Friends—General Ihrie, of Grant’s Staff, Calls On Me—Also a - Nameless Lady—Judge Hughes and Judge Black Counsel Me—I Visit - the White House to Plead with Mr. Johnson—Mrs. Douglas Is My - Companion—Mr. Johnson “Lives up to His Reputation” and Tells Me - to See Mr. Stanton—Which I Do—The Secretary’s Manner—“I am Not - Your Husband’s Judge, Neither am I His Accuser”—I Call Upon - General Grant, Who Writes to President Johnson on Behalf of Mr. - Clay 307 - - CHAPTER XXVI. MR. HOLT REPORTS UPON THE CASE OF C. C. CLAY, JR. - - I Send General Grant’s Letter to Mr. Johnson—And Beg to Be - Allowed to Visit Fortress Monroe—I Begin to Feel the Strength of - a Concealed Enemy—I Refuse to Go to Mr. Stanton, and Have a - First Pass-at-Arms with the President—Mr. Holt Presents His - “Report on the Case of C. C. Clay, Jr.”—His Several Opinions of - Mr. Clay in Parallel—Denied an Examination of the Infamous - Document by the War Department, the President’s “Official Copy” - Is Placed at My Disposal—Some of Its Remarkable Features—The - President Promises Me He Will Not Deliver My Husband and Mr. - Davis up to the Military Court, and Agrees to Issue on His Own - Responsibility a Permit to Visit Fortress Monroe—I Go to New - York and Hobnob with “An Old Abolitionist” 317 - - CHAPTER XXVII. PRESIDENT JOHNSON INTERPOSES. - - President Johnson Issues a Permit on His Own Responsibility—I - Leave Washington for Fortress Monroe—And Meet with Kindness on - the Way—Dr. Craven Admonishes Me to Look for No Favours from His - Successor—I Meet General Miles in His Headquarters, Which Have - Been Furnished by General Butler—I Experience a Weary Delay—Am - Refused Explanation or Use of Telegraph Wires—Dr. Vogell - Intercedes—At Nightfall I Am Taken to My Husband’s Cell—I Return - to the Capital—Death of Mrs. C. C. Clay, Sr.—I Report to the - President the Incidents of My Visit to the Fortress—He Assures - Me They Shall Not Be Repeated—He Issues Another Permit and - Promises to Read a Letter in His Cabinet 331 - - CHAPTER XXVIII. THE PRISON. - - Again at the Fortress—My Husband’s Cell and Room in Carroll - Hall—Some of the Comforts of Fortress Monroe and of Mr. Clay’s - Position—I am Told of Some of His Experiences—A Statement of - Others—Mr. Davis at the Fortress—An Exchange of Notes—My Husband - Turns Caretaker—With a Soft Answer He Turns Away a Soldier’s - Wrath—I Have a Curious Adventure in Which I Meet a Lamb in - Wolf’s Clothing 345 - - CHAPTER XXIX. PRESIDENT JOHNSON HEARS WHAT “THE PEOPLE SAY.” - - President Johnson Is Kind but Vacillating—Straws That Show a - Veering of the Wind—Colonel Rhett Talks with Mr. Bennett, and - the _Herald_ Grows Curious as to the Mysteriously Detained - Prisoners—Thaddeus Stevens Writes to Mr. Johnson on Behalf of - Mr. Clay—I Have a Nicodemus-like Visitor—Mr. Wilson, - Vice-President of the United States, Writes to the President on - Mr. Clay’s Behalf—Signs of Political Disquiet—Parties and - Partisans—I Receive Some Political Advice and Determine to Act - Upon It—I Have a _rencontre_ in the Corridors of the White - House—And Tell Mr. Johnson What “the People Say” 354 - - CHAPTER XXX. THE GOVERNMENT YIELDS ITS PRISONER. - - Old Friends and New—Mme. Le Vert and Other Famous Personages - Return to the Capital—General Lee is Lionised—I Secure the - Liberty of the Fort for My Husband, and Indulge in a Little - Recreation—I Visit the Studio of Vinnie Reames and the - Confederate Fair at Baltimore—I Return to Washington and Resume - My Pleadings with the President—Mr. Mallory, Admiral Semmes, and - Alexander Stephens Are Released—Mr. Mallory and Judge Black - Counsel Me to Take Out the Writ of Habeas Corpus—The Release - Papers Are Promised—I Visit the Executive Mansion to Claim Them - and at Last Receive Them—“You Are Released!”—Congratulations Are - Offered—The Context of Some of These—“God Has Decreed That No - Lie Shall Live Forever”—We Turn Our Faces Once More to the - Purple Mountains of Alabama 367 - - - - - LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - MRS. CLAY, of Alabama _Frontispiece_ - - FACING PAGE - - MRS. BENJAMIN FITZPATRICK, of Alabama 26 - - ADELINA PATTI, aged sixteen 38 - - MRS. ROGER A. PRYOR, of Virginia 44 - - MRS. GEORGE E. PUGH (THÉRÈSE CHALFANT), of Ohio. “The - most beautiful woman in Washington” 46 - - FRANKLIN PIERCE, President of the United States, - 1853–’57 60 - - MRS. WILLIAM L. MARCY, of New York 62 - - MRS. J. J. CRITTENDEN, of Kentucky 84 - - MRS. CHESTNUT, of South Carolina 94 - - JENNY LIND 102 - - JAMES BUCHANAN, President of the United States, 1857–’61 108 - - MISS HARRIET LANE, mistress of the White House, 1857–’61 114 - - LADY NAPIER AND HER SONS 116 - - MRS. JEFFERSON DAVIS, of Mississippi 134 - - LORD LYONS, British Ambassador to the United States 140 - - CLEMENT C. CLAY, JR., United States Senator, 1853–’61 148 - - L. Q. C. LAMAR, 1862 164 - - MRS. PHILIP PHILLIPS, of Washington, D. C. 166 - - SENATOR JAMES H. HAMMOND, of South Carolina 212 - - GENERAL JOSEPH WHEELER, of Alabama 232 - - DR. HENRY C. VOGELL, Fortress Monroe, 1866 334 - - DR. GEORGE COOPER, Fortress Monroe, 1866 350 - - MRS. A. S. PARKER, of Washington, D. C. 368 - - JEFFERSON DAVIS and CLEMENT C. CLAY, JR. (after release - from Fortress Monroe) 374 - - - - - A BELLE OF THE FIFTIES - - - - - CHAPTER I - CHILDHOOD, GIRLHOOD, MARRIAGE - - -My infant days were spent in North Carolina among the kinsmen of my -mother. I do not remember her, save that she was young and fair, being -but twenty when she died. She was the twenty-fifth child of the family -united under her father’s roof, which remarkable circumstance may be -explained as follows: - -My grandfather, General William Arrington, who won his title in the -Revolutionary War, having been left a widower with twelve children, -wearying of his solitude, mounted his horse and rode over to visit the -comely widow Battle, whose children also numbered twelve. The two -plantations lay near together in the old “Tar Heel” State. My gallant -ancestor was a successful wooer, and Mrs. Battle, _née_ Williams, soon -became Mrs. Arrington. Thus it happened that the little Anne—my -mother—the one daughter of this union, entered the world and -simultaneously into the affections of one dozen half-brothers and -sisters Arrington, and as many of the Battle blood. This was a fortunate -prevision for me, for, though orphaned at the outset of my earthly -pilgrimage—I was but three years old when my girl-mother passed away—I -found myself by no means alone, though my dear father, Dr. Peyton -Randolph Tunstall, grief-stricken and sorrowful, left my native State at -the death of his wife, and I was a half-grown girl ere we met again and -learned to know each other. - -My recollections of those early days are necessarily few; yet, were I a -painter, I might limn one awful figure that lingers in my memory. She -was a mulatto, to whose care for some time I was nightly confided. This -crafty maid, Pleasant by name, though ’twas a misnomer, anxious to join -in the diversions of the other domestics among the outlying cabins on -the plantation, would no sooner tuck me into bed than she would begin to -unfold to me blood-curdling stories of “sperrits an’ ghoses,” and of -“old blue eyes an’ bloody bones” who would be sure to come out of the -plum orchard and carry me to the graveyard if I did not go quickly to -sleep. Fortunately, old Major Drake, of whose family I was then a -member, chanced one evening to overhear this soothing lullaby, and put -an end to her stories ere serious harm had been done; yet so wonderful -is the retentive power of the human mind that though seventy and more -momentous years have passed since I, a little fearsome child, huddled -under the coverings breathless in my dread of the “bogie man,” I still -recall my heartless, or perhaps my thoughtless, nurse vividly. - -At the age of six I was carried to Tuscaloosa, then the capital of the -young State of Alabama, where I was placed in the care of my aunt, whose -husband, Henry W. Collier, then a young lawyer, afterward became Chief -Justice of the Supreme Court of his State, and its Governor. That first -journey stretches out in my memory as an interminable pilgrimage. Mr. -Fort, of Mississippi, his wife, my mother’s sister, and their two -children, Mary and Martha, accompanied by a large following of Negroes, -being en route for their plantation in Mississippi territory, I was -given into their care for delivery to my kin in Tuscaloosa. No -palace-car of later days has ever eclipsed the wonders of the cavalcade -our company made as we passed along through towns and villages and the -occasional Indian settlements that here and there dotted the untilled -lands of those early nineteenth-century days! - -My uncle drove in his gig at the head of the procession, while my aunt -and the children made the journey in a big pudding-shaped carriage in -charge of a trusty driver, beside whom my aunt’s maid sat. The carriage -was built with windows at the sides, and adjustable steps, which were -let down when we halted and secured in place by our Negro attendants. -These followed behind the vehicles and were at hand to serve us when -need arose. - -Our cortege included several “Dearborns,” similar in shape to the -ambulances of the present, in which the old and ailing Negroes were -carried, and numerous wagons containing our household goods and -provisions followed behind. At night, tents were pitched, in which my -aunt and the children slept, unless by chance a storm arose, when the -shelter of some hostelry or farmhouse was sought. The preparations for -camping were altogether exciting, the erection of tents, the kindling of -fires, the unharnessing and watering and feeding of the stock, and the -eager industry of the cooks and their assistants in the midst of the -array of shining utensils all combining to stamp the scene upon the mind -of an impressionable child. - -However, in the course of time the slow rolling of our carriage became -monotonous to the restive children of the caravan, and the novelty of -standing at the windows and gazing over the lifting hills soon wore off. -My aunt felt the fatigue less, we thought, for she was a famous -soliloquist, and often talked to herself as we rode, sometimes laughing -aloud at her own good company. I think we children regarded her as -deranged, if harmless, until one day she proved her sanity to our -complete satisfaction. In a moment of insupportable tedium we conceived -the idea of dropping the little tin cups, with which each was provided, -in order to see if the wheels would run over them. One after another the -vessels were lowered, and each, to our intense delight, was smashed flat -as the proverbial pancake. When my aunt discovered our mischief, being a -gentle soul, she merely reprimanded us, and at the next settlement -purchased others; but when these and yet others followed the fate of the -first, she became less indulgent. Switches were cut from the forest -trees, three pairs of pink palms tingled with the punishment then and -there administered, and the remembrance thereof restrained my cousins’ -and my own destructiveness for the remainder of the journey. - -Arrived at Tuscaloosa, I spent four years in the shelter of the motherly -affection of my aunt, Mrs. Collier, when, her health failing, I was -placed in the home of my mother’s brother, Alfred Battle, a wealthy -planter, residing a day’s journey from the little capital. My -recollections of that early Alabama life centre themselves about a great -white house set in widening grounds, in the midst of which was a -wondrous sloe-tree, white with blooms. Many times I and my cousins -played under it by moonlight, watching the shadows of the branches as -they trembled on the white-sanded earth below, wondering at them, and -not sure whether they were fairies’ or angels’ or witches’ shapes. -Around that tree, too, we played “Chickamy, Chickamy, Craney Crow,” and, -at the climax, “What o’clock, Old Witch?” would scamper wildly to elude -the pursuit of the imaginary old witch. Here, a healthy and happy child, -I pursued my studies. My uncle’s wife, a woman of marked domestic -tastes, taught me to sew and knit and to make a buttonhole, and I made -progress in books under the guidance of a visiting teacher; but, my task -ended, I flew to the meadows and orchards and to the full-flowering -clover-field, or to the plantation nursery to see the old mammies feed -the babies with “clabber,” with bread well crumbed in it, or _cush_, -made of bread soaked in gravy and softly mashed. - -It was during this bucolic period of my life that the stars fell. I did -not witness these celestial phenomena, being sound asleep as a child -should be; but, for years afterward, time was marked from that great -event. I remember perfectly my aunt’s description of it. People ran from -their houses weeping and falling on their knees, praying for mercy and -forgiveness. Everywhere the terrifying belief spread that the Day of -Judgment was at hand; and nights were made vocal with the exhortations -of the black preachers who now became numerous upon the plantation. To -very recent days old Negroes have dated their calendar from “de year -when de stars fell.” - -Ah, me! how long ago that time of childhood’s terrors and delights in -that young open country! Of all my early playmates, but one, my cousin -William Battle, remains, a twin relic of antiquity! From the first we -were cronies; yet we had a memorable disagreement upon one occasion -which caused a slight breach between us. We were both intensely fond of -my aunt’s piano, but my cousin was compelled to satisfy his affection -for music in secret; for Uncle Battle, who heartily encouraged my -efforts, was positive in his disapproval of those of my cousin. He -thought piano-playing in a man to be little short of a crime, and was -quite resolved his son should not be guilty of it. My cousin and I, -therefore, connived to arrange our practice in such a way as would allow -him to finish his practice at the instrument before my uncle’s return -from the day’s duties. - -Upon the fatal occasion of our disagreement, however, I refused, upon my -cousin’s appearance, to yield my seat, whereupon, losing his temper, he -gave me a tap on the cheek. In a moment the struggle was on! Our tussle -was at its height, I on top and pummelling with all my might, when, the -door opening suddenly, a startled cousin appeared. - -“La!” she exclaimed in terror, “Cousin Will and Virginia are fighting!” - -“No, we’re not!” I replied stoutly. “We’re just playing;” and I retired -with tufts of reddish hair in both hands, but leaving redder spots on -the face of my cousinly antagonist. He, thoroughly satisfied to be -released, no longer desired to play the piano, nor _with me_. His head -has long been innocent of hair, an hereditary development, but he has -always asserted that his baldness is attributable to “My cousin, Mrs. -Clay, who, in our youthful gambols, scalped me.” - -During my twelfth year, my uncle removed to Tuscaloosa, where my real -school days began. It was the good fortune of the young State at that -time to have in the neighbourhood of its capital many excellent -teachers, among whom was my instructress at the school in Tuscaloosa to -which I now was sent. I cannot refrain from telling a strange incident -in her altogether remarkable life. From the beginning it was full of -unusual vicissitudes. By birth an English gentlewoman, her mother had -died while she was yet an infant. In the care of a young aunt, the child -was sent to America to be brought up by family connections residing -here. On the long sailing voyage the infant sickened and, to all -appearances, died. The ship was in midocean, and the young guardian, -blaming her own inexperience, wept bitterly as preparations went on for -the burial. At last, all else being ready, the captain himself came -forward to sew the little body in the sack, which when weighted would -sink the hapless baby into the sea. He bent over the little form, -arranging it, when by some strange fortune a bottle of whisky, which he -carried in his pocket, was spilled and the contents began to flow upon -the child’s face. Before an exclamation could be made the little one -opened its eyes and gave so many evidences of life that restoratives -were applied promptly. The infant recovered and grew to womanhood. She -became, when widowed, the mistress of a school in our little capital, -and her descendants, in many instances, have risen to places of -distinction in public life. - -An instructress of that period to whom the women of early Alabama owed -much was Maria Brewster Brooks, who, as Mrs. Stafford, the wife of -Professor Samuel M. Stafford, became celebrated, and fills a page of -conspicuous value in the educational history of the State. She was born -on the banks of the Merrimac and came to Tuscaloosa in her freshest -womanhood. First her pupil, and afterward her friend, our mutual -affection, begun in the early thirties, continued until her demise in -the eighties. Many of her wards became in after years notable figures in -the social life of the national capital, among them Mrs. Hilary Herbert. - -In Tuscaloosa there resided, besides my Aunt Collier, few of my father’s -and mother’s kin, and by a natural affinity I fell under the -guardianship of my father’s brother, Thomas B. Tunstall, Secretary of -State of Alabama. He was a bachelor; but all that I lacked in my -separation from my father my uncle supplied, feeding the finer sides of -my nature, and inspiring in me a love of things literary even at an age -when I had scarce handled a book. My uncle’s influence began with my -earliest days in Alabama. My aunt, Mrs. Collier, was delicate, Mrs. -Battle domestic; Uncle Battle was a famous business man; and Uncle -Collier was immersed in law and increasing political interests; but my -memory crowds with pictures of my Uncle Tom, walking slowly up and down, -playing his violin, and interspersing his numbers with some wise counsel -to the child beside him. He taught me orally of poetry, and music, of -letters and philosophy, and of the great world’s great interests. He -early instilled in me a pride of family, while reading to me Scott’s -fine tribute to Brian Tunstall, “the stainless knight,” or, as he -rehearsed stories of Sir Cuthbert Tunstall, Knight of the Garter, and -Bishop of London in the time of gentle Queen Anne; and it was in good -Uncle Tom’s and my father’s company that the fascinations of the drama -were first revealed to me. - -While I was yet a schoolgirl, and so green that, had I not been -protected by these two loving guardians, I would have been eaten up by -the cows on the Mobile meadows, I was taken to see “The Gamester,” in -which Charles Kean and Ellen Tree were playing. It was a remarkable and -ever-remembered experience. As the play proceeded, I became so absorbed -in the story, so real and so thrillingly portrayed, that from silent -weeping I took to sniffling and from sniffling to ill-repressed sobbing. -I leaned forward in my seat tensely, keeping my eyes upon the stage, and -equally oblivious of my father and uncle and the strangers who were -gazing at me on every side. Now and then, as I sopped the briny outflow -of my grief, realising in some mechanical manner that my handkerchief -was wet, I would take it by two corners and wave it back and forth in an -effort to dry it; but all the while the tears gushed from my eyes in -rivulets. My guardians saw little of the play that night, for the -amusement I afforded these experienced theatre-goers altogether exceeded -in interest the mimic tragedy that so enthralled me. - -When the curtain fell upon the death-scene I was exhausted; but another -and counteracting experience awaited me, for the after-piece was “Robert -Macaire,” and now, heartily as I had wept before, I became convulsed -with laughter as I saw the deft pickpocket (impersonated by Crisp, the -comedian), courtly as a king, bowing in the dance, while removing from -the unsuspecting ladies and gentlemen about him their brooches and -jewels! My absorption in the performance was so great that I scarce -heard the admonitions of my father and uncle, who begged me, in -whispers, to control myself. Nor did I realise there was another person -in the house but the performers on the stage and myself. - -Years afterward, while travelling with my husband, he recognised in a -fellow traveller a former friend from southern Alabama, a Mr. Montague, -and brought him to me to present him. To my chagrin, he had scarcely -taken my hand when he burst into immoderate and inexplicable laughter. - -“Never,” said he to Mr. Clay, “shall I forget the time when I first saw -your wife! We went to see Tree; but, sir, not half the house knew what -was going on on the stage for watching the little girl in the -auditorium! Never till then had I imagined the full power of the drama! -Her delight, her tears and laughter, I am sure, were remembered by the -Mobilians long after the ‘stars’ acting was forgotten.” - -That visit to Mobile was my first flight into the beautiful world that -lay beyond the horizon of my school life. In the enjoyments devised for -me by my father in those few charmed days, I saw, if not clearly, at -least prophetically, what of beauty and joy life might hold for me. Upon -our arrival in the lovely little Bay city, my father, learning of a ball -for which preparations were on foot, determined I should attend it. -Guided perhaps in his choice of colour by the tints of health that lay -in his little daughter’s cheeks, he selected for me a gown of -peach-blossom silk, which all my life I have remembered as the most -beautiful of dresses, and one which transformed me, heretofore confined -to brown holland gowns by my prudent aunt, Mrs. Battle, as truly as -Cinderella was changed into a princess. - -Upon the evening of that never-to-be-forgotten Boat Club Ball, blushing -and happy, eager, with delightful anticipations, yet timorous, too, for -my guardians, the Battles, had disapproved of dancing and had rigorously -excluded this and other worldly pleasures from their ward’s -accomplishments, I was conducted by my father to the ball. In my heart -lay the fear that I would be, after all, a mere looker-on, or appear -awkward if I should venture to dance as did the others; but neither of -these misgivings proved to have been well founded. - -My father led me at once to Mme. Le Vert, then the reigning queen of -every gathering at which she appeared, and in her safe hands every fear -vanished. I had heard my elders speak frequently of her beauty, and -somehow had imagined her tall. She was less so than I had pictured, but -so winning and cordial to me, a timid child, that I at once capitulated -before the charm she cast over everyone who came into conversation with -her. I thought her face the sweetest I had ever seen. She had a grace -and frankness which made everyone with whom she talked feel that he or -she alone commanded her attention. I do not recall her making a single -_bon mot_, but she was vivacious and smiling. Her charm, it seemed to -me, lay in her lovely manners and person and her permeating -intellectuality. - -I remember Mme. Le Vert’s appearance on that occasion distinctly, though -to describe it now seems garish. To see her then was bewildering, and -all her colour was harmony. She wore a gown of golden satin, and on her -hair a wreath of coral flowers, which her morocco shoes matched in hue. -In the dance she moved like a bird on the wing. I can see her now in her -shining robe, as she swayed and glided, holding the shimmering gown -aside as she floated through the “ladies’ chain.” The first dance of my -life was a quadrille, _vis-à-vis_ with this renowned beauty, who took me -under her protection and encouraged me from time to time. - -“Don’t be afraid, my dear,” she would sweetly say, “Do just as I do,” -and I glided after my wonderful instructress like one enchanted, with -never a mishap. - -Mme. Le Vert, who in years to come became internationally celebrated, -was a kinswoman of Clement Claiborne Clay, and in after times, when I -became his wife, I often met her, but throughout my long life I have -remembered that first meeting in Mobile, and her charm and grace have -remained a prized picture in my memory. It was of this exquisite belle -that Washington Irving remarked: “But one such woman is born in the -course of an empire.” - -It was to my Uncle Tom that I owed the one love sorrow of my life. It -was an affair of the greatest intensity while it endured, and was -attended by the utmost anguish for some twelve or fourteen hours. During -that space of time I endured all the hopes and fears, the yearnings and -despairs to which the human heart is victim. - -I was nearing the age of fifteen when my uncle one evening bade me put -on my prettiest frock and accompany him to the home of a friend, where a -dance was to be given. I was dressed with all the alacrity my old mammy -was capable of summoning, and was soon ensconced in the carriage and on -my way to the hospitable scene. En route we stopped at the hotel, where -my uncle alighted, reappearing in a moment with a very handsome young -man, who entered the carriage with him and drove with us to the house, -where he, too, was to be a guest. - -Never had my eyes beheld so pleasing a masculine wonder! He was the -personification of manly beauty! His head was shapely as Tasso’s (in -after life I often heard the comparison made), and in his eyes there -burned a romantic fire that enslaved me from the moment their gaze -rested upon me. At their warmth all the ardour, all the ideals upon -which a romantic heart had fed rose in recognition of their realisation -in him. During the evening he paid me some pretty compliments, remarking -upon my hazel eyes and the gleam of gold in my hair, and he touched my -curls admiringly, as if they were revered by him. - -My head swam! Lohengrin never dazzled Elsa more completely than did this -knight of the poet’s head charm the maiden that was I! We danced -together frequently throughout the evening, and my hero rendered me -every attention a kind man may offer to the little daughter of a valued -friend. When at last we stepped into the carriage and turned homeward, -the whole world was changed for me. - -My first apprehension of approaching sorrow came as we neared the hotel. -To my surprise, the knight was willing, nay, desired to be set down -there. A dark suspicion crept into my mind that perhaps, after all, my -hero might be less gallant than I had supposed, else why did he not seek -this opportunity of riding home with me? If this wonderful emotion that -possessed me also had actuated him—and how could I doubt it after his -devotion throughout the evening?—how could he bear to part from me in -this way without a single word or look of tenderness? - -As the door closed behind him I leaned back in the darkest corner of the -carriage and thought hard, though not hardly of him. After a little my -uncle roused me by saying, “Did my little daughter enjoy this evening?” - -I responded enthusiastically. - -“And was I not kind to provide you with such a gallant cavalier? Isn’t -Colonel Jere Clemens a handsome man?” - -Ah, was he not? My full heart sang out his praises with an unmistakable -note. My uncle listened sympathetically. Then he continued, “Yes, he’s a -fine fellow! A fine fellow, Virginia, and he has a nice little wife and -baby!” - -No thunderbolt ever fell more crushingly upon the unsuspecting than did -these awful words from the lips of my uncle! I know not how I reached my -room, but once there I wept passionately throughout the night and much -of the following morning. Within my own heart I accused my erstwhile -hero of the rankest perfidy; of villainy of every imaginable quality; -and in this recoil of injured pride perished my first love dream, -vanished the heroic wrappings of my quondam knight! - -Having finished the curriculum of the institute presided over by Miss -Brooks, I was sent to the “Female Academy” at Nashville, Tennessee, to -perfect my studies in music and literature, whence I returned to -Tuscaloosa all but betrothed to Alexander Keith McClung, already a -famous duellist. I met him during a visit to my Uncle Fort’s home, in -Columbus, Mississippi, and the Colonel’s devotion to me for many months -was the talk of two States. He was the gallantest lover that ever knelt -at a lady’s feet! Many a winsome girl admired him, and my sweet cousin, -Martha Fort, was wont to say she would “rather marry Colonel McClung -than any man alive”; but I—I loved him madly while with him, but feared -him when away from him; for he was a man of fitful, uncertain moods and -given to periods of the deepest melancholy. At such times he would mount -his horse “Rob Roy,” wild and untamable as himself, and dash to the -cemetery, where he would throw himself down on a convenient grave and -stare like a madman into the sky for hours. A man of reckless bravery, -in after years he was the first to mount the ramparts of Monterey -shouting victory. As he ran, carrying his country’s flag in his right -hand, a shot whizzing by took off two fingers of his left. - -I was thrown much in the company of Colonel McClung while at my uncle’s -home, but resisted his pleading for a binding engagement, telling him -with a strange courage and frankness, ere I left Columbus, my reason for -this persistent indecision. Before leaving for the academy at Nashville, -I had met, at my Uncle Collier’s, in Tuscaloosa, the young legislator, -Clement C. Clay, Jr., and had then had a premonition that if we should -meet when I returned from school I would marry him. At that time I was -an unformed girl, and he, Mr. Clay, was devoted to a young lady of the -capital; but this, as I knew, was a matter of the past. I would surely -meet him again at Uncle Collier’s (I told Mr. McClung), and, if the -attraction continued, I felt sure I would marry him. If not, I would -marry him, Colonel McClung. So we parted, and, though at that time the -Colonel did not doubt but that mine was a dreaming girl’s talk, my -premonitions were promptly realised. - -Upon my return to our provincial little capital, then a community of six -thousand souls, I found it thronging with gallants from every county in -the State. The belles of the town, in preparation for the gayety of the -legislative “season” of two months, were resplendent in fresh and -fashionable toilettes. Escritoires were stocked with stationery suitable -for the _billet-doux_ that were sure to be required; and there, too, -were the little boxes of glazed mottoed wafers, then all the fashion, -with which to seal the pretty missives. All the swains of that day wrote -in verse to the ladies they admired, and each tender rhyme required a -suitably presented acknowledgment. I remember, though I have preserved -none save those my husband wrote me, several creditable effusions by -Colonel McClung, one of which began: - -“Fearful and green your breathless poet stands,” etc. - -Shortly after my return from Columbus, I attended a ball where I danced -with William L. Yancey, even then recognised for the splendour of his -intellectual powers and his eloquence in the forum. I had heard him -speak, and thought his address superb, and I told him so. - -“Ah,” he answered gayly, “if it had not been for one pair of hazel eyes -I should have been submerged in a mere sea of rhetoric!” - -On the night of my dance with him I wore a white feather in my hair, and -on the morrow a messenger from Mr. Yancey bore me some charming verses, -addressed “To the lady with the snow-white plume!” - -I have said my strange premonitions regarding Mr. Clay were realised. -Ten days after we met we were affianced. There was a hastily gathered -trousseau selected in part by Mme. LeVert in Mobile, and hurried on to -my aunt’s home. A month later, and our marriage was celebrated with all -the _éclat_ our little city could provide, and the congratulations of a -circle of friends that included half the inhabitants. It is sixty years -since that wonderful wedding day, and of the maidens who attended -me—there were six—and the happy company that thronged Judge Collier’s -home on that crisp February morning when I crossed the Rubicon of life, -all—even the bridegroom—have passed long since into the shadowy company -of memory and the dead. - -That marriage feast in the morn of my life was beautiful; the low, -spacious house of primitive architecture was white with hyacinths, and -foliage decorated every available space. The legislature came in a body, -solons of the State, and young aspirants for fame; the president and -faculty of the State University, of which Mr. Clay was a favoured son; -Dr. Capers, afterward Bishop of South Carolina, officiated, and, in that -glorious company of old Alabamians, my identity as Virginia Tunstall was -merged forever with that of the rising young statesman, Clement C. Clay, -Jr. - -A week of festivity followed the ceremony, and then my husband took me -to my future home, among his people, in the northern part of the State. -There being no railroad connection between Tuscaloosa and Huntsville in -those days (the early forties), we made the journey from the capital in -a big four-wheeled stage-coach. The stretch of country now comprised in -the active city of Birmingham, the southern Pittsburg, was then a rugged -place of rocks and boulders over which our vehicle pitched perilously. -Stone Mountain reached, we were obliged to descend and pick our way on -foot, the roughness of the road making the passage of the coach a very -dangerous one. But these difficulties only lent a charm to us, for the -whole world was enwrapped in the glamour of our youthful joys. The -sunsets, blazing crimson on the horizon, seemed gloriously to proclaim -the sunrise of our life. - -We arrived in Huntsville on the evening of the second day of our -journey. Our driver, enthusiastically proud of his part in the -home-bringing of the bride, touched up the spirited horses as we crossed -the Public Square and blew a bugle blast as we wheeled round the corner; -when, fairly dashing down Clinton Street, he pulled up in masterly style -in front of “Clay Castle.” It was wide and low and spacious, as were all -the affluent homes of that day, and now was ablaze with candles to -welcome the travellers. All along the streets friendly hands and -kerchiefs had waved a welcome to us. Here, within, awaited a great -gathering of family and friends eager to see the chosen bride of a -well-loved son. This was my home-coming to Huntsville, thereafter to be -my haven for all time, though called in a few years by my husband’s -growing reputation to take my place beside him in Congressional circles -at Washington. - - - - - CHAPTER II - WASHINGTON PERSONAGES IN THE FIFTIES - - -When my husband’s parents were members of the Congressional circle in -Washington—1829–’35—the journey to the capital from their home in -northern Alabama was no light undertaking. In those early days -Congressman (afterward Governor, and United States Senator) and Mrs. C. -C. Clay, Sr., travelled by coach to the Federal City, accompanied by -their coloured coachman, Toney (who, because of his expert driving, soon -became notable in Washington), and a maid-servant, Milly, who were -necessary to their comfort and station. Many days were consumed in these -journeys, that lay through Tennessee, the Carolinas and Virginia, during -which the travellers were exposed to all the dangers common to a young -and often unsettled forest country. The tangled woods of the South land, -odorous with the cedar or blossoming with dogwood, mimosa or magnolias, -were often Arcadias of beauty. The land of the sky, now the object of -pilgrimages for the wealthy and become the site of palaces built by -kings of commerce, was then still more beautiful with primeval -freshness. Far as the eye could see, as hills were scaled and valleys -crossed, were verdured slopes and wooded mountain crests. The Palisades -of the Tennessee, as yet scarcely penetrated by Northern tourists, were -then the wonder as they still are the pride of the traveller from the -South. - -In 1853, my husband was elected a United States Senator, to take the -seat of a former college friend, Jere Clemens, whose term had just -expired, and succeeding his father C. C. Clay, Sr., after eleven years. -In December of the same year, we began our trip to the capital under -comparatively modern conditions. My several visits to Vermont and New -Jersey Hydropathic Cures, then the fashionable sanitariums, had already -inured me to long journeys. By this time steam railways had been -established, and, though not so systematically connected as to make -possible the taking of long trips over great distances without devious -and tiresome changes, they had lessened the time spent upon the road -between Alabama and Washington very appreciably; but, while in -comparison with those in common use to-day, the cars were primitive, -nevertheless they were marvels of comfort and speed to the travellers of -the fifties. Sleeping cars were not yet invented, but the double-action -seatbacks of the regular coaches, not then, as now, screwed down -inexorably, made it a simple matter to convert two seats into a kind of -couch, on which, with the aid of a pillow, one managed very well to -secure a half repose as the cars moved soberly along. - -Our train on that first official journey to Washington proved to be a -kind of inchoative “Congressional Limited.” We found many of our -fellow-passengers to be native Alabamians, the majority being on -government business bent. Among them were my husband’s confrère from -southern Alabama, Senator Fitzpatrick and his wife, and a friendship was -then and there begun among us, which lasted uninterruptedly until death -detached some of the parties to it; also Congressman Dowdell, “dear old -Dowdell,” as my husband and everyone in the House shortly learned to -call him, and James L. Orr of South Carolina, who afterward became -Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Minister to Russia under -President Grant. Mr. Orr, late in 1860, was one of the three -commissioners sent by South Carolina to President Buchanan to arbitrate -on the question of the withdrawal of United States troops from Forts -Sumter and Moultrie, in Charleston Harbour. - -Nor should I omit to name the most conspicuous man on that memorable -north-bound train, Congressman W. R. W. Cobb, who called himself the -“maker of Senators,” and whom people called the most successful -vote-poller in the State of Alabama. Mr. Cobb resorted to all sorts of -tricks to catch the popular votes, such as the rattling of tinware and -crockery—he had introduced bills to secure indigent whites from a -seizure for debt that would engulf all their possessions, and in them -had minutely defined all articles that were to be thus exempt, not -scorning to enumerate the smallest items of the kitchen—, and he -delighted in the singing of homely songs composed for stump purposes. -One of these which he was wont to introduce at the end of a speech, and -which always seemed to be especially his own, was called “The Homestead -Bill.” Of this remarkable composition there were a score of verses, at -least, that covered every possible possession which the heart of the -poor man might crave, ranging from land and mules to household -furniture. The song began, - - “Uncle Sam is rich enough to give us all a farm!” - -and Mr. Cobb would sing it in stentorian tones, winking, as he did so, -to first one and then another of his admiring listeners, and punctuating -his phrases by chewing, with great gusto, a piece of onion and the -coarsest of corn “pone.” These evidences of his democracy gave huge -delight to the masses, though it aroused in me, a young wife, great -indignation, that, in the exigencies of a public career my husband -should be compelled to enter a contest with such a man. To me it was the -meeting of a Damascus blade and a meat-axe, and in my soul I resented -it. - -In 1849 this stump-favourite had defeated the brilliant Jere Clemens, -then a candidate for Congress, but immediately thereafter Mr. Clemens -was named for the higher office of U. S. Senator and elected. In 1853 an -exactly similar conjunction of circumstances resulted in the election of -Mr. Clay. I accompanied my husband during the canvass in which he was -defeated, and thereby became, though altogether innocently, the one -obstacle to Mr. Cobb’s usually unanimous election. - -It happened that during the campaign Mr. Clay and I stopped at a little -hostelry, that lay in the very centre of one of Mr. Cobb’s strongest -counties. It was little more than a flower-embowered cottage, kept by -“Aunt Hannah,” a kindly soul, whose greatest treasure was a fresh-faced, -pretty daughter, then entering her “teens.” I returned to our room after -a short absence, just in time to see this village beauty before my -mirror, arrayed in all the glory of a beautiful and picturesque hat -which I had left upon the bed during my absence. It was a lovely thing -of the period, which I had but recently brought back from the North, -having purchased it while _en route_ for Doctor Wesselhœft’s Hydropathic -Institute in Brattleboro, Vermont. - -The little rustic girl of Alabama looked very winsome and blossomy in -the pretty gew-gaw, and I asked her impulsively if she liked it. Her -confusion was sufficient answer, and I promptly presented it to her, on -condition that she would give me her sunbonnet in return. - -The exchange was quickly made, and when Mr. Clay and I departed I wore a -pea-green cambric bonnet, lined with pink and stiffened with pasteboard -slats. I little dreamed that this exchange of millinery, so -unpremeditated, and certainly uncalculating, was a political -master-stroke; but, so it proved. It undermined Mr. Cobb’s Gibraltar; -for at the election that followed, the vote in that county was -practically solid for Mr. Clay, where formerly Mr. Cobb had swept it -clean. - -When, upon the train _en route_ for the capital in the winter of ’53, -Senator Fitzpatrick insisted upon presenting the erstwhile triumphant -politician, I took the long, flail-like hand he offered me with no -accentuated cordiality; my reserve, however, seemed not to disturb Mr. -Cobb’s proverbial complacency. - -“I’ve got a crow to pick with you, Mrs. Clay,” he began, “for that pink -bonnet trick at old Aunt Hannah’s!” - -“And I have a buzzard to pick with you!” I responded promptly, “for -defeating my husband!” - -“You ought to feel obliged to me,” retorted the Congressman, continuing -“For I made your husband a Senator!” - -“Well,” I rejoined, “I’ll promise not to repeat the bonnet business, if -you’ll give me your word never again to sing against my husband! That’s -unfair, for you know _he_ can’t sing!” which, amid the laughter of our -fellow-passengers, Mr. Cobb promised. - -Our entrance into the Federal City was not without its humorous side. We -arrived in the early morning, about two o’clock, driving up to the -National Hotel, where, owing to a mistake on the part of the -night-clerk, an incident occurred with which for many a day I twitted my -husband and our male companions on that eventful occasion. - -At that period it was the almost universal custom for Southern gentlemen -to wear soft felt hats, and the fashion was invariable when travelling. -In winter, too, long-distance voyagers as commonly wrapped themselves in -the blanket shawl, which was thrown around the shoulders in picturesque -fashion and was certainly comfortable, if not strictly _à la mode_. My -husband and the other gentlemen of our party were so provided on our -journey northward, and upon our arrival, it must be admitted, none in -that travel-stained and weary company would have been mistaken for a -Washington exquisite of the period. - -As our carriage stopped in front of the hotel door, Mr. Dowdell, muffled -to the ears, his soft-brimmed hat well down over his face (for the wind -was keen), stepped out quickly to arrange for our accommodation. The -night was bitterly cold, and the others of our company were glad to -remain under cover until our spokesman returned. - -This he did in a moment or two. He appeared crestfallen, and quite at a -loss. - -“Nothing here, Clay!” he said to my husband. “Man says they have no -rooms!” - -“Nonsense, Dowdell!” was Senator Clay’s response. “You must be mistaken. -Here, step inside while I inquire!” He, muffled as mysteriously, and in -no whit more trust-inspiring than the dejected Mr. Dowdell, strode -confidently in. Not many minutes elapsed ere he, too, returned. - -“Well!” he said. “I don’t understand it, but Dowdell’s right! They say -they have no rooms for us!” - -At this we were dismayed, and a chorus of exclamations went up from men -and women alike. What were we to do? In a moment, I had resolved. - -“There’s some mistake! I don’t believe it,” I said. “I’ll go and see;” -and, notwithstanding my husband’s remonstrances, I hurried out of the -carriage and into the hotel. Stepping to the desk I said to the clerk in -charge: “Is it possible you have no rooms for our party in this large -hostelry? Is it possible, Sir, that at this season, when Congress is -convening, you have reserved no rooms for Congressional guests?” He -stammered out some confused reply, but I hurried on. - -“I am Mrs. Clay, of Alabama. You have refused my husband, Senator Clay, -and his friend, Representative Dowdell. What does it mean?” - -“Why, certainly, Madam,” he hastened to say, “I have rooms for _those_.” -And forthwith ordered the porters to go for our luggage. Then, reaching -hurriedly for various keys, he added, “I beg your pardon, Madam! I did -not know you were those!” - -What he did believe us to be, piloted as we were by two such -brigand-like gentlemen as Senator Clay and Mr. Dowdell, we never knew; -enough that our tired party were soon installed in comfortable -apartments. It was by reason of this significant episode that I first -realized the potency in Washington of conventional apparel and -Congressional titles. - -My husband being duly sworn in on the 14th of December, 1853, in a few -days our “mess” was established at the home of Mr. Charles Gardner, at -Thirteenth and G Streets. Here my first season in Washington was spent. -Besides Senator Clay and myself, our party was composed of Senator and -Mrs. Fitzpatrick, and Representatives Dowdell and Orr, and to this -little nucleus of congenial spirits were afterward added in our later -residences at historic old Brown’s Hotel and the Ebbitt House, many -whose names are known to the nation. - -Though a sad winter for me, for in it I bore and buried my only child, -yet my recollections of that season, as its echoes reached our quiet -parlours, are those of boundless entertainment and bewildering ceremony. -The season was made notable in the fashionable world by the great _fête -champêtre_ given by the British Minister, Mr. Crampton, and the pompous -obsequies of Baron Bodisco, for many years resident Minister from -Russia; but of these I learned only through my ever kind friend, Mrs. -Fitzpatrick, who for months was my one medium of communication with the -fashionable outside world. She was a beautiful woman, with superb -carriage and rare and rich colouring, and possessed, besides, a voice of -great sweetness, with which, during that winter of seclusion, she often -made our simple evenings a delight. While shortly she became a leader in -matters social, Mrs. Fitzpatrick was still more exalted in our own -little circle for her singing of such charming songs as “Roy’s Wife of -Aldivalloch,” and other quaint Scotch ditties. Nor was Mrs. Fitzpatrick -the one musician of our “mess,” for Mr. Dowdell had a goodly voice and -sang with lusty enjoyment the simpler ballads of the day, to say nothing -of many melodious Methodist hymns. - -My experiences as an active member of Washington society, therefore, -began in the autumn of 1854 and the succeeding spring, when, -notwithstanding an air of gravity and reserve that was perceptible at -that social pivot, the White House, the gaiety of the capital was -gaining an impetus in what later appeared to me to be a veritable “merry -madness.” - -It is true that it did not even then require the insight of a keen -observer to detect in social, as in political gatherings, the constantly -widening division between the Northern and Southern elements gathered in -the Government City. For myself, I knew little of politics, -notwithstanding the fact that from my childhood I had called myself “a -pronounced Jeffersonian Democrat.” Naturally, I was an hereditary -believer in States’ Rights, the real question, which, in an attempt to -settle it, culminated in our Civil War; and I had been bred among the -law-makers of the sturdy young State of Alabama, many of whom had served -at the State and National capitals with marked distinction; but from my -earliest girlhood three lessons had been taught me religiously, viz.: to -be proud alike of my name and blood and section; to read my Bible; and, -last, to know my “Richmond Enquirer.” Often, as an aid to the -performance of this last duty, have I read aloud its full contents, from -the rates of advertisement down, until my dear uncle Tom Tunstall has -fallen asleep over my childish efforts. It is not, then, remarkable -that, upon my arrival, I was at once cognisant of the feeling which was -so thinly concealed between the strenuous parties established in the -capital. - -[Illustration: - - MRS. BENJAMIN FITZPATRICK - - of Alabama -] - -During the first half of the Pierce administration, however, though -feeling ran high in the Senate and the House, the surface of social life -was smiling and peaceful. The President had every reason to feel kindly -toward the people of the South who had so unanimously supported him, and -he was as indiscriminating and impartial in his attitude to the opposing -parties as even the most critical could desire; but, gradually, by a -mutual instinct of repulsion that resolved itself into a general -consent, the representatives of the two antagonistic sections seldom met -save at promiscuous assemblages to which the exigencies of public life -compelled them. To be sure, courtesies were exchanged between the wives -of some of the Northern and Southern Senators, and formal calls were -paid on Cabinet days, as etiquette demanded, upon the ladies of the -Cabinet circle; but, by a tacit understanding, even at the -entertainments given at the foreign legations, and at the houses of -famous Washington citizens, this opposition of parties was carefully -considered in the sending out of invitations, in order that no -unfortunate _rencontre_ might occur between uncongenial guests. - -The White House, as I have said, was scarcely a place of gaiety. Mrs. -Pierce’s first appearance in public occurred at the Presidential levee, -late in 1853. An invalid for several years, she had recently received a -shock, which was still a subject of pitying conversation throughout the -country. It had left a terrible impress upon Mrs. Pierce’s spirits. -While travelling from her home in New Hampshire to Washington to witness -her husband’s exaltation as the President of the United States, an -accident, occurring at Norwalk, Connecticut, suddenly deprived her of -her little son, the last surviving of her several children. At her first -public appearance at the White House, clad in black velvet and diamonds, -her natural pallor being thereby greatly accentuated, a universal -sympathy was awakened for her. To us who knew her, the stricken heart -was none the less apparent because hidden under such brave and jewelled -apparel, which she had donned, the better to go through the ordeal -exacted by “the dear people.” - -I had made the acquaintance of General and Mrs. Pierce during the -preceding year while on a visit to the New England States; my husband’s -father had been the President’s confrère in the Senate early in the -forties; and my brother-in-law, Colonel Hugh Lawson Clay, had fought -beside the New Hampshire General in the Mexican War. The occupants of -the Executive Mansion therefore were no strangers to us; yet Mrs. -Pierce’s sweet graciousness and adaptability came freshly to me as I saw -her assume her place as the social head of the nation. Her sympathetic -nature and very kind heart, qualities not always to be perceived through -the formalities of governmental etiquette, were demonstrated to me on -many occasions. My own ill-health proved to be a bond between us, and, -while custom forbade the paying of calls by the wife of the Chief -Magistrate upon the wives of Senators, I was indebted to Mrs. Pierce for -many acts of friendliness, not the least of which were occasional drives -with her in the Presidential equipage. - -A favourite drive in those days was throughout the length of -Pennsylvania Avenue, then but sparsely and irregularly built up. The -greatest contrasts in architecture existed, hovels often all but -touching the mansions of the rich. The great boulevard was a perfect -romping ground for the winds. Chevy Chase and Georgetown were popular -objective points, and the banks of the Potomac, in shad-seining season, -were alive with gay sight-seers. The markets of Washington have always -excelled, affording every luxury of earth and sea, and that at a price -which gives to the owner of even a moderate purse a leaning toward -epicureanism. In the houses of the rich the serving of dinners became a -fine art. - -On the first occasion of my dining at the President’s table, I was -struck with the spaciousness of the White House, and the air of -simplicity which everywhere pervaded. Very elaborate alterations were -made in the mansion for Mr. Pierce’s successor, but in the day of -President and Mrs. Pierce it remained practically as unimposing as in -the time of President Monroe. - -The most remarkable features in all the mansion, to my then unaccustomed -eyes, were the gold spoons which were used invariably at all State -dinners. They were said to have been brought from Paris by President -Monroe, who had been roundly criticised for introducing into the White -House a table accessory so undemocratic! Besides these extraordinary -golden implements, there were as remarkable bouquets, made at the -government greenhouses. They were stiff and formal things, as big round -as a breakfast plate, and invariably composed of a half-dozen wired -japonicas ornamented with a pretentious cape of marvellously wrought -lace-paper. At every plate, at every State dinner, lay one of these -memorable rigid bouquets. This fashion, originating at the White House, -was taken up by all Washington. For an entire season the japonica was -the only flower seen at the houses of the fashionable or mixing in the -toilettes of the belles. - -But if, for that, my first winter in Washington, the White House itself -was sober, the houses of the rich Senators and citizens of Washington, -of the brilliant diplomatic corps, and of some of the Cabinet Ministers, -made ample amends for it. In the fifties American hospitality acquired a -reputation, and that of the capital was synonymous with an unceasing, an -augmenting round of dinners and dances, receptions and balls. A hundred -hostesses renowned for their beauty and wit and vivacity vied with each -other in evolving novel social relaxations. Notable among these were -Mrs. Slidell, Mrs. Jacob Thompson, Miss Belle Cass, and the daughters of -Secretary Guthrie; Mrs. Senator Toombs and Mrs. Ogle Tayloe, the -Riggses, the Countess de Sartiges and Mrs. Cobb, wife of that jolly -Falstaff of President Buchanan’s Cabinet, Howell Cobb. Mrs. Cobb was of -the celebrated Lamar family, so famous for its brilliant and brave men, -and lovely women. Highly cultured, modest as a wild wood-violet, -inclined, moreover, to reserve, she was nevertheless capable of -engrossing the attention of the most cultivated minds in the capital, -and a conversation with her was ever a thing to be remembered. No more -hospitable home was known in Washington than that of the Cobbs. The -Secretary was a _bon vivant_, and his home the rendezvous of the -epicurean as well as the witty and the intellectual. - -Probably the most brilliant of all the embassies, until the coming of -Lord and Lady Napier, was that of France. The Countess de Sartiges, who -presided over it, was an unsurpassed hostess, besides being a woman of -much _manner_ and personal beauty; and, as did many others of the suite, -she entertained on a lavish scale. - -Mrs. Slidell, wife of the Senator from Louisiana, whose daughter -Mathilde is now the wife of the Parisian banker, Baron Erlanger, became -famous in the fifties for her matinée dances at which all the beauties -and beaux of Washington thronged. Previous to her marriage with Senator -Slidell she was Mlle. des Londes of New Orleans. A leader in all things -fashionable, she was also one of the most devout worshippers at St. -Aloysius’s church. I remember with what astonishment and admiration I -watched her devotions one Sunday morning when, as the guest of Senator -Mallory, himself a strict Romanist, I attended that church for the -purpose of hearing a mass sung. - -I knew Mrs. Slidell as the devotée of fashion, the wearer of -unapproachable Parisian gowns, the giver of unsurpassed entertainments, -the smiling, tireless hostess; but that Sunday morning as I saw her -enter a pew just ahead of Senator Mallory and myself, sink upon her -knees, and, with her eyes fixed upon the cross, repeating her prayers -with a concentration that proved the sincerity of them, I felt as if -another and greater side of her nature were being revealed to me. I -never met her thereafter without a remembrance of that morning flitting -through my mind. - -During the early spring of 1854 I heard much of the imposing ceremonials -attending the funeral of Baron Alexandre de Bodisco, Minister from -Russia since 1838, the days of Van Buren. His young wife, a native of -Georgetown, was one of the first to draw the attention of foreigners to -the beauty of American women. The romantic old diplomat had learned to -admire his future wife when, as a little girl, upon her daily return -from school, he carried her books for her. Her beauty developed with her -growth, and, before she was really of an age to appear in society, -though already spoken of as the most beautiful woman in Georgetown, -Harriet Williams became the Baroness de Bodisco, and was carried abroad -for presentation at the Russian Court. Her appearance in that critical -circle created a _furore_, echoes of which preceded her return to -America. I have heard it said that this young bride was the first woman -to whom was given the title, “the American Rose.” - -I remember an amusing incident in which this lovely Baroness, -unconsciously to herself, played the part of instructress to me. It was -at one of my earliest dinners at the White House, ere I had thoroughly -familiarised myself with the gastronomic novelties devised by the -Gautiers (then the leading restaurateurs and confectioners of the -capital), and the other foreign _chefs_ who vied with them. Scarcely a -dinner of consequence but saw some surprise in the way of a heretofore -unknown dish. Many a time I have seen some one distinguished for his -_aplomb_ look about helplessly as the feast progressed, and gaze -questioningly at the preparation before him, as if uncertain as to how -it should be manipulated. Whenever I was in doubt as to the proper thing -to do at these dignified dinners, I turned, as was natural, to those -whose longer experience in the gay world was calculated to establish -them as exemplars to the novice. - -On the evening of which I write, the courses had proceeded without the -appearance of unusual or alarm-inspiring dishes until we had neared the -end of the _menu_, when I saw a waiter approaching with a large salver -on which were dozens of mysterious parallelograms of paper, each of -which was about five inches long and three broad, and appeared to be -full of some novel conserve. Beside them lay a silver trowel. The -packages were folded daintily, the gilt edges of their wrapping -glittering attractively. What they contained I could not guess, nor -could I imagine what we were supposed to do with them. - -However, while still struggling to read the mystery of the salver, my -eye fell upon Mme. de Bodisco, my _vis-à-vis_. She was a mountain of -lace and jewels, of blonde beauty and composure, for even at this early -period her proportions were larger than those which by common consent -are accredited to the sylph. I could have no better instructress than -this lady of international renown. I watched her; saw her take up the -little trowel, deftly remove one of the packages from the salver to her -plate, and composedly proceed to empty the paper receptacle of its -contents—a delicious glacé. My suspense was at an end. I followed her -example, very well satisfied with my good fortune in escaping a pitfall -which a moment ago I felt sure yawned before me, for this method of -serving creams and ices was the latest of culinary novelties. - -I wondered if there were others at the great board who were equally -uncertain as to what to do with the carefully concealed dainties. -Looking down to the other side of the table, I saw our friend Mr. Blank, -of Virginia, hesitatingly regarding the pile of paper which the waiter -was holding toward him. Presently, as if resigned to his fate, he took -up the trowel and began to devote considerable energy to an attempt to -dig out the contents of the package nearest him, when, as I glanced -toward him, he looked up, full of self-consciousness, and turned his -gaze directly upon me. His expression told plainly of growing -consternation. - -I shook my head in withering pseudo-rebuke and swiftly indicated to him -“to take a whole one.” Fortunately, he was quick-witted and caught my -meaning, and, taking the hint, took likewise the cream without further -mishap. After dinner we retired to the green-room, where, as was the -custom, coffee and liqueurs were served. Here Mr. Blank approached, and, -shaking my hand most gratefully, he whispered, “God bless my soul, Mrs. -Clay! You’re the sweetest woman in the world! But for your goodness, -heaven only knows what would have happened! Perhaps,” and he sipped his -liqueur contemplatively, “perhaps I might have been struggling with -that, _that problem_ yet!” - -I met Mme. de Bodisco many times during her widowhood, and was present -at old St. John’s when her second marriage, with Captain Scott of Her -British Majesty’s Life Guards, was celebrated. It was early in the -Buchanan administration, and the bride was given away by the President. -While St. John’s, I may add, was often referred to as a fashionable -centre, yet much of genuine piety throve there, too. - -Mme. de Bodisco, who, during her widowhood, had continued her belleship -and had received, it was said, many offers of marriage from -distinguished men, capitulated at last to the young guardsman just -named. Great therefore was the interest in the second nuptials of so -popular a beauty. Old St. John’s was crowded with the most distinguished -personages in the capital. The aisles of the old edifice are narrow, and -the march of the bride and the President to the altar was memorable, not -only because of the distinction, but also by reason of the imposing -proportions of both principals in it. In fact, the plumpness of the -stately bride and the President’s ample figure, made the walk, side by -side, an almost impossible feat. The difficulty was overcome, however, -by the tactfulness of the President, who led the lady slightly in -advance of himself until the chancel was reached. Here the slender young -groom, garbed in the scarlet and gold uniform of his rank, stepped -forward to claim her, and, though it was seen that he stood upon a -hassock in order to lessen the difference in height between himself and -his bride, it was everywhere admitted that Captain Scott was a handsome -and gallant groom, and worthy the prize he had won. - -This was Mme. de Bodisco’s last appearance in Washington. With her -husband she went to India, where, it was said, the climate soon made -havoc of her health and beauty; but her fame lingered long on the lips -of her hosts of admirers in Washington. Nor did the name of de Bodisco -disappear from the social list, for, though his sons were sent to -Russia, there to be educated, Waldemar de Bodisco, nephew of the late -Minister, long continued to be the most popular leader of the German in -Washington. - -Throughout the fifties, and indeed for several preceding decades, the -foreign representatives and their suites formed a very important element -in society in the capital. In some degree their members, the majority of -whom were travelled and accomplished, and many representative of the -highest culture in Europe, were our critics, if not our mentors. The -standard of education was higher in Europe fifty years ago than in our -own land, and to be a favourite at the foreign legations was equivalent -to a certificate of accomplishment and social charms. An acquaintance -with the languages necessarily was not the least of these. - -The celebrated Octavia Walton, afterward famous as Mme. Le Vert, won her -first social distinction in Washington, where, chaperoned by Mrs. C. C. -Clay, Sr., a recognition of her grace and beauty, her intellectuality -and charming manner was instantaneous. At a time when a knowledge of the -foreign tongues was seldom acquired by American women, Miss Walton, who -spoke French, Spanish and Italian with ease, speedily became the -favourite of the Legations, and thence began her fame which afterward -became international. - -During my early residence in Washington, Addie Cutts (who became first -the wife of Stephen A. Douglas and some years after his death married -General Williams) was the admired of all foreigners. Miss Cutts was the -niece of Mrs. Greenhow, a wealthy and brilliant woman of the capital, -and, when she became Mrs. Douglas, held a remarkable sway for years. As -a linguist Miss Cutts was reputed to be greatly gifted. If she spoke the -many languages of which she was said to be mistress but half so -eloquently as she uttered her own when, in 1865, she appealed to -President Johnson on behalf of “her loved friend” my husband, the -explanation of her remarkable nightly levees of the late fifties is -readily found. - -Though never, strictly speaking, a member of our “mess,” Mrs. Douglas -and I were always firm friends. While she was still Miss Cutts, and -feeling keenly the deprivations that fall to the lot of the beautiful -daughter of a poor department clerk,[1] she once complained to me -poutingly of the cost of gloves. - -“Nonsense,” I answered. “Were I Addie Cutts, with hands that might have -been chiselled by Phidias, I would never disguise them in gloves, -whatever the fashion!” - -Miss Cutts entered into the enjoyment of the wealth and position which -her marriage with Stephen A. Douglas gave her, with the regal manner of -a princess. Her toilettes were of the richest and at all times were -models of taste and picturesqueness. The effect she produced upon -strangers was invariably one of instant admiration. Writing to me in -1863, my cousin, Mrs. Paul Hammond (who, before her marriage, had spent -a winter with me at Washington), thus recalled her meeting with the -noted beauty: - -“Yesterday, with its green leaves and pearl-white flowers, called to my -memory how Mrs. Douglas looked when I first saw her. She was receiving -at her own house in a crêpe dress looped with pearls, and her hair was -ornamented with green leaves and lilies. She was a beautiful picture!” - -I had the pleasure, on one occasion, of bringing together Mrs. Douglas -and Miss Betty Beirne, the tallest and the shortest belles of their -time. They had long desired to meet, and each viewed the other with -astonishment and pleasure. Miss Beirne, who afterward became the wife of -Porcher Miles of South Carolina, was one of the tiniest of women, as -Mrs. Douglas was one of the queenliest, and both were toasted -continually in the capital. - -During the incumbency of Mr. Crampton, he being a bachelor, few -functions were given at the British Embassy which ladies attended. Not -that the Minister and his suite were eremites. On the contrary, Mr. -Crampton was exceedingly fond of “cutting a figure.” His traps were -especially conspicuous on the Washington avenues. Always his own -reinsman, the Minister’s fast tandem driving and the stiffly upright -“tiger” behind him, for several years were one of the sights of the -city. In social life the British Embassy was admirably represented by -Mr. Lumley, Chargé d’Affaires, an affable young man who entered frankly -into the life of the city and won the friendly feeling of all who met -him. He was one of the four young men who took each the novel part of -the elephant’s leg at a most amusing impromptu affair given by Mrs. -George Riggs in honour of the girl _prima donna_, Adelina Patti. It was, -I think, the evening of the latter’s début in “la Traviata.” Her -appearance was the occasion of one of the most brilliant audiences ever -seen in Washington. Everyone of note was present, and the glistening of -silk and the flash of jewels no doubt contributed their quota of -stimulus to the youthful star. - -Within a day of the performance, Senator Clay and I received a note from -Mrs. Riggs, inviting us informally, not to say secretly, to an -after-the-opera supper, to meet the new diva and her supporting artists. -We responded cordially and drove to the Riggs residence shortly after -the close of the performance. - -There, upon our arrival, we found representatives from all the foreign -legations, Patti’s entire troupe, and perhaps a dozen others, exclusive -of the family of our hostess. The _prima donna_ soon came in, a lovely -little maiden in evening dress, with a manner as winsome as was her -appearance. The entertainment now began by graceful compliment from all -present to the new opera queen, after which Mr. Riggs led her to the -dining-room where the sumptuous supper was spread. - -The table was almost as wide as that of the White House. Its dazzling -silver and gold and crystal vessels, and viands well worthy these -receptacles, made a brilliant centre around which the decorated -foreigners seemed appropriately to cluster. The little cantatrice’s -undisguised pleasure was good to see. She had worked hard during the -performance of the opera, and her appetite was keen. She did ample -justice, therefore, to Mrs. Riggs’s good cheer, and goblets were kept -brimming for quite two hours. - -This important part of the programme over, a young Englishman, by name -Mr. Palmer, who, as the Chevalier Bertinatti (the Sardinian Minister) -whispered to me, had been asked “to make some leetle fun for leetle Mees -Patti,” opened the evening’s merriment by an amusing exhibition of -legerdemain. Mr. Palmer, at that time a favourite music-teacher, who -spent his time between Washington and Baltimore, Philadelphia and New -York, having in each city numerous fashionable pupils, afterward became -known to the world as the great prestidigitator, Heller. - -On the evening of the Riggses’ supper the young magician was in his best -form. Handkerchiefs and trinkets disappeared mysteriously, only to come -to light again in the most unexpected places, until the company became -almost silent with wonder. Mr. Palmer’s last trick required a pack of -cards, which were promptly forthcoming. Selecting the queen of hearts, -he said, looking archly in the direction of the diminutive Patti: “This -is also a queen; but she is a naughty girl and we will not have her!” -saying which, with a whiff and a toss, he threw the card into the air, -where it vanished! - -Everyone was mystified; but Baron de Staeckl, the Russian Minister, -incontinently broke the spell Mr. Palmer was weaving around us by -picking up a card and pronouncing the same formula. Then, as all waited -to see what he was about to do, in a most serio-comic manner he deftly -and deliberately crammed it down Mr. Palmer’s collar! Amid peals of -laughter from all present, the young man gave place to other and more -general entertainment, in which the most dignified ambassadors indulged -with the hilarity of schoolboys. - -[Illustration: - - ADELINA PATTI - - Aged Sixteen -] - -From the foregoing incident it will be seen that Baron de Staeckl was -the buffo of the evening. He was a large man of inspiring, not to say -portly figure, and his lapels glittered with the insignia of honours -that had been conferred upon him. Like his predecessor, the late Baron -de Bodisco, he had allied himself with our country by marrying an -American girl, a native of New Haven, whose family name I have now -forgotten. She was a lovely and amiable hostess, whose unassuming manner -never lost a certain pleasing modesty, notwithstanding the compliments -she, too, invariably evoked. Her table was remarkable for its -napery—Russian linen for the larger part, with embroidered monograms of -unusual size and perfection of workmanship, which were said to be the -handiwork of Slav needlewomen. Although I had enjoyed their hospitality -and had met the de Staeckles frequently elsewhere, until this evening at -the Riggses’ home I had never suspected the genial Baron’s full capacity -for the enjoyment of pure nonsense. - -There were many amateur musicians among the guests, first among them -being the Sicilian Minister, Massoni. He was a finished vocalist, with a -full operatic repertory at his easy command. His son Lorenzo was as fine -a pianist, and accompanied his father with a sympathy that was most -rare. That evening the Massonis responded again and again to the eager -urgings of the other guests, but at last the Minister, doubtless -desiring to “cut it short,” broke into the “Anvil Chorus.” Instantly he -was joined by the entire company. - -At the opening strain, the jolly Baron de Staeckl disappeared for a -second, but ere we had finished, his glittering form was seen to -re-enter the door, with a stride like Vulcan’s and an air as mighty. In -one hand he held a pair of Mrs. Riggs’s glowing brass tongs, in the -other a poker, with which, in faultless rhythm, he was beating time to -his own deep-bellowing basso. He stalked to the centre of the room with -all the pomposity of a genuine king of _opera bouffe_, a sly twinkle in -his eye being the only hint to the beholders that he was conscious of -his own ludicrous appearance. - -Meantime, Mile. Patti had mounted a chair, where her liquid notes in alt -joined the deep ones of the baron. As he stopped in the centre of the -room, however, the little diva’s amusement reached a climax. She clapped -her hands and fairly shouted with glee. Her mirth was infectious and -quite upset the solemnity of the basso. Breaking into a sonorous roar of -laughter, he made as hasty an exit as his cumbrous form would allow. I -think a walrus would have succeeded as gracefully. - -We were about to withdraw from this gay scene when the Chevalier -Bertinatti, with the utmost enthusiasm, begged us to stay. “You must!” -he cried. “Ze elephant is coming! I assure you zere ees not hees equal -for ze fun!” A moment more and we fully agreed with him. Even as he -spoke, the doors opened and Mr. Palmer bounded in, a gorgeously got-up -ring-master. I saw my own crimson opera cloak about his shoulders and a -turban formed of many coloured _rebozos_ of other guests twisted -together in truly artistic manner. - -“Ladies and gentlemen!” he began grandiloquently, “I have the honour to -present to your astonished eyes the grand elephant, Hannibal, costing to -import twenty thousand dollars, and weighing six thousand pounds! An -elephant, ladies and gentlemen, whose average cost is three and one-half -dollars a pound! He is a marvellous animal, ladies and gentlemen, -warranted to be as intrepid as his namesake! He has been called a -vicious creature, but in the present company I intend to prove him as -docile as—the ladies themselves! Advance, Hannibal!” - -He threw himself prone upon the floor as the wide doors opened and -“Hannibal” lumbered in, deliberately wagging his trunk from side to -side, in a manner that was startlingly lifelike. - -Arrived at the prostrate ring-master, he put out one shapeless leg (at -the bottom of which a handsomely shod man’s foot appeared) and touched -the prostrate one lightly, as if fearful of hurting him; he advanced and -retreated several times, wagging his trunk the while; until, at last, at -the urgings of the recumbent hero, the animal stepped cleanly over him. -Now, with a motion of triumph, Mr. Palmer sprang up and, crossing his -arms proudly over his bosom, cried, “Ladies and gentlemen! I _live_!” -and awaited the applause which rang out merrily. Then, leaping lightly -upon his docile pet’s back, the latter galloped madly around the room -and made for the door amid screams and shouts of laughter. - -In the mad exit, however, the mystery of the elephant was revealed; for -his hide, the rubber cover of Mrs. Riggs’s grand piano, slipped from the -shoulders of the hilarious young men who supported it, and “Hannibal” -disappeared in a confusion of brilliant opera cloaks, black coats, -fleeing patent-leathers, and trailing piano cover! - -This climax was a fitting close to our evening’s funmaking. As our host -accompanied us to the door, he said slyly to my husband, “Not a word of -this, Clay! To-night must be as secret as a Democratic caucus, or we -shall all be tabooed.” - - - - - CHAPTER III - A HISTORIC CONGRESSIONAL “MESS” - - -Our “mess” at Brown’s Hotel shortly became so well-known, because of the -interest attaching to so many of its members, that the enterprising -proprietress of (what afterward became known as) the Ebbitt House, Mrs. -Smith, came in person, with tempting terms to lure us to her newer -establishment. - -Heretofore our quarters in the historic old hostelry had been altogether -satisfactory. It was the rendezvous of Southern Congressmen, and -therefore was “very agreeable and advantageous,” as my husband wrote of -it. For thirty-five years Brown’s Hotel had been the gathering-place for -distinguished people. So long ago as 1820, Thomas Hart Benton met there -the representatives of the rich fur-trader, John Jacob Astor, who had -been sent to the capital to induce Congressional indorsement in -perfecting a great scheme that should secure to us the trade of Asia as -well as the occupation of the Columbia River. Within its lobbies, many a -portentous conference had taken place. Indeed, the foundations of its -good reputation were laid while it was yet the Indian Queen’s Tavern, -renowned for its juleps and bitters. It was an unimposing structure even -for Pennsylvania Avenue, then but a ragged thoroughfare, and, as I have -said, notable for the great gaps between houses; but the cuisine of -Brown’s Hotel, as, until a few years ago, this famous house continued to -be known, was excellent. - -In my days there, the presence of good Mrs. Brown, the hostess, and her -sweet daughter Rose (who married Mr. Wallach, one of Washington’s rich -citizens, and afterward entertained in the mansion that became famous as -the residence of Mrs. Stephen A. Douglas) added much to the attractions -of the old house. Nevertheless, those of the new also tempted us. -Thither we went in a body, and there we spent one or two gay winters; -but, the Ebbitt becoming more and more heterogeneous, and therefore less -congenial to our strictly legislative circles, we retraced our ways, our -forces still intact, to good old Brown’s. - -In the interim, our continually enlarging numbers found the new quarters -convenient and in many respects even desirable. “Our ‘mess,’ so far from -being willing to separate,” I wrote to my husband’s father, late in ’57, -“has insisted upon becoming enlarged. We are located in a delightful -part of the city, on F Street, near the Treasury Buildings, the Court -end as well as the convenient end; for all the Departments as well as -the White House are in a stone’s throw. Old Guthrie’s is opposite, and -we have, within two blocks, some true-line Senators, among them Bell, -Slidell, Weller, Brodhead, Thomson, of New Jersey, who are married and -housekeeping, to say naught of Butler, Benjamin, Mason and Goode in a -‘mess’ near us. Our ‘mess’ is a very pleasant one. Orr, Shorter, -Dowdell, Sandidge and Taylor, of Louisiana, with the young Senator Pugh -and his bride, Governor Fitzpatrick and wife, and ourselves compose the -party. Taylor is a true Democrat, and Pugh is as strongly Anti-Free-soil -as we. We keep Free-soilers, Black Republicans and Bloomers on the other -side of the street. They are afraid even to inquire for board at this -house.” - -To the choice list then recorded were added shortly Congressmen L. Q. C. -and Mrs. Lamar, David Clopton, Jabez L. M. Curry and Mrs. Curry, and -General and Mrs. Chestnut. Our circle included representatives from -several States. Messrs. Fitzpatrick, Shorter, Dowdell, David Clopton and -Jabez L. M. Curry were fellow-Alabamians, and had been the long-time -friends of my husband and his father, ex-Governor Clay, and of my uncle, -Governor Collier; Congressmen Lamar and Sandidge were from Mississippi -and Louisiana, respectively; Congressmen Orr and Chestnut represented -South Carolina, and Senator Pugh was from Ohio. It was a distinguished -company. Scarcely a male member of it but had won or was destined to win -a conspicuous position in the Nation’s affairs; scarcely a woman in the -circle who was not acknowledged to be a wit or beauty. - -When Mrs. Pugh joined us, her precedence over the belles of the capital -was already established, for, as Thérèse Chalfant, her reign had begun a -year or two previous to her marriage to the brilliant young Senator from -Ohio; Miss Cutts, afterward Mrs. Douglas, and Mrs. Pendleton and the -beautiful _brune_, Mrs. Roger A. Pryor, being estimated as next in order -of beauty. Like Mrs. Chestnut, also a renowned belle, Mrs. Pugh was -something more than a woman of great personal loveliness. She was -intellectual, and remarked as such even in Washington, where wits -gathered. Both of these prized associates remained unspoiled by the -adulation which is the common tribute to such unusual feminine -comeliness. - -[Illustration: - - MRS. ROGER A. PRYOR - - of Virginia -] - -I was not present when the Austrian Minister, the Chevalier Hulseman, -paid his great compliment (now a classic in the capital) to Miss -Chalfant; but it was soon thereafter repeated to me. It was at a ball at -which pretty women thronged. As the Minister’s gaze rested upon Miss -Chalfant, his eyes expanded with admiration. Approaching, he knelt -suddenly before her, exclaiming, “Madame! I have from my Empress a piece -of precious lace” (and he fumbled, but, alas! vainly, in his pockets as -he spoke) “which her Majesty has commanded me to present to the most -beautiful woman in Washington. You—you are more, the most beautiful in -the world! I have not with me the lace, but I will send it if you will -permit me!” And he kept his word. We were glad to welcome to our “mess” -so lovely and famous a bride. Mrs. Pugh’s beauty was of so exquisite a -type, the bodily so permeated by the spiritual, that she shone -preëminent wherever she appeared, and this wholly independent of showy -attire. Though always presenting an appearance of elegance, Mrs. Pugh’s -gowns were invariably of the simplest. Our “mess” soon became aware that -our beautiful favourite was primarily a lovely woman, and no mere gay -butterfly. Her nature was grave rather than vivacious, the maternal in -her being exceedingly strong. - -I recall the reply she gave me on the afternoon of a certain Cabinet -day. It was the custom on this weekly recurring occasion for several of -the ladies of our “mess” to make their calls together, thus obviating -the need for more than one carriage. As my parlours were the only ones -that boasted a pier-glass, and, besides, had the advantage of being on -the drawing-room floor of the hotel, it became a custom for the women -composing our circle to come to my rooms before going out, in order to -see how their dresses hung. Those were the days of hoop-skirts, and the -set of the outer skirt must needs be adjusted before beginning a round -of calls. As we gathered there, it was no uncommon thing for one of us -to remark: “Here comes Pugh, simply dressed, but superb, as usual. She -would eclipse us all were she in calico!” On the occasion alluded to, I -commented to Mrs. Pugh upon the beauty and style of her bonnet. - -“My own make,” she answered sweetly. “I can’t afford French bonnets for -every-day use when I have ’tockies and shoes to buy for my little -fellows!” - -My friendship for Mrs. Pugh is a dear memory of that life of perpetual -gaiety ere the face of Washington society was marred by war and scarred -by the moral pestilences that followed in its train; nor can I resist -the desire to quote her own remembrance of our association as she wrote -it in a letter to Senator Clay late in ’64, when the glories of those -earlier days had passed away, and the faces of erstwhile friends from -the North were hidden by the smoke of cannon and a barrier of the slain. - -“Your dear wife,” she wrote, “was the first and best friend of my early -married life; and, when I was ushered into a strange and trying world, -she at once took me into her heart and counsel and made me a better -woman and wife than I would have been alone. No one in this world ever -treated me with the same love outside of my own family. When I cease to -remember either of you accordingly, it will be when I forget all -things!” - -Strangely enough, there comes before my mind a picture of Mrs. Pugh in -affliction that overshadows all the memories of the homage I have seen -paid to her. It was late in the spring of 1859; Congress had adjourned -and many of our “mess” had gone their several ways, to mountain or -seashore, bent on rest or recreation, when the little daughter of -Senator and Mrs. Pugh was suddenly taken ill. For weeks the distracted -mother hovered over the sick-bed of the child, until her haggard -appearance was pitiful to see. My husband and I could not bear to leave -her, and often I shared her vigils, watching hours beside the dying -little Alice. - -On an occasion like this (it was evening), my cousin Miss Hilliard, her -cheeks glowing and eyes shining with all the mysterious glow of -expectant youth, came into the sick-room for a few moments on her way to -some social gathering. She was dressed in a pale green, filmy gown, -which lent to her appearance a flower-like semblance that was very fresh -and lovely. As Miss Hilliard entered, Mrs. Pugh lifted her burning eyes -from the couch where the rapidly declining little one lay, and gazed at -her visitor like one in a dream. We were all silent for a moment. Then -the worn mother spoke. - -[Illustration: - - MRS. GEORGE E. PUGH (THÉRÈSE CHALFANT) - - of Ohio - - “The most beautiful woman in Washington” -] - -“So radiant! So beautiful!” she said in a voice of indescribable pathos, -“And to think you, too, may come to this!” - -I have spoken of Mrs. Pryor, the beautiful wife of the young diplomat, -who had won general public approbation for his success in conducting a -mission to Greece. Not of our especial mess, Mrs. Pryor frequently -mingled with us, being the friend of Mrs. Douglas and Mrs. Pugh. They -were, in truth, a very harmonious trio, Mrs. Pugh being a perfect -brunette, Mrs. Douglas a blonde, and Mrs. Pryor a lighter brunette with -soft-brown hair and eyes. She wore a distinctive coiffure, and carried -her head charmingly. Even at that time Mrs. Pryor was notable for the -intellectuality which has since uttered itself in several charming -books. - -Though not members of our resident circle, my memories of dear old -Brown’s would scarcely be complete without a mention of little Henry -Watterson, with whose parents our “mess” continually exchanged visits -for years. Henry, their only child, was then an invalid, debarred from -the usual recreations of other boys, by weak eyes that made the light -unbearable and reading all but impossible; yet at fifteen the boy was a -born politician and eager for every item of news from the Senate or -House. - -“What bills were introduced to-day? Who spoke? Please tell me what took -place to-day?” were among the questions (in substance) with which the -lad was wont to greet the ladies of our “mess,” when he knew them to be -returning from a few hours spent in the Senate gallery; and, though none -foresaw the later distinction which awaited the invalid boy, no one of -us was ever so hurried and impatient that she could not and did not take -time to answer his earnest inquiries. - -It is safe to say that no member of our pleasant circle was more -generally valued than that most lovable of men, Lucius Q. C. Lamar, -“Moody Lamar,” as he was sometimes called; for he was then, as he always -continued to be, full of dreams and ideals and big, warm impulses, with -a capacity for the most enduring and strongest of friendships, and a -tenderness rarely displayed by men so strong as was he.[2] Mr. Lamar was -full of quaint and caressing ways even with his fellow-men, which frank -utterance of his own feelings was irresistibly engaging. I have seen him -walk softly up behind Mr. Clay, when the latter was deep in thought, -touch him lightly on the shoulder, and, as my husband turned quickly to -see what was wanted, “Lushe” or “big Lushe,” as all called him, would -kiss him suddenly and lightly on the forehead. - -Yes! Mr. Lamar and his sparkling, bright-souled wife, Jennie Longstreet, -were beloved members of that memorable “mess” in ante-bellum Washington. - -Next to Congressman Lamar, I suppose it may safely be said no man was -more affectionately held than another of our mess-mates, Congressman -Dowdell, “old Dowdell,” “dear old Dowdell,” and sometimes “poor, dear -old Dowdell” being among the forms by which he was continually -designated. Mr. Dowdell had a large and loose frame, and walked about -with a countryman’s easy indifference to appearances. A born wag, he -sometimes took a quiet delight in accentuating this seeming -guilelessness. - -One evening he came strolling in to dinner, prepared for a comfortable -chat over the table, though all the rest of our little coterie were even -then dressing for attendance at a grand concert. It was an event of -great importance, for Gottschalk, the young Créole musician, of whom all -the country was talking, was to be heard in his own compositions. - -“What!” I exclaimed as I saw Mr. Dowdell’s every-day attire, “You don’t -mean to tell me you’re not going to the concert! I can’t allow it, -brother Dowdell! Go right out and get your ticket and attend that -concert with all the rest of the world, or I’ll tell your constituents -what sort of a country representative they’ve sent to the capital!” - -My laughing threat had its effect, and he hurried off in quest of the -ticket, which, after some difficulty, was procured. - -The concert was a memorable one. During the evening I saw Mr. Dowdell -across the hall, scanning the performers with an enigmatical expression. -At that time Gottschalk’s popularity was at its height. Every concert -programme contained, and every ambitious amateur included in her -repertory, the young composer’s “Last Hope.” At his appearance, -therefore, slender, agile and Gallic to a degree, enthusiasm ran so high -that we forgot to hunt up our friend in the short interval between each -brilliant number. - -When Mr. Dowdell appeared at the breakfast table the following morning, -I asked him how he had enjoyed the evening. The Congressman’s response -came less enthusiastically than I had hoped. - -“Well,” he began, drawing his words out slowly and a bit quizzically, “I -went out and got my ticket; did the right thing and got a seat as near -Harriet Lane’s box as I could; even invested in new white gloves, so I -felt all right; but I can’t say the music struck me exactly! Mr. -Gottschalk played mighty pretty; hopped up on the black keys and then -down on the white ones” (and the Congressman illustrated by spanning the -table rapidly in a most ludicrous manner). “He played slow and then -fast, and never seemed to get his hands tangled up once. But for all -that I can’t say I was struck by his music! He played mighty pretty, but -he didn’t play nary _tchune_!” - -Two interesting members of our “mess” were General and Mrs. Chestnut. -The General, a member from South Carolina, who became afterward one of -the staff of Jefferson Davis, was among the princes in wealth in the -South in the fifties. Approximately one thousand slaves owned by him -were manumitted by Mr. Lincoln’s proclamation in 1863, when, childless, -property-less, our well-loved Mrs. Chestnut suffered a terrible eclipse -after her brilliant youth and middle age. She was the only daughter of -Governor Miller, of South Carolina, and having been educated abroad, was -an accomplished linguist and ranked high among the cultured women of the -capital. - -Moreover, Mrs. Chestnut was continually the recipient of toilette -elegancies, for which the bazaars of Paris were ransacked, and in this -way the curiosity of the emulative stay-at-home fashionables was -constantly piqued. Her part in that brilliant world was not a small one, -for, in addition to her superior personal charms, Mrs. Chestnut -chaperoned the lovely Preston girls of South Carolina, belles, all, and -the fashionable Miss Stevens, of Stevens Castle, who married Muscoe -Garnett of Virginia. Indeed, the zest for social pleasures among our -circle was often increased by the coming of guests from other cities. -Among others whom I particularly recall was my cousin Miss Collier, -daughter of Governor Collier of Alabama, and who married the nephew of -William Rufus King, Vice-President of the United States under Mr. -Pierce; and our cousins Loula Comer, Hattie Withers, and Miss Hilliard. -The latter’s wedding with Mr. Hamilton Glentworth of New York was one of -the social events of the winter of 1859. - -Nor should I forget to mention the presence, at the Ebbitt House and at -Brown’s Hotel, of another much admired South Carolinian, Mrs. General -McQueen, who was a Miss Pickens, of the famous family of that name. My -remembrance of Mrs. McQueen is always associated with that of the sudden -death of Preston Brooks, our neighbour at Brown’s Hotel. At the time of -this fatality, Dr. May, the eminent surgeon, was in the building in -attendance upon Mrs. McQueen’s little boy, who was suffering from some -throat trouble. - -Mr. Brooks had been indisposed for several days, and, being absent from -his seat in the House, it was the custom for one or the other of his -confrères to drop into his room each afternoon, to give him news of the -proceedings. On that fatal day, Colonel Orr (“Larry,” as his friends -affectionately designated him) had called upon the invalid and was in -the midst of narrating the day’s doings, when Mr. Brooks clutched -suddenly at his throat and cried out huskily, “Air! Orr, air!” - -Mr. Orr hastily threw open the window and began to fan the sufferer, but -became bewildered at the alarming continuation of his struggles. Had the -Congressman but known it, even as he tried to relieve his friend, Dr. -May passed the door of Mr. Brooks’s room, on his way out of the house, -his surgical case in hand; but the suddenness of the attack, and a total -absence of suspicion as to its gravity, coupled with the swiftness with -which it acted, confused the watcher, and, ere assistance could be -obtained, the handsome young Southern member had passed away! - -Congressman Orr, as has been said, was one of our original “mess” in the -capital. From the first he was a conspicuous figure, nature having made -him so. He was of gigantic stature, weighing then somewhat over two -hundred pounds. His voice was of bugle-like clearness, and when, in -1857, he became speaker of the House of Representatives, it was a source -of remark how wonderfully his words penetrated to the farthermost corner -of the hall. He was extremely tender-hearted and devoted to his family, -around the members of which his affections were closely bound. - -Just previous to our arrival in the capital, Mr. Orr had lost a little -daughter, and often, ere he brought his family to the Federal City, in a -quiet hour he would come to our parlours and ask me to sing to him. He -dearly loved simple ballads, his favourite song being “Lilly Dale,” the -singing of which invariably stirred him greatly. Often I have turned -from the piano to find his eyes gushing with tears at the memories that -pathetic old-fashioned ditty had awakened. Mr. Orr was a famous -flatterer, too, who ranked my simple singing as greater than that of the -piquant Patti; and I question the success of any one who would have -debated with him the respective merits of that great _artiste_ and my -modest self. - -When Mr. Orr became Speaker of the House, Mrs. Orr and his children -having joined him, the family resided in the famous Stockton Mansion for -a season or two. Here brilliant receptions were held, and Mrs. Orr, a -_distinguée_ woman, made her entrée into Washington society, often being -assisted in receiving by the members of the mess of which, for so long, -Mr. Orr had formed a part. Mrs. Orr was tall and lithe in figure, of a -Spanish type of face. She soon became a great favourite in the capital, -where one daughter, now a widow, Mrs. Earle, still lives. - -It was at the Stockton Mansion that Daniel E. and Mrs. Sickles lived -when the tragedy of which they formed two of the principals took place. -Here, too, was run the American career of another much-talked-of lady, -which, for meteoric brilliancy and brevity, perhaps outshines any other -episode in the chronicles of social life in Washington. - -The lady’s husband was a statesman of prominence, celebrated for his -scholarly tastes and the fineness of his mental qualities. The arrival -of the lady, after a marked absence abroad, during which some curious -gossip had reached American ears, was attended by great _éclat_; and not -a little conjecture was current as to how she would be received. For her -home-coming, however, the Stockton Mansion was fitted up in hitherto -undreamed-of magnificence, works of art and of _vertu_, which were the -envy of local connoisseurs, being imported to grace it, regardless of -cost. So far, so good! - -The report of these domiciliary wonders left no doubt but that -entertaining on a large scale was being projected. The world was slow in -declaring its intentions in its own behalf; for, notwithstanding her -rumoured delinquencies, the lady’s husband was high in the councils of -the nation, and as such was a figure of dignity. Shortly after her -arrival our “mess” held a conclave, in which we discussed the propriety -of calling upon the new-comer, but a conclusion seeming impossible -(opinions being so widely divergent), it was decided to submit the -important question to our husbands. - -This was done duly, and Senator Clay’s counsel to me was coincided in -generally. - -“By all means, call,” said he. “You have nothing to do with the lady’s -private life, and, as a mark of esteem to a statesman of her husband’s -prominence, it will be better to call.” - -Upon a certain day, therefore, it was agreed that we should pay a “mess” -call, going in a body. We drove accordingly, in dignity and in state, -and, truth to tell, in soberness and ceremony, to the mansion -aforenamed. It was the lady’s reception day. We entered the drawing-room -with great circumspection, tempering our usually cordial manner with a -fine prudence; we paid our devoirs to the hostess and retired. But now a -curious retribution overtook us, social faint-hearts that we were; for, -though we heard much gossip of the regality and originality of one or -more dinners given to the several diplomatic corps (the lady especially -affected the French Legation), I never heard of a gathering of -Washingtonians at her home, nor of invitations extended to them, nor, -indeed, anything more of her until two months had flown. Then, -Arab-like, the lady rose in the night, “silently folded her tent and -stole away” (to meet a handsome German officer, it was said), leaving -our calls unanswered, save by the sending of her card, and her silver -and china and crystal, her paintings, and hangings, and furniture to be -auctioned off to the highest bidder! - -Everyone in Washington now thronged to see the beautiful things, and -many purchased specimens from among them, among others Mrs. Davis. By a -curious turn of fate, the majority of these treasures were acquired by -Mrs. Senator Yulee, who was so devoutly religious that her piety caused -her friends to speak of her as “the Madonna of the Wickliffe sisters!” -The superb furniture of the whilom hostess was carried to “Homosassa,” -the romantic home of the Yulees in Florida, where in later years it was -reduced to ashes. - -Of the Wickliffe sisters there were three, all notably good as well as -handsome women, with whom I enjoyed a life-time friendship. One became -the wife of Judge Merrick, and another, who dearly loved Senator Clay -and me, married Joseph Holt, who rose high in Federal honours after the -breaking out of the war, having sold his Southern birthright for a mess -of Northern pottage. - -For several years before her death, Mrs. Holt was an invalid and a -recluse, yet she was no inconspicuous figure in Washington, where the -beauty of the “three graces” (as the sisters of Governor Wickliffe were -always designated) was long a criterion by which other belles were -judged. Mrs. Mallory, the wife of Senator Yulee’s confrère from Florida, -was particularly a favourite in the capital. The Mallorys were the -owners of great orange groves in that lovely State, and were wont from -time to time to distribute among their friends boxes of choicest fruit. - -Of our “mess,” Congressman and Mrs. Curry were least frequently to be -met with in social gatherings. Mrs. Curry, who was a Miss Bowie, devoted -her time wholly to her children, apparently feeling no interest in the -gay world about her, being as gentle and retiring as her doughty -relative (the inventor of the Bowie knife) was warlike. Mr. Curry was an -uncommonly handsome man, who, in the fifties and early sixties, was an -ambitious and strenuous politician. He died early in 1903, full of years -and honours, while still acting as the General Agent of the Peabody -fund. - -Nor should I fail to recall the lovely Mrs. Clopton, wife of one of -Senator Clay’s most trusted friends, Congressman David Clopton. She -joined our “mess” late in the fifties, and at once added to its fame by -her charm and beauty. She was a sister of Governor Ligon of Alabama. One -of her daughters married the poet, Clifford Lanier, and another became -the wife of Judge William L. Chambers, who for several exciting years -represented our Government at Samoa. - -But my oldest and dearest mess-mate during nearly a decade in the -capital was, as I have said elsewhere, Mrs. Fitzpatrick, whose husband, -Senator Benjamin Fitzpatrick, was President of the Senate for four -consecutive sessions. Senator Fitzpatrick was very many years older than -his wife, having, indeed, held office in 1818, when Alabama was a -territory, and when few of his Alabamian associates in Congress had been -ushered upon the stage of life. Between Mrs. Fitzpatrick and me there -was an undeviating attachment which was a source of wonder, as it -doubtless was rare, among women in fashionable life. As confrères in the -Senate, our husbands, despite the disparity in their years, were fully -in accord; and a more congenial quartette it would have been hard to -find. - -I think of all the harmonious couples I have known, Senator and Mrs. -Fitzpatrick easily led, though near to them I must place General and -Mrs. McQueen. It was a standing topic in Brown’s Hotel, the devotion of -the two middle-aged gentlemen—Messrs. Fitzpatrick and McQueen—to their -young wives and to their boys, _enfants terribles_, both of them of a -most emphatic type. “The Heavenly Twins” as a title had not yet been -evolved, or these two young autocrats of the hostelry would surely have -won it from the sarcastic. - -Benny Fitzpatrick was at once the idol of his parents and the terror of -the hotel; and, as Mrs. Fitzpatrick and I were cordially united in other -interests of life, so we shared the maternal duties as became two -devoted sisters, “Our boy Benny” receiving the motherly oversight of -whichsoever of us happened to be near him when occasion arose for aid or -admonition. “Mrs. Fitz” delivered her rebukes with “Oh, Benny dear! How -could you!” but I, his foster-mother, was constrained to resort betimes -to a certain old-fashioned punishment usually administered with the -broadside of a slipper, or, what shortly became as efficacious, a threat -to do so. - -Benny, like George Washington, was the possessor of a little hatchet, -with which he worked a dreadful havoc. He chopped at the rosewood -furniture of his mother’s drawing-room, while his proud parents, amazed -at his precocity, not to say prowess, stood by awestruck, and—paid the -bill! The child was plump and healthy, and boys will be boys! Thus were -we all become his subjects; thus he overran Hannah, his coloured nurse, -until one day Pat came—, Pat Dolan. - -Pat had been a page at the Senate, and in some forgotten way he and -little Benny had become inseparable friends. Thereafter, Benny was taken -by his fond guardian, into whose hands his three anxious parents -consented to consign him, to see the varying sights and the various -quarters of the city. As his experiences multiplied, so his reputation -for precocity increased in exact ratio. - -One day Hannah’s excitement ran high. “Lor! Miss ’Relia,” she burst out -impetuously to Mrs. Fitzpatrick, “Pat Dolan done carried Benny to the -Cath’lic church an’ got him sprinkled, ’n den he brung him to communion, -an’ first thing Pat knowed, Benny he drunk up all the holy water an’ eat -up the whole wafer!” - - - - - CHAPTER IV - THE CABINET CIRCLES OF THE PIERCE AND BUCHANAN ADMINISTRATIONS - - -Writing to my father-in-law, ex-Governor Clay, on Christmas night, 1856, -of the deep inward excitement of the times, I said: “We feel a little as -Fanny Fern says Eugénie felt when she espoused Louis Napoleon, as if we -are ‘dancing over a powder magazine!’ Everything is excitement and -confusion. I tell you Fusion reigns in truth, and Southern blood is at -boiling temperature all over the city, and with good cause, too. Old -Giddings, Thurlow Weed, Sumner, Seward, Chase (who is here for a few -days prior to his inauguration[3]) are daily taunting and insulting all -whom they dare. There is no more prospect of a Speaker now than there -was at first; indeed, less, and our men have despaired of Christmas -holidays at home. Desertion of their post would mean death to their -party and themselves, and they know and appreciate it, and, so far, -stand firm as a Roman phalanx. Should there prove one deserter, the -‘game is up,’ for there is a Black Republican at every corner of our -political fence, and if ever the gap is down we are gone. I wish you -could be here to witness the scenes daily enacted in the halls of -Congress, to hear the hot taunts of defiance hurled into the very teeth -of the Northerners by our goaded but spirited patriots. I expect any day -to hear of bloodshed and death, and would not be surprised at any time -to witness (repeated here) the Civil War of Kansas! We still hope for -Orr, though _he_ is not sanguine. The President still holds his message, -fearing to give it to the press, and it is thought it will go to -Congress in manuscript. He, poor fellow, is worn and weary, and his wife -in extremely delicate health.” - -President Pierce was, in fact, a very harassed man, as none knew better -than did Senator Clay. My husband’s friendship was unwearying toward all -to whom his reserved nature yielded it, and his devotion to Mr. Pierce -was unswerving. Though twelve years the President’s junior, from the -first my husband was known as one of the President’s counsellors, and -none of those who surrounded the Nation’s executive head more sacredly -preserved his confidence. Senator Clay believed unequivocally that our -President was “not in the roll of common men.” - -Bold and dauntless where a principle was involved, Mr. Pierce’s message -of ’5 fell like a bombshell on the Black Republican party. Its bold -pro-slaveryism startled even his friends; for, never had a predecessor, -while in the Executive Chair, talked so strongly or so harshly to -sectionalists and fanatics. To this stand, so bravely taken, his defeat -at the next Presidential election was doubtless at least partially -attributable. Meantime, the South owed him much, and none of its -representatives was more staunchly devoted to President Pierce than was -the Senator from northern Alabama. How fully Mr. Pierce relied upon -Senator Clay’s discretion may be illustrated by an incident which lives -still very vividly in my memory. - -My husband and I were seated one evening before a blazing fire in our -parlour at the Ebbitt House, in the first enjoyment of an evening at -home (a rare luxury to public folk in the capital), when we heard a low -and unusual knock at the door. My trim maid, Emily, hastened to open it, -when there entered hastily a tall figure, wrapped in a long storm-cloak -on which the snow-flakes still lay thickly. The new-comer was muffled to -the eyes. He glanced quickly about the rooms, making a motion to us, as -he did so, to remain silent. My husband rose inquiringly, failing, as -did I, to recognise our mysterious visitor. In a second more, however, -perceiving that we were alone, he threw off his outer coat and soft hat, -when, to our astonishment, our unceremonious and unexpected guest stood -revealed as the President! - -“Lock that door, Clay!” he said, almost pathetically, “and don’t let a -soul know I’m here!” Then, turning, he handed me a small package which -he had carried under his coat. - -“For you, Mrs. Clay,” he said. “It is my picture. I hope you will care -to take it with you to Alabama, and sometimes remember me!” - -I thanked him delightedly as I untied the package and saw within a -handsome photograph superbly framed. Then, as he wearily sat down before -our crackling fire, I hastened to assist Emily in her preparation of a -friendly egg-nog. - -“Ah, my dear friends!” said Mr. Pierce, leaning forward in his arm-chair -and warming his hands as he spoke; “I am so tired of the shackles of -Presidential life that I can scarcely endure it! I long for quiet—for—” -and he looked around our restful parlours—“for this! Oh! for relaxation -and privacy once more, and a chance for home!” - -His voice and every action betrayed the weary man. We were deeply moved, -and my husband uttered such sympathetic words as only a wise man may. -The egg-nog prepared, I soon had the pleasure of seeing the President -and Mr. Clay in all the comfort of a friendly chat. Primarily, the -object of his visit was to discuss an affair of national moment which -was to be brought before the Senate the next day; but the outlook of the -times which also fell naturally under discussion formed no small part in -the topics thus intimately scanned. Both were men to whom the horrid -sounds of coming combat were audible, and both were patriots seeking how -they might do their part to avert it. It was midnight ere Mr. Pierce -rose to go. Then, fortified by another of Emily’s incomparable egg-nogs, -he was again, incognito, on his way to the White House. - -[Illustration: - - FRANKLIN PIERCE - - President of the United States, 1853–57 -] - -My remembrances of that secret visit have ever remained most keen. -Often, when I think of the lonely grave on the quiet hillside at -Concord, I recall the night when weariness of body and State formalities -impelled the President to our cozy fireside, though he beat his way to -it through snow and winds, stealing from the trammels of his position -for the mere pleasure of walking the streets unimpeded and free as any -other citizen. - -President Pierce entered the White House in 1853, full as a youth of -leaping life. A year before his inauguration I had seen him bound up the -stairs with the elasticity and lightness of a schoolboy. He went out -after four years a staid and grave man, on whom the stamp of care and -illness was ineradicably impressed. - -I often contrasted the pale, worn, haggard man whose “wine of life was -drawn, and the mere lees left i’ the vault,” ere his term (so coveted by -many) was spent, with the buoyant person I first met on the breezy New -Hampshire hills! - -Especially a lovable man in his private character, President Pierce was -a man of whom our nation might well be proud to have at its head. Graced -with an unusually fine presence, he was most courtly and polished in -manner. Fair rather than dark, of graceful carriage,[4] he was also an -eloquent speaker, and, though reserved to a degree, was very winning in -manner. He was still in middle life when elected to the Presidency, -being less than forty-nine years of age when inaugurated. - -Taken all in all, the Cabinet circle formed by Mr. Pierce was one of the -most interesting bodies that has ever surrounded an American Chief -Magistrate. Selected wisely, the ministerial body remained unchanged -throughout the entire Administration, and this at a time of unceasing -and general contention. But three such instances are recorded in the -histories of the twenty-six Presidents of the United States, the others -occurring in the terms of J. Q. Adams and James A. Garfield. The tie -which bound President Pierce and his Cabinet so inalienably was one of -mutual confidence and personal friendship. Perhaps the closest ally of -the President’s was his Secretary of State, William L. Marcy. That great -Secretary was a man whose unusual poise and uniform complacency were -often as much a source of envy to his friends as of confusion to his -enemies. I commented upon it to my husband on one occasion, wondering -interrogatively at his composure, whereupon Senator Clay told me the -following story: - -Some one as curious as I once asked the Secretary how he preserved his -unvarying calmness. “Well,” he answered, confidentially, “I’ll tell you, -I have given my secretary orders that whenever he sees an article -eulogistic of me, praising my ‘astuteness,’ my ‘far-seeing diplomacy,’ -my ‘incomparable statesmanship,’ etc., he is to cut it out and place it -conspicuously on my desk where I can see it first thing in the morning; -everything to the contrary he is to cut out and up and consign to the -waste-basket. By this means, hearing nothing but good of myself, I have -come naturally to regard myself as a pretty good fellow! Who wouldn’t be -serene under such circumstances?” - -[Illustration: - - MRS. WILLIAM L. MARCY - - of New York -] - -To add to his contentment thus philosophically assured, the Secretary’s -home surroundings were peculiarly satisfactory to him. Mrs. Marcy was a -demure and retiring woman, taking little part in the gayer happenings of -the city, but on Cabinet days her welcome was always diplomatically -cordial and her full parlours gave evidence of her personal popularity. -A charming member of her family, Nellie, daughter of General R. B. -Marcy, became the wife of General McClellan, whose son, named for that -military hero, at this writing is Mayor of America’s metropolis. Between -President and Mrs. Pierce and Secretary and Mrs. Marcy a firm friendship -existed. It was to the home of the Secretary that President and Mrs. -Pierce retired while the White House was being rehabilitated for the -occupancy of Mr. Buchanan, who had just returned from his residence -abroad, where, as Mr. Pierce’s appointee, he served as Minister to the -Court of St. James. - -On the day of Mr. Buchanan’s inauguration a curious oversight occurred -which demonstrated in marked manner how eagerly a populace hastens to -shout “The king is dead! Long live the King!” The procession of -carriages had already formed and the moment for beginning the march to -the Capitol had almost arrived ere it was observed that the vehicle set -apart for President Pierce was unoccupied. Inquiry was hastily -instituted, when it was discovered that, owing to some omission on the -part of the Master of Ceremonies, his Excellency had not been sent for! -The horses’ heads were turned in a trice, and they were driven furiously -to the Marcy residence, where the quiet gentleman who was still the -President of the United States awaited them. - -Late in the afternoon my husband called upon Mr. Pierce, and, during the -conversation that followed, Mr. Clay referred indignantly to the -unfortunate affair. - -“Ah, Clay!” said Mr. Pierce, smiling quietly. “Have you lived so long -without knowing that all the homage is given to the rising sun, never to -the setting, however resplendent its noonday?” - -Of Secretaries Campbell and McClelland, the gay, and especially the -Southern world, saw but little; nor did Caleb Cushing, the -Attorney-General, for whom every Southerner must ever feel a thrill of -admiration for his spirited speech on their behalf in Faneuil Hall, -mingle much with the lighter element. He was a silent man, a bachelor, -who entertained not at all, though paying dutifully such formal calls as -seemed obligatory; and Senator Clay, whose delicate health and naturally -studious mind made continual attendance upon society an onerous and -often shirked duty, had much in common with and greatly esteemed Mr. -Cushing, at that time regarded as one of the most earnest statesmen in -the capital. - -In later life, one who had been a conspicuous Senator from Mississippi -in ante-bellum days, appraised him differently, for in 1872 he wrote to -my husband in this wise: “I had no confidence in Cushing beyond that of -a follower to a quicker intellect and a braver heart. He could -appreciate the gallantry and fidelity of Pierce, so he followed him. -Like the chameleon, he was green, or blue, or brown, according to what -he rested upon.” - -An affable young man, Mr. Spofford, member of Mr. Cushing’s household, -and serving as that gentleman’s secretary, was no inconsiderable figure -in Washington. He became a great favourite in all the notable -drawing-rooms, especially with young ladies, and the names of a -half-dozen belles were given who had fallen in love with him; but he -remained invulnerable to the flashing eyes and bright spirits about him, -and married a clever authoress, whose writings, as Harriet Prescott -Spofford, have become familiar to a large class of American readers. - -My personal favourite of all the Cabinet Ministers was the Secretary of -the Navy, J. C. Dobbin. He was a North Carolinian, and the children of -my native State were always dear to me. Being a widower, Mr. Dobbin’s -home was also closed from formal entertainment, but the Secretary was -seen now and then in society, where he was much sought after (though not -always found) by the leading hostesses, whenever he consented to mingle -with it. In his parlours, which now and then he opened to his most -favoured friends, he kept on exhibition for years, sealed under a glass -case, the suit in which Dr. Kane, the Arctic explorer, had lived during -his sojourn among the icy seas. - -Secretary Dobbin was a small man; in truth, a duodecimo edition of his -sex, and exquisitely presented—a fact which was as freely yielded by his -confrères as by his gentler admirers. A man of conspicuous -intellectuality and firmness in the administration of his department, -his heart was also very tender. Of this he once gave me an especially -treasured demonstration. - -My friend, Emily Spicer, wife of Lieutenant William F. Spicer, afterward -Commander of the Boston Navy Yard, at a very critical time, was suddenly -obliged, by the exigencies of the Naval Service, to see her husband -prepare for what promised to be a long, and, it might prove, a final -separation. Tenderly attached to each other, the young husband at last -literally tore himself from his wife, leaving her in an unconscious -state, from which she did not recover for many hours. Grave fears were -entertained as to the disastrous effect the parting would have upon the -young matron. - -Having witnessed the sad scene, I went at once to Secretary Dobbin and -told him of it. His eyes lighted up most sympathetically, even while he -explained to me the necessity for adhering strictly to the rules of the -Service, but, even as he marshalled the obstacles to my plea, by -intuition I knew his heart was stirred, and when I parted from him, he -said, “Comfort her, dear Mrs. Clay, with this assurance: If Spicer is on -the high seas he shall be ordered home; if he has arrived in Italy” (for -which coast the Lieutenant’s ship was booked) “he shall remain there and -his wife may join him.” I went away grateful for his sympathy for my -stricken friend, and hastened to soothe her. - -The Secretary kept his word. In a few passing weeks the young couple -were reunited on the coast of Italy. “God bless you, my dear Madame,” -wrote Lieutenant Spicer, thereupon. “I am forever thankfully yours!” And -they kept a promise I had exacted, and named the baby, which proved to -be a boy, after my dear husband! Long after his distinguished namesake -had vanished from the world’s stage, a bearded man of thirty came across -the ocean and a continent to greet me, his “second mother,” as he had -been taught to think of me by my grateful friend, his mother, Mrs. -Spicer. - -Once more I called upon Secretary Dobbin, on behalf of a young naval -officer, but this time with a less pathetic request. Our young friend -Lieutenant ——, having returned from a long cruise (which, while it -lasted, had seemed to be all but unbearable because of its many social -deprivations), upon his arrival was so swiftly enthralled by the -attractions of a certain young lady (who shall be as nameless as is he) -that in his augmenting fervour he proposed to her at once. - -The lady accepted. She was very young, very beautiful, very romantic, -and, alas! very poor! He was scarcely older, fully as romantic, and -also, alas! was, if anything, poorer than she—a fact of which his -swashing and naval display of gold-plated buttons and braid gave no -hint. - -The romance lasted about two weeks, with waning enthusiasm on the -youth’s side, when, in great distress, he came to see me. He made a -clean breast of the dilemma into which he had plunged. - -“I beg you will rescue me, Mrs. Clay,” he said. “Get me transferred, or -sent out anywhere! I’ve made a fool of myself. I can’t marry her,” he -declared. “I haven’t income enough to buy my own clothes, and, as for -providing for a girl of her tastes, I don’t know whether I shall ever be -able to do so.” - -“But,” I remonstrated, “how can I help you? You’ve only just returned, -and in the ordinary course of events you would remain on shore at least -six weeks. That isn’t long. Try to bear it a while!” - -“Long enough for a marriage in naval life,” he declared, ruefully. “And -I can’t break it off without your assistance. Help me, Mrs. Clay! If you -don’t—” He looked sheepish, but dogged. “I’ll do what the Irishman did -in Charleston!” - -“What was that?” I asked. - -“Well! he was in exactly the same pickle I am in, so he hired a man and -a wheel-barrow, and lying down, face up in it, had himself rolled past -the lady’s house at a time when he knew she was at home. Then, as the -barrow arrived at this point, he had his man stop for a few moments to -wipe the sweat of honest toil from his forehead, and, incidentally, to -give the lookers-on an opportunity for complete identification.... Only -difficulty with that is, how would it affect me in the service?” And the -Lieutenant became dubious and I thoughtful. - -“If I knew on what grounds to approach Secretary Dobbin,” I began. - -“There aren’t any,” the Lieutenant answered eagerly. “But there are two -ships just fitting out, and lots of men on them would be glad to get off -from a three-years’ cruise. I would ship for six years, nine—anything -that would get me out of this fix!” - -On this desperate statement I applied to the Secretary. Within ten days -my gallant “friend” was on the sea, and one of Washington’s beautiful -maidens in tears. Glancing over my letters, I see that at the end of ten -years the young Naval officer was still unwed, though not altogether -scarless as to intervening love affairs; but the lady was now the happy -wife of a member of one of the oldest and wealthiest families in the -United States! - -Secretary Dobbin was my escort on my first (a most memorable) visit to -Fort Monroe. The occasion was a brilliant one, for the President and his -Cabinet had come in a body to review the troops. Jefferson Davis, then -Secretary of War, and but recently the hero of the battle of Buena -Vista, directed the manœuvres, his spirited figure, superb horsemanship, -and warlike bearing attracting general attention. An entire day was -given up to this holiday-making, and the scene was one of splendid -excitement. At night the Fort and the waters beyond were lit up by a -pyrotechnic display of great gorgeousness, and enthusiasm rose to its -highest when, amid the booming of cannon and the plaudits of happy -people, an especially ingenious device blazed across the night sky the -names of Franklin Pierce and Jefferson Davis! - -Always a man of distinguished appearance, Secretary Davis at that time -was exceedingly slender, but his step was springy, and he carried -himself with such an air of conscious strength and ease and purpose as -often to cause a stranger to turn and look at him. His voice was very -rich and sonorous, his enunciation most pleasing. In public speech he -was eloquent and magnetic, but, curiously enough, he was a poor reader, -often “mouthing” his phrases in a way that would have aroused Hamlet’s -scorn. Though spoken of as cold and haughty, in private his friends -found him refreshingly informal and frank. From their first meeting, -Secretary Davis was the intimate friend of my husband, whose loyalty to -Mr. Davis in the momentous closing days of the Confederacy reacted so -unfortunately upon his own liberty and welfare. - -Neither the Secretary of War nor his wife appeared frequently in society -in the earlier days of his appointment, the attention of Mr. Davis being -concentrated upon the duties of his office, and a young family engaging -that of his wife. I have heard it said that so wonderful was Mr. Davis’s -oversight of the Department of War while under his charge, that it would -have been impossible for the Government to have been cheated out of the -value of a brass button! So proud was his adopted State of him, that at -the close of Mr. Pierce’s administration, Mississippi promptly returned -Mr. Davis to Washington as Senator. Almost immediately thereafter he -became the victim of a serious illness, which lasted many weeks, and a -complication of troubles set in which culminated in the loss of sight in -one eye. During that period my husband gave up many nights to the -nursing of the invalid, who was tortured by neuralgic pains and nervous -tension. Senator Clay’s solicitude for Mr. Davis was ever of the -deepest, as his efforts to sustain and defend him to the last were of -the most unselfish. - -Aaron V. Brown, who became Postmaster-General in 1857, was at once one -of the kindest-hearted and simplest of men, loving his home and being -especially indifferent to all things that savoured of the merely -fashionable and superficial. He occupied a house which by long -association with distinguished people had become prominently known. Not -infrequently the Brown residence was alluded to as the “Cabinet -Mansion.” Here, among other celebrities, had lived Attorney-General -Wirt, and in it Mrs. Wirt had compiled the first “Flora’s Dictionary.” -The hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Brown, being boundless, served to -accentuate its reputation, for, unlike her husband, Mrs. Brown was -socially most industrious, and, being exceedingly well-to-do, was full -of enterprise in the invention of novel surprises for her guests. Mrs. -Brown, who was the sister of the afterward distinguished Major-General -Pillow, of the Confederate Army, was the first hostess in Washington, I -think, to introduce orchestral music at dinner, and her daughter, -Narcissa Sanders, with as pronounced a spirit of innovation,[5] sent out -enormous cards of invitation in her own name, inviting the distinguished -folk of the capital to the house of the Postmaster-General to -meet—herself! - -I remember a dinner at this luxurious home of Mr. Brown, at which my -host, who took me in, amused me immensely at the expense of the -elaborate feast before us, and at some of his wife’s kindly, if costly, -foibles. Behind a barrier of plants a band played softly; around us were -the obsequious waiters from Gautier’s. - -“All from Gautier’s!” sighed the Postmaster-General, in mock despair. -“My wife’s napery is the best to be had, but she will have Gautier’s! -Our silver is—certainly not the plainest in the city, but Mrs. Brown -must have Gautier’s! We have an incomparable _chef_, but nothing will -please my wife but these”; and he scanned the mysterious _menu_ with its -tier after tier of unknown French names. Then he turned suddenly and -asked me, pointing to a line, “My child, what’s this? Don’t know, eh? -Well, neither do I, but let’s try it, anyway. I don’t suppose it will -kill us,” and so on, the good old gentleman keeping me in a continual -bubble of smothered laughter to the end of the dinner. - -A member of Mr. Pierce’s Cabinet, whose house was as conspicuous for its -large and lavish entertaining as was Mr. Brown’s, was the Secretary of -the Treasury, Guthrie, the wealthy Kentuckian. Mr. Guthrie was no -society lover (it was a time when statesmen had need to be absorbed in -weightier things), but he entertained, I always thought, as a part of -his public duty. His was a big, square-shouldered and angular figure, -and his appearance, it was obvious, at receptions was perfunctory rather -than a pleasure. A widower, his home was presided over by his two -daughters, Mrs. Polk and Mrs. Coke, both also widowed. I often thought -Secretary Guthrie’s capacious ballroom suggestive, in its proportions, -of a public hall. - -Here, one evening, I had my never-to-be-forgotten _rencontre_ with -Chevalier Bertinatti, the Sardinian Minister. Dear old Bertinatti! In -all the diplomatic circle of the Pierce and Buchanan administrations -there was not to be found a personage at once more dignified and genial. -Serious, yet enthusiastic, his naturally kind heart adding warmth to the -gallantry for which foreigners are famous, the Chevalier was a typical -ambassador of the Latin people. He was a learned man, especially in -matters American, and knew our Constitution better than did many of our -native representatives in Washington. He encountered bravely, though not -always successfully, the difficulties of the English language, and his -defeats in this field (such is the irony of fate) have served to keep -him longer in the minds of many than have his successes. - -Upon the occasion to which I have referred, a soirée was held at -Secretary Guthrie’s house, at which half the world was present. I wore -that evening a gown of foreign silk, the colour of the pomegranate -blossom, and with it a Sardinian head-dress and ornaments which had been -sent me by a Consular friend. Seeing me at some distance, the Chevalier -failed to recognise me and asked one of the hostesses, with whom he was -conversing, “Who is zat lady wis my kontree-woman’s ornaments?” - -Upon learning my identity he came forward quickly and, gazing admiringly -at me, he threw himself on his knee before me (kissing my hand as he did -so, with ardent gallantry) as he exclaimed: “Madame, you are charming -wis zat head-dress like my kontree-women! Madame! I assure you, you have -conquest me behind and now you conquest me before!” and he bowed -profoundly. - -This remarkable compliment was long remembered and recounted wherever -the name of the kind-hearted diplomat was mentioned. A great many ties -bound Monsieur Bertinatti to Washington society, not the least of which -was his marriage to Mrs. Bass of Mississippi, an admired member of the -Southern and predominating element in the capital. Her daughter, who -returned to die in her native land (she was buried from the Cathedral in -Memphis, Tennessee), became the Marquise Incisa di Camerana. - -When, after decades of political strife, the crucial time of separation -came between the North and the South, and we of the South were preparing -to leave the Federal City, I could not conceal my sorrow; and tears, -ever a blessed boon to women, frequently blinded me as I bade first one -and then another of our associates what was to be a long good-bye. At -such an expression of my grief the Chevalier Bertinatti was much -troubled. - -“Don’t weep,” he said. “Don’t weep, my dear Mrs. Clay. You have had -sixty years of uninterrupted peace! This is but a revolution, and all -countries must suffer from them at times! Look at my poor country! I was -born in revolution, and reared in revolution, and I expect to die in -revolution!” And with this offering of philosophic consolation we -parted. - - - - - CHAPTER V - SOLONS OF THE CAPITAL - - -The classes of Washington society in the fifties were peculiarly -distinct. They were not unlike its topography, which is made up of many -small circles and triangles, into each of which run tributary streets -and avenues. In the social life, each division in the Congressional body -was as a magnetic circle, attracting to itself by way of defined radii -those whose tastes or political interests were in sympathy with it. Not -less prominent than the Cabinet circle (outranking it, in fact), and -fully as interesting by reason of its undisguised preference for things -solid, scientific and intellectual, was the Judiciary or Supreme Court -set. The several Justices that composed this august body, together with -their wives and daughters, formed a charmed circle into which the merely -light-minded would scarcely have ventured. Here one met the wittiest and -the weightiest minds of the capital, and here, perhaps more than in any -other coterie, the new-comer was impressed with what Messrs. Nicolay and -Hay describe as “the singular charm of Washington life.” In the Supreme -Court circle, the conditions attending Congressional life in those -strenuous times forced themselves less boldly upon one. Here one -discussed philosophies, inventions, history, perhaps, and the arts; -seldom the fashions, and as seldom the _on dits_. - -The Nestor of that circle in the fifties was quaint old Roger B. Taney -(pronounced Tawney), who, after various political disappointments, -including a refusal by the Senate to confirm his appointment as a member -of the Cabinet, had received his appointment to the Supreme Court bench -in 1836. Upon the death of Chief Justice Marshall, Judge Taney became -the head of the Supreme Court body; thus, for more than thirty years, he -had been a prominent personage in the country’s legal circles and a -conspicuous resident in Washington. He was an extremely plain-looking -man, with frail body, which once rose tall and erect, but now was so -bent that one always thought of him as small, and with a head which made -me think of a withered nut. Swarthy of skin, but grey-haired, Judge -Taney was a veritable skeleton, “all mind and no body”; yet his opinion -settled questions that agitated the nation, and his contemporaries -agreed he was the ablest man who had ever sat upon the Supreme Court -bench. Judge Taney’s daughters, gifted and brilliant women, were seldom -seen in society, but from choice or necessity chose bread-winning -careers. They were great draughtswomen and made coloured maps, for -which, in those days of expanding territory, there was a great and -constant need. - -Of Chief Justice Taney’s associates, Judges Catron and John A. Campbell -became best known to Senator Clay and myself. These, and other statesmen -equally distinguished and later to be mentioned, having been the friends -of ex-Governor (then Senator) C. C. Clay, Sr., my husband had been known -to them from the days when, as a schoolboy, he had visited his parents -in the Federal City. Mrs. Judge Catron, whom I met soon after my arrival -in Washington, was a woman of great elegance of manner and dress, and -always brought to my mind the thought of a dowager Duchess. An associate -of my husband’s mother, and a native of gay Nashville, Mrs. Catron had -been a social queen in Washington in the late thirties, and her position -of interest was still preserved in 1855. - -Judge and Mrs. Campbell, being rich beyond many others, their home was -widely known for sumptuous entertaining as well as for its intellectual -atmosphere. Sharing to an extent the public favour, Judge Campbell, -Reverdy Johnson, and Robt. J. Walker were the three legal giants of -their day. Judge Campbell’s clients were among the wealthiest in the -country, and his fees were said to be enormous. Had not the war ensued, -undoubtedly he would have been appointed to the Chief Justiceship, as -was commonly predicted for him. He was a man of great penetration and -erudition, and was held in high esteem by everyone in the capital. In -1861 he cast his lot with the people of the South, among whom he was -born, and went out of the Federal City to meet whatsoever fate the -future held. Judge Campbell became the earnest adviser of Mr. Davis, and -was a Commissioner of the Confederate Government, together with -Alexander H. Stephens and R. M. T. Hunter, when the three conferred with -Mr. Seward, acting as delegate from the Northern President, Lincoln. Nor -did the ensuing years diminish the great regard of great men for our -beloved Southern scholar.[6] Writing to Judge Campbell from Washington -on December 10, 1884, Thomas F. Bayard thus reveals the exalted regard -which the former sustained to the close of a long life: - -“Mr. Lamar, now Associate Judge of the Supreme Court, concurs with me,” -he wrote, “in considering it highly important that your counsel and -opinions should be freely given to Mr. Cleveland at this important -juncture, and respectfully and earnestly I trust you will concur in our -judgment in the matter. Mr. Cleveland will resign from his present -office early in January, but can easily and conveniently receive you for -the purpose suggested in the interview.”[7] - -In those days of Washington’s splendour, Mrs. Campbell and her daughter -Henrietta were no less distinguished for their culture, intellectuality, -and exclusiveness. Mrs. Campbell was the first Southern woman to adopt -the English custom of designating her coloured servant as “my man.” At -the home of the Campbells one met not only the legal lights of -Washington, but scientists and travellers, as if law and the sciences -were drawn near to each other by natural selection. Professor Henry, of -the Smithsonian Institution, was a frequent visitor at this home, as was -also Professor Maury, the grand road-master of the ocean, who, by the -distribution of his buoys, made a track in the billows of the Atlantic -for the safe passing of ships. - -I remember an amusing visit paid by a party from our mess to the -observatory of Professor Maury. It was an occasion of special interest. -Jupiter was displaying his brilliancy in a marvellous way. For no -particular reason, in so far as I could see, the Professor’s great -telescope seemed to require adjusting for the benefit of each of the -bevy present. I noticed Professor Maury’s eye twinkling as he went on -with this necessary (?) preliminary, asking, betimes: “What do you see? -Nothing clearly? Well, permit me!” And after several experiments he -would secure, at last, the right focus. When all of his guests had been -treated to a satisfactory view of the wonders of the sky, Professor -Maury delivered himself somewhat as follows: - -“Now, ladies, whilst you have been studying the heavenly bodies, I have -been studying you!” and the quizzical expression deepened in his eye. - -“Go on,” we assented. - -“Well,” said the Professor, “I have a bill before Congress,” (mentioning -its nature) “and if you ladies don’t influence your husbands to vote for -it, I intend _to publish the ages of each and every one of you to the -whole of Washington_!” - -Remembering the mutability of political life, it was and remains a -source of astonishment to me that in the Government circles of the -fifties were comprised so many distinguished men who had retained their -positions in the political foreground for so many years; years, -moreover, in which an expanding territory was causing the envy for -office to spread, infecting the ignorant as well as the wise, and -causing contestants to multiply in number and their passions to increase -in violence at each election. - -When Senator Clay and I took up our residence in the Federal City, there -were at least a dozen great statesmen who had dwelt almost continuously -in Washington for nearly twoscore years. Writing of these to Governor -Clay, in 1858, my husband said “Mr. Buchanan looks as ruddy as ever; -General Cass as young and vigorous as in 1844, and Mr. Dickens[8] -appears as he did in 1834, when with you I was at his home at an evening -party!” Thomas Hart Benton, the great Missourian, who for seven long -years struggled against such allied competitors as Senators Henry Clay, -Calhoun, and Webster, in his fight against the Bank of the United -States, probably out-ranked all others in length of public service; but, -besides Mr. Benton, there were Chief Justice Taney and his associates, -Judges Catron, James M. Wayne, and John McLean, of Ohio; Senator -Crittenden, of Kentucky, and General George Wallace Jones—all men who -had entered political life when the century was young. - -Among my pleasantest memories of Washington are the evenings spent at -the home of Mr. Benton. His household, but recently bereft of its -mistress, who had been a long-time invalid, was presided over by his -daughters, Mrs. General Frémont, Mrs. Thomas Benton Jones, and Mme. -Boileau. The last-named shared, with the Misses Bayard and Maury, a -reputation for superior elegance among the young women of the capital. -The daughters of Mr. Benton had been splendidly educated, it was said, -by their distinguished father, and they repaid his care of them by a -lifelong adoration. A handsome man in ordinary attire, the great old -author and statesman was yet a more striking figure when mounted. He -rode with a stately dignity, quite unlike the pace indulged in by some -other equestrians of that city and day; a day, it may be said in -passing, when equestrianism was common. Mr. Benton’s appearance and the -slow gait of his horse impressed me as powerful and even majestic, and -often (as I remarked to him at dinner one evening) there flashed through -my mind, as I saw him, a remembrance of Byron’s Moorish King as he rode -benignly through the streets of Granada. He seemed gratified at my -comparison. - -“I’m glad you approve of my pace,” he said. “I ride slowly because I do -not wish to be confounded with post-boys and messengers sent in haste -for the surgeon. They may gallop if they will, but not Senators.” - -At his own table Mr. Benton was an oracle to whom everyone listened -eagerly. I have seen twenty guests held spellbound as he recited, with -thrilling realism, a history of the Clay-Randolph duel, with the details -of which he was so familiarly acquainted. I never heard him allude to -his great fight in the Senate, when, the galleries crowded with men -inimical to him, his wife and General Jones sent out for arms to protect -the fearless Senator from the onslaught which seemed impending; nor to -his nearly thirty years’ strife for the removal of the onerous Salt Tax; -but the dinners before which his guests sat down were flavoured with the -finest of Attic salt, of which he was a connoisseur, which served to -sting into increased eagerness our interest in his rich store of -recollections. - -Wherever Mr. Benton was seen he was a marked personage. There was -something of distinction in the very manner in which he wore his cravat, -and when he spoke, men listened instinctively. Of his daughters, Mrs. -Frémont was probably the most gifted, and Mme. Boileau the most devoted -to fashionable society. Mme. Boileau was the wife of a French attaché, -and was remarked as she drove about in the streets with a be-ribboned -spaniel upon the front seat of her calash. Many years after my -acquaintance in Washington with Mr. Benton’s family (it was during the -Cleveland Administration), I was present at a reception given by Mrs. -Endicott when I observed among the guests a very busy little woman, in -simple black apparel, whose face was familiar to me, but whom I found -myself unable to place; yet everyone seemed to know her. I heard her -address several foreigners, in each case employing the language of his -country, and, my curiosity increasing, I asked at last, “Who is that -small lady in black?” - -To my surprise, she proved to be Mrs. Frémont! - -I soon made my way to her. She seemed almost impatient as I said, “Mrs. -Frémont, I can never forget you, nor the charming evenings at your -father’s house, though you, I am sure, have forgotten me!” She looked at -me searchingly and then spoke, impetuously: - -“Yes! yes! I remember your face perfectly, but your name—Tell me who you -are, quick. Don’t keep me waiting!” I promptly gratified her, and in the -conversation that followed, I added some reference to her father’s great -book, “Thirty Years’ View,” which, until the destruction of my home -during the Civil War, had formed two of our most valued volumes. - -“Ah!” cried Mrs. Frémont. “You are a woman of penetration! I have always -said my father’s book is the Political Bible of America. I know it will -not perish!” - -I have referred to General George Wallace Jones. No memory of -ante-bellum Washington and its moving personages would be complete were -he, the pet of women and the idol of men, left out. He was born in 1804, -when the Union was young; and adventure and patriotism, then sweeping -over our country, were blended in him. As a child he came out of the -young West, still a wilderness, to be educated in Kentucky. He had been -a sergeant of the body-guard of General Jackson, and to the Marquis de -la Fayette upon the latter’s last visit to the United States in 1824. -Thereafter he figured in the Black Hawk War as aid to General Dodge. His -life was a continual panorama of strange events. In the Great Indian War -he became a Major-General; then a County Judge; and appeared at the -capital as delegate from the Territory of Michigan early in 1835. -General Jones’s personal activity becoming known to the Government, he -was made Surveyor-General of the Northwest. It was about this time that -he, being on the Senate floor, sprang to the side of Mr. Benton while -the gallery hummed ominously with the angry threats of the friends of -the Bank defenders, and personal violence seemed unavoidable. I never -knew how many of the Western States were laid out by General Jones, but -they were numerous. In his work of surveying he was accompanied by young -military men, many of whom played conspicuous parts in the history of -the country, at that time but half of its present size. Among these was -Jefferson Davis, then a civil engineer. - -General Jones was indefatigable in his attendance at social gatherings, -and continued to out-dance young men, even when threescore rich years -were his. He had been a great favourite with my husband’s parents during -their Congressional life, so great indeed that father’s message of -introduction spoke of him as “My son!” and his fraternal offices to us -are among the brightest memories I hold of life at the capital. The -General was a small, wiry man, renowned for his long black hair, glossy -and well-kept as was any belle’s, and which seemed even to a very late -period to defy time to change it. In society he was sprightly as a -kitten, and at seventy-five would poke his glistening black head at me, -declaring as he did so, “I’ll give you anything you ask, from a horse to -a kiss, if you can find one grey hair among the black!” - -General Jones died in the West, just before the close of the nineteenth -century, but to the end he was gay and brave, and elastic in body and -mind. So indomitable was his spirit even in those closing days, that he -revived a memory of the war days in the following spirited letter -written in 1894, just after the celebration of his ninetieth birthday. -At this time he was made King of the Carnival, was complimented by the -Governor of Iowa, “the two branches of the General Assembly, and by the -Supreme Court, they, too, being Republicans and total strangers to me -save one Republican Senator and one Democratic representative from this -County,” as his gay account of the episode ran. - -“I told several times,” he added, “of how you and dear Mrs. Bouligny -prevented me from killing Seward. It was the day you stopped me, as you -sat in your carriage in front of Corcoran & Riggs’s bank, and I was -about to pass you. I would certainly have killed Seward with my -sword-cane but that you stopped me. I was about to follow the Secretary -as he passed the bank door, between his son Frederick and some other -men. I would have run my sword through him and immediately have been cut -into mince-meat by the hundreds of negro guards who stood all round. Do -you recollect that fearful incident? God sent two guardian angels to -save my life. How can I feel otherwise than grateful to you for saving -me that day!” - -The recalling of this pioneer-surveyor of the great Western wilderness -revives, too, the name of as notable a character in the Southwest, and -one who will always be identified with the introduction of cotton in the -Southern States, and the land-grants of the territory of Louisiana. I -never met Daniel Clarke, but very early in my married life, and some -years before I went to the capital to reside, I became acquainted with -that remarkable woman, his daughter, Mrs. Myra Clarke Gaines. - -I had accompanied my husband to New Orleans, where we stopped at the St. -Charles Hotel, then two steps or more above the ground level, though it -settled, as all New Orleans buildings do sooner or later, owing to the -moist soil. - -The evening of our arrival we were seated in the dining-room when my -attention was attracted by the entrance of a very unusual couple. The -man was well-advanced in years, but bore himself with a dignified and -military air that made him at once conspicuous. There was a marked -disparity between this tall, commanding soldier and the very small young -woman who hung upon his arm “like a reticule or a knitting-pocket,” as I -remarked _sotto voce_ to Mr. Clay. Her hair was bright, glistening -chestnut, her colour very fresh and rich, and her golden-hazel eyes -glowed like young suns. These orbs were singularly searching, and seemed -to gauge everyone at a glance. Mr. Clay, having already an acquaintance -with General Gaines, in a few moments I was presented to the (even then) -much-talked-of daughter of General Clarke. - -Never did woman exhibit more wifely solicitude, From the beginning of -that dinner Mrs. Gaines became the General’s guardian. She arranged his -napkin, tucking it carefully into the V of his waistcoat, read the menu -and selected his food, waiting upon him as each course arrived, and -herself preparing the dressing for his salad. All was done in so -matter-of-fact and quiet a manner that the flow of General Gaines’s -discourse was not once interrupted. Though I met this interesting woman -a number of times in later years, in Washington and elsewhere, that -first picture of Mrs. Gaines, probably the bravest woman, morally, of -her time, has remained most vividly. When, as a widow, accompanied by -her daughter, Mrs. Gaines visited Washington, she was the cynosure of -all eyes in every assemblage in which she was seen. Her fearless -pleading in the Supreme Court was the theme of conversation the country -over. People thronged to see a woman whose courage was so indomitable, -and none but were surprised at the diminutive and modest heroine. - -Senator Crittenden, of Kentucky, was already a Solon in the counsels of -the Nation, when, in 1841, Senator C. C. Clay, Sr., left the Senate. A -major in the army in 1812, Mr. Crittenden had made his appearance in -Congress in 1817, and thereafter continued prominent in Washington life, -as Senator or Cabinet member (in the Cabinets of Presidents Harrison and -Fillmore), so that for thirty or more years his name had been associated -with the names of our great law-makers, especially with those of the -second quarter of the century. When I met Senator Crittenden in the -middle fifties, he was a carefully preserved gentleman of courtly and -genial manners. Besides the brilliancy that attached to his long career -in Congressional life, he was distinguished as the husband of a still -charming woman, whose proud boast it was that she was perfectly happy. -This declaration alone was enough to make any woman in society -remarkable; yet, to judge from her serene and smiling appearance, Mrs. -Crittenden did not exaggerate her felicity. She was a sweet type of the -elderly fashionable woman, her face reflecting the utmost kindness, her -corsage and silvery hair gleaming with brilliants, her silken petticoats -rustling musically, and, over the lustrous folds of her rich and by no -means sombre costumes, priceless lace fell prodigally. - -Nor were there lacking notes and even whole gowns of warm colour -significant of the lady’s persistent cheeriness. I remember my cousin, -Miss Comer, a débutante of seventeen at that time, remarking upon Mrs. -Crittenden’s dress one evening at a ball. - -“It’s exactly like mine, cousin!” she said, not without a pout of -disappointment. And so, in truth, it was, both being of bright, cherry -corded silk, the only difference between them being that the modest -round-necked bodice of my little cousin by no means could compete with -the noble _décolleté_ of the older lady. But, in justice to the most -estimable Mrs. Crittenden, it must be added that her neck and shoulders -were superbly moulded, and, even in middle age, excited the envy of her -less fortunate sisters. - -“Lady” Crittenden, as she was often called, accounted for her -contentment in this wise: “I have been married three times, and in each -alliance I have got just what I wanted. My first marriage was for love, -and it was mine as fully as I could wish; my second for money, and -Heaven was as good to me in this instance; my third was for position, -and that, too, is mine. What more could I ask?” - -What more, indeed! - -[Illustration: - - MRS. J. J. CRITTENDEN - - of Kentucky -] - -One met dear old Mrs. Crittenden everywhere. She was of the most social -disposition, a fact which sometimes aroused the good-natured irony of -her distinguished husband. I remember an instance in which this was -demonstrated, at the White House, which greatly amused me at the time. -It was at a dinner party, and Senator Crittenden, who boasted that he -had eaten at the White House table with every President since the days -of Monroe, assumed the _blasé_ air which everyone who knew him -recognised as a conscious affectation. - -“Now there’s ‘Lady’ Crittenden,” he began, nodding in the direction of -that smiling personage, “in all the glory of a new and becoming gown, -and perfectly happy in the glamour of this.” And he waved his hand about -the room with an air of fatigue and, at the same time, a -comprehensiveness that swept in every member, grave or giddy, in the -large assemblage. “If I had my way,” and he sighed as he said it, -“nothing would give me greater pleasure than to hie me back to the wilds -of dear old Kentucky! Ah! to don my buckskins once more, shoulder a -rifle, and wander through life a free man, away from all this flummery!” - -He sighed again (for the tangled woods?) as he detected a speck upon his -faultless sleeve and fastidiously brushed it off! - -“Pshaw! Stuff and nonsense, Senator!” I retorted, rallying him -heartlessly. “Fancy your being condemned to that! You wouldn’t stand it -two days, unless an election were in progress and there were country -constituents to interview. Everyone knows you are as fond of fat plums -and plump capons, both real and metaphorical, as any man in the capital! -As for society being disagreeable to you, with a good dinner in view and -pretty women about you—Fie, Senator! I don’t believe you!” Whereat our -Solon laughed guiltily, like one whose pet pretense has been discovered, -and entered forthwith into the evening’s pleasures as heartily as did -his spouse, the perfectly happy “Lady” Crittenden. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - FASHIONS OF THE FIFTIES - - -To estimate at anything like their value ante-bellum days at the -capital, it must be borne in mind that the period was one of general -prosperity and competitive expenditure. While a life-and-death struggle -raged between political parties, and oratorical battles of ominous -import were fought daily in Senate Chamber and House, a very reckless -gaiety was everywhere apparent in social circles. Especially was this to -be observed in the predominant and hospitable Southern division in the -capital; for predominant Southern society was, as even such deliberately -partisan historians as Messrs. Nicolay and Hay admit; and, what these -gentlemen designate as “the blandishments of Southern hospitality,” lent -a charm to life in the Government circles of that day which lifted the -capital to the very apex of its social glory. Writing of these phases of -life in the capital, in a letter dated March, 1858, I said to Governor -Clay: “People are mad with rivalry and vanity. It is said that Gwin is -spending money at the rate of $75,000 a year, and Brown and Thompson -quite the same. Mrs. Thompson (of Mississippi) is a great favourite -here. Mrs. Toombs, who is sober, and has but one daughter, Sally, who is -quite a belle, says _they_ spend $1,800 per month, or $21,000 per -annum.” - -The four years’ war, which began in ’1, changed these social conditions. -As the result of that strife poverty spread both North and South. The -social world at Washington, which but an administration before had been -scarcely less fascinating and brilliant than the Court of Louis -Napoleon, underwent a radical change; and the White House itself, within -a month after it went into the hands of the new Black Republican party, -became degraded to a point where even Northern men recoiled at the sight -of the metamorphosed conditions.[9] - -In the days of Presidents Pierce and Buchanan, Washington was a city of -statesmen, and in the foreground, relieving the solemnity of their -deliberations in that decade which preceded the Nation’s great disaster, -were fashion and mirth, beauty and wit. It was then, as the government -city of a Republic must ever be, a place of continuous novelty, of -perpetual changes, of new faces. The fashionable world comes and goes in -the Federal City with each Presidential term of four and Senatorial term -of six years, and its longer or shorter stays of the army and navy -contingent, and always it gathers its personnel from as many points as -there are States in the Union, and as many parts of the world as those -to which our diplomatic relations extend. - -In the fifties, when the number of States was but two dozen, the list of -representatives gathering at the capital was proportionately smaller -than in the present day, and society was correspondingly select. -Moreover, political distinction and offices not infrequently continued -in many families through several generations, sons often succeeding -their fathers in Congress, inheriting, in some degree, their ancestors’ -friends, until a social security had been established which greatly -assisted to give charm and prestige to the fashionable coteries of the -Federal centre. For example, for forty years previous to my husband’s -election to the Senate, the two branches of the Clay family had been -prominent in the life of the capital. In the late twenties, C. C. Clay, -Sr., had been active in the House, while the great Henry Clay was -stirring the country through his speeches in the Senate; in the fifties, -Mr. James B. Clay, son of the great Kentuckian, was a Congressman when -the scholarly statesmanship of Senator C. C. Clay, Jr., of Alabama, was -attracting the admiration and praise of North and South alike. It is a -pathetic coincidence that to my husband, during his sojourn in Canada, -fell the sad privilege of ministering at the death-bed of Mr. Clay, of -Kentucky, who died in that alien land without the solacing presence of -wife or children. Shortly before the end came, he presented to Senator -Clay the cane which for years had been carried by the great orator, -Henry Clay.[10] - -The fashions of the times were graceful, rich and picturesque. Those of -the next decade, conspicuous for huge _chignons_, false hair, and -distorting bustles, rose like an ugly barrier between the lovely -costuming of the fifties and the dressing of to-day. A half century ago, -the beauties of the capital wore their hair _à la Grecque_, with flowers -wreathed over it, or a simple golden dagger or arrow to secure it. Their -gowns were festooned with blossoms that trailed over bodice and skirt -until not seldom they became, by reason of their graceful ornaments, -veritable Perditas. These delicate fashions continued until nearly the -end of the decade, when they were superseded by more complicated -coiffures and a general adoption of heavy materials and styles. - -In 1858–’9 the hair was arranged on the top of the head in heavy braids -wound like a coronet over the head, and the coiffure was varied now and -then with a tiara of velvet and pearls, or jet or coral. Ruffled dresses -gave place to panelled skirts in which two materials, a plain and -embossed or brocaded fabric, were combined, and basques with postillion -backs became the order of the day. The low-coiled hair and brow free -from frizzes and bangs (_à l’idiote_, as our satirical friends, the -French, describe them) was the style adopted by such preëminent beauties -as Mrs. Senator Pugh, who was regarded by Baron Hulseman as without a -peer, and Mrs. Senator Pendleton, who, in Lord Napier’s opinion, had the -most classic head he had seen in America. - -Low necks and lace berthas, made fashionable because of their adoption -by Miss Lane, were worn almost universally, either with open sleeves -revealing inner ones of filmy lace, or sleeves of the shortest possible -form, allowing the rounded length of a pretty arm to be seen in its -perfection. Evening gloves were half-length only, or as often reaching -only half-way to the elbow. They were of kid or silk with backs -embroidered in delicate silks, with now and then a jewel sparkling among -the colours. Jewels, indeed, were conspicuous even in men’s dressing, -and gentlemen of fashion were rare who did not have varieties of -sparkling studs and cravat-pins to add to the brightness of their -vari-coloured vests. The latter not infrequently were of richest satin -and velvet, brocaded and embroidered. They lent a desirable note of -colour, by no means inconspicuous, to the swallow-tailed evening dress -of that time, a note, by-the-bye, which was supplemented by a tie of -bright soft silk, and of ample proportions. President Buchanan was -remarkable for his undeviating choice of pure white cravats. Fashion was -not then arbitrary in the matter of gentlemen’s neckwear, and high or -low collars were worn, as best suited the taste of the individual. - -To the attire of the women of the Government City in that day our home -manufacturers contributed but little. In fact, the industries of our -country yielded but a common grade of materials designed for wearing -apparel, and were altogether unequal to the demands of a capital in -which the wealthy vied with their own class in foreign cities in the -acquisition of all that goes to make up the moods and character of -fashion. Our gloves and fans and handkerchiefs, our bonnets and the -larger part of our dress accessories, as well as such beautiful gown -patterns as were purchased ready to be made up by a New York or -Washington dressmaker, were all imported directly from foreign houses, -and the services of our travelling and consular friends were in constant -requisition for the selection of fine laces, shawls, flounces, -undersleeves and the other fashionable garnitures. Scarcely a steamer -but brought to the capital dainty boxes of Parisian flowers, bonnets and -other foreign novelties, despatched by such interested deputies. - -It was astonishing how astute even our bachelor representatives abroad -became in the selection of these articles for the wives of their -Senatorial indorsers in Washington. I was frequently indebted for such -friendly remembrances to my cousin, Tom Tait Tunstall, Consul at Cadiz, -and to Mrs. Leese, wife of the Consul at Spezia and sister of Rose -Kierulf and Mrs. Spicer. Thanks to the acumen of these thoughtful -friends, my laces, especially, and a velvet gown, the material of which -was woven to order at Genoa, were the particular envy of my less -fortunate “mess-mates.” - -I remember with much pleasure the many courtesies of William Thomson, -Consul at Southampton, England, who was one of the many from whom the -war afterward separated us. From the time of his appointment in 1857 his -expressions of friendliness were frequent toward Miss Lane, Mrs. -Fitzpatrick, myself, and, I doubt not, toward many other fortunate ones -of the capital. - -To the first named he sent a remarkable toy-terrier, so small that “it -might be put under a quart bowl,” as he wrote to me. The little stranger -was a nine-days’ curiosity at the White House, where it was exhibited to -all who were on visiting terms with Miss Lane. That I was not the -recipient of a similar midget was due to the death of “Nettle,” the -animal selected for me. - -“Please ask Miss Lane,” he wrote, “to show you her terrier, and you will -be sure it is the identical ‘Nettle.’ I shall succeed in time in finding -a good specimen for you!” - -But Mr. Thomson’s efforts and discrimination were by no means directed -solely toward the selection of canine rarities. In truth, he showed -himself in every way fitted to become a most satisfactory Benedick -(which I sincerely hope was his fate in the course of time), for, -besides picking up now and then odd and choice bits of quaint jewelry, -such as may please a woman’s fancy, and many an interesting legend about -which to gossip, he discovered a power of discernment in regard to the -wearing apparel of my sex, which was as refreshing in its epistolary -revelations as it was rare among his sex. - -“I did think of sending you and Mrs. Fitzpatrick one of the new style -petticoats,” he wrote in March, 1858, “so novel, it seems, at the seat -of government; but, upon inquiry for the material, my bachelor wits were -quite outdone, for I could not even guess what size might suit both you -ladies! Since sending a few lines to you, I have spent a day at -Brighton, which is in my district, and I saw quite a new style and -decided improvement on the petticoat. A reversible crimson and black -striped linsey-wolsey under a white cambric skirt, with five, seven, or -nine tucks of handsome work, not less than ten or twelve inches deep. -This style of new garment is very _distingué_ to my feeble bachelor eye, -and would attract amazingly in Washington just now.” - -Among the first to introduce in the capital the fashion of holding up -the skirt to show these ravishing petticoats were the lovely sisters of -Thomas F. Bayard, afterward Secretary of State and Minister to England -under President Cleveland, and the Misses Maury, daughters of the -ex-Mayor of Washington, all of whom were conspicuous for their Parisian -daintiness. None of this bevy but looked as if she might have stepped -directly from the rue St. Germain. - -The bewildering description by Mr. Thomson had scarcely arrived, ere -fashion was busy evolving other petticoat novelties and adjuncts. A -quaint dress accessory at this time, and one which remained very much in -vogue for carriage, walking, and dancing dresses, consisted of several -little metal hands, which, depending from fine chains attached at the -waist, held up the skirt artistically at a sufficient height to show the -flounces beneath. The handkerchiefs of the time, which were appreciably -larger than those in use to-day, and very often of costly point-lace, -were drawn through a small ring that hung from a six-inch gold or silver -chain, on the other end of which was a circlet which just fitted over -the little finger. - -I have spoken of our Washington dressmakers; how incomplete would be my -memories of the capital did I fail to mention here Mrs. Rich, the -favourite mantua-maker of those days, within whose power it lay to -transform provincial new-comers, often already over-stocked with -ill-made costumes and absurdly trimmed bonnets, into women of fashion! -Mrs. Rich was the only Reconstructionist, I think I may safely say, on -whom Southern ladies looked with unqualified approval. A -Reconstructionist? She was more; she was a physician who cured many ills -for the women of the Congressional circles, ills of a kind that could -never be reached by our favourite physician, Dr. Johnston, though he had -turned surgeon and competed in a contest of stitches; for, to the care -of the wives of our statesmen each season, came pretty heiresses from -far-off States, to see the gay Government City, under their experienced -guardianship, and to meet its celebrities. These, often mere buds of -girls, were wont to come to the capital supplied with costly brocade and -heavy velvet gowns, fit in quality for the stateliest dame; with hats -weighty with plumes that might only be worn appropriately in the helmet -of a prince or a Gainsborough duchess, and with diamonds enough to -please the heart of a matron. To strip these slim maidens of such -untoward finery, often of antediluvian, not to say outlandish, cut and -fashion, and to reapparel them in such soft fabrics as became their -youth and station, was no small or easy task for her who had undertaken -to chaperone them. - -Nor were these sartorial _faux pas_ confined to the girl novices and -their far-off kind, and usually lavish parents. Many a charming matron -came to the capital as innocent of any knowledge of the demands of -fashionable life as a schoolgirl. There was the wife of a distinguished -legislator who afterward presided over an American embassy abroad, a -sweet little nun of a woman, who arrived in Washington with a wardrobe -that doubtless had caused her country neighbours many a pang of envy. It -comprised garments made of the costliest fabrics, but, alas! which had -been cut up so ridiculously by the local seamstress that the innocent -wearer’s first appearance in the gay world of the capital was the signal -for irrepressible smiles of amusement and simpers of derision from the -more heartless. - -Because of a friendship between our husbands, our little nun fell into -my hands, and I promptly convoyed her to the crucible of Mrs. Rich, that -dauntless spirit, and my unfailing resource, sure of her ability to work -the necessary transmutation. Alas! as we were about to step out of our -carriage, I was startled by the appearance, above a shapely enough foot, -of a bright, yes! a brilliant indigo-blue stocking! Not even Mr. -Shillaber’s heroine from Beanville could boast a trapping more blatantly -blue! I held my breath in alarm! What if the eye of any of the more -scornful fashionables should detect its mate? I hurried my charge back -into the vehicle at once and summoned our good friend Mrs. Rich to the -door; and our errand that morning was accomplished by the aid of a trim -apprentice, who brought to our calash boxes of samples and -fashion-plates for our scanning. - -Many, indeed, were the debtors to Mrs. Rich in those days, for the taste -and despatch with which she performed her incomparable miracles. And I -would not refrain from acknowledging an act of kindness at her hands in -darker days; for, when I returned to Washington in 1865 to plead with -the President for my husband’s release from Fortress Monroe, she -generously refused payment for the making of the modest dress I ordered, -declaring that she longed to serve one who had directed so many clients -to her in former days! - -[Illustration: - - MRS. CHESTNUT - - of South Carolina -] - -But there were occasions when a pressure upon the time of Mrs. Rich -necessitated the seeking of other assistance, and a hasty journey was -made to Mlle. Rountree, of Philadelphia, or even to New York, where the -fashionable dressmakers were capable of marvellous expedition in filling -one’s order completely, even to the furnishing of handkerchiefs and -hosiery and slippers to suit a special gown. I remember the arrival of -some wonderful “creations” made in the metropolis for Miss Stevens, of -Stevens Castle, who was spending the season with my “mess-mate,” Mrs. -Chestnut, and boxes of gowns as admirable, and from the same source, for -the lovely Marian Ramsey, who became Mrs. Brockholst Cutting, of New -York. Miss Ramsey, who was an especially admired belle in Washington, -was the daughter of that delightfully irascible old Admiral, who, it was -said, was such a disciplinarian that he never entered port without -having one or more of his crew in irons. - -Brilliant as was the social life in Washington at this time, and -remarkable for its numbers of handsome men and lovely women, I remember -no exquisites of the Beau Brummel or Disraeli type, though there were -many who were distinguished as men of fashion, of social graces and -talent. - -Foremost among the popular men of the capital were Philip Barton Key -(brother of the classic Mrs. Pendleton, Mrs. Howard of Baltimore, and of -Mrs. Blount, who attained a reputation among her contemporaries upon the -stage), Preston Brooks, and Laurence Keitt, members of Congress from -South Carolina, the last named of whom married the wealthy Miss Sparks. -For a long time previous to that alliance, Mr. Keitt and his colleague -from North Carolina, Mr. Clingman, were looked upon as rival suitors for -the hand of Miss Lane. Mr. Keitt was the friend of Preston Brooks, who -was one of the most magnetic and widely admired men in the capital. Were -half of the compliments here repeated which the name alone of Mr. Brooks -at that time elicited, they must serve to modify the disfavour into -which this spirited young legislator from South Carolina fell after his -historic assault upon Mr. Sumner in the Senate. When, a few months after -that unfortunate affair, the body of Mr. Brooks lay on view in the -Federal City, mourning for him became general, and his obsequies were -remarkable for the crowds that hastened to pay their last tribute to -him. - -I recall an amusing incident by which I offended (happily, only -momentarily) our good friends Congressman and Mrs. Keitt, owing to a -tendency I possessed to indulge in nonsense whenever furnished with the -slightest pretext for it. When the former arrived at the capital, he was -commonly addressed and alluded to as “Kitt,” a wholly unwarrantable -mispronunciation of his name, but one which had become current in the -vernacular of his State, and which, from sheer force of habit, continued -in use in the Federal City. To the retention of this nickname, however, -his bride strongly objected, and so persistently did she correct all who -misscalled the name, that the Congressman’s old friends, though publicly -conforming to the lady’s wishes, smiled in private, and among themselves -clung fondly to the old pronunciation. - -This little contention was still in operation when an interesting event -took place in the Keitt household. On the evening of the happy day, -meeting Senator Hammond at dinner, he asked me casually, “What’s the -news?” - -“Why! haven’t you heard?” I replied. “Kitt has a kitten!” - -My poor joke, so unexpected, exploded Senator Hammond’s gravity -immediately. So well did the sally please him, that it speedily became -an _on dit_, alas! to the passing annoyance of the happy young pair. -Mrs. Keitt was one of Washington’s most admired young matrons, a -graceful hostess, and famous for her social enterprise. It was she who -introduced in the capital the fashion of sending out birth-cards to -announce the arrival of infants. - -I have spoken of Barton Key. He was a widower during my acquaintance -with him, and I recall him as the handsomest man in all Washington -society. In appearance an Apollo, he was a prominent figure at all the -principal fashionable functions; a graceful dancer, he was a favourite -with every hostess of the day. Clever at repartee, a generous and -pleasing man, who was even more popular with other men than with women, -his death at the hands of Daniel E. Sickles in February, 1859, stirred -Washington to its centre. - -I remember very vividly how, one Sunday morning, as I was putting the -finishing touches to my toilette for attendance at St. John’s, Senator -Clay burst into the room, his face pale and awe-stricken, exclaiming: “A -horrible, horrible thing has happened, Virginia! Sickles, who for a year -or more has forced his wife into Barton’s company, has killed Key; -killed him most brutally, while he was unarmed!” - -This untimely death of a man allied to a famous family, and himself so -generally admired, caused a remarkable and long depression in society. -Yet, so strenuous were the political needs of the time, and so tragic -and compelling the demands of national strife now centred in Washington, -that the horrible calamity entailed no punishment upon its author. - -Only the Thursday before the tragedy, in company with Mrs. Pugh and Miss -Acklin, I called upon the unfortunate cause of the tragedy. She was so -young and fair, at most not more than twenty-two years of age, and so -naïve, that none of the party of which I was one was willing to harbour -a belief in the rumours which were then in circulation. On that, Mrs. -Sickles’ last “at home,” her parlours were thronged, one-half of the -hundred or more guests present being men. The girl hostess was even more -lovely than usual. Of an Italian type in feature and colouring (she was -the daughter of a famous musician, Baggioli, of New York), Mrs. Sickles -was dressed in a painted muslin gown, filmy and graceful, on which the -outlines of the crocus might be traced. A broad sash of brocaded ribbon -girdled her slender waist, and in her dark hair were yellow crocus -blooms. I never saw her again, but the picture of which she formed the -centre was so fair and innocent, it fixed itself permanently upon my -mind. - -When my husband first entered the United States Senate, in 1853, there -were not more than four men in that body who wore moustaches. Indeed, -the prejudice against them was great. I remember a moustached gallant -who called upon me on one occasion, to whom my aunt greatly objected, -for, she said, referring to the growth upon his upper lip, “No one but -Tennessee hog-drivers and brigands dress like that!” When Mr. Clay -withdrew from the Senate, in January, 1861, there were scarcely as many -without them. Side and chin whiskers were worn, if any, though the front -of the chin was seldom covered. Many of the most distinguished statesmen -wore their faces as smoothly shaven as the Romans of old. Until late in -the fifties, men, particularly legislators, wore their hair rather long, -a fashion which has been followed more or less continuously among -statesmen and scholars since wigs were abandoned. - -This decade was also notable as that in which the first radical efforts -of women were made toward suffrage, and the “Bloomer” costume became -conspicuous in the capital. “Bloomers are ‘most as plenty as -blackberries,’” I wrote home late in ’6, “and generally are followed by -a long train of little boys and ditto ‘niggers’!” - -Nor were there lacking figures among the “stronger” sex as eccentric as -those of our women innovators. Of these, none was more remarkable than -“old Sam Houston.” Whether in the street or in his seat in the Senate, -he was sure to arrest the attention of everyone. He wore a leopard-skin -vest, with a voluminous scarlet neck-tie, and over his bushy grey locks -rested an immense sombrero. This remarkable headgear was made, it was -said, from an individual block to which the General reserved the -exclusive right. It was of grey felt, with a brim seven or eight inches -wide. Wrapped around his broad shoulders he wore a gaily coloured -Mexican _serape_, in which scarlet predominated. So arrayed, his huge -form, which, notwithstanding this remarkable garb, was distinguished by -a kind of inborn grandeur, towered above the heads of ordinary -pedestrians, and the appearance of the old warrior, whether viewed from -the front or the rear, was altogether unique. Strangers stared at him, -and street urchins covertly grinned, but the Senatorial Hercules -received all such attentions from the public with extreme composure, not -to say gratification, as a recognition to which he was entitled. - -In the Senate, General Houston was an indefatigable whittler. A -seemingly inexhaustible supply of soft wood was always kept in his desk -and out of it he whittled stars and hearts and other fanciful shapes, -while he cogitated, his brows pleated in deep vertical folds, over the -grave arguments of his confrères. A great many conjectures were made as -to the ultimate use of these curious devices. I can, however, explain -the fate of one. - -As our party entered the gallery of the Senate on one occasion, we -caught the eye of the whittling Senator, who, with completest -_sang-froid_, suspended his occupation and blew us a kiss; then with a -plainly perceptible twinkle in his eye, he resumed his usual occupation. -A little while afterward one of the Senate pages came up and handed me a -most pretentious envelope. It was capacious enough to have contained a -package of government bonds. I began to open the wrappings; they were -mysteriously manifold. When at last I had removed them all, I found -within a tiny, shiny, freshly whittled wooden heart, on which the -roguish old hero had inscribed, “Lady! I send thee my heart! Sam -Houston.” - -This remarkable veteran was seldom to be seen at social gatherings, and -I do not remember ever to have met him at a dinner, but he called -sometimes upon me on my weekly reception days, and always in the -remarkable costume I have described. He had acquired, besides the -Mexican-Spanish _patois_, a number of Indian dialects, and nothing -amused him more than to reduce to a confused silence those who -surrounded him, by suddenly addressing them in all sorts of unknown -words in these tongues. My own spirit was not so to be crushed, and, -besides, I had a lurking doubt as to the linguistic value of the sounds -he uttered. They bore many of the indicia of the newly invented, and I -did not hesitate upon one occasion to enter upon a verbal contest of -gibberish on my side, and possibly on his, running the gamut of emphasis -throughout it; and, notwithstanding General Houston’s deprecations (in -_Indian dialect_), sustained my part so seriously that the tall hero at -last yielded the floor and, wrapping his scarlet _serape_ about him, -made his exit, laughing hilariously at his own defeat. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - THE RELAXATIONS OF CONGRESSIONAL FOLK - - -In that period of social activity it was no uncommon thing for society -women to find themselves completely exhausted ere bedtime arrived. Often -so tired was I that I have declared I couldn’t have wiggled an antennae -had I numbered anything so absurd and minute among my members! For my -quicker recuperation, after a day spent in the making of calls, or in -entertainment, with, it may be, an hour or two in the Senate gallery, in -preparation for the evening’s pleasure, my invaluable maid, Emily (for -whom my husband paid $1,600), was wont to get out my “shocking-box” (for -so she termed the electrical apparatus upon which I often depended), -and, to a full charge of the magical current and a half-hour’s nap -before dinner, I was indebted for many a happy evening. - -Amid the round of dinners, and dances, and receptions, to which -Congressional circles are necessarily compelled, the pleasures of the -theatre were only occasionally to be enjoyed. Nor were the great artists -of that day always to be heard at the capital, and resident theatre and -musiclovers not infrequently made excursions to Baltimore, Philadelphia, -or New York, in order to hear to advantage some particularly noted star. -Before our advent in the capital it had been my good fortune, while -travelling in the North, to hear Grisi and Mario, the lovely Bozio, and -Jenny Lind, the incomparable Swede, whose concerts at Castle Garden were -such epoch-marking events to musiclovers in America. I remember that one -estimate of the audience present on the occasion of my hearing the -last-named cantatrice was placed at ten thousand. Whether or not this -number was approximately correct I do not know, but seats and aisles in -the great hall were densely packed, and gentlemen in evening dress came -with camp-stools under their arms, in the hope of finding an opportunity -to place them, during a lull in the programme, where they might rest for -a moment. - -The wild enthusiasm of the vast crowds, the simplicity of the singer who -elicited it, have been recorded by many an abler pen. Suffice to say -that none have borne, I think, for a longer time, a clearer remembrance -of that triumphant evening. When, at the end of the programme the fair, -modest songstress came out, music in hand, to win her crowning triumph -in the rendering of a familiar melody, the beauty of her marvellous art -rose superior to the amusement which her broken English might have -aroused, and men and women wept freely and unashamed as she sang. - - “Mid bleasures and balaces, - Do we may roam,” etc. - -It was by way of a flight from the capital that Senator Clay and I and a -few congenial friends were enabled to hear Parepa Rosa and Forrest; and -Julia Dean, in “Ingomar,” drew us to the metropolis, as did Agnes -Robertson, who set the town wild in the “Siege of Sebastopol.” - -[Illustration: - - JENNY LIND - - From a photograph made about 1851 -] - -I remember very well my first impression of Broadway, which designation -seemed to me a downright misnomer; for its narrowness, after the great -width of Pennsylvania Avenue, was at once striking and absurd to the -visitor from the capital. Upon one of my visits to New York my attention -was caught by a most unusual sight. It was an immense equipage, glowing -and gaudy under the sun as one of Mrs. Jarley’s vans. It was drawn by -six prancing steeds, all gaily caparisoned, while in the huge structure -(a young house, “all but”——) were women in gaudy costumes. A band of -musicians were concealed within, and these gave out some lively melodies -as the vehicle dashed gaily by the Astor House (then the popular -_up-town_ hotel), attracting general attention as it passed. Thinking a -circus had come to town, I made inquiry, when I learned to my amusement -that the gorgeous cavalcade was but an ingenious advertisement of the -new Sewing Machine! - -Charlotte Cushman, giving her unapproachable “Meg Merrilies” in -Washington, stirred the city to its depths. Her histrionism was -splendid, and her conversation in private proved no less remarkable and -delightful. “I could listen to her all day,” wrote a friend in a brief -note. “I envy her her genius, and would willingly take her ugliness for -it! What is beauty compared with such genius!” - -A most amusing metrical farce, “Pocahontas,” was given during the winter -of ’7–58, which set all Washington a-laughing. In the cast were Mrs. -Gilbert, and Brougham, the comedian and author. Two of the ridiculous -couplets come back to me, and, as if it were yesterday, revive the -amusing scenes in which they were spoken. - -Mrs. Gilbert’s rôle was that of a Yankee schoolma’am, whose continual -effort it was to make her naughty young Indian charges behave -themselves. “Young ladies!” she cried, with that inimitable austerity -behind which one always feels the actress’s consciousness of the “fun of -the thing” which she is dissembling, - - “Young Ladies! Stand with your feet right square! - Miss Pocahontas! just _look_ at your hair!” - -and as she wandered off, a top-knot of feathers waving over her head, -her wand, with which she had been drilling her dusky maidens, held -firmly in hand, she cut a pigeonwing that brought forth a perfect shout -of laughter from the audience. - -This troupe appeared just after the Brooks-Sumner encounter, of which -the capital talked still excitedly, and the comedian did not hesitate to -introduce a mild local allusion which was generally understood. Breaking -in upon her as Pocahontas wept, between ear-splitting cries of woe at -the bier of Captain Smith, he called out impatiently, - - “What’s all this noise? Be done! Be done! - D’you think you are in Washington?” - -Mr. Thackeray’s lecture on poetry was a red-letter occasion, and the -simplicity of that great man of letters as he recited “Lord Lovel” and -“Barbara Allen” was long afterward a criterion by which others were -judged. Notable soloists now and then appeared at the capital, among -them Ap Thomas, the great Welsh harpist, and Bochsa, as great a -performer, whose concerts gained so much in interest by the singing of -the romantic French woman, Mme. Anna Bishop. Her rendering of “On the -Banks of the Gaudalquiver” made her a great favourite and gave the song -a vogue. That musical prodigy, Blind Tom, also made his appearance in -ante-bellum Washington, and I was one of several ladies of the capital -invited by Miss Lane to hear him play at the White House. Among the -guests on that occasion were Miss Phillips of Alabama and her cousin -Miss Cohen of South Carolina, who were brilliant amateur players with a -local reputation. They were the daughter and niece, respectively, of -Mrs. Eugenia Phillips, who, less than two years afterward, was -imprisoned by the Federal authorities for alleged assistance to the -newly formed Confederate Government. - -At the invitation of Miss Lane, the Misses Phillips and Cohen took their -places at the piano and performed a brilliant and intricate duet, during -which Blind Tom’s face twitched with what, it must be confessed, were -horrible grimaces. He was evidently greatly excited by the music he was -listening to, and was eager to reproduce it. As the piece was concluded, -he shuffled about nervously. Seeing his excitement, one of the pianistes -volunteered to play with him and took her seat at the instrument. -Desiring to test him, however, in the second rendering, the lady -cleverly, as she supposed, elided a page of the composition; when, -drawing himself back angrily, this remarkable idiot exclaimed -indignantly, “You cheat me! You cheat me!” - -While a visit to the dentist, be he never so famous, may hardly be -regarded as among the recreations of Congressional folk, yet a trip to -Dr. Maynard, the fashionable operator of that day, was certainly among -the luxuries of the time; as costly, for example, as a trip to New York, -to hear sweet Jenny Lind. Dr. Maynard was distinctively one of -Washington’s famous characters. He was not only the expert dentist of -his day, being as great an element in life at the capital as was Dr. -Evans in Paris, but he was also the inventor of the world-renowned -three-barrelled rifle known as the Maynard. His office was like an -arsenal, every inch of wall-space being taken up with glittering arms. - -A peculiarity of Dr. Maynard was his dislike for the odour of the -geranium, from which he shrank as from some deadly poison. Upon the -occasion of one necessary visit to him, unaware of this eccentricity, I -wore a sprig of that blossom upon my corsage. As I entered the office -the doctor detected it. - -“Pardon me, Mrs. Clay,” he said at once, “I must ask you to remove that -geranium!” I was astonished, but of course the offending flower was at -once detached and discarded; but so sensitive were the olfactories of -the doctor, that before he could begin his operating, I was obliged to -bury the spot on which the blossom had lain under several folds of -napkin. - -Dr. Maynard was exceedingly fond of sleight of hand, and on one occasion -bought for his children an outfit which Heller had owned. In after years -the Czar of Russia made tempting offers to this celebrated dentist, with -a view to inducing him to take up his residence in St. Petersburg, but -his Imperial allurements were unavailing, and Dr. Maynard returned again -to his own orbit. - -A feature of weekly recurrence, and one to which all Washington and -every visitor thronged, was the concert of the Marine Band, given within -the White House grounds on the green slope back of the Executive Mansion -overlooking the Potomac. Strolling among the multitude, I remember often -to have seen Miss Cutts, in the simplest of white muslin gowns, but -conspicuous for her beauty wherever she passed. Here military uniforms -glistened or glowed, as the case might be, among a crowd of black-coated -sight-seers, and one was likely to meet with the President or his -Cabinet, mingling democratically with the crowd of smiling citizens. - -At one of these concerts a provincial visitor was observed to linger in -the vicinity of the President, whom it was obvious he recognised. -Presently, in an accession of sudden courage, he approached Mr. Pierce, -and, uncovering his head respectfully, said, “Mr. President, can’t I go -through your fine house? I’ve heard so much about it that I’d give a -great deal to see it.” - -“Why, my dear sir!” responded the President, kindly, “that is not my -house. It’s the people’s house. You shall certainly go through it if you -wish!” and, calling an attendant, he instructed him to take the grateful -stranger through the White House. - -The recounting of that episode revives the recollection of another which -took place in the time of President Buchanan, and which was the subject -of discussion for full many a day after its occurrence. It was on the -occasion of an annual visit of the redmen, always a rather exciting -event in the capital. - -The delegations which came to Washington in the winters of ’4–58 -numbered several hundred. They camped in a square in the Barracks, -where, with almost naked bodies, scalps at belt and tomahawks in hand, -they were viewed daily by crowds of curious folk as they beat their -monotonous drums, danced, or threw their tomahawks dexterously in air. -Here and there one redskin, more fortunate than the rest, was wrapped in -a gaudy blanket, and many were decked out with large earrings and huge -feather-duster head-dresses. A single chain only separated the savages -from the assembled spectators, who were often thrown into somewhat of a -panic by the sullen or belligerent behaviour of the former. When in this -mood, the surest means of conciliating the Indians was to pass over the -barrier (which some spectator was sure to do) some whisky, whereupon -their sullenness immediately would give place to an amiable desire to -display their prowess by twirling the tomahawk, or in the dance. - -To see the copper-hued sons of the Far West, clad in buckskin and -moccasins, paint and feathers, stalking about the East Room of the White -House at any time was a spectacle not easily to be forgotten; but, upon -the occasion of which I write, and at which I was present, a scene took -place, the character of which became so spirited that many of the ladies -became frightened and rose hurriedly to withdraw. A number of chiefs -were present, accompanied by their interpreter, Mr. Garrett, of Alabama, -and many of them had expressed their pleasure at seeing the President. -They desired peace and good-will to be continued; they wished for -agricultural implements for the advancement of husbandry among their -tribes; and grist mills, that their squaws no longer need grind their -corn between stones to make “sofky” (and the spokesman illustrated the -process by a circular motion of the hand). In fact, they wished to smoke -the Calumet pipe of peace with their white brothers. - -Thus far their discourse was most comfortable and pleasing to our white -man’s _amour propre_; but, ere the last warrior had ceased his placating -speech, the dusky form of a younger redskin sprang from the floor, -where, with the others of the delegation, he had been squatting. He was -lithe and graceful as Longfellow’s dream of Hiawatha. The muscles of his -upper body, bare of all drapery, glistened like burnished metal. His -gesticulations were fierce and imperative, his voice strangely -thrilling. - -“These walls and these halls belong to the redmen!” he cried. “The very -ground on which they stand is ours! You have stolen it from us and I am -for war, that the wrongs of my people may be righted!” - -Here his motions became so violent and threatening that many of the -ladies, alarmed, rose up instinctively, as I have said, as if they would -fly the room; but our dear old Mr. Buchanan, with admirable diplomacy, -replied in most kindly manner, bidding the interpreter assure the -spirited young brave that the White House was his possession in common -with all the people of the Great Spirit, and that he did but welcome his -red brothers to their own on behalf of the country. This was the gist of -his speech, which calmed the excitement of the savage, and relieved the -apprehension of the ladies about. - -A conspicuous member of the delegation of ’4–55 was the old chief -Apothleohola, who was brought to see me by the interpreter Garrett. His -accumulated wealth was said to be $80,000, and he had a farm in the -West, it was added, which was worked entirely by negroes. Apothleohola -was a patriarch of his tribe, some eighty years of age, but erect and -powerful still. His face on the occasion of his afternoon visit to me -was gaudy with paint, and he was wrapped in a brilliant red blanket, -around which was a black border; but despite his gay attire there was -about him an air of weariness and even sadness. - -[Illustration: - - JAMES BUCHANAN - - President of the United States, 1857–61 -] - -While I was still a child I had seen this now aged warrior. At that -time, five thousand Cherokees and Choctaws, passing west to their new -reservations beyond the Mississippi, had rested in Tuscaloosa, where -they camped for several weeks. The occasion was a notable one. All the -city turned out to see the Indian youths dash through the streets on -their ponies. They were superb horsemen and their animals were as -remarkable. Many of the latter, for a consideration, were left in the -hands of the emulous white youth of the town. Along the river banks, -too, carriages stood, crowded with sight-seers watching the squaws as -they tossed their young children into the stream that they might learn -to swim. Very picturesque were the roomy vehicles of that day as they -grouped themselves along the leafy shore of the Black Warrior, their -capacity tested to the fullest by the belles of the little city, arrayed -in dainty muslins, and bonneted in the sweet fashions of the time. - -During that encampment a redman was set upon by some quarrelsome -rowdies, and in the altercation was killed. Fearing the vengeance of the -allied tribes about them, the miscreants disembowelled their victim, -and, filling the cavity with rocks, sank the body in the river. The -Indians, missing their companion, and suspecting some evil had befallen -him, appealed to Governor C. C. Clay, who immediately uttered a -proclamation for the recovery of the body. In a few days the crime and -its perpetrators were discovered, and justice was meted out to them. By -this prompt act Governor Clay, to whose wisdom is accredited by -historians the repression of the Indian troubles in Alabama in 1835–’7, -won the good-will of the savages, among whom was the great warrior, -Apothleohola. - -It was at ex-Governor Clay’s request I sent for the now aged brave. He -gravely inclined his head when I asked him whether he remembered the -Governor. I told him my father wished to know whether the chief Nea -Mathla still lived and if the brave Apothleohola was happy in his -western home. His sadness deepened as he answered, slowly, “Me happy, -some!” - -Before the close of his visit, Mr. Garrett, the interpreter, asked me if -I would not talk Indian to his charge. “You must know some!” he urged, -“having been brought up in an Indian country!” - -I knew three or four words, as it happened, and these I pronounced, to -the great chief’s amusement; for, pointing his finger at me he said, -with a half-smile, “She talk Creek!” - -A few days after this memorable call, I happened into the house of -Harper & Mitchell, then a famous drygoods emporium in the capital, just -as the old warrior was beginning to bargain, and I had the pleasure and -entertainment of assisting him to select two crêpe shawls which he -purchased for his daughters at one hundred dollars apiece! - -It was my good fortune to witness the arrival of the Japanese Embassy, -which was the outcome of Commodore Perry’s expedition to the Orient. The -horticulturist of the party, Dr. Morrow, of South Carolina, was a -frequent visitor to my parlours, and upon his return from the East -regaled me with many amusing stories of his Eastern experiences. A -special object of his visit to Japan was to obtain, if possible, some -specimens of the world-famous rice of that country, with which to -experiment in the United States. Until that period our native rice was -inferior; but, despite every effort made and inducement offered, our -Government had been unable to obtain even a kernel of the unhusked rice -which would germinate. - -During his stay in the Orient, Dr. Morrow made numberless futile -attempts to supply himself with even a stealthy pocketful of the -precious grain, and in one instance, he told us, remembering how -Professor Henry had introduced millet seed by planting so little as a -single seed that fell from the wrappings of a mummy,[11] he had offered -a purse of gold to a native for a single grain; but the Japanese only -shook his head, declining the proposition, and drew his finger -significantly across his throat to indicate his probable fate if he were -to become party to such commerce. - -On the arrival of the Japanese embassy in Washington, to the doctor’s -delight, it was found that among the presents sent by the picturesque -Emperor of Japan to the President of the United States was a hogshead of -rice. Alas! the doctor’s hopes were again dashed when the case was -opened, for the wily donors had carefully sifted their gift, and, though -minutely examined, there was not in all the myriad grains a single -kernel in which the germinal vesicle was still intact! - -The arrival of the browned Asiatics was made a gala occasion in the -capital. Half the town repaired to the Barracks to witness the -debarkation of the strange and gorgeously apparelled voyagers from the -gaily decorated vessel. Their usually yellow skins, now, after a long -sea-trip, were burned to the colour of copper; and not stranger to our -eyes would have been the sight of Paul du Chaillu’s newly discovered -gorillas, than were these Orientals as they descended the flag-bedecked -gangplanks and passed out through a corridor formed of eager people, -crowding curiously to gaze at them. Some of the Japanese had acquired a -little English during the journey to America, and, as friendly shouts of -“Welcome to America” greeted them, they nodded cordially to the people, -shaking hands here and there as they passed along, and saying, to our -great amusement, “How de!” - -Dr. Morrow had brought a gift to me from the East, a scarf of crêpe, -delicate as the blossom of the mountain laurel, the texture being very -similar to that of the petals of that bloom, and, to do honour to the -occasion, I wore it conspicuously draped over my corsage. Observing this -drapery, one of the strangers, his oily face wreathed in smiles, his -well-pomatumed top-knot meantime giving out under the heat of a -scorching sun a peculiar and never-to-be-forgotten odour, advanced -toward me as our party called their welcome, and, pointing to my -beautiful trophy, said, “Me lakee! me lakee!” Then, parting his silken -robe over his breast, he pulled out a bit of an undergarment (the -character of which it required no shrewdness to surmise) which proved -identical in weave with my lovely scarf! Holding the bit of crêpe out -toward us, the Oriental smiled complacently, as if in this discovery we -had established a kind of preliminary international _entente cordiale_! - -This same pomatum upon which I have remarked was a source of great -chagrin to the proprietor of Willard’s Hotel, who, after the departure -of his Oriental visitors, found several coats of paint and a general -repapering to be necessary ere the pristine purity of atmosphere which -had characterised that hostelry could again be depended upon not to -offend the delicate olfactories of American guests. - -During the stay of this embassy, its members attracted universal -attention as they strolled about the streets or drawing-rooms which -opened for their entertainment. Their garments were marvellously rich -and massed with elaborate ornamentation in glistening silks and gold -thread. They carried innumerable paper handkerchiefs tucked away -somewhere in their capacious sleeves, the chief purpose of these filmy -things seeming to be the removal of superfluous oil from the foreheads -of their yellow owners. A happy circumstance; for, having once so -served, the little squares were dropped forthwith wherever the Oriental -happened to be standing, whether in street or parlour, and the Asiatic -dignitary passed on innocently, ignorant alike of his social and -hygienic shortcoming. - -It was no uncommon thing during the sojourn of these strangers at the -capital, to see some distinguished Senator or Cabinet Minister stoop at -the sight of one of these gauzy trifles (looking quite like the -_mouchoir_ of some fastidious woman) and pick it up, only to throw it -from him in disgust a moment later. He was fortunate when his error -passed unseen by his confrères; for the Japanese handkerchief joke went -the round of the capital, and the victim of such misplaced gallantry was -sure to be the laughing-stock of his fellows if caught in the act. - -The most popular member of this notable commission was an Oriental who -was nicknamed “Tommy.” He had scarce arrived when he capitulated to the -charms of the American lady; in fact, he became so devoted to them that, -it was said, he had no sooner returned to Japan than he paid the price -of his devotion by the forfeit of his head in a basket! - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - THE BRILLIANT BUCHANAN ADMINISTRATION - - -The advent of Lord and Lady Napier was practically coincident with the -installation of Miss Harriet Lane at the White House, and, in each -instance, the _entrée_ of Miss Lane and Lady Napier had its share in -quickening the pace at which society was so merrily going, and in -accentuating its allurements. Miss Lane’s reign at the White House was -one of completest charm. Nature, education and experience were combined -in the President’s niece in such manner as eminently to qualify her to -meet the responsibilities that for four years were to be hers. Miss Lane -possessed great tact, and a perfect knowledge of Mr. Buchanan’s wishes. -Her education had been largely directed and her mind formed under his -careful guardianship; she had presided for several years over her -uncle’s household while Mr. Buchanan served as Minister to England. The -charms of young womanhood still lingered about her, but to these was -added an _aplomb_ rare in a woman of fifty, so that, during her -residence in it, White House functions rose to their highest degree of -elegance; to a standard, indeed, that has not since been approached save -during the occupancy of the beautiful bride of President Cleveland. - -[Illustration: - - MISS HARRIET LANE - - Mistress of the White House, 1857–61 -] - -Miss Lane’s entrance into life at the American capital, at a trying -time, served to keep the surface of society in Washington serene and -smiling, though the fires of a volcano raged in the under-political -world, and the vibrations of Congressional strife spread to the -furthermost ends of the country the knowledge that the Government was -tottering. The young Lady of the White House came to her new honours -with the prestige of Queen Victoria’s favour. In her conquest of -statesmen, and, it was added, even in feature, she was said to resemble -the Queen in her younger days. Miss Lane was a little above the medium -height, and both in colour and physique was of an English rather than an -American type—a characteristic which was also marked in the President. -The latter’s complexion was of the rosiest and freshest, and his -presence exceedingly fine, notwithstanding a slight infirmity which -caused him to hold his head to one side, and gave him a quizzical -expression that was, however, pleasing rather than the contrary. - -In figure, Miss Lane was full; her complexion was clear and brilliant. -In her cheeks there was always a rich, pretty colour, and her hair, a -bright chestnut, had a glow approaching gold upon it. She had a -columnar, full neck, upon which her head was set superbly. I thought her -not beautiful so much as handsome and healthful and good to look upon. I -told her once she was like a poet’s ideal of an English dairymaid, who -fed upon blush roses and the milk of her charges; but a lifting of the -head and a heightening of the pretty colour in her cheeks told me my -bucolic simile had not pleased her. - -Of the Napiers it may be said that no ministerial representatives from a -foreign power ever more completely won the hearts of Washingtonians than -did that delightful Scotch couple. In appearance, Lady Napier was fair -and distinctly a patrician. She was perhaps thirty years of age when she -began her two-years’ residence in the American capital. Her manner was -unaffected and simple; her retinue small. During the Napiers’ occupancy, -the British Embassy was conspicuous for its complete absence of -ostentation and its generous hospitality. Their equipages were of the -handsomest, but in no instance showy, and this at a period when -Washington streets thronged with the conspicuous vehicles affected by -the foreign Legations. Indeed, at that time the foreigner was as -distinguished for his elaborate carriages as was the Southerner for his -blooded horses.[12] - -Lady Napier’s avoidance of display extended to her gowning, which was of -the quietest, except when some great public function demanded more -elaborate preparation. On such occasions her laces—heirlooms for -centuries—were called into requisition, and coiffure and corsage blazed -with diamonds and emeralds. Her cozy at-homes were remarkable for their -informality and the ease which seemed to emanate from the hostess and -communicate itself to her guests. A quartette of handsome boys comprised -the Napier family, and often these princely little fellows, clad in -velvet costumes, assisted their mother at her afternoons, competing with -each other for the privilege of passing refreshments. At such times it -was no infrequent thing to hear Lady Napier compared with “Cornelia and -her Jewels.” - -Lord Napier was especially fond of music, and I recall an evening dinner -given at this embassy to Miss Emily Schaumberg, of Philadelphia, in -which that lady’s singing roused the host to a high pitch of enthusiasm. -Miss Schaumberg was a great beauty, as well as a finished singer, and -was most admired in the capital, though she stayed but a very short time -there. - -[Illustration: - - LADY NAPIER AND HER SONS -] - -A ball or formal dinner at the British Embassy (and these were not -infrequent) was always a memorable event. One met there the talented and -distinguished; heard good music; listened to the flow of wholesome wit; -and enjoyed delectable repasts. Early in 1859 the Napiers gave a large -ball to the young Lords Cavendish and Ashley, to which all the resident -and visiting belles were invited; and, I doubt not, both lords and -ladies were mutually delighted. Miss Corinne Acklin, who was under my -wing that season (she was a true beauty and thoroughly enjoyed her -belleship), was escorted to supper by Lord Cavendish, and, indeed, had -the lion’s share of the attentions of both of the visiting noblemen, -until our dear, ubiquitous Mrs. Crittenden appeared. That good lady was -arrayed, as usual, with remarkable splendour and frankly décolleté gown. -She approached Miss Acklin as the latter, glowing with her triumphs, -stood chatting vivaciously with her lordly admirers. “Lady” Crittenden -smilingly interrupted the trio by whispering in the young lady’s ear, -though by no means _sotto voce_: “Present me to Lord Ashley, my dear. -Ashley was my second husband’s name, you know, and maybe they were kin!” - -“I thought her so silly,” said the pouting beauty afterward. “She must -be almost sixty!” But Mrs. Crittenden’s kindly inquiry was not an -unnatural one, for, as the rich widow Ashley, whose husband’s family -connections in some branches were known to be foreign, she had been -renowned from Florida to Maine for years before she became Mrs. -Crittenden. - -At the home of the Napiers one frequently met Mr. Bayard, between whom -and the English Ambassador there existed a close intimacy. Mr. Bayard -was the most unobtrusive of men, modesty being his dominant social -characteristic. When I visited England in 1885, I had a signal testimony -to Lord Napier’s long-continued regard for the great Delaware statesman. -During my stay in London, the former Minister constituted himself -cicerone to our party, and, upon one memorable afternoon, he insisted -upon drinking a toast with us. - -“Oh, no!” I demurred. “Toasts are obsolete!” - -“Very well, then,” Lord Napier declared. “If you won’t, I will. Here’s -to your President, Mr. Cleveland! But,” he continued with a suddenly -added depth, “Were it your Chevalier Bayard, I would drink it on my -knee!” - -Upon my return to America I had the pleasure of shouting to Mr. Bayard, -then Secretary of State, a recital of this great tribute. He had now -grown very deaf, but my words reached him at last, and he smiled in a -most happy way as he asked, almost shyly, but with a warm glance in the -eye, despite his effort to remain composed, “Did Napier really say -that?” - -A feeling of universal regret spread over the capital when it became -known that the Napiers were to return to England; and the admiration of -the citizens for the popular diplomat expressed itself in the getting-up -of a farewell ball, which, in point of size, was one of the most -prodigious entertainments ever given in Washington. One group of that -great assemblage is vividly before me. In it the young James Gordon -Bennett, whom I had seen in earlier days at a fashionable water-cure -(and whose general naughtiness as a little boy defies description by my -feeble pen), danced _vis-à-vis_, a handsome, courtly youth, with his -mother and Daniel E. Sickles. - -During the Pierce administration the old-fashioned quadrilles and -cotillions, with an occasional waltz number, were danced to the -exclusion of all other Terpsichorean forms; but in the term of his -successor, the German was introduced, when Miss Josephine Ward, of New -York, afterward Mrs. John R. Thomson, of New Jersey, became prominent as -a leader. - -When I review those brilliant scenes in which passed and smiled, and -danced and chatted, the vast multitude of those who called me “friend,” -the army of those now numbered with the dead—I am lost in wonder! My -memory seems a Herculaneum, in which, let but a spade of thought be -sunk, and some long-hidden treasure is unearthed. I have referred to the -citizens of Washington. The term unrolls a scroll in which are listed -men and women renowned in those days as hostesses and entertainers. They -were a rich and exclusive, and, at the same time, a numerous class, that -gave body to the social life of the Federal City. Conspicuous among -these were Mrs. A. S. Parker and Mrs. Ogle Tayloe. The home of the -former was especially the rendezvous of the young. In the late fifties -and sixties it was a palatial residence, famous for its fine -conservatories, its spacious parlours, and glistening dancing floors. -To-day, so greatly has the city changed, that what is left of that once -luxurious home has been converted into small tenements which are rented -out for a trifle to the very poor. At the marriage of Mrs. Parker’s -daughter, Mary E., in 1860, to Congressman J. E. Bouligny, of Louisiana, -crowds thronged in these now forgotten parlours. The President himself -was present to give the pretty bride away, and half of Congress came to -wish Godspeed to their fellow-member. - -The home of Mr. and Mrs. Ogle Tayloe was a museum of things rare and -beautiful, vying in this respect with the Corcoran Mansion and the homes -of the several members of the Riggs family. One of its treasured -mementos was a cane that had been used by Napoleon Bonaparte. Mrs. -Tayloe belonged to a New York family; the Tayloes to Virginia. She was a -woman of fine taste and broad views, a very gracious hostess, who shrank -from the coarse or vulgar wherever she detected it. When Washington -became metamorphosed by the strangers who poured into its precincts -following the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln in 1861, the Tayloe Mansion -was shrouded, its pictures were covered, and its chandeliers wound with -protective wrappings. Entertaining there ceased for years. “Nor have I,” -said Mrs. Tayloe to me in 1866, “crossed the threshold of the White -House since Harriet Lane went out.” - -At the Tayloe home I often exchanged a smile and a greeting with Lilly -Price, my hostess’s niece, who, when she reached womanhood, was -distinguished first as Mrs. Hamersley, and afterward as Lillian, Duchess -of Marlborough. At that time she was a fairy-like little slip of a -schoolgirl, who, in the intervals between Fridays and Mondays, was -permitted to have a peep at the gay gatherings in her aunt’s home. Many -years afterward, being a passenger on an outgoing steamer, I learned -that Mrs. Hamersley, too, was on board; but before I could make my -presence known to her, as had been my intention, she had discovered me -and came seeking her “old friend, Mrs. Clay,” and I found that there -lingered in the manner of the brilliant society leader, Mrs. Hamersley, -much of the same bright charm that had distinguished the little Lilly -Price as she smiled down at me from her coign of vantage at the top of -the stairway of the Tayloe residence. - -But the prince of entertainers, whether citizen or official, who was -also a prince among men, the father of unnumbered benefactions and -patron of the arts, was dear Mr. Corcoran. When my thoughts turn back to -him they invariably resolve themselves into - -“And, lo! Ben Adhem’s name led all the rest” - -Throughout our long acquaintance Mr. Corcoran proved himself to be what -he wrote himself down, “one of the dearest friends of my dear husband.” -He was already a widower when, shortly after our arrival in Washington, -I met him; and, though many a well-known beauty would have been willing -to assume his distinguished name, my own conviction is that Mr. Corcoran -never thought of marriage with any woman after he committed to the grave -the body of his well-beloved wife, Louise Morris, daughter of the brave -Commodore. - -Mr. Corcoran was a tall and handsome man, even in his old age. In his -younger days his expression was the most benignant I have ever seen, -though in repose it was tinged with a peculiar mournfulness. The -banker’s weekly dinners were an institution in Washington life. During -each session he dined half of Congress, to say nothing of the foreign -representatives and the families of his fellow-citizens. - -Evening dances were also of frequent occurrence at the Corcoran Mansion, -the giving of which always seemed to me proof of the host’s large and -great nature; for Louise Corcoran, his daughter, afterward Mrs. Eustis, -was a delicate girl, who, owing to some weakness of the heart, was -debarred from taking part in the pleasures of the dance. Nevertheless, -Mr. Corcoran opened his home to the young daughters of other men, and -took pleasure in the happiness he thus gave them. The “Greek Slave,” now -a principal object of interest in the Corcoran Art Gallery, was then an -ornament to the banker’s home, and stood in an alcove allotted to it, -protected by a gilded chain. - -The hospitality of Mr. Corcoran’s home, which Senator Clay and I often -enjoyed, was a synonym for “good cheer” of the most generous and -epicurean sort. I remember an amusing meeting which my husband and I had -one evening with Secretary Cobb. It took place on the Treasury pavement. -Recognising us as we approached, the bland good humour which was -habitual to the Secretary deepened into a broad smile. - -“Ah, Clay!” he said to my husband, pulling down his vest with a look of -completest satisfaction, “Been to Corcoran’s. Johannisberg and -_tar_repin, sir! I wish,” and he gave his waistcoat another pull, -glancing up significantly at the tall stone pile before us, “I wish the -Treasury were as full as I!” - -Mr. Corcoran was famous for his Johannisberg, and I recall a dinner at -his home when, being escorted to the table by the Danish Minister, who -had somewhat the reputation of a connoisseur, our host and my companion -immediately began a discussion on the merits of this favourite wine, -which the Minister declared was of prime quality, and which, if I -remember rightly, Mr. Corcoran said was all made on the estate of the -Prince de Metternich. When the Minister announced his approval, our host -turned quietly to me and said, _sotto voce_, “I hoped it was pure. I -paid fifteen dollars for it!” - -I wish it might be said that all the lavish hospitality of that -incomparable gentleman had been appreciated with never a record to the -contrary to mar the pleasure he gave; but it must be confessed that the -host at the capital whose reputation for liberality extends so widely as -did Mr. Corcoran’s runs the risk of entertaining some others than angels -unaware. The receptions at the Corcoran residence, as at the White House -and other famous homes, were occasionally, necessarily, somewhat -promiscuous. During the sessions of Congress the city thronged with -visitors, many of them constituents of Senators and Congressmen, who -came to Washington expecting to receive, as they usually did receive, -social courtesies at the hands of their Representatives. Many kindly -hosts, aware of these continually arising emergencies, gave latitude to -Congressional folk in their invitations sufficient to meet them. - -At the Corcoran receptions, a feature of the decorations was the -elaborate festooning and grouping of growing plants, which were -distributed in profusion about the banker’s great parlours. Upon one -occasion, in addition to these natural flowers, there was displayed a -handsome _epergne_, in which was placed a most realistic bunch of -artificial blooms. These proved irresistibly tempting to an unidentified -woman visitor; for, in the course of the afternoon, Mr. Corcoran, moving -quietly among his guests, saw the stranger take hold of a bunch of these -curious ornaments and twist it violently in an effort to detach it from -the rest. At this surprising sight Mr. Corcoran stepped to the lady’s -side, and said with a gentle dignity: “I would not do that, Madam. -Please desist. The blossoms are not real. They are rare, however, and -have been brought from Europe only by the exercise of the greatest -care!” - -“Well! If they have? What’s that to you?” snapped the lady defiantly. - -“Nothing, Madam!” he responded, quietly. “Except that I am Mr. -Corcoran!” - -Fortunately, not all strangers who were so entertained were of this -unpleasant sort. Sometimes the amusement the more provincial afforded -quite out-balanced the trouble their entertainment cost our resident -representatives. I remember an occasion on which I, acting for my -husband, was called upon to show a young woman the sights of the -capital. She was the daughter of an important constituent. One morning, -as I was about to step into the calash of a friend who had called to -take me for a drive, a note was handed to me. It read: “My dear Mrs. -Clay: I hope you will recall my name and, in your generosity of heart, -will do me a favour. My daughter is passing through Washington and will -be at the —— Hotel for one day,” naming that very day! “She is very -unsophisticated and will be most grateful for anything you can do toward -showing her the sights of the capital,” etc., etc. - -As I knew I might command the services of my escort for the morning (he -was a Mr. Parrish, recently from the mines of Africa, and in Washington -for the purpose of securing our Government’s aid in pressing certain of -his claims against a foreign power), I proposed that we proceed at once -to the —— Hotel and take the young woman with us on our drive. To this a -kind consent was given, and in a short time I had sent my card to the -young stranger. I found her a typical, somewhat callow schoolgirl, -overdressed and self-conscious, who answered every question in the most -agitated manner, and who volunteered nothing in the way of a remark upon -any subject whatsoever, though she assented gaspingly to all my -questions, and went with a nervous alacrity to put on her hat when I -invited her to accompany us upon our drive. - -We began our tour by taking her directly to the Capitol. We mounted to -the dome to view the wonderful plan of the Government City; thence to -the House and the Senate Chamber, and into such rooms of state as we -might enter; and on to the Government greenhouses, with their -horticultural wonders. We paused from time to time in our walk to give -the young lady an opportunity to admire and to consider the rare things -before her—to remark upon them, if she would; but all our inviting -enthusiasm was received in dull silence. - -Failing to arouse her interest in the gardens, we next directed our -steps to the Smithsonian Institution, where corridor after corridor was -explored, in which were specimens from the obscurest comers of the -earth, monsters of the deep, and tiny denizens of the air, purchased at -fabulous sums of money, but now spread freely before the gaze of -whomsoever might desire to look upon them. The Smithsonian Institution, -at that time still a novelty even to Washingtonians, has ever been to me -a marvellous example of man’s humanity to man. I hoped it would so -reveal itself to my whilom protégée. - -Alas for my hopes! Her apathy seemed to increase. We arrived presently -at the Ornithological Department. A multitude of specimens of the -feathered tribes were here, together with their nests and eggs; still -nothing appeared to interest my guest or lessen what I was rapidly -beginning to regard as a case of hebetude, pure and simple. I was -perplexed; Mr. Parrish, it was plain, was bored when, arriving almost at -the end of the cases, to my relief the girl’s attention seemed arrested. -More, she stood literally transfixed before the nest of the great Auk, -and uttered her first comment of the day: - -“Lor’!” she said, in a tone of awestruck amazement, “What a big egg!” - - - - - CHAPTER IX - A CELEBRATED SOCIAL EVENT - - -Early in the season of 1857–’8, our friend Mrs. Senator Gwin announced -her intention of giving a ball which should eclipse every gathering of -the kind that had ever been seen in Washington. Just what its character -was to be was not yet decided; but, after numerous conferences with her -friends in which many and various suggestions were weighed, the -advocates for the fancy ball prevailed over those in favour of a -masquerade, to which, indeed, Senator Gwin himself was averse, and these -carried the day. - -Surely no hostess ever more happily realised her ambitions! When the -function was formally announced, all Washington was agog. For the -ensuing weeks men as well as women were busy consulting costumers, -ransacking the private collections in the capital, and conning precious -volumes of coloured engravings in a zealous search for original and -accurate costuming. Only the Senators who were to be present were exempt -from this anticipatory excitement, for Senator Gwin, declaring that -nothing was more dignified for members of this body than their usual -garb, refused to appear in an assumed one, and so set the example for -his colleagues. - -As the time approached, expectation ran high. Those who were to attend -were busy rehearsing their characters and urging the dressmakers and -costumers to the perfect completion of their tasks, while those who were -debarred deplored their misfortune. I recall a pathetic lament from my -friend Lieutenant Henry Myers, who was obliged to leave on the United -States ship _Marion_ on the fourth of April (the ball was to occur on -the ninth), in which he bemoaned the deprivations of a naval officer’s -life, and especially his inability to attend the coming entertainment. - -When the evening of the ball arrived there was a flutter in every -boudoir in Washington, in which preparation for the great event was -accelerated by the pleasurable nervousness of maid and mistress. Mrs. -Gwin’s costume, and those of other leading Washingtonians, it was known, -had been selected in New York, and rumours were rife on the elegant -surprises that were to be sprung upon the eventful occasion. - -With Senator Clay and me that winter were three charming cousins, the -Misses Comer, Hilliard and Withers. They impersonated, respectively, a -gypsy fortune-teller, a Constantinople girl, and “Titania”; and, to -begin at the last (as a woman may do if she will), a wonderful “Titania” -the tiny Miss Withers was, robed in innumerable spangled tulle -petticoats that floated as she danced, her gauze wings quivering like -those of a butterfly, and her unusually small feet glistening no less -brilliantly with spangles. - -“Miss Withers, yon tiny fairy,” wrote Major de Havilland, who in his -“Metrical Glance at the Fancy Ball” immortalised the evening, “as -‘Titania’ caused many a Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Miss Hilliard, whose -beauty was well set off in a costly and picturesque costume of the East, -owed her triumph of the evening to the kindness of Mrs. Joseph Holt, who -had bought the costume (which she generously placed at my cousin’s -disposal) during a tour of the Orient. So attractive was my cousin’s -charming array, and so correct in all its details, that as she entered -Mrs. Gwin’s ballroom, a party of Turkish onlookers, seeing the familiar -garb, broke into applause. - -Miss Comer, in a brilliant gown that was plentifully covered with -playing-cards, carried also a convenient pack of the same, with which -she told fortunes in a mystifying manner, for I had coached her -carefully in all the secrets of the day. I must admit she proved a -clever pupil, for she used her knowledge well whenever an opportunity -presented, to the confusion of many whose private weaknesses she most -tormentingly exposed. - -My chosen character was an unusual one, being none other than that -remarkable figure created by Mr. Shillaber, Aunt Ruthy Partington. It -was the one character assumed during that memorable evening, by one of -my sex, in which age and personal attractions were sacrificed ruthlessly -for its more complete delineation. - -I was not the only one anxious to impersonate the quaint lady from -Beanville, over whose grammatical _faux pas_ all America was amusing -itself. Ben Perley Poore no sooner heard of my selection of this -character than he begged me to yield to him, but I was not to be -deterred, having committed to heart the whole of Mrs. Partington’s -homely wit. Moreover, I had already, the previous summer, experimented -with the character while at Red Sweet Springs, where a fancy ball had -been given with much success, and I was resolved to repeat the amusing -experience at Mrs. Gwin’s ball. - -Finding me inexorable, Mr. Poore at last desisted and chose another -character, that of Major Jack Downing. He made a dashing figure, too, -and we an amusing pair, as, at the “heel of the morning,” we galloped -wildly over Mrs. Gwin’s wonderfully waxed floors. The galop, I may add -in passing, was but just introduced in Washington, and its popularity -was wonderful. - -If I dwell on that evening with particular satisfaction, the onus of -such egotism must be laid at the door of my flattering friends; for even -now, when nearly twoscore years and ten have passed, those who remain of -that merry assemblage of long ago recall it with a smile and a tender -recollection. “I can see you now, in my mind’s eye,” wrote General -George Wallace Jones, in 1894; “how you vexed and tortured dear old -President Buchanan at Doctor and Mrs. Gwin’s famous fancy party! You -were that night the observed of all observers!” And still more recently -another, recalling the scene, said, “The orchestra stopped, for the -dancers lagged, laughing convulsively at dear Aunt Ruthy!” - -Nor would I seem to undervalue by omitting the tribute in verse paid me -by the musical Major de Havilland: - - “Mark how the grace that gilds an honoured 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.[13] - · · · · · - But—denser grows the crowd round Partington; - ’T’were vain to try to name them one by one.”[14] - -It was not without some trepidation of spirit that I surrendered myself -into the hands of a professional maker-up of theatrical folk and saw him -lay in the shadows and wrinkles necessary to the character, and adjust -my front piece of grey hair into position; and, as my conception of the -quaint Mrs. Partington was that of a kindly soul, I counselled the -attendant—a Hungarian attaché of the local theatre—to make good-natured -vertical wrinkles over my brow, and not horizontal ones, which indicate -the cynical and harsh character. - -My disguise was soon so perfect that my friend Mrs. L. Q. C. Lamar, who -came in shortly after the ordeal of making-up was over, utterly failed -to recognise me in the country woman before her. She looked about the -room with a slight reserve aroused by finding herself thus in the -presence of a stranger, and asked of Emily, “Where is Mrs. Clay?” At -this my cousins burst into merry laughter, in which Mrs. Lamar joined -when assured of my identity. - -Thus convinced of the success of my costume, I was glad to comply with a -request that came by messenger from Miss Lane, for our party to go to -the White House on our way to Mrs. Gwin’s, to show her our “pretty -dresses,” a point of etiquette intervening to prevent the Lady of the -White House from attending the great ball of a private citizen. -Forthwith we drove to the Executive Mansion, where we were carried _sans -cérémonie_ to Miss Lane’s apartments. Here Mrs. Partington found herself -in the presence of her first audience. Miss Lane and the President -apparently were much amused at her verdancy, and, after a few initiative -malapropisms, some pirouettes by “Titania” and our maid from the Orient, -done to the shuffling of our little fortune-teller’s cards, we departed, -our zest stimulated, for the Gwin residence. - -My very first conquest as Mrs. Partington, as I recall it now, was of -Mrs. Representative Pendleton, whom I met on the stairs. She was -radiantly beautiful as the “Star-Spangled Banner,” symbolising the poem -by which her father, Francis Scott Key, immortalised himself. As we met, -her face broke into a smile of delicious surprise. - -“How inimitable!” she cried. “Who is it? No! you shan’t pass till you -tell me!” And when I laughingly informed her in Aunt Ruthy’s own -vernacular, she exclaimed: “What! Mrs. Clay? Why! there isn’t a vestige -of my friend left!” - -My costume was ingeniously devised. It consisted of a plain black alpaca -dress and black satin apron; stockings as blue as a certain pair of -indigos I have previously described, and large, loose-fitting buskin -shoes. Over my soft grey front piece I wore a high-crowned cap, which, -finished with a prim ruff, set closely around the face. On the top was a -diminutive bow of narrowest ribbon, while ties of similarly economical -width secured it under the chin. My disguise was further completed by a -pair of stone-cutter’s glasses with nickel rims, which entirely -concealed my eyes. A white kerchief was drawn primly over my shoulders, -and was secured by a huge medallion pin, in which was encased the -likeness, as large as the palm of my hand, of “my poor Paul.” - -On my arm I carried a reticule in which were various herbs, elecampane -and catnip, and other homely remedies, and a handkerchief in brilliant -colours on which was printed with fearless and emphatic type the -Declaration of Independence. This bit of “stage property” was used -ostentatiously betimes, especially when Aunt Ruthy’s tears were called -forth by some sad allusion to her lost “Paul.” In my apron pocket was an -antique snuff-box which had been presented to me, as I afterward told -Senator Seward, by the Governor of Rhode Island, “a lover of the -Kawnstitution, Sir.” - -But, that nothing might be lacking, behind me trotted my boy “Ike,” dear -little “Jimmy” Sandidge (son of the member from Louisiana), aged ten, -who for days, in the secrecy of my parlour, I had drilled in the aid he -was to lend me. He was a wonderful little second, and the fidelity to -truth in his make-up was so amusing that I came near to losing him at -the very outset. His ostentatiously darned stockings and patched -breeches, long since outgrown, were a surprising sight in the great -parlours of our host, and Senator Gwin, seeing the little urchin who, he -thought, had strayed in from the street, took him by the shoulder and -was about to lead him out when some one called to him, “Look out, -Senator! You’ll be getting yourself into trouble! That’s Aunt Ruthy’s -boy, Ike!” - -Mrs. Partington was not the only Yankee character among that throng of -princes and queens, and dames of high degree, for Mr. Eugene Baylor, of -Louisiana, impersonated a figure as amusing—that of “Hezekiah Swipes,” -of Vermont. He entered into his part with a zest as great as my own, and -kept “a-whittlin’ and a-whittlin’ jes’ as if he was ter hum!” For -myself, I enjoyed a peculiar exhilaration in the thought that, despite -my amusing dress, the belles of the capital (and many were radiant -beauties, too) gave way before Aunt Ruthy and her nonsense. As I -observed this my zeal increased, and not even Senator Clay, who feared -my gay spirits would react and cause me to become exhausted, could -prevail upon me to yield a serious word or one out of my character -throughout the festal night. If I paid for it, as I did, by several -days’ retirement, I did not regret it, since the evening itself went off -so happily. - -Mrs. Gwin, as the Queen of Louis Quatorze, a regal lady, stood receiving -her guests with President Buchanan beside her as Aunt Ruthy entered, -knitting industriously, but stopping ever and anon to pick up a stitch -which the glory of her surroundings caused her to drop. Approaching my -hostess and her companion, I first made my greetings to Mrs. Gwin, with -comments on her “invite,” and wondered, looking up at the windows, if -she “had enough venerators to take off the execrations of that large -assemblage”; but, when she presented Mrs. Partington to the President, -“Lor!” exclaimed that lady, “Air you ralely ‘Old Buck’? I’ve often heern -tell o’ Old Buck up in Beanville, but I don’t see no horns!” - -“No, Madam,” gravely responded the President, assuming for the nonce the -cynic, “I’m not a married man!” - -It was at this memorable function that Lord Napier (who appeared in the -character of Mr. Hammond, the first British Minister to the United -States) paid his great tribute to Mrs. Pendleton. Her appearance on that -occasion was lovely. She was robed in a white satin gown made dancing -length, over which were rare lace flounces. A golden eagle with wings -outstretched covered her corsage, and from her left shoulder floated a -long tricolour sash on which, in silver letters, were the words “_E -Pluribus Unum_.” A crown of thirteen flashing stars was set upon her -well-poised head, and a more charming interpretation in dress of the -national emblem could scarcely have been devised. - -Ah! but that was a remarkable throng! My memory, as I recall that night, -seems like a long chain, of which, if I strike but a single link, the -entire length rattles! Beautiful Thérèse Chalfant Pugh as “Night”—what a -vision she was, and what a companion picture Mrs. Douglas, who, as -“Aurora,” was radiant in the pale tints of the morning! There were mimic -Marchionesses, and Kings of England and France and Prussia; White Ladies -of Avenel and Dukes of Buckingham, Maids of Athens and Saragossa, -gypsies and fairies, milkmaids, and even a buxom barmaid; Antipholus -himself and the Priestess Norma, Pierrots and Follies, peasants and -Highland chiefs moving in heterogeneous fashion in the great ballrooms. - -Barton Key, as an English hunter, clad in white satin breeks, -cherry-velvet jacket, and jaunty cap, with lemon-coloured high-top -boots, and a silver bugle (upon which he blew from time to time) hung -across his breast, was a conspicuous figure in that splendid happy -assemblage, and Mlle. de Montillon was a picture in the Polish character -costume in which her mother had appeared when she danced in a Polonaise -before the Empress at the Tuilleries. - -Sir William Gore Ouseley, the “Knight of the Mysterious Mission,” -attracted general attention in his character of Knight Commander of the -Bath. The Baroness de Staeckl and Miss Cass were models of elegance as -French Court beauties, and Mrs. Jefferson Davis as Mme. de Staël dealt -in caustic repartee as became her part, delivered now in French and -again in broken English, to the annihilation of all who had the temerity -to cross swords with her. - -Among the guests “our furrin relations” were numerously represented, and -I remember well the burst of laughter which greeted Mrs. Partington when -she asked Lady Napier, with a confidential and sympathetic air, “whether -the Queen had got safely over her last encroachment.” Incidentally she -added some good advice on the bringing up of children, illustrating its -efficacy by pointing to Ike, whom _she_ “was teaching religiously both -the lethargy and the cataplasm!” - -My memories of Mrs. Gwin’s ball would be incomplete did I not mention -two or more of Aunt Ruthy’s escapades during the evening. The rumour of -my intended impersonation had aroused in the breast of a certain -Baltimorean youth the determination to disturb, “to break up Mrs. Clay’s -composure.” I heard of the young man’s intention through some friend -early in the evening, and my mother-wit, keyed as it was to a pitch of -alertness, promptly aided me to the overthrow of the venturesome hero. -He came garbed as a newsboy, and, nature having provided him with lusty -lungs, he made amusing announcements as to the attractions of his wares, -at the most unexpected moments. Under his arm he carried a bundle of -papers which he hawked about in a most professional manner. At an -unfortunate moment he walked hurriedly by as if on his rounds, and -stopping beside me he called out confidently, “_Baltimore Sun!_ Have a -‘_Sun_,’ Madam?” - -[Illustration: - - MRS. JEFFERSON DAVIS - - of Mississippi -] - -“Tut, tut! Man!” said Mrs. Partington, horrified. “How dare you ask such -a question of a virtuous female widow woman?” Then bursting into sobs -and covering her eyes with the broad text of the “Declaration of -Independence,” she cried, “What would my poor Paul think of that?” To -the hilarious laughter of those who had gathered about us, the routed -hero retreated hastily, and, for the remainder of the evening, -restrained by a wholesome caution, he gave Aunt Ruthy a wide berth. - -Such kind greetings as came to this unsophisticated visitor to the ball! -“You’re the sweetest-looking old thing!” exclaimed “Lushe” Lamar before -he had penetrated my disguise. “I’d just like to buss you!” - -I had an amusing _rencontre_ with Senator Seward that evening. That this -pronounced Northerner had made numerous efforts in the past to meet me I -was well aware; but my Southern sentiments were wholly disapproving of -him, and I had resisted even my kinder-hearted husband’s plea, and had -steadily refused to permit him to be introduced to me. “Not even to save -the Nation could I be induced to eat his bread, to drink his wine, to -enter his domicile, to _speak_ to him!” I once impetuously declared, -when the question came up in private of attending some function which -the Northern Senator was projecting. - -At Mrs. Gwin’s ball, however, I noticed Mr. Seward hovering in my -neighbourhood, and I was not surprised when he, “who could scrape any -angle to attain an end,” as my cousin Miss Comer said so aptly, finding -none brave enough to present him, took advantage of my temporary merging -into Mr. Shillaber’s character, and presented himself to “Mrs. -Partington.” He was very courteous, if a little uncertain of his -welcome, as he approached me, and said, “Aunt Ruthy, can’t I, too, have -the pleasure of welcoming you to the Federal City? May I have a pinch of -snuff with you?” It was here that Mrs. Partington reminded him that the -donor of her snuff-box “loved the Kawnstitewtion.” I gave him the snuff -and with it a number of Partingtonian shots about his opinions -concerning “Slave Oligawky,” which were fearless even if “funny,” as the -Senator seemed to find them, and I passed on. This was my first and only -meeting with Mr. Seward.[15] - -I was so exhilarated at the success of my rôle that I had scarce seen -our cousins during the evening (I am sure they thought me an ideal -chaperone), though I caught an occasional glimpse of the gauzy-winged -“Titania,” and once I saw the equally tiny Miss Comer go whirling down -the room in a wild galop with the tall Lieutenant Scarlett, of Her -Majesty’s Guards, who was conspicuous in a uniform as rubescent as his -patronymic. And I recall seeing an amusing little bit of human nature in -connection with our hostess, which showed how even the giving of this -superb entertainment could not disturb Mrs. Gwin’s perfect oversight of -her household. - -The “wee sma’ hours” had come, and I had just finished complimenting my -hostess on her “cold hash and _cider_,” when the butler stepped up to -her and, in discreet pantomime, announced that the wine had given out. - -Then she, Queen for the nonce of the most magnificent of the Bourbons, -did step aside and, lifting her stiff moiré skirt and its costly train -of cherry satin (quilled with white, it was), did extract from some -secret pocket the key to the wine cellar, and pass it right royally to -her menial. This functionary shortly afterward returned and rendered it -again to her, when, by the same deft manipulation of her rich -petticoats, the implement was replaced in its repository, and the Queen -once more emerged to look upon her merrymakers. - -For years Mrs. Gwin’s fancy ball has remained one of the most brilliant -episodes in the annals of ante-bellum days in the capital. For weeks -after its occurrence the local photograph and daguerreotype galleries -were thronged with patrons who wished to be portrayed in the costumes -they had worn upon the great occasion; and a few days after the ball, -supposing I would be among that number, Mr. Shillaber sent me a request -for my likeness, adding that he “would immortalise me.” But, flushed -with my own success, and grown daring by reason of it, I replied that, -being _hors de combat_, I could not respond as he wished. I thanked him -for his proffer, however, and reminded him that the public had -anticipated him, and that by their verdict I had already immortalised -myself! - - - - - CHAPTER X - EXODUS OF SOUTHERN SOCIETY FROM THE FEDERAL CITY - - -In the winter of ’9 and ’0 it became obvious to everyone that gaiety at -the capital was waning. Aside from public receptions, now become -palpably perfunctory, only an occasional wedding served to give social -zest to the rapidly sobering Congressional circles. Ordinary “at-homes” -were slighted. Women went daily to the Senate gallery to listen to the -angry debates on the floor below. When belles met they no longer -discussed furbelows and flounces, but talked of forts and fusillades. -The weddings of my cousin, Miss Hilliard, in 1859, and of Miss Parker, -in 1860, already described, were the most notable matrimonial events of -those closing days of Washington’s splendour. - -To Miss Hilliard’s marriage to Mr. Hamilton Glentworth, of New York, -which occurred at mid-day at old St. John’s, and to the reception that -followed, came many of the Senatorial body and dignitaries of the -capital. A procession of carriages drawn by white horses accompanied the -bridal party to the church, where the celebrated Bishop Doane, of New -Jersey, performed the ceremony. The bride’s gown and that of one of the -bridesmaids were “gophered,” this being the first appearance of the new -French style of trimming in the capital. One of the bridesmaids, I -remember, was gowned in pink crêpe, which was looped back with coral, -then a most fashionable garniture; the costume of another was of -embroidered tulle caught up with bunches of grapes; and each of the -accompanying ushers—such were the fashions of the day—wore inner vests -of satin, embroidered in colour to match the gown of the bridesmaid -allotted to his charge. - -Notable artists appeared in the capital, among them Charlotte Cushman, -and there were stately, not to say stiff and formal, dinners at the -British Embassy, now presided over by Lord Lyons. This Minister’s -arrival was looked upon as a great event. Much gossip had preceded it, -and all the world was agog to know if it were true that feminine-kind -was debarred from his menage. It was said that his personally chartered -vessel had conveyed to our shores not only the personages comprising his -household, but also his domestics and skilful gardeners, and even the -growing plants for his conservatory. It was whispered that when his -Lordship entertained ladies his dinner-service was to be of solid gold; -that when gentlemen were his guests they were to dine from the costliest -of silver plate. Moreover, the gossips at once set about predicting that -the new-comer would capitulate to the charms of some American woman, and -speculation was already rife as to who would be the probable bride. - -Lord Lyons began his American career by entertaining at dinner the -Diplomatic Corps, and afterward the officials of our country, in the -established order of precedence, the Supreme Court, the Cabinet, and -Senate circles leading, according to custom. His Lordship’s invitations -being sent out alphabetically, Senator Clay and I received a foreign and -formidable card to the first Senatorial dinner given by the newly -arrived diplomat. My husband’s appearance at this function, I remember, -was particularly distinguished. He was clad in conventional black, and -wore with it a cream-coloured vest of brocaded velvet; yet, -notwithstanding my wifely pride in him, we had what almost amounted to a -disagreement on our way to the famous feast. We drove to Lord Lyons’s -domicile with Senator and Mrs. Crittenden, and my perturbation furnished -them with much amusement. For some reason or for lack of one I was -obsessed by a suspicion that the new Minister, probably being unaware of -the state of feeling which continually manifested itself between -Northern and Southern people in the capital, might assign to me, as my -escort to table, some pronounced Republican. - -“What would you do in that event?” asked Senator Clay. - -“Do?” I asked, hotly and promptly. “I would refuse to accept him!” - -My husband’s voice was grave as he said, “I hope there will be no need!” - -Arriving at the Embassy, I soon discovered that, as had been rumoured, -the maid ordinarily at hand to assist women guests had been replaced by -a fair young English serving-man, who took charge of my wraps, and knelt -to remove my overshoes with all the deftness of a practised _femme de -chambre_. These preliminaries over, I rejoined my husband in the -corridor, and together we proceeded to our host, and, having greeted -him, turned aside to speak to other friends. - -Presently Senator Brown, Mr. Davis’s confrère from Mississippi, made his -way to me. Senator Brown was one of the brightest men in Congress. As he -approached, my misgivings vanished and I smiled as I said, “Ah! you are -to be my gallant this evening!” - -“Not so,” replied he. “I’m to go in with Mme. ——, and shall be compelled -to smell ‘camphired’ cleaned gloves for hours!” - -[Illustration: - - LORD LYONS - - British Ambassador to the United States -] - -He left my side. Presently he was replaced by Mr. Eames, ex-Minister to -Venezuela. Again I conjectured him to be the man who was destined to -escort me; but, after the exchange of a few words, he, too, excused -himself, and I saw him take his place at the side of his rightful -partner. In this way several others came and went, and still I stood -alone. I wondered what it all meant, and gave a despairing look at my -husband, who, I knew, was rapidly becoming as perturbed as was I. -Presently the massive doors slid apart, and a voice proclaimed, “Dinner, -my Lord!” Now my consternation gave way to overwhelming surprise and -confusion, for our host, glancing inquiringly around the circle, stepped -to my side, and, bowing profoundly, offered his arm with, “I have the -honour, Madam!” Once at the table, I quickly regained my composure, -assisted, perhaps, to this desirable state, by a feeling of triumph as I -caught from across the table the amused glance of my erstwhile -companion, Mrs. Crittenden. - -Lord Lyons’s manner was so unconstrained and easy that I soon became -emboldened to the point of suggesting to him the possibility of some -lovely American consenting to become “Lyonised.” His Lordship’s prompt -rejoinder and quizzical look quite abashed me, and brought me swiftly to -the conclusion that I would best let this old lion alone; for he said, -“Ah, Madam! do you remember what Uncle Toby said to his nephew when he -informed him of his intended marriage?” Then, without waiting for my -assent, he added, “Alas! alas! quoth my Uncle Toby, you will never sleep -slantindicularly in your bed more!” - -I had an adventure at a ball in 1859, which, though unimportant in -itself, turns a pleasing side-light upon one of the more courteous of -our political opponents. A dance had been announced, the music had -begun, and the dancers had already taken their places, when my partner -was called aside suddenly. Something occurred to detain him longer than -he had expected, and the time for us to lead having arrived, there was a -call for the missing gallant, who was nowhere to be seen. I looked about -helplessly, wondering what I was to do, when Anson Burlingame, who was -standing near, seeing my dilemma, stepped promptly forward, and, taking -my hand in most courtly manner, he said, “Pardon me, Madam!” and led me, -bewildered, through the first steps of the dance! - -Lost in amazement at his courtesy, I had no time to demur, and, when we -returned to my place, the delinquent had reappeared. Bowing politely, -Mr. Burlingame withdrew. The circumstance caused quite a ripple among -those who witnessed it. Those who knew me best were amused at my -docility in allowing myself thus to be led through the dance by a rank -Abolitionist; but many were the comments made upon “Mr. Burlingame’s -audacity in daring to speak to Mrs. Clement Clay!” - -Such were the scenes, both grave and gay, that preceded what was surely -the saddest day of my life—January 21, 1861—when, after years of -augmenting dissension between the Sections, I saw my husband take his -portfolio under his arm and leave the United States Senate Chamber in -company with other no less earnest Southern Senators. For weeks the -pretense of amity between parties had ceased, and social formalities no -longer concealed the gaping chasm that divided them. When the members of -each met, save for a glare of defiance or contempt, each ignored the -other, or, if they spoke, it was by way of a taunt or a challenge. Every -sentence uttered in Senate or House was full of hot feeling born of many -wrongs and long-sustained struggle. For weeks, men would not leave their -seats by day or by night, lest they might lose their votes on the vital -questions of the times. At the elbows of Senators, drowsy with long -vigils, pages stood, ready to waken them at the calling of the roll. - -Not a Southern woman but felt, with her husband, the stress of that -session, the sting of the wrongs the Southern faction of that great body -was struggling to right. For forty years the North and the South had -striven for the balance of power, and the admission of each new State -was become the subject of bitter contention. There was, on the part of -the North, a palpable envy of the hold the South had retained so long -upon the Federal City, whether in politics or society, and the -resolution to quell us, by physical force, was everywhere obvious. The -face of the city was lowering, and some of the North agreed with us of -the South that a nation’s suicide was about to be precipitated. - -Senator Clay, than whom the South has borne no more self-sacrificing -son, nor the Nation a truer patriot, was an ill man as that “winter of -national agony and shame” (_vide_ the Northern witness, Judge Hoar) -progressed. The incertitude of President Buchanan was alarming; but the -courage of our people to enter upon what they knew must be a defense of -everything they held dear in State and family institution rose higher -and higher to meet each advancing danger. The seizure by South Carolina -of United States forts that lay, a menace, within her very doorway, -acted like a spur upon the courage of the South. - -“We have been hard at work all day,” wrote a defender of our cause from -Morris Island, January 17, 1861, “helping to make, with our own hands, a -battery, and moving into place some of the biggest guns you ever saw, -and all immediately under the guns of old Anderson.[16] He fired a shell -down the Bay this afternoon to let us know what he could do. But he had -a little idea what _we_ can do from his observation of our firing the -other morning,[17] at the ‘_Star of the West_,’ all of which he saw, and -he thought we had ruined the ship, as Lieutenant Hall represented in the -city that morning.... We learn to-day that in Washington they are trying -to procrastinate. That does not stop our most earnest preparation, for -we are going to work all night to receive from the steamboat three more -enormous guns and place them ready to batter down Fort Sumter, and we -can do it. We hope the other points are as forward in their preparations -as we are. If so, we can _smoke him out_ in a week. We are nearest to -him, and he may fire on us to-night, but if he were to kill everybody in -the State, and only one woman was left, and she should bear a child, -that child would be a secessionist. Our women are even more spirited -than we are, though, bless the dear creatures, I have not seen one in a -long time.” - -Yet, despite these buoyant preparations for defense, there was a -lingering sentiment among us that caused us to deplore the necessity -that urged our men to arms. My husband was exceedingly depressed at the -futility of the Peace Commission, for he foresaw that the impending -conflict would be bloody and ruinous. One incident that followed the -dissolution of that body impressed itself ineradicably upon my mind. -Just after its close ex-President Tyler came to our home. He was now an -old man and very attenuated. He was completely undone at the failure of -the Peace men, and tears trickled down his cheeks as he said to Senator -Clay, with indescribable sadness, “Clay, the end has come!” - -In those days men eyed each other warily and spoke guardedly, save to -the most tried and proved friend. One evening early in 1861, Commander -Semmes, U. S. N., called upon us, and happened to arrive just as another -naval officer, whose name I have now forgotten, was announced. The -surprise that spread over the faces of our visitors when they beheld -each other was great, but Senator Clay’s and my own was greater, as hour -after hour was consumed in obvious constraint. Neither of the officers -appeared to be at ease, yet for hours neither seemed to desire to -relieve the situation by taking his departure. Midnight had arrived ere -our now forgotten guest rose and bade us “good night.” Then Commander -Semmes hastened to unbosom himself. He had resolved to out-sit the other -gentleman if it took all night. - -“As my Senator, Mr. Clay,” he said, “I want to report to you my decision -on an important matter. I have resolved to hand in my resignation to the -United States Government, and tender my services to that of the -Confederate States. I don’t know what the intention of my brother -officer is, but I could take no risk with him,” he added. Many a scene -as secret, as grave, and as “treasonable,” took place in those last -lowering weeks. - -I have often mused upon the impression held by the younger generation of -those who were adverse to the South, viz.: that she “was prepared for -the war” into which we were precipitated practically by the admission of -Kansas; that our men, with treasonable foresight, had armed themselves -individually and collectively for resistance to our guileless and -unsuspicious oppressors. Had this been true, the result of that terrible -civil strife would surely have been two nations where now we have one. -To the last, alas! too few of our people realised that war was -inevitable. Even our provisional Secretary of War for the Confederate -States,[18] early in ’1, publicly prophesied that, should fighting -actually begin, it would be over in three months! It must be apparent to -thinkers that such gay dreamers do not form deep or “deadly plots.” - -Personally I knew of but one man whose ferocity led him to collect and -secrete weapons of warfare. He was Edmund Ruffin, of Virginia, with whom -I entered into collusion. For months my parlour was made an arsenal for -the storing of a dozen lengthy spears. They were handsome weapons, made, -I suspect, for some decorative purpose, but I never knew their origin -nor learned of their destination. On them were engraved these -revolutionary words: - -“Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck the flower of safety.” - -As Senator Clay’s unequivocal position as a Southern man was everywhere -understood, our parlours were frequently the gathering-place of -statesmen from our own section and such others as were friendly to our -people and believed in our right to defend the principles we had -maintained since the administration of the first President of the United -States. Among the last mentioned were Senators Pendleton and Pugh, and -the ardent member of Congress from Ohio, Mr. Vallandigham. Often the -“dread arms” deposited by Mr. Ruffin proved a subject of conjecture and -mirth, with which closed some weightier conversation. As the day drew -near, however, for the agreed upon withdrawal of our Senators, the -tension under which all laboured made jests impossible, and keyed every -heart to the utmost solemnity. Monday, January 21st, was the day -privately agreed upon by a number of Senators for their public -declaration of secession; but, as an example of the uncertainty which -hobbled our men, until within a day or two of the appointed time several -still awaited the instructions from their States by which their final -act must be governed. Early on Sunday morning, January 20th, my husband -received from a distinguished colleague the following letter: - - “WASHINGTON, Saturday night, January 19, 1861. - - “_My Dear Clay_: By telegraph I am informed that the copy of the - ordinance of secession of my State was sent by mail _to-day_, one to - each of two branches of representation, and that _my_ immediate - presence at —— is required. It thus appears that —— was expected to - present the paper in the Senate and some one of the members to do so - in the House. All have gone save me, I, alone, and I am called away. - _We have piped and they would not dance, and now the devil may - care._ - - “I am grieved to hear that you are sick, the more so that I cannot - go to you. God grant your attack may be slight.” - -And now the morning dawned of what all knew would be a day of awful -import. I accompanied my husband to the Senate, and everywhere the -greeting or gaze of absorbed, unrecognising men and women was serious -and full of trouble. The galleries of the Senate, which hold, it is -estimated, one thousand people, were packed densely, principally with -women, who, trembling with excitement, awaited the denouement of the -day. As, one by one, Senators David Yulee, Stephen K. Mallory, Clement -C. Clay, Benjamin Fitzpatrick, and Jefferson Davis rose, the emotion of -their brother Senators and of us in the galleries increased; and, when I -heard the voice of my husband, steady and clear, notwithstanding his -illness, declare in that Council Chamber: - -“Mr. President, I rise to announce that the people of Alabama have -adopted an ordinance whereby they withdraw from the Union, formed under -a compact styled the United States, resume the powers delegated to it, -and assume their separate station as a sovereign and independent -people,” it seemed as if the blood within me congealed. - -As each Senator, speaking for his State, concluded his solemn -renunciation of allegiance to the United States, women grew hysterical -and waved their handkerchiefs, encouraging them with cries of sympathy -and admiration. Men wept and embraced each other mournfully. At times -the murmurs among the onlookers grew so deep that the Sergeant-at-Arms -was ordered to clear the galleries; and, as each speaker took up his -portfolio and gravely left the Senate Chamber, sympathetic shouts rang -from the assemblage above. Scarcely a member of that Senatorial body but -was pale with the terrible significance of the hour. There was -everywhere a feeling of suspense, as if, visibly, the pillars of the -temple were being withdrawn and the great Government structure was -tottering; nor was there a patriot on either side who did not deplore -and whiten before the evil that brooded so low over the nation. - -When Senator Clay concluded his speech, many of his colleagues, among -them several from Republican ranks, came forward to shake hands with -him. For months his illness had been a theme of public regret and -apprehension among our friends. “A painful rumour reached me this -morning,” wrote Joseph Holt to me late in 1860, “in relation to the -health of your excellent husband.... While I hope sincerely this is an -exaggeration, yet the apprehensions awakened are so distressing, that I -cannot resist the impulse of my heart to write you in the trust that -your reply will relieve me from all anxiety. It is my earnest prayer -that a life adorned by so many graces may be long spared to yourself, so -worthy of its devotion, and to our country, whose councils so need its -genius and patriotism.... Believe me most sincerely your friend, Joseph -Holt.” - -In fact, the news of Senator Clay’s physical sufferings had been -telegraphed far and near, and, merged with the fear for our country, -there was, in my own heart, great anxiety and sadness for him. Our mail -was full of inquiries as to his welfare, many from kindly strangers and -even from States that were bitterly inimical to our cause. One of these -came from the far North, from one who signed himself, “A plain New -Hampshire minister, Henry E. Parker.” Nor can I refrain from quoting a -portion of his letter, which bears the never-to-be-forgotten date of -January 21st, 1861. He wrote as follows: - -“I am utterly appalled at this projected dissolution of our Government. -To lose, to throw away our place and name among the nations of the -earth, seems not merely like the madness of suicide, but the very -blackness of annihilation. If this thing shall be accomplished, it will -be, to my view, the crime of the nineteenth century; the partition of -Poland will be nothing in comparison.... - -[Illustration: - - CLEMENT C. CLAY, JR. - - United States Senator, 1853–61 -] - -“Born and educated as we are at the North, sensible men at the South -cannot wonder at the views we entertain, nor do sensible men at the -North think it strange that, born and educated as the Southerner is, he -should feel very differently from the Northerner in some things; but why -should not all these difficulties sink before our common love for our -common country?” - -Why, indeed! Yet the cry of “disunion” had been heard for forty -years[19] and still our Southern men had forborne, until the party -belligerents, whose encroachments had now, at last, become unbearable, -had begun to look upon our protests as it were a mere cry of “wolf.” Of -those crucial times, and of that dramatic scene in the United States -Senate, no Southern pen has written in permanent words; and such -Northern historians as Messrs. Nicolay and Hay elide, as if their -purpose were to obscure, the deliberate and public withdrawal of those -representatives, our martyrs to their convictions, their institutions -and their children’s heritages; and would so bury them under the -sweeping charges of “conspiracy” and “treason” that the casual reader of -the future is not likely to realise with what candour to their -opponents, with what dignity to themselves, out of what loyalty to their -States, and yet again with what grief for the nation and sacrifice of -life-time associations, the various seceding Senators went out at last -from that august body! - -For months the struggle of decades had been swiftly approximating to its -bloody culmination. Our physical prosperity, no less than the social -security we enjoyed, had caused us to become objects of envy to the -rough elements in the new settlements, especially of the Northwest.[20] -So inimical was the North to us that though the South was the treasury -of the nation; though she had contributed from her territory the very -land upon which the Federal City was built; though her sons ranked among -the most brilliant of whom the young Republic could boast—it was -impossible for the South to get an appropriation of even a few hundred -thousand dollars, to provide for the building of a lighthouse on that -most dangerous portion of the Atlantic coast, the shore of North -Carolina! - -An era of discovery and expansion preceded the outbreak of the war. By -means of costly embassies to the Eastern countries, new avenues of -commerce had been opened. The acquisition of Cuba and of the Mexican -States became an ambition on the part of Mr. Buchanan, who was anxious -to repeat during his Administration the successes of his predecessors, -Presidents Fillmore and Pierce. So long ago as ’5, the question of the -purchase of the island of St. Thomas from the Danish Government was a -subject that called for earnest diplomacy on the part of Mr. Raasloff, -the Danish Minister; and the gold fever which made Northern adventurers -mad carried many to rifle the distant Pacific coast of its treasures. By -this time the cotton gin had demonstrated its great worth, and the greed -of acquisition saw in our cotton fields a new source of envy, for we had -no need to dig or to delve—we shook our cotton plants and golden dollars -dropped from them. Had the gathering of riches been our object in life, -men of the South had it in their power to have rivalled the wealth of -the fabled Midas; but, as was early observed by a statesman who never -was partisan, the “Southern statesmen went for the honours and the -Northern for the benefits.” In consequence, wrote Mr. Benton (1839), -“the North has become rich upon the benefits of the Government; the -South has grown lean upon its honours.” - -From the hour of this exodus of Senators from the official body, all -Washington seemed to change. Imagination can scarcely conjure up an -atmosphere at once so ominous and so sad. Each step preparatory to our -departure was a pang. Carriages and messengers dashed through the -streets excitedly. Farewells were to be spoken, and many, we knew, would -be final. Vehicles lumbered on their way to wharf or station filled with -the baggage of departing Senators and Members. The brows of -hotel-keepers darkened with misgivings, for the disappearance from the -Federal City of the families of Congressional representatives from the -fifteen slave-holding States made a terrible thinning out of its -population; and, in the strange persons of the politicians, already -beginning to press into the capital, there was little indication that -these might prove satisfactory substitutes for us who were withdrawing. - -“How shall I commence my letter to you?” wrote the wife of Colonel -Philip Phillips to me a month or two after we had left Washington. “What -can I tell you, but of despair, of broken hearts, of ruined fortunes, -the sobs of women, and sighs of men!... I am still in this _horrible -city_ ... but, distracted as I am at the idea of being forced to remain, -we feel the hard necessity of keeping quiet.... For days I saw nothing -but despairing women leaving [Washington] suddenly, their husbands -having resigned and sacrificed their all for their beloved States. You -would not know this God-forsaken city, our beautiful capital, with all -its artistic wealth, desecrated, disgraced with Lincoln’s low soldiery. -The respectable part [of the soldiers] view it also in the same spirit, -for one of the Seventh Regiment told me that never in his life had he -seen such ruin going on as is now enacted in the halls of our once -honoured Capitol! I cannot but think that the presentiment that the -South would wish to keep Washington must have induced this desecration -of all that should have been respected by the mob in power.... The Gwins -are the only ones left of our intimates, and Mrs. G—— is packed up ready -to leave. Poor thing! her eyes are never without tears.... There are -30,000 troops here. Think of it! They go about the avenue insulting -women and taking property without paying for it.... Such are the men -waged to subjugate us of the South.... We hear constantly from -Montgomery. Everything betokens a deep, abiding faith in the cause. - -“I was told that those _giant_ intellects, the Blairs, who are acting -under the idea of being second Jacksons, wishing to get a good officer -to do some of their dirty work (destroying public property), wished -Colonel Lee sent for. ‘Why, he has resigned!’ ‘Then tell Magruder!’ ‘He -has resigned, too.’ ‘General Joe Johnston, then!’—‘He, too, has gone -out!’ ‘Smith Lee?’ Ditto! - -“‘Good God!’ said Blair. ‘Have all our good officers left us?’ - -“I hear these Blairs are at the bottom of all this war policy. Old -Blair’s country place was threatened, and his family, including the -fanatical Mrs. Lee, had to fly into the city. This lady was the one who -said to me that ‘she wished the North to be deluged with the blood of -the South ere Lincoln should yield one iota!’ - -“Do not believe all you hear about the Northern sympathy for Lincoln. -The Democrats still feel for the South. If Congress does not denounce -Lincoln for his unlawful and unconstitutional proceedings, I shall begin -to think we have no country!” - - - - - CHAPTER XI - WAR IS PROCLAIMED - - -Upon leaving the Federal capital we proceeded to the home of Senator -Clay’s cousin, Doctor Thomas Withers, at Petersburg, Va. My husband’s -health, already feeble, had suffered greatly from the months of strife -which culminated in the scenes through which we had just passed, and we -had scarcely arrived in Petersburg when a serious collapse occurred. Mr. -Clay now became so weakened that fears were reiterated by all who saw -him that he could not survive. I was urged to take him at once to -Minnesota, the attending physicians all agreeing that this was the one -experiment in which lay a chance for prolonging his life. In those days -the air of that far western State was supposed to have a phenomenally -curative effect upon the victims of asthma, from which for years Mr. -Clay had suffered an almost “daily death.” In the present acute attack, -his body sick and his heart sore from our late ordeals, fearful of the -danger of delay, I at once put into execution plans for the northward -trip in which lay even a slender hope for his recovery. No one who had -witnessed my husband’s dignified withdrawal from the Senate, who had -heard his firm utterance of what was at once a challenge to arms and a -warning that Alabama would defend her decision to stand alone, would -have recognised the invalid now struggling for his life against the -dread disease. He was extremely emaciated. - -“When I last saw you,” wrote John T. Morgan[21] from camp, some months -later, “your health scarcely justified the hope that you would become -one of the first Senators in a new Confederacy. I was grieved that when -we came to meet the great struggle in Alabama you were not permitted to -aid us further than by your counsels and recorded opinions. I rejoice -that you are again our representative in a Senate where the South is not -to be defended against foes within her own bosom, but to reap the -advantage of the wisdom and experience of her own statesmen.” - -My brother-in-law, Hugh Lawson Clay, afterward Colonel on the staff of -our friend, General E. Kirby Smith, hurried, therefore, from Alabama to -accompany us upon the slow journey made necessary by Mr. Clay’s extreme -weakness. - -In due time we arrived at the International Hotel, St. Paul. Here, -though our stay was short, we had an unpleasant experience, a single -one, due to sectional feeling. Having safely bestowed Mr. Clay in his -room, our brother made his way to the drug-store, which, as we entered, -we had observed was below the hotel, to purchase a necessary restorative -for my husband. While waiting there for the wrapping of the medicine, -two young men entering met, and one exclaimed to the other: - -“Here’s a good chance! Clay, the fire-eating Senator from Alabama, is in -this house. Let’s mob him!” - -My brother, both indignant and surprised, was also fearful lest they -should carry out their threat and thereby work incalculable evil to our -invalid. He turned promptly and addressed them: - -“Mr. Clay, of whom you speak,” he said, “is my brother, and, it may be, -a hopeless invalid. He is here seeking health. You can molest him only -through me!” - -But now a second surprise met him, for the two youths began a very duet -of apology, declaring they “had only been joking.” They meant no -offense, they said, and, in fact, themselves were democrats. Feeling, -they continued, was at high tide, and it was the fashion of the times to -denounce the South. Upon this frank acknowledgment the trio shook hands -and parted, nor did Senator Clay and I hear of the altercation until the -next day, when it was repeated to us by a kind friend, Mr. George -Culver, at whose home, in St. Paul, we lingered for several weeks. Here -the wonderful climate appreciably restored the invalid, and Mr. Clay was -soon able to move about, and added to his weight almost visibly. - -In the meantime, the news of the gathering together of armies, both -North and South, came more and more frequently. Everywhere around us -preparations were making for conflict. The news from the seceding States -was inspiring. My husband’s impatience to return to Alabama increased -daily, stimulated, as it was, by the ardour of our many correspondents -from Montgomery and Huntsville, civil and military. - -“I was improving continuously and rapidly,” he wrote to our friend E. D. -Tracy, “when Lincoln’s proclamation and that of the Governor of -Minnesota reached me, and I think I should have been entirely restored -to health in a month or two had I remained there with an easy conscience -and a quiet mind. But after those bulletins, the demonstrations against -the “Rebels” were so offensive as to become intolerable. So we left on -the 22d [April], much to the regret of the few real friends we found or -made. Many, with exceeding frankness, expressed their deep sorrow at our -departure, since I was improving so rapidly; but, while appreciating -their solicitude for me, I told them I preferred dying in my own country -to living among her enemies.” - -Shortly after the breaking up of the ice in Lake Minnetonka, we bade -farewell to the good Samaritans at St. Paul and took passage on the -_Grey Eagle_. She was a celebrated boat of that day, and annually took -the prize for being the first to cut through the frozen waters. I have -never forgotten the wonders and beauties of that trip, beginning in the -still partially ice-locked lake, and progressing gradually until the -emerald glories of late April met us in the South! It was on this -journey that we caught the first real echoes of the booming guns of Fort -Sumter. The passengers on board the _Grey Eagle_ discussed the outlook -with gravity. To a friendly lady, whose sympathies were aroused on -behalf of my husband, still pale and obviously an invalid, I remember -expressing my sorrows and fears. I think I wept, for it was a time to -start the tears; but her reply checked my complainings. - -“Ah, Mrs. Clay!” she said, “think how my heart is riven! I was born in -New Orleans and live in New York. One of my sons is in the Seventh New -York Regiment, and another in the New Orleans Zouaves!” - -At Cairo, already a great centre of military activity for the Federals, -we caught a first gleam of the muskets of United States soldiery. A -company was drawn up in line on the river bank, for what purpose we did -not know, but we heard a rumour that it had to do with the presence on -the boat of the Southern Senator Clay, and I remember I was requested by -an oficer of the _Grey Eagle_ to place in my trunk my husband’s fine -Maynard rifle, which had been much admired by our fellow-passengers, and -which once had been shot off during the trip, to show its wonderful -carrying power. Needless to say, the possibly offending firearm was -promptly put away. After a short colloquy between the captain of the -vessel and the military officer, who appeared to catechise him, the -_Grey Eagle_ again swung out on the broad, muddy river, and turned her -nose toward Memphis. Now, as we proceeded down the important -water-course, at many a point were multiplying evidences that the -fratricidal war had begun. - -Memphis, at which we soon arrived, and which was destined within a year -to be taken and held by our enemy, was now beautiful with blossoms. -Spirea and bridal wreaths whitened the bushes, and roses everywhere -shaking their fragrance to the breezes made the world appear to smile. -My heart was filled with gratitude and joy to find myself once more -among the witchery and wonders of my “ain countree”; where again I might -hear the delightful mockery of that “Yorick of the Glade,” whose -bubbling melody is only to be heard in the South land! It was a -wonderful home-coming for our invalid, too eager by much to assume his -share of the responsibilities that now rested upon the shoulders of our -men of the South. A period of complete physical weakness followed our -arrival in Mr. Clay’s native city, a busy political and military centre -in those early days. - -We spent our summer in “Cosy Cot,” our mountain home, set upon the crest -of Monte Sano, which overlooks the town of Huntsville below, distant -about three miles; nor, save in the making of comparatively short trips, -did we again leave this vicinity until Mr. Clay, his health improved, -was called to take his seat in the Senate of the new Confederate -Government, at Richmond, late in the following autumn. In the meantime -Senator Clay had declined the office of Secretary of War in Mr. Davis’s -Cabinet, privately proffered, believing his physical condition to be -such as to render his assumption of the duties of that department an -impossibility. In his stead he had urged the appointment of Leroy Pope -Walker, our fellow-townsman and long-time friend, though often a legal -and political opponent of my husband. - -Now, at the time of our return, Secretary Walker was at the side of our -Executive head, deep in the problems of the military control of our -forces. Communications between Huntsville and Montgomery, where the -provisional Government temporarily was established, were frequent. A -special session of Congress was sitting, and every one identified with -our newly formed Legislature at the little capital was alert and eager -in perfecting our plans for defense. We were given a side glimpse of our -President’s personal activity in the following letter received a few -days after our return to Alabama: - - “MONTGOMERY, Alabama, May 10, 1861. - - “... Mr. Davis seems just now only conscious of things left undone, - and to ignore the much which has been achieved. Consequently, his - time seems all taken up with the Cabinet, planning (I presume) - future operations.... Sometimes the Cabinet depart surreptitiously, - one at a time, and Mr. Davis, while making things as plain as did - the preacher the virtues of the baptismal, finds his demonstrations - made to one weak, weary man, who has no vim to contend. To make a - long story short, he overworks himself and all the rest of mankind, - but is so far quite well, though not fleshily inclined. - - “There is a good deal of talk here of his going to Richmond as - commander of the forces. I hope it may be done, for to him military - command is a perfect system of hygiene.... There have been some here - who thought, with a view to the sanitary condition, that the - Government had better be moved to Richmond, and also that it would - strengthen the weak-fleshed but willing-spirited border States.... - This is a very pretty place, and, were not the climate as warm as is - the temperament of the people, it would be pleasant; but nearly all - my patriotism oozes out, not unlike Bob Acres’ courage, at the - pores, and I have come to the conclusion that Roman matrons - performed their patriotism and such like duties in the winter. I - wish your health would suffice for you to come and see the Congress. - They are the finest-looking set of men I have ever seen collected - together—grave, quiet and thoughtful-looking men, with an air of - refinement which makes my mind’s picture gallery a gratifying - pendant to Hamlin, Durkee, Doolittle, Chandler, etc.... - - “The market is forlorn, but then we give our best and a warm - welcome. If you are able to come and make us a visit, we will have - the concordances of Washington and Montgomery.... Mrs. Mallory is in - town on a short visit, Mrs. Fitzpatrick and the Governor, Mrs. - Memminger, Constitution Brown and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Toombs (the - latter is the only person who has a house). I could gossip on _ad - infinitum_....” - -In Huntsville a feeling of diligence in preparation was everywhere -evident. Our historic little town was not only in the direct line of -travel between larger cities, and therefore a natural stopping place for -travellers; but, by reason of the many legal and political lights -residing there, and because of its being the county seat of one of the -most affluent counties in northern Alabama, was, and is, a town of -general interest throughout the State. Almost in an unbroken line, the -United States Senators of northern Alabama have been citizens of my -husband’s native town. - -Situate among the low hills that separate the higher points of the -Cumberland range, Huntsville smiles up at the sky from a rare -amphitheatre, hollowed in the cedar-covered mountains. It is in the -heart of one of the most fertile portions of the Tennessee Valley. -Within an hour’s swift ride, the Tennessee flood rolls on its romantic -way, and as near in another direction is the forked Flint River, every -bend along its leafy edges a place of beauty. Up hill and down dale, -ride wherever one will, may be seen the hazy tops of mountains, -disappearing in the blue ether, and intervening valleys yellow with corn -or white with cotton, or green with the just risen grain. In the summer -the sweetness of magnolia and jasmine, of honeysuckle and mimosa, scents -the shady avenues along which are seen, beyond gardens and magnolia -trees, the commodious town houses of the prosperous planters. Among -these affluent surroundings a high public spirit had been nourished. -Here the first State Legislature of Alabama was convened and that body -met which formed the State Constitution. The simple structure in which -those early statesmen gathered (being, in general, representatives from -the families of Virginia and the Carolinas) stood yet intact in the -early part of 1903. The first newspaper printed in Alabama, yclept the -_Madison Gazette_, was published in Huntsville, and Green Academy -(taking its name from the rich sward that surrounded it), a renowned -institution of learning, was long a famous feature of Twickenham Town, -by which name Huntsville was once known. - -In the early days of the township’s existence, a hot contest continued -for years to wage between the followers of two of its richest settlers -as to the future appellation of the pretty place. The friends of Colonel -Pope, who had contributed from the very centre of his plantation the -square upon which was built the County Court House, for a time overbore -the opposing parties and named the town in honour of the birthplace of -the immortal poet; but, though this choice was ratified by legislative -act, the adherents of the pioneer, John Hunt, refused to yield their -wishes. Mr. Hunt had discovered the site of the town while still the -valley was part of the Territory of Mississippi. Lured by the deer he -was stalking, he had come upon the big spring, gushing with limpid -waters. Here he pitched his tent, and, gathering others about him, he -fostered the building of the town which, until the contest that arose -with the aristocratic Colonel Pope, was known as Huntsville. For two -years, until the original name was restored by a second act of -Legislature, the little city was known as “Twickingham Town,” and to -many of its old families this name remains so dear that among themselves -it still continues to be affectionately applied. - -Half the youth of Alabama in that early day delved in the classics under -the guidance of the studious professors of Green Academy. It was -situated in a large plot of ground which commanded a view of the -mountain. Its site was given to the town by Judge William Smith (the -warm friend of Andrew Jackson) on the condition that it should be used -only for a building for educational purposes forever. This distinguished -judge was, I think, the only man until Roscoe Conkling to refuse a seat -on the Supreme Court Bench of the United States.[22] - -The charms and fascinations and general winsomeness of the girls of the -lovely vale, even in that early period, in a measure may be imagined -from the references to them in the following letter, written to Clement -C. Clay, Jr., by this time entered at the State University at -Tuscaloosa: - - “FEBRUARY 2, 1833. - - “_My Dear Clement_: Richard Peete, Jere Clemens, Richard Perkins, - Withers Clay, John E. Moore[23] and myself are in a class reading - Horace and _Graeca Majora_. Clio is nearly broken up, and I fear it - will never be revived, as the members do nothing but walk with the - girls, nor do they appear to think of anything else. The girls in - this town are the most jealous little vixens that ever breathed. I - would advise you as a friend (for I have gone through the fiery - ordeal, and should know something of the character of woman) to keep - a respectful distance from the fair ones; for, if you mingle with - them at all, you will be persuaded to mingle with them more and - more. How much I would give if they would never harass me more!” - -The roll of Huntsville’s prominent men includes a peculiarly large -number of names that have been potent in State and National capitals, in -civil and in military life. Scarcely a stone in its picturesque “God’s -Acre” but bears a name familiar to the Southern ear. From under the low -hill on which the columned Court House and historic National Bank -building stand, the Big Spring gushe, which has had its part in swelling -the city’s fame. Where its source lies none can say, though myths are -plenty that tell of subterranean caves through which it passes, and -which gleam with stalactite glories. Trickling freely from the sides of -the mountain beyond are numerous medicinal springs, and silver streams -thread their way among the valleys; but nowhere within the Tennessee -region exists a flow that at all may be compared with Huntsville’s “Big -Spring.” If Hygeia still exercises her functions, her modern home is -surely here. The flow of clear limestone water as it issues from the -rocks is wonderfully full and seemingly boundless. Since the founding of -the town the spring has supplied all the needs of the residents, and -that of armies camped about it. So late as 1898 its splendid daily yield -of twenty-four million gallons influenced the present Government to -locate in and about the pretty city, while awaiting the development of -the Cuban War, an army of twenty thousand men. - -In the sixties the spring was already famous. From time immemorial the -pool below it had served the same purpose for the negroes about as did -the River Jordan for the earlier Christians, and a baptism at the Big -Spring, both impressive and ludicrous, was a sight never to be -forgotten. The negroes came down the hill, marching with solemn steps to -weird strains of their own composing, until they reached the edge of the -stream that forms below the spring. Here the eager candidates for -immersion were led into the water, when, doused for a moment, they would -come up again shrieking shrilly a fervent Hallelujah! As a rule, two -companions were stationed near to seize the person of the baptised one -as it rose, lest in a paroxysm of religious fervour he should harm -himself or others. As the baptisms, always numerous, continued, the -ardour of the crowd of participants and onlookers was sure to augment, -until a maniacal mingling of voices followed, that verged toward -pandemonium. The ceremony was as strange and blood-curdling as any rite -that might be imagined in the interior of the Dark Continent. - -Once, upon the occasion of a visit of two New York friends, one -candidate for baptism, a black man, a veritable Goliath, broke loose -from those who tried to hold him and ran up the hill in his ecstasy, -bellowing like a wounded buffalo. The sounds were enough to excite -unmixed horror in the unaccustomed listener, but the appearance of the -enthusiast to me was more comical than terrifying; for, being in his -stockings, and these conspicuous by reason of their enormous holes, his -heels, revealed at every step, appeared as they flashed up the acclivity -like the spots on a bull-bat’s wings. When this sable son of Anak took -the field, the spectators scattering right and left, my friends turned -toward me as if panic-stricken. They paused but a brief moment, then, -“standing not upon the order of their going,” they, too, fled from the -possible charge of the half-crazed enthusiast. It was no uncommon thing -at such baptisms for the candidates to suffer from an attack of “Jerks,” -a kind of spasm which resulted from their excited imaginations. I have -seen the strength of four stout men tested to its utmost to hold down -one seemingly delicate negress, who, fired by the “glory in her soul,” -was now become its victim, jerking and screaming in a manner altogether -horrible to witness. - -Above the spring and about the picturesque Square and Court House, in -the spring and early summer of ’1, the gay-hearted youth of Madison -County, thronging to the county seat, met in companies to drill and -prepare themselves for service in the war now upon us. Already, by the -early part of June, Alabama had “contributed to the Confederacy about -20,000 muskets and rifles,” though she retained of these, “for her own -immediate protection and defense, only four thousand! I hope,” wrote -Governor A. B. Moore, in sending this information to Mr. Clay, “that -volunteer companies throughout the State will put the rifles and -double-barrelled shot-guns in order, and drill them until called into -actual service.” - -The youths and men of Madison County needed small urging. They were -heart and soul for the conflict that at last must be waged to preserve -the homes of their fathers, the heritages that were to be theirs, and -their right to independent government. These were the incentives of our -soldiers, allied to each other, regiment by regiment, by blood and long -association. There was no need for alien hirelings to swell our ranks. -The questions at issue were vital, and every Southern man who could bear -arms sprang eagerly to assume them. - -Upon our arrival in Huntsville we found the city alive with preparations -for defense, our mail heavy with reports from every quarter of the -South, of friends and kinsmen who had entered the army, and many -exhilarated by the battles already won. An idea may be gathered of the -confluent interests that bound together our Southern army, by a mention, -as an example, by no means unique, of the ramifications of the two -families represented by Senator Clay and myself. My husband’s uncle, -General Withers, was already in command at Mobile; his brother, Hugh -Lawson Clay, was in Lynchburg, recruiting; his cousin, Eli S. Shorter, -was enrolled as Colonel in the C. S. A., besides whom there were -enlisted numerous cousins of the Withers, Comer, and Clayton families. -Thirty-nine cousins of my own, bearing the name of Williams, were in the -field at one time, and innumerable Arlingtons, Drakes and Boddies, -Hilliards, Tunstalls and Battles served the beloved cause in various -capacities in civil and military life. - -[Illustration: - - L. Q. C. LAMAR - - 1862 -] - -These conditions knit neighbourhoods as well as regiments very closely -together, and largely go to furnish an explanation of our long struggle -against the numerically superior armies of our invaders. Our victories -in those early days were great, though the blood spilled to gain them -was precious; but the sound of mourning was stilled before the greater -need for encouragement to the living. “Beauregard and Johnston have -given the fanatics something to meditate upon,” wrote a cousin in July -of ’1. “A despatch says that our loss was three thousand, theirs seven -thousand. Steady Beauregard and brave Johnston! We owe them our -gratitude!” - -Yes! we owed them gratitude and we gave it to them and to every man in -the ranks. The women at home knitted and sewed, sacrificed and prayed, -and wept, too, especially the aged, as they packed away the socks and -underwear and such comforts for the young men in the field as might be -pressed into a soldier’s knapsack. “I met Mr. Lamar’s mother,” wrote my -sister from Macon, late in May, “and spoke to her of her son’s having -gone to Montgomery. She had not heard of it before and burst into tears! -This is her fourth and last son gone to the war!” - -From Huntsville had gone out the gallant E. D. Tracy, who, now at -Harper’s Ferry, wrote back most thrilling accounts of military -proceedings in that important section of our Confederate States: - -“I continue entirely well,” began a letter dated from Camp, near -Harper’s Ferry, June 8, 1861: “And, while I perfectly agree with, since -conversing with, General Smith, in regard to our situation, am in good -spirits. I trust I am ready to die _when my hour comes_, as becomes a -Christian soldier and gentleman; until that hour, I am proof against -shell and shot. If the enemy attacks us ‘we’ll memorise another -Golgotha’ and achieve a victory, or martyrdom. Our men believe the post -to be impregnable and are anxious for fight; if they were better -informed, I have no idea that their courage would be in the least -abated. - -“From the arrival of troops during the last few days, I conclude that it -is the purpose of Government to hold Harper’s Ferry. At one time I think -that point was undecided, and am glad to believe that it is now settled -as stated. The moral effect of an evacuation of a place believed to be a -Gibraltar would be terribly disastrous to our cause; it would encourage -our enemies, depress our troops, and disappoint the expectation of the -world. Better that we perish in making a gallant defense than that such -consequences should be risked.” - -My sister, Mrs. Hugh Lawson Clay, who had joined her husband in -Lynchburg, wrote buoyantly, yet gravely, from that troubled centre: “I -wrote you a long, long letter last Saturday,” begins one epistle from -her, “but Mr. Clay would not let me send it, because, he said, I told -too much. He was afraid it might be read by other eyes than yours.... I -look hourly to hear the result of an awful battle. I cannot but fear, -for we cannot hope to gain such victories often as the one at Bethel -Church.... Here we hear everything, for there are persons passing all -the time to and from Winchester and Manassas Junction. So many men from -this place are stationed there that mothers and sisters manage to hear -every day. Mr. Tracy wrote in his last that he fully expected to be in a -big battle. His men were eager for the fight, and he would be sure to -write as to the result, if it did not result in a termination of his -life’s candle!” - -[Illustration: - - MRS. PHILIP PHILLIPS - - of Washington, D. C. -] - -As the time drew near for the opening of Congress in Richmond, Mr. -Clay’s health, spurred to a better state by an eager patriotism, eager -to express itself in the forum if debarred from the field, became -appreciably restored, and preparations were begun for an absence of a -few months from Huntsville. Anxious as everyone was throughout the -South, and feeling the strain even of victory, now flowing toward us and -again ebbing to our enemies, my husband and I had few misgivings -concerning the safety of the home we were leaving. A hundred greater -dangers surrounded Richmond (as it was thought), that lay so near to the -Federal lines and was the prize above all others which we looked to see -grappled for. Yet our field lay there, and, in anticipation, it seemed a -pleasant and an active one, for already it was peopled with throngs of -our former friends. - -“I almost imagined myself in Washington,” wrote Mrs. Philip Phillips, -now returning from the Federal capital, where for months she had been a -prisoner. “There are so many dear, old friends [in Richmond]—Mrs. -Mallory, Mrs. Joe Johnston, and others—awaited us at the Spottswood -Hotel. I spent an evening with Mrs. Davis, who received me with great -feeling.... We have a terrible struggle before us. The resources of -Lincoln’s army are great, and a defensive war will prove our greatest -safeguard, but, it is presumption in speaking thus; only, having come so -recently from the seat of war, my ideas, founded upon practical -knowledge of what is going on at the North, may derive some value. I -brought on from Washington, sewed in my corsets, a programme of the war -sent to me by a Federal officer, many of whom are disaffected. The -capitalists of the North demand a decisive blow, else they will not back -the Government.” - - - - - CHAPTER XII - RICHMOND AS A NATIONAL CAPITAL - - -Richmond, as seen from the hill, with the James River flowing by, its -broad, level streets, full foliaged trees, and spacious homes, is a -beautiful city. Rich in historic association, never did it appear more -attractive to Southern eyes than when, arriving in the late autumn of -’1, we found our Confederate Government established there, and the air -full of activity. To accommodate the influx of Congressional and -military folk, the houses of the patriotic residents were thrown open, -until the capacity of every residence, hotel and lodging-house was -tested to the fullest. By the time Senator Clay and I arrived, there was -scarcely an extra bed to be had in the city, and though everywhere it -was apparent that an unsettled feeling existed, there was nothing either -indeterminate or volatile in the zeal with which the dense community was -fired. As the new-comers, for the greater part, represented families -which a season before had been conspicuous in Washington, society was in -the most buoyant of spirits. Our courage was high, for our army had won -glorious battles against remarkable odds, and, though gallant men had -fallen, as occasion demanded them, new heroes sprang to meet it. - -For a few months we revelled in canvas-backs and greenbacks, undisturbed -by forewarnings of coming draw-backs. To furnish the tables of Richmond -nearly all the ducks in Chesapeake Bay fell victims. We feasted on -oysters and terrapin of the finest, and unmeasured hospitality was the -order of the day on every side. Never had I looked upon so great an -activity, whether military, political, or social. I had demurred when, -as we were about to start for the capital, my maid packed an evening -dress or two. - -“We are going to war, Emily,” I said; “we shall have no need for velvet -or jewels. We are going to nurse the sick; not to dress and dance.” But -Emily’s ardour on my behalf led her to rebel. - -“There’s bound to be somethin’ goin’ on, Miss ‘Ginie,’” she declared, -“an’ I ain’t goin’ to let my Mistis be outshined by Mis’ —— an’ dem -other ladies!” And, despite my protests, the gowns were duly packed. -There were many occasions afterward when I blessed the thoughtfulness of -my little gingerbread-tinted maid; for there were heroes to dine and to -cheer in Richmond, both civil and military, and sombre garments are a -sorry garb in which to greet or brighten the thoughts of men tired with -the strain of building or fighting for a government. - -A sororal spirit actuated our women, and while our greatest -entertainment missed some of the mere display which had marked the -social events in the Federal City, they were happier gatherings, for we -were a people united in interest and in heart. Some of the brightest -memories I carry of that first session are of informal evenings where -neighbours gathered _sans cérémonie_. I recall one such spent at the -home of the Mallorys, the occasion being a dinner given to Brigadier -General John H. Morgan, who did the Confederacy such gallant service, -and was rewarded while in Richmond by the hand of one of its prettiest -daughters, Miss Reedy, who had been a favourite in Washington society. A -daughter of Mr. Reedy, M.C., from Tennessee, she was the first girl of -her day in Washington to wear a curl upon her forehead, which coquettish -item of coiffure was soon imitated by a hundred others. - -The family of Mr. Mallory was a model one, every member seeming to have -his or her share in rounding out the general attractiveness. An informal -meal taken with that family was an experience long to be remembered, for -the little children took each his turn in asking the blessing, which was -never omitted, and which was especially impressive in those days, in -which the shadows of growing privations soon grew to be recognised if -not openly discussed or admitted. Our Secretary of the Navy, Mr. -Mallory, was the merriest of hosts, with a wit as sudden and as -brilliant as sheet-lightning, and a power of summing up, when he chose -to exert it, both events and people, in the most amusing manner. A -picture remains clearly in my mind of the evening devoted to General -Morgan. Ruby Mallory, then about thirteen years of age, recited for us -Holmes’s “The Punch-bowl,” while our host, in hearty enjoyment of the -verses, - - “Stirred the posset with his ladle,” - -to the rhythm of his little daughter’s speech. - -During our first winter in Richmond my husband and I made our home with -Mrs. Du Val, near to the Exchange Hotel, a terrifically overcrowded -hostelry at all Confederate times, and within a short walk of the Seddon -home, now the Executive Mansion. It was a commodious and stately -structure, in which our President, now domiciled, lived with an -admirable disdain of display. Statesmen passing through the halls on -their way to the discussion of weighty things were likely to hear the -ringing laughter of the care-free and happy Davis children issuing from -somewhere above stairs or the gardens. The circle at Mrs. Du Val’s, our -headquarters, as it came and went for three eventful years, comprised -some of our former Washington mess-mates, and others newly called into -public service. Among the favourites was General J. E. B. Stuart, a -rollicking fellow, who loved music, and himself could sing a most -pleasing ballad. He was wont to dash up to the gate on his horse, his -plumes waving, and he appearing to our hopeful eyes a veritable Murat. -He was a gallant soldier, what might be termed delightful company, and -one of the most daring cavalry officers our service boasted. Twice, with -comparatively but a handful of men, he circled McClellan’s big, -unwieldly force as it lay massed, for months at a time, contemplating -the possibility of closing in upon our capital. It may be said that upon -his return to Richmond after his first brilliant feat, General Stuart -was the idol of the hour. When the exigencies of the service brought him -again and again to the capital, he entered heartily into its social -relaxations. Two years passed. He was conspicuous one night in charades, -and the next they brought him in, dying from a ghastly wound received -upon the battle-field. - -I have said we were in gay spirits during that first session of the -Confederate Congress; but this condition was resolved upon rather than -the spontaneous expression of our real mood, though hope was strong and -we were armed with a conviction of right upon our side, and with the -assurance of the courage of our soldiers, which filled us with a fine -feminine scorn of the mere might of our assailants. Our editors, filled -with patriotism and alert, kept us informed of the stirring events of -the field and of the great victories which, until the loss of Fort -Donelson and the fall of Nashville, so often stood to our credit. -Scarcely a triumph, nevertheless, in which was not borne down some -friend who was dear to us, so that all news of victory gained might be -matched with the story of fearful loss. However, such was our loyalty to -the cause, that the stimulus of our victories overbore the sorrow for -our losses, sustaining our courage on every side. Before that first -session of Congress adjourned, we had buried an army of brave men, among -them Generals Zollicoffer and Albert Sidney Johnston. Our coast was -closed by the blockading fleets of the Federal Government. We had lost -New Orleans, and the Tennessee Valley was slipping from us. Huntsville, -which lay directly in the path of the invading army, itself threatened, -was now become a hospital for the wounded from abandoned Nashville. By -the early spring the news from our family was ominous of deeper disaster -to our beloved town. - -“The public stores have been sent on from Nashville,” wrote mother, -early in March of ’2, from Huntsville, “and from four to ten thousand -men are said to be here or expected.... Yesterday the excitement was -greater than I have known. Men were seen walking or riding quickly, and -martial music told the tale of danger.... There are said to be a -thousand sick and wounded here. They have no bedding but a blanket, and -are placed in houses through which the wind blows. Rain spurts over the -sick men’s couches, cooling their fever and making their blood congeal, -so that death interposes for their relief! It is rumoured that the -President will be here to-night. People were up (last night) till two -o’clock, waiting to see him....” - -“General Pillow is at the hotel, but told Dr. Slaughter he would not -bring Mrs. Pillow here, as General Buell intends to make this place his -headquarters!... I have no time to speculate on the future, but try to -encourage others to have courage and faith, and not to discourage our -soldiers by permitting their fears to be known; but to stimulate them by -letting them see the firmness and calm trustfulness with which we commit -more than our lives to their keeping!” - -The news of Huntsville’s danger was our private anxiety in Richmond, -where each Senator and Congressman carried the burden of apprehension -for his own kin and family possessions well concealed; for at the -capital the nation’s losses and gains loomed large and obscured the -lesser ones of individuals. Moreover, always before us was the stimulus -of the presence of fearless men and the unceasing energy of our -President. - -I remember on one occasion seeing President Davis passing down the -street, beside him, on the left, General Buckner; on the right, General -Breckenridge—three stalwart and gallant men as ever walked abreast; and -as I watched them the thought came involuntarily, “Can a cause fail with -such men at the head?” - -Throughout the life of Richmond as a capital, the streets were peopled -with soldiers on their way to or from the several headquarters. There -was an unintermitting beating of drums, too often muffled, and the -singing of merry bugles. With the knowledge that we were in the city -which, more than any other, invited and defied the attacks of the enemy, -a sense of danger spurred our spirits. Though the boom of guns was often -not a distant sound, and the solemn carrying in of our wounded became -increasingly frequent, few gave way to apprehensions or doubts; for, as -I have said, there were heroes in Richmond to cheer, and our women, -putting away from their minds the remembrance of the wounds they had -dressed in the morning visit to the hospitals, smiled and devised -entertainments well calculated to lift the burden of responsibility, at -least for the time being, from the minds and hearts of our leaders, -legislative and military. Among the most active hostesses were Mrs. -Randolph, wife of one of the members of President Davis’s Cabinet, and -Mrs. Ives, who put on some charming private theatricals in their -parlours; there were the Lees and Harrimans; the Ritchies and Pegrams -and Welfords; the Masons and Warwicks, MacFarlanes, Seldens, Leighs -(near relatives, these, of Patrick Henry); besides the Branders, West -Robinsons, Walkers, Scotts, Coxes, Cabells, Semmes, Ives, and other -hostesses of renown and long pedigree, whose homes dispensed the -friendliest hospitality. - -“Do you not remember?” wrote Mrs. Semmes, of New Orleans, to whom I put -some queries concerning an episode of that life in Richmond, “do you not -remember Mrs. Stannard, who had such a charming house and gave such -delicious teas, alluring such men as Soulé, Commodore Barrow, Henry -Marshall, of Louisiana, Butler King, and last, though not least, our -dear old Vice-President Stephens? She boasted that she never read a -book, and yet all these distinguished gentlemen gathered around her -board and ate those hot muffins and broiled chicken with gusto!” - -These, and unnumbered other faces, rise before me as I recall the great -amateur performance of “The Rivals,” which made that first winter in -Richmond memorable and our hostess, Mrs. Ives, famous. In that -performance Constance Cary, a beauty of the Fairfax family, captured all -hearts as the languishing Lydia, among them that of our President’s -Secretary, Colonel Burton Harrison, whose wife she afterward became. - -Recalling that interesting evening, Mrs. Harrison wrote very recently, -“It seems an aeon since that time, but I have a very vivid recollection -of the fun we had and of how prettily Mrs. Ives did everything, spite of -grim-visaged war! How I wish I could do anything now with the same zest -and rapture with which I put on Lydia’s paduasoy and patches! Brother -Clarence, then a very youthful midshipman, was the Fag, and my hero, -Captain Absolute, was Mr. Lee Tucker, who has vanished, for me, into the -mists of time! I have not heard his name in years!” - -The fame of that entertainment, the excitement which the preparation for -it caused, spread far beyond the picket lines, and we heard afterward -that a daring officer of McClellan’s army had planned to don the -Confederate uniform and cross the lines to take a peep at the -much-talked-of performance. “There was a galaxy of talent and beauty in -that fairest city of the South,” writes my friend, Mrs. Ives, recalling, -in 1903, those scenes of the early sixties, “from which I was able to -select a strong cast which pre-assured us a brilliant performance. Miss -Cary was bewitching, her fair beauty accentuated by the rich costumes -she donned for the occasion and which had been worn by her distinguished -ancestors in the days of the Old Dominion’s glory! Your sister-in-law, -Mrs. H. L. Clay, was so fascinating as Lucy that she captivated her -husband anew, as he afterward told me; and then, besides, there was -pretty Miss Herndon, who tortured her Falkland into jealousy.”[24] - -As that historic evening’s pleasures crown all other recollections of -social life in the Confederate capital, so soon to be in the eclipse of -sorrow and undreamed-of privations, I cannot refrain from recording some -incidents of it. Those who took part in the performance (or their -descendants) are now scattered in every State of the Union, and it is -only by the coöperation of some who remember, among them Mrs. Cora -Semmes Ives, of Alexandria, Va., Mrs. Myra Knox Semmes, of New Orleans, -and Mrs. Burton Harrison, of New York, that I am enabled to gather -together again the names of the cast which charmed Richmond’s three -hundred during the first session of the C. S. A. Congress. They were: - - Sir Anthony Absolute Mr. Randolph, of Richmond - Captain Absolute Mr. Lee Tucker - Sir Lucius O’Trigger (and he had an - unapproachable brogue) Robert W. Brown, N. Carolina - Fag Midshipman Clarence Cary - David Mr. Robinson, of Richmond - Lydia Languish Miss Constance Cary, Virginia - Julia Miss Herndon, Virginia - Lucy, maid to Lydia Mrs. Hugh Lawson Clay, Alabama - Mrs. Malaprop Mrs. Clement C. Clay, Alabama - Harpist, Mrs. Semmes Fitzgerald - Pianist, Miss Robinson. - -For this great occasion no efforts were spared in the rehearsing of our -cast, nor in the preparation of our wardrobe. Mrs. Drew, being at that -time engaged in playing a precarious engagement at the local theatre -(the price of seats not exceeding seventy-five cents, as befitted the -times), was invited to a private consultation and criticism of the -parts, and it gives me some pleasure, even at this day, to remember her -approval of my interpretation of the difficult rôle I had had the -hardihood to assume. Our Sir Lucius acquired for the occasion a brogue -so rich that almost as much time (and trouble) were necessary to -eradicate it from his speech in the weeks that followed as had been -spent in attaining it. - -The defection of one of the cast for the after-piece (Bombastes Furioso) -caused our hostess to display a genuine ability for stage management. -Unacquainted with the part she was herself compelled to assume, Mrs. -Ives resolved to bring her audience to a state of leniency for any -possible shortcomings by dazzling them with the beauty of her apparel. A -picture hat from Paris had just run the blockade and arrived safely to -the hands of little Miss Ruby Mallory, for whom it had been destined. It -was a Leghorn, trimmed with azure velvet and plumes of the same shade. -It was an especially appropriate headgear for a character given to -dreaming “that all the pots and pans had turned to gold,” and an appeal -made to the owner brought it swiftly into the possession of Mrs. Ives. -Her success was instantaneous. “I declare,” she said when the play was -over, “nothing but that Paris hat saved me from an attack of stage -fright!” - -The home of Lieutenant Ives on this occasion was crowded to its utmost -capacity, the guests comprising President and Mrs. Davis, the Cabinet -and Congressional members, together with prominent generals, numbering -in all three hundred. The stage, erected under the supervision of our -host, an expert engineer, was a wonderful demonstration of his -ingenuity. Placed at one end of the long Colonial parlours, it commanded -the eye of every visitor. The performance gave the utmost delight to our -audience, and Secretary Mallory, who had seen “The Rivals” (so he told -me) in every large city of the United States, and on the boards at Drury -Lane, declared it had never been given by a cast at once so brilliant -and so able! Be that as it may, the remembrance of that performance for -forty years has remained as the most ambitious social event in the -Confederate States’ capital. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - GLIMPSES OF OUR BELEAGUERED SOUTH LAND - - -While few, I think, perceived it clearly at that early day, yet in the -spring of ’2 the fortunes of the Confederacy were declining. Many of our -wisest men were already doubtful of the issue even where belief in the -justice of our cause never wavered. Looking back upon the prophecies of -ultimate defeat that were uttered in those days, by men accustomed to -sound the security of governments, I am thrilled at the flood of -patriotic feeling on which our men and women were borne to continue in -arms against such overwhelming forces and conditions as were brought -against them. For months before that first Congress adjourned, from -every part of our federated States, eager petitioning, complaints and -ominous news reached us. Gold, that universal talisman, was scarce, and -Confederate currency began to be looked upon with a doubtful eye. So -far-seeing a man as Judge John A. Campbell, writing to Mrs. Campbell -from New Orleans early in April, 1862, said: “In the event of the -restoration of Northern rule, Confederate money may be worthless. I -proceed on that assumption. It will certainly depreciate more and more. -Hence, your expenditures should be Confederate money, and, in any event, -the bank-notes of Georgia, Virginia and Louisiana are preferable to -Confederate bills. If the war should last another year, the -embarrassments of everyone will be increased tenfold!” - -Within a few months the face of our capital had changed. McClellan’s -ever-swelling army in the peninsula became more and more menacing. The -shadow of coming battles fell over the city, and timid ones hastened -away to points that promised more security. Some went to the mountain -resorts “to escape the hot term” in Richmond, but many of the wives and -daughters of non-householders, even among those known to possess a cool -courage, moved on to the Carolinas or returned to their native States. -As the close of the Congressional session drew near, there was a -continual round of good-byes and hand-shakings, and even an attempt now -and then at a gaiety which no one actually felt. - -Our markets grew suddenly poor, and following quickly upon the heels of -a seeming prosperity, a stringency in every department of life in the -city was felt. The cost of living was doubled, and if, indeed, any -epicures remained, they were glad to put aside their fastidiousness. -Within a year our vermicelli, when we had it at all, would have -warranted an anglicising of its first two syllables, and our rice, -beans, and peas, as well as our store of grains and meal, began to -discover a lively interest in their war-time surroundings. We heard -tales of a sudden demand for green persimmons, since a soldier, feeding -upon one of these, could feel his stomach draw up and at once forget -that he was “hawngry.” I remember hearing the story of a certain -superficial lady who spoke disdainfully, in the hearing of Mrs. Roger A. -Pryor, of a barrel of sorghum which some friend had sent her from a -distance. Full of contempt, she ordered the offending gift to be taken -away. “Horrid stuff!” she said. - -“Horrid?” asked Mrs. Pryor, gently. “Why! in these days, with our -country in peril, I am grateful when I am able to get a pitcher of -sorghum, and I teach my children to thank God for it!” - -Our mail, from many quarters, was now become a Pandora’s box, from which -escaped, as we opened it, myriad apprehensions, dissatisfactions or -distresses. “Pray,” wrote a friend from New Orleans, “when you see the -President, beg him to give some attention to the disloyal element in the -cities, and particularly in _this city_, which is filled with strangers -who appear and disappear in the most mysterious manner, go to private -boardinghouses, examine the defenses, etc., etc.” - -“I am thus far on my way home,” wrote William L. Yancey, from the same -city, in a letter dated March 14, 1862, “having left Havana on the 26th -ultimo on a small schooner, and arrived at Sabine Pass on the 6th. Two -of Lincoln’s vessels had been anchored in the channel of that harbour -for a week and only left twenty-four hours before my arrival.... This -city is almost in a state of revolution,” he added. “Fifteen hundred of -its wealthiest and most respectable citizens and good Southerners have -organised an association and resolved to assume executive and judicial -functions to arrest, try, imprison, banish or hang!... There is -undoubtedly a deep-seated feeling of wrong done them and of anxiety for -the city’s safety at the bottom of all this, and this association should -not be treated as a mere lawless mob. Their success, however, would be -the knell of our cause in England, and perhaps on the Continent. I am -doing all I can to throw oil on the troubled waters, and I hope with -some effect.” - -Shortly after his arrival in Richmond, Mr. Yancey, whom my husband -greatly admired, spent a morning in our chamber—space was too costly at -this time to admit of our having a private parlour—in conference with -Mr. Clay, and a more hopeless and unhappy statesman I never saw. The -people in England, he declared, were for, but Parliament opposed to us, -and his mission, therefore, had been fruitless. Every action and each -word he uttered demonstrated that he knew and felt the ultimate downfall -of the Confederacy. - -By a singular coincidence, almost under the same circumstances but some -months later, a similar conference took place in our rooms, but Mr. -Lamar was now the returned diplomat. But recently home from an -unfinished mission to Russia, our long-time friend talked, as had Mr. -Yancey, with a conviction that our cause was hopeless. Mr. Lamar had -proceeded only so far as London and Paris, when, observing the drift of -public feeling abroad, he took ship again, arriving, as did many of our -returned foreign emissaries, on the top of a friendly wave. The sea was -peculiarly inimical to the cause of the Confederate States, sinking many -of the merchant ships we succeeded in sending through the blockading -fleets that beset our coast, and wrecking our ambassadors wherever it -could grapple them, even on our very shores. - -By the time Congress closed in the spring of ’2, the news from the -Tennessee Valley was distracting. The enemy had succeeded in reaching -our home, and Huntsville was now become the headquarters of General O. -M. Mitchell. If that gentleman had taken delight in anything besides the -vigorous exercise of an unwelcome authority, he might have found there -an ideal spot for the prosecution of his astronomical researches. The -span that rests upon the opposite apices of Monte Sano and Lookout -Mountain is one of gorgeous beauty. Upon a clear night the planets glow -benignly upon the valley, the little stars laugh and leap and go -shooting down great distances in a manner unparalleled in more northerly -latitudes. Though generally loyal to the cause of the Confederacy, the -people of Huntsville were not indisposed to look upon the author-soldier -with considerate eyes, had that General adopted a humane course toward -them. Unfortunately, his career in our valley from beginning to end was -that of a martinet bent upon the subjugation of the old and helpless and -the very young, our youths and strong men being away in the field. - -The accounts that reached us by letter and by eyewitnesses of the scenes -in the Clay home were alarming. Everything belonging to the Clays, it -was rumoured, was to be confiscated. “Judge Scruggs told Stanley,” wrote -mother, “that the Clays are to be stript of all.” Father’s negroes, and -most of our own, were conducting themselves in an insolent manner, -taking to the mountains when there was work to be done, or wandering in -the train of straggling Union soldiers, but returning when hungry to -feed upon their master’s rapidly diminishing stores. In some instances, -relying upon the protection of the soldiers, the negroes of the town -would take possession of the home of an absent master, revelling in an -opportunity to sleep in his bed or to eat from the family silver and -china. - -A dozen times a day, and at unreasonable hours, if the invading soldiery -saw fit, they entered the houses of the citizens in what was often -merely a pretended search for some concealed Confederate, or to demand -food or drink or horses. They were constantly on the lookout for the -possible visits, to their families, of the distinguished citizens in -temporary banishment from Huntsville. The presence of General Pope -Walker being suspected (though no longer Secretary of War, he would have -been a desirable prize to take, since he had issued orders for the -firing of the first gun at Fort Sumter), for months the home of our -friend ex-Governor Chapman, in which the family of General Walker had -taken refuge, was searched daily, the vigilants being so scrupulous in -their investigations that even the leaves of a dictionary were parted, -lest the wily late Secretary should spirit himself away between its -covers.[25] - -“The enemy came demanding food or horses,” wrote mother, “taking all -they could of breadstuffs, meat stock, and all the able-bodied negroes, -whether willing or not. Our men hid, but they took the horses and mules, -and promised to return in a week and take everything!” - -Alas, poor little mother! Those were but the beginning of bitterer days -and yet sterner deprivations! For months the only hope of our beleagured -neighbours in Huntsville lay in the prayed-for advance of General Bragg, -though their prayers, too, were interdicted when made in the church; -and, upon the investment of the town, our pastor, Doctor Bannister,[26] -was quickly instructed as to the limited petitions with which he might -address his God on behalf of his people. - -In the meanwhile, the courage of our citizens was kept alive by General -Roddy, who lay over the crest of Monte Sano. The forays of his men were -a perpetual worry to the Federals in the valley. So audacious, indeed, -did they become that the Federal general razed the houses on “The Hill” -and threw up breastworks, behind which he built a stout fort, the better -to resist the possible attacks from the mountain side by brave General -Roddy and his merry men. - -During General Mitchell’s investment of Huntsville he was accompanied by -his daughters, who, in the ransacking of our home, fell heiresses to -certain coveted and “confiscated” articles of my own, but the possession -of which could scarcely have been an unmixed pleasure. I heard of my -losses first through a letter written late in August. “Mr. Hammond,” -began the epistle, “says in Atlanta he saw a lady just from Nashville -who told him that Miss Mitchell rode out in _your green habit on your -mare_! This part of the story,” continued my witty sister, “may be true, -but there is another: that the other Miss Mitchell rode in my habit on -_my_ mare! I’m glad I had no mare, and am sorry for poor ‘Jenny Lind’!” - -Months afterward I heard (and any who asks may still hear the story in -the town, for it has become one of Huntsville’s war-time annals) an -account of Miss Mitchell’s outings in my now celebrated green habit. Her -path, it seems, as she trotted my pretty mare about the streets, was not -strewn with roses; for, though absent from our beloved little city, I -was not forgotten. One day the horsewoman, passing proudly on her way, -saw, looking over the garden gate of a pretty cottage, the laughing face -of sweet Alice Spence, a right loyal admirer of my undeserving self. -Alice looked up at the passing apparition, and, full of daring, half -mischievously, half indignantly, cried out after it, “Hey! Git off -’Ginie Clay’s mare! Git—off—’Ginie Clay’s ma—are!” - -At the sound of these words Miss Mitchell galloped away in great anger. -While Alice was still regaling her mother with a jubilant account of her -championship of my property, a proof reached her of General Mitchell’s -implacability. That afternoon her brother was ordered into arrest, and -for months thereafter was kept in custody as a guarantee for his -sister’s good behaviour! - -When, later, Mr. Clay and I were enabled to visit Huntsville (the -Federals having been beaten back for a time), I heard of an amusing -encounter which took place at the home of the Spences between Mrs. -Spence and John A. Logan. A swarthy stripling in appearance, the young -officer stood carelessly about, whilst several soldiers of his command -were engaged in a search of the premises. As Mrs. Spence entered the -room in which the officer stood, she eyed him with genuine curiosity. - -“Whose boy are you?” she asked at last. Her daughter, who was beside -her, caught her mother’s arm in alarm. - -“Why, ma!” she gasped. “That’s General Logan!” - -“General Logan!” repeated her mother, contemptuously. “I tell you he’s -nothing of the kind! He’s black!” - -It was already early summer when we left the troubled capital, where -everyone was keyed to a high pitch of excitement by the manœuvrings of -the enemy, now so near that the reverberating sound of distant cannon -was plainly audible. Our way was southward. Though withdrawing, as I -supposed, for a change of scene during the Congressional recess only, in -reality my refugee days had now begun; for, notwithstanding I made -several later stays of varying duration at Richmond, the greater part of -the two succeeding years was spent at the homes of hospitable kin far -away from that centre of anxiety and deprivation. Upon leaving Richmond, -in May of ’2, Senator Clay and I, stopping _en route_ at the home of my -uncle, Buxton Williams, in Warrenton, North Carolina, proceeded by easy -stages to Augusta, Macon and Columbus, where many of our kinfolks and -friends resided, and to which cities I often returned, when, from time -to time, the exigencies of the war compelled my husband and me to -separate. Georgia, save when Sherman’s men marched through it, two years -later, was the safest and most affluent State in the Confederacy; but in -the summer of ’2 there were few localities which did not retain, here -and there at least, an affluent estate or two. Until almost the end of -hostilities the home of my uncle Williams in Warrenton continued to be -with us in Richmond the synonym for plenty. When I had starved in the -capital, I dropped down to “Buxton Place,” whence I was sure to return -laden with hampers of sweets and meats and bread made of the finest -“Number One” flour, which proved a fine relief to the “seconds” to which -the bread-eaters of the Confederate capital were now reduced. In the -course of a year molasses and “seconds” (brown flour with the bran still -in it) came to be regarded as luxuries by many who but a short time ago -had feasted capriciously upon the dainties of a limitless market. - -My uncle Williams was an astute man, and when he was assured that war -had become a settled fact, instead of hoarding his means for the benefit -of invading soldiers, he retired to his country home, bought out the -contents of a local store, which he transferred to his own cupboards and -pantry, and made “Buxton Place” to “kith and kin” the most generous and -hospitable of asylums. It was a peaceful, happy place, set among ample -grounds, with noble trees rising about, in which birds carolled as they -coquetted among the foliage and squirrels gambolled at their will -through the long, lazy days. No chicory and sugar, adopting the _alias_ -of coffee, found place on that sumptuous board in those first years, but -only the _bona fide_ stuff! We had sugar in abundance, and pyramids of -the richest butter, bowls of thick cream, and a marvellous plenitude of -incomparable “clabber.” - -Once, during our wandering that autumn, we slipped over to “Millbrook,” -the home of my cousins the Hilliards, and thence to Shocco Springs, long -a famous North Carolina resort, where, to the music of a negro band, the -feet of a merry little company went flying over the polished floor as if -the world were still a happy place, despite its wars and wounds and -graves and weeping women. - -Life at dear old “Millbrook,” rich with a thousand associations of my -childhood and family, still ran serenely on. The loudest sound one heard -was the hum of the bee on the wing as it rushed to riot in the amber -honey sacs of the flowers. But whether at “Millbrook” or “Buxton Place,” -whether we outwardly smiled or joined in the mirth about us, inwardly my -husband and I were tortured with fears born of an intimate knowledge of -our national situation. We watched eagerly for our despatches, and, when -they came, trembled as we opened them. Some of our communications rang -with triumph, others with an overwhelming sadness. - -A thrilling letter from Richmond reached us after the terrible “Battle -of Seven Pines.” A mere mention of that deadly conflict for years was -enough to start the tears in Southern eyes, and sons and daughters, as -they grew up, were taken back to look upon the bloody field as to a -sacred mausoleum. The letter was written by Robert Brown, our erstwhile -Sir Lucius, of Mrs. Ives’s famous performance, and now serving as -aide-de-camp to General Winder. - -“I have been beholding scenes of carnage,” he wrote on the 10th of June. -“On the afternoon of the 31st ult. Winder and myself rode down to the -battle-field. The reports of the cannon were distinctly heard here, and -as we approached the field, the firing became terrific! We met wounded -and dying men, borne upon litters and supported by solicitous friends. -The scene was revolting to me, but, singular to say, in a very short -time I became accustomed to this sight of horror, and the nearer we -approached the line of battle, the nearer we wished to get; but we were -quite satisfied to get so near the line (proper) as the headquarters of -General Longstreet, which was under a fine old oak tree on a slight -elevation. The General was there, sitting most complacently upon a fine -horse, surrounded by his staff, who were riding away at intervals -bearing his orders to the line and returning. We were about a quarter of -a mile from the engagement, and we could distinctly hear the shouts of -victory of our gallant troops, literally driving the enemy before them. -Entrenchment and battery after battery were wrested from the Yankees by -our splendid troops, old North Carolina leading them! - -“Imagine the powder burnt! I tell you, the firing was awful, but -glorious! Near the headquarters of Longstreet were regiments of -splendid, eager troops drawn up in line as a reserve. Amid the heavy -firing, the glorious cheering of our troops, squad after squad of Yankee -prisoners were brought up to Longstreet under guards buoyant with -victory; and, as each reached headquarters, I tell you that the reserve -force would send up a _yell_ of delight that split the air and made old -earth tremble! One little brave band of fifty-five South Carolinians -brought in one hundred and sixty-six live Yankees and a Captain whom -_they had taken_! The excitement was intense! The firing ceased at seven -o’clock. I remained in the field until the last gun was fired. Our -troops occupied the enemy’s camp that night and all the next day; and -Monday our military talent thought it prudent and best to fall back and -give the enemy the vantage ground we had gained! - -“General Johnston was wounded, but not seriously, it is said. Smith’s -horse was shot in two places, on the shoulder and just back of the -saddle; the General’s coat-tail, they say, was _seriously_ injured. -Lieutenant-Colonel Sydenham Moore was wounded; the ball struck his -watch, literally shattering it! General Pettigrew was _not_ killed, but -seriously wounded, and fell into the hands of the enemy. _They_, thank -God, lost two brigadier generals and one seriously wounded. Our total -loss, killed and wounded, was thirty-five hundred. The enemy acknowledge -eight hundred killed and four thousand wounded. It was a fearful fight! - -“We have good news every day from Jackson! To-day brings us the news of -his having ‘completely routed the enemy, taking six pieces of -artillery!’ Old Stonewall is certainly the Hero of the War, and unless -our Generals Beauregard and Johnston look sharp, he will entirely take -the wind out of their sails and leave them in the _Lee_-ward!” - -“The city is filled with the wounded and dead,” echoed our cousin John -Withers. “It is fortunate you are away and saved the necessity of -beholding the horrible sights which are now so common here! Great -numbers of Alabamians are killed and wounded....” And he added in a -letter, written in an interval of the awful Seven Days Battles: “For -four days I have been awaiting some decisive move on the part of our -forces, but nothing has been done yet to settle affairs. McClellan has -not been routed, but his army is, no doubt, demoralised to such an -extent as to render any other demonstration against Richmond out of the -question for many weeks.... The President has come up from the -battle-field, and I hear that a courier from the French and British -Consuls is to leave here for Washington to-night or in the morning. We -will secure between thirty and forty thousand small arms by our late -operations; many of them much injured by being bent. The enemy have a -position now which we cannot well assail successfully. They are under -their gunboats and have gotten reinforcements.... There is a report -to-night that Magruder has captured eight hundred Yankees to-day, but I -place no reliance upon any rumour until it is confirmed as truth. -General Beauregard has made a most successful retreat to Baldwin, -thirty-five miles south of Corinth, on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. The -move was necessary, and I have no doubt will be a great blow to the -enemy. He carried all his heavy guns, tents, and so on. General Lee is -in command of the army hereabouts, and I am sure we will whip -McClellan’s army when the grand contest shall take place. The rain of -last night will forbid any movement for two or three days. When the -fight opens again, we will have thousands upon thousands of wounded -here!” - -Such were the accruing records of woe and of personal and national loss -which followed Senator Clay and me throughout those autumn months of ’2. -The inroad made upon the gallant regiments of our own State were -frightful. The ranks of the splendid Fourth Alabama Regiment, picked men -of our finest blood, the flower of our hopes, as handsome a body as a -State might muster, were terribly thinned. Wherever a call came our -Alabamians were found in the front, the envy and admiration of the army, -quickening the courage and firing the imaginations of every company that -beheld them. But oh! our men had need of a mighty courage, for soon the -very seed-corn of our race became a sacrifice. The picture rises before -me of a youthful cousin[27] who fell at Malvern Hill, shot down as he -bore aloft the banner which he fondly hoped would lead to victory. His -blood-stained cap, marked by a bullet hole, was all that returned of our -fair young soldier boy. Another youth,[28] on whom the love and hope of -a dear circle was settled, fell with his heart pierced, and so swift was -the passing of his soul that he felt no pain nor sorrow. They say an -eager smile was on his face when they found him. For years his loved -ones, gazing upon it with weeping eyes, treasured the blood-stained, -bullet-torn handkerchief that had lain over the wounded heart of the -boy! - -The tears start afresh when, looking into my memory, there passes before -me that army of the dead and gone. Oh! the sorrow that overcame all who -knew him (and the circle was wide as half the South itself) when the -news came of the death of Colonel Sydenham Moore, who fell at Seven -Pines; and even the enemy spoke solemnly at the passing of our beloved -General Tracy, who died so courageously fighting in the battle of Port -Gibson, within three-quarters of a year! “I have little active service -at this post,” he complained from Vicksburg, in March of ’3, “and the -very fact incapacitates me for the discharge of duties of other kinds. -In fact, I am _ennuied_ past description!” So, chafing impatiently to -write his name in brave deeds across some page of the Confederate -States’ history, he sprang to meet the call when it came, and fell, -crowned with immortal glory in the hearts of a loving people. - -General Tracy’s young wife was awaiting him, an infant at her bosom, -when we returned late in November of ’2 for a brief stay at Huntsville, -from which, for a time, the Union soldiers had been beaten back. By this -time our valley seemed so safe that families from other threatened -districts came to take refuge in it. Colonel Basil Duke, among others, -brought his wife to Huntsville. Numerous absentee householders came -back; and interest in local enterprises was resumed. When, in December, -my husband returned to his duties in the Senate, there was small reason -to apprehend an early reappearance, in Huntsville, of the Federals. -“North Alabama,” General Bragg assured my husband, “is as secure now as -it was when I held Murfreesboro!” And on this assurance our spirits rose -and we departed again, promising ourselves and our parents we would -return within a few months at most. - -Mr. Clay proceeded at once to Richmond, beset now with deadly enemies -within as well as without. Smallpox and scarlet fever raged there, as in -many of our larger cities, and I pleaded in vain to be allowed to -accompany him. I turned my way, therefore, in company with others of our -kin, toward Macon, where was sojourning our sweet sister, Mrs. Hugh -Lawson Clay, at the home of Major Anderson Comer, her father. Thence it -was proposed I should proceed with her later to Richmond under the -escort of Colonel Clay. - -That winter the weather was peculiarly cold, so much so that on the -plantations where wheat had been sown, a fear was general lest the grain -be killed in the ground. The journey to Macon, therefore, was anything -but comfortable, but it had its amusing sides nevertheless. We were a -party of women. - -“We arrived safely (self, Kate, Alice and servants),” I wrote in a -kaleidoscopic account which I gave my husband of the indications of the -times as seen _en route_. “We rode from Stevenson to Chattanooga on the -freight train, the baggage-cars on the passenger-train being unable to -receive a single trunk. Arriving at Chattanooga, we would have been -forced to go to the small-pox hotel or remain in the streets but for the -gallantry of an acquaintance of ours, an army officer of Washington -memory, who gave up his room to us, and furnished some wagons to have -our baggage hauled to the depot. At Atlanta there was a scatteration of -our forces.... When night came” (being fearful of robbery, for hotels -were unsafe) “I stuffed in one stocking all my money, and in the other, -mine and Alice’s watches, chains, pins, and charms. I felt not unlike -Miss Kilmansegg, of the precious Leg. We fumigated the room, had a bed -brought in for Emily, and retired. At breakfast Colonel Garner told me -that Uncle Jones [Withers] was in the house, and in a few minutes he -presented himself. He got in at three that morning, _en route_ for -Mobile with thirty days’ leave; looked worn, and was sad, I thought. -Colonel George Johnson, of Marion, also called, and we had them all and -Dr. W., of Macon, to accompany us to the cars. The guard at the gate -said ‘Passport, Madam,’ but I replied, ‘Look at my squad; General -Withers, Colonel Garner of Bragg’s staff, and a Colonel and Lieutenant -in the Confederate service. I think I’ll _pass_!’” And I passed! - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - REFUGEE DAYS IN GEORGIA - - -Our stay in Macon, where it had been my intention to remain but a few -weeks, lengthened into months; for, upon his arrival in Richmond, -Senator Clay found the conditions such as to render my joining him, if -not impracticable, at least inadvisable. The evils of a year agone had -multiplied tenfold. Food was growing scarcer; the city’s capacity was -tested to the uttermost, and lodgings difficult to obtain. The price of -board for my husband alone now amounted to more than his income. Feeling -in legislative circles was tense, the times engendering a troublesome -discontent and strife among eager and anxious politicians. Complaints -from the army poured in. Our soldiers were suffering the harshest -deprivations. Wearing apparel was scarce. Many of our men marched in -ragged and weather-stained garments and tattered shoes, and even these -were luxuries that threatened soon to be unattainable. Our treasury was -terribly depleted, and our food supply for the army was diminishing at a -lamentable rate. - -“You will be surprised to know,” wrote General Tracy from Vicksburg, in -March, 1863, “that in this garrisoned town, upon which the hopes of a -whole people are set, and which is liable at any time to be cut off from -its interior lines of communication, there is not now subsistence for -one week. The meat ration has already been virtually discontinued, the -quality being such that the men utterly refuse to eat it, though the -contract continues to be worth between one thousand and fifteen hundred -dollars per diem.” - -“A general gloom prevails here because of the scarcity and high price of -food,” ran a letter from my husband, written in the same month from -Richmond. “Our soldiers are on half rations of meat, one-quarter pound -of salt, and one-half pound of fresh meat, without vegetables, or fruit, -or coffee or sugar! Don’t mention this, as it will do harm to let it get -abroad. Really there is serious apprehension of having to disband part -of the army for want of food. In this city the poor clerks and subaltern -military officers are threatened with starvation, as they cannot get -board on their pay. God only knows what is to become of us, if we do not -soon drive the enemy from Tennessee and Kentucky and get food from their -granaries.... I dined with the President yesterday at six P. M., _en -famille_, on beef soup, beef stew, meat pie, potatoes, coffee and bread. -I approved his simple fare and expressed the wish that the army in the -field had more to eat and that out of the field less!” - -The receipt of this news stirred me to the core. Spring was in its -freshest beauty in Macon. Its gardens glowed with brilliant blossoms. A -thousand fragrant odours mingled in the air; the voices of myriad birds -sang about the foliaged avenues. I thought Aunt Comer’s home a -terrestrial Paradise. The contrast between the comfort in this pretty -city of lower Georgia, a city of beautiful homes and plentiful tables, -and our poverty-stricken capital and meagre starving camps, was terrible -to picture. I wrote impulsively (and, alas! impotently) in reply to my -husband’s letter: - -“Why does not the President or some proper authority order on from here -and other wealthy towns, and immediately at that, the thousands of -provisions that fill the land? Monopolists and misers hold enough meat -and grain in their clutches to feed our army and Lincoln’s! Put down the -screws and make them release it! Talk of disbanding an army at a time -like this? No! empty the coffers and graneries and meat houses of every -civilian in the land first!” - -Many an eager and impatient hour my sister and I spent in those months -of waiting for the call from our husbands to join them in the capital. -Her sprightly wit and unfailing courage made her a most enjoyable -companion, and a great favourite with all who knew her. “Give my love to -your sunbeam of a sister,” Secretary Mallory wrote me during those dark -days. “If not one of the lost Pleiads, at least she is a heavenly body!” -And when I quoted this to dear “Lushe” Lamar, he answered from the -fulness of his heart: “Mallory’s compliments grow languid in their -impotence to do justice to that beautiful embodiment of bright thoughts -and ideal graces, your sister, Celeste.” I found her all this and more -in that spring we spent together in Macon, as we daily sat and planned -and compared our news of the battle-fields, or discussed the movements -of the army. We did a prodigious amount of sewing and knitting for our -absent husbands, to whom we sent packages of home-made wearing apparel -by whomsoever we could find to carry them. I remember one such which -gave us considerable anxiety; for, proving too large to impose upon -General Alf. Colquitt, who had undertaken to deliver another to Senator -Clay, we sent the bundle by express. The robe which General Colquitt -carried was soon in the hands of its future wearer, but not so the -express package, which contained a pair of much-needed boots for Colonel -Clay. It lingered provokingly along the road until we were filled with -apprehension for its safety. - -“Won’t it break us if all those things are stolen?” I wrote my husband. -“A thousand dollars would not buy them now!” And I said truly, for the -prices of the commonest materials were enormous. “Men’s boots here are -from sixty to eighty dollars,” wrote Mr. Clay from Richmond; and in -Macon all goods were a hundred per cent. higher than they had been in -Huntsville. Ordinary fifteen-cent muslin now sold in Georgia at two and -a half dollars per yard, and “sold like hot-cakes” at that. My sister -and I bought what we could and made our husbands’ shirts—knitting the -heavier ones—and hemmed their handkerchiefs; and we rose to such a -proficiency with the needle that we did not hesitate to undertake the -manufacture of vests and trousers of washable stuffs. I made a pair of -the last-named for my husband’s little god-son, Joe Davis, and sent them -to Richmond by Colonel Lamar; but I think the dear child did not live to -don them. He died tragically at the Executive home within a year, the -waves of the war quickly obscuring from the world about the remembrance -of the sweet baby face. - -April had arrived when, journeying from Macon to Richmond, I had my -first real experience of war-time travel. By this time people were -hurrying from place to place in every direction, some to seek refuge, -and some to find or to bring back their dead. The country beyond the -Georgia boundary was alert, apprehending the approach of the steadily -advancing Federals. Throughout the spring the feeling had been rife that -a crucial period was approaching. My husband wrote cautioning me to -prepare to meet it. “During the months of April and May,” he said, in a -letter dated March 22d, “the result of the war will be decided by at -least four of the greatest battles the world has ever witnessed, near -Charleston or Savannah, Fredericksburg, Murfreesboro, and Vicksburg or -Port Hudson. If they triumph on the Mississippi, the war will continue -for years; if they fail there, I cannot think it will last longer than -Lincoln’s administration, or till March of 1865.[29] I regard events -there as the most important, because the Northwest will not aid the war -much longer if the Mississippi is not opened to their trade. The result -of the grand battle to come off at the first opportunity between Bragg -and Rosecrans will determine our movements during the recess of -Congress, and, it may be, our destiny for life. If we whip the enemy, -our home will again be open to us; if he whips us, it will fall under -his dominion for many months to come, and nothing will be left to us -that he can use or destroy.” Almost as Mr. Clay wrote, Huntsville was -again invested by Federal soldiery, and we could not, if we had wished, -have returned to it. - -When my sister and I departed from Georgia, passenger-cars generally -were impressed for the use of soldiers, sick or wounded, or for those -who were hurrying to the front. I heard of instances in which -travellers, unable to find room in the regular cars, and eager to get to -some given point, begged for the privilege of squeezing into the car in -which express packages were carried. - -Having held ourselves for some months in readiness for the journey, we -had kept informed as to the presence of possible escorts in Macon. Once -we planned to travel under the protection of Captain Harry Flash, a poet -who had won some distinction for his affecting lines on the death of -General Zollicoffer, and his stirring verses on the Confederate Flag. It -fell to our lot, however, to travel with two poets, who in days to come -were to be known to a wider world. They were Sidney and Clifford Lanier, -young soldiers, then, on their way to Virginia. Sidney’s sweetheart -lived in the town, and the brothers had stopped at Macon to make their -adieux. Upon learning of the objective destination of the young men, my -sister and I held out the bribe to them, if they would undertake to -escort us, of a fine luncheon _en route_; “broiled partridges, sho’ nuf’ -sugar and sho’ nuf butter, and spring chickens, ‘quality size,’” to -which allurements, I am glad to say, the youthful poets succumbed with -grace and gallantry, and we began our journey. - -The aisles of the cars were crowded. At many stations, as we came -through North Carolina, women entered the car with baskets of “big -blues,” the luscious native huckleberries, with full, deep bloom upon -them; these and other tempting edibles were brought aboard at almost -every station along the way. When our pleasant party separated at -Lynchburg, and the youths sat alone in their tents, they recalled in -pages truly characteristic the memories of that long journey, in which, -like tired children, they had sometimes fallen asleep, Clifford’s head -upon my sister’s shoulder, and Sid’s upon mine. - -“I will wait no longer,” wrote Clifford,[30] from the camp near Suffolk -(Virginia), on April 17th, “but at once, and without _cérémonie_, write -the little love-letter I have promised, disarming (if men, as some one -says of flowers, ‘be jealous things’) the jealousy of your Lieges, by -addressing it to my _Two Dear Friends_ and quondam fellow-travellers. -What a transition is this—from the spring and peace of Macon, to this -muddy and war-distracted country! Going to sleep in the moonlight and -soft air of Italy, I seem to have waked imbedded in Lapland snow. Yet, -as I would not be an Antony, with a genius bold, and confident in Egypt, -but a trembler and white-livered, in presence of Octavius at Rome, I -summon all my heroism, doff that which became me when environed by -flowers, poetry, music and blooming maidens, and don shield and mail -(that’s figurative for Kersey), prepared to resist ruder shocks than -those of love’s arrows. Par _parenthese_, how the Yankees would suffer, -if we could do our _devoirs_ as bravely and as heartily in the heat and -dust and smoke of battle, as in the charmed air of ladies! - -“Enough about us. I wonder what this will find our friends doing? My -dear Mrs. Celeste? Embroidering the Senatorial _laticlave_ or musing on -sweet Macon, sweeter Huntsville? Mrs. Virginia? In whatever mood or -occupation, it is agreed you have this advantage of us: you carry your -sunshine with you; we men, being but opaque and lunatic bodies, can give -light only by reflection. Imagine, then, in what ‘Cimmerian darkness’ we -revolve here. If you would throw a ray through this darkness, show us -one glimpse of the blue sky through all this battle-smoke, write to us, -directing care General French, Franklin, Virginia. I shall regard, most -affectionately, the carrier who brings such intelligence from that -office to these headquarters. The huge shell that has just shrieked -across the intervening distance from the enemy’s trenches to our -pickets, and exploding, is not yet done reverberating, reminds me that I -might tell you a little of our situation here. - -“The reticence of our General forbids all knowledge of his plans and -ultimate designs. I can only say that our army, embracing three -divisions, closely invests Suffolk on three sides, its water and -railroad communications into Norfolk being still complete, except that -General French, having possession of one bank of the river, is working -hard to get into position guns of sufficient calibre to destroy their -gunboats. That, in the meantime, large foraging parties and immense -wagontrains have been sent out for provisions. So that this of forage -may be the grand design after all, and instead of living that we may -fight, are fighting that we may live, the latter being a very desperate -situation, but the more laudable endeavour of the two, perilling our -lives, not only for the vitality of our principles as patriots, but for -the very sustenance of our lives as men, seeking corn and bacon as well -as the ‘bubble reputation at the cannon’s mouth.’ But I began a -love-letter; I fear I am ending most unetherially. Starting to wing a -flight across the sea, Icarus-like, my wings have proved to be of wax, -melting with a too near approach to the sun, and I find myself -floundering, and clearing my nose and eyes and mouth of the enveloping -salt water. Being not even a swimmer, I escape drowning by ending -(Icarus found nereids and yellow-haired nymphs to assist him), with much -love to your husbands, and an infinite quantity to yourselves, - - Yours, - - “CLIFF LANIER.” - -“God bless you both. Write to us!” said Sid., our dear Orpheus of the -South. “Have you ever, my Two Good Friends, wandered, in an all-night’s -dream, through exquisite flowery mosses, through labyrinthine grottoes, -‘full of all sparkling and sparry loveliness,’ over mountains of unknown -height, by abysses of unfathomable depth, all beneath skies of an -infinite brightness caused by no sun; strangest of all, wandered about -in wonder, as if you had lived an eternity in the familiar contemplation -of such things? - -“And when, at morning, you have waked from such a dream and gone about -your commonplace round of life, have you never stopped suddenly to gaze -at the sun and exclaimed to yourself, ‘what a singular thing it is up -there; and these houses, bless me, what funny institutions, not at all -like my grottoes and bowers, in which I have lived for all eternity; and -those men and women walking about there, uttering strange gibberish, and -cramming horrid messes of stuff in their mouths, what dear, odd -creatures! What does it all mean, anyhow, and who did it, and how is one -to act, under the circumstances?’ ... - -“If you have dreamed, thought and felt _so_, you can realise the -imbecile stare with which I gaze on all this life that goes on around me -here. Macon was my twoweeks’ dream. I wake from that into Petersburg, an -indefinitely long, real life.... - - “SID LANIER.” - -Of the after months of ’3, the story of my life is one of continuous -change. I migrated between Richmond and our kin at Petersburg, paying an -occasional visit to Warrenton, North Carolina, so long as the roads were -open, or sometimes visiting our friends, the McDaniels, at Danville; -sometimes, accompanied by our sister, I made a visit to the nearby -camps, or to the multiplying colonies of the sick and wounded. He was a -fortunate soldier in those terrible days, who fell into the hands of -private nurses. Patients in the hospitals suffered, even for necessary -medicines. Sugar was sold at fifty Confederate dollars a pound. -Vegetables and small fruits were exceedingly scarce. My visits to the -hospital wards were by no means so constant as those of many of my -friends, yet I remember one poor little Arkansas boy in whom I became -interested, and went frequently to see, wending my way to his cot -through endless wards, where an army of sick men lay, minus an arm, or -leg, or with bandaged heads that told of fearful encounters. The -drip—drip of the water upon their wounds to prevent the development of a -greater evil is one of the most horrible remembrances I carry of those -days. I went through the aisles of the sick one morning, to see my -little patient, a lad of seventeen, not more. Above the pillow his hat -was hung, and a sheet was drawn over the cot—and the tale was told. - -In Richmond, Miss Emily Mason (sister of John Y. and James M. Mason), -and Mrs. General Lee were indefatigable in their hospital work; and Mrs. -Phoebe Pember, sister of Mrs. Philip Phillips, was a prominent member of -a regularly organised Hospital Committee, who, afterward, recorded her -experiences in an interesting volume, reflecting the gay as well as the -grave scenes through which she had passed; for, happily, in the -experiences of these self-sacrificing nurses there was often a mingling -of the comical with the serious which had its part in relieving the -nerve-tension of our noble women. On every side the inevitable was -plainly creeping toward us. The turmoil in the governmental body -augmented constantly. The more patriotic recognised that only in -increased taxation lay the prolonging of our national life; but, at the -mention of such measure, protests poured in from many sides. Our poor, -wearied citizens could ill sustain a further drain upon them. To the -credit of my sex, however, we never complained. No Roman matron, no -Spartan mother, ever thrilled more to the task of supporting her -warriors, than did we women of the South land! To the end we held it to -be a proud privilege to sacrifice where by so doing we might hold up the -hands of our heroes in field or forum. - -“I pity those who have no country to love or to fight for!” wrote Mrs. -Yulee, the “Madonna of the Wickliffe sisters,” from her home in Florida. -“It is this very country of yours and mine that induces me to write this -letter. I want you to use your influence (you have much) to induce those -law-makers to come up to our necessities. Tax! tax! tax our people to -half we have, if necessary, but let the world know we are paying! Ten -victories will not give the Yankees such a blow as this fact. Now, Mrs. -Clay, God has given you many friends. Stir them up to their duty!... -Bragg’s defeat fills us all with gloom, yet we are not discouraged. I -have never felt a doubt of my country, but dark and painful trials are -yet before us, perhaps!” - -Alas! Alas! - - - - - CHAPTER XV - C. C. CLAY, JR., DEPARTS FOR CANADA - - -I was in Richmond at my husband’s side when Dahlgren’s raid was made. -Early one morning the cry of danger came. We were still at breakfast, -when Senator Henry, of Tennessee, hurried in. “No Senate to-day, Clay!” -he cried. “A big force of the enemy is at Lyons’s, and every man in the -city is needed! Arm yourself, and come on!” and he hastened on his way -to warn others. Members of Congress shouldered guns, where they could -get them, and mounted guard around the capital. They were an untrained -mass, but they came back victors and deliverers of the city. - -The armies having gone into winter quarters, as the close of Mr. Clay’s -Senatorial career in Richmond drew near, he seriously contemplated a -period of needed rest from public duties. Bent upon this, he declined a -judgeship in the Military Court, which had been pressed upon him by Mr. -Davis. We dallied with enticing invitations that reached us from -Florida, and planned what was to be a veritable vacation at last, -together. - -“Mr. Yulee is delighted with the hope of seeing you!” wrote the lovely -_chatelaine_ of “Homosassa.” “He will fish with Mr. Clay, and _we_ will -do the same! Just think how good oysters will be in these sad times! Do -come, dear Mr. and Mrs. Clay, just as soon as Congress adjourns! My dear -sister, Mrs. Holt, had a tender and sincere affection for you....” - -The prospect of a visit to that lovely retreat, built upon an island, -deep in the green glades of Florida and far away from the political and -martial strife of the intervening States, was very tempting to my -wearied husband, a true lover of woods and trees and the sweet solitudes -of a bucolic life; but we were destined not to enjoy it. Early in the -spring of ’4, Mr. Clay felt it his duty to accept the high -responsibility of a diplomatic mission to Canada, with a view to -arousing in the public mind of this nearby British territory a sympathy -for our cause and country that should induce a suspension of -hostilities. Despite the failure of our representatives in European -countries to rouse apathetic kings and dilly-dallying emperors to come -to our aid, it was hard for us to believe that our courage would not be -rewarded at length by some powerful succour, or yielding. - -“I send you my speech,” wrote dear Lamar to me from his sick-bed in -Oxford, Georgia, so late as June,’64. “The views presented in reference -to Louis Napoleon may strike you as at variance with some of the acts, -in which his Imperial Highness has done some very uncivil things in a -very civil way. But his sympathy is with us. It is his policy to -frighten the Yankees into acquiescence in his Mexican enterprise, and he -no doubt would be glad to give French neutrality in American affairs for -Yankee neutrality in Mexican affairs. In this he will fail, and he will -sooner or later find his policy and inclinations jump together. After -all, the British people are more friendly to us than all the world -besides, outside of the [question of] Southern Confederacy. This -friendship, like most national friendships, is mixed up with a large -part of alloy, fear of the Yankees forming the base. But respect for the -South and admiration of her position is the pure metal, and there is -enough of it to make their good-will valuable to us.” - -So thought many of our noblest statesmen, when, early in the Spring, Mr. -Clay started on his way through our blockaded coast for Canada. “I -earnestly desire that his services may prove effectual in securing a -permanent peace to our bleeding country; that his efforts may be -recorded as one of the brightest pages in its history,” wrote one; and -from every quarter Mr. Clay and his companions were followed by the -prayers of a people, wrung from hearts agonised by our long, exhausting -strife. When the parting came, the shadow of impending evil fell so -blackly upon my soul, I hastened away from disturbed Petersburg, -accompanied by my faithful maid, Emily, and her child, determined to act -upon Mr. Clay’s suggestion and seek my kin in Georgia. Petersburg was in -the greatest confusion, guns resounding in every direction. Our dear -Aunt Dollie Walker, the saint, whose faith (her Bishop said) had kept -Episcopalianism alive in Virginia through those troublous times, told us -in after days of having been literally chased up the streets by cannon -balls. It was one of the best cities in the Confederacy at that period -to get away from. - -I began my journey southward, pausing a day or two at Danville; but, -fearing each moment to hear news of the appearance of impeding armies, -blocking my way through the Carolinas, I hastened on. The news from the -capital which reached us while in Petersburg had been of the worst. - -“You have no idea of the intense excitement,” wrote my sister. “I am so -nervous I know not what to write! No one goes to bed here at night. For -several nights past no one could have slept for the confusion and noise. -The city has been in a perfect uproar for a week. We have heard firing -in two directions all the morning, on the Brook Turnpike and at Drewry’s -Bluff. The wounded are being brought into the city in great numbers. -General Walker is wounded! Poor General Stafford’s death cast a gloom -over the city. I went with Mr. Davis to his funeral, and carried -flowers!... General Benning is wounded, and Colonel Lamar, our dear L. -Q. C.’s brother, also.... At the wedding” [of Miss Lyons] “you never saw -such disorder in God’s house before in your life. Mrs. Davis and Mrs. -Mallory and Mrs. Most-everybody-else, stood up in the pews, and you -could not hear one word of the service for the noise. Mr. Davis was -there—Mrs. Chestnut sat with me. She is going home very _soon_, so the -Colonel told me. He said it was impossible for her to remain in Richmond -with nothing to eat!” - -To my sister’s panorama of horrors, our brother, who was stationed in -Richmond, added a masculine picture. - -“The enemy press us sorely with powerful forces of cavalry and -infantry,” he wrote. “The former cut off our communications everywhere, -hoping to reduce Lee to starvation, and the presence of the latter keeps -from him reinforcements that otherwise would be promptly sent. We have -lost severely around the city. General Stuart was shot by a Yankee -soldier who fired upon him at ten paces as he galloped past him. He died -last night, about twenty-eight hours after he received the wound. -Brigadier General Gordon, also of the cavalry, had his arm shattered -yesterday above the elbow, and ’tis said will probably have to suffer -amputation. Mr. Randolph, the ‘Sir Anthony Absolute’ of your play, was -wounded yesterday in the shoulder and thigh, and will lose the limb -to-day. All the clerks of the office are in the intrenchments and no -work goes on!” - -Upon learning of my determination to push on to Georgia, our sister put -away her anxiety and grew facetious at my expense. “I am inclined to -think you are a great coward,” she wrote. “Why did you run from -Petersburg?... I am almost ashamed of you! You never catch me running -from Yankees! Georgia is certainly a _safe_ place.... When we have -killed _all the Yankees_ and the city is perfectly quiet, I invite you -to come on and see us.... I am weary from walking (not _running_) to see -the wounded!” - -A month or so later and my sweet sister, speeding _to overtake me_, -joined me at Macon, in time to accompany me to the home of our friend, -Mrs. Winter, in Columbus. Here, to compensate for the tribulations of -the past months, we were promised the most care-free of summers. -Refugees were flocking to that land of safety and plenty just then, and -whether in Macon or Columbus, our time was spent in welcoming -late-comers, in visiting and exchanging news or comment of the times, or -making little excursions to nearby towns. Once we formed a party and -visited the “White Farm” of Augusta Evans, then unmarried. It was a -unique place and celebrated for the unsullied whiteness of every bird -and beast on the place. - -Upon our arrival at our friend’s home in Columbus, we found a very -active field awaiting us. It was now mid-summer of ’4, somewhat after -the bloody battle of Atlanta. In anticipation of our coming, Mrs. Winter -had prepared her largest and coolest rooms for us. All was ready and we -about due to arrive, when an unforeseen incident frustrated our -hostess’s plans in regard of our intended pleasuring, and put us all to -more serious work. It was in the late afternoon when our friend, driving -in her calash along the boundaries of the town, came upon a pitiful -sight. Near a group of tents a sick man, a soldier, lay writhing upon -the ground in a delirium, while near by and watching him stood his -alarmed and helpless coloured servant. Mrs. Winter, aroused to pity by -the sight, immediately gave orders that the sufferer be carried to her -home, where he was placed in the room that had been prepared for me. - -When my sister and I arrived, a few hours afterward, our sympathies, -too, were at once enlisted for the unfortunate man. He proved to be -Captain Octave Vallette, a Creole, who, previous to his enlistment, with -his brother, had been a ship-builder at Algiers, Louisiana. - -A physician was already in attendance when my sister and I arrived, and -an examination of the invalid’s wounds was making. - -A week had elapsed since the first hasty dressing of the wound, and the -blackened flesh now suggested the approach of the dreaded gangrene. - -The cleansing of the dreadful wound was a terrible ordeal. For days the -patient raved, and to us, just from the camps and hospitals of Virginia, -his frenzied words conveyed most vivid pictures of the experiences our -men were meeting in the deadly fray. - -“God! What a hole for soldiers to be in!” he would cry; and then would -mumble on incoherently until, in an accession of fevered strength, he -would burst out, “Give them hell, boys!” while his negro man stood by, -blinded by tears. - -Finally, however, our care was rewarded, and our invalid began slowly to -recover. The first day he was able to endure it, we took the Captain to -drive in Mrs. Winter’s calash. He was still weak, and very melancholy; -the injured arm was stiff and all but a useless member. We tried to -cheer him by merry talk. “Surely,” we said at last, as we drove by a -new-made cemetery, with its bare little whitewashed head-boards, “weak -as you are, isn’t this a great deal better than lying out there with a -board at your head marked ‘O. V.’?” At this he smiled, but grimly. - -The ensuing months to me were a time of indecision. My sister departed -to rejoin her husband in Richmond, and I, feeling quite cut off from -those nearest to me, formed numerous plans for leaving the Confederate -States. I wished to go to Mr. Clay in Canada, or to England, where so -many dear friends were already installed; and so earnestly did this -desire fix itself in my mind that wheels were set in motion for the -securing of a passport. My friends in Richmond and in Georgia urged me -to reconsider. Mr. Clay might even then be on his way home; would I not -come to the capital and wait? But I declined, and kind Secretary Mallory -acceded to my wishes, though cautioning me against our enemies on the -seas. “I only wish I could send you abroad in a public vessel,” he -wrote, as he inclosed Mr. Seddon’s passport, “but I have not a blockade -runner under my control. - -“You will, of course, avoid Bermuda and Nassau. The yellow-fever still -rages and embraces new-comers at the very beach; and knowing that -nothing on earth would ever fail to embrace you that had the power of -doing so, and having a painful experience of his warm and glowing -nature, I am anxious that you shall keep out of his way.... Angela and -Ruby send their love. They regret, with me, that your promised visit to -us is not to be paid.” - -Yet, after all these preparations I remained; for, as the weeks passed, -it seemed clear Mr. Clay was likely to arrive at any time. His -associate, Professor Holcombe, had already returned, though wrecked off -the coast of Wilmington. Whole ship-loads of cotton, which had succeeded -in running the blockade and which we fondly hoped would replenish our -pocket-books, had gone to the bottom. On the whole, travel by sea grew -less and less attractive. I concluded to remain on _terra firma_, but to -go on toward Augusta and Beech Island, South Carolina, that I might be -nearer the coast when Mr. Clay should arrive. Ere I left Columbus I had -a ludicrous adventure. Upon coming downstairs one morning, I saw, -approaching the outer, wide-open door, a large, portly figure clad in -Macon Mills muslin. Beyond him, in the street, a wagon stood, or was -passing. It was loaded with watermelons. As I noted them and the figure -approaching, I connected the two at once, and called back to my hostess, -with all the enthusiasm for which I was ever famous at the near prospect -of a “million,” “Cousin Victoria! Don’t you want some melons? Here’s a -watermelon man!” To my surprise, as I neared the door a hearty laugh -rang out; a cordial hand was extended to me, and I recognised before me -genial, jovial General Howell Cobb, who had left his military duties for -the moment, in order to welcome me to Georgia. His long beard, which he -declared he never would shave until our cause was won, together with the -copperas and unbleached suit of muslin, had quite disguised him for the -moment. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - THE DEPARTED GLORIES OF THE SOUTH LAND - - -My memories would be incomplete were I to fail to include in them a -description of plantation life that may be taken as a type of the -beautiful homes of the South in that long ago before the Civil War. From -Maryland to Louisiana there had reigned, since colonial times, an -undisturbed, peaceful, prosperous democracy, based upon an institution -beneficial alike to master and servant. It was implanted in the South by -the English settlers, approved by the English rulers, and fostered by -thrifty merchants of New England, glad to traffic in black men so long -as there were black men upon the African coasts who might be had in -exchange for a barrel of rum. Generations living under these conditions -had evolved a domestic discipline in Southern homes which was of an -ideal order. Nothing resembling it had existed in modern times. To -paraphrase the nursery rhyme, the planter was in his counting-house -counting out his money; his wife was in the parlour eating bread and -honey; the man servant was by his master’s side, the maid with her -mistress, the meat-cook at his spit and the bread-cook at the marble -block where the delicious beaten biscuit were made in plenty. The -laundress was in the laundry (Chinamen then in China), and in the -nursery lived, ever at her post, the sable sentinel of cribs and -cradles, the skilful manufacturer of possets and potions. None but a -Southerner to the manner born can appreciate or imagine the tie that -bound us of that old-time South to our dear black mammy, in whose -capacious lap the little ones confided to her care cuddled in innocent -slumber. - -Fruitful vineyards and gardens furnished our luxuries, and talent and -faithful public service were the criterion of social standing. Of those -bygone days, Mr. E. Spann Hammond[31] recently wrote, “To me it seems as -if I had been in two worlds, and two existences, the old and the new, -and to those knowing only the latter, the old will appear almost like -mythology and romance, so thorough has been the upheaval and -obliteration of the methods and surroundings of the past.” - -Yes! the old glories have passed away, but even those who destroyed -them, looking back to that time and that Southern civilisation, -recognise to-day how enviable were our solidarity as a people, our -prosperity and the moral qualities that are characteristic of the South. -“I have learned not only to respect, but to love the great qualities -which belong to my fellow-citizens of the Southern States,” said Senator -Hoar, recently. “Their love of home, their chivalrous respect for women, -their courage, their delicate sense of honour, their constancy, which -can abide by an appearance or a purpose or an interest for their States -through adversity, and through prosperity, through years and through -generations, are things by which the more mercurial people of the North -may take a lesson. And there is another thing,” he added, “the low -temptation of money has not found any place in our Southern politics.” - -[Illustration: - - SENATOR JAMES H. HAMMOND - - of South Carolina -] - -It was my good fortune during the late autumn and winter of 1864 to be -invited to take refuge in a spacious and representative plantation home -in South Carolina, where the conditions that obtained were so typically -those of the Southern home that I could choose no better example for -description, were I to scan here the numberless instances of a similar -character, known to me before those unquiet days. “Redcliffe,” the home -of Senator Hammond, is still a point of interest to travellers, and a -beautiful feature of the landscape in which it is set. It is built upon -a high knoll on Beech Island, South Carolina, and is visible to the -naked eye at a distance of thirty-five miles. It lies within view of -Sand Hill, where the famous Madame Le Vert spent her declining years, -and is pointed out to the visitor by the residents of Augusta, Georgia, -and the smaller towns about, as an object of local admiration and pride. -In the decades preceding the war it was owned by Governor, afterward -Senator, James H. Hammond, a wealthy man in his own right, whose -possessions were greatly increased by his marriage to Miss Catherine -Fitzsimmons. Miss Fitzsimmons was a daughter of one of South Carolina’s -richest citizens, and brought to Governor Hammond a splendid dowry. Her -sister became the wife of Colonel Wade Hampton, who had been on General -Jackson’s staff at the battle of New Orleans, and whose son, General and -Senator Wade Hampton, served in the same Congress with Senator Hammond. -While in Washington, the latter, distinguished alike for his reserve and -scholarliness, became known as the “Napoleon of the Senate.” He was no -lover of public life, however, and the senatorial office was literally -thrust upon him. Especially as the strenuousness in Congress increased, -his desire deepened to remain among his people and to develop what was, -in fact, one of the most productive plantations in South Carolina. The -estate of “Redcliffe” was stocked with the finest of Southdowns, with -sleek, blooded kine, and horses, and a full flock of Angora goats. The -prolific “Redcliffe” vineyards yielded unusual varieties of grapes, -planted and cared for by white labourers. Four hundred slaves or more -were owned by Senator Hammond, but these were set to less -skill-demanding duties. For the planting of this vineyard, forty acres -of land, sub-soiled to a depth of three feet, were set apart, and the -clear, straw-coloured wine for which the Senator’s cellar was famous -came from his own wine-presses. - -On the plantation was a large grist-mill, from which every human -creature in that vast family was fed. It was a big, heavy timbered -building, grey even then with age, and run by water. Here the corn was -crushed between the upper and the nether mill-stones, and so skilful was -the miller that each could have his hominy ground as coarse or as fine -as his fancy dictated, and all the sweetness of the corn left in it -besides. The miller could neither read nor write, but he needed no aid -to his memory. For years he had known whose mealbag it was that had the -red patch in the corner. He knew each different knot as well as he knew -the negros’ faces, and if any of the bags presented had holes in it the -miller would surely make its owner wait till the last. - -Lower down on the same water-course was the sawmill, which had turned -out all the lumber used in the building of “Redcliffe.” On one occasion -it happened that this mill, needing some repairs, a great difficulty was -encountered in the adjustment of the mud-sills, upon which the solidity -of the whole superstructure depended. The obstacles to be removed were -great, and it cost much time and money to overcome them. While Mr. -Hammond was Senator, and in the official chamber was grappling with the -problem of labour and capital, his experience with the mud-sills was -opportunely recalled, and his application of that name to certain of the -labouring classes at once added to his reputation for ready wit. - -On the “Redcliffe” plantation the blacksmith was to be found at his -forge, the wheelwright in his shop, and the stock-minder guarding the -welfare of his charges. Measured by the standard that a man has not -lived in vain who makes two blades of grass to grow where but one grew -before, Senator Hammond might have been crowned King of agricultural -enterprise, for his highest producing corn-lands before he rescued them -had been impassible swamp-lands. Drained and put under cultivation, -their yield was enormous, no less than eighty bushels of corn being the -average quantity to the acre. There was scarcely a corner of the old -“stake-and-rider fences” in which Mr. Hammond did not cause to be -planted a peach or apple or other fruit tree. - -Our cousin Miss Comer, who late in the fifties married the son of -Senator Hammond, and made her home at “Redcliffe,” though accustomed to -affluent plantation life, was at once impressed by the splendid system -that directed the colony of slaves at Beech Island. Each marriage and -birth and death that took place among them was registered with great -exactness. The Senator’s business ability was remarkable. He knew his -every possession to the most minute particular. The Hammond slaves -formed an exclusive colony, which was conducted with all the strictness -of a little republic. They were a happy, orderly, cleanly, and care-free -lot, and Mr. Hammond was wont to say that if the doctrine of -transmigration of souls was true, he would like to have his soul come -back and inhabit one of his “darkies.” - -I have said they were an exclusive colony. My pretty little cousin -realised this upon her arrival at “Glen Loula,” a charming residence -named for her, and set apart for the young couple by the owner of -“Redcliffe.” - -“The Hammond negro, as I have found him,” she wrote, “has a decided -personal vanity, and nothing will offend him more than to have you -forget his name. For a long time after coming I felt I was not exactly -admitted by the different servants as ‘one ob de fambly.’ In fact, it -was plain I was on trial, being ‘weighed in the balance!’ How I wished I -knew all about diplomacy! I never saw a more august appearance than -Daddy ‘Henry,’ an old African, who remembers the slave ship on which he -was brought over, his foreign name, and, perhaps, many things which he -never tells about. He cleans the silver, polishes the floors and windows -and the brasses in the fireplaces, and, besides this, claims the boys’ -guns as his by some divine right. - -“In order to hasten an expression of their good-will, I thought one day -of making a Sterling exchange with the aid of some Washington finery; -and, with a black silk dress to one servant and a morning-robe to -another, I have pulled through famously, even with Marm Jane, the cook, -who is supreme in her kitchen. I have heard her turn my husband out. But -the silk dress brought me a _carte blanche_. ‘Come on, Missy, jes w’en -you feels like it!’ is the way she greets me now. - -“I cannot help seeing the wise arrangement of every part of this -extensive plantation, especially for the negroes. The house of the -overseer is in the midst of a grove of live oaks, and in each street are -a certain number of cabins, each in the midst of a little garden with -space in which to raise chickens. The hospital is well arranged, and -there is a separate house where the children, especially the babies, are -left to be fed and cared for while their mothers are at work. - -“My poor memory for faces would be my undoing but for Paul, who always -tells me as we come upon any of the negroes, ‘Now this is Jethro! Be -sure to call him distinctly.’ I fall in with this righteous deception -and it works like a charm. They admire what they think wit, and -especially love to memorise some easy little rhyme. Every one makes the -same atrocious wish to me: - - ‘God blass you, ma Missie. I wishes you joy - An’ every year a gal or a boy.’ - -“I thought I would die when I heard it first, but I’ve gotten over it -now. Senator Hammond gives a barbecue to the slaves every Fourth of July -and Christmas, and the dances of the negroes are very amusing. There is -a tall black man, called Robin, on this plantation, who has originated a -dance which he calls the turkey-buzzard dance. He holds his hands under -his coat-tails, which he flirts out as he jumps, first to one side, and -then to the other, and looks exactly like the ugly bird he imitates.” - -In the uncertain days of the war, Huntsville being unapproachable, and -we having no fixed abode in the intervals between Congressional sessions -at Richmond, Senator Clay and I made several enjoyable visits to the -sheltered home of Mr. Hammond, even while battles raged and every heart -was burdened with apprehension. The hospitality of the owner of -“Redcliffe” was well known. It was his custom in those uncertain days, -whether guests were known to be coming or not, to send his carriage -daily to Augusta to meet the afternoon train, and the unexpected or -chance arrival who might be seeking a conference or a refuge at -“Redcliffe”; and once a year, like a great feudal landlord, he gave a -fête or grand dinner to all the country people about, at which he always -contrived to have some distinguished guest present. Senator Clay and I -had the good fortune to be visiting Mr. Hammond on such an occasion, -when every neighbour, poor or rich, for miles about was present. They -made a memorable picture; for the majority were stiff and prim and of -the quaint, simple, religious class often to be found in back districts. -They seemed ill at ease, if not consciously out of place, in Senator -Hammond’s parlours, filled as those great rooms were with evidences of a -cosmopolitan culture, with paintings and statuary, bronze and marble -groups.[32] - -In their efforts to entertain their guests, our host and hostess’s -ingenuity had been tested to its utmost, when suddenly Senator Hammond’s -eye twinkled, and he turned to Senator Clay. - -“I remember once seeing you dance at our home in Washington, Mr. Clay,” -he began, and then proceeded to recall an amusing evening, where, -strictly _en famille_, Senator Butler, of South Carolina, together with -Secretary and Mrs. Cobb, Senator Clay and myself, had dined, finishing -up the hours together by singing our favourite ballads. Upon my playing -a merry tune, Secretary Cobb, rotund and jolly, suddenly seized my -husband, slender and sedate, and together they whirled madly about the -room to the music of the piano, and the great amusement of dear old -Senator Butler, who laughed until the tears rolled down his cheeks. - -When Mr. Hammond at “Redcliffe” proposed that Mr. Clay repeat his -terpsichorean success for the pleasure of the Beach Islanders there -gathered, my husband at first (emulating the distinguished artist -wherever he is encountered) demurred. He “could not dance without -music,” he said. - -“Well,” said our host, “Mrs. Clay can play!” - -“But I need a partner!” my husband persisted. At last, however, he -yielded to Senator Hammond’s persuasion and danced an impromptu Highland -fling, abandoning himself completely to the fun of the moment. As the -music went on and his spirit of frolic rose, the faces of some of the -spectators around us grew longer and longer, and, I am sure, those good -people felt themselves to be a little nearer to the burning pit than -they had ever been before. Their prim glances at my husband’s capers -increased the natural sedateness of our hostess, who, seeing the -expressions of alarm, plainly was relieved when at last the terrible -Bacchanalian outburst was over! I felt sure it would be a difficult task -to try to convince my husband’s audience that his own religious feelings -and convictions were of the deepest and most spiritual quality. - -For his black dependents, Senator Hammond had built several churches; -the favourite one, called St. Catherine’s (named for Mrs. Hammond), -being nearest the “Redcliffe” residence and most frequently visited by -the family. Once a month a white preacher came, and all the slaves -gathered to listen to the monthly sermon. Senator Hammond’s views for -the civilising of the negroes led him to forbid the presence of exciting -negro preachers, for the religion of the black man, left to himself, is -generally a mixture of hysteria and superstition. The conversion of the -negroes under their own spiritual guides was a blood-curdling process in -those days, for they screamed to Heaven as if the Indians with their -tomahawks were after them, or danced, twisting their bodies in most -remarkable manner.[33] As their emotion increased, as they “got -feelin’,” and the moment of conversion approached, as a rule they fell -all in a heap, though in thus “coming through” the wenches were -altogether likely to fall into the arms of the best-looking young -brother who happened to be near. By reason of Senator Hammond’s wise -discipline, such religious excesses were impossible at “Redcliffe,” and -I can recall no church service at once more thrilling and reverential -than that I attended, with Senator Clay, at quaint St. Catherine’s on -the “Redcliffe” plantation shortly before my husband’s departure for -Canada. - -The negroes, clean, thrifty, strong, all dressed in their best, vied -with each other in their deference to Mars’ Paul’s guests, as we entered -the church. They listened quietly to the sermon as the service -proceeded. - -It was a solemn and impressive scene. There was the little company of -white people, the flower of centuries of civilisation, among hundreds of -blacks, but yesterday in the age of the world, wandering in savagery, -now peaceful, contented, respectful and comprehending the worship of -God. Within a day’s ride, cannon roared, and a hunter, laying his ear to -the ground, might have heard the tread of armies, bent upon the blotting -out of just such scenes as these. Only God might record our thoughts -that morning, as the preacher alluded in prayer and sermon to the issues -of the times. At the close of the morning, the hymn “There is rest for -the weary” was given out, and when the slaves about us had wailed out -the lines - - “On the other side of Jordan - · · · · · - Where the tree of life is blooming - There is rest for you!” - -my husband, at the signal for prayer, fell upon his knees, relieving his -pent-up feelings in tears which he could not restrain. My own -commingling emotions were indescribably strange and sad. Would -abolitionists, I thought, could they look upon that scene, fail to admit -the blessings American “slavery” had brought to the savage black men, -thus, within a few generations at most, become at home in a condition of -civilisation. - -There were many fine voices on the plantation at “Redcliffe,” and as -they followed their leader down the row “chopping out” cotton, or, when -later they worked in gangs at picking it, it was their custom, seeming -to act from instinct in the matter, to sing. One voice usually began the -song, then another would join him, and then another, until dozens of -voices blended in weird and melodious harmonies that floated from the -distant cotton fields to the house of the master, and the music of the -unseen choristers, a natural and rhythmic song, was of a kind we shall -not hear again in these later practical times. Sometimes, one by one, -all would drop out of the song, until only the leader’s high voice was -heard; then, gradually, they would join in again, and often, when all -seemed finished, a challenge would come from some distant gang, and a -fuller and freer antiphonal song would be heard, answering from field to -field. - -When I remember that throng of well-fed, plump and happy coloured -people, and compare it with the ragged and destitute communities common -among the freedmen of to-day, the contrast is a sad one. “What’s de -reason?” asked an old darky of me during Reconstruction days, “dat de -Yankees caint make linsey-wolsey like ole Mistis did in de ole time? ’N -dose days one par breeches las me mos a year! I could cut trees, roll -logs, burn bresh-heaps an’ cut briers an’ I couldn’t wear dem breeches -out! Now when I buys dis shoddy stuff de Yankees done bro’t an’ sets -down on de lawg ter eat ma grub, bress Gawd! when I gits up, I leaves de -seat O’ my breeches on de lawg! I done got down on my knees an’ prayed -for God ter send me linsey-wolsey clothes so I won’t have rheumatiz an’ -aint none come. Where’s dat mule an’ forty acres? When is dey a comin’, -dat’s what I wants ter know!” - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - CONDITIONS IN 1863–’4 - - -By the autumn of 1864 the Southern States found themselves ravaged of -everything either edible or wearable. Food was enormously high in cities -and in locations which proved tempting to foragers. Delicately bred -women were grateful when they were able to secure a pair of rough brogan -shoes at one hundred dollars a pair, and coarse cotton cloth from the -Macon Mills served to make our gowns. For nearly three years the -blockade of our ports and frontier had made the purchase of anything -really needful, impracticable. Nor could we utilise the stores in -Southern cities once these had fallen into the enemies’ clutches. A -correspondent, Mrs. Captain du Barry,[34] who in December, 1863, was -permitted to visit Memphis, now in the enemy’s possession, wrote, “I -deeply regretted not being able to fill your commissions. I put them on -my list that I sent in to General Hurlburt, when I requested a passport, -but they were refused. All the principal stores were closed and their -contents confiscated. There is a perfect reign of terror in Memphis. Not -even a spool of cotton can be purchased without registering your name -and address, and “swearing it is for personal or family use,” and no -_number_ of articles can be taken from the store without, after -selection, going with a list of them in your hand, to the “Board of -Trade,” accompanied by the clerk of the store, and there swearing on the -Bible that the articles mentioned are for family use and not to be taken -out of the United States. So many necessary articles are pronounced -contraband by the United States authorities, that one is in momentary -chance of being arrested, by ignorantly inquiring for them. The place is -swarming with detectives who make a trade of arresting unfortunate -people. They are paid by the United States Government two hundred and -fifty dollars for detecting and arresting a person, and that person pays -the Provost Marshal fifteen hundred to two thousand dollars to get off, -that being the way matters are conducted in Memphis!” - -All over the South old spinning wheels and handlooms were brought out -from dusty corners, and the whirr of the wheel became a very real song -to us. Every scrap of old leather from furniture, trunk, belt or saddle -was saved for the manufacture of rough shoes, often made by the mother -who had been fortunate enough to have hoarded them, for herself and -children. I, myself, saw my aunt, Eloisa, wife of General Jones M. -Withers, putting soles on the tops of once cast-off shoes of her -children’s, and she, who had known so well the luxuries of life, was -compelled to perform her task by the meagre light of a precious tallow -candle. Complaints, however, were few, from our Spartan-spirited women. -Writing to my husband, in November, 1864, I said, “A lady told me -yesterday that she fattened daily on Confederate fare—for, since she -could obtain no useless luxuries, her health, heretofore poor, has -become perfect.” - -The country was stripped not alone of the simpler refinements of life, -but of even so necessary a commodity as salt. Scarcely a smoke-house in -the South having an earthen floor, which had received the drippings from -the hams or bacon sides of earlier days, but underwent a scraping and -sifting in an effort to secure the precious grains deposited there. It -happened that my host at “Redcliffe,” just previous to the breaking out -of hostilities, had ordered a boat-load of salt, to use upon certain -unsatisfactory land, and realising that a blockaded coast would result -in a salt famine, he hoarded his supply until the time of need should -come. When it became known that Senator Hammond’s salt supply was -available, every one from far and near came asking for it. It was like -going down into Egypt for corn, and the precious crystals were -distributed to all who came, according to the number in each family. - -Compared with those of many of my friends in other parts of the South, -our surroundings and fare at Beech Island were sumptuous. Save at my -Uncle Williams’s home, I had nowhere seen such an abundance of good -things as “Redcliffe” yielded. Meats and vegetables were plenty; the -river nearby was full of shad which were caught readily in seines; and -canvas-backs and teal, English ducks and game birds, especially -partridges, abounded. “Indian summer is here in all its glory,” I wrote -to my husband late in ’4. “The hues of the forests are gorgeous, the -roses wonderful! Millions of violets scent the air, and everything is so -peaceful and lovely on this island it is hard to realise War is in the -land. Splendid crops prevail, and the spirit of the people is -undaunted!” - -As times grew more and more stringent, tea and coffee proved to be our -greatest lack, and here, as we had done in the last days at Warrenton, -we were glad to drink potato coffee and peanut chocolate. The skin of -the raw potato was scraped off—to pare it might have been to waste -it—and the potato cut into slices or discs as thin as paper. It was then -carefully dried, toasted and ground, and made into what proved to be a -really delicious beverage.[35] Our chocolate was made in this wise: -Peanuts, or pinders, or goobers, as they were variously called, were -roasted and the skin slipped off. They were next pounded in a mortar; -when, blended with boiled milk and a little sugar (a sparing use of this -most costly luxury was also necessary), the drink was ready for serving, -and we found it delightful to our palates. - -There were spinners and weavers on Beech Island, too, and unceasing -industry was necessary to prepare and weave cloth, both cotton and wool, -sufficient for the clothing of the army of slaves and the family on the -great plantation. One of the island residents, Mrs. Redd, was a -wonderful worker, and wove me a cotton gown of many colours which had -all the beauty of a fine Scotch plaid. She spun her own cotton and made -her own dyes, gathering her colours from the mysterious laboratories of -the woods, and great was the fame her handiwork attained wherever it was -seen. Calico of the commonest in those days was sold at twenty-five -dollars a yard; and we women of the Confederacy cultivated such an -outward indifference to Paris fashions as would have astonished our -former competitors in the Federal capital. Nor did our appearance, I am -constrained to think, suffer appreciably more than our spirits; for the -glories of an unbleached Macon Mills muslin gown, trimmed with -gourd-seed buttons, dyed crimson, in which I appeared at Richmond in the -spring of ’4, so impressed the mind of an English newspaper -correspondent there, that he straightway wrote and forwarded an account -of it to London, whence our friends who had taken refuge there sent it -back to us, cut from a morning journal. - -Not that our love for pretty things was dead; a letter preserved by Mr. -Clay is fine testimony to the fact that mine was “scotched, and not -killed.” It was dated Beech Island, November 18, 1864, and was addressed -to Mr. Clay, now on the eve of departure from Canada. - -“Bring me at least two silk dresses of black and purple. I prefer the -purple to be _moire antique_, if it is fashionable. If French -importations are to be had, bring me a spring bonnet and a walking hat, -for the benefit of all my lady friends as well as myself, and do bring -some books of fashions—September, October, and November numbers (_Ruling -passion strong in war_), and bring——.” The list grew unconscionably. In -after years I found a copy of it carefully made out in my husband’s -handwriting, and showing marks of having been carried in his pocket -until each article I had indicated for myself or others had been -selected, Here it is: - - 1. At least, 2 silk dresses, black and purple (for ’Ginie). - - 2. French spring bonnet. - - 3. Walking hat. - - 4. Some books of fashion. - - 5. Corsets—4—6, 22 inches in waist. - - 6. Slippers with heels, No. 3 1–2. - - 7. Gloves—1 doz. light coloured, 1 doz. dark. - - 8. Handkerchiefs, extra fine. - - 9. Two handsome black silk dresses for Lestia. - - 10. Flannel, white and red. - - 11. A set of fine, dark furs, not exceeding $25. - - 12. Set of Hudson Bay Sables, at any price, for Victoria, large cape, - cuffs and muff. - - 13. Two Black Hernanis or Tissue dresses, one tissue dress to be - brochetted for ’Ginie. - - 14. 3 or 4 pieces of black velvet ribbon, different widths. - - 15. Bolt of white bonnet ribbon; ditto pink, green and magenta. - - 16. French flowers for bonnet. - - 17. Shell Tuck comb for ’Ginie. - - 18. Present for little Jeff Davis, Claude and J. Winter. - - 19. Needles, pins, _hairpins_, tooth-brushes, coarse combs, cosmetics, - hair oil, cologne. - - 20. Domestic, linen, muslin, nainsook, swiss, jaconet, mull muslin, - each a full piece. - - 21. Dresses of brilliantine. - - 22. Black silk spring wrapping. - - 23. Chlorine tooth wash and Rowland’s Kalydor. - - 24. A cut coral necklace. - - 25. Lace collars, large and pointed now worn. - -Alas! my husband’s zeal in fulfilling my commissions all went for -naught, for the boxes containing them (save two, which were deposited -with Mrs. Chestnut, at Columbia, and later fell prey to the Federals or -to the flames, we never knew which) were swallowed by the sea, and only -he himself came home with the Government papers he had guarded, as the -sole baggage he was able to save from the wreck of the _Rattlesnake_ of -all he had carried. And yet not all, for a long-lost pet which he had -been enabled to reclaim for General Lee[36] was also brought safely to -shore. - -“Tell him,” wrote my sister, from Richmond, that “General Lee’s dog -arrived safely. Poor dog! I’m sorry for him, for he will find the -Confederacy a poor place to come to to get anything to eat! I trust for -the country’s sake, he knows how to live without eating!” - -For the making of our toilette we discovered the value of certain -gourds, when used as wash cloths. Their wearing qualities were -wonderful; the more one used them the softer they became. Needles were -becoming precious as heirlooms; pins were the rarest of luxuries; for -the greater part of the time locust thorns served us instead. Writing -paper was scarcely to be had, and the letters of that period which were -sent out by private persons were often unique testimony to the ingenuity -of the senders. Wall-paper, perhaps, was most frequently resorted to, -and we made our crude envelopes of anything we could find. We made our -own writing fluids, our commonest resource being the oak ball, a -parasite, which, next to the walnut burr, is the blackest thing in the -vegetable world. Or, this failing us, soot was scooped from the chimney, -and, after a careful sifting, was mixed with water and “fixed” with a -few drops of vinegar. Sometimes we used pokeberries, manufacturing a -kind of red ink, or, made thin with water, some bit of miraculously -saved shoe polish provided us with an adhesive black fluid. - -Our difficulties were as great in the matter of transmitting our -letters, when once they were written. We might intrust them to the -mails, but these particularly were prey to our invaders; or we might -charge with the care of them some traveller who was known to be making -his way to the city for which the letters were addressed. Stray -newspapers reached us at “Redcliffe” occasionally, from even so distant -a point as our capital, and efforts were made by local editors to purvey -the news of battles and the movements of the armies, but the supply of -paper necessary for the issuing of a daily journal and even a weekly -edition was difficult to obtain. What at first had appeared as morning -papers were changed to evening editions, as the cost of candles, by -which the compositors must work, had risen in ’3 to three and one-half -dollars a pound. Our brother, J. Withers Clay, who owned and edited the -_Confederate_, turned peripatetic, and issued his paper where he could, -being obliged to keep shifting, printing paraphernalia and all, with the -movements of the army in the Tennessee region. Writing us from -Chattanooga, on August 16, 1863, he thus described his life: “I am -living in camp style. I mess with my office boys and our fare is frugal. -My bed is a piece of carpet, laid on a door, with one end elevated on -two bricks and the other resting on the floor. I lay my blue blanket on -this, and my bones on that, with my head supported by my overcoat and -carpet sack, and cover myself with a Mexican scarf when it is cool!” - -On the whole, our condition was almost like that of the ancients who -depended on passing travellers for gossip or news of the welfare or -whereabouts of friends or kin. Thus my sister (by every tie of -affection), writing from Richmond in the spring of ’4, said: “Have no -idea where you are, but send this letter by General Sparrow to Macon, -care of Mrs. Whittle. The last intelligence I had of you was through -Colonel Phillips. He told me he saw you between Augusta and Macon -_somewhere_.” - -Nor dared we avail ourselves of our telegraph wires, so costly had the -sending of a few lines become. For the briefest message sent C. O. D. -from Macon to Richmond, my sister paid sixteen dollars and implored me -to send no more! The chief resource of the people was the arrival of the -local train, at which time the railway stations swarmed with inquirers -on foot, hedged in by others as eager, who had driven long distances in -such vehicles as were at their command. - -My life was one of continual suspense, notwithstanding the arrival of -special couriers who came from time to time from Richmond bearing -tidings of my absent husband. All lives that lie in close parallels to -governments carry heavy anxieties. Mine, in those days of strife and -terror, was no exception to this general rule. As negotiator at Niagara -Falls with Professor Holcombe and others, the eyes of the North as well -as those of the South for months had been fixed upon Mr. Clay, his -interviews with Horace Greeley and the messengers sent to him by Mr. -Lincoln having excited varying comments and criticisms that were -anything but reassuring. Our friends in Richmond, however, wrote -cheeringly: - - “... I hear occasionally of Mr. Clay,” ran a letter from the - Executive Mansion, dated August 31st, ’4, “but for some time past - nothing has been received from him. The company he keeps[37] as - reported by the newspapers cannot render you apprehensive of his - being too happy to wish to return, though your desire to be with him - may have increased his probable want of more congenial communion - when the day’s work is done. I am assured that his health has - improved by Canadian air, and we may hope that he will bring back - increased ability to labour in the cause of the Confederacy, if it - should not be his portion to relieve us of the need for further toil - such as now is imposed. The carping spirit which prompted the - criticism[38] on his course would have found sufficient cause - whatever he might have done; or, if nothing had been done, that - would have served equally. No one can hope to please everybody. You - would not wish your husband to escape the reviling of those who envy - such as they cannot rival, and strive to drag others down from the - heights to which they cannot rise?” - -Messages were numerous, urging my return to Richmond, which our -President and the Mallorys assured me was the safest of places. - -“Now that Sherman’s barbarians are in unpleasant proximity to you,” -wrote Secretary Mallory, “why not come to the front where security, -sympathy, mint juleps, an admiring audience, the freshest gossip and the -most unselfish regard, all combine with the boom and flash of guns to -welcome your coming? The correspondence between your lord and master and -Holcombe on one side, and Greeley on the other, is doing good service. -The parties, fragments, cliques and individuals in the United States who -desire peace, but differ upon the _modus operandi_ of getting it, will -now learn that with Lincoln at the head of affairs, no peace is -possible; while our weak brothers in North Carolina and Georgia who have -clamoured so loudly that peace propositions should be made to us, cannot -fail to see that, at present, peace with Lincoln means degradation. I am -very glad Mr. Clay went, for I see that his presence must be beneficial -to our cause.” - -These, and other letters as urgent and as desirous of quieting my -apprehensions, came frequently. Nevertheless, my husband’s stay in the -severe climate of Canada caused me constant apprehension. For months my -only direct news of him was through “personals,” variously disguised, in -the Richmond papers, which Colonel Clay was prompt to forward to me. -Occasionally, however, one of the numerous letters each endeavoured to -send to the other successfully reached its destination. “It gives me -great pain,” I wrote on November 18, ’4, “to learn from yours just -received that none of my numerous letters have reached you since the -30th June! I have sent you dozens, my dearest, filled with all the news -of the day, of every character, and more love than ever filled my heart -before!... My last intelligence of you was sent me from Richmond through -the bearer of despatches, I presume, and bore the date of September -fifteenth, more than two months ago!” - -In this letter, which was dated from Beech Island, I conveyed -intelligence to Mr. Clay of Senator Hammond’s death, he being, at the -time, a few days less than fifty-seven years of age. It occurred while -all the affluent colourings of the autumn were tingeing his world at -“Redcliffe.” The circumstances attending his decease and burial were -unique, and to be likened only to those which, in mediæval days, -surrounded the passing away of some Gothic baron or feudal lord. Mr. -Hammond had been failing in health for some time, when, feeling his end -drawing near, he asked for a carriage that he might drive out and select -his last resting-place. He chose, at last, a high knoll, from which a -fine view was to be had of Augusta and the Sand Hills; and, having done -this, being opposed to private burial grounds, he bequeathed the -surrounding acres to the town in the precincts of which his estate lay, -on consideration that they turn the plot into a public cemetery. First, -however, he laid an injunction upon his wife and sons, that if the -Yankee army penetrated there (the end of the war was not yet, nor came -for six months thereafter), they should have his grave ploughed over -that none of the hated enemy should see it. - -Again and again in the remaining days he reiterated his wish. Fears were -spreading of the approach of Sherman’s devastating army, and the -destruction of “Redcliffe,” conspicuous as it was to all the surrounding -country, seemed inevitable. Marvellous to relate, however, when at last -the spoiler came, his legions marched in a straight line to the sea, -some fourteen miles away from the Hammond plantation, leaving it -untouched by shell or the irreverent hand of the invader. - -The funeral of Mr. Hammond was solemn and made especially impressive by -the procession of two hundred of the older slaves, who marched, two by -two, into the baronial parlors, to look for the last time upon their -master’s face. Save for this retinue, “Redcliffe” was now practically -without a defender, Mr. Paul Hammond being absent much of the time, -detailed upon home guard duty. In his absence, my maid, Emily, and I -kept the armory of the household, now grown more and more fearful of -invasion with its train of insult and the destruction of property. There -were many nights when, all the rest in slumber and a dead hush without, -I waited, breathless, until I caught the sound of Paul Hammond’s -returning steps. - -Just before the close of my refugee days on Beach Island, a young -kinsman, George Tunstall, who filled the sublime post of corporal in -Wheeler’s Brigade in camp a few hundred miles away, learning of my -presence there, obtained leave of absence and made his way, accompanied -by another youth, to Mrs. Hammond’s to see me. The two soldiers were -full of tales of thrilling interest, of hairbreadth escapes and camp -happenings, both grave and gay; and, rumours of Sherman’s advance being -rife, our young heroes urged my cousin to take time by the forelock and -bury the family silver. “Redcliffe” being almost in direct line of the -Yankee general’s march, the advice seemed good, and preparations at once -began to put it into operation. Though there was little doubt of the -loyalty of the majority of the Hammond slaves, yet it seemed but prudent -to surround our operations with all possible secrecy. We therefore -collected the silver, piece by piece, secreting it in “crocus” bags, -which, when all was ready, we deposited in a capacious carryall, into -which we crowded. It was at early dusk when lurking figures easily might -be descried in corn-field or behind a wayside tree by our alert eyes. -Declaring to those of the servants who stood about as we entered the -carriage, that we were taking some provisions to Mrs. Redd, much to -Lot’s[39] surprise, we dispensed with a coachman, and drove off. We had -many a laugh as we proceeded through the woods, at our absurdity in -concealing our errand from the family servants and in confiding our -precious secret to two of Wheeler’s men. They had a terrible reputation -for chicken stealing.[40] - -[Illustration: - - GENERAL JOSEPH WHEELER - - of Alabama - - From a war-time photograph -] - -When we had driven a mile or more, Mr. Tunstall produced a hatchet and -began to blaze the trees. “There!” he said, after instructing us as to -the signs he had made, “when you come to where the blaze stops, you’ll -find your valuables!” and under his directions the silver was silently -sunk in the ground and the earth replaced.[41] - -Apropos of General Sherman, when a month or two later I was in Macon, I -heard a very excellent story. A party of his men one day dashed up to -the house of a Mrs. Whitehead, a fine old lady (a sister of my -informant), and demanded dinner at once. The lady long since had learned -that resistance to such imperative demands would be in vain, and -preparations were at once begun for the meal. Notwithstanding her -obliging and prompt compliance, the men immediately started a forage in -the poultry yard and the outhouses beyond. One of the officers -penetrated the servants’ quarters, and entered a cabin in which a young -black woman lay sick. - -“What’s the matter, Sis?” he asked, in a tone that was meant to convey -sympathy. - -“Ain’t no Sis of yourn!” was the sullen reply. “God knows I ain’t no kin -to no Yankee!” At that moment an infant’s cry was heard. - -“Hello!” said the officer. “Got a little pickaninny, hey? Boy or girl?” - -“Boy chile! What’s that ter you?” snapped the woman. - -“What’s his name?” persisted the soldier. - -“Name’s Wheeler, dat’s what ’tis!” answered the invalid triumphantly, -and the colloquy ended abruptly. - -As the soldiers sat down to the table, some one, going to the door, saw -Wheeler’s men come tearing down the road flat on their horses. Instantly -he shouted back to his companions, “Wheeler!” but they, believing the -cry to be a ruse, continued to eat. The sounds of the galloping steeds -soon became audible, however, and a stampede that was highly amusing to -the now relieved household took place through doors and windows. When -General Wheeler arrived, he found a steaming repast already prepared, -and a cordial welcome from Mrs. Whitehead and her family, including -“Sis.” - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - THE DEATH OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN - - -The South was now sadly crippled. Our bulwarks were demolished and our -granaries emptied, our most fertile valleys occupied by the Northern -army, and Confederate money was depreciated to such an extent as to make -it practically useless.[42] Our army was thinning daily, and even the -news from Richmond, save from Mr. Davis himself, seemed to carry an -undertone prophetic of coming collapse. “The enemy, yesterday and -to-day,” wrote Mr. Mallory, from the capital, late in October, “is, in -the graphic gorillaisms, ‘pegging away’ close at us; and the flash of -his guns is visible and their roar was audible from my piazza yesterday. -His approaches have been very slow, to be sure, but nevertheless, he has -taken no step backward, but is ‘inching’ upon Richmond surely and -methodically in a way that seems as gopherlike as it is certain; and he -will keep up this system unless we can, by hard fighting, push him -back.” - -Supported by the hope of Mr. Clay’s return, and knowing he would seek me -first among those of our kin who were nearest to the coast, I lingered -on Beech Island until late in January, 1865, though I did so against the -advice of Colonel Clay, who urged me to go southward, and the assurances -of Mr. Davis that I might safely return to Richmond, which city, the -President was confident, would continue to prove an impregnable refuge. -In the last days of December two such messages, equally positive and -each positively opposed to the other in its significance, sped to me by -courier from the capital. Who was to decide when such correspondents -disagreed? Yet the need for some move became more and more urgent. To -return to Huntsville was out of the question. Northern Alabama was -overrun with Federal soldiers, to whom the name alone of Clay, borne as -it was by three men all actively labouring for the preservation of the -Confederate States, was a challenge to the exercise of fresh authority. -I heard distressing news of the contemplated transportation, to -Nashville, of the aged ex-Governor Clay (our uncle, Mr. McDowell, a -non-combatant full of years, had already died in that prison under most -pitiful circumstances), yet I was powerless to send him even a line of -comfort or encouragement. Mail routes in every direction were in -possession of the enemy, or liable to be interrupted by them, and -straggling companies of Union soldiers were on the lookout to intercept -such messengers as might attempt to bear our letters from point to -point. - -My husband was in Canada, or on the seas, I knew not where; J. Withers -Clay, the second son of the ex-Governor, was active with pen and press -in lower Alabama; Colonel Clay was stationed in Richmond in the thick of -the political battle. Our parents were left alone in the old home, to -brave the discomforts put upon them by their sometimes cruel and -sometimes merely thoughtless oppressors. A grandson, Clement, a mere -lad, but a hero in spirit, venturing into the town to succour the old -people, was promptly arrested. “I wonder,” wrote one who visited our -parents, “that their heartstrings have not long since snapped!” - -All through the Tennessee Valley dejection was spreading. “If Mr. Davis -does not restore General Johnston to the army of the Tennessee,” wrote -J. Withers Clay, “his friends generally out here believe that he will -never recover his lost popularity, or be able to get back the thousands -of soldiers (now) absent without leave. I wish you would tell the -President this. You have no idea of the extent of demoralisation among -soldiers and citizens produced by his persistent refusal to restore -him!” - -For now several months I had been secretly tortured by an indecision as -to what course to pursue. Though urged by a hundred generous -correspondents to share their homes (for I have ever been blessed by -loyal friends), I had a deepening conviction that my interests were -detached from all. I was homeless, husbandless, childless, debarred from -contributing to the comfort of my husband’s parents, and I chafed at my -separation from those to whom my presence might have proved useful. As -time went on, all deprivations and anxieties were obscured by one -consuming determination to join my husband at all hazards; but, despite -every effort toward accomplishing this, I found myself swept helplessly -along by the strong currents of the times. My sole means of -communication with Mr. Clay was now through occasional “personals,” -which were published in the Richmond _Enquirer_, coöperating with the -New York _Daily News_. One of these, which appeared early in November, -1864, indicates the indecision and anxiety which by this time was felt, -also, by my husband in his exile: - -“To Honourable H. L. Clay, Richmond, Virginia. I am well. Have written -every week, but received no answer later than the 30th of June. Can I -return at once? If not, send my wife to me by flag of truce, via -Washington, but not by sea. Do write by flag of truce care John Potts -Brown, No. 93 Beaver Street, New York. Answer by personal through -Richmond _Enquirer_ and New York _News_.” - -“I inclose you a ‘personal’ from Brother Clement, published in -yesterday’s _Enquirer_,” Colonel Clay wrote on November 11, 1864. “I -consulted Mr. Mallory, Mr. Benjamin and the President, and then sent him -the following: ‘Your friends think the sooner you return the better. At -the point where you change vessels you can ascertain whether it is best -to proceed direct or by Mexico. Your wife cannot go by flag of truce. -She is well. I send you letters to-day by safe hands. H. L. C.’ The -reason why the earliest return is advised is that the fleet off -Wilmington is not yet increased to the degree intended; and during the -rough weather, before the hard winter sets in, it is much easier for -vessels to run the blockade. I shall tell him that the statistics kept -in the Export and Import Office show five out of six vessels, inward and -outward bound, safely run the blockade, but that he must himself -consider the risk from what he learns after reaching Bermuda.” - -Colonel Clay’s prompt decision, such was my distracted state of mind, by -no means satisfied me. The suggestion contained in my husband’s words -seemed feasible to my courageous mind. I despatched a note of inquiry at -once to Richmond, begging Mr. Davis to write to Mr. Seward to secure my -safe passage by land to Canada. I told him of my unrest, the increasing -uncertainty that prevailed in the neighbourhood of “Redcliffe,” and my -desire to join my husband. The President’s reply was reassuring and full -of the confidence which sustained him to the end of the remaining days -of the Confederacy. “There is no danger in coming here now,” ran his -message from the capital, dated December 29, 1864. “When he (Mr. Clay) -returns he will, of course, visit this place, and can conveniently meet -you here.” But, when I proposed to try to make my way to this haven, -Colonel Clay wrote excitedly, animated by an anxiety as great as my own: - -“Don’t come to Richmond! Don’t send the President letters or telegrams. -He is in a sea of trouble, and has no time or thought for anything -except the safety of the country. I fear the Congress is turning madly -against him. It is the old story of the sick lion whom even the jackass -can kick without fear. It is a very struggle for life with him. I do not -know that he has any reliable friends in Congress, who will sustain him -upon principle, fearlessly and ably. He has less and less power to -intimidate his enemies, and they grow more numerous every day.... If he -were preëminently gifted in all respects, the present moment is perilous -enough to call forth all his energies no matter how great.... Before -this reaches you, you will have read my private letter to Hammond, in -regard to the military situation in South Carolina and Georgia. I think -as soon as Sherman reduces Savannah, he will move promptly up the -Savannah River, and endeavour to capture Charleston by taking it in -reverse. That success would be a feather in any general’s cap. We cannot -hope to make fight on that river, I think, but must take the Edesto as -our line of defense. Now, look upon the map and you will see that the -whole of Beech Island lies between the two rivers, and in the event -Sherman moves up (as he will do, to cut off supplies from Charleston and -Virginia), the South Carolina Railroad will fall within the line of his -advance. I only give you my personal opinion; for, of course, no one can -speak assuredly of Sherman’s intentions. If I am right, I think you had -better move in the direction of Alabama before there is any rush of -travel, and as soon as you can well do so.... In Alabama or western -Georgia there will be plenty of food; more, indeed, because of the -inability to bring it east of Augusta. I write to advise you to go as -far away from the line of the enemy’s march as you can ... I dare not -look into the future, after Hood’s battles in Tennessee, if the Yankee -accounts are verified. God knows we are pressed hard on every side by -the enemy, and have no wise counsellors to give proper direction to our -weak, erring efforts for independence. Passion and prejudice and -personal feelings govern in many instances where patriotism should rule. -Congress is discussing questions of the smallest moment while the -Confederacy is in the grip of the Yankees struggling for existence.... I -fear the pending attack upon Wilmington will prevent Brother Clement -from coming in at the Port (if he should conclude not to go to Mexico) -for some time yet. Until the flotilla set sail from Fortress Monroe I -looked for him to come in about the last of this month or the first of -the next. Now I shall not know when to expect him, for no vessels will -attempt the blockade there at Washington.” - -It now became apparent that to wait at our exposed Island was no longer -prudent. A family council was called, and it was decided that, upon the -first sign of a suitable escort, I should make my way to Macon. I had -not long to wait. Within a few days we learned of the presence of -General Howell Cobb in Augusta. I wrote to him at once, telling him of -my contemplated exodus and of my desire to place myself under his -protection upon his return journey to his headquarters at Macon. He -replied with the gallant cordiality which was ever a characteristic with -him, and which I think would never have deserted him even in the midst -of the roar of cannon: - - “AUGUSTA, Georgia, January 21, 1865. - - _“My Dear Friend_: ... I assure you that your threat to cling to me - like the old man of the sea to Sinbad is the most agreeable threat - that ever was made to me, and it shall not be my fault if it is not - executed. I am here under orders from Richmond, which leave me in - doubt whether I am to remain a day, a month, or a year. My opinion - is that I will be ordered back to Macon in a very few days, and - there is no telling at what hour I may receive the order. To make it - certain, however, that I can give you timely notice, you ought to be - in Augusta. I am ready to receive the acceptable trust and devote my - best efforts to your comfort and happiness. - - Very truly your friend, - “HOWELL COBB.” - -Early in February I arrived in Macon without misadventure, and here, on -February 10th, my husband joined me, having learned of my whereabouts -from our friends in Augusta. - -Mr. Clay’s experiences since leaving Nassau had been exciting. _The -Rattlesnake_, a hitherto skilful blockade runner, on which he had taken -passage, was bound for Charleston; but, finding an entrance at that port -impossible for the moment, she had crept cautiously up to Wilmington, -only to be obliged again to show her heels to the wary and enlarged -blockading fleet. After numerous efforts to find a friendly harbour, the -little ship, reconnoitering about the South Carolinian coast, ran -aground four miles away from Fort Moultrie, grounded, it was rumoured, -by the pilot. Here the little craft, which quickly became the target of -the enemies’ guns, was abandoned, her timbers ablaze, while passengers -and crew, taking to the life-boats, bore with them such baggage as might -be gathered in their haste; and now, to cap the climax of their -disasters, the life-boats, too, ran aground, and sailors and passengers -were compelled repeatedly to wade through the waves, which dashed -throat-high about them, in an effort to rescue the pieces of baggage -they had been able to save from the ship. On that cold, blustery day in -early February, in garments saturated with brine, Mr. Clay was taken in -a yawl to Fort Moultrie, whence, ill from the exposure he had undergone, -he was carried in a sail-boat to Charleston by the Reverend Mr. Aldrich, -an accidental visitor to the Fort. By that kindly man he was put to bed -and to sleep under the stimulus of orange-leaf tea, while his clothing -and few rescued belongings were undergoing a drying. - -Upon awakening, Mr. Clay’s first effort was to forward to Richmond to -the care of Colonel Clay, to be held until his own arrival in the -capital, a small hand-trunk addressed to Judah P. Benjamin, and to -General Lee, his restored pet; his second, to find me. This -accomplished, it was his intention to proceed at once to Richmond, to -deliver in person his State papers, the most important of which he had -carried in an oil-silk bag suspended about his neck. To the complete -frustration of his plans, however, my hapless husband found the railway -route between Augusta, where he supposed me to be, and Charleston, now -effectually closed. It was by a roundabout road, therefore, made partly -by carriage, that he reached the desired point on the seventh of -February, only to learn of my departure a few days before under the -escort of General Cobb. By the 10th, when Mr. Clay arrived at last in -Macon, he had informed himself of the grave plight of our armies, and of -the lamentable political differences existing in the capital, to which -Colonel Clay, in his letter to me, had alluded. A few hurried -conferences with General Cobb and others, and together we took our -departure for Richmond. Everything which might become an impediment to -the rough travel that lay before us was dispensed with, even my -invaluable maid, Emily, being left behind at the home of Major Whittle. -We proceeded first to Washington, Georgia, going, upon our arrival, to -the home of General Toombs, where was sojourning Mr. Stephens, our -Vice-President. The hearts of all were heavy as the gentlemen conferred -together upon the outlook of our country and arms. Letters from Richmond -which reached our hands at this point were excited in tone, and added to -our apprehension and sorrow. - -“On every side,” wrote our sister, “the city rings with the cries of -Rachels weeping for their children!” - -“Don’t come to Richmond!” urged Colonel Clay, “[or] if you think it -necessary to come on, do so at once; don’t delay. Leave sister; don’t -undertake to bring her in the present uncertain condition of the -railroad connections between here and the Georgia line.... Our armies -have been dwindling, until none is large enough to withstand an attack -in the open field. There is a collapse in every department, and, worse -than all, there is an utter lack of confidence by the people, in the -administration, in Congress, and in the success of the cause itself.... -Campbell _will_ go out. He cannot see any benefit to be derived from his -longer continuance in office as the _drudge_ of the War Department, -especially when the Treasury is bankrupt, and Congress cannot devise a -new scheme for reëstablishing faith in the currency. That department is -$400,000,000 in arrears, it is said. I know it is enormously in debt to -the War Department ($32,000,000), and that the Quartermaster General and -the Commissary General cannot obtain the means to pay current expenses. -If we cannot have transportation and bread for the soldiers in the -field, to say nothing of clothing and pay, ... what becomes of our -army?... As I see the present and argue thence what the future has in -store for us, ... I see nothing but defeat and disaster and ruin!” - -Characterised throughout his life by a punctilious observance of -everything which in his eyes appeared a duty, Mr. Clay was not to be -deterred by even such grave news from carrying out his intention to -deliver in person, to the President and Mr. Benjamin, an account of his -stewardship in Canada. Late in February, therefore, he resumed his -journey, mounted upon General Toomb’s grey mare, and accompanied by the -General’s man, Wallace. He had not proceeded far, however, when, -overtaken by an illness, the result of his exposure at Charleston, he -was obliged to return to Washington. A month elapsed ere he was able -again to set out for Richmond, the city which was so soon to be the -theatre of our national collapse. - -The roads now, in many places, were impassible. The number of Union -soldiers was increasing daily in the States which Mr. Clay must cross in -his northward journey. My husband, with his precious documents, would -have been a rich prize to any who might have seized him. Through many -vicissitudes he made his cautious way toward the capital, securing a -horse, when he could, or a mule team, or following the railroad tracks -where necessary. Much of the journey he made alone, but he sometimes -found himself in company, and that not always wholly desirable. On one -occasion he fell in with two straggling Confederate soldiers, and, being -near the home of a distant kinsman, Robert Withers, upon the arrival of -the trio he asked Mr. Withers’ hospitality for them all. Consent was -promptly forthcoming, but my husband’s feelings were somewhat less -cordial toward his whilom companions when one was allotted to him as a -bedfellow. “Had to sleep with ——,” reads his diary, “much to my dread of -camp-itch!” - -Eight days were consumed in that journey to the capital, by this time -the scene of an excitement truly anarchistic. Mr. Clay was probably the -last man in the Confederate service to seek to enter Richmond. The trend -of Confederate travel just then was in an opposite direction. - -Making at once for Colonel Clay’s headquarters, my husband secured the -trunk destined for Mr. Benjamin, to whom he shortly afterward -transferred his papers. The transaction was a hurried one, and Mr. Clay -pushed on to the apartment of Mr. Davis. In after days I often heard him -describe the scene which there met him. He found the President engaged -in hastily packing a valise, his clothing and papers scattered in little -heaps about. I think he assisted his hapless friend in these -preparations. An hour or two later and Mr. Clay was _en route_ for -Danville, on the last of the over-laden trains to draw out from the once -dear but now desolated city. Of the sad journey of the President through -the Carolinas, with his company of legislative friends, of which, for a -portion of the way, my husband was one, I remember no particulars. I -recall a hasty return to Macon, where Mr. Clay joined me, whence we -hurried on in a few days to the home of former Senator B. H. Hill, at -Lagrange, in western Georgia. The remembrance of the days that -immediately succeeded the evacuation of Richmond, followed, as that -event was, by the murder of Abraham Lincoln, is a confused one. A kind -of horror seized my husband when he realised the truth of the reports -that reached us of this tragedy. At first he had refused to credit them. -“It’s a canard!” he said; but when, at last, he could no longer doubt, -he exclaimed: “God help us! If that be true, it is the worst blow that -yet has been struck at the South!” - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - C. C. CLAY, JR., SURRENDERS TO GENERAL WILSON - - -Upon leaving the home of General Toombs, we proceeded directly to that -of Senator Hill, where shortly were gathered ex-Secretary of our Navy -and Mrs. Mallory, Mr. and Mrs. Semmes, of Louisiana, and Senator -Wigfall. We were an anxious circle, our hearts heavy with the constantly -increasing testimony to our great disaster, and our minds alert to -measure the ways and means of our future course. My husband and Mr. -Wigfall had already determined to seek the other side of the -Mississippi, there to join the gallant Kirby Smith, and make a last -stand for our cause; or, if needs must be, to press on to Texas. Day by -day disturbing news reached us concerning the whereabouts of Mr. Davis -and his party, now making their sorry flight toward the coast of -Florida, fugitives from the Federal authorities. - -A Northerner would have found us a wonderful nest of “rebels,” could he -have looked in upon the group that one evening surrounded the table in -the library of the Hill residence, upon which was spread the map of -Georgia. The gentlemen were seated, the ladies standing behind them. -Every eye was bent upon the road which our host was pointing out. - -“If Davis would take this route”—and Mr. Hill’s finger traced the way -upon the diagram before us, “if he keeps to it without any detour -whatsoever, he will get away,” he declared. “If he turns aside a step or -lingers an hour he is lost! If he crosses the river there”—and our host, -who knew the topography of his State by heart, paused as he marked the -spot, “no one can take him!” - -Not a member of that circle but was tense in his or her desire that our -chief should be spared the ignominy and pain of capture. The magnanimity -of Senator Wigfall, whose antagonism to President Davis had caused a -profound concern in Richmond in this hour of the Confederacy’s downfall, -was especially marked. - -To the present, none of those assembled at the hospitable Hill home had -reason to apprehend a personal danger from the conquering party. The -meeting had taken place at Appomattox which, more than victories gained, -has made the name of Grant immortal. The Northern General had received -the proffer of Lee’s sword, and peace had been proclaimed. By the terms -made we had some little reason to be optimistic as to our future, -despite the peopling of our Southern cities with Union soldiers. The -developments of one fateful day, however, unveiled to us the actual -perils we were yet to face. - -As I have said, my husband and Mr. Wigfall had practically completed -their arrangements to leave Lagrange and strike for the Mississippi. It -was my expectation, thereupon, to return to our parents’ home in -Huntsville. The day agreed upon for my departure approached. At the -request of my husband, I drove to the cars to ascertain what currency -would be required to take me to Macon, whence I was to proceed at once -to Alabama. In company with Henrietta Hill and her little brother, I -drove to the station in time to see the afternoon train pull in. As it -swept into the city with a shrill scream, it was crowded with men and -women of both races; so overcrowded, rather, that many clung to the -platforms. There were shouts and a general Babel, which I did not -understand, and, as debarkation began, to these was added the bedlam of -drunken laughter. When as near to the cars as the carriage would permit, -I directed Benny Hill to go forward to the conductor and ask “What -currency is needed to get to Macon?” - -The man seemed to understand that I had prompted the question, and -called to me, “Gold or greenbacks, Madam?” Then, not waiting for my -reply, he hastened to add the news, “Macon has been surrendered by -General Howell Cobb to the Federals, General Wilson commanding. Atlanta, -as you know, is in the hands of the Yankees, Colonel Eggleston in -charge!” - -This was disappointing news to me, as I had but little gold and a peck -of Confederate paper, which was not likely to carry me far under -reported conditions. I waited until the crowd had thinned out somewhat, -and then questioned the man further. - -“Is there any other news than that of the proclamation for Mr. Davis’s -arrest?” I asked. His reply astounded me. - -“Yes, Madam!” he said; “$100,000[43] is offered for Clement C. Clay, of -Alabama.” A trembling seized me. I don’t know how I made my way to the -carriage. Before I was fairly seated I saw Colonel Philip Phillips, at -this time a resident of Lagrange, coming toward us. In his hands he held -a journal. Quickly reaching the carriage, he handed me the paper, and, -pointing to the despatch, which contained the proclamation, he said, “Go -home quickly and give this to Mr. Clay!” - -Scarcely aware of what I did, I ordered the coachman to drive back at -once, forgetting in the excitement of the moment to invite the Colonel -to accompany me. Arriving at the Hill residence, I met my hostess almost -at the door. - -“Please ask the gentlemen to come to us!” I said faintly, “I have -important news!” and I hastened upstairs. - -I found Mr. Clay sitting quietly, deep in the conning of a thick volume. -It was Burton’s “Anatomy of Melancholy,” ever a favourite with him. It -lay open on his knee, steadied with one hand; the other, as was a habit -with my husband, was stroking his beard, absentmindedly. Before I could -summon my voice to utter the terrible news, the others of the party had -hastened upstairs. Handing the fatal paper to Senator Hill, I cried, -half-hysterically, “For God’s sake, read that!” - -As Mr. Hill read the proclamation aloud, everyone was silent. Senator -Semmes was the first to break the silence that followed the reading. - -“Fly for your life, Clay!” he said, “The town is full of men from two -disbanded armies, any of whom would be tempted by such a sum. Take no -chances!” Then all at once everyone but my husband began to talk -excitedly. As the meaning of the despatch broke upon him, Mr. Clay -blanched a moment, but at Mr. Semmes’s urgings he spoke. - -“Fly?” he said, slowly, like one recovering from a blow, “from what?” -Mr. Semmes’s answer came drily. - -“From death, I fear!” he said. My husband turned inquiringly to the -others. Secretary Mallory, seeing the unspoken question in his face, -answered it. - -“I don’t know what to say, Clay! One hundred thousand dollars is a -glittering bribe to half-starved soldiers!” He had scarcely spoken when -a knock was heard. Alarmed by the thought that some renegade was already -come to arrest my husband, I flew to the door and locked it. As I did -so, Senator Hill was beside me, and I remember the forceful feeling with -which he spoke, even as the click of the key sounded. - -“By the eternal God, Clay!” he said. “The man who dares cross my -threshold to arrest you, falls on it.” - -Fortunately our fears were groundless, for in a moment we heard the -word, “Phillips!” and, upon opening the door, the Colonel quickly -entered. His calm bearing was a relief to us. Some one at once put the -question to him, “What do you think Clay ought to do?” - -“What does Mr. Clay think he should do?” was Colonel Phillips’s reply. -My husband was prompt to answer: - -“As I am conscious of my innocence, my judgment is that I should at once -surrender to the nearest Federal authorities!” he said. - -At this announcement I could not restrain my sobs. I doubt not I -troubled him much by my tears and pleadings. I begged him hysterically -to fly; I would join him anywhere if he would but escape. But my ever -patient husband only answered, as he tried to calm me, “Virginia! my -wife! Would you have me fly like an assassin?” - -I could say no more, but only listen, between the crowding fears and -terrors that seized me, while those about discussed the wording of a -telegram which, a short time afterward, Colonel Phillips carried to the -telegraph office. It ran thus: - - “_Bt. Major-General Wilson, United States Army_: Seeing the - proclamation of the President of the United States, I go to-day with - the Honourable P. Phillips, to deliver myself to your custody. - - C. C. CLAY, Jr.” - -I think this resolute act, and the preparation of a letter which was -immediately written to the same general, relieved my husband, for he was -instantly calmer. For myself, I felt that he had signed his own death -warrant. During the succeeding hours, the entire household was in -consultation. Having decided to proceed to Macon by the early train the -next morning, Mr. Clay retired and slept, to my surprise, as peacefully -as a child, though I, less fortunate, watched and wondered at his -calmness. - -Early the following morning we left Lagrange, accompanied by Colonel -Phillips. The world appeared very strange and worthless to me as the -train hastened on to Atlanta, where a change of cars was necessary. We -found that city a pandemonium; soldiers patrolling the streets, drums -beating, and vans, loaded with furniture, moving up and down the -avenues. In our desire to proceed as rapidly as possible we accosted a -soldier. - -“Where is Colonel Eggleston?” Colonel Phillips asked. - -“There he is, within ten feet of you!” was the reply. The Colonel -thereupon approached the officer in command and said to him, “I have a -distinguished friend here, Mr. Clement C. Clay, of Alabama, who is on -his way voluntarily to surrender himself.” - -On hearing my husband’s name, Colonel Eggleston approached us and held -out his hand, saying: “Is it possible, Mr. Clay, you are the man who is -making such a stir in the land? I am not surprised at your surrender. I -knew your record through my Senators, Pugh and Pendleton, of Ohio. -You’ve done the right thing, sir, and I hope you’ll soon be a free man.” - -Mr. Clay, surprised at the Federal Colonel’s magnanimity, turned and -presented him to me. He extended his hand. I took it. It was the first -Yankee hand I had touched since we had left Minnesota, four years -before. The Colonel assured us it was impossible for us to proceed that -night to Macon. “It will be best for you,” he said, “to spend the night -at the Kimball House. But the city is in a tumult, and, as Mrs. Clay is -with you, I will have a guard that you may not be disturbed.” When we -were ready to retire, two soldiers appeared, with muskets in hand, and -took their stand, one at each side of our chamber door, where they -remained until the next morning. - -Shortly after breakfast, Colonel Eggleston presented himself. His manner -was courteous. “As times are so turbulent,” he said, “I think it best -that I should detail a guard to accompany you to Macon; that is,” he -added, “unless you object.” Upon Mr. Clay’s assurance that the guard -would not be unpleasant to us, the General presented Lieutenant Keck, a -young officer, who, during the conversation, had been standing near. -Thereupon the Lieutenant attached himself to our party and we boarded -the car for Macon. Throughout the trip our guard behaved with -undeviating consideration, and this, under trying circumstances; for, -the wires flashing the news about the country, many of the stations -along the road were crowded with friends, who, when they saw us, uttered -expressions of intensest regret, even urging my husband to fly. On more -than one occasion, so considerate was Lieutenant Keck’s conduct, that he -allowed Mr. Clay to leave the car, unguarded. - -During that journey the young officer addressed me but twice; the first -time to offer me a glass of water, and the second to tell me a piece of -news that shocked me in double force. As we approached Macon, my husband -had endeavoured to prepare me for whatever the future might hold for us. -He was a prisoner, he said, and though self-surrendered, I must not be -alarmed if we should find a phalanx of soldiers waiting us at the depot. -The picture thus conjured had already made me sick at heart, when my -husband, excusing himself, went forward into the next car for a few -moments. A short time afterward Lieutenant Keck appeared. Approaching me -he said, with some hesitation, “Mrs. Clay, I have some sad news for -you!” - -My husband’s previous words suddenly rushed over me. He had been -preparing me for something he knew but dared not tell me! In a moment, -in my mind’s eye, I saw a gibbet. “Great God,” I cried. “What is it? -Will they hang my husband?” - -“Don’t be frightened, Mrs. Clay,” our guard answered. “Don’t cry! Your -chief was arrested yesterday!” - -“My chief,” I echoed. “You mean General Lee?” - -“No!” was his response, “Mr. Davis! He is now at the Lanier House, in -Macon!” The loosening of the tension to which I first had been keyed was -so great that I was scarcely able to utter a comment, nor had I -recovered from the shock when the train pulled into Macon. -Notwithstanding my husband’s brave counsels, the news of Mr. Davis’s -arrest added a hundredfold to our depression. When I told Colonel -Phillips and Mr. Clay, who shortly returned, my husband’s face grew -graver. “If that is true,” he said, “my surrender was a mistake. We -shall both perish!” - -In an indistinct way I felt my husband to be right; and surely after -events demonstrated how nearly truly he had prophesied. The almost -instantaneous appearance of Mr. Clay and Mr. Davis as prisoners produced -a confusion in the press statements and telegrams that flew over the -country, and coloured the feeling of the public to such an extent that -those in high places who were seeking sacrificial victims were enabled, -without exciting a protest, to overlook the fact that Mr. Clay, scorning -arrest, had confidently and voluntarily committed himself into the -Government’s hands, to court its fullest investigation. “The arrest of -Clement C. Clay,” was the heading under which my husband’s courageous -act was buried in so far as it might be; and so generally was the fact -of his voluntary surrender overlooked, that a Southern historian, whose -books have been circulated among schools, took up the phrase and -incorporated it among the “historic” facts which children con. - -Arrived at Macon, we found a single transfer wagon at the station. To -this we were conducted, and our party of four, with our grips and -valises, completely filled the vehicle. As we drove away from the -station I felt much as must have felt the poor wretches in the French -Revolution as they sat in the tumbrels that bore them to the guillotine. - -We drove at once to the residence of our friends, Colonel and Mrs. -Whittle, whence Colonel Phillips proceeded to General Wilson’s -headquarters to deliver my husband’s letter announcing his surrender. It -was a beautiful afternoon. The trees were in full foliage and the air -delicious with sweet odours of Southern blossoms. Dusk was approaching -as, without previous announcement, we drove up to the Whittle home. The -family were seated on the veranda. With them was our brother, J. Withers -Clay. As they recognised us they rushed down the steps to meet us, full -of eager questioning. - -“What does it mean?” they cried. “Why have you come here?” and every eye -was full when my husband answered, “I have surrendered to the United -States Government. Allow me to present my guard, Lieutenant Keck!” Never -shall I forget how dear Mrs. Whittle (who was slightly deaf), with eyes -full of tears, reached out her hand to that representative of our -triumphant antagonists, as if, by a forbearing kindness, she would -bespeak his favour for my husband. - -As we entered the house, we were all in tears, and Colonel Phillips, -glad of an excuse to leave the painful scene, hastened to deliver his -message to the General in command. Returning in the course of an hour, -he reported General Wilson as approving Mr. Clay’s course. He sent word -that he was awaiting instructions in regard to Mr. Davis’s party, “Whom, -I presume, you will accompany. Meanwhile, I request that you will not -talk of the surrender!” He further directed that Lieutenant Keck be sent -immediately to him. I think this young soldier had a tender heart, for, -seemingly touched at our sorrowful situation, he lingered about a moment -as if unwilling to leave us without a farewell. Seeing his hesitation, I -offered him my hand and thanked him for his humane treatment of my -husband, which, I assured him, I should ever remember. If his eyes, or -those of others to whom he was dear should see this acknowledgment they -will know I did not speak lightly. - -General Wilson’s request was scrupulously observed by us, and though -friends came in numbers to sympathise with us and encourage us, we were -silent on the forbidden topic of my husband’s surrender. A day or two -later, word came that we must hold ourselves in readiness to leave -Macon. Meantime, I had addressed a note to General Wilson, begging that -I might be allowed to accompany my husband on his journey to his -destination, wherever it might be. The Commanding General promptly -acceded to my request, though, he assured me, the trip before us would -be a rough and disagreeable one, and advised me to consider well before -I took it. - -Of course, I was not to be deterred. I made instant preparation for the -journey. My available wardrobe was small, being limited to a few -Perodi’s (which in those days served the same purpose as the shirt-waist -of 1900) and a rusty black skirt, a veritable war-relic; but my friends -in Macon, knowing the impossibility of getting my own possessions -together, quickly came to the rescue. The results of their generosity -were not in all cases strictly what donor or recipient might have -wished, from the point of view of fashion or art. For example, Mrs. -Lucius Mirabeau Lamar sent me a treasured foulard silk gown, of a pretty -brown and white pattern; but she, being both shorter and stouter than I, -the fit was not one that even the deliberately courteous would have -ventured to call a good one; nevertheless, I received it gratefully and -courageously adapted it to serve as travelling attire. Mrs. William D. -Johnston, too, sister of our loved General Tracy, likewise urged a gift -upon me of several changes of Parisian _lingerie_, which she had but -just acquired. With this borrowed finery (which afterward carried its -own penalty) stowed in my valise, when the announcement of the time -appointed for our departure came to us, it found me ready. - -It was set for the late afternoon. We arrived at the railway station a -half-hour before train time. At the last, we hastened away from the -friends whose sorrow and sympathy threatened to disturb the composure it -was so necessary to preserve against our coming ordeals. We were -surprised to find the city in a kind of uproar. Cavalry clattered -through the streets and gazing sight-seers thronged the sidewalks. Our -passage to the station proceeded without mishap or adventure of any -kind; nevertheless, we had scarcely alighted from our carriage when, -looking back, up the street we saw a company of cavalrymen approaching. -There was an increasing activity in the gathered crowds, which were -composed of silent citizens of Macon, elbowed by Freedmen and Union -soldiers, who lounged among them. - -As the cavalry approached the station, the significance of the scene -became plain to us. They were a guard, flanking on each side an old -“jimber-jawed, wobble-sided” barouche, drawn by two raw-boned horses. In -the strange vehicle were seated Mr. and Mrs. Davis. Mr. Davis was -dressed in a full suit of Confederate grey, including the hat, but his -face was yet more ashen than was his garb. Behind them, completing the -pitiful cortège, came a carryall, in which were Miss Howell, the Davis -little ones and nurses; and, as the procession drove by, the alien and -motley crowd along the walks yelled and hooted in derision. But not -all—one heartless Union soldier tried the patience of a sorrowful -“rebel” onlooker. - -“Hey, Johnny Reb,” shouted the first, “we’ve got your President!” - -“And the devil’s got yours!” was the swift reply. - -As the procession arrived at the station, two soldiers approached Mr. -and Mrs. Davis, and escorted them at once to the cars. The interest of -everyone for the moment being centred on the party of the late -President, my excitement grew. Wild thoughts filled my mind. I could not -restrain them. “Oh! if they would only forget you!” I said impetuously, -to my husband. Alas! scarcely had I uttered the words when two guards -approached. “This is Mr. Clay, I presume?” and with a hasty farewell to -our kind friends, the Whittles, we were soon aboard the cars. - -As we entered, Mr. Davis rose and embraced me. - -“This is a sad meeting, Jennie!” he said, as he offered me a seat beside -him, for Mrs. Davis and my husband, already deep in conversation, had -established themselves nearby. As I seated myself I became aware that -the car had filled up with soldiers. I heard the doors slam, and the -command, “Order arms!” and in the dull thud of their muskets as the -butts struck the floor, I realised for the first time that we were -indeed prisoners, and of the nation! - - - - - CHAPTER XX - PRISONERS OF THE UNITED STATES - - -Dawn found us haggard and ill. Our night ride to Augusta was a fatiguing -one. Of our party, only the children slept. The air in the car was of -the foulest, and the discomforts of the trip were consequently most -trying to our invalids, of whom there now were three—Mr. Davis, Mr. -Clay, and our venerable Vice-President, Mr. Stephens, we having taken -the latter aboard during the night; also, our late Postmaster-General -Reagan, ex-Governor Lubbock, and General Wheeler and staff. Nor were we -again permitted to leave the car until our arrival in Augusta. -Telegraphic orders having been sent ahead for our meals, these were -brought to the train and eaten _en route_. - -Upon our arrival in Augusta, I asked Colonel Pritchard for the privilege -of driving in the carriage assigned to us to the home of a beloved -friend, Mrs. George Winter. Upon my promise that at the hour appointed I -would be responsible for Mr. Clay’s appearance on the boat which was to -take us to Savannah, Colonel Pritchard gave a somewhat reluctant consent -and we drove rapidly away. As had been the case in Macon and Atlanta, -the town was in commotion. This visit to our friends was almost an -error; for, greatly excited at our appearance among them, they embraced -us in hysterical alarm, and begged my husband even yet to fly. To add to -the distress, neighbouring friends, hearing of our presence, hastened in -and joined their pleadings to those of our hostess. The scene was -unendurable to Mr. Clay, and, literally tearing ourselves from their -embraces, we re-entered the carriage. The horses heads were turned at -once toward the river where our custodians awaited us. Arrived there, -though I cannot admit that it was our intention or impulse to board the -boat with a fond alacrity, our embarkation was not without a misleading -appearance of-eagerness. The bank of the river was both steep and -slippery, and, notwithstanding I was assisted in my descent by two -officers, my approach was neither stately nor awe-inspiring. In fact, it -was precipitate, and I found myself, most unexpectedly, in the arms of a -soldierly little figure in undress uniform who stood close to the crude -gang-plank. As I opened my lips to apologise for my unexpected -onslaught, he turned and raised his hat. It was “little Joe!” - -An episode of that trip in connection with General Wheeler fixed itself -indelibly in my mind. I was in conversation with this hero on one -occasion, during which he leaned against the side of the boat in a -half-recumbent position. Presently a young officer, rude in the display -of “his brief authority,” approached us, and rapping General Wheeler -sharply with his sword, said, “It is against the rule to lean on the -guard-rail!” - -To my amazement, our hero, who had fought so nobly against his peers and -whose name alone had been a menace to his foes, merely touched his hat -and said quietly, “I did not know the rule, sir, or I would not have -infringed it.” I was thrilled with admiration. - -“General!” I exclaimed, “you have taught me a lesson in self-control and -courtesy I can never forget! Had I been a man, that Yankee would have -been exploring the bottom of the Savannah River, or I, one!” - -The discomforts to which we had been subjected during our journey to and -from the headquarters of General Wilson culminated in the wretched -little craft on which we now were. Not a chair was in the cabin for our -invalids, nor an available couch. For Mr. Davis, who suffered intensely -during the trip from pain in his eye (for years a chronic disability), -two valises were stacked one on top of the other, being the nearest -approach to a seat it was possible to improvise. On these he rested -during much of the journey, Mrs. Davis, Miss Howell or myself in turn -acting as support in lieu of a chair-back. From time to time we bathed -his temples with cologne in vain attempts to lessen his tortures. - -Our journey from Savannah may best be pictured by reference to my -pocket-diary, carried throughout those momentous weeks. We boarded the -_William P. Clyde_ on the fifteenth of May, our destination still -unknown to us, as we steamed out into the Atlantic. These are some of -the brief records I made of ship and passengers: - - “May 16, 1865. _William P. Clyde_ is a brig-rigged steamer, quite - comfortable. The Fourth Michigan is with us, and an armed convoy, - the _Tuscarora_, escorts us. Her guns bear directly upon us, day and - night. Fears are entertained of the _Stonewall_ or _Shenandoah_. My - husband keeps well and heroic. God in mercy give us grace for the - fiery ordeal.” - - - “May 17th. Fairly at sea, and considerable fear of the _Stonewall_ - evinced by the ship’s crew. All the axes of the vessel are removed - from their usual positions to the Colonel’s room. Mrs. Davis sent - ashore for oranges for Miss Howell, who is ill. Poor girl!” - - [“It was Mr. Davis who called my attention to the removal of the - battle-axes. ‘Cowards!’ he said, ‘They’re afraid of this handful of - Confederate men!’”] - - - “May 19. Nearing Fortress Monroe. We are boarded by Captain Fraley, - Commander of the _Tuscarora_, the man-of-war which has been our - escort, her guns bearing directly on us from Hilton Head. The - Captain called on Mr. and Mrs. Davis, and husband and myself, and - renewed an acquaintance of former years. He proffered any attentions - in his power. Just to our left is seen Fort Calhoun, built by Mr. - Davis, while Secretary of War....” - - - “May 20. Anchored off Fort Monroe awaiting orders. General Halleck - to arrive on board at 11 A. M. I sadly fear they will land my - darling at this fort. God forbid! In sight are many vessels, some - bearing the English and some the French flags. The fort presents the - same appearance as years ago, when I went to visit the spot. One - week this day since we bade adieu to friends. Two days have we been - anchored. General Halleck said to be on _Tuscarora_.” - - - “May 21. Last night at dark a tug was hailed. She replied, “General - Halleck!” She was alongside in a few moments with orders which were - quickly known. Governor Lubbock, Colonel Johnston and General - Wheeler and staff left at six this A. M. for Delaware. At ten, Mr. - Stephens and Judge Reagan were put aboard the _Tuscarora_ for Fort - Warren. Mr. Stephen’s servant detained. We are still in doubt, but - Monroe is probably our destination.” - - - “May 22. Mr. Davis, Mr. Clay and Burton Harrison are all left! - Preparations are going on at Fortress Monroe for them,’tis said. - Colonel Pritchard says I will not be allowed to land or go to - Washington or Baltimore or abroad!!! Terrible firing from a - man-of-war!” - - - “May 23. Wrote letter to Judge Holt, and note to General Miles. At - ten we were boarded by Major Church, and two Yankee women and four - guards, and all hands, luggage, berths and persons thoroughly - searched. A comico-serio-tragico’ scene! Sailors our friends. Both - nurses leave. Mrs. Davis’s [man] Robert only left.” - -Our journey on the _Clyde_, though sorrowful, apprehensive as we were -concerning the fate to which the prisoners were being led, was otherwise -uneventful. Mr. Davis was exceedingly depressed, and moved restlessly -about, seeming scarcely ever to desire to sit down. Always an -intellectual cosmopolite, however, he made observations on the natural -phenomena about us, commenting from time to time on the beauty of sea or -sky. Our meals, which were served at a table reserved for the prisoners, -by no means represented the fare of the coastwise steamers of to-day, -but few of us were in a mood to take note of culinary deficiencies. - -On the morning of May 22d a sultry, drizzling rain fell. It was a day -exactly calculated to induce melancholy even in the stoutest-hearted. To -us, eagerly alert to learn what we might of our fate, it was unspeakably -distressful. Shortly after breakfast my husband came quietly into our -stateroom. “There is no longer any doubt,” he said, “that this fort is -the one destined for Davis and me! I have just been notified that we are -expected to take a ride on a tug. I am convinced we shall be taken to -Fortress Monroe. I can’t imagine why they do not come out boldly and -tell us so, but be sure this is our farewell, my wife!” We took leave of -each other in our stateroom, nor did I leave it to follow Mr. Clay to -the deck. I stood, instead, at the fourteen-inch window of my cabin, -alone with my thoughts. - -As Mr. Davis passed the aperture, he stopped for a second to say -good-bye to me, then he, too, disappeared. A few moments passed, and -then the weeping of children and wailing of women announced the return -of the stricken family. I heard a soldier say to Mr. Davis’s little son, -“Don’t cry, Jeff. They ain’t going to hang your pa!” and the little -fellow’s reply, made through his sobs. - -“When I get to be a man,” he cried, “I’m going to kill every Yankee I -see!” - -When the child approached my door and I caught him in my arms and tried -to cheer him, his resentment quickly changed to a manly tenderness; and, -putting his baby lips up for a kiss, he said, “My papa told me to keep -care of you and my Mamma!” - -I referred in my diary to the serio-comic incidents of the search of our -party. The event occurred early in the morning of the day following that -of my husband’s removal. While gazing sadly across the waters toward the -grim fort, I espied what seemed to be a pretty shallop, dancing lightly -over the waters, in which were seated two women, brightly dressed. The -little vessel seemed to be making for the _Clyde_. When I observed this, -I called Mrs. Davis’s attention to the approaching party, saying, “Thank -God! Here, I do believe, are two Virginia ladies come to give us some -comfort.” - -In a few moments one of our unknown visitors was at my cabin door. In my -eagerness to meet a friendly face, I had almost extended my hand, when -something in the appearance of the person before me struck me as -peculiar. My surprise and curiosity was soon relieved, for my visitor -said glibly, “We’ve been sent by the Government to see if you have any -treasonable papers on board!” I looked at her in amazement. - -“Is it possible,” I asked, “that the United States Government thinks we -are such simpletons as to have carried treasonable papers aboard this -ship?” My indignation grew. - -“I frankly confess that if I could sink the whole Yankee nation in -Hampton Roads I would do so; but carry valuable papers _here_? Pshaw!” -and I turned away from her, full of contempt. - -It was a hot, sultry day; one of those May days when the sun strikes the -water vertically, and even breathing becomes a fatiguing effort. Despite -the weather, the women who had thus unexpectedly presented themselves -were greatly overdressed. Each wore an immense chignon on the back of -her head, and was rouged and powdered and be-frizzed to an extent that -was altogether unusual in ordinary circles. Bustles of the largest size, -high-heeled shoes, conspicuous stockings, and as freely revealed gay -petticoats completed the gaudy costumes of these remarkable agents of -the Government. The person who had addressed me entered my cabin and -proceeded to strip the pillow-case from the by no means immaculate -pillow. She shook and felt carefully each article of bedding; then -opened my valise and as minutely examined every article of borrowed -finery therein. She commented on their quality as she did so, but I -speedily put an end to this. “Proceed with your work, Madam!” I said, -and I turned from the unpleasant sight before me. - -As she emptied my gripsack, I heard her utter a half-shriek of alarm. - -“Oh!” she cried, “you have a pistol!” - -“Of course I have,” I said, complacently reaching for it and taking it -in my hand; and, a spirit of mischief seizing me (it has often been my -salvation), I twirled the alarming firearm in the air, taking care that -the barrel should fall pointing toward her, saying, as I did so, “You -may take everything in the stateroom but this. If necessary, I shall use -it!” As I marked the effect of my words, her shrinking and ejaculations -of fear amused me more and more, nor did she resume her work until, -tired of the farce, the pistol was once more safely bestowed in my bag. -When she renewed her search, her manner was somewhat more timid. - -Upon completing the overhauling of my belongings she turned to me. “Will -you please take off your dress, Madam?” she said. My answer was forceful -and prompt. - -“I will not! If you wish it taken off, you may disrobe me!” And I added, -in my indignation, “I’ve heard that white maids are as good as black -ones!” - -And now the comedy moved rapidly. The lady began by taking off my -breastpin and my collar. She unfastened my bodice and removed it, -examining every seam with a microscopic care. She then proceeded to -remove my clothing piece by piece, submitting each to the same -scrupulous examination. Coming at last to my stays, she attempted to -unclasp them. - -The situation was so amusing I could not resist the growing desire to -accentuate it. I have alluded to the prevailing sultry weather. In the -close little cabin, the heat was scarce bearable. Already perspiration -was trickling in streams down the cheeks of my unwelcome visitor. -Smiling within myself as the lady came forward to remove the last-named -garment, I took a full, deep breath and held it, expanding my form to -the very utmost, tightening my clothing for the time being to such an -extent that I think she could scarcely have pried open the garments with -hammer and chisel. The efforts of my tormentor (?) were entertaining. -Every now and then between a straining on my part and a futile tugging -on hers, she would run out of the cabin, fanning herself and gasping to -the guards, “Oh! I am nearly dead!” - -At first, I utilised these intervals “to gird on my armour” still -tighter; but, at last, when I was myself almost exhausted from holding -my breath, I relaxed and allowed her to proceed. By the time her -examination of my apparel and belongings was completed, the lady’s face -was striped, and the path of the perspiration, wending its way through -layers of cosmetics, had quite destroyed her erstwhile dazzling -appearance; but though I, too, was almost fainting from the heat, and -would gladly have been left alone, my determination to tease her was by -no means appeased. I, therefore, demanded that, having undressed me, the -lady complete her work and put my clothing on again. This, with various -delays, amusing and otherwise, she at last accomplished, much to her -satisfaction if not wholly to mine. Once rehabilitated, I stepped to -Mrs. Davis’s stateroom, mine being between those of Mrs. Davis and Miss -Howell. I found the former in tears and reduced to the lightest of -deshabille. I tried to comfort her, but she still wept, saying: - -“Oh,’Ginie! What humiliation!” - -“But I would die before they should see me shed tears!” I declared. - -“Ah, you haven’t four little children about you,” said Mrs. Davis. Nor -did this search end the trials that befell us while we lay in Hampton -Roads. Upon leaving my stateroom the following morning I met Mrs. Davis, -baby Winnie in arms. She was greatly agitated. - -“What has happened?” I asked. - -“That man!” she replied, pointing to an officer near by, “has come to -take away my shawl. It’s the last wrapping I have! He declares it is -part of Mr. Davis’s disguise!” - -“You’re not going to let him have it?” I asked, my indignation rising at -once. - -“What can I do?” asked Mrs. Davis, wringing her hands. - -“Tear it into shreds as fine as vermicelli!” I cried, “and throw it into -Hampton Roads!” - -As I spoke the officer stepped toward us. Raising his hand and shaking -his finger in my face, he asked, threateningly, “You dare counsel -resistance, Madam?” - -“Yes!” I retorted, returning the finger-shaking, “To the shedding of -blood, and I’ll begin with you!” - -The scene must have been a ludicrous one to all save the two -participants. Mrs. Davis’s spirits certainly rose in contemplating it, -for, as the officer strutted off, his sword dragging at his side, she -smiled as she said, “Puss-in-boots!” In a second, however, her anxiety -returned. - -“What shall we do?” she asked. “He will surely come back for the shawl.” -Bent upon foiling him, I quickly suggested an expedient. - -“My shawl,” I said, “is almost a counterpart of yours. Let’s fold them -both up and make him guess which is which. Perhaps he’ll take mine!” and -we laughed heartily at the device. - -It was not long ere Lieutenant Hudson returned, this time with another -shawl, a coarse thing such as the small stores nearby afforded. Upon his -repeated demand we complacently handed him Mrs. Davis’s shawl and mine. -To our amazement he took them both. Then, as the old saying puts it, we -“laughed on the other side of our faces.” For, by the aid of one of Mrs. -Davis’s former maids, Lieutenant Hudson was enabled to identify Mrs. -Davis’s shawl, which he retained, returning mine. The first, for many -years, was preserved among the curios of the Smithsonian Institution. - -During the morning of the day made memorable by the visit of the -Government’s searching party, General Miles and his staff boarded the -_Clyde_. It was my first meeting with the handsome young officer who was -destined to incur so much odium in the near future for his treatment of -the unfortunate ex-President of the Confederate States. I can recall no -particulars of that first meeting with my husband’s jailor, save that he -and his staff made an impressive group as they stood bowing -respectfully, while a few civil words were spoken by their leader. - -Upon the question of the latter, as to whether he might serve me in any -way, I answered, “Yes! let me know, from time to time, whether my -husband lives or is dead. If you will do this it will relieve me from an -insupportable suspense!” To this he kindly agreed. - -In the interim, I had sent to my husband his valise, containing some -gold and my Bible, which, being set in a specially large type, I knew he -would be glad to have. These were brought back to me shortly after -General Miles’s visit, by an officer who found us still at the mess -table. My Bible was returned to me because of the following -“communication from Mrs. Clay, written on the fly-leaf.” - - “2 P. M. Ship-board. May, ’5. With tearful eyes and aching heart, I - commend you, my precious husband, to the care and keeping of - Almighty God. May He bless you, and keep you, and permit us once - again to meet, shall be my unceasing prayer. Farewell, - - WIFE.” - -As the officer dropped the gold upon the table beside me, he said, -“Please count it, Madam!” I instantly declined to do this, however, -saying, “If General Miles sent it, I presume it is correct,” and swept -it into my lap without further examination. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - RETURN FROM FORTRESS MONROE - - -By the second day after the incarceration of Mr. Davis and Mr. Clay we -were a heartsick company, and I was glad when, in the late afternoon of -the twenty-fourth of May, our sailing orders came. During the last day -we were anchored off Fortress Monroe, two hundred paroled prisoners had -been taken aboard the _Clyde_, a small and stuffy boat at best, and the -five days spent upon the return trip added to our anguish of mind by -much physical discomfort. The sea was exceedingly rough. Often during -the voyage a hundred or more passengers at a time were confined below. -Those who were well found their cabins unendurably warm. In mine, the -gossip of the negroes and sailors on the lower deck was clearly audible; -and, as their themes ran principally upon the probable fate of the -prisoners, questionable as I knew the source to be from which flowed the -conversations, the gossip did not serve to lessen my melancholy, though -it keyed my alertness to a higher pitch. - -Some hours previous to our departure from Hampton Roads, in sheer -exhaustion from the experiences that had crowded upon us, I lay down in -my cabin, a prey to mingled heart-aching and bitterness; when, looking -toward the door, I perceived a sentinel on guard. What I took to be an -added indignity made me resentful. I spoke to him. - -“You are a brave man, standing there with bayonet in hand to terrorise a -wretched woman!” I said. He turned slightly, “Mrs. Clay,” he answered, -“You ought to be glad to have me here guarding you, for this boat is -full of rough soldiers!” In a moment my wrath was turned to gratitude. I -thanked him, and I felt that in him, thereafter, I had a friend; indeed, -we had reason to feel that all aboard who dared to show it felt pity for -and kindness toward our desolate party. - -During the trip, as Mrs. Davis, Miss Howell and I sat at night on deck, -looking out over the seas, I thought the swish of the waters against the -_Clyde’s_ side was as melancholy a note as I had ever heard. One evening -we had sat thus, discussing our situation and the dangers that -surrounded us, when, rising to return to my stateroom, I felt my dress -slightly pulled. Thinking my skirts had become entangled in the rope -coils or rigging near us, I reached out to detach them, when, to my -alarm, I found my hand in contact with another, and into mine was thrust -a bundle of newspapers. I could not have thanked the sailor who handed -them to me had I had the presence of mind to do so, for, passing swiftly -on his way, he was lost in the darkness ere I could identify him. The -roll was in my hand, however, and I made my way quickly to the cabin -with it. They were the first newspapers we had had since arriving at the -Fortress. By the light of the dim cabin lamp I read them. The -aggregation of “opinions of the press” was so awful in its animosity -that they stunned my very power of thought. One extract burnt itself -into my brain. It ran, “We hope soon to see the bodies of these two arch -traitors, Davis and Clay, dangling and blackening in the wind and rain!” - -The horror of these printed words for the moment overbalanced my reason. -I hastened with it to Mrs. Davis; a great mistake, for her agony of mind -upon reading it was such that restoratives were necessary to prevent her -from fainting. I never knew who the sailor was who gave the papers to -me, though I was more fortunate in regard to the author of another -kindness which, happily, was less reactionary upon me. - -Immediately upon my husband’s incarceration I had busied myself in -writing letters to a list of distinguished public men which had been -prepared for my use by Mr. Clay. It included the name of Joseph Holt, -who, once our friend, had deplored the possible loss to the nation of my -husband’s counsels. My list comprised thirteen names, the number that -has been accounted unlucky since thirteen sat at the table of our Lord -and one betrayed him. In view of the months of persecution, which -followed my husband’s surrender, directly traceable to malice or -fanatical zeal in the Judge Advocate’s office, an analogy is -unavoidable. My list included the names of T. W. Pierce, of Boston, Ben. -Wood, owner and editor of the New York _Daily News_, R. J. Halderman, -Charles O’Conor, the great jurist, Judge Jeremiah Black and others. To -Mr. Holt I wrote as follows: - - “OFF FORTRESS MONROE ON STEAMER _Clyde_, - “May 23, 1865. - - “JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL HOLT. - - “_My Dear Sir_: The circumstances of my husband’s voluntary - surrender to the Federal authorities, to meet the charges against - him, doubtless have reached you, as General Wilson, commanding at - Macon, promised to telegraph as well as write you immediately of it. - We left Macon on the 13th, in company with other prisoners, General - Wilson permitting me to accompany Mr. Clay without orders or - restrictions. For five days we have lain at this spot awaiting - events. Yesterday morning, with five minutes’ warning only, my - husband was taken to Fortress Monroe. As no communication is - permitted, I am denied appeals to Generals Miles or Halleck, but - entertain strong hope that one or the other may arrive to-day to - relieve my suspense. - - “But the object of this letter is to appeal to you, in this moment - of dire necessity, on behalf my dear husband. You, Judge Holt, now - the embodiment of the ‘majesty of the law,’ were once pleased to - subscribe yourself my ‘sincere friend.’ I will not believe that time - or circumstances have changed your feelings toward one who - reciprocated that friendship and was beloved by your angelic wife. - So, into your hands, my dear sir, I commit my precious husband’s - case, begging that you will see to it that he receives proper - counsel and a fair and impartial trial, from which he will surely - come forth vindicated. Of course, you have some appearance of - testimony in your courts or the proclamation would not have been - issued, but I also believe that you esteem Mr. Clay as innocent of - that horrid crime, as I know him to be. Hold the scales of mercy and - justice as our great and final Judge will hold them in your and my - cases when we stand at the Bar, and I shall fear no evil. Write me a - line at Macon, if you please, and, if possible, permit me to visit - my husband. With kindest regards to ... believe me, - - “ETC.” - -With the exception of the Archbishop of Bermuda, who was away from his -post, as I learned some time later, only Mr. Holt, of the thirteen -written to, ignored my appeal. - -Having taken the precaution to give to each correspondent an address at -which, under cover, replies might reach me, I sealed and addressed each -letter preparatory for posting; but now I found myself in a quandary as -to how I should accomplish this important feat. I held them for several -days uncertain as to whose care I might intrust them. As we were -approaching Hilton Head, however, a soldier, whom I had observed passing -and repassing the open door of my cabin, tossed in a slip of paper on -which was written, “I will mail your letters. Trust me.” As there was -nothing treasonable in them, and the need was urgent for getting them -swiftly to their several destinations, I concluded to accept the offer -so miraculously made. - -I therefore rolled them up, and, putting a gold dollar in a bit of -paper, awaited the reappearance of my unknown messenger. In a few -moments he came, and I slipped the little parcel into his hands. That -afternoon I heard a careless whistler pass my door and the bit of gold -was tossed into my stateroom, and with excellent aim, too, for it fell -directly upon my berth. The friendly stranger had refused to retain -sufficient coin to pay for the postage. Before leaving the _Clyde_ I -ascertained his name. He was Charles McKim, of Philadelphia. - -Such kindly aid unexpectedly extended to us by a stranger now and then -had its own part in stimulating and encouraging us during a voyage in -which a thousand hopes and fears and memories tortured us. The very -coast-line, there in the distance, seemed to write on the horizon the -story of our disasters. We passed on our way within one hundred yards of -desolate, historic Sumter, over which the Union flag floated, and the -solitary sentinel pacing his rounds was visible to us. Beyond lay -Charleston, her outlines placid, though we knew she was scarred within. - -Our journey, as I have stated, was full of discomfort. Our cabins were -far from clean, and chamber service we had none save that performed by -Mrs. Davis’s coloured servant, Robert, who attended to our needs; and so -soiled were the pillows that we were obliged to pin over them our white -petticoats before retiring, these being our only protection against the -nocturnal invaders that thronged in the bedding. It will be concluded, -therefore, that, upon our arrival in Savannah, we were a rather -bedraggled and travel-stained party. Our original supply of clothing for -the trip had been small, and the service demanded of it thus far had -been in exactly an inverse ratio. It required some courage, therefore, -as well as ingenuity, to arrange our toilettes in such manner as would -help us to a condition of outward composure. I, having no little ones to -care for, was most abundantly provided, and was, therefore, enabled to -contribute to my less fortunate companion, Mrs. Davis, my black silk -Talma, a loose garment of those days much used in travelling. - -We heard at once, upon stepping ashore at Savannah, that the Federal -authorities had prohibited our party the use of carriages, and the -absence of friendly faces at the wharf told us that the date of our -arrival had also been kept a secret. We were, therefore, obliged to -begin our walk up the acclivity that led to the Pulaski House without -the moral support of a friendly presence. Those of the young children -who could toddle did so; but the infant, Winnie, was carried by Miss -Howell, Robert following behind with such luggage as he could “tote.” We -were a sad procession! - -We had nearly reached the hotel, when a party of gentlemen, seeing us, -stopped in the midst of a conversation and eyed us a second. Among them -were our friends, Mr. Frederick Myers and Mr. Green. Upon recognising -our party, first one and then another of the group caught up the -children and bore them on their shoulders into the Pulaski House. - -The news of our arrival spread over the city at once, and an impromptu -levee was begun which lasted until late in the night. It was followed, -the next day, by gifts of flowers and fruit, and, what was immediately -needful, of clothing of every description. The people of Savannah acted -as by one great impulse of generosity, all eager to demonstrate their -devotion to the prisoners now in the hands of the United States -Government, and to us, their representatives. We found in the city many -of our former Washington and Richmond friends, among whom were -ex-Senator Yulee, of Florida, and General Mercer. Savannah was in a -state of continual disquiet. The air rang with sounds of fifes and drums -of Federal soldiers, and bands of triumphant music were encountered in -every direction. Drills were constant and innumerable, and fully as -unpleasant to our eyes as our conquerors could wish; but, to my Southern -mind, no sight was so sad, and none presented so awful a travesty on the -supposed dignity of arms, as the manœuvres of a regiment of negroes in -full dress! - -However, I was in no mood to think resentfully upon these minor evils of -our times; for, notwithstanding the kindnesses shown our party on every -side, my apprehensions for my husband’s safety increased as the journals -of each day gave out their horrors. The news that Mr. Davis, saddened, -ill, strengthless, as we knew him to be, had been put in chains, -startled us. Not a soul in the South but was horrified at the wanton -act, and none, I think, will ever forgive the deed though its authorship -has remained unacknowledged to this day. The press, both North and -South, was filled with alarming prognostications and with news of the -gathering testimony which would fix the crime with which the -ex-President and my husband were charged, upon them. Items which I might -not otherwise have seen were clipped from Northern papers and sent to me -by friends eager to acquaint me with news of every development which -might warn or strengthen. From mysterious purlieus, witnesses were being -brought forward on whose awful testimony were to be formulated, it was -said, charges of heinous crime against the prisoners of state. What this -testimony was to be, who was to give it, were mysteries to me. I tried -in vain to communicate with Mr. Clay, and on the 8th of June, unable -longer to endure the suspense, I wrote to General Miles, imploring him -to send me at least one line to assure me of Mr. Clay’s welfare; at the -same time inclosing a second letter to Judge Advocate General Holt. - -To add to my distress of mind, the interest of the newspapers, being now -concerned with the Surratt and other trials, became silent for the time -being on the cases of Messrs. Davis and Clay, and, until the receipt of -a letter from General Miles, I was uncertain of my husband’s -whereabouts, rumours having reached me of his having been transferred to -Fort Warren. A letter received at this time from General James H. Wilson -records that he, too, was under this impression. Waiting from day to day -in the hope of ascertaining some definite information concerning Mr. -Clay, and having established communication with friends in various -quarters, I now began to shape my plans for a return to Huntsville, -meanwhile offering such consolations to my companions as was in my -power. Only the uncomprehending children of our party seemed happily -free from the weight of trouble everywhere besetting us. I remember an -amusing incident in connection with the little Jeff., our manly -protector, just previous to my leaving the hotel to accept the -hospitality of friends. He had scarcely arrived, when he formed an -attachment for a fine Newfoundland dog, a regular attaché of the popular -hostelry. While Mrs. Davis and I were entertaining some of Savannah’s -kind people, we heard Jeff.’s voice shouting every now and then in -uproarious good humour, “Bully for Jeff.! Bully for Jeff.!” At last I -went out to reason with him. I found him successfully mounted on his -canine acquaintance, a strong bridle in one hand, a switch in the other. - -“You shouldn’t say ‘Bully for Jeff.,’” I remonstrated. “It isn’t nice. -You must remember whose boy you are!” The little fellow looked -nonplussed. - -“Well!” he said, ruefully, “Mis’ Clay, if a fellow don’t bully for -hisself, who’s going to bully for him?” I gazed at him, puzzled. This -was a Waterloo for me. I answered, “Well, bully for yourself! but don’t -bully so loud,” and retreated to the parlour, leaving the little lad to -cogitate on whether he or I was master of the situation. - -I lingered in Savannah, eagerly awaiting letters which I hoped would -meet me there, until the middle of June, when I proceeded to Macon, _en -route_ for Huntsville, and I am amused now at the contrariety of the -human memory, when, into the woof of the thoughts of those strenuous -days, there is thrust a thread of comedy. Just before leaving the -hospitable coast city, I was the guest of Mrs. Levy, mother of the -brilliant Mrs. Philip Phillips, of Washington, of Mrs. Pember, and of -Miss Martha Levy, one of the readiest wits I have ever known. - -During the evening first referred to, many guests were introduced, among -them some of Savannah’s prominent Hebrews. For an hour Miss Martha had -been busy presenting her friends, both Christian and Jew, when, one -after another, came Mr. Cohen, Mr. Salomon, Dr. Lazarus and Dr. -Mordecai. At this remarkable procession my risibles proved triumphant. I -glanced slyly at Miss Martha. Her eyes shone with mischief as she -presented Dr. Mordecai. - -“And is Haman here, too?” I asked. - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - RECONSTRUCTION DAYS BEGIN - - -Upon leaving Savannah I proceeded by boat to Augusta, reaching that city -on the fifteenth of June, going thence to Macon, escorted to Atlanta by -Colonel Woods. During the last half of my journey I was under the care -of General B. M. Thomas, who saw me safely into the hands of our kind -friends, the Whittles, whose hospitable home became my asylum until I -proceeded on my way to Huntsville. The necessity for procuring passports -through the several military districts made my journey a slow one. To -add to my discomforts, my trunks, recovered at Macon, were several times -rigorously searched ere I reached my destination. At every transfer -station my baggage was carefully scrutinised, and the small value in -which passports were held may be conjectured from the following -incident. - -At a certain point in my homeward journey a change of cars became -necessary at a little wayside town. Night was already upon us when we -reached the station of Crutchfield, where the transfer was to be made. -The little structure was surrounded by hangers-on, threading their lazy -way through a small company of black and white soldiers. I was alone, -save for the little five-year-old son of my maid, Emily, who, being ill, -I had left at the home of Mrs. Whittle. No sooner had my trunk been -deposited on the platform than it became the object of rough handling -and contumely. The train on which I was to continue my journey was -already in position, but the close-pressing crowd about were heedless -alike of my protest and appeals to allow my baggage to be put aboard. I -begged them not to detain me, saying I had General Croxton’s passport -with me; but their only answer was a gruff rebuke. “You have passed his -jurisdiction, Madam,” said one of the military near by. - -It was a black night, and but few of those about me carried lanterns. -The scene was fear-inspiring to a lonely woman. My alarm at the thought -of a detention had reached its height, when, by the fitful lights about, -I saw a tall young man break through the crowd. - -“By what right do you detain this lady?” he cried, angrily. Then, -turning to the black figures around us, he commanded, “Put that trunk on -board the car!” and almost before I realised it my difficulties were -over, and I had myself stepped aboard the waiting train, rescued from my -unfortunate dilemma by John A. Wyeth, since become a surgeon of national -distinction. Mr. Wyeth had come to the station for the purpose of -boarding this train, which proved a happy circumstance, for it gave me -his protection to Stevenson, a few hours distant from Huntsville. His -father had been the long-time friend of my husband; moreover, Dr. Allen, -grandfather of the young knight-errant, had been one of Senator Clay’s -earliest instructors. Thus, the circumstance of our meeting was a source -of double gratification to me. - -While a guest at the home of Colonel Lewis M. Whittle, being unceasing -in my efforts to secure all possible aid for and to arouse our friends -in behalf of my husband, I made several trips of a day or so to other -homes in the vicinity. During such an absence, the Whittle home was -invaded by a party of soldiers, headed by one General Baker, who made -what was meant to be a very thorough search of all my belongings, -despite the protests of my gentle hostess. But for her quick presence of -mind in sending for a locksmith, the locks of my trunks would have been -broken open by the ungallant invaders. I returned to find my friends in -deep trouble and anguish of mind on my behalf. They repeated the story -of the search with much distress of manner. From the disorder in which I -found my room when, shortly afterward, I entered it, these agents of the -Government must have hoped to find there the whole assassination plot. -Clothing of every description was strewn over the floor and bed and -chairs; while on mantelpiece and tables were half-smoked cigar stumps -and ashes left by the gentlemen who took part in that memorable paper -hunt. After a thorough examination of my wardrobe, piece by piece, they -had taken possession of numerous letters and photographs, almost purely -of a private character, among them the picture of my dead infant, -treasured beyond any other. My hostess informed me that, during the -process of searching, General Baker, regardless of her presence, -personally had commented on the quality of my lingerie and the probable -avoirdupois of its owner, saying, among other things, “I see none of the -destitution I’ve heard tell of in the South!” In his eagerness to -discourse on the beauty of a lady’s apparel, he overlooked a recess in -one of my trunks which contained the only written matter that, by any -turning of words, might have been designated treasonable. - -Great, indeed, was my surprise, when, seated on the floor surveying the -disorder about, overwhelmed with a conviction of desolation to come, I -opened one secret little slide and looked within the pocket. Now my -chagrin and disappointment were changed to joy; for there, within, lay -the sermon-like, black-covered book that contained my husband’s careful -copies of his State correspondence while in Canada, together with other -important original papers! The sight was almost too good to be true! -Immediately I began to see all things more hopefully. I remember even a -feeling of merriment as I gazed upon one of my husband’s boots standing -just where it had been thrown, in the middle of the floor, while hung -around it was a wreath of once gorgeous pomegranate flowers, which I -recognised as those I had worn at one of the last functions I had -attended in the Federal City. - -Many months passed, in which repeated demands were made for the letters -carried away by these emissaries of the Government, ere they were -returned to me. Though taken thus forcibly from me for Governmental -examination, I have no reason to conclude that those in authority at the -War Department detained them for so serious a reason or purpose. On the -contrary, I have ground for believing that my letters and other -possessions lay open for seven or eight months to the gaze of the more -curious friends of the department authorities; for, my friend, Mrs. -Bouligny,[44] early in ’6, wrote warning me in regard to them, “I heard -a lady say the other day that she knew of a person who had read your -journal at the War Department!” By this time I was again in the North, -pleading with President Johnson for the release of my husband and the -return of my papers. When, at last, I received them, they were delivered -to me at the home of Mrs. A. S. Parker, at 4½ and C Streets, Washington, -by a Federal officer, who came in a United States Mail wagon with his -burden! - -My home-coming after the eventful trip to Fortress Monroe was a sore -trial. Ex-Governor Clay, now an old man of seventy-five years, and Mrs. -Clay, almost as aged (and nearer, by six months, to the grave, as events -soon proved), were both very much broken. For more than three years they -had waited and wept and prayed for the loved cause which, in its fall, -had borne down their first-born. The Clay home, every stone of which was -hallowed to them, was now occupied by Captain Peabody and his staff. -Servants and all other of their former possessions were scattered; and -Mother Clay, whose beautiful patrician hands had never known the soil of -labour, who, throughout her long life of piety and gentle surroundings, -had been shielded as tenderly as some rare blossom, now, an aged woman, -within but a few months of the tomb, bereft of even her children, was -compelled to perform all necessary household labour. The last and -bitterest pain, that of my husband’s incarceration, fell crushingly upon -her. Her son, who had added lustre to his distinguished father’s name, -who in private virtues had met every wish of her heart, now lay a -prisoner in the nation’s hands, and the nation itself had gone mad with -the desire to wreak a vengeance on some one for the deplorable act of a -madman. The knowledge came to her as a very death-dealing blow, the -climax of years of unintermitting anxiety, deprivations, and the small -tyrannies practised by our many invaders during the investment of -Huntsville. Friends and kindred had been cut down on every side. For -three years our little city had been in Union hands. None of her -formerly affluent citizens but had been impoverished or ruined. By the -summer of ’5, the country about was completely devastated. - -The crops were inconsiderable; scarcely any cotton had been planted, and -the appalling cotton tax had already been invented to drain us still -further. All over the South “Reconstruction days” had begun. Confusion -of a kind reigned in every town or city. It was no longer a question of -equality between the Freedmen and their late masters, but of negro -supremacy. On every side the poor, unknowing creatures sought every -opportunity to impress the fact of their independence upon all against -whom they bore resentment. The women were wont to gather on the -sidewalks of the main thoroughfares, forming a line across as they -sauntered along, compelling their former masters and mistresses who -happened to be approaching to take the street; or, if not sufficiently -numerous or courageous to do this, would push their way by them, bumping -into them with a distinct challenge to the outraged one to resent it. As -if to encourage this spirit of “independence,” the agents of the -conquering Government were there to protect their protégés from the -indignant resentment such conduct might well awaken, though they seemed -not to be equipped to instruct them in better things. - -Upon my return to Huntsville, after Mr. Clay’s incarceration, having -been absent from it now nearly four years, I found the metamorphosis in -the beautiful old town to be complete. Indignation at the desecration -about us was the one antidote to despair left to the majority of our -neighbours, who, their property seized, their fields unplanted, their -purses empty, had small present peace or ground for hope in the future. -Indignities, petty and great, multiplied each day at the hands of often -wholly inexperienced Federal representatives, who, finding themselves in -authority over the persons and property of men distinguished throughout -the land, knew not how to exercise it. Looking back upon those frightful -years, I am convinced that these agents, far more than our enemies who -strove with our heroes upon the field, are responsible for a transmitted -resentment that was founded upon the unspeakable horrors of -“Reconstruction days.” Happy, indeed, was it for us that the future was -hidden from us; for, bad as the conditions were that met my husband’s -family then, there were to be yet other and worse developments. Our -home, opposite to that of Governor Clay, was now occupied by one -Goodlow, head of the Freedmen’s Bureau. From the one wing of the -parental house to which ex-Governor and Mrs. Clay were now limited, only -the sorry sight met our eyes of the desecration of our once lovely -residence,—the galleries and portico of which were now the gathering -place for protégés of the Government. Daily I saw Alfred, the former -dining-room servant of Governor Clay, revelling in his newly acquired -liberty, dash by our dwelling, seated in a handsome buggy behind a fine -trotter. He was a handsome copper-coloured negro, with the blood of red -men in his veins. His yellow gauntlets were conspicuous two streets -away, and as he passed he left on the evening air the odour of the -Jessamine pomade with which he had saturated his straight Indian locks -in his effort to outdo his late master. - -Poor Alfred! He was a child with a toy balloon. A few years passed. In -tattered attire, and with the humblest demeanor, he eked out a scanty -living at a meagre little luncheon-stand on the corner of a -thoroughfare. His former respect and regard for his old master now -returned, and with it, I doubt not, a longing for the days when, in his -fresh linen suits, laundered by the laundress of the Governor’s -household, a valued servant, he had feasted on the good things he -himself had assisted in concocting! - -Ground to the earth as we were by the cruelties of the times, that -Freedman’s Bureau was frequently, nevertheless, a source of amusement. -Its name bore but one meaning to the simple-minded follower of the -mule-tail who appealed to it. He knew but one “bureau” in the world, and -that was “ole Missus’s” or “Mis’ Mary’s,” an unapproachable piece of -furniture with a given number of drawers. Bitter was the disappointment -of the innocent blacks when they failed to see the source whence came -their support. - -“Whar’s dat bureau?” was sure to be the first question. “Whar all dem -drawers what got de money an’ de sugar an’ de coffee? God knows I neber -see no bureau ’t all, an’ dat man at de book-cupboard[45] talked mighty -short ter me, at dat!” - -While letting my thoughts linger for a moment on those dreary days, I -cannot refrain from recalling one of the occasional instances of humane -conduct shown us by those placed in authority over the citizens of -Huntsville, associated, as it is, with a bit of genuine negro -blundering. The generosity of Dr. French, Medical Director, there -stationed, toward the family of our brother, J. Withers Clay, in giving -his medical services freely to them, greatly touched us all. -Appreciating his obvious desire to administer to our wounded spirits a -true “oil and wine,” my sister one morning gathered a bunch of fragrant -camomile blossoms, and, calling her ebony _femme de menage_ to her, she -said, “Take these flowers over to Dr. French and say Mrs. Clay sends -them with her compliments. Tell him that these camomile blossoms are -like the Southern ladies—the more they are bruised and oppressed the -sweeter and stronger they grow! Now,” she added, “tell me, Sally, what -are you going to say?” Sally answered promptly: - -“I’se gwine tell de doctor dat Mis’ Mary Clay sont her compliments an’ -dese cammile flowers, an’ says dey’s like de Southern ladies, de harder -you squeezes an’ presses ’em de sweeter dey gits!” - -It is perhaps unnecessary to relate that the message which reached the -kind doctor was put in written form. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII - NEWS FROM FORTRESS MONROE - - -To minister to my husband’s aged parents dulled in some degree my own -alarms, yet the wildest rumours continued to multiply as to the probably -early trial and certainly awful fate of Mr. Davis and Mr. Clay. -Controversies were waging in the press, both condemning and approving -the actions of the Military Commission in Washington; yet, even in those -still early days of his imprisonment, voices were raised in many -localities to declare Mr. Clay’s incapability of the crimes imputed to -him.[46] - -Meantime, reputable men in Canada, who adduced indubitable proof of the -truth of the accusations they made, had already assailed the characters -of the witnesses upon whom the Bureau of Military Justice so openly -relied to convict its distinguished prisoners—witnesses by whose -testimony some had already perished on the gallows. How true these -accusations were was proved a year later, when, his misdoings exposed on -the floor of the House of Representatives, a self-confessed perjurer, -Conover, the chief reliance of the Bureau of Military Justice, the chief -accuser of my husband, fled the country. At this _dénouement_, -Representative Rogers openly averred his belief that the flight of -Conover, one of the most audacious of modern criminals, had been -assisted by some one high in authority, in order to make impossible an -investigation into the disgraceful culpability of the high unknown! - -So early as June 10, 1865, a pamphlet had been printed and circulated -throughout the country by the Rev. Stuart Robinson, exposing _seriatim_ -the “Infamous Perjuries of the Bureau of the Military Justice.” It took -the form of a letter to the Hon. H. H. Emmons, United States -District-Attorney at Detroit, and was quoted, when not printed in full, -by many leading newspapers. Throughout the closely printed pages the -paper presented an exposé of the unworthy character of the most -prominent witnesses on whose testimony the hapless Mrs. Surratt and her -companions had been condemned to the gallows; witnesses, moreover, who -were known to be the accusers of Mr. Davis and Mr. Clay, who, it was -announced, were soon to be tried for complicity in the murder of the -late Federal President. In his pamphlet, Mr. Robinson did not content -himself with refuting the statements made by the miscreant witnesses. He -went further and accused Mr. Holt (by name), head of the Bureau of -Military Justice, of being _particeps criminis_ with the evil men whose -testimony he so credulously or maliciously employed. - -“If any one supposes,” wrote Mr. Robinson, “I have judged Mr. Holt -uncharitably in making him _particeps criminis_ with this villain”—a -notorious witness—“whom he parades and assists in the work of lying -himself out of his previous perjuries by still more preposterous lies, -let him carefully ponder this letter.... This is the man whom Judge -Advocate Holt, after his perjuries have been exposed, brings back to the -stand and assists in his attempts to force his lies down the throat of -the American people. Who now,” Mr. Robinson continued, “is the base -criminal—Judge Holt, or the men whom he seeks by such base and impudent -perjuries, under the garb of sworn testimony, to defame?” - -Such a brave challenge might well have been expected to give the -Government pause. To the increased agony of our minds, its agents took -no cognisance of Mr. Robinson’s fearless exposure, but ignored the -protest with its startling array of charges, which easily might have -been verified, and continued to rely upon its strange allies to assist -in the persecution of its prison victims. - -Instinct with the zeal of the fanatic, and intrenched behind the -bewildered Mr. Johnson, the Head of the Bureau of Military Justice was -indifferent alike to contumely and the appeals of even the merely just. -In so far as the country at large might see, its Judge Advocate was -imperial in his powers. The legality of the existence of the Bureau had -been denied by the greatest jurists of the times; yet its dominating -spirit was determined, despite the gravest warnings and condemnation, to -railroad, by secret trial, the more distinguished of the prisoners to -the gallows. “Thoughtful men,” Reverdy Johnson had said in his argument -in the trial of Mrs. Surratt, “feel aggrieved that such a Commission -should be established in this free country when the war is over, and -when the common law courts are open and accessible. Innocent parties, -sometimes by private malice, sometimes for a mere partisan purpose, -sometimes from a supposed public policy, have been made the subjects of -criminal accusation. History is full of such instances. How are such -parties to be protected if a public trial be denied them, and a secret -one in whole or in part be substituted?” - -“The Judge Advocate said, in reply to my inquiries,” said Thomas Ewing, -“that he would expect to convict _under the common law of war_. This is -a term unknown to our language, _a quiddity_ incapable of definition.” -And, again, “The Judge Advocate, with whom chiefly rests the fate of -these citizens, from his position cannot be an impartial judge unless he -be more than man. He is the Prosecutor in the most extended sense of the -word. As in duty bound before this court was called, he received the -reports of detectives, pre-examined the witnesses, prepared and -officially signed the charges, and, as principal counsel for the -Government, controlled on the trial the presentation, admission and -rejection of evidence. In our courts of law, a lawyer who heard his -client’s story, if transferred from the bar to the bench, may not sit in -the trial of the cause, lest the ermine be sullied through the -partiality of the counsel.” - -To our sad household at distant Huntsville, each day, with its -disquieting rumours and reports of these trials, added to our distress -of mind. There was scarcely a man or woman in the South who did not -prophesy that, the popular cry being “Vengeance,” and full military -power in the hands of such men as Stanton and Holt, our former President -and Mr. Clay would surely meet the fate of Mrs. Surratt. - -Under the domination of such knowledge, my condition of mind was a -desperate one. We were nearly a thousand miles removed from the seat of -Government and from my husband’s prison. The Bureau of Military Justice, -it was well known, was industriously seeking to convict its prisoners; -while the latter, ignorant even of the charges against them, and denied -the visits of counsel or friends, were helpless to defend themselves, -however easy to obtain the proof might be. It were impossible for a -wife, knowing her husband to be innocent, and resenting the ignobleness -of a government which would thus refuse to a self-surrendered prisoner -the courtesies the law allows to the lowest of criminals, to rest -passively under conditions so alarming. - -From the moment I stepped upon the soil of Georgia I renewed my appeals -to those in the North of whose regard for my husband I felt assured. -Among the first to respond were Charles O’Conor, of New York, T. W. -Pierce, of Boston, R. J. Haldeman, and Benjamin Wood, editor and -proprietor of the New York _Daily News_. Mr. Wood wrote spontaneously: - -“I beg you to have full faith in my desire and exertions to relieve your -noble husband from persecution, and to secure for him a prompt and -impartial trial, and consequently an inevitable acquittal of the charge -that has been infamously alleged against him. I will communicate -immediately with Mr. O’Conor, Mr. Carlisle, Mr. Franklin Pierce, and -Judge Black. Let me request you to accord me the pleasure of advancing -to Mr. Clay, until his liberation, whatever sum may be necessary for the -expenses attendant upon legal action for his defense, as, owing to his -imprisonment and the present unsettled condition of your neighbourhood, -there might be a delay that would prove prejudicial to his interests.” - -“I have no idea he will be brought to trial,” wrote Mr. Pierce, on June -16th, “as the evidence on which the Government relies is a tissue of -wicked fabrication, from the perjured lips of the lowest upon the earth! -No one who knows him (Mr. Clay) can for a moment believe him guilty or -even capable of crime. I have written to Judge Black and requested him -to make effort to have you come to the North. I hope your application to -Judge Holt[47] will secure for you this liberty.” - -Mr. O’Conor’s letter ran as follows: - - “NEW YORK, June 29, 1865. - - “_My Dear Madam_: I do not believe that any attempt will be made to - try Mr. Clay or any other of the leading Southern gentlemen on the - charge of complicity in the assassination[48] of Lincoln. - - “Such of them as have, through mistaken confidence in the - magnanimity of their enemies, surrendered themselves into custody, - may be obliged to suffer imprisonment, until it shall be determined, - as a matter of policy, whether they ought to be tried for - treason.... - - “Mr. Jefferson Davis is, of course, the first victim demanded by - those who demand State prosecutions. His will be the test case.... I - have volunteered my professional services in his defense, and - although I have hitherto been refused permission to see him, and his - letter in reply to my offer has been intercepted and returned to him - as an improper communication, I am persuaded that, if a trial shall - take place, I will be one of his defenders. In performing this duty, - you may fairly consider me as in compliance with your request, - defending your husband.... I sympathise most sincerely with yourself - and your husband in this cruel ordeal, and shall be most happy if my - efforts shall have any influence in mitigating its severity or in - shortening its duration. - - “I am, my dear Madam, with great respect and esteem, - - “Yours truly, - “CHARLES O’CONOR.” - -This epistle, coming from so wise a man, was calculated to calm us; one -from Mr. Haldeman inspired us equally to courage. - - “HARRISBURG, July 24, 1865. - - “MRS. C. C. CLAY. - - “_My Dear Madam_: Your exceedingly affecting letter did not reach me - until long after it was written.... So soon as it was practicable, I - visited Honourable Thaddeus Stevens at his home in Lancaster City. I - selected Mr. Stevens more particularly on account of his - independence of character, his courage, and his position of - intellectual and official leadership in the lower house of Congress, - and in his party. It is not necessary for me to tell you, Madam, - that, knowing your husband, I never had a suspicion of his - complicity in the assassination of Mr. Lincoln, but you will be - gratified to learn that Mr. Stevens scorned the idea of either his - guilt or that of any of the prominent sojourners in Canada.[49] - - “Mr. Stevens holds, that as the belligerent character of the - Southern States was recognised by the United States, neither Mr. - Davis nor Mr. Clay can be tried for treason.... That, if tried, Mr. - Clay should be tried in Alabama. You will perceive, then, my dear - Madam, that connected with the proposed trial of your husband, there - are profound questions of statesmanship and party. On this account, - Mr. S. would not like to have his name prematurely mentioned. He is - using his great political influence in the direction indicated, and - it is, of course, much greater when he is not known as the counsel - of Mr. Clay.... I promised to see Mr. Stevens so soon as the form - and place of trial are announced.... Mr. Stevens will be a tower of - strength, and command attention and respect from President, - Secretary and Congress.... - - “Hoping, Madam, that when I address you again, it will be under - happier auspices, I am, - - “R. J. HALDEMAN.” - -Nor were these all. Ex-Attorney-General Black wrote me early in July -these brief but kind words of sympathy: - -“I hasten to assure you that I will do all that in me lies to secure -justice in Mr. Clay’s case. I have written to the President, Secretary -of War, and Mr. Davis. You may safely rely upon me to the extent of my -ability to do you good!” - -Letters as positive and cordial came also from Messrs. George Shea and -J. M. Carlisle. I had written meanwhile to Mr. Clay in prison, hoping -thereby to give him courage; to the Secretary of War, beseeching for -kindness to his self-surrendered and delicate prisoner; to General -Miles, begging him to keep his promise and tell me of Mr. Clay’s -condition. It was three months ere I heard from my husband. The -Secretary of War ignored my letter, and three weeks passed ere the -general in command at Fortress Monroe made reply. His letter was -judicially kind. It saved me, at least, from apprehension lest Mr. Clay, -too, should be submitted to the horrible indignity which had been put -upon Mr. Davis, the news of which was still agitating the country. -General Miles’s letter was as follows: - - “HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DISTRICT OF FORT MONROE. - FORT MONROE, Virginia, June 20, 1865. - - “_Dear Madam_: Your letter of the 8th inst.[50] is at hand. In - answer, I am happy to say to you, your husband is well in health and - as comfortable as it is possible to make him under my orders. He has - not at any time been in irons. His fare is good. (I think Mr. - Davis’s health better than when he left the _Clyde_.) He has pipe - and tobacco. The officers in charge are changed every day. Your - husband was pleased to hear you were well. Wished me to say that he - was well and comfortable and under the circumstances quite cheerful. - Has every confidence that he will be able to vindicate himself of - the charge. He sends much love, and hopes you will not make - your[self] uneasy or worry on his account, as his only concern is - about you. Your letter was sent to Judge Holt. - - “Your husband has not been allowed any books except his Bible and - prayer-book, although I have requested provision to allow him one - other, but have received no answer as yet. You may be assured that - while your husband is within the limits of my command he will not - suffer. Hoping this will find you well, I remain - - “Very respectfully, - “NELSON A. MILES, - “Brevet Major-General United States Volunteers.” - -On the face of it this communication was kind. But, to offset its -statements as to my husband’s comfort, rumours quite the reverse reached -us from many reliable sources. How well these were founded, how -grievously the life in prison told upon my husband’s spirit, may be -adjudged from the following excerpts from a running letter from Mr. Clay -which reached me late in the autumn. It was designed for my eyes alone, -in the event of some sudden termination of his present awful -experiences. In part it was a solemn charge and farewell to me, and this -portion was guarded; for Mr. Clay had supposed he must commit the -letter, at last, to the care of General Miles for transmittance to me. -In part, it is evident hope was reviving him; by this time permission -had been given to him to write to me through the War Department; also, -he perceived the way opening for a private delivery of the letter, and -therefore, at the last, he spoke more unreservedly. - - “CASEMATE NO. 4, FORTRESS MONROE, VIRGINIA. - “FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 1865. - - “_My Dearly Beloved Wife_: After repeated requests, I am permitted - to address you this communication, which is only to be delivered to - you by General Miles in case of my death before we meet on earth.... - This letter is written in contemplation of death; for, although - trusting through God’s goodness and mercy to see you again on this - earth, yet, as my health is much impaired and I am greatly reduced - in flesh and strength, and never allowed a night’s unbroken rest, I - feel I am in greater peril of my life than is usual. Under the - solemn reflection that I may not see you again before I am called - hence to meet my Judge, I shall try to write nothing that I would - erase at that day when I must give an account of the deeds done in - the flesh. God bears me witness that I am unconscious of having - committed any crime against the United States or any of them, or any - citizen thereof, and that I feel and believe that I have done my - duty as a servant of the State of Alabama, to whom alone I owed - allegiance, both before and since she seceded from the Federal - Union. I have not changed my opinion as to the sovereignty of the - States and the right of a State to secede; and I am more confirmed - by my reflections and our bitter experience that the Northern people - were so hostile to the rights, interests and institutions of the - Southern States, that it was just and proper for these to seek peace - and security in a separate government. I think the utter subversion - of our political and social systems and sudden enfranchisement of - four million slaves a great crime, and one of the most terrible - calamities that ever befell any people; that generations yet unborn - will feel it in sorrow and suffering; and that nothing but intense - hatred and vindictive rage could have so blinded the North to its - own interests and [to] those of humanity, as to induce the - consummation of this act of wickedness and folly. I look for nothing - but evil to both blacks and whites in the South from this sudden and - violent change in their relations; intestine feuds and tumults; - torpid indolence and stealthy rapacity on the part of the blacks; - jealousy, distrust and oppression of them on the part of the whites; - mutual outrage and injury, disquiet, apprehensions, alarms, murders, - robberies, house-burnings, and other crimes; the blighting of hearts - and homes and the destruction of industry, arts, literature, wealth, - comfort and happiness. No people, save the Jews, have ever been more - oppressed and afflicted than those of the South, [and] especially - the blacks, will be, in my opinion. _Their professed deliverers will - prove the real destroyers of the negroes in the end._ - - “Had I foreseen this, I should doubtless have been in favour of - enduring lesser evils and wrongs from the North and postponing this - calamity, for it would have come sooner or later, but, perhaps, not - in our day. I never doubted ... that our interest would be best - served by preserving the old Union, under which I might have enjoyed - wealth and honour all my life. I felt that I was acting against my - own interest in favouring Secession, but thought it my duty to my - State and the South. Hence, I have nothing to reproach myself for as - to my course in that respect. I only regret that we did not defer - the evil day or prepare longer, better maintaining our independence. - I still think we might and would have maintained it, with more - wisdom in council and in the field, and with more virtue among our - people. I feel it due to my character, to my family and friends, to - say this much on public affairs.... - - “Now in regard to your own course and that of my kindred, I would - advise you, if able, to remove from the South; but, impoverished as - you all are, or soon will be, it is improbable that you can do so. - Hence, you had best make your home in some city or large town, where - the white population prevails. I think populous negro districts will - be unsafe. You will be obliged to cast off our former slaves, if - they should desire to live with you, for you have no means of - supporting or of employing them.... Do what you can for the comfort - of my parents.... Try to exercise charity to all mankind, forgiving - injuries, cherishing hatred to none, and doing good even to - enemies.... This is true wisdom, even if there was no life beyond - the grave, because the best way of securing peace of mind and of - promoting mere worldly interests. _But when I remember that Christ - commands it and enforced it by His example, and promised, ‘if you - keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love,’ the inestimable - great reward should stimulate us to the performance of the duty...._ - Nothing has convinced me of the divinity of Christ so much as His - superhuman morality and virtue.... - - “SATURDAY, August 12, 1865. - - “... I hope and sometimes think that my confinement here is to end - in good to me. I have tried and am still trying to turn it to my - incalculable profit. I have searched my own heart, and reviewed my - life more earnestly, prayerfully, and anxiously than in all my days - before coming in here. I have read The Book through twice; much of - it more than twice.... - - “You will see from my Bible and prayer-books that I have been - assiduous and earnest in their study. I confess that this has been - from necessity rather than choice. I have never been allowed to see - any word in print or manuscript outside of them, until 3d inst., - when a copy of the New York _Herald_ was brought me, and I was - informed that I was [to be] allowed to see such newspapers as - General Miles would daily send me. - - “September 10, 1865. - - “I dropped my pen in the delusive hope that I was to be allowed to - see you soon, or at all events to correspond freely with you, and - that in the meantime I would be allowed a reasonable hope of living, - by granting me opportunity to sleep. For I must now tell you what I - have heretofore thought I would conceal till my liberation or death, - _that I have endured the most ingenious and refined torture ever - since I came into this living tomb; for, although above the natural - face of the earth, it is covered with about ten feet of earth, and - is always more or less damp like a tomb. With a bright light in my - room and the adjoining room, united to it by two doorways, closed by - iron gates, which cover about half the space or width of the - partition, and with two soldiers in this room, and two and a - lieutenant in the adjoining, until about 30th June; with the opening - and shutting of those heavy iron doors or gates, the soldiers being - relieved every two hours; with the tramp of these heavy, armed men, - walking their beats, the rattling of their arms, and still more the - trailing sabre of the lieutenant, the officer of the guard, whose - duty is to look at me every fifteen minutes, you may be sure that my - sleep has been often disturbed and broken. In truth, I have - experienced one of the tortures of the Spanish Inquisition in this - frequent, periodical and irregular disturbance of my sleep._ During - the one hundred and twelve days of my imprisonment here I have never - enjoyed one night’s unbroken sleep; I have been roused every two - hours, if asleep, by the tread of soldiers, the clank of arms and - the voices of officers.... I have never known the feeling of - refreshment from sleep on arising any morning of my imprisonment. - Besides, I have never been allowed retirement from sight, actual or - potential, of my guards; having to bathe and do all the acts of - nature in view of the guard, if they chose to look at me. I have - never been allowed an interview with any one alone, not even with a - minister of God, but have always been confronted with two or more - witnesses, whenever minister or physician come to see me. I have - never been allowed any clothes save those in present use.... Where - my other clothes are I do not know, as several of those who were - represented as masters of my wardrobe denied the trust. I have found - out that some things I valued have been stolen, together with all - the little money I kept. I think it probable that you will never see - half of the contents of my valise and despatch bag. The inclosed - letters[51] present but a glimpse of my tortures, for I knew that - the grand inquisitors, the President and Cabinet, knew all that I - could tell and even more; and, besides, my debility of body and of - mind was such that I had not power to coin my thoughts into - words.... And to be frank, I was too proud to confess to them all my - sufferings, and also apprehended that they would rather rejoice over - and aggravate than relent and alleviate them. I now feel ashamed - that I have complained to them instead of enduring unto death. My - love for you, my parents and brothers, prevailed over my self-love, - and extracted from me those humiliating letters. I have been - reluctant to humble myself to men whom I regarded as criminals far - more than myself, touching all the woes and wrongs, the destruction - and desolation of the South. - - “If you ever get my [Jay’s] prayer-book, you will see scratched with - a pencil, borrowed for the occasion, such items in my monotonous - prison life as I felt worth recording. - - “October 16th. - - “On the 19th of August I wrote my second letter to the Secretary of - War, and was then in hopes of removal of the guard from the - adjoining room in a day or two. Besides, I was so enfeebled and my - nerves so shattered by loss of sleep that I could scarcely write. - Hence I quit this painful labour of love. The guard was not removed - till the 12th of September, and then because my condition, from loss - of sleep, was become really very critical. Since then I have - improved very much in health and have slept as well as I ever did. - But I have been deluded with the hope of my enlargement on parole, - and thought I would not dwell on so painful a theme. I now learn - that I am to be moved to-day to Carroll Hall, where Mr. D—— is.... - Hence I avail myself of a chance to send you these sheets lest they - should never reach you if I die in prison. I must impress on you the - propriety of _concealing this communication while I live and never - alluding to it_, for, if found out, I should suffer for it.... I - dare say I should be turned out on parole but for the charge against - me of concerting Lincoln’s murder. They are loth to confess the - charge to be false, which they would do by releasing me. I am made - to suffer to save them from the reproach of injustice. I should be - willing to brave them out by stubborn endurance and refusal of - anything but legal justice. I should not fear that. But I am never - to be tried for murder, nor, I think, for treason. They know there - is no pretext for charging me with murder, and they doubt their - ability to convict me of treason before a jury of Southern men, and - such only could legally try me.... - - “Now excuse any incoherence or want of method and the bad writing, - as it is all done under great disadvantages, which I may explain - hereafter. You can write to me under cover to Captain R. W. Bickley, - Third Pennsylvania Artillery, Fortress Monroe, Virginia. He will be - here till 10th of November, and then go out of service. After that - I’ll find some one else through whom you can write to me. He is from - Philadelphia. He, Captain J. B. Tetlow, Philadelphia, Captain - McEwan, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, and Dr. John J. Craven[52] of this - place, have been very kind to me; also Lieutenant Lemuel Shipman, - Sunbury, Pennsylvania. The last made me a wooden knife to eat with - during the time I was denied knife and fork and spoon, which was - till thirtieth of June. - - “They would, too, shake hands (which was forbidden) and treat me as - an equal when they could do so unobserved. Take care you don’t - allude to this letter in yours through War Department.... —— —— _has - no sensibility or refinement, and hence Mr. Davis and I have - suffered more than we should have done. Mr. Davis was ironed without - cause, and only grew violent when they offered to iron him. I_ _know - this from one who was present. Facts are, General M—— was authorised - to iron us if necessary for safety, and deemed it necessary with Mr. - D——, or mistook the authority as an order to do it. But Mr. Davis is - petulant, irascible, and offensive in manner to officers, as they - tell me, though they say he is able, learned, high-toned, and - imposing in manner._” - -Before this heartrending letter reached me, however, another, couched -purposely in terms more guarded (as befitted matter which must run the -gauntlet of Secretary Stanton’s, the Attorney-General’s and General -Miles’s scrutiny), had reached me. In my endeavours to comfort our -enfeebled parents, I had already discussed with them the advisability of -making my way to Washington, and in the first letter from me that -reached my husband’s hands I spoke of my hope of doing so. Unknown to -me, Mr. Clay, so early as June 30th, had written an urgent appeal to -Secretary Stanton that I might be allowed to see or communicate with -him. To this he had received no reply. Upon learning, therefore, of my -intention through my letter, his first impulse was to dissuade me. - -“If you come North,” he wrote, on August 21st, “you must come with a -brave heart, my dear ’Ginie ... prepared to hear much to wound you, and -to meet with coldness and incivility where you once received kindness -and courtesy. Some will offend you with malice, some unwittingly and -from mere habit, and some even through a sense of duty. Many -religionists have, doubtless, found pleasure and felt they were doing -God service in persecuting heretics. If rudely repulsed, remember, in -charity, that such is human nature. The Jewish priests drove off the -lepers with stones....” - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV - AGAIN IN WASHINGTON - - -By September I had reopened correspondence with many Washington friends. -As will have been seen by a perusal of certain preceding letters, the -question of giving me permission to return to the capital already had -been broached to the President and Secretary of War, by Judge Black and -others. It was now again brought to the attention of Mr. Johnson, by Mr. -Duff Green, a long-time friend of ex-Governor Clay, of my husband, and -of the President’s. It was the first application of all that had been -sent to the Government to bring a response. The Executive’s reply was -couched as follows: - -“I am directed by the President to say that an application for -permission to visit Washington, made by Mrs. C. C. Clay, Jr., over her -own name, will be considered by him. - - R. MORROW, - “Major and A. A. G., Secretary.” - -In forwarding this communication to me, Mr. Green wrote: - -“We think there is nothing to prevent your coming at once. To wait for -permission may delay you weeks, and perhaps months. Your coming would -not prejudice either yourself or your husband, and you can do more by a -personal application to the President than by an application ‘over your -own name.’” - -Two months dragged by, however, ere I could complete arrangements for -the journey and detach myself from our clinging parents, who, deprived -of all of their other children, now placed their dependence upon me. -Notwithstanding their hearts ached for some assurance of Mr. Clay’s -safety, they were ill-disposed to look upon my projected trip with -favour. Huntsville was in complete subjugation to the Federal -representatives. We had numerous reasons to realise the pitiless and -cruel policy that had been inaugurated by our conquerors, and few to -lead us to look for kinder things at the hands of the powers at -Washington. The reports that reached us of the treatment accorded to -those Southerners who had already proceeded to the capital, even -allowing for the prejudice of editors unfriendly to us, were not of a -kind to encourage a hope for clemency or justice there. The efforts of -the wives of other prisoners to communicate with their husbands, their -applications to the Government to grant them the right of trial, not -only had been of no avail, but, in some instances, had made them the -direct objects of attack from those inimical to them. “I have had a -weary time,” one wrote late in October, “but of that, if you knew how -weary, you would cry out ‘No more an’ you love me,’ rather than bear the -infliction of the retrospect, so I will not torment you.” ... President -Johnson’s remarks to the South Carolina Delegation, concerning Mrs. -Davis’s efforts, became the talk of the country. I was astonished when I -learned that she had never written a line without consultation with Mr. -Schley and his, in turn, consulting General Steedman upon the tenor of -her letters, and receiving the approval of both on the manner of -presenting the subject. It was the old fable of the lamb whose -grandfather muddied the stream. - -Such news served further to convince my husband’s parents of the -futility of the trip I was contemplating. They urged that I would be -attacked on every side so soon as I entered the Federal capital; they -pleaded, too, alas! the stringency of our present means, a very vital -objection just then to us whose every possession had either been -“confiscated” or otherwise rendered useless to us. Nevertheless, every -moment anxiety was consuming me. I resolved to act while I had the -strength, and made known my resolve to our parents. - -The middle of November had arrived ere, by the aid of Mr. Robert -Herstein, a kindly merchant of Huntsville (“may his tribe increase”), -who advanced me $100 in gold (and material for a silk gown, to be made -when I should reach my destination), I was enabled to begin my journey -to the capital. Under the escort of a kind friend and neighbour, Major -W. H. Echols, of Huntsville, who, having in mind the securing of a -certain patent, arranged his plans so as to accompany me to Washington, -I bade father and mother “good-bye” and stepped aboard the train. My -heart sometimes beat high with hope, yet, at others, I trembled at what -I might encounter. Fortunately for the preservation of my courage, I had -no forewarning that I had looked, for the last time, upon the sorrowful -face of our mother. Her closing words, in that heartbreaking farewell, -were of hope that I would soon return bringing with me her dearest son. -With the desire to cheer them both, I wrote back merrily as I proceeded -on my way; but, indeed, I had small need to affect a spirit of buoyancy; -for, from the beginning, I was the recipient of innumerable kindnesses -from fellow-travellers who learned my identity. In many instances my -fare was refused by friendly railroad conductors. - -“I have paid literally nothing thus far,” I wrote from Louisville, -Kentucky, which city I reached early in the morning of November 15th. -“At Nashville,” my letter added, “we took sleeping cars, which were as -luxurious as the bed that now invites me. I had, however, an amusing, -and, at first blush, an alarming nocturnal adventure. I was waked by the -rattling of paper at my head, and, half unconsciously putting out my -hand, it lighted on the hairy back of some animal! I sprang out of bed, -raised the curtain, and there sat, in the corner of my berth, the most -monstrous _coon_ you ever saw! The black around his eyes at first made -him appear like an owl, but he proved to be a genuine old ‘zip coon.’ So -I got out one of ‘Mammy ’Ria’s’ nice biscuit, which have been greatly -complimented by my friends, and asked him please to come out of my bed -and eat some supper. But he wouldn’t! And I had to wake Major Echols in -the gentlemen’s apartment, who forcibly ejected him after a good laugh -at me!” - -A day later and we reached Cincinnati, where, owing to the late arrival -of the boat, the _St. Nicholas_, on which we had travelled from -Louisville, through banks of fog, we were delayed some twelve hours. Our -trip on this river steamer was, in its way, a kind of triumphal -progress, very reassuring to me at that critical moment. As I wrote back -to father, “We found the captain a good Southerner and a noble old -fellow! Had one son in the Federal Army and lost one at Shiloh! Mr. -Hughes, of the Louisville _Democrat_, was aboard; he said his paper had -been suppressed, but he would now be permitted to go South. He is a -rabid secessionist, and promised to copy the _News_[53] articles -concerning my husband.” On board, too, was Mrs. Gamble, of Louisville, a -wealthy woman whose name was associated with innumerable kindnesses to -our soldiers, and generous gifts to our cause. She was a sad woman, but -sympathised greatly with Mr. Davis and Mr. Clay, and begged that upon my -return from Washington we would make our home with her “until better -times.” - -Upon learning the length of time we must spend in Cincinnati, I went at -once to the Spencer House, whence I wrote and immediately despatched -notes to my old friends, Mrs. George E. Pugh, wife of the ex-Senator, -and to Senator and Mrs. George H. Pendleton (the first a resident of the -city, the last-named residents of Clifton, a suburb), telling them of my -unexpected presence in the city, and hoping to see them during the day. -On my way to the hotel, I had looked about the city with increasing -interest and pleasure. How different it was from our devastated country! - -“You never saw the like of the fruit!” I wrote enthusiastically to -mother. “Grapes, oranges, apples; such varieties of nuts—cream, hazel, -hickory, and English walnuts—as are on the beautiful stall just at the -entrance of the hotel! The Major has just entered, laughing heartily at -Yankee tricks and Yankee _notions_! He says a man said to him, ‘Insure -your life, sir?’ - -“‘For what?’ says the Major. - -“‘For ten cents!’ replies the man. ‘And if you are killed on the cars, -your family gets $3,000 cash!’ - -“‘Three thousand?’ rejoins Major Echols, contemptuously. ‘What’s that to -a man worth a _million_!’ at which all stare as if shot. I laugh, too, -but tell him I fear we will be made to pay for his fun, if they think us -_millionaires_!” - -The day was half gone when dear Mrs. Pugh, only a few years ago the -triumphant beauty of the Pierce and Buchanan administrations, but now a -pale, saddened woman, clad in deep mourning, appeared. God! what private -sorrows as well as national calamities had filled in the years since we -had separated in Washington! The pathos of her appearance opened a very -flood-gate of tears, which I could not check. But Mrs. Pugh shed none. -She only put out a restraining hand to me. - -“No tears now, I beg of you. I can’t endure it. Tell me of yourself, of -your plans. Where are you going? What of Mr. Clay? How can I aid you?” -she asked, turning away all discussion save as to the object of my -journey. - -The afternoon was already nearly spent when Senator and Mrs. Pendleton -arrived, having driven in from their suburban home upon the receipt of -my note, sent at mid-day. Their welcome was cordial and frank as in the -old days. They had come to take me home to dinner, where, they assured -me, we might talk more freely than at the hotel. They would take no -refusal, but agreed with Major Echols, who was unable to accompany us, -to see me safely to the station in ample time to take the midnight train -for Washington. In the hours that followed, I learned somewhat of the -experiences in the North, during the bloody strife of the four years -just closed, of Southern sympathisers, even where their sympathy was -restrained from announcing itself by an open espousal. Senator -Pendleton’s known friendliness for Clement L. Vallandigham, whose -fearlessness and outspoken zeal in our behalf had cost him so dearly, -had brought its own penalties. At times, he told me, when feeling ran -highest, neither his home nor that of Senator Pugh had escaped certain -malodorous missiles of the lawless! - -We spent much of the evening in scanning the problems that lay before -me. I told my host of the numbers of brilliant men who had volunteered -their aid to Mr. Clay, mentioning among others the name of Judge Hughes, -of Washington, whose friendly proffer of counsel had reached me just -previous to my departure from Huntsville. - -“By all means,” said Senator Pendleton, as we drove at last to the -station, “see Judge Hughes first! He is strictly non-partisan, is a -friend of the President’s, and, moreover, is under obligations to Mr. -Clay, which I know he would gladly repay!” - -It was already a late hour when we rejoined the waiting Major Echols. -With a warm “God bless you, dear friend!” Senator and Mrs. Pendleton -bade me “good-bye,” and I stepped aboard the train for Washington. What -that name called up, what my thoughts were, or what my sensations, as I -realised our approach to the city once so attractive, but now seeming to -represent to me a place of oppression and the prison in which for six -months Mr. Clay had been incarcerated, may better be imagined than -described. Early the following morning our train began to thread its way -through familiar country. By mid-day we had reached war-scarred Harper’s -Ferry, and passed over into old Virginia! A short journey now, and I -found myself once more driving up Pennsylvania Avenue in the company of -tried friends, _en route_ to Willard’s. - - - - - CHAPTER XXV - SECRETARY STANTON DENIES RESPONSIBILITY - - -From the hour of my arrival in the capital, Friday, November 17th, my -misgivings gave place to courage. I went directly to Willard’s, which, -being near the Executive Mansion and the War Department, and my purse -very slender, I believed would save me hack hire. I had scarcely -registered when General Clingman called. He was followed shortly by -Senators Garland and Johnson, of Arkansas, the vanguard of numerous -friends, who within a few hours came to extend their sympathies and -wishes for the success of my mission. During that first day I sent a -note to Colonel Johnson, Mr. Johnson’s Secretary, asking for an -interview with the President at the earliest possible date. To my great -relief of mind, within a few hours there came an answer, telling me the -President would see me the following Wednesday! - -For the next few days I knew no moment alone. The list of callers noted -in my small diary necessarily was but partial, yet even that is -wonderfully long. Among them, to my surprise and somewhat to my -mystification, were General Ihrie, Major Miller and Colonel Ayr of -Grant’s staff. Their friendliness amazed me. I could imagine no reason -why they should call. General Ihrie, moreover, assured me of his chief’s -kind feeling toward my husband, and advised me to see the -Lieutenant-General at an early date. - -The Sunday after my arrival, callers began to arrive before breakfast, -the first being Colonel Ogle Tayloe, bearing an invitation from Mrs. -Tayloe to dinner the following evening. Before church hour had arrived, -dear old Mr. Corcoran came, intending to give me welcome on his way to -St. John’s. He forgot to leave again until services were over, and -others returning from church crowded in. Mr. Corcoran’s manner was full -of the old-time charm, as he bade me good-bye at last; and, as he took -my hand in parting, he said, “You’ve not forgotten the little white -house round the corner?” (referring to the banking-house of Riggs & -Corcoran). - -“No,” I answered, smiling sadly, “You are my bankers still, but, alas! -where are my deposits?” - -Mr. Corcoran’s glance was full of kindness. Laying his hand upon his -heart, he replied, “They are here, my friend!” and he pressed my hand -reassuringly. - -I remember that Sunday as one in which tears of gratitude rose to my -eyes again and again, until at last I exclaimed, “It is all very strange -to me! There appears to be none of my husband’s enemies here! It seems -to me as if everyone is his friend!” - -The following morning, however, I had an experience calculated to arouse -in me a feeling somewhat less secure. I was still in the bath when a tap -came at my door. - -“A lady wishes to see you,” was the reply to my question. - -“Who is she?” I asked. - -“Don’t know, ma’am. She wouldn’t give her name!” - -“Very well,” I answered. “Explain to her that I am dressing; that unless -her business is imperative, I would prefer to have her call later.” - -In a few moments I heard light tapping again. Upon my inquiry, a name -was whispered through the keyhole, which I recognised as that of the -wife of a well-known public official. I at once admitted her. The -purpose of her visit was a peculiar one. She had come to warn me of the -presence in the city of James Montgomery, _alias_ Thompson, one of the -hireling witnesses whose “testimony” against Mr. Davis and Mr. Clay had -been registered with the Bureau of Military Justice. By some unfortunate -connection of her own family with this miscreant, my visitor had learned -that Montgomery, upon hearing of my object in visiting Washington, had -been heard to make a threat of violence against me. The lady, who shall -continue to be nameless, was so convinced some harm threatened me that -she begged me to promise that while in the capital I would go armed, and -especially be cautious with unknown callers. Montgomery, she added, was -likely to disguise himself; but, further to aid me in guarding against -some injury at his hands, she had brought with her a photograph of the -wretched man. Whether or not some crime was projected against me by this -man I never knew, but the wild nature of the times warranted me in -exercising, thereafter, a prudence which otherwise would not have -occurred to me. I took counsel with friends, and, with one exception, -later to be mentioned, no occurrence during my stay in the capital -served to arouse in me a further apprehension from that quarter. - -In the days that intervened until my appointment with the President, my -hours were spent in advantageous interviews with Judge Hughes, of Hughes -& Denver, with Judge Black, Senator Garland, Frederick A. Aiken and -others, during which I gleaned much knowledge of what had transpired -since my husband’s incarceration, and of the public feeling concerning -the distinguished prisoners at Fortress Monroe, whose trials had been so -mysteriously postponed. It was now six months since the imprisonment of -Messrs. Davis and Clay; but in so far as might be learned, definite -charges against them had not yet been filed at the War Department. On -every side I heard it declared that the situation was unprecedented in -English or American jurisprudence. Leading lawyers of the country were -ready and eager to appear in the prisoners’ behalf, but every effort -made by friends to see them thus far had been futile. In those first -weeks, reiterated proffers of legal aid continued to reach me daily from -distinguished quarters. - -Upon my arrival in the capital I had put myself at once into -communication with Judge Hughes, as advised by Senator Pendleton. His -kindness was unceasing, not only in the matter of legal advice to guide -me through the intricacies of my undertaking, but in his generous -placing at my disposal his horses and carriages, and the services of his -coachman and footman. Mrs. Hughes was absent in the West, and the -hospitality of their home, therefore, was barred; but all that a -thoughtful nature could suggest was done by the Judge to facilitate -success in my mission. - -From the first, too, Judge Jeremiah S. Black, ex-Attorney-General, and -Secretary of State under President Buchanan, with whom I now became, for -the first time, personally acquainted, proved a bulwark of sympathy that -thereafter never failed my husband and self. He was a peculiar man in -appearance, with shaggy brows, deep-set eyes, and a cavernous mouth, out -of which invincible arguments rolled that made men listen. This feature -was large when he spoke, but when he laughed, the top of his head fell -back like a box cover, and looked as if it must drop over the other way. -Happily for the unfortunate, his heart was modelled on a scale as large, -and for months he gave his time and advice unstintedly to me. - -On the Wednesday appointed by the President, accompanied by Judge -Hughes, I proceeded to keep my appointment at the White House. One of -the first familiar faces I saw as I entered was that of Mrs. Stephen A. -Douglas, now widowed. A wait of some moments being imminent, with the -affectionate warmth so well-known to me in other and happier days, Mrs. -Douglas at once volunteered to accompany me in my call upon “the good -President,” and in a few moments we were shown into his presence. Mr. -Johnson received us civilly, preserving, at first, what I learned -afterward to know was an habitual composure, though he softened somewhat -under the ardent appeal of Mrs. Douglas when she urged upon him the -granting of my request. - -My first impression of the President, who, while a Senator, in the -fifties, had seldom been seen in social gatherings in the capital, was -that of a man upon whom greatness, of a truth, had been thrust; a -political accident, in fact. His hands were small and soft; his manner -was self-contained, it is true, but his face, with “cheeks as red as -June apples,” was not a forceful one. - -From the beginning, as Judge Black had declared he would do, Mr. Johnson -clearly wished to shirk the responsibility of my husband’s case, and to -throw it upon the shoulders of his Secretary of War. His non-committal -responses to my reasons why I should have access to my husband, why he -should be tried or liberated, disheartened me greatly. When Mrs. Douglas -perceived this, she added her pleadings to mine, and, as the President’s -shiftiness became more and more apparent, she burst into tears, and, -throwing herself down on her knees before him, called upon me to follow -her example. This, however, I could not comply with. I had no reason to -respect the Tennesseean before me. That he should have my husband’s life -in his power was a monstrous wrong, and a thousand reasons why it was -wrong flashed through my mind like lightning as I measured him, searing -it as they passed. My heart was full of indignant protest that such an -appeal as Mrs. Douglas’s should have been necessary; but that, having -been made, Mr. Johnson could refuse it, angered me still more. I would -not have knelt to him even to save a precious life. This first, -memorable one of many, unhappy scenes at the White House, ended by the -President inviting me to call again after he had consulted his Cabinet. -At the same time he urged me to see Mr. Stanton. - -“I think you had best go to him,” he said. “This case comes strictly -within the jurisdiction of the Secretary of War, and I advise you to see -him!” - -Realising the futility of further argument with Mr. Johnson at the time, -I followed his advice, going almost immediately, and alone, to the War -Department. It was my first and last visit to Secretary Stanton, in that -day of the Government’s chaos, autocrat of all the United States and -their citizens. Varying accounts of that experience have appeared in the -press during the last thirty-seven years. The majority of them have -exaggerated the iron Secretary’s treatment of me. Many have accused him -of a form of brusque brutality,[54] which, while quite in keeping with -his reputation, nevertheless was not exhibited toward me. - -The Secretary of War was not guilty of “tearing up in my face and -throwing in the waste-basket,” as one writer has averred, the -President’s note of introduction, which I bore him, even though I was a -declared “Rebel” and the wife of a so-called conspirator and assassin. -He was simply inflexibly austere and pitiless. - -Upon arriving at the War Department, I gave my card and the President’s -note to the messenger in waiting, which, from across the room, I saw -handed to the Secretary. He glanced at them, laid them on the desk at -which he sat, and continued in conversation with a lady who stood beside -him. In a second the messenger returned, and desired me to take a seat -on a sofa, which, as it happened, was directly in line with Mr. -Stanton’s desk. In a few moments the lady with whom he had been in -conversation withdrew. As she passed me I recognised her. She was Mrs. -Kennedy, daughter of ex-Secretary Mallory, then a prisoner in Fort -Lafayette. Her face was flushed and very sad, which I interpreted (and -rightly, as it proved) as meaning that her request had been denied. The -sight filled me with indignation. I resolved at once to retain my seat -and let the Secretary seek me, as a gentleman should do. I was -strengthened in this determination by the conviction that he would -ignore my plea also, and I was resolved to yield him no double victory. - -After a delay of a few moments, in which the Secretary adjusted first -his glasses and then his papers, he slowly approached me, saying, “This -is Mrs. Clay, I presume?” - -“And this Mr. Stanton?” I replied. - -I at once briefly, but bravely, proceeded with my story. I told him that -my object in visiting Washington was to obtain the speedy release of my -husband, who was dying hourly under the deprivations and discipline of -prison life; or, failing this, to obtain for him an early trial, which -he desired not to shirk, but to hasten; of the result of which we had no -fear, unless “he be given up to that triumvirate called the ‘Military -Bureau of Justice,’ of which you are one, Mr. Stanton!” This I said with -inward trembling and with eyes brimming, but looking him fully in the -face. His own gaze fell. - -“Madam,” he answered. “I am not your husband’s judge——” - -“I know it!” I interrupted. “And I am thankful for it; and I would not -have you for his accuser!” - -“Neither am I his accuser!” he continued. I could scarcely believe I had -heard him aright. His manner was gravely polite. I remember thinking at -that moment, “Can this be the rude man of whom I have heard? Can I have -been misinformed about him?” - -“Thank you, Mr. Stanton, for those words,” I said. “I had not hoped to -hear them from you. I thought you were the bitterest of my husband’s -enemies! I assure you your words give me fresh hope! I will tell the -President at once of this cheering interview!” - -At these expressions Mr. Stanton seemed somewhat confused. I wondered -whether he would modify or recall his words. He did not, however, and -thanking him again for even that concession, I withdrew. - -The legal friends to whom I gave an account of this conversation were -less confident as to its significance. If Mr. Stanton was neither Mr. -Clay’s judge nor accuser, who was? Some one was surely responsible for -his detention; some one with the power to obstruct justice was delaying -the trial, which the first legal minds in the country for months had -sought to bring about. If not Mr. Stanton, could it be Mr. Holt, whose -name was already become one of abhorrence among the majority of -Southerners? Judge Black felt sure it was. But accusation against the -Judge Advocate General without proof was impolitic, with my husband’s -safety still in the balance. In a situation so serious as the present, I -should, have preferred to conciliate him. - -“Have you tried to interest Judge Holt in your husband’s behalf?” wrote -our old friend ex-Speaker Orr. “Would not some little kind memory of the -past steal over him when you revive the morning reminiscences of the -Ebbitt House, when his much-adored wife was a shining luminary in that -bright circle? He would be more or less than man if such a picture did -not move him. Will you try it?” - -Great, indeed, was Mr. Orr’s surprise when he learned that I had written -to Mr. Holt three times, only to meet with complete silence at his -hands! - -Under such circumstances it was wiser to adhere to my first purpose; -namely, to sue for the privilege of seeing Mr. Clay and for his release -on parole, or for a speedy trial. I was urged by Judge Black not to -cease in my appeals to the President; to tell the Executive of my -interview with his Secretary of War, and in the meantime to secure from -General Grant, if possible, a letter to the President, advocating my -plea. I had already been assured by General Ihrie of his chief’s ability -and willingness to serve me. On the evening of the second Sunday after -my arrival in Washington, therefore, I drove from Willard’s at seven -o’clock, accompanied by Major Echols, to Lieutenant-General Grant’s -headquarters in Georgetown. I found these to be established in what was -formerly the home of our friend Mr. Alfred Scott,[55] of Alabama, now -deceased. Soldiers guarded the entrance, as became a military -headquarters, and one came forward to take my card as we drove up. Upon -his return, Major Echols and I were shown at once to the General’s -reception parlour. Dismissing the officers in uniform who stood about, -General Grant received me courteously, tendering his hand frankly. I at -once presented Major Echols, saying that “my friend, like yourself, is a -graduate of West Point; but, feeling bound to offer his allegiance to -his native South, he had served with distinction at Fort Sumter,” which -introduction, I imagined, pleased the General, though it disconcerted my -modest escort. - -I now briefly, and in some trepidation at finding myself face to face -with the “Hero of the Hour!” the “Coming Man,” “Our next President” (for -by these and many other titles was the hero of Appomattox already -crowned), explained as succinctly as I could my motive in calling upon -him, closing my remarks with the assurance that the one circumstance -prompting me to ask his aid was not his army victories, but his noble -conduct to our beloved General Lee in his recent surrender. I was -convinced, I added, that the man who had borne himself so magnanimously -toward a brave soldier whom he had vanquished, possessed the soul to -espouse and sustain a cause, if just, though all the world opposed. It -was in this faith I had come to him. - -The Federal General listened very gravely. When I had finished he -responded in his characteristic, quiet way: “If it were in my power, -Mrs. Clay, I would to-morrow open every prison in the length and breadth -of the land. I would release every prisoner unless——” (after a pause) -“unless Mr. Davis might be detained awhile to satisfy public clamour. -Your husband’s manly surrender entitles him to all you ask. I admire and -honour him for it, and anything I can say or do to assist you shall be -done. I heartily wish you success.” - -I asked him, in the course of our conversation, if he would go with me -to the White House the next day, at any hour, day or evening. - -“That is impossible,” he said. “I leave at midnight for Richmond.” - -“Would you be willing to write what you have spoken?” - -“With pleasure!” he replied. Going to the door he called, “Julia!” - -In a moment Mrs. Grant entered the room. She shook my hand with the -cordiality of a friend, saying, as she did so, “We have many mutual -friends in St. Louis.” She then expressed her deep sympathy for me, and -hoped her husband could serve me with the President. - -In a few moments General Grant returned with the promised letter. I -thanked him from a grateful heart. Upon rising to go, he accompanied me -half down the steps, where, with a hearty shake of the hand, we parted. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVI - MR. HOLT REPORTS UPON THE CASE OF C. C. CLAY, JR. - - -Armed with General Grant’s letter, my hopes at once rose high. It seemed -to my eager and innocent mind that an ally so really great could not -fail to convince the President and his Cabinet of the wisdom of granting -my plea in whole or in part. I began to feel that the culmination of my -husband’s troubles was now approaching. I hastened to send the letter to -Mr. Johnson. It read as follows: - - “WASHINGTON, D. C., Nov. 26, 1865. - - “His Excellency A. JOHNSON, - “President of the United States. - - “_Sir_: As it has been my habit heretofore to intercede for the - release of all prisoners who I thought could safely be left at - large, either on parole or by amnesty, I now respectfully recommend - the release of Mr. C. C. Clay. - - “The manner of Mr. Clay’s surrender, I think, is a full guarantee - that if released on parole, to appear when called for, either for - trial or otherwise, that he will be forthcoming. - - “Argument, I know, is not necessary in this or like cases, so I will - simply say that I respectfully recommend that C. C. Clay, now a - State prisoner, be released on parole, not to leave the limits of - his State without your permission, and to surrender himself to the - civil authorities for trial whenever called on to do so. - - “I do not know that I would make a special point of fixing the - limits to a State only, but at any future time the limits could be - extended to the whole United States, as well as if those limits were - given at once. - - “I have the honour to be, - - “Very respectfully, your obedient servant, - (Signed.) “U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-General.”[56] - -In my note accompanying the General’s recommendation, I begged to repeat -my request that I be allowed to visit Mr. Clay at Fortress Monroe, and -that I be furnished with copies of the charges against him, in order -that I might consult with him as to the proper means to disprove them, -in the event of his being brought to trial. After a two days’ silence on -the part of the Executive, I wrote a note of inquiry to Mr. Johnson. The -reply that reached me was not calculated to stimulate my erstwhile -hopefulness. - -“I cannot give you any reply to your note of this inst.,” wrote Colonel -Robert Johnson, on the 30th of November, “except that the President has -the letter of General Grant. No action has yet been had. I will bring -the matter before the President during the day, and will advise you.” - -And now, indeed, I began to be aware how all-powerful was the hidden -force that opposed the taking of any action on my husband’s case. Again -and again thereafter I called upon President Johnson, pleading at first -for his intervention on my behalf; but, upon the third visit, when he -again suggested that I “see Mr. Stanton,” I could refrain no longer from -an outburst of completest indignation. I was accompanied on this and on -almost all my innumerable later visits to the White House by Mrs. -Bouligny, who witnessed, I fear, many an astonishing passage at arms -between President Johnson and me. On the occasion just touched upon, -aroused by Mr. Johnson’s attempt to evade the granting of my request, I -answered him promptly: - -“I will _not_ go to Mr. Stanton, Mr. President! _You_ issued the -proclamation charging my husband with crime! _You_ are the man to whom I -look for redress!” - -“I was obliged to issue it,” Mr. Johnson replied, “to satisfy public -clamour. Your husband’s being in Canada while Surratt and his associates -were there made it necessary to name him and his companions with the -others!” - -“And do you believe, for one moment, that my husband would conspire -against the life of President Lincoln?” I burst out indignantly. “Do -you, who nursed the breast of a Southern mother, think Mr. Clay could be -guilty of that crime?” - -Mr. Johnson disclaimed such a belief at once. - -“Then, on what grounds do you detain one whom you believe an innocent -man, and a self-surrendered prisoner?” I asked. - -But here the President, as he did in many instances throughout those -long and, to me, most active days in the capital, resorted to his almost -invariable habit of evading direct issues; yet it was not long ere I was -given reason to feel that he, personally, sincerely wished to serve me, -though often appearing to be but an instrument in the hands of more -forceful men, whom he lacked the courage to oppose, and who were -directly responsible for my husband’s detention. Before the end of -December the President gave me a valuable and secret proof that his -sympathies were with rather than against Mr. Clay. - -Until the sixth of December, nearly seven months after my husband’s -surrender, no formal charges had been filed against him with a view to -placing him on trial, or on which to base his continued imprisonment. -During that time, the visits of counsel being denied him, there was not -in the capital one who was vitally concerned in his or Mr. Davis’s case, -though certain unique aspects of the cases of the two distinguished -prisoners of the Government had invited a more or less continuous -professional interest in them. - -At the time of my reappearance in Washington, though the city was filled -with distinguished pardon-seekers, and with Southerners who had been -summoned on various grounds, to explain their connection with the late -Confederate States’ Government, interest in the prisoners at Fortress -Monroe became quickened. The Legislature of the State of Alabama drew up -and forwarded a memorial to the President, asking for Mr. Clay’s -release. Prominent lawyers besides those whose letters I have quoted -wrote volunteering their aid, Senator Garland, Mr. Carlisle, and -Frederick A. Aiken, counsel for Mrs. Surratt, among them. Through Mr. -Aiken, already familiar with the means employed by the Military -Commission to convict their prisoners, I gained such information as was -then available as to the probable charges which would be made against -Mr. Clay. - -“I send you the argument of Assistant Judge Advocate General Bingham, in -the Surratt trial,” he wrote on November 25th.... “This argument has -been distributed broadcast over the country, and the opinion of the -Republican party educated to think it true! It seems to me,” he added, -“that a concisely written argument in favour of Mr. Clay, on the -evidence as it stands, would be useful with the President.” - -In the midst of this awakening of our friends on Mr. Clay’s behalf, the -Government’s heretofore (from me) concealed prosecutor, Mr. Holt, -presented to the War Department his long-delayed and elaborately -detailed “Report on the case of C. C. Clay, Jr.” On the face of it, his -action at this time appeared very much like an effort to checkmate any -influence my presence might awaken on the prisoner’s behalf. Upon -learning of this movement I at once applied to the War Department for an -opportunity to examine the Report. It was not accorded me. After some -days, learning of Mr. Stanton’s absence from the city, and acting on the -suggestion of Mr. Johnson, on the 20th of December I addressed Mr. Holt -by letter for the third and last time. I asked for a copy of the charges -against my husband, and also for the return of my private -correspondence, which had been taken from me, in part, at Macon, and -part from my home in Huntsville. Days passed without the least -acknowledgment from the Judge Advocate. - -It was at this juncture that Mr. Johnson’s friendliness was exhibited -toward me; for, happening to call upon him while the document was in his -hands, I told him of my ill success and growing despair at the obstacles -that were presented to the granting of my every request at the War -Department.[57] I begged him to interpose and assist me to an interview -with Mr. Clay, but, above all, at this important moment, to aid me in -getting a copy of the charges now formulated against him. Thereupon, -exacting from me a promise of complete secrecy, the President delivered -his official copy of the “Report” into my hands, that I might peruse it -and make such excerpts as would aid me. I did more than this, however; -for, hastening back with it to the home of Mrs. A. S. Parker, which had -been generously thrown open to me, I spent the night in copying the -document in full. - -The list of accusations against my husband was long. It represented -“testimony” which the Bureau of Military Justice had spent six months, -and, as later transpired, many thousands of dollars, in collecting, and -was a digest of the matter sworn to in the Judge Advocate’s presence. As -I read and copied on during that night, the reason for Mr. Holt’s -persistent disregard of my letters became obvious. No official, no man -who, for months, against the protests of some of the most substantial -citizens, the most brilliant lawyers of the country, had been so -determinedly engaged in secret effort to prove a former friend and -Congressional associate to be deserving of the gallows, could be -expected to do anything but to avoid a meeting with the wife of his -victim. In December, 1860, when Mr. Clay’s position as a Secessionist -was known to be unequivocal, Mr. Holt, whose personal convictions were -then somewhat less clearly declared, had written, on the occasion of my -husband’s illness, “It is my earnest prayer that a life adorned by so -many graces may be long spared to our country, whose councils so need -its genius and patriotism!” In December, 1865, basing his charges -against his former friend—a former United States Senator, whose -integrity had never suffered question; a man religious to the point of -austerity; a scholar, of delicate health and sensibilities, and -peculiarly fastidious in the selection of those whom he admitted to -intimacy—, Mr. Holt, I repeat, basing his accusations against such a -one-time friend upon the purchased testimony of social and moral -outcasts, designated Mr. Clay in terms which could only be regarded as -the outspurting of venomous malice, or of a mind rendered incapable of -either logic or truth by reason of an excessive fanaticism. - -Under this man’s careful marshalling, the classes of “crimes which Clay -is perceived to have inspired and directed” were frightful and numerous. -The “most pointed proof of Clay’s cognisance and approval of” [alleged] -“deeds of infamy and treason” lay in the deposition of G. J. Hyams (so -reads the Report), “testimony which illustrates the treacherous and -clandestine character of the machinations in which Clay was engaged,” to -the complete satisfaction of Mr. Holt.[58] One of the most curious -pieces of evidence of the Judge Advocate’s really malignant design in -that virulent “Report” lies in his wilful perversion of a statement -which Mr. Clay had made by letter to the Secretary of War. My husband -had written that, at the time of seeing Mr. Johnson’s Proclamation for -his arrest (during the second week in May), he had been nearly six -months absent from Canada, a fact so well known that had Mr. Clay ever -been brought to trial a hundred witnesses could have testified to its -accuracy. Mr. Holt, to whom the Secretary of War, while denying the -access of counsel to his prisoner, had confided Mr. Clay’s letter, now -altered the text as follows: - -“In connection with the testimony in this case, as thus presented, may -be noticed the assertions of Clay in his recent letters to the Secretary -of War, that at the date of the _assassination_, he, Clay, had been -absent from Canada nearly six months.” - -The substitution of the word “assassination” for “proclamation” made a -difference of one month, or nearly so, in the calculations by which Mr. -Holt was attempting to incriminate and to preclude a sympathy for his -defenseless victim, my husband. After thus subtly manipulating Mr. -Clay’s statement in such way as to give it the appearance of a -falsehood, Mr. Holt next proceeded to stamp it as such, and decreed that -this “remain as the judgment of the Department upon the communications -of this false and insolent traitor!” - -“It is to be added,” this remarkable Report continues, “upon the single -point of the duration of his stay in Canada, that it is declared by two -unimpeached witnesses[59] that he was seen by them in Canada in February -last.” It may be said that this Bureau has now “no doubt that it will be -enabled, by means of additional witnesses, to fix the term of Clay’s -stay in Canada even more precisely than it has already been made to -appear.”[60] - -Having now carried, through many pages, his charges of numerous and -basest crimes against Mr. Clay, Mr. Holt sums up his Report thus: - -“It may, therefore, be safely assumed that the charge against Clement C. -Clay, of having _incited the assassination of the President, is relieved -of all improbability by his previous history and criminal -surroundings_!” - -It must not be supposed that my woman’s mind at once recognised the real -atrocity of these charges in that first reading, or identified the -palpable inaccuracies in them; nor that fortifying deductions -immediately made themselves plain to me. As was said of another Holt -document, sent later to the House by the Judge Advocate General himself, -every sentence of the Report before me was “redolent with the logic of -prosecution, revealing something of the personal motive. There was -certainly nothing in it of the _amicus curiae_ spirit, nothing of the -searcher after truth; nothing but the avidity of the military prosecutor -for blood.” - -At that time, denied access to my husband, his papers and journal -scattered, my own retained by the War Department, I possessed nothing -with which to combat Judge Holt’s accusations, save an instinctive -conviction that when once the charges were made known to Mr. Clay, he -would be able to refute them. - -That this elaborately detailed, this secretly and laboriously gathered -category of crime was destined months hence to be turned to the open -contempt and shame of the Judge who drew it up, I had no consoling -prescience, and not even the most astute of my counsellors foresaw. -Three months after Mr. Clay’s conditional release, in April, 1866, -however, Representative Rogers, in his report to the Judiciary Committee -appointed by the House, revealed to the body there assembled the -“utterly un-American proceedings of the Military Bureau” and the strange -conduct of its head. - -After a detailed report on the testimony which, having been given to the -Bureau of Military Justice, the witnesses now acknowledged before the -House Committee to have been false, Mr. Rogers continued: - -“Who originated this plot I cannot ascertain. I am deeply impressed that -there is guilt somewhere, and I earnestly urge upon the House an -investigation of the origin of the plot, concocted to alarm the nation, -to murder and dishonour innocent men, and to place the Executive in the -undignified position of making, under proclamation, charges which -cannot ... stand a preliminary examination before a justice of the -peace.... But that no time was left me to pursue to the head the -villainies I detected in the hand, I might have been able plainly to -tell Congress and the country that if, in this plot, we had a Titus -Oates in Conover,[61] so also we had a Shaftesbury somewhere.” - -Many newspapers, the _New York Herald_ and Washington _Intelligencer_ in -the lead, also began to reiterate the demand for a public inquiry into -the strange workings of the Bureau of Military Justice. Rumours ran over -the country that “persons in high places who deemed it for their best -interest to show complicity on the part of Davis and others in the -assassination of Lincoln, by false testimony or otherwise, will find -themselves held up to public gaze in a manner they little dream of.”[62] - -Two months later Mr. Holt issued a pamphlet which, under the heading, -“Vindication of Judge Holt from the Foul Slanderers of Traitors, -Confessed Perjurers and Suborners acting in the interest of Jefferson -Davis,” was scattered broadcast over the country. It is improbable that -any parallel to this snarl of defiance was ever sent out by a weak but, -by no means, an apologetic offender in high office. The pamphlet covers -eight full pages of admissions as to the deceptions which he claimed had -been practised upon _him_, but contains no line of regret for the -tyranny he had exercised, and which had condemned distinguished and -innocent men to lie for months in damp dungeons, prey to a thousand -physical ills and mental torments. Mr. Holt’s vindication began as -follows: “To all loyal men! In the name of simple justice ... your -attention is respectfully invited to the subjoined article[63] from the -_Washington Chronicle_,[64] of yesterday, as representing a perfectly -true vindication of myself from the atrocious calumny with which -traitors and suborners are now so basely pursuing me. Joseph Holt.” - -“It is clear,” says this “vindicatory” excerpt, “that a conspiracy has -been formed to defame the Judge Advocate General and the Bureau of -Military Justice.... At the bottom of this conspiracy, or actively -engaged in executing its purposes, is Sanford Conover, who, after having -been fully proved guilty of subornation or perjury,[65] has -unquestionably sold himself to the friends of Davis[66] and is seeking -with them to destroy the reputation of a public officer[67] whose -confidence he gained, as we shall hereafter see, by the same solemn -protestations, and which confidence he subsequently most treacherously -abused.... A more cold-blooded plot for the assassination of character -[_sic_] has never been concocted in any age or country!” - -It will be seen, Mr. Holt now overlooked the months in which he, -supported in his secret work by the Secretary of War, and with almost -unlimited powers vested in him, had been engaged in plotting with _the -same tools, though warned of their evil careers_, against the lives of -gentlemen of irreproachable character and antecedents; against my -husband, who had with confidence in its integrity placed himself in the -hands of the Government in the expectation of a fair and impartial -trial. - -Mr. Holt’s “Vindication” continues: “Conover, though now wholly -degraded, was then, so far as was known to the Government, without a -stain upon his character.” (The thoughtful reader must naturally turn to -the accusations of the Reverend Stuart Robinson, made publicly to the -Government representative, Hon. H. H. Emmons, and, by the press, -scattered through the country fifteen months previous to this -declaration in Mr. Holt’s “Vindication.”) “Hence, when he wrote me,” -continues the aggrieved Judge Advocate General, “alleging the existence -of testimony implicating Davis and others, and his ability to find the -witnesses, and proffering his services to do so, I did not hesitate to -accept his statements and proposals as made in good faith and entitled -to credit and to consideration.” - -In the “Report” on the case of Mr. Clay, dated December 6, 1865, which, -by the courtesy of the President, I was enabled to see, Mr. Holt’s -willing adoption of the fabrications of his unscrupulous “witnesses” was -apparent in every phrase. In fact, its spirit of malice terrified me. I -kept faith with Mr. Johnson and told no one of the knowledge I now -possessed; but I communicated some of the main points of the “Report” to -Judge Black and other advisers, and, resolving that I would never cease -until I attained my point, I redoubled my pleadings with the President -for the permission to visit my husband, which request I now knew it -would be useless to make at the War Department. When I returned the -“Report” to the President, I was keyed to a high pitch of alarm by the -spirit shown by the Advocate General, and my requests now took another -form. - -“It is said, Mr. Johnson, that you have refused to allow the Military -Court, composed of Messrs. Holt, Speed and Stanton, to try Mr. Davis and -Mr. Clay.” The President bowed affirmatively. - -“Then I pray you to give me your solemn oath in the presence of the -living God, that you will _never_, while in this Presidential chair, -yield those two innocent men into the hands of that blood-seeking -Military Commission!” - -I was greatly agitated, and weeping. Mr. Johnson, however, was calm and -seemingly deeply in earnest as he answered me, - -“I promise you, Mrs. Clay; trust me!” - -“I will; I do!” I cried, “but I would like you to emphasise this sacred -oath, remembering the precious lives that hang upon it.” - -Upon this Mr. Johnson raised his hand and repeated his promise, adding -again, “trust me!” - -After this interview I felt a sense of security which gave me -comparative repose of mind, but, nevertheless, I called almost daily, to -fortify Mr. Johnson against the continued machinations of those -officials whose influence was so inimical to my husband and Mr. Davis. I -now began to perceive that Judge Black, Senator Garland and others had -said truly when they remarked to me that Mr. Johnson might be moved, if -at all, by his heart rather than by his head. He had already given me a -strong proof of this; soon he gave me others. - -The Christmas season was approaching, and while all about me were -arranging their little gaieties and surprises, the realisation of Mr. -Clay’s isolation and discomforts and peril became more and more -poignant. To add to the sadness of our situation, letters from -Huntsville containing pathetic allusions to the failing health of my -husband’s mother now began to follow each other rapidly. I was urged to -act quickly if she and her son were to meet on earth again. In my -letters to Mr. Clay I dared not tell him of this approaching disaster, -for between himself and his mother an unusually tender relationship -existed. I dreaded the alarm such news might give him, alone and ill in -his dismal prison, exhausted as he was with waiting for direct -communication with me. I had already been a month in Washington without -having effected a meeting with him. Under the circumstances, the headway -gained seemed inappreciable. With a copy of Holt’s “Report” in my -possession, I resolved to go on to New York for consultation with Mr. -O’Conor, Mr. Shea, and Mr. Greeley, so soon as I should receive some -definite concession from the President. - -I now told Mr. Johnson of Mrs. Clay’s condition, and begged him to -release my husband, if only to permit him one interview with his -probably dying mother, to return again to custody if the President so -wished; or, failing the granting of this, to allow me to visit him in -prison. At last, after much reiteration on my part, Mr. Johnson yielded; -he promised that he would issue the permit for my visit to Fort Monroe -on his own responsibility in a few days; that I might rely upon -receiving it upon my return from the metropolis. - -Hastening to New York, I was soon made aware by Messrs. O’Conor, Shea -and Greeley, who called upon me severally, that my one course now was to -persist in my effort to precipitate a trial for my husband, or to -procure his release on parole, in which these gentlemen stood ready to -supplement me, and, upon the announcement of a trial, to defend Mr. -Clay. - -My interview with Mr. Greeley took place in one of the public corridors -of the New York hotel, now thronging with Southern guests, and, as I sat -beside him on a settle, in earnest conversation with the fatherly old -man, his bald “temple of thought” gleaming under the gaslights, which -threw their fullest brilliancy upon us, I remember seeing several -prominent Southern generals then registered at the hotel glance -repeatedly at us, and always with a look of surprise that said very -plainly, “_Well!_ If there isn’t Mrs. Clem. Clay hobnobbing with that -old Abolitionist!” - - - - - CHAPTER XXVII - PRESIDENT JOHNSON INTERPOSES - - -Mr. Johnson kept his word. Late in December I found myself on my way to -Baltimore with the President’s autographed permit in hand, that would -admit me to my husband’s prison. I left Washington on the afternoon of -the 27th of December, going by train to Baltimore. Here, crossing the -city in an omnibus with other passengers, to the wharf of the “New Line -Steamers,” I was soon on board the boat, the _George Leary_, bound for -Norfolk and Fortress Monroe. I was so keenly alive to my own lonely -condition that I could not bring myself even to register my name among -the list of happier passengers. Everywhere about me gaily dressed people -thronged. I saw among them General Granger and wife, his staff, and -ladies of the party. As the _George Leary_ pulled out from her moorings, -the brass band of a company of soldiers bound for Norfolk began to play -sweet, old-time airs. I had no desire to linger among the care-free -throng, and, calling the stewardess, handed her a gold-piece, saying, -“Can you sign for me or get me a stateroom? I only go to Fortress -Monroe.” - -In a few moments she returned, regarding me inquiringly. - -“Lady!” she asked, “ain’t you the wife of one of those gentlemen down at -the Fort?” - -“Yes!” I answered. “I am the wife of Mr. Clay, the prisoner!” - -Thereupon she opened her hand, displaying my gold-piece, saying, “The -captain says he can’t take any fare from you. He’ll be here in a little -while!” And she moved away. - -In a few moments the tall, gaunt Captain Blakeman stood before me. - -“Are you Mrs. Clay?” he asked. “Wife of the prisoner at Fortress -Monroe?” - -Upon receiving my affirmative answer, the Captain spoke earnestly. - -“Mrs. Clay, you have my deep sympathy. I’m a regular Down-Easter -myself—a Maine man; but for forty years I’ve plied a boat between -Northern and Southern cities; and I know the Southern people well. I -think it is a damned shame the way the Government is behaving toward you -and Mrs. Davis!” - -For a moment the tears blinded me, seeing which the Captain at once -withdrew, comprehending the thanks he saw I could not utter. However, -when the gong sounded for supper, he returned, and with kindly tact led -me to a place beside him at the table, though I assured him I wanted -nothing. At my obvious lack of appetite he showed a very woman’s -thoughtfulness, himself preparing the viands before me while he urged me -“to drink my coffee. You _must_ take something,” he said from time to -time, whenever he perceived a lagging interest in the dishes before me. -Nor did this complete his kindnesses, for on the following morning, as I -left the boat, Captain Blakeman handed me a slip of paper on which was -written: - - “NEW LINE STEAMERS, BALTIMORE, December 27, 1865. - - “Will please pass free Mrs. C. C. Clay, rooms and meals included, to - all points as she wishes, and oblige, - - “S. BLAKEMAN, - “Commanding Steamer _George Leary_.” - -“I hope you will use this pass as often as you need it,” he said. - -We arrived at Fortress Monroe at four o’clock the next morning. As I -stepped from the gang-plank, the scene about me was black and bleak, the -air wintry. Save for a few dozing stevedores here and there, whom I soon -perceived, the wharf was quite deserted. It had been my intention, upon -my arrival, to go directly to the little Hygeia Hotel just outside the -Fort, but upon the advice of Captain Blakeman I accepted the shelter -offered me by the clerk in charge of the wharf, and rested until -daylight in his snug little room just off from the office. - -Just before leaving Washington I had written to Dr. Craven, telling him -of my intended visit to the prison, and asking him to meet me at the -little hotel. I now, at the first streak of dawn, still acting upon the -suggestions of the kind captain, found a messenger and sent him with a -note to General Miles, telling him of my arrival with the President’s -permit to see my husband, and asking that an ambulance be sent to convey -me to the Fort; and I despatched a second to Dr. Craven to tell him my -whereabouts. Unknown to me, that friendly physician, whose humane -treatment of Mr. Davis and my husband had brought upon him the -disapproval of the War Department, had already been removed from his -station at the Fort. My messenger found him, nevertheless, and upon -receipt of my message he came and made himself known to me. His words -were few, and not of a character to cheer one in my forlorn condition. - -“Look for no kindness, Mrs. Clay,” he said, “at the hands of my -successor, Dr. Cooper. He is the blackest of Black Republicans, and may -be relied upon to show the prisoners little mercy.” - -Our interview was brief, and, as the Fort ambulance was seen -approaching, the Doctor left me hurriedly. “For,” said he, “it will do -neither you nor the prisoners any good if you are seen talking with me.” -He had scarcely disappeared in the grey morning when the escort from the -Fort arrived. The vehicle was manned by two handsome Union soldiers, -one, Major Hitchcock of General Miles’s staff, and the other Lieutenant -Muhlenberg, a grandson, as I afterward learned, of the author of “I -would not live alway.” Months afterward, when Mr. Clay left the -Fortress, he carried with him the little volume containing Bishop -Muhlenberg’s verses, a gift from the young lieutenant. - -Arrived at the Fort, I was taken at once to the headquarters of General -Miles, and conducted to a room commodiously and even luxuriously -furnished. In a short time the General made his appearance. He was -polite and even courteous in the examination of my passport, which he -scanned carefully; but his manner was non-committal as he politely asked -me to “be seated.” I seated myself and waited. The General withdrew. -After the lapse of a few moments, an orderly appeared, bearing upon a -salver a tempting breakfast; but I, who had spent months in seeking the -privilege I had now come to claim, could touch nothing. I declined the -food, saying I would wait and breakfast with my husband. The orderly -looked perplexed, but removed the tray; and now a dreary and -inexplicable wait began, interbroken with first a nervous, then an -indignant, and at last a tearful inquiry. During the morning I affected -a nonchalance wholly at variance with my real feelings. Picking up a -book that lay at my elbow on the table, I was surprised to see a -familiar name upon the fly-leaf. I commented upon the luxury of the -apartment when next General Miles entered, and added, “These books seem -to have been Governor Wise’s property.” The General was quick to defend -himself from any suggestion that might lie in my words. He replied at -once. “These headquarters were furnished by General Butler before I was -sent here!” - -[Illustration: - - DR. HENRY C. VOGELL - - Fortress Monroe, 1866 -] - -Midday came and still the President’s autographed permit, which to me -had seemed so powerful a document, was not honoured. A savoury luncheon -was now brought in, but a nausea of nervousness had seized me and I -could not eat a morsel. My excitement increased momentarily, until the -distress of mind and apprehension were wholly beyond my control. I now -implored General Miles to let me see my husband, if only for a moment; -to explain this delay in the face of the President’s order. I begged him -to allow me to telegraph to Washington; but to all my pleadings his only -reply was to urge me to “be calm.” He assured me he regretted the delay, -but that “his orders” were such that he could neither admit me to my -husband’s room, nor allow me to use the Government wires at present. - -By the middle of the afternoon, faint with pleadings and worn with -indignation and fears at the unknown powers which dared thus to obstruct -the carrying out of the President’s orders, not knowing what might yet -be before me, my self-possession entirely deserted me. I remember, -during my hysterical weeping, crying out to General Miles, “If you are -ever married, I pray God your wife may never know an hour like this!” - -In the midst of an uncontrollable paroxysm which seized me at last, Dr. -Vogell, who has been variously designated as the private secretary and -instructor of General Miles, entered. During the day General Miles had -presented the Doctor to me, and, in his subsequent passing and repassing -through the room, we had from time to time exchanged a remark. He was a -tall, picturesque man, of possibly sixty years. At the sight of my -culminating misery, Dr. Vogell could bear the distressful scene no -longer. He cried out impulsively, “Miles, for God’s sake, let the woman -go to her husband!” - -Unhappily, this manly outburst, though it had its own message of -sympathy for me, failed as utterly to move the commanding General Miles -as had my previous urgings. In the months that followed, Dr. Vogell -often called upon me clandestinely in Washington (announced as “Mr. -Brown”), to say that “a friend of yours was quite well this morning, and -desired his love given you!” The recollection of his kindnesses lives -imperishable in my memory, but especially vivid is that first upwelling -sympathy during the painful waiting at the Fort. - -General Miles seemed not untouched by my pleadings, but, it was evident, -he felt himself subject to a superior power which forced him to refuse -them. His manner throughout, in fact, was courteous and apologetic. -Despite my agony of mind, it was late in the afternoon ere the -President’s order was honoured. Then General Miles entered, and, with an -appearance of completest relief, consigned me, tear-stained and ill, to -the care of Lieutenant Stone, who conducted me to Mr. Clay’s prison. - -All day my husband, to whom there had penetrated a rumour of my coming, -had been waiting for me, himself tortured by fears for my safety and by -the mystery of my delay. The gloomy corridors, in which soldiers -patrolled night and day, guarding the two delicate prisoners of State, -were already darkening with the early evening shadows when, at last, I -saw my husband, martyr to his faith in the honour of the Government, -standing within the grating, awaiting me. The sight of his tall, slender -form, his pale face and whitened hair, awaiting me behind those dungeon -bars, affected me terribly. My pen is too feeble to convey the weakness -that overcame me as Lieutenant Stone inserted and turned the key in the -massive creaking lock and admitted me; nor shall I attempt to revive -here the brief hours that followed, with their tumultuous telling over -of the happenings of the past months and our hurried planning for the -future. - -I returned to the capital full of sorrow and indignation. My adventure -at Fortress Monroe had revealed to me, far more fully than I previously -had suspected was possible, the struggle for power that was now going on -between the Secretary of War, Mr. Stanton, on the one side, and on the -other, President Johnson, by whose courtesy or timidity this official -still retained his portfolio. I resolved to relate my entire experience -at Fortress Monroe to the President at the first opportunity. - -In the meantime, my husband, with whom I had left a digest of Holt’s -report, upon a careful perusal of it, had been greatly aroused. By the -courtesy of a secret friend, he hastened to send me a list of persons -who could, if called upon, readily testify to his whereabouts during -certain periods described in the charges against him. He urged me to see -the President, and not to cease in my efforts to obtain his release on -parole. His condition of mind as expressed in this communication was, it -was evident, one of intense excitement. - -“You must not get discouraged!” he wrote. “_My life depends upon it, I -fear!_ Since the days of Cain and Judas, men may take life for money or -some other selfish end. As innocent men as I am have been judicially -murdered, and I do not feel secure from it, although God knows I feel -innocent of crime against the United States or any citizen thereof. As -to my declaring my purpose to surrender to meet the charge of -assassination, my unwillingness to fly from such charge, my preferring -death to living with that brand on me, my desire to exculpate Mr. Davis, -myself and the South from it, you know as well as I do. - -“Judge Holt is determined to sacrifice me _for reasons given you_.[68] -He may do it if I am not allowed liberty to seek witnesses and prepare -my defense; or, if I am subjected to the mockery of trial by Military -Court, when all the charges he can make may be brought against me in a -great drag-net.” - -As a step toward securing an early interview, and also because the -President’s daughters, Mrs. Stover and Mrs. Patterson, now presiding at -the White House, had been courteous to me, I resolved, as a stroke of -policy, to attend the Presidential reception to take place on the ninth -of January. Naturally, since my arrival in Washington, I had not -participated in the social life about me. In acknowledgment of Mr. -Johnson’s concessions, and, with my husband’s life at stake, with a -desire further to win the President’s good offices, I now prepared to -attend his levee. My toilette was complete save for the drawing on of my -gloves, when, while awaiting the call of my hostess Mrs. Parker and her -daughter Mrs. Bouligny, whose preparations were somewhat more elaborate -than my own, I broke the seal of some letters from home. The news they -contained was of a nature well calculated to divert me from the thought -of appearing at a public gathering, even at the Executive Mansion. - -The first told me, in hurried lines, of the illness of my husband’s -mother; the second, posted a few hours later, announced her death. “I -write beside mother’s dead body,” began my sister, Mrs. J. Withers Clay. -“Her constant theme was brother Clement, and the last thing I remember -hearing her say was ‘What of my son?’ in so distressed a tone that her -heart appeared broken.... I trust you have seen your dear husband ere -this. I hope he will be released before poor father leaves us. He is -very distressed, very gentle and subdued in his trouble.... I can never -forget mother’s heart-thrilling question ‘What of my son?’ She was very -unhappy about your last letter—it was rather low-spirited—and said, ‘I -have no hope; I shall never see my son!’” - -Within the next day I called upon Mr. Johnson. He received me with his -usual urbane manner, quite in contrast with my own indignant mood. - -“Mr. Johnson,” I began, “Who _is_ the President of the United States?” - -He smiled rather satirically and shrugged his shoulders. - -“I am supposed to be!” he said. - -“But you are _not_!” I answered. “Your autographed letter was of little -more use to me when I reached Fortress Monroe than blank paper would -have been! For hours it was not honoured, during which time your -Secretary of War held the wires and refused to allow me either to see my -husband or to communicate with you!” Then, in as few words as possible, -I related the circumstances of my visit to the Fort. Mr. Johnson, though -constrained to preserve his official reserve, was unable to repress or -disguise his anger at my recital. - -“When you go there again you’ll have no difficulty, I assure you!” he -said. - -“When may I?” I asked eagerly. - -“When you wish,” he answered. - -I now pictured to him my husband’s position; I related the sad news I -had just received, and which, under present conditions, I knew I dared -not tell Mr. Clay. I implored the President, by every argument at my -command, to exercise his Executive power and release Mr. Clay on his -parole. Every moment of his incarceration under the discipline invented -by the unscrupulous military authorities, I felt his life to be -imperilled. As our interview proceeded, however, I perceived the old -indecision of manner returning. The President’s replies were all to one -effect; viz.: that the Secretary of War must decide upon the case. He -freely made out another permit to the prison, this time to cover a -longer stay, but about a parole for Mr. Clay, or the naming of a day for -an early trial, he could promise nothing. He would consult his Cabinet; -he would see Mr. Stanton. At last, my importunities for an authoritative -action growing greater, the President burst out with every evidence of -deep feeling: - -“Go home, woman, and write what you have to say, and I’ll read it to my -Cabinet at the next meeting!” - -“You will not!” I answered hotly. - -“Why?” he asked, cynically. - -“Because,” I replied, “you are afraid of Mr. Stanton! He would not allow -it! But, let _me_ come to the Cabinet meeting, and _I_ will read it,” I -said. “For, with my husband’s life and liberty at stake, I do not fear -Mr. Stanton or any one else.” - -The President assured me I need have no misgivings; if I would write my -plea and send it directly to him, he would, he promised me, have it read -at the next Cabinet meeting (on the morrow). Actuated by the hope, -however meagre, of gaining a possible sympathy from the President’s -Governmental associates, even though the dictator Stanton was so -coercing a personality in that body, I prepared my letter. I afterward -secured an official copy of it. It ran as follows: - - “WASHINGTON CITY, January 11, 1866. - - “_To His Excellency, President of the United States_: - - “... How true it is that all conditions of life, however seemingly - extreme, are capable of augmentation! I have thought and so told - you, that for eight months past I have been, and God knows with what - cause, at the Nadir of despair; that my cup, bitterer than the - waters of Marah, was brimming, my heart breaking. A letter received - two evenings ago announces the death of my husband’s beloved mother, - wife of ex-Governor Clay. Deeply distressing to me; oh! Mr. Johnson, - what a blow to my husband, your unhappy prisoner! He was her - idolised son, her first-born; bears the name of her lover-husband, - and upon whose lineaments she had not rested her longing eyes for - three long, weary, desolate years. - - “On the morning of the first she swooned, and expired on the second, - inquiring, ‘What of my son?’ Oh, Mr. President, what an agonising - reflection to my husband! How can I summon nerve to tell him the - news? I cannot write so great a grief, nor can I tell it and leave - him in his gloomy prison to struggle with it alone! Will you not - pour in the oil of healing? I beg of you, permit me to bear with me, - along with my ‘weight of woe,’ the antidote. Issue the order for my - husband’s release on his _parole d’honneur_, with bail if desired, - and let him once more see our father, who lies (now) on a bed of - illness. My sister writes, ‘Father cannot long survive.[69] God - grant that he may see dear brother Clement ere he goes. Cannot he - come?’—I repeat, cannot he come? - - “Mr. President, you hold many noble prisoners in your forts, but Mr. - Clay’s case is _sui generis_. General Grant, the whole-souled - soldier, in his letter to you in his behalf, says, ‘His manly - surrender is to me a full and sufficient guarantee that he will be - forthcoming at any time the civil authorities of the land may call - for him.’ Even Mr. Stanton, who is not considered partial to - so-called ‘Rebels,’ told me, in my only interview, that ‘he was not - my husband’s judge,’ as if he, Pilate-like, were willing to wash his - hands of innocent blood. I replied tremblingly, ‘I would fain not - have you for his accuser, Sir.’ To which he rejoined, not unkindly, - ‘I am not his accuser, Madam.’ I thanked God for even that cold - comfort as harbinger of better days. - - “And now, Sir, may I ask you who are those opposed to my husband’s - release on parole? I have yet to find the first man, Federal or - other, who does not express admiration at the high sense of honour - and chivalric faith, in the prompt and manly surrender; and - astonishment at the detention. To-day we might have been far away in - some peaceful spot, united at least, and happy, but for that sense - of unsullied honour, which ‘feeling a stain like a wound,’ remained - to wipe it out. Can you longer refuse him the privilege? - - “The law supposes all men innocent till proven guilty, and if it - will allow me, I, alone, can disprove, _in toto_, the testimony of - the conspiracy case, implicating him. Mr. Clay, always delicate, is - dying daily. He told me he was resigned to God’s will and perfectly - willing to perish in those four walls if his country would be - benefited thereby. Mr. President, my husband is my world, my all, - and ‘dear to me as are the ruddy drops that visit this sad heart.’ - Give him to me for a little while, at least long enough to glad the - dim eyes of the eager and aged watcher at home and close them; and - he shall return to you, on his honour and my life, at any moment - called for by the Government. Let me bring him to you to prove to - you the truth of my statement in point of health, and to afford him - the right of personal appeal.... That God may incline you to grant - my prayer and soften ‘the hearts of our enemies,’ restore Peace - indeed to the land, and bless and guide and guard you in public and - private life to your journey’s end, is the prayer of her who - hopefully, trustfully, and truthfully subscribes herself, - - “Your friend, - (Signed.) “V. C. CLAY.” - -I sent this epistle to Mr. Johnson, but, despite the haste in which I -had written and despatched it, I was too late for the promised reading, -which fact I learned from the following message, that reached me the -next day. It was written on the back of the President’s card in his (by -this time) familiar, scrawling hand. - -“Your letter,” it read, “was too late yesterday. It does your heart and -head credit. It is a most powerful appeal. You have excelled yourself in -its production!” - -At the next Cabinet meeting Mr. Johnson made his promise good. The -letter was then read, by Mr. Evarts, too late, however, even had it -produced immediate results, to enable me to carry the parole I had hoped -for to my husband. I was again with Mr. Clay at the Fortress when this -meeting took place, but, having no balm to soothe the wound, I could not -tell him of the blow that had befallen him, nor did he hear of it until, -nearly four months later, he left the prison. In the interim, in order -that my husband should not remark upon the sombreness of my attire, I -wore a red rose in my bonnet and red ribbon at my throat whenever I -visited the Fort. - -I learned the particulars of that (to me) eventful Cabinet reading from -Mr. Johnson later. Upon the conclusion of the letter Mr. Stanton asked -for it. He scanned it closely and put it into his pocket without -comment. Nor was the missive again returned to Mr. Johnson until weeks -had elapsed and several requests had been made for it. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVIII - THE NATION’S PRISONERS - - -On the twenty-first of January, 1866, a few days after my last -conversation with President Johnson, I found myself a second time within -the ramparts of America’s most formidable military prison. This time, -unhindered, I was led directly to my husband’s gloomy room. In this and -the several succeeding visits I paid Mr. Clay in prison, I learned to -comprehend, where before I had but imagined, the terrible sufferings my -husband had undergone for now eight months. When I parted from General -Miles on May 24th, of the preceding year, he gave me his promise that -Mr. Clay should have every comfort he could allow him. - -I found, upon my admission to Fortress Monroe, in January, 1866, that -his prisoner, for three or more months, had been confined within a -narrow cell, grated and barred like a cage in a menagerie, into which -the meagre daylight crept through the long, thin opening in the thick -walls. An unwholesome sweat had oozed through the bare walls which -surrounded him, at times, it was said, increasing until it flowed in -streams. For weeks after entering the prison (I now learned) Mr. Clay -had been denied not only the use of his clothing, but his toilet brushes -and comb, and every item calculated to preserve his health and -self-esteem had been taken from him. His only food for weeks had been a -soldier’s rations, until Dr. Craven, at last, felt obliged to order a -hospital diet. These rations had been passed through the prison bars in -tin cup or plate, unaccompanied by knife, fork or spoon. - -For forty days at a stretch he had not been permitted to look upon the -sun; for months, though debarred from communication with or visits from -his own family, he was exhibited to strangers, civilian or military, who -from time to time were brought into his cell, conversing among -themselves, or to the gratings to stare at him with curious gaze. “I -have been treated as if already convicted of an infamous crime,” wrote -my husband in a paper sent out by one who proved trustworthy. “Indeed, -one of my warders told me that the orders from Washington required I -should be subjected to the same prison discipline that the assassins of -Abraham Lincoln underwent. While the Third Pennsylvania Artillery -(volunteers) were on duty (till October 31st), I scarcely ever walked -out without being greeted with ‘Shoot him! Hang him! Bring a rope! The -damned rascal!’ But since the regulars came in nothing like this has -occurred.... Mr. Davis and I are not allowed to communicate with each -other. We have met but a few times, in walking contrary to the intention -of officers and orders, but only saluted each other and asked of -health.” - -Once, my husband told me, upon thus meeting, Mr. Davis and he greeted -each other in French, whereupon the soldiers, scenting some further -“treason,” rushed at them, pointing their bayonets. - -“I have been subjected,” continued my husband’s statement, “to the most -refined but severe torture of body and soul; my health considered in -order to preserve the sensibility of the body to pain.... I have been -allowed irregularly some newspapers, but never one alluding to any -evidence against me, or mentioning me, unless in terms of reproach. I am -cut off from the world, except its reproaches!” - -During none of my visits to the Fort was I permitted to speak with Mr. -Davis, between whom and my husband, as I have said, even an occasional -word, for a long time, was interdicted; but, when sending to him a tray -of good things from among gifts to my husband or brought with me from -Washington, I managed often to send, with an extra segar or two, a -twisted paper lighter on which I had scribbled “Mrs. Davis and children -are well,” or some (as I hoped) equally cheering greeting. - -In later days, when a fuller liberty of walking about the Fort was -granted the prisoners, they were occasionally able to pass to each other -some brief message, written, it might be, on the inch-wide margin of a -bit of newspaper or wrapping. Two or three times a scrap of -writing-paper, written all over in the finest possible hand, was passed -from one to the other. Two such messages, uttered under the impression -that Mr. Clay was soon to be liberated, are expressive of the -unflinching spirit which Mr. Davis at all times showed, even under -torments as humiliating, and, in one instance, even more cruel, than -those endured by my husband. The first would seem to have reached Mr. -Clay shortly after my first visit to the Fort. A lengthy note, in finest -script and compressed within the dimensions of a single six-by-eight -sheet of paper, it read as if it had been written sentence by sentence, -as mood dictated or opportunity offered. - -A second note, in even more diminutive script,[70] was passed to my -husband in the early winter of ’6, when at last it seemed assured that -Mr. Clay would be liberated. It was written in this belief, and gave my -husband directions as to friends whose influence might be awakened on -our late President’s behalf. Mr. Davis reiterated his loyalty to the -cause for which he was now suffering, but declared his anxiety for his -wife’s and children’s fates. He felt that there was a bloodthirsty hate -against him, the strong motive being to degrade the lost cause in his -person. - -In all of his communications, however short, Mr. Davis wrote with -dignity and conviction, as became a man who had been the Chief -Magistrate of a people. Once only, and that during my first stay in the -Fort, I saw the tall figure of our late Chief. “I saw Mr. Davis walking -on the ramparts,” I wrote to ex-Governor Clay. “His beard and hair are -white, and he is thin to emaciation, but walked like a President still.” - -Upon my arrival at the Fortress early in ’6, I found Mr. Clay -established in Carroll Hall, in what, in view of his earlier -surroundings, was a comfortable room. It was perhaps sixteen feet -square, and was lighted by two fairly large windows which opened toward -the front of the building, but were heavily barred with iron, as was -also the entrance. The cot upon which my husband slept was much too -short for his comfort, and a stool was the only seat at his disposal. - -After a survey of Mr. Clay’s quarters, I at once called the attention of -General Miles to the shortcomings of the cot and the absence of a chair, -and in a few hours a mattress sufficiently long and two chairs were -brought in. I also requested that a drugget be placed upon the floor of -Mr. Davis’s room, in order that the noise caused by the change of guard -might be diminished; for, in his nervous state, it was said, he suffered -greatly by reason of it. This, I believe, was also conceded. My husband -had converted the window-sills of his room into a buffet and book-shelf, -respectively, on one of which were kept his medicines and such tidbits -and delicacies as were now from time to time sent to him by Dr. Withers, -our cousin, or which I carried in with me from Washington friends. On -the other, his meagre supply of books, the Bible and Jay’s Prayers being -the principal volumes. - -But for his own scrupulous cleanliness, Mr. Clay’s life must long ago -have succumbed to his unparalleled deprivations in that cruel -imprisonment. So neatly had he kept his cell and room, however, that -they were the wonder of all his attendants. It was his custom, when he -took his morning bath (he told me), to stand the basin first in one and -then another position in the room, splashing the water about as far as -he could, after which he would take the broom with which he was provided -and brush the wet portions clean! To such depths of cruelty did the -agents of Mr. Stanton and Mr. Holt condemn a delicate scholar—a former -friend, recently a United States Senator, whose name throughout the land -was the synonym for unfailing integrity, against whom the United States -as yet seemingly had not found a single charge on which he might be -brought to trial! - -I learned of many instances of insult offered to Mr. Clay by his rude -first custodians. Upon one occasion, reminded of it by the sound of the -dull-splashing waters without the walls of his cell, my husband -conceived the idea that a salt bath would assist in strengthening him. -He therefore asked the attendant for the day if, instead of the fresh -water usually supplied to him, he would bring him some salt water. The -man’s reply was emphatic. - -“You damned Rebel!” he said. “You may thank God you get any water. You -don’t deserve to have any!” - -My husband, whose nature was of the tenderest and most patient, -especially with the ignorant, answered very quietly, “I _am_ thankful -for any water!” His reply illustrated anew the magic of the soft answer, -for the soldier, looking very much ashamed, spoke in a moment in a very -different manner. - -“Forgive me, Mr. Clay,” he said, “I don’t know why I did it. I’ve got -nothing against you. Guess it’s a kind of habit of damning Johnny Rebs! -I’ll get you the water. I believe you’re a Christian gentleman!” - -On the evening of the first day of my second visit to the Fortress, I -encountered Dr. Cooper, against whom, it will be recalled, Dr. Craven -had warned me. To the prisoner he had always revealed himself as a man -of strictly unsocial manner, not to say an austere and pitiless one. -During the first day of my visit to the Fort, I saw nothing of him. It -was dark when I left my husband’s cell and set out, escorted by -Lieutenant Stone, for the little hotel outside the ramparts. Once -outside of the prison, the air was chill, and so silent, save for a -strong wind, that I was conscious of no sound save it and the swashing -of the waters against the stone walls of the Fort. Its cadence was weird -and full of melancholy. As the doors of the prison closed behind us, I -saw in the shadows a curious figure coming directly toward us. It was -clad in a long, loose, flapping dressing-gown, and in its mouth was a -pipe in which glowed a live spark of tobacco. I observed my guard -looking straight ahead and apparently unobservant; but he said, under -his breath and in a tone only audible to me, “Here comes Dr. Cooper!” - -Another moment and the figure was beside us. - -“Stone,” said a gruff voice, “present me to Mrs. Clay!” - -My escort complied promptly, and then, to my alarm, hastened away at -once, leaving me dismayed and apprehensive, in the care of the “blackest -of Black Republicans” and one who would “show me no mercy!” - -“Madam!” said the Doctor, whose features I could scarcely discern in the -dusk, “my wife wishes you to accept the hospitality of our house -to-night!” - -Had the man turned suddenly and clasped manacles about my wrists, I -could scarcely have been more startled. - -“I beg your pardon!” I stammered. “I am on my way to General Miles’s -headquarters for my passport with which to leave the Fort. I have not -the privilege of remaining within the ramparts over night.” - -[Illustration: - - DR. GEORGE COOPER - - Fortress Monroe, 1866 -] - -“Nonsense, Madam!” replied the Doctor, almost rudely. “My wife expects -you! We soldiers have no luxuries and but few comforts, but we can give -you shelter and save General Miles some trouble in sending you to and -fro!” And he started rapidly across the stone walk. I followed him in -silence for some distance, hardly knowing why I did so, my mind busy -conjuring up the possible significance of his conduct, and alert to meet -the unknown perils into which it was possible I was being led. Presently -the Doctor, between puffs of tobacco, asked, “Ever been here before?” - -“Yes!” I answered, sorrowfully enough, but with some pride, too, unless -at that moment I proved untrue to myself, which I know I did not. “Yes! -I was here during President Pierce’s administration, when my husband was -an honoured Senator, and I, beside Secretary Dobbin, looked on the -brilliant rockets that wrote the names of Pierce and Davis across the -night sky!” I was sad at the thought of that joyful occasion and the -contrast the present afforded me. Suddenly the Doctor, who had been -chewing most ostentatiously at his pipe, edged up to me and said, in a -low voice: - -“Cheer up! Cheer up! Cheer up! Madam!” He spoke so rapidly that I hardly -realised the significance of his words. They sounded exactly like -“chirrup, chirrup, chirrup, Madam.” “My wife,” he added, still in that -low-guarded voice, “is the damnedest Rebel out, except yourself, Madam!” - -I was dumbfounded! He, Dr. Cooper, the blackest of Black Republicans, -etc., against whom I had been warned so emphatically? A flood of -gratitude rushed over me. Half crying, I turned to grasp his hand and -thank him, but seeing my intention, he drew away, saying sharply, “None -of that, Madam! None o’ that!” and, increasing his gait suddenly, almost -flew before me, his long gown rising in his wake most ludicrously, as he -made for a dark cottage that now began to shape itself out of the gloom. -It was so small that until we were almost upon it I had not perceived -it. Every window it boasted was mysteriously dark. - -My guide pushed open the door, however, and entered, I following him -mechanically. The door closed behind me, and it seemed automatically, as -the Doctor disappeared from view; but, in a moment, I found myself in -the friendly embrace of the Doctor’s wife, one of the loveliest of -women, Elva Cooper. - -“Be of good cheer, my sweet sister!” she said, as her tears flowed in -sympathy with mine. “You are in the right place. There is nothing under -heaven you would do for Mr. Davis or Mr. Clay that I will not do. I am -an Old Point Comfort woman, born here. My mother is a Virginian,” she -continued, “and is with me; and you must know my little Georgette. We -are all Rebels of the first water!” and this I found to be true. - -This strangely God-given friend, Elva Jones Cooper, with whom I remained -four days and nights, never flagged in her devotion to me and the -prisoners. I saw her many times in my several visits to the Fort, and on -numberless occasions had reason to note the womanly expression of her -sympathy. Quite frequently she would prepare with her own hands a dainty -breakfast, write on a card, “By order of Dr. C——,” and send to one or -the other of the prisoners. - -I once saw her gather from a box of growing violets a small bunch of -flowers, tie them with a strand of her shining hair, and drop them into -her husband’s hat, saying, “Put that hat where Mr. Clay can see it. He -shall smell violets, even though he is a prisoner!” - -Mrs. Cooper was young, not thirty; beautiful in form and face; snowy -skin and raven hair and eyes; tall, commanding, and graceful. My -husband, on seeing her, exclaimed, “Maid of Saragossa!” And very -appropriately did he transfer to her this poetic title. - -Outwardly, Dr. Cooper’s deportment to me was barely civil, and so -continued. I dared not ask one favour, so stern and seemingly implacably -did he deport himself toward my husband and me, toward our section and -the cause for which we were suffering; yet, in the months to come, as on -that memorable night of January 21, 1866, many an occasion arose to -convince me that Dr. Craven’s successor, after all, was actuated by a -genuine feeling of humanity toward the State prisoners, and I soon grew -to recognise in him a lamb in wolf’s clothing. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIX - PRESIDENT JOHNSON HEARS WHAT THE “PEOPLE SAY” - - -Upon my return from the Fort on the 30th of January I redoubled my -pleadings for Mr. Clay’s release, both by correspondence and by visits -to the White House. The President’s bearing toward me was courteous and -friendly, though it was apparent the confusion of the times and the -pressure which was being brought upon him on every side was troubling -him; but, notwithstanding that he listened and with every evidence of -sympathy, Mr. Johnson continued irresolute, deferring from time to time -on what, in fact, seemed the most trivial excuses, the issuing of the -release papers. If I called once at the White House during the weeks -that followed, I called fifty times, incessantly suing for my husband’s -freedom, and adding sometimes a plea for the pardons of friends and -neighbours in Huntsville who were eager to resume their normal positions -in the community. In the middle of February I was enabled to write home -as follows: - - “_My Dear Father_: I send your long-sued-for pardon. Act upon its - requirements at once! I am pressing my husband’s case and _never_ - mean to stop until success crowns my efforts. I am emboldened to - hope the day not far distant when he will be a free man! Great - political excitement now reigns.... The President is very kind to me - always.” - -Notwithstanding there were times when my own heart sank to an almost -hopeless state, I wrote thus hopefully to the patriarch at home, for -each post told me of his increasing feebleness, and I longed to sustain -him, at least until my husband’s release was accomplished. - -“God bless you!” wrote my sister, Mrs. J. Withers Clay, early in March, -“and give you success! I asked father to send you some special message. -He replied, ‘Give her my best love, and tell her for God’s sake to tell -me when my poor boy will be pardoned!’” - -These appeals, as will be understood, were the private agonies which -acted like a lash to spur me to the end of the task of securing my -husband’s freedom, and to stimulate me, even in the face of the -continued delays which now were become so inexplicable. - -Early in February a change in public feeling began to be made manifest -in the press. The mystery of the detention of the prisoners at Fortress -Monroe without trial was arousing curiosity. The New York _Herald_, -thanks to the intervention of our friend, Colonel Robert Barnwell Rhett -(of the doughty and fearless Charleston _Mercury_), who had presented -Mr. Clay’s case to Mr. Bennett, now began to make inquiry in the cases -of the unjustly treated prisoners. - -“Dear Mrs. Clay,” wrote Colonel Rhett, late in December, “having the -opportunity of a good talk with Mr. Bennett, of the New York _Herald_, -day before yesterday, I urged him to come out for the release of your -husband. He said he did not know much about the business! I told him Mr. -Clay was universally recognised to be one of the purest and most -high-minded public men in the country—one wholly incapable of anything -criminal or questionable; and that he had gone to Canada at the -solicitation of Mr. Davis to communicate with the Peace Party of the -North. I reminded him that, after the collapse of the Confederate -Government, when a reward was offered for his arrest, Mr. Clay had -voluntarily and promptly surrendered himself, asking an investigation; -and that no intelligent man in the country who knew anything of our -public men believed the charges to be other than frivolous and absurd. I -added that Mr. Clay’s prolonged captivity was regarded simply as an -outrage on propriety, and that if he, Mr. Bennett, would take the -subject in hand, he would greatly gratify the Southern people. - -“He showed an interest in the matter, and said he would take it up in -the _Herald_. That paper, you are aware, _aims to reflect the current -public opinion_, irrespective of parties, and now warmly supports -President Johnson against the Radicals. It is a great power, and by -preparing the public mind and strengthening the President, may aid you -efficiently.” - -The results of this interview by no means met the hopes of Colonel -Rhett, however; for the utterances of Mr. Bennett’s paper were few and -guarded. But they were as a straw showing the veering of the wind. - -“I was disappointed in Mr. Bennett’s fulfilment of his promise to speak -in Mr. Clay’s behalf in the _Herald_,” ran a second letter from our -friend. “A few incidental expressions of opinion and a communication -published did not come up to my expectations. If you feel disposed to -write, Mrs. Bennett is the channel by which to reach him. She told me -she sympathised with the South in her feelings, and admired -Southerners.... In failing to deal with the case as you present it, the -President must be very feeble in the article of nerve, touching his War -Secretary and other Radical adversaries. Yet the widow prevailed with -the unjust Judge, and I trust your importunity may weary the cautious -Tennesseean into decided steps for Mr. Clay’s release! - - “Yours, etc., - “R. BARNWELL RHETT.” - -Early in the month of February two important letters reached me through -Mr. R. J. Haldeman. They were addressed to the President, and bore the -signature of Thaddeus Stevens and R. J. Walker, respectively. Since my -letter addressed to him in May, 1865, Mr. Haldeman’s efforts had been -unremitting to interest in my husband’s behalf those whose -recommendations were likely to have most weight with the President and -his advisers. He now wrote me as follows: - - “MRS. C. C. CLAY, JR. - - “_My Dear Madam_: I inclose you a very handsome letter from the - Honourable R. J. Walker to the President. I also sent you the letter - of Mr. Stevens, which has become of some importance in view of Mr. - Stevens’s recent utterances. Mr. Walker considers it of the - _highest_ importance, and wonders how I obtained it. - - “After seeing you, I called on Mr. S—— in reference to the proposed - visit (to you), but found him brooding over the violent speech which - he has since made. I did not therefore deem it prudent to insist - upon the performance of his promise, and am confirmed in my judgment - by events. - - “During the day I heard something which convinced me the President - would not then act. This I could not bring myself to tell you, and - therefore obeyed a hasty summons to New York by an unceremonious - departure from Washington. As the future unfolds, I hope to be again - at Washington, and at the propitious moment. I hope you will keep up - your good spirits, for, upon the faith of a somewhat phlegmatic and - never over-sanguine Dutchman, I think the period of Mr. Clay’s - release approaches rapidly.... Mr. Walker, however, desires me to - say to you that ‘as we must all go to Clay at last, why not go at - once?’ I think this pointed witticism would bear repetition to the - President. I am, very respectfully, Madam, - - Yours, - - “February 3, 1866. - - “R. J. HALDEMAN.” - -As I had done in the case of General Grant’s letter, I now hastened to -send to the President the letters from Thaddeus Stevens and Judge -Walker, both of whom recommended the prompt release of Mr. Clay. The -letter from R. J. Walker was what might have been expected from an old -friend of Mr. Clay’s; that from Mr. Stevens, the most radical of -Radicals, was a source of some astonishment. It was not the only -surprise of those weeks, however. - -“I have had strange visitors lately,” I wrote to father. “Some -extremists of the Radical party have called upon me to assure me of -their belief in my husband’s innocence!” And in my diary of the 14th of -that fateful February, I find entered: “When will wonders cease? Who but -the Honourable Mr. Wilson, of Massachusetts, has called, and -voluntarily, to say he will do anything in his power for me or Mr. Clay; -knows he is innocent; believes Mr. Davis to be also innocent! It is the -goodness of God!” - -The circumstances of Mr. Wilson’s unexpected visit were altogether -dramatic. I was seated at the dinner-table with the family of Mrs. -Parker, when, it being still early in the evening, a visitor was -announced who declined to give his name or the purpose for which he had -called. - -“Tell Mrs. Clay that a friend wishes to see her,” was his message. A -sudden remembrance flashed over me, and, indeed, over the friends around -me, of the secret warning I had received just after my arrival in -Washington, viz.: that I must be on my guard against strange visitors. -After a few moments’ consultation with the family, I decided to see the -stranger. Doctor Maury, Mrs. Parker’s son-in-law (who had been Chief of -Staff on General Longstreet’s medical staff, and was a brave and -charming man), accompanied me to the drawing-room door, encouraging me -by telling me to have no fear, as he would remain near by. As I entered -the room the Doctor drew back into the hall. He was prepared, he assured -me, for any emergency. - -Great, indeed, was my astonishment upon entering, to see, rising to meet -me, Senator Wilson, Vice-President of the United States! To that moment -I had had no acquaintance with the Massachusetts Senator, though I had -seen him often on the floor of the Senate. Though seized with an inward -panic of apprehension that he was the bearer of some dreadful tidings, I -took the proffered hand of my strange visitor, obeying mechanically an -instinct of responsive courtesy. For a moment, however, fear made me -speechless. At last, Mr. Wilson broke the painful silence. - -“You are doubtless surprised to see me,” he said. - -“Unutterably so!” I rejoined. “Please tell me quickly why you have come, -and end this agony of suspense!” And I burst into tears. - -“Do not weep, dear Madam!” said Mr. Wilson. “Mr. Clay is well, and I -have come to tell you that I deeply sympathise with you and desire to -help you to obtain his release!” - -“Mr. Clay’s surrender,” Mr. Wilson continued, “reflects great honour -upon him. He is a brave and good man. Though he and I were opposed in -politics, I have always respected Mr. Clay. Even his enemies on my side -of the Chamber always knew where to find the Senator from Alabama!” - -My heart was so full as I listened to these words, I could not make -answer to this tribute to the worth of my suffering husband but by a -fresh flow of tears. Somehow, as he stood before me, the erstwhile -shoemaker of Nantucket seemed stamped with the seal of nobility from -God! I did not then know his kindly nature, and those to whom I related -the incident of this visit said nothing to impress me with the sincerity -of Senator Wilson’s act. On the contrary, many assured me that some -selfish and sinister motive impelled the interview, and that Mr. Wilson -would not commit himself by writing what he had spoken. A friend to whom -I wrote an account of the visit, replied, counselling me as follows: - -“I do not personally know Mr. Wilson, but believe him, from report, to -be tricky, unscrupulous, and only hypocritically fanatical. Mr. Stevens -may have spoken to him, or Mr. Sumner (whom, you remember, I saw); or he -may have wished to approach the President through an opening which he -supposed congenial to the President’s wishes. However, your course is -clear. Commit Mr. Wilson by a letter to the President, so that when the -fight waxes furious he may not be able to take advantage of what the -President may do. I consider it a good sign that the President desires -to keep the letters of Messrs. Stevens and Walker.” - -In the meantime I had spoken of the incident with warm enthusiasm to Mr. -Johnson. He replied very much as others had done; to wit., that Mr. -Wilson would not commit to writing the sentiments he had expressed -verbally to me. - -“He fears the Radical press too much,” said the President. - -Nettled somewhat at this distrust, I assured Mr. Johnson of my faith in -his Vice-President; that I would get the letter from him, and -voluntarily. “If not,” I added, somewhat stung by his cynicism, “I will -extort it!” - -Shrugging his shoulders, and casting up one eye, a characteristic habit -of the President, he asked, “How?” - -“Simply,” I replied, “by an avowal that I will give to the _Herald_ and -other papers the whole affair, telling how the Honourable Senator had -come, secretly, by night, like Nicodemus, to deceive by false promises a -sorrowful woman, for some base reason best known to himself!” - -Leaving the President still with an incredulous smile upon his face, I -returned to my asylum at Mrs. Parker’s, and shortly addressed Mr. Wilson -a note, expressive of my wish. A reply, under his own frank, reached me -early in March, and I bore it in some triumph to the President. The -Vice-President’s letter, a copy of which I afterward secured, was dated -from the “United States Senate Chamber, Washington, March 3, 1866.” It -was addressed to - - “HIS EXCELLENCY, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. - - “_Sir_” [the letter began]: “Mrs. Clay, the wife of Clement C. Clay, - is now in the city, and has requested me to obtain permission for - her husband to go to his home on parole. His father is said to be at - the point of death, his mother recently deceased, and, if there be - no objections or reasons unknown to me why the request of Mrs. Clay - should be denied, I have no hesitation in recommending its - favourable consideration, if only from motives of humanity, as I - have no doubt Mr. Clay will be forthcoming when his presence is - again required by the Government. - - “I have the honour to be, - - “Very respectfully, your obedient servant, - (Signed.) “H. WILSON.” - -Some six weeks later, when Mr. Clay’s release was at last accomplished, -and the press was busy with comments upon it, the names of the gentlemen -who had written to the President on my husband’s behalf being -enumerated, some of the Radical papers attempted to deny the probability -of Mr. Wilson’s intercession; which was, as it appeared to me, a -singularly useless thing to do, since his letter was already filed among -the Government’s archives. But the air everywhere was full of political -revolution, and parties and partisans did not hesitate to resort to such -means in their endeavour to effect the desired feeling in the public -mind. - -Every step taken by the President in those days was opposed or attacked. -In my efforts to accomplish my husband’s release, I came in contact with -many good and earnest men, anxious to serve Mr. Clay and me, though -often wholly disapproving of Mr. Johnson’s weak course. The retention of -Mr. Stanton in the Cabinet was peculiarly offensive to a great many. -Wherever a political meeting was held, Mr. Johnson was liable to -vituperative assault. Private conversation teemed with rumours of a -growing and increasingly violent opposition. - -In view of Mr. Johnson’s demonstrated kindliness to me, it was not only -loyal to the President, but, I hoped, would prove protective to Mr. -Clay’s interest, that I should give the Executive the benefits of some -of the warnings I had heard by no means privately uttered. I, therefore, -spoke to him fearlessly, and wrote to him no less unrestrainedly. - -A few days after Mr. Wilson’s visit, I wrote to Mr. Johnson in this -wise, my letter being dated February 16th: - - “MR. PRESIDENT. - - “_Dear Friend_: Fearing I may not see you this morning, I fortify - myself with this note. I go up [to the War Department] hoping for my - father’s correspondence. If I get neither, may I beg to remind you - of your promises? I have some strange things to tell you.... Rumour - says that ‘the people say,’ ‘If Mr. J—— does not support them versus - the Radicals, they will call on General Grant!’ I know you will not - falter, and are not to be intimidated by threats from brave men, far - less cowards.... Will you not send me one line? Do! and say the - wheel has advanced one notch toward the day of deliverance!” - -A letter received after sending the above missive, in addition to the -conferences I held daily with Judges Black and Hughes, and with others -calculated by their established judicial and political worth to aid me, -had its share in stimulating me to press my arguments home more and more -confidently in my future interviews with Mr. Johnson. - -“I was spectator yesterday in a Democratic Convention in an adjoining -County (Harrisburg),” ran the letter, “when the news of the veto was -brought. A resolution of approval was immediately adopted, and I, being -seen in the crowd, was called out. I raised such a storm in fifteen -minutes as would have done the President’s heart good to have witnessed. -The people are palpitating with eagerness to have the battle-ground -defined, foggy constructions and platforms removed, so that they may -charge upon the foes to a restored and tranquil Union. - -“_Alea jacta est_: Mr. Johnson has put his hand to the plow, and cannot -look back.... He has shown the very highest order of statesmanship in -that command of himself and ability to bide his time, amid unexampled -embarrassments, which have won for him the confidence of reflecting men. -But could you not gently insinuate some day that, hereafter, the great -debate, on appeal, is to be carried before the Tribunal of the American -people in the case of the President versus Congress?... Many of Mr. -Lincoln’s acts, wrong in themselves, were nevertheless pardoned or -applauded, because they evinced energy, courage or willingness to -shoulder responsibility.... - -“As one of the people, ... and accustomed to ‘pulse’ the public, I think -I may unhesitatingly assert that Mr. Johnson would gain immensely by no -longer waiting to be attacked and undermined, but boldly striking his -country’s and his own enemies. If he would break out before witnesses -into indignant denunciation of Mr. Stanton for having attempted to sap -the foundation of liberty, and that, therefore, he is unfit to be in the -Government of a free people, a thrill of joy would course like -electricity through the land. Let the contest be only strictly defined; -let the President, with a cabinet of friends, stand forward as the -defender of peace and Union against a Congress which seeks to perpetuate -strife, discord, and disunion, and we will, by meetings held in every -county of the North, so arouse the people in support of our -constitutional and law-abiding President against a lawless and usurping -Congress, that it would be comparing small things to great to compare it -with the pressure which General Monk and the people of England brought -to bear upon the fanatical Parliament in behalf of Charles II.” - -A few days after the receipt of this letter, while on my way to call -upon the President, and in the company of my faithful friend, Mrs. -Bouligny, I met Mr. Stanton descending the stairs of the White House. I -saw by the Secretary’s manner that he recognised me. Indeed, there was a -half-inclination of the head, as if he had expected me to bow to him. I -did not do so. The innate contempt I felt for this despotic Secretary of -War, whom I knew to be the power upholding Mr. Holt, who was so cruelly -detaining my husband, froze my manner into a hauteur I could not easily -have assumed. I went angrily to my appointment. - -As I entered the parlour in which the President stood ready to receive -me, I immediately broke into the subject to which I so continually had -returned at each of my many visits during the past three months. But the -President interposed a question. - -“Did you meet Stanton as you came in?” he asked. - -“I did!” I replied. “And he had the audacity to bow to me!” - -“The scoundrel!” ejaculated the President. “He has been here an hour -clamouring for the blood of Davis and Clay!” - -“But you will release them?” I asked. - -“You must be patient,” answered Mr. Johnson. “I must detain them a -little longer to satisfy public clamour!” - -At this my indignation rose. In augmenting emotion I recapitulated the -letters and indorsements I had brought to him urging my husband’s -release. I reiterated my reasons why the recommendations of these -gentlemen should have weight with him. I referred to my husband’s -inability to combat the charges that had been made against him, while -denied trial, the access of counsel, or his release from custody. I -described his ill-health and the aged father at home, now so near to -death; I rehearsed my husband’s past services to his country and the -dishonourable way in which the Government had acted toward this -self-surrendered prisoner. I spoke the thoughts that rose in my heart, -irrespective of the consequences, and, having massed my arguments in -this way, I summed them all up in one uncontrollable protest: - -“And now, Mr. President,” I asked, “in the name of God, what doth -hinder? In view of all these things, does it not seem that you are the -lion in the path? Please tell me who was benefited by Mr. Lincoln’s -death? Was it Clement C. Clay? What good accrued to him from the murder? -He was the loved representative of a proud constituency. He is now -pining in solitary confinement. You, Mr. Johnson, are the one man -benefited! You have succeeded to the highest office in the gift of the -people! You, through this elevation, have become the centre of a -nation’s hopes, the arbiter of life and death!” I paused in my plea, at -a movement of deprecation made by the President, but I would not be -halted. - -“You have promised me,” I continued, “and Heaven knows how I thank you -for it, that never while you sit in the Presidential chair will you -surrender to the Military Commission the two prisoners in Fortress -Monroe. In that, you have saved their lives! I have not the shadow of a -doubt but that execution, and that in chains, as in Mrs. Surratt’s case, -might have taken place. But, when, notwithstanding the recommendations -of such men as General Grant, Thaddeus Stevens, Judge Walker, and Henry -Wilson, I see you waiting for ‘public clamour’ to subside, and, at the -same time, in counsel with your Secretary of War, I am afraid. Again I -implore you to stand firmly, my friend; thus far, at least, by not -yielding to the desires of that wicked Commission and staining your soul -with innocent blood!” - -Turning, my eyes rested upon the marble bust of the late President, and -I said, “Whose bust is that?” - -“Mr. Lincoln’s,” was the surprised reply. - -“I know it!” I answered. “But is he not a dead President? And why, may I -ask, do you, a living one, stand surrounded by his Cabinet? Why do you -not reach out to the great conservative heart of this Nation and select -your own Cabinet? Why not become the popular head, as you can become? So -long as you stand, Mr. President, as the barrier between your Military -Commission and my husband and Mr. Davis, so long will I dare to be your -friend to the extent of telling you what the people say of you!” - -“Well, what do they say?” asked the President, with an air of -indifference which, it was obvious, was assumed. - -“They say,” I replied, “that you should get rid of Mr. Lincoln’s -Cabinet; that you should surround yourself with a Cabinet of your own! -Why do you hobble yourself with a dead man’s advisers? They say, too, -you are swinging in too circumscribed a circle! I have even heard,” I -added, “hints of ‘impeachment’ uttered in connection with the -dissatisfaction resulting from your administration!” - -During my bold speech the President gave evidence of being deeply moved, -if not irritated, by my revelations; and, feeling that I had said -enough, if, indeed, not too much, in the intensity of my feelings, Mrs. -Bouligny and I withdrew. Ere we left him, however, the President assured -me, as he so often had done (though he said the words over each time -with an earnest gravity that was void of consciousness of his -repetition), that he would “confer as to the release in our next Cabinet -meeting!” - - - - - CHAPTER XXX - THE GOVERNMENT YIELDS ITS PRISONER - - -By the early spring of ’6 the faces of old friends began to reappear in -the Northern cities. New York, which I necessarily visited at times -during those eventful months, when not at the Fort with Mr. Clay or -beseeching the President on his behalf, was crowded with Southern -people, many of whom were returning from abroad, or were industriously -seeking to reëstablish business connections. In the capital one met on -every hand friends of the ante-bellum days, saddened and changed, it -might be, in fortune, but brave-spirited and walking with heads upright -and hearts strong to meet the future. “I am persuaded that our States -and people are to be prosperous, despite the portentous clouds which are -now around us,” wrote Mr. Mallory, from Bridgeport, Connecticut, where, -now an invalid, he was constrained to remain; “and that the day is not -far distant when you and your incomparable lord, with other congenial -spirits, will smile at fate and look back to the paths we are now -treading with more of pride than of sorrow! My love to Clay. God love -him! What would I not give to be able to serve him!” - -A spirit as loyal and comforting to us pervaded the circle of old-time -associates in Washington, and permeated the newer ones who had gathered -about me in my adversity. Mrs. Parker, the brilliant hostess of the -Buchanan days, who now so hospitably had thrown open her home to me, -proved an unsparing and faithful friend. Her hospitality to me and to -the legion of other friends who flocked to offer their sympathy and -services to me was unstinted, and the several members of her family vied -with each other in extending their kindnesses and protection to me. - -Among the friends who reappeared in Washington about this time, my diary -notes the calls upon me early in ’6 of fair Constance Cary and her -fiancé, Burton Harrison,[71] long since released from the imprisonment -which, for a time, he shared with Mr. Davis; of my kinswoman, Mrs. Polk, -of North Carolina, and of Madame Le Vert, the brilliant Octavia Walton, -who, almost three decades before, had led all other fascinating beauties -in the capital. Accompanied by her daughters, Mme. Le Vert had returned -to the North to intercede for the pardons of General Beauregard and -others of her kin and friends. Her comings and goings were heralded -everywhere. She was the distinguished member of the Southern coterie in -New York, whence frequent trips were made to the capital, and it was -commonly remarked that the charm of her personality had suffered no -diminution with the increase of years. - -Our beloved General Lee, who had been summoned to Washington to appear -before the Reconstruction Committee, was the lion of the day. I saw him -several times, surrounded by hosts of admirers, the ladies begging for -mementoes, buttons—anything, in fact, he might be persuaded to give up, -while he, modest and benevolent, yielded helplessly to their demands. It -was during these months that I became acquainted with the lovely Mme. de -Podestad, General Lee’s kinswoman, who was both witty and beautiful. For -a number of years, as the wife of one of the Spanish Minister’s suite, -she was a conspicuous member of Washington society. Going thence to -Spain, she became lady-in-waiting to the Queen. Madame de Podestad was a -devoted admirer of her heroic kinsman, and I saw much of her in those -memorable days of ’6. - -[Illustration: - - MRS. A. S. PARKER - - of Washington, D. C. -] - -It was a time of intense political excitement. The strife over the Civil -Rights bill was the absorbing topic everywhere. The “returning good -sense of the people,” upon which the President so long had appeared to -depend, was less apparent than he had hoped, and to many astute minds -the air seemed to vibrate with premonitions of the Government’s -overthrow. Cabinet changes were so earnestly desired that a discussion -of that body became part of every conversation. Mr. Johnson’s absorption -in the progress of the Civil Rights bill was so great, that, upon my -return from a visit to my husband, early in April, realising the -inadvisability and the inconsiderateness of pressing my demands at that -moment, I yielded to the urgings of my friends and entered upon a short -season of diversion. I remember to have visited, in company with Senator -Bright and Mr. Voorhees, the studio of Vinnie Reames, whose vogue in -Washington was then at its height; and I indulged in a pleasure trip to -Baltimore, where a great fair was in progress which had been arranged by -the patriotic ladies of that city. Contributions had poured in, and half -the capital was in attendance. - -“Mrs. Johnson sent a superb basket of flowers,” reads the account I sent -home, “which was raffled for sixty dollars! A portrait of the President -was bought and sent to her. Also General Johnston’s and General Lee’s -were bought and sent to their wives. Mr. Corcoran won the portrait of -‘Stonewall’ Jackson. Admiral Semmes was present one day, and he and I -promenaded the rooms together. Though not the ‘Pirate’s Bride,’ I was -proud of his company. A _robe de chambre_ for Mr. Davis and a superb -pillow for Mr. Clay are in my possession. Will take them soon! Ross -Wynans,” I added, in describing the more generous donations sent to the -energetic ladies, “has sent one hundred thousand dollars, and an English -gentleman twenty-five thousand!” - -Admiral Semmes was the most recent of the State prisoners to be -released, and his appearance at the fair was the signal for a lively -enthusiasm. By this time Mr. Stephens, our late Vice-President, was a -free man, and thrice had called upon me in Washington to offer -sympathetic suggestions concerning the case of my husband, so -inexplicably detained. Our dear friend, ex-Secretary of the Navy -Mallory, had been given his liberty early in March. - -“Deeply anxious about your good husband,” Mr. Mallory wrote, early in -April, “I have deferred writing to you from day to day since my release, -confident that I would soon be able to congratulate you upon his -release. Persuaded that he will never be called upon seriously to -respond to the charge upon which he was incarcerated, and unable to -perceive any reason or motive for discriminating between him and others, -myself included, who laboured in the Confederate cause, I am at a loss -to conceive why this confinement _continues_. Of course, I fully -appreciate the character of the struggle between the two great -departments of the Government, and the embarrassments which it throws in -the President’s path; and hence I attribute to this cause all which -affects Mr. Clay, and which I cannot otherwise account for. But the -restoration of civil law throughout the country opens a way which his -friends may very properly take ... and I have been prepared to learn it -has been entered upon!” - -A resort to the _habeas corpus_ proceedings thus suggested by Mr. -Mallory had already been discussed by Judge Black as a step to be taken -when all other efforts had proved unsuccessful. By the fourteenth of -March, Mr. Johnson’s courage to act in behalf of Mr. Clay had risen to -the point of procuring for him the liberty of the Fort without guard, -from sunrise to sunset, which order I had carried at once to General -Miles. - -“I have not yet called upon the President,” I wrote father upon my -return from Fortress Monroe, on the 29th of March, “but will report -myself to-morrow and ask of him that no revocation of the late order -shall be made. I shall urge Mr. Clay’s release, if only temporary, that -he may come and see you and help you arrange your business.... The -Radical pressure on the President is fearful. They have expelled Foote, -and have persuaded Stewart, of Nevada, his son-in-law, to desert his -colours and cause, and they may pass the veto over the President’s manly -veto of the Civil Rights bill. But President Johnson will fall, if fall -he must, battling!” - -The records of my calls upon the Executive during the weeks that -followed almost might be traced by the many pencilled cards sent me by -Mr. Johnson from time to time. - -“It will be impossible for me to see you until it is too late. I am -pressed to death!” reads one. “There is a committee here in -consultation; I cannot tell what time they will leave. I fear too late, -but see if in twenty minutes,” runs another. And a third, “Some matters -of importance are now transpiring. I will see you at any time, but would -prefer passing the answer until Saturday.” Weeks passed thus in futile -calls and beseechings, until, having tested every expedient to hasten -the President to the fulfilling of his promise, my patience was -exhausted. - -“Again I am under the necessity of writing,” I began in a letter to my -sister, dated the fourteenth of April, “without announcing my husband’s -release! Nor can I give you any definite information save what I mean to -do and wish others to do. I am at this moment from the President’s; did -not see him, but left a note inquiring when I could, and [asked] to be -informed by note, which he often does in my case. He _shall_ tell me in -this interview whether he means speedily to release Mr. Clay. If not, -then I will have issued the writ of _habeas corpus_, unless Judge Black -oppose it!” - -At eleven o’clock at night, however, I added, “The President sent for me -to-night, and I have strong hopes that Mr. Clay will be released in a -few days! I will telegraph you immediately when it occurs. I pray Heaven -it may be ere this reaches you!” - -Three days later, accompanied by my faithful friend, Mrs. Bouligny, I -again called upon the President. It was eight o’clock in the evening. -Having detected, as I believed, a disposition on Mr. Johnson’s part yet -further to procrastinate, notwithstanding his recent promises that he -would order Mr. Clay’s release, I was resolved not to leave the White -House again without the requisite papers. I announced this intention to -the President as he greeted us, asking him at the same time whether he -would not spare me another moment’s anxiety and write me the -long-petitioned-for order for Mr. Clay’s release. - -Mr. Johnson’s mood was light. He repeated some of the _on dits_ of the -day, trying in various ways to divert me from my object, to which, -however, I as often persistently returned. From time to time other -visitors entered to claim the President’s attention; or, he excused -himself while he went into a Committee meeting which was being held in -an adjoining room. During such an interval I sat at the President’s desk -and scribbled a short letter in pencil to Mr. Clay. It was dated: - - “EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D. C., - April 17, 1866. - - “My precious husband!” I wrote. “Behold me seated in the library of - this house, in the President’s chair, writing you the ‘glad tidings - of great joy!’ The President has just gone in for a few moments to - see some gentlemen, and will bring me your _release papers_ when he - returns! He told me on the fourteenth that he would try to have - them, but not to be too hopeful. So I came with some misgiving, to - be relieved and rejoiced. Ere this will reach you, you will be - informed by telegram of the release. I will telegraph you - to-night.... Judge Black anxiously desires to see you, also Judge - Hughes, both kind friends to me!” - -It was still early in the evening when I wrote this buoyant epistle, -which immediate after-events scarcely bore out. The President returned -again and again to my companion and me, but ten o’clock arrived and -still the papers had not been given me. I was growing more and more -impatient, but upon reiterating my intention not to leave without the -papers, the President became somewhat jocular. He invited Mrs. Bouligny -and me to make ourselves comfortable, his words being accompanied by an -evasive smile. My soul rose up in resentment at this! - -“You seem to be inclined to treat this matter lightly, Mr. President,” I -said hotly. “I am indignant! I want the paper!” Alas! my protest did not -win me a direct compliance. The hands of a nearby clock already pointed -to eleven when, the President having seated himself at a desk or -writing-table that stood at hand, I rose and stepped to his side. - -“Mr. President,” I said, “are you going to give me that paper? I will -not go until you do!” My words were hurled at him angrily. He looked up -at me curiously, and the half-cynical smile on his face changed. It was -as if, notwithstanding the ardour with which I had urged my demand -throughout the evening, he now for the first time realised I was not to -be put off. - -“Give me the paper, Mr. Johnson!” I urged. “I am resolved to have it!” - -My imperative demand at last proved effectual. The President turned -without further demur and wrote a brief note, which, upon calling an -attendant, he sent out immediately. In a few moments the messenger -returned, bearing a paper which read as follows: - - “WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C., - “April 17, 1866. - - “ORDERED: - - “That _Clement C. Clay, Jr._, is hereby released from confinement - and permitted to return to and remain in the _State of Alabama_, and - to visit such other places in the United States as his personal - business may render absolutely necessary, upon the following - conditions, viz.: That he takes the oath of allegiance to the United - States, and gives his parole of honour, to conduct himself as a - loyal citizen of the same, and to report himself in person at any - time and place to answer any charges that may hereafter be preferred - against him by the United States. - - “By order of the President, - “E. D. TOWNSEND, - “Ass’t Adgt. General.” - -The paper, prepared by the hand of an amanuensis, had been written at -and dated from the Executive Mansion, and a space beneath had been -reserved for the name of the Secretary of War. When it reached my hand, -however, the words at the top, viz.: “Executive Mansion,” had been -crossed out and “War Department” substituted; the space for signature -had been filled in with the name of Mr. Stanton’s assistant, General -Townsend, and the words “Secretary of War” (below) had been crossed out. -The changes were made in a different ink from that used in the body of -the paper. The document was a curious additional proof of Mr. Stanton’s -personal indisposition to release his illegally detained prisoner, and -of Mr. Johnson’s equal evasion of the responsibility of freeing him. As -neither name appeared upon the document, it would seem as if a “muddle” -had been intended in the event of some later complications arising. - -[Illustration: - - JEFFERSON DAVIS and CLEMENT C. CLAY, JR. - - (after release from Fortress Monroe) -] - -It was already toward the midnight hour when this document was handed to -me. I seized it eagerly, and, thanking the President for at last -performing the act for which I had so long pleaded, I hurried to the -carriage which had been in waiting and ordered the coachman to drive -with all haste to the telegraph office. As I parted from the President -he expressed the warmest good wishes for Mr. Clay’s health and our -future, and pressed upon me an autographed _carte de visite_, which I -took with no less surprise than pleasure, being glad to see in the -politician before me this evidence of the inner, sympathetic man. Though -our horses dashed down the avenue at breakneck speed, it was within a -few moments of twelve o’clock when I hurried into the telegraph office. - -“Can you send a telegram to-night?” I asked. - -“Yes, Madam,” was the reply. - -Inexpressibly relieved, I dictated these words: - - “HONOURABLE C. C. CLAY, Fort Monroe. - - “You are released! Have written you to-night. - - “V. C. C.” - -The President’s telegram to the Fortress having been sent simultaneously -with mine, my husband was given his freedom the next day. There -remained, however, yet a few duties to perform ere I might join him at -Petersburg, whence we together were to return to our beloved home; to -Alabama, with its purple and russet mountains and spreading valleys, its -warm hearts and loyal friends, and where waited the feeble and eager -father, ex-Governor Clay, whose remaining tenure of life was to be so -short. There were kindnesses to be acknowledged ere I left the capital, -and on every side I met detaining hands overwhelming me with -congratulations on my success at last. The evening before my departure, -the venerable former Vice-President of the Confederate States called -upon me to extend his good wishes for the future. Being deterred from -coming in person, Judge Black wrote several notes full of his -characteristic impulsiveness. - -“Dear Madam,” his messages ran, “tell your great and good husband I -could do nothing for him, because his magnificent wife left nobody else -a chance to serve him! I would have been proud to have some share in his -defense, but circumstances have denied me the honour. I rejoice none the -less in his happy deliverance, and I have no right to envy you the -privilege which you have used so grandly, of vindicating his stainless -name. His liberation under the circumstances is a full acknowledgment -that the charges against him in the proclamation are infamously -false.... Your note of yesterday evening literally took my breath away. -After you had done so much for yourself and I had done so little, nay, -less than nothing, you address me as if I had been your benefactor -merely because I rejoiced in your success.... If I say but little, you -must not, therefore, suppose that I shall ever forget your amazing -eloquence, your steadfast courage under circumstances which might have -appalled the stoutest heart; your unshaken faith where piety itself -might almost have doubted the justice of God; the prudence with which -you instinctively saw what was best to be done, and the delicacy which -never allowed the charms of the lady to be lost in the great qualities -of the heroine. These things are written down at full length in the book -of my memory, where every day I turn the leaf to read them.... I cannot -forget your sad look when I saw you at Mrs. Parker’s the last time. Do -not allow yourself to doubt the ultimate triumph of justice. _God has -recorded among His unalterable decrees that no lie shall live forever!_ - -“Remember, if I can serve you it will always seem like a privilege to do -it. In feudal times, when the liege man did homage to his suzeraine, he -put his head between her hands (if it was a queen or a lady) and -declared himself hers to do her commands; to be the friend of her -friends, and the enemy of her enemies, for life and limb and earthly -honours. Imagine the homage vowed in proper form, and claim your -authority as suzeraine whenever you please. I ought to add that Mrs. -Black was so wrought upon by your conversation that she has longed to -see you again, and her whole heart, an honest and good one as ever beat, -is yours.” - -“You went to work like a true wife,” was the message sent by my dear old -mess-mate, Mrs. Fitzpatrick, “and God blessed you for it. Did you see -Mr. Holt? I have heard he was our bitterest enemy. Can it be so?” - -“Ten thousand thanks to God, my dear friend, for your release!” wrote -Mr. Mallory to my husband. “May He punish with rigorous justice ... your -unjustifiable and most cruel incarceration! My wife and I, if -indescribables would permit us, would dance for joy to-day at the news -of your release. Love to your wife! God bless her bright spirit and -noble heart; and may we meet in Florida, one acre of whose barrens I -would not give for all New England!” - -From Mr. Lamar, “dear old Lushe,” the following tender word came: “Ah, -my friend, you know not how often, how constantly my heart has been with -you! Often in the watches of the night, when all around was hushed in -sleep, have I wept over your fate!... I have not time to write now, -except to beg you to come right here and make your abode with me. We -have a large house. Oh, do, Mr. Clay, do come and see me! I would share -the last dollar I have with you. Come, my friend, _and live with me_, -and let us henceforth be inseparable. Please come. I believe the sight -of you will restore my health; at least, if anything can. - - “Your devoted brother, L. Q. C. LAMAR.”[72] - -The sight of these letters of long ago sets the tears gushing, and -awakens a thousand tender memories of kind hearts that long since ceased -to beat to the emotions of pain or pleasure. Oh! the vast army of men -and women who, by their sympathy in those last crucial days of my -experiences in the capital, were a buoy to my courage, and that of my -husband, broken in health, and heart, and spirit, as we turned back to -our home in Alabama! - -The news of his mother’s death, which came to Mr. Clay a few days after -his release from Fortress Monroe, fell upon him like a pall. I could not -induce him to visit Washington, to which city powerful friends had -invited him. He had but one wish; to return to his stricken father, far -from the turbulent political centre, where a man’s life and honour were -but as a pawn in the hands of the unscrupulous politicians of that day. - -A few months and his father had passed away, gladdened, despite the -vicissitudes of his later days, that his cherished son at last was -restored to him. We laid the tired body beside that of the little -mother. Together they sleep in the valley that smiles up so perennially -to the crest of Monte Sano. A few years of effort for my sake, to retain -an interest in the world which to his broken heart appeared so cruel and -hollow, and my husband withdrew to our mountain home, sweet with the -incense of the cedars; to his books and the contemplation of nature; to -the companionship of the simple and the young. Yet a few more years, and -he, too, fell wearily to sleep, and was put to rest beside those he had -so well loved. I can think of no more fitting close to this portion of -my memories than these brief quotations, from some of the hundreds of -tributes which came from all quarters of the land, like the upwelling of -healing springs in the desert, when at last I was left alone. - -One who sat in the Senate Chamber in Washington, scanning a later -generation of his fellows, all eager in the strife for the fame that is -the guerdon of the true statesman, wrote thus of Mr. Clay, his -predecessor: - -“You knew him best, having proved him, by a long association in the -sacred character of wife, in many years of trial filled with memorable -vicissitudes, as a true and knightly gentleman, a devout Christian, a -loyal husband and friend, a patriot of the sternest type, a statesman of -great ability, and the devoted son of Alabama. _In my course of thought -and conduct, as his successor in the Senate, I have thought it well to -accept his standard as that which would best help me worthily to -represent our beloved State. Mr. Clay left a character here which stands -greatly to the credit of the State, and will be quoted long after we -have passed away, in proof of the character of the people he so worthily -represented. His name and public history in the Senate are a cause of -pride to our people._ - - “Your sincere friend, - “JOHN T. MORGAN.” - -And one who had been our intimate friend for more than thirty years, -Bishop Henry C. Lay, wrote of my dear one thus: - -“How gentle and kind he was! How fond of young things, and how tender to -the weak and helpless! Especially was he a singularly devoted husband, -giving you his admiration and his confidence.... Life seemed very full -of promise to him in those days. It was a sad change when the storm -arose, with its exile, imprisonment, disappointed hopes, retirement into -seclusion and inaction! Truly your life, with its opposite poles in -Washington and Alabama, has been a varied one!” - - - THE END - - - - - INDEX - - - Acklin, Miss Corinne, 97, 117. - - Adams, J. Q., 62. - - Aiken, Frederick A., 309, 320. - - Alabama, University of, 17. - - Aldrich, Reverend Mr., 241. - - Apothleohola, 108–10. - - Arrington, Anne, 3. - - Arrington, General William, 3. - - Ashley, Lord, 117. - - Astor, John Jacob, 42. - - Ayr, Colonel, 307. - - - Baggioli, Signor, 97. - - Baker, General, 279–80. - - Bannister, Reverend J. M., 183. - - Barrow, Commodore, 174. - - Barry, Mrs. Captain du, 222. - - Bass, Mrs. (of Mississippi), 72. - - Battle, Alfred, 6–7. - - Battle, Mrs. Alfred, 6–11. - - Battle, William, 7. - - Bayard, Thomas F., 92, 117–18. - - Bayard, The Misses, 78. - - Baylor, Eugene, 132. - - Beauregard, General G. T., 188–9, 368. - - Benjamin, Judah P., 238–42. - - Bennett, James Gordon, 118. - - Benning, General, 205. - - Benton, Thomas Hart, 42, 77, 80, 150. - - Bertinatti, The Chevalier, 38, 40, 71–2. - - Bickley, Captain R. W., 298. - - Bierne, Miss Bettie, 36. - - Big Spring, 162. - - Birmingham, Alabama, 17. - - Bishop, Mme. Anna, 104. - - Black, Judge Jeremiah S., 300, 309–10, 314, 329, 362, 370, 376. - - Blair, Montgomery, 152. - - Blakeman, Captain, 332–33. - - Blind Tom, 104–5. - - Blount, Mrs., 95. - - Bochsa, The harpist, 104. - - Bodisco, Baron Alexandre de, 25, 31, 39. - - Bodisco, Baroness, 31–4. - - Bodisco, Waldemar, 34. - - Boileau, Mme. Gauldrée, 78–9. - - Bouligny, J. E., 119. - - Bouligny, Mrs. M. E. P., 81, 281, 318, 364–6, 373. - - Bozio, Mme., 101. - - Bragg, General Braxton, 191. - - Breckinridge, General J. C., 173. - - Bright, Senator John, 369. - - Brooks, Maria Brewster, 9. - - Brooks, Preston, 51, 95. - - Brooks-Sumner encounter, 104. - - Brougham, John, 103. - - Brown, Aaron V., 69, 70. - - Brown, Mrs. Aaron V., 69. - - Brown, Senator A. G., 140. - - Brown, John Potts, 237. - - Brown, Robert W., 187. - - Brown, Miss Rose, 43. - - Buchanan, James, 20, 63, 77, 87, 90, 106, 108, 150. - - Buckner, Simon B., 173. - - Buell, General D. C., 172. - - Buena Vista, 68. - - Burlingame, Anson, 142. - - Butler, Senator A. P., 218. - - - Calhoun, John C., 77. - - Camerana, Marchisa Incisa de, 72. - - Campbell, Miss Henrietta, 76. - - Campbell, John A., 64, 74–5, 178, 243. - - Campbell, Mrs. John A., 76. - - Capers, Bishop, 17. - - Carlisle, J. M., 292, 320. - - Cary, Clarence, 174. - - Cary, Miss Constance, 174–5. - - Cass, Miss Belle, 30. - - Cass, Lewis, 77. - - Castle Garden, 101. - - Catron, Judge John, 74. - - Catron, Mrs. Judge John, 74. - - Cavendish, Lord, 117. - - Chaillu, Paul du, 111. - - Chambers, Judge William L., 55. - - Chapman, Governor Reuben, 182. - - Chase, Chevy, 28. - - Chase, Salmon P., 58. - - Chestnut, Mrs. General, 43, 50, 206, 227. - - Clarke, Daniel, 82. - - Clay “Castle,” 18. - - Clay, C. C., Sr., 19, 74, 83, 88, 109–10, 236, 281, 375. - - Clay, Mrs. C. C., Sr., 19, 35. - - Clay, Clement Claiborne, 11, 15, 17, 88, 97, 132, 139, 143–7, 157, 161, - 193, 195, 204, 242, 245, 248. - - Clay, Henry, 77, 88. - - Clay, Hugh Lawson, 28, 154, 164, 206, 235–6, 242–4. - - Clay, Mrs. Hugh Lawson, 166, 175, 191, 195, 243. - - Clay, James B., 88. - - Clay, J. Withers, 228, 236–7, 254. - - Clay, Mrs. J. Withers, 284–5, 340. - - Clemens, Jere, 13–14, 19–21, 161. - - Cleveland, Grover, 75, 92, 118. - - Clingman, Gen’l Thomas L., 95, 307. - - Clopton, David, 43. - - Clopton, Mrs. David, 55. - - _Clyde_, The _William. P._, 260. - - Cobb, Howell, 30, 121, 210, 240–2, 248. - - Cobb, Mrs. Howell, 30. - - Cobb, W. R. W., 21, 23. - - Cohen, Miss, 104. - - Coke, Mrs., 71. - - Collier, Miss Evelyn, 50. - - Collier, Governor H. W., 4, 15, 17, 44. - - Collier, Mrs. H. W., 6–9. - - Columbus, Mississippi, 15. - - Colquitt, Alfred, 195. - - Comer, Major Anderson, 191. - - Comer, Miss L., 84, 128, 135, 215. - - Cooper, Elva E., 352. - - Cooper, Dr. George E., 333, 350–2–3. - - Corcoran, Louise, 121. - - Corcoran, W. W., 120, 123, 308. - - Corcoran & Riggs, 81. - - Crampton, British Minister, 25, 36. - - Craven, Dr. John J., 298, 333, 345. - - Crisp, The Comedian, 10. - - Crittenden, John J., 77, 83. - - Crittenden, “Lady,” 84–5, 140–1. - - Croxton, General, 279. - - Culver, George, 155. - - Curry, J. L. M., 43, 55. - - Curry, Mrs. J. L. M., 55. - - Cushing, Caleb, 64. - - Cushman, Charlotte, 103, 139. - - Cutting, Mrs. Brockholst, 95. - - Cutts, Miss Addie, 35, 106. - - - Dahlgreen’s Raid, 203. - - Davis, Jefferson, 68–9, 75, 147, 157, 173, 235, 244–6, 256–262, 298, - 348. - - Davis, Mrs. Jefferson, 54, 134, 167, 206, 256–7, 265, 301, 347. - - Dean, Julia, 102. - - “Dearborns,” 5. - - Dickens, Asbury, 77. - - Doane, Bishop, 138. - - Dobbin, Secretary of Navy, 64–8. - - Dolan, Pat, 57. - - Douglas, Mrs. Stephen A., 35, 133, 310 - - Dowdell, Congressman, 20, 23, 25, 48, 49. - - Drake, Major, 4. - - Drew, Mrs., 176. - - Duke, Colonel Basil, 191. - - Du Val, Mrs. Gabriel, 170. - - - Eames, ex-Minister to Venezuela, 140. - - Earle, Mrs. Mattie Orr, 52. - - Ebbitt House, 25, 42, 51, 59, 314. - - Echols, Major W. H., 302–5, 315. - - Eggleston, Colonel, 248–51. - - Emily, 61, 101, 130, 169, 242, 278. - - Endicott, Mrs., 79. - - _Enquirer_, The Richmond, 26, 237. - - Erlanger, Baron d’, 30. - - Evans, Augusta, 207. - - Evarts, William M., 344. - - Ewing, Thomas, 288. - - - Fern, Fanny, 58. - - Fillmore, President, 83. - - Fitzpatrick, Benj., 20, 55, 147. - - Fitzpatrick, Mrs., 25, 55, 57, 91, 377. - - Fitzpatrick, Master Benny, 55–7. - - Fitzsimmons, Miss Catherine, 213. - - Flash, Captain Harry, 197. - - Forrest, Edwin, 102. - - Fort, Mr., 4. - - Fort, Martha, 4, 15. - - Fort, Mary, 4. - - Fortress Monroe, 94, 240, 261–2, 269, 281, 298, 334–7, 345–52, 378–9. - - Fraley, Captain, 260. - - Frémont, Mrs. Jessie Benton, 78–80. - - French, Dr., 284–5. - - French, General S. D., 199. - - - Gaines, General, 82–3. - - Gaines, Mrs. Myra Clarke, 82–3. - - Gamble, Mrs. (of Louisville, Ky.), 303. - - Gamester, The, 10. - - Gardner, Charles, 25. - - Garfield, James A., 62. - - Garland, James, 307. - - Garner, Colonel, 192. - - Garnett, Muscoe, 50. - - Garrett, Mr., 107–8. - - Gautier’s, 31, 70. - - Georgetown, 28, 31. - - Gilbert, Mrs., 103. - - Glentworth, Hamilton, 138. - - Gordon, General John B., 206. - - Gottschalk, Louis, 49. - - Granger, General, 331. - - Grant, U. S., 20, 315–17, 357. - - Grant, Mrs. U. S., 316, 317. - - Greeley, Horace, 330. - - Green Academy, 160–3. - - Green, Duff, 300. - - Greenhow, Mrs. 35. - - Grey Eagle, The, 155–6. - - Grisi, Mme., 101. - - Guthrie, Secretary James V., 30, 70 - - Gwin, Senator W. M., 86, 126, 132. - - Gwin, Mrs. W. M., 126–37, 152. - - - Haldeman, R. J., 289, 292, 357. - - Halleck, General H. W., 260. - - Hamersley, Mrs. 120. - - Hammond, E. S., 212. - - Hammond, Senator J. H., 96, 213, 231–2. - - Hammond, Mrs. J. H., 219, 232. - - Hammond, Paul, 232. - - Hammond, Mrs. Paul, 36, 215. - - Hampton, Colonel Wade, 213. - - Harper & Mitchell, 110. - - Harper’s Ferry, 165, 306. - - Harrison, Burton, 174, 368. - - Harrison, President, 83. - - Havilland, Major de, 129. - - Henry, Professor, 76, 111. - - Henry, Senator, 203. - - Herbert, Mrs. Hilary A., 9. - - Herstein, Robert, 302. - - Hill, Benjamin H., 247. - - Hill, Miss Henrietta, 247. - - Hilliard, Miss, 46, 127, 138. - - Hitchcock, Major, 333. - - Holcombe, Professor James P., 209, 229. - - Holt, Joseph, 54, 148, 271–5, 287–314, 320–28, 364. - - Holt, Mrs. Joseph, 127. - - Homestead Bill, 21. - - Hood, General J. B., 239. - - Hotel, Brown’s, 42, 51. - - Hotel, National, 23. - - Hotel, Spottswood, 167. - - Hotel, St. Charles, 82. - - Hotel, Willard’s, 112, 306–7, 315. - - Howard, Mrs., 95. - - Howell, Miss Maggie, 256, 260, 265. - - Hudson, Lieutenant, 266. - - Hughes, Judge, 309–10, 362. - - Hulseman, Baron, 44, 89. - - Hunt, John, 160. - - Hunter, R. M. T., 75. - - Huntsville, Alabama, 17–8, 157, 164, 172. - - Hurlburt, General Stephen A., 222. - - - Ihrie, General, 307–315. - - Institute, Hydropathic, 22. - - _Intelligencer_, The Washington, 325. - - Irving, Washington, 13. - - Ives, Mrs. Cora Semmes, 173, 174. - - - Jackson, Thomas Jonathan (“Stonewall”), 188. - - Japanese Embassy, 110–113. - - Johnson, Andrew, 35, 288, 311–12, 318–29, 340–4, 354, 361, 364, 371–3. - - Johnson, Colonel George, 192. - - Johnson, Reverdy, 75. - - Johnson, Colonel Robert, 318. - - Johnston, Albert Sidney, 172. - - Johnston, Dr., 93. - - Johnston, Joseph E., 152, 188, 236. - - Johnston, Mrs. Joseph E., 167. - - Johnston, Mrs. W. D., 255. - - Jones, General George Wallace, 77, 80–1, 129. - - Jones, Mrs. Thomas Benton, 78. - - - Kean, Charles, 10. - - Keck, Lieutenant, 252, 254. - - Keitt, Lawrence M., 95–6. - - Keitt, Mrs. Lawrence M., 96. - - Kennedy, Mrs., 313. - - Key, Francis Barton, 95–6, 130, 133. - - Kierulf, Miss Rose, 90. - - King, Butler, 174. - - - Lamar, Colonel, 205. - - Lamar, Mrs. Lucius Mirabeau, 255. - - Lamar, L. Q. C., 43, 48, 75, 181, 204, 377. - - Lamar, Mrs. L. Q. C., 48, 130. - - Lane, Miss Harriet, 89, 90, 104, 114–130. - - Lanier, Clifford A., 55, 197–9. - - Lanier, Sidney, 197–9, 201. - - Lay, Bishop Henry C., 379. - - Lee, Robert E., 189, 227, 242, 368. - - Lee, Mrs. Robert E., 201. - - Leese, Mrs. William, 90. - - Le Vert, Mme., 12–17, 35, 213, 368. - - Lincoln, Abraham, 75, 119, 245. - - Lind, Jenny, 101, 105. - - Ligon, Governor, 55. - - Logan, General John A., 184. - - Longstreet, General James, 187–8, 358. - - Lubbuck, ex-Governor Francis R., 258. - - Lumley, Mr., 37. - - Lyons, Lord, 141. - - - “Macaire, Robert” (play of), 10. - - Magruder, Colonel John B., 152. - - Mallory, Miss Ruby, 176. - - Mallory, Stephen R., 30, 147, 170, 177, 195, 209, 235, 246, 249, 313, - 367, 370, 377. - - Mallory, Mrs. S. R., 158, 167. - - Marcy, Miss Nellie, 63. - - Marcy, William L., 62. - - Marcy, Mrs. W. L., 63. - - Mario, Signor, 101. - - Marlboro, Duchess of, 120. - - Marshall, Chief Justice, 74. - - Marshall, Henry, 174. - - Mason, Miss Emily, 201. - - Massonis, The, 39. - - Maury, The Misses, 78, 92. - - Maury, Dr. Thos., 358. - - Maury, Professor, 76. - - May, Dr., 51, 358, - - Maynard Rifle, 105. - - McClellan, General G. F., 63. - - McClelland, Secretary, 64. - - McClung, Alex. Keith, 15–16. - - McDaniels, The, 201. - - McEwan, Captain, 298. - - McLean, John, 77. - - McKim, Charles, 273. - - McQueen, General and Mrs., 51, 56. - - Memphis, Tennessee, 72, 157, 222. - - Mercer, General, 274. - - Merrick, Mrs. Judge, 54. - - Miles, General Nelson A., 267–8, 275, 292–3, 296, 334, 345. - - Miles, Porcher, 36. - - Miller, Major, 307. - - Mississippi, Territory of, 4, 160. - - Mitchell, General O. M., 181, 183. - - Mitchell, Miss, 183–4. - - Mobile Meadows, 10. - - Montague, Mr., 11. - - Monterey, 15. - - Moore, Sydenham, 188, 190. - - Morgan, General J. H., 169. - - Morgan, Senator J. T., 153, 378. - - Morris Island, 143. - - Morrow, Dr., 110, 112. - - Muhlenberg, Lieutenant, 334. - - Myers, Lieutenant Henry, 126. - - Myers, Mr. Frederick, 274. - - - Napier, Lord, 30, 89, 114, 117, 133. - - Napier, Lady Nina, 114. - - Nashville Female Academy, 15. - - Nashville, Tennessee, 15, 172, 236. - - New York _Herald_, 355–6. - - New York _News_, 237. - - Nicolay & Hay, 73, 86. - - Norwalk, Connecticut, 27. - - - O’Conor, Charles, 290–1. - - Orr, James L., 20, 51, 314. - - Orr, Mrs. James L., 52–3. - - Ouseley, Sir William Gore, 134. - - - Palmer (Heller), 38–40. - - Parepa, Rosa, 101. - - Parker, Mrs. A. S., 119, 281, 321, 340, 367. - - Parker, Reverend Henry E., 148. - - Parrish, Mr., 123. - - Partington, Mrs., 128–137. - - Patterson, Mrs., 339. - - Patti, Adelina, 37. - - Pember, Mrs. Phoebe, 201, 277. - - Pendleton, George H., 146, 304–5. - - Pendleton, Mrs. George H., 89, 130, 303. - - Pennsylvania Avenue, 28, 42, 102, 306. - - Perry, Commodore M. C., 110. - - Pettigrew, General James G., 188. - - Phillips, Philip, 229, 248, 254. - - Phillips, Mrs. Philip, 151, 201. - - Phillips, The Misses, 104. - - Pierce Administration, 27. - - Pierce, Franklin, 28, 59–63, 68, 87, 106. - - Pierce, Mrs. Franklin, 28. - - Pierce, T. W., 271. - - Pillow, General Gideon J., 69, 172. - - “Pocahontas” (Play), 103. - - Polk, Mrs., 71, 368. - - Poore, Ben Perley, 128. - - Pope, Colonel, 160. - - Podestad, Mme. de, 368. - - Potomac, The, 28. - - Prescott, Harriet, 64. - - Price, Lilly, 120. - - Pryor, Mrs. Roger A., 44, 47, 179. - - Pritchard, Colonel, 258, 261. - - Pugh, George E., 146. - - Pugh, Mrs. George E., 44–47, 89, 97, 133, 146, 303–4. - - - Raasloff, Minister from Denmark, 150. - - Ramsey, Admiral, 95. - - Ramsey, Marian, 95. - - Randolph, Mrs., 173. - - _Rattlesnake, The_, 227, 241. - - Reagan, John H., 258. - - Reames, Vinnie, 369. - - Redd, Mrs., 225, 233. - - Reedy, Miss, 169. - - Rhett, Colonel Robert Barnwell, 355–6. - - Rich, Mrs., 90–94. - - Richmond, Va., 168, 206, 236, 239. - - Richmond _Enquirer_, 26, 237. - - Riggs, Mrs. George, 37. - - Riggs & Corcoran, 308. - - Robinson, Reverend Stuart, 287 - - Roddy, General, 183. - - Rogers, Representative, 325. - - Rountree, Mlle., 94. - - Ruffin, Edmund, 145–6. - - - Sanders, Miss Narcissa, 69. - - Sandidge, “Little Jimmy,” 131. - - Sartiges, Countess de, 30. - - Scarlett, Lieutenant, 136. - - Schaumberg, Miss Emily, 116. - - Scott, Alfred, 315. - - Scott, Captain, 33. - - Semmes, Mrs. Myra Knox, 174. - - Semmes, Raphael, 144, 370. - - Semmes, Thomas H., 246, 249. - - Seward, Frederick, 81. - - Seward, Senator W. H., 58, 81, 131, 136, 238. - - Sewing Machines, The New, 103. - - Seven Pines, Battle of, 187. - - Shea, George, 292. - - Sherman, General W. T., 230, 232–3, 239. - - Shipman, Lieutenant Lemuel, 298. - - Shorter, Eli S., 164. - - Sickles, Daniel E., 52, 97, 118. - - Sickles, Mrs. Daniel E., 52. - - Slidell, Mrs. John, 29. - - Smith, General Gustavus W., 188. - - Smith, General Kirby E., 154, 246. - - Smith, Judge William, 160. - - Smithsonian Institution, 124. - - Soulé, Congressman, 174. - - Sparrow, General, 229. - - Spence, Alice, 184. - - Spicer, Emily, 65, 66, 90. - - Spicer, Commander W. F., 65, 66. - - Spofford, Mr., 64. - - Staeckl, Baron de, 38–9. - - Stafford, General, 205. - - Stafford, Samuel M., 9. - - Stannard, Mrs., 174. - - Stanton, Edwin M., 289, 312–14, 344, 361, 364. - - _Star of the West_, 143. - - Stars, Falling of the, 7. - - Stephens, Alex. H., 242, 258, 370. - - Stevens, Miss, 50, 95. - - Stevens, Thaddeus, 356. - - Stone Mountain, 17. - - Stover, Mrs., 338. - - Stuart, General J. E. B., 170. - - St. Thomas, Island of, 150. - - - Taney, Roger B., 73–4. - - Tayloe, Ogle, 307. - - Tayloe, Mrs. Ogle, 30, 119, 307. - - Tennessee, Palisades of, 19. - - Tetlow, Captain J. B., 298. - - Thackeray, W. M., 104. - - Thomas, A. J., 104. - - Thomas, General B. M., 278. - - Thompson, Mrs. Jacob, 29, 86. - - Thomson, Mrs. J. R., 118. - - Thomson, William, 91. - - Toombs, Senator Robert, 30, 243. - - Toombs, Mrs. Robert, 86. - - Townsend, General E. D., 374. - - Tracy, General E. D., 155, 165–6, 190, 193. - - Tree, Ellen, 10. - - Tucker, Lee, 174. - - Tunstall, Brian, 10. - - Tunstall, Sir Cuthbert, 10. - - Tunstall, George, 232. - - Tunstall, Peyton Randolph, 3. - - Tunstall, Thomas B., 9, 13, 14, 26. - - Tunstall, Tom Tait, 90. - - Tuscaloosa, Ala., 4, 6, 9, 15, 17, 109. - - Tyler, ex-President John, 144. - - - Vallandigham, Clement L., 146. - - Vallette, Captain Octave, 207–8. - - Vogell, Dr. Henry C., 335. - - Voorhees, Daniel, 369. - - - Walker, Aunt Dolly, 205. - - Walker, Leroy Pope, 182. - - Walker, R. J., 75, 357. - - Walton, Octavia, 35, 368. - - War, Black Hawk, 80. - - War, Revolutionary, 3. - - Ward, Miss Josephine, 118. - - Warrior, The Black, 109. - - Watterson, Henry, 47. - - Wayne, James M., 77. - - Weed, Thurlow, 58. - - Wesselhœft, Dr., 22. - - Wheeler’s Brigade, 232. - - Wheeler, General Joseph, 234, 259. - - White House, The, 26, 85, 106, 130, 339, 354. - - Whittle, Major and Mrs., 229, 242, 254, 278, 279. - - Wickliffe, Sisters, 54, 202. - - Wigfall, Louis T., 246–7. - - Williams, General A. S., 35. - - Williams, Buxton, 185–6. - - Williams, Harriet, 31. - - Wilson, Henry A., 358–9, 360–1. - - Wilson, General James H., 250, 254, 276. - - Winder, General John H., 187. - - Winter, Mrs. Annie, 207, 258. - - Wirt, General and Mrs. Wm., 69. - - Withers, Miss Hattie, 127. - - Withers, General Jones M., 164, 192. - - Withers, Mrs. Jones M., 223. - - Withers, Robert, 244. - - Withers, Dr. Thomas, 153, 348. - - Wood, Benjamin, 289. - - Woods, Colonel, 278. - - Wynans, Ross, 369. - - Wyeth, John A., 279. - - - Yancey, William L., 16, 180–1. - - Yulee, David L., 147, 274. - - Yulee, Mrs. David L., 54, 202–3. - - - Zollicoffer, General Felix K., 172, 197. - ------ - -Footnote 1: - - Apropos of this reference to Mrs. Douglas, Col. Henry Watterson said - to me: “Her passport into Washington society was her relationship to - Mistress Dolly Madison, who was her grandaunt. It is true, Mr. James - Madison Cutts, Mrs. Douglas’s father, was a department clerk, but he - was the nephew of the former mistress of the White House. Mrs. Douglas - was very beautiful,” Colonel Watterson continued. “I remember stepping - into the Douglas library one morning, and coming upon her unexpectedly - as she was dusting some bit of precious bric-à-brac, over which she - extended a personal care. She was _en negligée_, and, as the colour - mounted her cheek, upon my unexpected appearance, I thought I had - never seen so beautiful, so rosy a girl. I told Douglas so!” A. S. - -Footnote 2: - - Writing to Mrs. Clay from the Department of the Interior, late in - 1885, E. V. D. Miller said of Mr. Lamar, then Secretary of the - Interior: “Those nearest in his labours only understand and have - compassion for him, to try to save him all we can. He would take us - _all_ in his arms, and confer the greatest benefits on us if he could; - and a more tender, appreciative, industrious, kind-hearted man I have - never been associated with, to say nothing of his giant intellect and - cultivated brain and taste. I never knew him until I came to this - office with him and saw him in all these entangling relations. I used - to get angry and avoid him because I thought he neglected my requests - and was so indifferent that there seemed to be a lack of respect; but - a closer knowledge of the demands upon him have disarmed me entirely, - and I fight him no longer.” A. S. - -Footnote 3: - - As Governor of Ohio. - -Footnote 4: - - “President Pierce was one of the handsomest men I have ever seen!” was - the remark of Colonel Watterson to me, while dwelling on those - ante-bellum personages. A. S. - -Footnote 5: - - “I remember,” said General Joseph Wheeler, “hearing of those - innovations, and that the guests entered the dining-room two by two, - and left it in the same order, to the music of the orchestra. They - introduced the custom of announcing the arrival of each guest at - receptions, by having a functionary call the name, aloud, a novelty - against which a good many rebelled.” A. S. - -Footnote 6: - - Wrote the Assistant Attorney-General, William A. Maury, in 1885, to - Judge Campbell: “I called on the President in company with Judge - Gilbert and Mr. Corcoran, and, a most fitting opportunity having - occurred in the course of our talk, I pleased the President greatly by - telling him you said he was the biggest man who had been in the White - House since you were a child! Which Mr. Corcoran supplemented by - saying, ‘And Judge Campbell is a man who means what he says!’” - -Footnote 7: - - Held between Messrs. Cleveland, President-elect, and Bayard in the - official residence, which is segregated from the Capitol. - -Footnote 8: - - Asbury Dickens, Clerk of the Senate. - -Footnote 9: - - In a letter dated New York, April 6, 1861, a correspondent, the - intimate associate of James Gordon Bennett, wrote as follows: “I have - been in Washington twice since I had the pleasure of seeing you, and I - can say truthfully, that ... the _ensemble_ of the personnel of the - White House has sadly changed, more befitting a restaurant than the - House of the President. They tell me many droll stories of them, and - all are deservedly rich. ‘Old Abe’ tells stories and Mrs. Lincoln - simpers. They keep a household of those horrid ... people with them - all the time, _mais assez_!” - -Footnote 10: - - Some time after Clement C. Clay’s return to the Confederate States, - this cane was purloined by some unknown person. Years passed; one day - Mr. Clay received an inquiry as to whether he had ever owned a cane on - which his name appeared below that of the Kentucky Senator’s; the - writer explained that he wished to know its history and to return the - cane to its rightful owner. Eager for the recovery of his valued - souvenir, Mr. Clay responded; but his unknown correspondent, having - gained the information he sought, lapsed into silence. Said Mrs. Clay, - in relating this incident, “And we never heard more of the cane!” A. - S. - -Footnote 11: - - This story, though quite commonly repeated, has been rather - effectually disproved by scientists. It obtained currency for many - years, however. A. S. - -Footnote 12: - - A notable vehicle of this sort was purchased in Philadelphia by Mrs. - Clay, at a cost of $1,600, and was carried to Alabama, where, among - the foliaged avenues of beautiful Huntsville, it attracted universal - attention. It was a capacious and splendid equipage, lined with amber - satin, and was drawn by the high-bred horses, “Polk” and “Dallas.” - From Mrs. Clay’s possession this gorgeous landau passed into that of - Governor Reuben Chapman, and, in the course of years, by various - transfers, into the hands of a station hackman, of colour! A. S. - -Footnote 13: - - A reference to Mrs. Emory, a notably attractive member of Washington - society. - -Footnote 14: - - Nevertheless, the chronicler named in rapid succession as among Mrs. - Clay’s attendants, Lord Napier, Sir William Gore Ouseley, K.C.B., and - many prominent figures in the capital. “Mrs. Senator Clay,” he added - in prose, “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 - _malapropos_ 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.” A. S. - -Footnote 15: - - While this playful exchange of ideas was going on, Senator Clay stood - near his Northern confrère, with whom his relations were always - courteous and kindly. At Mrs. Clay’s parting sally, Senator Seward - turned to the lady’s husband and remarked, “Clay, she’s superb!” - “Yes,” replied Senator Clay; “when she married me America lost its - Siddons!” A. S. - -Footnote 16: - - Major Anderson, in command at Fort Sumter. - -Footnote 17: - - January 9, 1861. - -Footnote 18: - - General L. Pope Walker. - -Footnote 19: - - “Talk of disunion, threats of disunion, accusations of intentions of - disunion lie scattered plentifully through the political literature of - the country from the very formation of the Government,” say Messrs. - Nicolay and Hay. See vol. II, page 296, of “Abraham Lincoln.” Also, - “Benton’s Thirty Years’ View.” Vol. II, page 786. - -Footnote 20: - - This fact is emphasised by Messrs. Nicolay and Hay. See vol. I, page - 142, “Abraham Lincoln.” - -Footnote 21: - - Now United States Senator from Alabama. - -Footnote 22: - - Judge Smith was the grandfather of Mrs. Meredith Calhoun, who, with - her husband, played a brilliant part in Paris society when Eugénie’s - triumphs were at their height. A. S. - -Footnote 23: - - John E. Moore became celebrated on the bench: He declined the office - of territorial judge, offered him by President Pierce, but was serving - as judge in a military court when he died, in 1864. He was a brother - of Colonel Sydenham Moore, who fell at the battle of Seven Pines. A. - S. - -Footnote 24: - - Of Mrs. Clay herself, renowned for her histrionic talent, Mrs. Ives - wrote: “It was the hope of having you take the part of Mrs. Malaprop - that encouraged me to undertake the amateur production of Sheridan’s - play. I felt sure that if all others failed, your acting would redeem - all deficiencies. You carried the audience by storm.... I can see you - yet, in imagination, in your rich brocaded gown, antique laces and - jewels, high puffed and curled hair, with nodding plumes which seemed - to add expression to your amusing utterances!” A. S. - -Footnote 25: - - I asked Mrs. Milton Humes, daughter of ex-Governor Chapman, concerning - these war-time search-parties. “I remember distinctly,” she answered, - “seeing them look into preserve jars and _cut-glass decanters_, until - my mother’s risibles no longer could be repressed. ‘You don’t expect - to find General Walker in that brandy bottle, do you?’ she asked.” A. - S. - -Footnote 26: - - Dr. J. M. Bannister, at the ripe age of eighty-six, still continues in - active pastoral charge of the Church of the Nativity in Huntsville. A. - S. - -Footnote 27: - - Harry, son of Buxton Williams. - -Footnote 28: - - James Camp Turner, of Alabama, died at Manassas. - -Footnote 29: - - It ended in April, 1865. - -Footnote 30: - - Then in the Mounted Signal Service, Milligan’s Battalion, from - Georgia, and on the staff of General S. D. French, now of Florida. - A.S. - -Footnote 31: - - Son of Senator Hammond, of South Carolina. - -Footnote 32: - - Many of these possessions are still retained by Messrs. Spann and - Harry Hammond. - -Footnote 33: - - To overcome these conditions, the Right-Reverend William Capers, - distinguished in the Methodist Church, organised a wide system of - missionary work among the plantation negroes, whereby preaching and - catechising by white ministers took place once a month. Many of the - great planters assisted in this good work, Senator R. Barnwell Rhett, - Sr., being prominently associated with Bishop Capers. Senator Rhett - built a large church, which was attended by the negroes from five - plantations, and regularly by his own family. A. S. - -Footnote 34: - - Mother of the unfortunate Mrs. Maybrick. - -Footnote 35: - - A recent writer attributes to those experiences, the coffee - substitutes which now, forty years later, have “ruined the American - coffee trade.” A. S. - -Footnote 36: - - Shortly after his arrival in Canada, Mr. Clay heard of General Lee’s - lost favourite. The animal, a fine Newfoundland, had been taken from - the Lee home at Arlington by a Federal soldier, who sold it to a - Captain Anderson (commanding an English vessel) for one hundred - dollars. After some months of inquiry and negotiation, Mr. Clay - secured the dog, and personally brought him back to the Confederate - States. A. S. - -Footnote 37: - - Horace Greeley. - -Footnote 38: - - Printed in Richmond _Enquirer_, and quoted liberally throughout the - North. - -Footnote 39: - - The family coachman. - -Footnote 40: - - A gentleman in the War Department—to whom I spoke of a violent protest - uttered against General Wheeler’s confiscations, by one Betts (who - sent his complaint, long as a Presidential message, to Senator Clay, - in Richmond)—smiled a little. “Well,” he said, “Wheeler always would - feed his men, you know!” A. S. - -Footnote 41: - - Speaking of that episode, Mrs. Hammond said to me: “It was months - before we succeeded in finding the silver again. Though we dug the - ground over and over in every direction where we thought it was, we - couldn’t even find the blazes for a long time.” A. S. - -Footnote 42: - - A cartoon which appeared about this time in a Richmond paper was a - graphic demonstration of the shrunk value of Confederate money. It - represented a man going to and returning from market. In the first - scene he carried a bushel basket piled high with current bills; in the - second, the basket was empty, and in his hand was an infinitesimal - package, which was supposed to contain a beef steak! A. S. - -Footnote 43: - - The actual amount offered for Mr. Clay’s apprehension was $25,000; - but, in the dissemination of the proclamation through the press, the - larger sum was repeatedly given as the amount offered—being so quoted - by General Wilson and others. See Records of the Rebellion, series I, - vol. XLIX, page 733. - -Footnote 44: - - Then widow of Congressman Bouligny, of Louisiana, and now Mrs. George - Collins Levey, of London, England. - -Footnote 45: - - Desk. - -Footnote 46: - - “It were as easy,” wrote one editor, “to suspect General Lee of - duplicity, or General Butler of magnanimity, as to think Mr. Clay - guilty of the crimes imputed to him!” - -Footnote 47: - - Neither this application, nor any communication sent by Mrs. Clay to - Judge Holt, met with the recognition of acknowledgment. A. S. - -Footnote 48: - - A reference to Holt’s Report, dated December 8, 1865, will show how - little either Mr. Pierce or this great legal light apprehended the - audacity of the inquisitorial Military Commission, of which the - Secretary of War and Joseph Holt made two. A. S. - -Footnote 49: - - Several years later Mr. Stevens reiterated these statements to one of - the editors of the New York _Tribune_, who again quoted Mr. Stevens’s - remarks in an able editorial. A. S. - -Footnote 50: - - The letter reads “ult.,” but, being obviously an error, is here - changed. A. S. - -Footnote 51: - - Copies of those addressed by Mr. Clay to the Secretary of War and to - President Johnson. A. S. - -Footnote 52: - - Dr. Craven was already in communication with Dr. Withers, of - Petersburg, Va., Mr. Clay’s cousin, who, through the courtesy of his - fellow-practitioner, was enabled to contribute occasionally to Mr. - Clay’s comfort and welfare. A. S. - -Footnote 53: - - New York _Daily News_. - -Footnote 54: - - To pass by less irreproachable witnesses, the following incident - illustrative of Mr. Stanton’s _brusquerie_ to women was told by the - Reverend Elisha Dyer. “While sitting in Mr. Stanton’s private office, - a well-dressed lady entered. She was rather young, and very - captivating. Approaching the Secretary, she said, ‘Excuse me, but I - _must_ see you!’ My old friend at once assumed the air of a bear. In a - stern voice he said, ‘Madam, you have no right to come into this - office, and you must leave it! No, Madam,’ he continued, when she - tried to speak, ‘not one word!’ And, calling an orderly, he said, - ‘Take this woman out!’” A. S. - -Footnote 55: - - Mr. Scott’s daughter is the wife of the widely known Dr. Garnett, of - Hot Springs, Arkansas. - -Footnote 56: - - The letter here given is from a copy furnished Mrs. Clay by Robert - Morrow, Secretary in 1866. - -Footnote 57: - - For months Mr. Holt’s Report was steadily refused to the public. - Referring to this secretive conduct, in July, 1866, A. J. Rogers said, - in the House of Representatives, “Secrecy has surrounded and shrouded, - not to say protected, every step of these examinations. In the words - of the late Attorney-General, ‘Most of the evidence upon which they - [the charges] are based was obtained _ex parte_, without notice to the - accused, and whilst they were in custody in military prisons. _Their - publication might wrong the Government._’ ...” The Secretary of War, - February 7, 1866, writes to the President that the publication of the - Report of the Judge Advocate General is incompatible with the public - interests. “This report,” continues Mr. Rogers, “in the testimony it - quotes, will show that the interests of the country would never have - suffered by the dispensing with illegal secrecy, but that the - interests and fame of the Judge Advocate General himself would suffer - in the eyes of all the truth-loving and justice-seeking people on - earth.” A. S. - -Footnote 58: - - Hyams, alias Harris, was one of the witnesses who, six months before - the date of Mr. Holt’s Report, had been exposed by the Rev. Stuart - Robinson, and who, six months later, or less, himself confessed his - perjuries to the Judiciary Committee. A. S. - -Footnote 59: - - But not _unimpeachable_, as later events proved. They were afterward - denounced by Mr. Holt as unprincipled perjurers and _the cause of all - his trouble_. A. S. - -Footnote 60: - - In fact, as will have been seen elsewhere, Mr. Clay arrived in South - Carolina on the fourth of February, 1865, after a full month’s - journeying by stormy sea from Nova Scotia to Bermuda; thence on the - ill-fated _Rattlesnake_, which, failing to make its way into port at - Wilmington, now in the hands of the Federals, with delay and - circumlocution, ran the blockade at Charleston, only to perish under - the very ramparts of Fort Moultrie. His return, therefore, was - sufficiently dramatic, and known to hundreds of _truly unimpeachable_ - witnesses, had the Judge Advocate allowed Mr. Clay to know the charges - against him or given him an opportunity for denial. A. S. - -Footnote 61: - - Conover was the chief witness in the cases of Mrs. Surratt and her - companions, and Mr. Holt’s charges against Mr. Clay were based on his - testimony and that of others who had been drilled in their parts by - Conover. A. S. - -Footnote 62: - - The public, however, was not destined to be treated to a spectacle so - likely to react to the Government’s dishonour. Mr. Holt, who for a - year caused to be denied to the prisoners (one of whom had been a - Cabinet Minister, the other a United States Senator) even the visits - of counsel, now, for some forever unexplained reason, instead of - arresting the perjurer Conover, after his admissions in the Committee - room of the House, talked to him kindly, and extended him the courtesy - of a trip to New York, in order that he _might procure further - testimony_. Once arrived, the polite swindler excused himself to his - companion, and, bowing himself out, “was not seen by him thereafter,” - said Mr. Holt; and he adds naïvely, “and up to this time he has not - communicated with me, nor has he made any effort, as I believe, to - produce the witnesses!” A. S. - -Footnote 63: - - In part an interview with Mr. Holt, and the whole most obviously - inspired by him. - -Footnote 64: - - Practically the only voice now raised in an attempt to explain or - justify the Advocate General’s unique methods. While denying his - knavishness, it had the singular appearance of developing his - foolishness. A. S. - -Footnote 65: - - Conover had obviated the necessity for proving, by confessing, his own - infamy. A. S. - -Footnote 66: - - Now for sixteen months a prisoner in Fortress Monroe, and denied trial - or counsel! A. S. - -Footnote 67: - - It is hard to believe that, if Mr. Holt’s reputation had survived the - doubt thrown upon it by the House Committee, in the preceding July, it - could be seriously injured by anything that might be averred by so - vile a man as his former ally, Conover. A. S. - -Footnote 68: - - In the preparation for the publication of these Memoirs, I found - myself continually lighting upon evidences of irregularity in the - Government’s proceedings against Mr. Clay. I was met constantly by - what appeared to be a persistent and inexplicable persecution of - Messrs. Davis and Clay (if not a plot against them, as hinted by - Representative Rogers) at the hands of the War Department, acting - through Mr. Joseph Holt. I encountered charges, not ambiguously made - against Mr. Holt, of malice, and of rancour which would be satisfied - only with the “judicial murder” of the prisoners in his hands. Charges - of malice and meanness have been made against him by living men as - frequently as by those who have passed away; men, moreover, whose - integrity of purpose has never been challenged. A rather general - condemnation of Mr. Holt appears in certain correspondence of the - sixties. It was uttered publicly in the press in the early and middle - portion of that decade. In the pamphlet alluded to and quoted from in - Chapter XXII. of these “Memoirs,” the Rev. Stuart Robinson had quoted - Mr. Crittenden, of Kentucky, and another, to show the peculiar - estimate in which Mr. Holt was then held. “I know little,” wrote Mr. - Robinson, in June of ’5, “either of the personal or public character - of Mr. Holt.... The only well-defined impression I have of his - personal character is gained from two remarks concerning him in - 1861–’2. The first, that of a venerable Christian lady, of the - old-fashioned country type, made to me: ‘Joe Holt, Sir, is the only - young man I ever knew that left this country without leaving one - friend behind him in it!’ The other, the fierce retort of the - venerable Crittenden, to a Cabinet officer, reported to me by Governor - Morehead: ‘Joseph Holt, of _Kentucky_, did you say, Sir? I tell you, - Sir, by Heaven! there is no such man as Joseph Holt, of _Kentucky_!’” - - In addition to such contemporaneous public utterances concerning Mr. - Holt, I have learned much that is corroborative by word of mouth from - men whose opinions have been softened by time, and whose conspicuous - positions in national affairs establish their utterances as both - weighty and trustworthy. Said one of these, a United States Senator, - within the year (1903), “Joseph Holt was the meanest man of his time. - He was both unscrupulous and ambitious; and the _smartest_ man I ever - knew!” - - Another as prominent in the nation’s affairs, said, using the same - adjective as did the Senator just quoted, “He was a peculiarly mean - man. I don’t know the true circumstances of Mr. Davis’s and Mr. Clay’s - imprisonment, but the suspicions that attached to Holt were never - proven, nor, so far as I know, investigated. After he went out of - office he seemed to have no friends. He remained in Washington. I - often saw him. Every morning he would get into a shabby old buggy and - drive to market, where he would buy his meat and vegetables, potatoes, - etc., for the day. These he would carry back to the house in his - buggy, and his cook would prepare his solitary meals for him. I never - felt anything but dislike for him,” said this gentleman, “and I don’t - know any one else who did!” - - “True!” responded another gentleman, whose word has balanced national - opinion to a large extent for many years, “Mr. Holt was repugnant to - me. I think he was generally regarded as a man who had forsaken his - own section for gain. I thought him a heartless man. When he left - office he went into utter obscurity!” - - These remarks, coming from sources so authoritative, lent strength to - the supposition that Mr. Holt’s behaviour toward his self-surrendered - prisoner and former friend, Clement C. Clay, if it might be traced to - its source, would, indeed, reveal a persecution at once vengeful and - malicious, springing from some personal animus. For a year I made - continuous effort to find this motive, but without success. Pitiless - enmity, supported by almost unlimited powers (vested in Mr. Holt as - Judge Advocate General, when the Government was in an unprecedented - condition of chaos), this officer surely exercised toward Messrs. - Davis and Clay; but, where was the _raison d’être_? - - By an accident, “at the eleventh hour,” the paper in Mr. Clay’s - handwriting containing the sentence quoted in the preceding text came - to light. I wrote promptly to Mrs. Clay-Clopton concerning it, urging - her to try to recall, if possible, the “reasons” which Mr. Clay, in - his prison in Fortress Monroe, on the night of December 29, 1865, had - given her in explanation of Mr. Holt’s animosity toward him. Her reply - ran as follows: - - “I _can_ give you, in regard of Mr. Holt’s persecution of my husband, - one very important reason! On the breaking out of the war, I think on - the secession of Mississippi, Holt, who had won both his fame and his - fortune in that State of his adoption, espoused the Southern cause. - Whether this was known to others than Mr. Davis and Mr. Clay, I do not - know. From the impression that remains on my memory, Holt communicated - in confidence to those two gentlemen alone his intention of standing - by the South. Possibly, it was said to Mr. Davis alone, as the latter - was Mississippi’s leading Senator, and by Mr. Davis repeated to Mr. - Clay. It was a common thing in those days to keep secret one’s - intentions.” [See visit of Admiral Semmes, Chapter IX.] “Whether - Holt’s decision was known to others than Mr. Davis and Mr. Clay, his - friend,” continues the letter, “I do not know. I remember Mr. Clay - telling me that Mr. Holt was a renegade and a traitor, _who had - pledged himself to the South_; but when, in his selfish ambition, he - received a higher bid from the Federal Government, he deserted our - cause and went over to the opposition. I do not recall the position - offered Mr. Holt by the Federal Government, but it was a plum he - coveted. - - “You ask whether Mr. Clay and Mr. Holt ever had any dealings with each - other, political or business: - - “None of any kind! Mr. Clay only knew of Holt’s base defection from - our cause and condemned him for it. My husband told me (in the - Fortress), ‘Mr. Holt knows the estimate Mr. Davis and I have of his - defection and would fain get us out of the way!’” A. S. - -Footnote 69: - - Governor Clay died the following autumn. - -Footnote 70: - - On the back of this scrap, Mr. Davis wrote in pencil, “If you get - this, say I’ve got the tobacco and will give you a puff.” Long - afterward, lest the identity of the little slip should be lost, Mr. - Clay added this comment beneath the original inscription: “Preserve! - Mr. Davis to me in prison! C. C. C.” A. S. - -Footnote 71: - - Mr. Harrison died in Washington, March 29, 1904. A. S. - -Footnote 72: - - Mr. Clay’s response to this letter is printed in Mayes’ “Life of - Lamar.” (Page 122.) - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. - 2. Anachronistic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as - printed. - 3. Footnotes have been re-indexed using numbers and collected together - at the end of the last chapter. - 4. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's A Belle of the Fifties, by Virginia Clay-Clopton - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BELLE OF THE FIFTIES *** - -***** This file should be named 60934-0.txt or 60934-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/9/3/60934/ - -Produced by Richard Tonsing, MWS, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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