"No. 2 to contain--
"The same as above, except that the silk for the negligeé must not
be pink-colored, but of any other color that Mrs. Johnson may think
fashionable and pretty. The shoes and ribbons may be adapted to it.
"No. 3 to contain--
"The same as above, except that the silk for the negligleé must be of
a different color from the other two, and the shoes and ribbons of a
proper color to be worn with it."
She took a deep interest in public affairs. Her friend, Lady Catharine
Alexander, writes from Valley Forge, after the cheering news of the
alliance with France--"We have nothing here but rejoicings; every one
looks happy and seems proud of the share he has had in humbling the
pride of Britain, and of establishing the name of America as a nation."
The following note, addressed to her by Washington from the same place,
has never before been published. *
* The MS. correspondence of Miss Catharine Livingston, including this
note, is in the possession of Mr. Theodore Sedgwick.
"General Washington having been informed lately of the honor done him
by Miss Kitty Livingston in wishing for a lock of his hair, takes
the liberty of inclosing one, accompanied by his most respectful
compliments.
"_Camp, Valley Forge, 18th Mar., 1778._"
The wife of William Livingston was Susannah, the daughter of Philip
French, and grand-daughter, by the mother's side, of Anthony Brockholst,
Lieutenant Governor, under Andross, of the Colony of New York, and
subsequently its chief magistrate. Simple and unpretending in manners,
she was endowed with a strong intellect and a warm and tender heart. The
letters of her husband show his high respect as well as love for her.
When the British troops made the memorable incursion into New Jersey
by Elizabethtown, the Governor, being absent from his family, suffered
intense-anxiety on their account. But while the neighboring villages
were seen in flames, the enemy respected "Liberty Hall," and treated its
inmates with courtesy. A correspondent of Rivington's Gazette accounts
for this by saying that one of the British officers received a rose
from Miss Susan Livingston on his visit to the house, as a memento of a
promise of protection. An anecdote connected with this invasion has
been traditionally preserved, which, if proved authentic, would furnish
curious evidence as to the agency concerned in the murder of Mrs.
Caldwell. After a day of alarm, the flames of Springfield and
Connecticut Farms being in view, and soldiers continually passing the
house, Mrs. Livingston and her daughters were at a late hour surprised
by the entrance of several British officers, who announced their
intention of lodging there. Their presence was felt to be a protection,
and the ladies retired. About midnight the officers left the house,
called away by some startling news; and not long afterwards a band of
straggling soldiers, intoxicated, rushed with oaths and threats into the
hall. "The maid-servant--all the males in the establishment having
taken refuge in the woods early in the day to avoid being made
prisoners--fastened herself in the kitchen; and the ladies crowding
together like frightened deer, locked themselves in another apartment.
Their place of retreat was soon discovered by the ruffians; and afraid
to exasperate them by refusing to come out, one of Governor Livingston's
daughters opened the door. A drunken soldier seized her by the arm.
She grasped the villain's collar, and at the very moment a flash of
lightning illumining the hall and falling full upon her white dress--he
staggered back, exclaiming, with an oath--'It's Mrs. Caldwell, that we
killed to-day!' One of the party was at length recognized, and the house
by his intervention finally cleared of the assailants." * The influence
of Mrs. Livingston over her husband, in spite of his unyielding
and irritable temper, is repeatedly noticed by his biographer. This
influence was secured by her strong good sense, her sympathy, and
unselfish tenderness. She shared his thoughts in time of war, and his
joy when allowed to relinquish his wandering life, and return to his
home; to enter once more his deserted library, and superintend his
long neglected garden. In his simple and rural occupations she was his
constant and faithful companion; and his letters evince the solicitude
with which he watched over her health, with the warm affection he
cherished for her through years of absence and absorbing occupation. She
died on the 17th of July, 1789.
* Life of Livingston, p. 353.
_Sarah, Lady Stirling_, was the sister of Governor Livingston. She
accompanied the Earl, her husband, who was Major General in the American
army, to the camp. While the Earl was in the camp at White Plains, she
paid a visit to New York--then in possession of the British--with
her youngest daughter, Lady Catharine Alexander, to visit her eldest
daughter, whose husband, Robert Watts, had remained quietly in the city,
taking no active part on either side. The letters of both mother and
daughter descriptive of this visit are interesting as showing the
situation and temper of those Americans who had continued in the city
during its occupation by the enemy. Lady Catharine, who writes--August,
1778--from Parsippany, the place where Governor Livingston's family had
taken refuge after an invasion of Elizabethtown, is sanguine in her hope
of soon seeing her relatives as zealous patriots as herself. Mr. Watts,
she says, is among the number of those who are heartily sick of the
tyranny witnessed; and "as to Mary, her political principles are
perfectly _rebellious_.. . . The sentiments of a great number have
undergone a thorough change since they have been with the British army;
as they have many opportunities of seeing flagrant acts of injustice
and cruelty of which they could not have believed their friends capable.
This convinces them that if they conquer, we must live in abject
slavery. Lady Stirling exhibits her disinterested patriotism by
refusing to avail herself of the permission sent from Sir Henry Clinton,
to take anything she pleased out of the city; fearing "there would be a
handle made of it," if she accepted the offer. "The last time I saw him
(Mr. Elliott,) he told me I must take a box of tea; but I stuck to my
text."
Lady Catharine afterwards became the wife of the Hon. William Duer. A
letter of condolence from Washington to the Countess of Stirling--upon
her husband's death--has been preserved in the Historical Collections of
New Jersey.