FASHION, LITERATURE, AND ART.
Washington "society" refused to be comforted. Those within its
charmed circle would not visit the White House, or have any
intercourse with the members of the Administration. This gave
great annoyance to Mr. Seward, who used diplomatic and consular
appointments, commissions, and contracts unsparingly for the purchase
of a friendly feeling. At his urgent solicitation the President
consented to an evening reception at the White House, by invitation.
"I don't fancy this pass business," said the President, good-
naturedly, but the metropolitan practicians could not refrain from
applying for them. The evening of February 5th, 1862, found the
court-yard of the White House filled with carriages and ambulances
bringing "fair women and brave men."
The President and Mrs. Lincoln received their guests in the East
Room, where he towered above all around him, and had a pleasant
word for those he knew. Mrs. Lincoln was dressed in a white satin
dress with a low neck and short sleeves. It was trimmed with black
lace flounces, which were looped up with knots of ribbon, and she
wore a floral head-dress, which was not very becoming. Near her
was her eldest son, Mr. Robert Lincoln (known as the Prince of
Rails), and Mr. John Hay, the President's intellectual private
secretary. In addition to the East Room, the Red, Green, and Blue
Parlors (so named from the color of their paper-hangings and the
furniture) were open, and were ornamented with a profusion of rare
exotics, while the Marine Band, stationed in the corridor, discoursed
fine music.
Mr. Seward was in his element, escorting, as in duty bound, the
ladies of the Diplomatic Corps. Mr. Chase, the dignified and
statesman-like Secretary of the Treasury, seemed to have forgotten
for the moment that his coffers were "short." Mr. Stanton, vigorous
and thoughtful, was the object of much attention, and the patriarchal
locks and beard of the not over-scintillant Secretary of the Navy
were, of course, a feature. The other members of the Cabinet were
present, as were Justices Clifford, Wayne, and Grier, of the Supreme
Court.
Senator Sumner, as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations,
was the centre of a diplomatic circle, where all of the "great
powers," and some of the smaller ones, were represented. Ladies
from the rural districts were disappointed in not seeing the gorgeous
court costumes, having forgotten that our court-dress is the
undertaker-like suit of black broadcloth so generally worn. But
they gazed with admiration upon the broad ribbons and jeweled badges
worn on the breasts of the Chevaliers of the Legion of Honor,
Knights of the Bath, etc., "with distinguished consideration."
Vice-President Hamlin might have called the Senate to order and
had more than a quorum of members present, who, like himself, had
their wives here to cheer their labors. Mr. Speaker Grow could
not see around him so large a proportion of the "Lower House," but
there was--so a Kentucky lady said--"a right smart chance of
Representatives."
General McClellan, in full uniform, looked finely. Among his staff
officers were the French Princes, each wearing a captain's uniform.
The Comte de Paris was tall and very handsome, while the Duc du
Chartres was taller, thinner, less handsome than his brother. Both
were remarkably cordial and affable, and, as they spoke English
perfectly, they enjoyed the gay scene. General Fremont, in a plain
undress suit, seemed rather downcast, although his devoted wife,
"Jessie," more than made up for his moodiness by her animated and
vivacious conversation. There were, besides Generals McDowell,
Stone, Heintzelman, Blenker, Hancock, Hooker, Keyes, Doubleday,
Casey, Shields, and Marcy, with Captain Dahlgren and the Prince
Salm-Salm. Of those present many fought, and some fell, on the
various fields of the next three dreadful years. There were others
who were destined to do their duty and yet be mistaken and defrauded
of their just inheritance of glory. Such was the fortune of war.
An incident of the evening was the presentation of General Fremont
to General McClellan by President Lincoln. General Fremont was in
the hall, evidently about to leave, as Mrs. Fremont had her shawl
on, and Senator Sumner was escorting her toward the door, when the
President went after them, and soon turned toward the East Room,
with the Pathfinder at his side, Senator Sumner and Mrs. Fremont
following. The presentation was made, and a few remarks were
exchanged by the Generals, two men who were destined to exert a
marked influence on the future destiny of the nation.
A magnificent supper had been provided in the state dining-room by
Maillard, of New York, but when the hour of eleven came, and the
door should have been opened, the flustered steward had lost the
key, so that there was a hungry crowd waiting anxiously outside
the unyielding portal. Then the irrepressible humor of the American
people broke forth--that grim humor which carried them through the
subsequent misery. "I am in favor of a forward movement!" one
would exclaim. "An advance to the front is only retarded by the
imbecility of commanders," said another, quoting a speech just made
in Congress. To all this General McClellan, himself modestly
struggling with the crowd, laughed as heartily as anybody. Finally
the key was found, the door opened, and the crowd fed.
The table was decorated with large pieces of ornamental confectionery,
the centre object representing the steamer "Union," armed and
bearing the "Stars and Stripes." On a side table was a model of
Fort Sumter, also in sugar, and provisioned with game. After supper
promenading was resumed, and it was three o'clock ere the guests
departed. The entertainment was pronounced a decided success, but
it was compared to the ball given by the Duchess of Richmond, at
Brussels, the night before Waterloo. People parted there never to
meet again. Many a poor fellow took his leave that night of
festivity forever, the band playing, as he left, "The Girl I Left
Behind Me."
The Abolitionists throughout the country were merciless in their
criticisms of the President and Mrs. Lincoln for giving this
reception when the soldiers of the Union were in cheerless bivouacs
or comfortless hospitals, and a Philadelphia poet wrote a scandalous
ode on the occasion, entitled "The Queen Must Dance."
There was no dancing, nor was it generally known that after the
invitations had been issued Mrs. Lincoln's children sickened, and
she had been up the two nights previous to the reception watching
with them. Both the President and Mrs. Lincoln left the gay throng
several times to go up and see their darling Willie, who passed
away a fortnight afterward. He was a fine-looking lad, eleven
years of age, whose intelligence and vivacity made him a general
favorite. Some of his exercises in literary composition had been
so creditable that his father had permitted their publication.
This bereavement made Mr. Lincoln and his wife very indulgent toward
their youngest son, who thenceforth imperiously ruled at the White
House.
Washington City profited by its encircling garrison of one hundred
and fifty thousand men, and its population of civilians increased
wonderfully. Previously the crowds of people who had flooded
Washington at inauguration ceremonies, or during the sessions of
Congress, had been of the quick-come, quick-go character almost
exclusively. They had added nothing to the general business of
the city, stopping altogether at hotels, and making no investments
in the way of purchases. Even Congressmen had latterly very seldom
brought their families to the Federal capital. But the representatives
of the military power formed another class of citizens entirely.
Unlike the representatives of the legislative power, who had treated
their quarters in Washington as mere "tents of a night," the army
had taken all the vacant houses in Washington. The fears of a
bombardment by the rebels on the Potomac had the effect of keeping
up prices of provisions and everything else. The residents of
Washington experienced the evils of living in a non-manufacturing
and non-producing country. The single-track railway to Baltimore
was over-loaded by the army, and the freight depot in the city was
crammed and piled with stuff of every description that it presented
the appearance of about five hundred Noah's arks suddenly tumbled
into a conglomerated heap.
With the army and its camp-followers, there came a number of
_literati_ to accept clerical positions in the Departments. At
the Treasury one could see the veteran Dr. Pierpont, George Wood,
O'Connor, Piatt, Chilton, and Dr. Elder, all hopefully engaged in
signing, cutting, or recording Government notes and bonds. Entering
the library of the State Department, one saw J. C. Derby, so long
in the front rank of New York publishers, then Mr. Seward's librarian.
On Pennsylvania Avenue was Fred Cozzens' store, to which Mr.
Sparrowgrass had transported his Catawbas and Cabanas. At the
White House one would perhaps meet N. P. Willis in the reception-
room, and in Mr. Nicolay's up-stairs sanctum was John Hay, whose
_Atlantic_ papers were written with such purity of style and feeling
at his desk as under-secretary to the President. Then, among women
writers, there were Mesdames Don Piatt, Squier, Olmstead, and
Kirkland. The Vermont sculptor, Larkin Meade, had his "Green
Mountain Boy" on exhibition at a popular bookstore on the Avenue.
With this importation of Northern brains came a desire to hear
lectures from prominent men, and Professor Henry was reluctantly
induced to grant the use of the lecture hall of the Smithsonian
Institution, with a promise that it should be announced that the
Institution was not to be held responsible for what might be said.
When the first lecture was given, the Rev. John Pierpont, after
introducing the lecturer, added: "I am requested by Professor
Henry, to announce that the Smithsonian Institution is not responsible
for this course of lectures. I do so with pleasure, and desire to
add that the Washington Lecture Association is not responsible for
the Smithsonian Institution." The satire was appreciated and
received with applause. Throughout the course Mr. Pierpont repeated
his announcement before each weekly lecture, and no sooner would
he say, "I am requested," then the large audience would applaud.
Isaac Newton, of Philadelphia, was placed at the head of the
Agricultural Bureau of the Patent Office, by President Lincoln,
and in due time he became the head of the newly created Department
of Agriculture. He was an ignorant, credulous old gentleman, quite
rotund around the waistband, with snow-white hair and a mild blue
eye. Educated a Quaker, he had accumulated some property by keeping
an ice-cream saloon in Philadelphia, and he then established a
farm, from which he obtained his supplies of cream. At Washington
he was known as "Sir Isaac," and many anecdotes were told at his
expense. One year, when the expenditures of his department had
been very great, and the Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture
called on him to ascertain how he had used up so much money, Sir
Isaac spluttered and talked learnedly, and at last concluded by
saying: "Yes, sir; the expenses have been very great, exorbitant;
indeed, sir, they have exceeded my most sanguine expectations."
The Chairman was not satisfied. Looking over Sir Isaac's estimate
for the year, it was found he had made requisition for five thousand
dollars to purchase two hydraulic rams. "Them, gentlemen," said
Sir Isaac, "are said to be the best sheep in Europe. I have seen
a gentleman who knows all about them, and we should by all means
secure the breed." Some wag had been selling Sir Isaac, and, much
to his disgust, the Committee struck out the five-thousand-dollar
item.
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S.P.Chase
SALMON PORTLAND CHASE was born at Cornish, New Hampshire, January
13th, 1808; graduated at Dartmouth College in 1826; studied law at
Washington with William Wirt, supporting himself by teaching school;
commenced practice at Cincinnati in 1830; was United States Senator
from Ohio, 1849-1853; was Governor of Ohio, 1855-1859; was again
United States Senator, March 4th, 1861, and resigned the next day
to become Secretary of the Treasury under President Lincoln, which
position he held until he resigned in September, 1864; was appointed
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, December 6th, 1864; presided
at the impeachment trial of President Johnson in 1866, and died at
New York, May 7th, 1873.