“LADIES’ Night.—The Papyrus Club request the pleasure of the company
of Miss Ellen Terry at the Revere House, December 15th, at six o’clock.
Boston, 1883. Please reply to J. T. Wheelwright, 39 Court street.”[29]
Thus ran the invitation, which was adorned with a miniature view of
the Pyramids in a decorative setting of the reed that is familiar to
travellers in the Nile valley.
Miss Terry concluded to accept, and I had the honor of being her
escort. The handsome rooms of the Revere House that were devoted to
the service of the club on this occasion were crowded with ladies and
gentlemen when we arrived. Among the guests in whom Miss Terry was
especially interested were Mrs. Burnett, the author of “Joan” and other
remarkable novels; Miss Noble, the author of “A Reverend Idol”; Miss
Fay, Mrs. John Lillie, Mrs. Washburne, and other ladies known to the
world of letters. She was surrounded for a long time by changing groups
of ladies and gentlemen, who were presented in a pleasant, informal way
by Mr. Babbitt, the president of the club, and other of its officers.
The dinner was a dainty repast (one of the special dishes was a “baked
English turbot with brown sauce.”) The details of it were printed upon
a photographic card which represented the loving-cup, punch-bowl,
Papyrus’ manuscripts, gavel, pen and ink, and treasure-box of the
institution.
During dinner Miss Terry was called upon to sign scores of the
_menu_ cards with her autograph. Upon many of them she scribbled
poetic couplets, Shakespearian and otherwise, and on others quaint,
appropriate lines of her own. She captivated the women, all of them.
It is easier for a clever woman to excite the admiration of her sex
in America than in England. A woman who adorns and lifts the feminine
intellect into notice in America excites the admiration rather than the
jealousy of her sisters. American women seem to make a higher claims
upon the respect and attention of men than belongs to the ambitious
English women, and when one of them rises to distinction they all go
up with her. They share in her fame; they do not try to dispossess
her of the lofty place upon which she stands. There is a sort of
trades-unionism among the women of America in this respect. They hold
together in a ring against the so-called lords of creation; and the
men are content to accept what appears to be a happy form of petticoat
government. So the women of Boston took Ellen Terry to their arms and
made much of her.
After dinner the President expressed, in quaint terms, the club’s
welcome of its guests, and the Secretary read the following official
and authorized