LIBRARY OF CONGRESS DDDDBSDEt.T? .V ° PREFACE THE interest felt in Colonial life in America has become deep and wide- spread, nor does it show signs of abatement. Indeed, the subject is almost inexhaustible, if we include under the term " Colonial " the settlements along the northern borders of the United States and the no less picturesque Spanish mission-life of the Pacific slope. To treat in this volume of some phases of American life of a later date has been sug- gested to the writer by two or three incidents. While in W^ashington last spring, she had the pleasure of meeting several persons who distinctly remembered Mrs. Madison — the de- lightful " Dolly " — as she appeared in later years at a reception given by Mr. Webster in the house afterwards owned by Mr. Corcoran. Again, while standing before a picture of Stenton, which hangs upon the walls of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, a lady entered the hall who recalled Mrs. Deborah Logan as she presided over her tea-table at Stenton, reviving pleasant impressions of the delectable crispness of the short-cakes which PREFACE the Quaker lady handed to her guests with a cup of tea, in her drawing-room, long before the fashion of afternoon tea prevailed in America. Another person, who was known to the writer in her childhood, delighted to relate to her grand-nieces a pleasing tale of being taken by her mother ta one of the windows of their home, which overlooked the State House in Philadelphia, and there being told to stand upon a chair and look at the tall gentleman who was entering the build- ing opposite, as she might never again see so great a man. The tall gentleman was His Excellency President "Washington, who for nearly seven years, while the new^ capital on the banks of the Potomac w^as in course of erection, walked from his house on High Street to the State House and Congress Hall, and in and out among these buildings. These hu- man links with a storied past lend a vividness and reality to the life of an earlier day that \vritten history fails to supply. It was with an idea of giving some of the recollections of those who could still recall incidents and persons in the early years of the fast fading century, that to the Colonial chapter of this book, and to those upon life in New York and Philadelphia soon after the Revolution, there have been added chapters upon the Federal City during the administrations of Adams, Jefferson, and Madison, and upon Philadelphia life during the brilliant social reign of Mrs. James Rush. PREFACE The word "salon" has been used to des- ignate the Republican dra\ving-rooms here described, because no other term so fitly repre- sents social circles presided over by cultivated women as that which was first applied to the brilliant coteries gathered together by the famous French women of the seventeenth century, who knew so well how to combine intellectual ability with womanly grace and charm. A. H. W. Birdwood, York Road, Philadelphia, November, 1899. vu I ILLUSTRATIONS ¥ Page MRS. CHARLES AUGUSTUS MURRAY (Miss Elizabeth Wadsworth). From portrait by Thomas Sully, in posses- sion of Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Hopkinson, of Philadelphia, This panel portrait bears on the reverse the monogram "T. S." Frontispiece COLONEL WILLIAM RHETT, of Charleston, South Caro- lina. Miniature in possession of Mrs. Nephew West .... i8 MRS. CHARLES WILLING (Anne Shippen). From original portrait by Robert Feke, in possession of her great-grand- son, Mr. Edward 'Willing, of Philadelphia. Dark hair and eyes, florid complexion ; gown of olive and black brocade . . 25 MRS. ADAMS (Sarah Eve). From original miniature by Charles B. J. F. de Saint Memin, owned by her niece, Mrs. Anna L. Eve Stevenson 33 COLONEL 'WILLIAM BRADFORD, born January ig, 1721 ; died September 15, 1791. Miniature owned by great-great- great-grandson, 'Willing Spencer, of Philadelphia 33 LADY CATHERINE DUER (Catherine Alexander). From original miniature, owned by Mr. 'William Alexander Duer, of New York 40 WILLIAM KING, first Governor of Maine. From original miniature in possession of Mr. Edv^ard King, of New York . 40 COLONEL JEREMIAH WADSWORTH. From original crayon by James Sharpies, owned by Mr. Charles A. Brin- ley, of Philadelphia. The complexion delicate and fine ; the coat a dark blue 49 LADY TEMPLE (Elizabeth Bowdoin). Portrait by John Singleton Copley, painted about the time of her marriage to Mr. Temple, afterwards Sir John Temple, owned by Mrs. 'Winthrop Tappan 52 M. PIERRE HENRI, of Paris. Miniature painted by himself, owned by his granddaughter, Mrs Edward Y. Townsend, of Philadelphia 62 ILLUSTRATIONS Page MRS. CHAUNCEY GOODRICH (Marianne Wolcott). From miniature by a S\vedish artist, owed by Mrs, Charles A. Brinley, of Philadelphia. Brilliant complexion, brown hair, through which a blue ribbon is tied ; blue gown of the same shade as the ribbon 62 HENRY PRATT. Original portrait by Gilbert Stuart, owned by Mrs. Joshua Lippincott, of Philadelphia. Dark eyes, florid complexion ; powdered wig, red waistcoat ; red curtain in the background 73 MRS. HENRY NIXON and MRS. JAMES MARSHALL, the daughters of Robert Morris. Portrait by Gilbert Stuart. Mr. Morris had ordered the picture and paid sixty guineas for it ; but when he ventured to make some criticism, Stuart was so angry that he cut the canvas and had the picture stowed away in his ov^rn garret. Mr. James Marshall after- wards bought the picture, at the original price, from Stuart or his daughter. It has been carefully restored and is now ov^^ned by the granddaughters of Mr. Marshall, the Misses Marshall of Happy Creek, Warren County, Virginia .... 97 COLONEL JOHN COX, of Bloomsbury, New Jersey. Minia- ture owned by great-granddaughter, Miss Mary Clapier Coxe, of Philadelphia 108 MAJOR-GENERAL ANTHONY WAYNE. From miniature by John Ramage, in possession of his great-grandson. Major ' William Wayne, of Paoli, Pennsylvania 108 L JUDGE WILLIAM BARTON. Portrait by Charles Willson 1 Pes'i, owned by Dr. William Barton Hopkins, of Philadel- , phia no — i MRS. "WILLIAM BARTON (Elizabeth Rhea). Portrait of Mrs. Barton with her little daughter Betsy in her arms. Light t brown hair ; dark background, the gown of rich brocade or velvet of a delicate old-rose shade 113 THE HONORABLE SAMUEL BRECK. From original por- trait painted in France by Loubet, in possession of grand- nephew, Mr. Charles du Pont Breck, of Scranton, Pennsyl- vania. Blue eyes and fair complexion. Mr. Breck is in court costume, ivith powdered hair ; his coat is of golden brown with large white buttons ; lace ruffles, white stock 138 MR. and MRS. HENRY PHILIPS. Copied from miniatures by » Richard Cosway, owned by great-grandson. Colonel James 4 Eglinton Montgomery, of Philadelphia. Both of these min- iatures are very beautiful in composition and color, with the background of blue sky and light clouds beloved by Cosway. 139 xii -ja«-iS22?; Colonel William Kradfiml Page 28 I SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN with the gay little circle, or later in the evening for a chat, or a moonlight stroll with the young ladies to the Mineral Spring at Sixth and Chestnut Streets. Once, when Miss Eve and her mother had been ill for several days, Dr. Rush called upon them and expressed surprise and regret that he had not been informed of the state of affairs. Being aware of the good Doctor's propensity for bleeding upon all occasions, we are con- scious of a feeling of relief that he did not ap- pear upon the scene until the cases required no more severe treatment than " for mama some powders and me some elixir, which we think," says Miss Eve, " have been of service to both. Are we not blest with the best of friends ? " The romance of these two brilliant young people w^as not destined to reach the climax of a happy marriage, as Sarah Eve died in De- cember, 1774, just three weeks before the date named for her wedding.* In a sketch entitled * Among St. Memin's portraits is one of Sarah Eve. The quaint, charming little face does not, hovrever, repre- sent the diarist, Sarah Eve, of the last century, but a niece who was named after her. This Miss Eve was born in or near Charleston, South Carolina, in 1783, and, oddly enough, married an Irish gentleman named Adams. While travelling abroad with his wife, Mr. Adams died. On her return voyage, during the War of 18 12, the American ship in which Mrs. Adams had sailed was taken by the British and she was carried to Halifax as a prisoner of war. Mrs. Adams was, of course, released, and after a tedious jour- ney was restored to her father, who was then living in Georgia. 3 33 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN " A Female Character," which appeared in the Pennsylvania Packet a few days later, Dr. Rush paid a glowing tribute to the lovely and noble character of his fiancee, whom he classed among the " first order of beings." Dr. Rush was fortunate in having numbered among his intimate friends two of the " first order of beings," Elizabeth Ferguson and Sa- rah Eve ; but alas for the constancy of man ! — he soon discovered a third being of this superlative order in the person of Miss Julia Stockton, of New Jersey, whom he married two years after the death of Miss Eve. 34 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN CHAPTER II. REPUBLICAN DRAWING- ROOMS IN New York the social etiquette of the first administration, as well as much of the policy of the new government, was out- lined. A small matter, it may seem to us to-day, to know how the President and Mrs. W^ashington were to receive their guests, and whether they were expected to make calls upon the families of cabinet members and strangers, or only to receive at stated times when called upon. Yet these questions were of moment, and it ■was with an earnest de- sire to conduct his life in accordance with his high position that the President propounded the following questions to the Vice-President, Mr. Adams, to Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Jay, and Mr. Madison : " Whether, after a little time, one day in every v^reek w^ill not be sufficient for receiving visits of compliment ? •' Whether, w^hen it shall have been under- stood that the President is not to give enter- tainments in the manner the presidents of Congress have formerly done, it will be prac- tical to draw such a line of discrimination, in regard to persons, as that six, eight, or ten official characters, including in rotation the members of both houses of Congress, may be 35 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN invited, personally or otherwise, to dine with him on the days fixed for receiving company, without exciting clamors in the rest of the community ? " Whether it would be satisfactory to the public for the President to make about four great entertainments in a year, on such great occasions as the Anniversary of the Dec- laration of Independence, the Alliance with France, the Peace with Great Britain, the Organization of the General Government; and whether arrangements of these two last kinds could be in danger of diverting too much of the President's time from business, or of producing the evils which it ^vas in- tended to avoid by his living more recluse than the presidents of Congress have hitherto lived ? " W^hether there would be any impropriety in the President's making informal visits ; that is to say, in his calling upon his acquaintances or public characters for the purpose of socia- bility or civility ? And what, as to the form of doing it, might evince these visits to have been made in his private character, so as that they may not be construed into visits from the President of the United States ? And in what light would his visits rarely at tea-parties be considered ? " To these questions Mr. Adams replied with all seriousness, that no visits of ceremony were to be required of the President and his wife, nor were large entertainments to be ex- 36 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN pected of them. Certain days and hours were to be set apart for the reception of visitors. These receptions, Mr. Adams thought, should ■ be conducted with some form and ceremony, application to be made through the Minister of State, and in every case the name, quality, or business of the visitor to be communicated to the chamberlain or gentlemen in waiting, who should judge whom to admit and whom to exclude. Mr. Hamilton quite agreed with the Vice- President; but to some Republican ears these regulations savored of the audience chamber of a monarch. Mr. Jefferson gave it as his opinion that " the glare of royalty and nobility, during his mission to England, had made him [Mr. Adams] believe their fascination a neces- sary ingredient in government," while William Maclay, United States Senator from Pennsyl- vania, declared himself boldly against all the devices of this " son of Adam." Mr. Maclay, who w^as as strongly Republican in his view^s as Mr. Jefferson, and was always on the lookout for stumbling-blocks and rocks of offence from the Federalists, wrote in his diary at this time : " I entertain no doubt that many people are aiming with all their force to establish a splen- did court with all the pomp of majesty. Alas ! poor Washington, if you are taken in this snare ! Then will the gold become dim ! Then will the fine gold be changed ! Then will your glory fade ! " Again, when a motion for ad- 37 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN journment carried, in order to allow the sen- ators to attend the President's levee, Mr. Ma- clay wrote with a pen dipped in gall : " Levees may be extremely useful in old countries where men of great fortunes are collected, as it may keep the idle from being much worse employed. But here I think they are hurtful. They interfere with the business of the public, and, instead of employing only the idle, have a tendency to make men idle who should be better employed. Indeed, from these small beginnings I fear we shall follow on nor cease till we have reached the summit of court eti- quette, and all the frivolities, fopperies and expense practiced in European governments. I grieve to think that many individuals among us are aiming at these objects with unceasing diligence." Despite these and other strictures upon the social etiquette of this administration, we can- not fail to look upon it as a fortunate circum- stance that the President and some of his advisers were not of Mr. Jefferson's and Mr. Maclay's way of thinking. Washington, with rare wisdom and foresight, said with regard to social usages about to be inaugurated : " Many things, which appear of little importance in themselves and at the beginning, may have great and durable consequences from their having been established at the commence- ment of a new general government. It will be much easier to commence the adminis- tration upon a well-adjusted system, built on 38 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN tenable grounds, than to correct errors, or alter inconveniences, after they shall have been con- firmed by habit." Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Adams were both of the opinion that a certain amount of form and ceremony added to the dignity of a republican government as well as to that of a monarchy, in addition to which the stated days and hours for receiving guests prevented the President and Mrs. Washington from being intruded upon at inopportune times. The President was especially desirous that the ceremonial of the receiving of visits should be arranged, as he realized soon after his inauguration that he was no longer master of himself or of his home. " By the time I had done breakfast," he wrote, " and thence till dinner, and after- wards till bed-time, I could not get rid of the ceremony of one visit before I had to attend to another. In a word, I had no leisure to read or to answer the dispatches that were pouring in upon me from all quarters." The question of tea-drinkings Mr. Adams answered summarily by saying that the Presi- dent had a right to attend festivities of this nature whenever and wherever he chose, such invitations being accepted by him as a private citizen. Mr. Maclay's jeremiads upon the vanity of the world in which he w^as dwelling, where nothing was " valued or regarded but the qualifications that flow from the tailor, barber, or dancing master," are amusing enough when 39 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN contrasted with the dignified simpHcity of the President's much criticized Tuesday afternoon levees. Each guest was introduced by one of the secretaries, Mr. Tobias Lear or Major William Jackson. After the introductions were completed, the President passed along the line of guests, calling each one by name and saying a few words to each in turn. No refreshments ■were served. Mrs. Washington held her drawing-room on Friday evenings, and although these func- tions were not lacking in dignity, they were probably a little less splendid than would appear from Mr. Huntington's picture of the Republican Court. Mrs. Washington, who was eminently domestic, seems to have pos- sessed the power of giving a homelike charm to all that she did, whether it v^^as to make a cup of tea at her own table for Mr. Wansey, or to receive in her drawing-room the guests of the nation. The descriptions that have come down to us of the Friday evening re- ceptions at the Presidential mansion, with their tea, plum cake, and early hours for meeting and retiring, suggest no social usages that could by their artificiality or splendor endanger republican institutions. Great balls were given during the first administration, by the Comte de Moustier and others, but none seem to have been given by the President. For the arduous task that lay before him, the President associated -with him the best element that the country afforded in birth, 40 Lady Catherine Duer Page 64 Governor William King Page 45 i SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN breeding, and scholarship, as well as in char- acter and statecraft. It was less difficult then than to-day to bring to the service of the nation the best talent of the land. The regu- lar business of many prosperous individuals had been unsettled by the long war, and furthermore, be it said to their honor, men of ability were content to forego the more rapid building up of fortunes for the sake of giving their time and talents to the support of a national life that had been bought with a price. Nor can the emoluments of office be looked upon as weighing heavily in the balance against private interests, when Jeffer- son's compensation for his services as Secre- tary of State was thirty-five hundred dollars, while his associate cabinet officers received only three thousand dollars. Upon this mod- est sum these gentlemen and their families were expected to make a good appearance, entertain strangers, and live in a style suited to their position in a city, where living w^as naturally more expensive from the fact that Congress had established itself there. Every- thing, however, depends upon the point of view ; and when twenty thousand dollars was proposed for the President and eight thousand dollars for the Vice-President, Mr. Maclay, with withering sarcasm, proposed to reverse the old proverb and make it read, " Be no ser- vice but salary," feeling that such " princely incomes " would lead to extravagance and pos- sibly to office-seeking. 41 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Before accepting the position of Auditor of the Treasury, offered him in the new govern- ment, Mr. Wolcott wrote to Mr. Oliver Ells- worth to ascertain something with regard to the expense of living in New York, that he might decide v^rhether the modest sum of fifteen hundred dollars would enable him to sustain such an outward appearance as he deemed suitable for an official of his position in the administration. On learning that a house and stable could be had for two hun- dred dollars and the best wood for four dollars a cord, he concluded that, despite the fact that marketing \A^as twenty-five per cent, above the Hartford rates, it would be safe to make the experiment. In writing to his wife upon this subject Mr. Wolcott said : " I am confident that no change in our habits of living will in any degree be necessary. The example of the President and his family will render parade and expense improper and disreputable." It is needless to say that Mr. Wolcott's ex- pectations with regard to the moderation of the President's household were not disap- pointed. Extravagance and luxury were never encouraged by the President or Mrs. Wash- ington, and even if Mr. Maclay found their dinners the best that he had ever eaten, he never once speaks of them as too elaborate. It is pleasant to know that this very critical Senator had, at that time, no fault to find \vith this "first Character in the world," or with his amiable lady. 43 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Most of those who held positions in the new government had already served the Colonies by their counsel, their statecraft and their diplomacy, such men as John Adams, the Vice-President; John Jay, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court ; Alexander Hamilton, Secre- tary of the Treasury ; his great colleague in Federalism, James Madison ; and their brilliant opponent, Thomas Jefferson, who had re- turned from his mission in France in time to accept the most important portfolio in the new- cabinet. No less distinguished were Edmund Randolph, first Attorney-General of the United States; Robert R. Livingston, Chancellor of the State of New York, who had just administered the oath of office to the President at the City Hall; James Iredell, of North Carolina, who had forfeited a large fortune in the West Indies in order to serve the patriot cause, and was, in 1790, appointed by the President, As- sociate Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States ; Charles Carroll of Carrollton, United States Senator from Maryland ; Wil- liam Bradford, Attorney-General of Pennsyl- vania, and later of the United States; Robert Morris, and Benjamin Huntington, of Con- necticut, grandfather of the artist, Daniel Huntington, whose brush has perpetuated the faces and figures of this illustrious group for future generations. Mr. Maclay has left an amusing pen-picture of three of the cabinet officers as they ap- peared at a dinner given by the Pennsylvania 43 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN delegation : " Hamilton," he says, " has a very boyish, giddy manner, and Scotch-Irish people would call him a 'skite.' Jefferson trans- gresses on the extreme of stiff gentility or lofty gravity. Knox is the easiest man, and has the most dignity of presence. They retired at a decent time, one after another. Knox stayed the longest, as indeed suited his aspect best, being more of a Bacchanalian figure." One of the younger statesmen in the Con- gress of the first administration was Rufus King, from Maine, who had served in the Congress of 1785, and there, at the age of thirty, had introduced a resolution which was later adopted in the ordinance of 1787 for the government of the Northwestern Terri- tory. Mr. King's resolution was : "That there should be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any of the states described in the resolution of Congress in April, 1784, otherwise than in punishment of crime whereof the party shall have been personally guilty ; and that this regulation shall be made an article of compact, and remain a fundamental principle of the Consti- tution between the original states and each of the states named in the said resolve." Mr. King married Mary Alsop, daughter of John Alsop, member of the Continental Con- gress from his o^vn State. This marriage took place while the Congress was in session in New York. John Adams, who was abroad at the time, wrote to congratulate the groom, 44 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN and at the same time very cleverly announced the marriage of his own daughter, by saying that he takes especial interest in Mr. King's marriage to Miss Alsop, of New York, and Mr. Gerry's recent marriage, because " A good work of the same kind, for connecting Massa- chusetts and New York in the bonds of love, was going on here. Last Sunday, under the right reverend sanction of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of St. Asaph, were married Mr. Smith and Miss Adams.* It will be unnatural if federal purposes are not an- swered by these marriages." Mrs. Rufus King is described as charming, cultivated, and possessed of great personal beauty. William King, a brother of Rufus King, took an active part in the separation of Maine and Massachusetts, and was subsequently elected the first Governor of Maine. At the conclu- sion of his term of office. Governor King was appointed Commissioner for the adjustment of Spanish Claims. Side by side with statesmen and diploma- tists were such gallant soldiers as General Henry Knox, who occupied the position of Secretary of War, which bureau, during this and the following administration, included naval matters ; General Philip Schuyler, now * Colonel William S. Smith, of Jamaica, Long Island, was appointed Secretary of Legation, and while in Eng- land married Abigail Adams. Charles Adams married Sally Smith, a sister of Colonel William S. Smith. 45 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Senator from New York ; Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, from South Carolina, who is better known as a statesman than as a soldier, and who, during a mission abroad, upon -which he entered a little later, formulated the truly American maxim, " Millions for defence, but not a cent for tribute ; " General Philemon Dickinson, United States Senator from New Jersey, and his brother-in-law, Samuel Mere- dith, who had fought at Princeton, Brandy- wine, and Germantown, and now served his old commander as first Treasurer of the United States. Mr. Meredith held this position for more than twelve years, and is said to have paid into the Treasury its first deposit, a loan from himself to the government of twenty thousand dollars. The gallant and intrepid Pennsylvania soldier, Anthony Wayne, has been appointed by his former comrade-in-arms General-in-Chief of the United States Army. As there is still trouble in the Northwest, where certain Indian tribes are making a stand for Great Britain, Wayne finds little time for councils of state and still less for playing carpet knight in ladies' drawing- rooms, handsome as he is, and fond as he may be of fine uniforms on dress parade. A distinguished circle was this, which was assembled around Mrs. Washington, the most distinguished that had ever been gathered together in the New World, and one rarely if ever equalled in later times, for here were men and women who had learned their 46 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN lessons of patriotism in the school of danger and adversity. Many of the wives and daugh- ters of men who had come from other States to fill positions in the national government were with their husbands and fathers, while all the w^omen belonging to representative New York families were present at the Tuesday evening receptions. During the early months of the administration, the Washingtons lived in the house of Walter Franklin on Cherry Street, at that time owned by his widow, who had married Mr. Samuel Osgood. This was a substantial square building with five windows facing on the Cherry Street front, and the same number on Franklin Square. To this house, tradition says, the President w^alked from the foot of Wall Street, after the inauguration, amid the joyful shouts of the assembled mul- titude. The Pennsylvania representatives, George Clymer and Thomas Fitzsimons, were quite near the President's on Pearl Street. Another Pennsylvania statesman. Senator Maclay, was nursing his rheumatic knee that gave him so much trouble, and the bitter prej- udices that caused him even more uneasiness, " at Mr. Vandolsom's near the Bear Market," according to the " Register for 1789," which also states that Mr. Henry Wynkoop was at the same house, while Colonel Jeremiah Van Rensselaer was " at Mr. Strong's, near the Albany Pier." Mr. Oliver Wolcott wrote his father that he was comfortably lodged at Mrs. Grinnell's, No. 27 Queen Street, where he says 47 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN that he procured lodgings in a good family. Although Mr. Jefferson later had an establish- ment on Broadway, he wrote to his son-in-law that he was glad to secure a small house on Maiden Lane. This street with its quaint name ran down to the Vly (or Vlye) Market, near which once stood the alluring Bunch of Grapes tavern, where food was provided, not only for " man and beast," but for mind and body, as here the " Three R's were taught in a commodious room and youth fitted for the counting-house." Near the President's home on Pearl, or Queen Street, was the Friends' Meeting, as this was the aristocratic Quaker district of old New York. The Franklins, whose house the President occupied, were leading Friends. " Here," says Mr. Griswold, " v/ere the Pearsalls, the Pryors, the Embrees, the Effinghams, the Hickses, the Hawxhursts, the Halletts, the Havilands, the Cornells, the Kenyons, the Townsends, the Tituses, the W^illetts, the Wrights, etc. Interspersed, how- ever, with these residences were others, equal- ly substantial, though not as plain, such as those of the Waltons and Roosevelts. The Bank of New York was first kept in the large Walton House, and its first President, the elder Isaac Roosevelt, had his dwelling nearly opposite." Colonel Theodoric Bland, James Madison, John Page, and other Virginians gave evidence of their proverbial clannishness by living in the same street, Maiden Lane. The Nestors of 48 Colonel Jeremiali Wadsworth By James Sharpies SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN the administration, Colonel Jeremiah Wads- worth, who had filled with honor during the war the important position of Commissary General to the Continental Army, and Jona- than Trumbull, the brave old war Governor of Connecticut, the original " Brother Jonathan," were both living at 195 Water Street. Mr. Hamilton's residence w^as at the corner of Broad and Wall Streets, and the following year Mr. and Mrs. Osgood returned to their own home on Cherry Street, and the President occupied Mr. Macomb's house on Broadway ; the Secretaries of State and of War were then living quite near on the same street. Sir John Temple, British Consul General for the Eastern States, was established on the other side of Broadway, on Cortlandt Street, while Theodore Sedgwick and Fisher Ames were thankful to find an abiding-place at Mrs. Duns- comb's fashionable bachelors' boarding-house. The Reverend Manasseh Cutler, while in New York, dined with the Temples, and found much to admire in them and in their elegant establishment. It being Sunday, the dinner hour was two o'clock, and even without the mellow glow of wax candles, Mr. Cutler confessed that the brilliancy of the liveries and service was only exceeded by the beauty of the hostess, who was, he says, "The greatest beauty, notwithstanding her age, I ever saw. To a well-proportioned form, a perfectly fine skin, and completely adjusted features, is added a soft, but majestic air, an 4 49 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN easy and pleasing sociability, a vein of fine sense which commands admiration and infuses delight. Her smiles, for she rarely laughs, could not fail of producing the softest sensi- bility in the fiercest savage. Her dress is ex- ceedingly neat and becoming, but not gay. She is now a grandmother, but I should not suppose her more than 22: her real age is 44." Sir John, Mr. Cutler pronounced " a Com- plete Gentleman," and his wines superlative in quality, nothing pleasing him more than to hear his Madeira praised and to have his guests frequently beg for the honor of a glass with him. The small daughter of the house, Augusta, aged six, the New England parson found even more remarkable than her mother, her man- ners being, according to his description, those of a complete woman of society. ''She in- troduces herself," says Mr. Cutler, "with an easy politeness to every person in the com- pany, and is never at a loss for a subject of conversation, and so sensible and pertinent are all her observations and remarks that she never fails of pleasing. " She distinguishes characters in paying her attentions with a judgment and precision which w^ould do honor to mature age. " No lady is more complete mistress of all the little etiquette which adorns a finished education." It is to be hoped that Mr. Cutler somewhat exaggerated the attainments of this very SO SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN young lady, as his picture suggests an infant phenomenon, rather than the intelligent and well-bred child that little Miss Temple doubt- less was. It is gratifying to learn from family records that, despite this wisdom beyond her years, Augusta Temple lived to reach matu- rity. She became the wife of "William Pal- mer, of Boston, and the grandmother of the late Rufus Prime, of New York. Lady Temple, who was a daughter of Gover- nor Bowdoin, of Massachusetts, married John Temple in 1767, many years before he in- herited his title, which came to him in a rather roundabout fashion through his great-grand- father, the Reverend Thomas Temple, LL.D., Rector of Burton-in-the-Water, Gloucester County, England, who -v^^as the devisee of his cousin. Sir Thomas Temple, Governor of Nova Scotia. The circumstances of Sir John Temple's birth and residence seem to accord with the description given of Mr. Henry James, the novelist, an " English gentleman who happened to be born in America," as John Temple was born near Boston, of Eng- lish parents, was Lieutenant-Governor of New Hampshire under the Crown, and later repre- sented England as Consul-General for the Eastern States. Sir John Temple died in New York in 1798, and was succeeded by his son Grenville, tenth baronet, who married Eliza- beth, daughter of Colonel George Watson, of Boston. Charming portraits of Lady Temple in her youth and in her \vidowhood are in SI SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN possession of her descendants, the first by Copley and the last by Stuart. Lady Temple's portrait by Gilbert Stuart was painted when she was in London in 1806, and as a pendant to this picture Stuart made a copy from Cop- ley's portrait of Sir John Temple as appears from a letter written by Mrs. Thomas Win- throp, ^vho was abroad with her mother at the time that the portraits were painted. John Trumbull also painted a family group, con- sisting of Sir John and Lady Temple, with Grenville Temple and the infant Augusta. Mr. Huntington has in his famous painting of the Republican Court made the McComb home on Broadway the background of his picture. This w^as a much more commodious house, to which the President and his family removed in the spring of 1790. Mrs. Wash- ington, although most dignified in her bearing and manners, v/as of small stature, and Mr. Huntington, whether true to life or simply to his own artistic instincts, has made the small hostess appear as if standing upon a slight elevation above most of her guests. Some of her particular friends are near her, among these Mrs. Robert Morris, who is spoken of by a diarist of the time as the " second female figure at court." The two Custis children stand near their grandmother, — Nellie, a beau- tiful girl of twelve, and her younger brother, George Washington Parke Custis, both far too young to have been present at a formal draw- ing-room, except for the purpose of having 52 Lady Temple (Elizabeth Bowdoin) 3y Joliii Singleton Copley SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN their portraits painted. The President did not usually stand beside his wife on these occa- sions, as he considered himself a private citizen when at Mrs. Washington's receptions, and moved from group to group. Dignified ma- trons and youthful beauties from North and South gathered around the hostess of the na- tion, while no less charming were those who were here upon " their native heath," such women as Mrs. John Jay, Lady Kitty Duer, Mrs. Ralph Izard, — who, although she be- longed to a loyalist family, was the wife of the patriotic Senator from South Carolina, — Mrs. James Beekman, Mrs. GeorgeClinton, Mrs. Rob- ert R. Livingston, Mrs. Walter Livingston, Mrs. John Bayard, and Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, who, as Miss Betsey Schuyler, had been w^ooed and won by Washington's young aide-de-camp during the Morristown encampment, ten years before. Mrs. Hamilton, as the -wife of a cabi- net officer and the daughter of an old New York family, also had her days for receiving. Her drawing-room is described as one of the most brilliant of the time, her mother and sisters often assisting her. Mrs. Church, Mrs. Ham- ilton's eldest sister Angelica, had recently re- turned from abroad, bringing w^ith her the latest fashions, among them \vhat Walter Rutherfurd called " a late abominable fashion from London, of Ladies like Washwomen with their sleeves above their elbows." M. de Warville, who met Mrs. Hamilton, spoke of her as " a charming woman, v/ho joined to S3 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN all the graces the simplicity of an American wife." It was this same observing traveller w^ho, when he found Alexander Hamilton vi^orking until a late hour over his law cases, expressed his astonishment that a man who had made a fortune for a nation should be laboring all night to support a family. Ham- ilton's brilliant, intellectual face was often to be seen at the President's table, as a warm friendship existed between the grave Virginian and his gay, versatile young Secre- tary, who was yet capable of solving such serious problems for the nation. ^A(''ashing- ton probably knew Hamilton's faults as well as anyone ; but, with his own strict ideas of life and duty, he was capable of looking be- yond them and seeing what was great and good in his character. The complex, contra- dictory nature of Hamilton seems never to have been fully understood ; but we may be- lieve that the best part of his character, as v^ell as his genius, was known and valued by the Chief, who loved him. Mrs. Hamilton, lovely in old age as in her youth, is described as having a delicate face, full of character. Her fine eyes, which were very dark, held the life and energy of the restrained countenance. Mrs. Hamilton may not have been as handsome as her mother, but she was equally brave and high-spirited. Mrs. Philip Schuyler's daughters all seem to have inherited their mother's courage, which was often put to the severest test during the 54 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN war. Her daughter Margaret, who now bears her mother's maiden name, having married Stephen Van Rensselaer, was a girl of about thirteen when the Schuyler home, near Albany, was attacked by a party of Indians, Canadians, and French under John Walter Meyer. The General, his w^ife and children, had gained an upper room, from whose w^indow^ he fired to alarm the town and the sleeping guard, when Mrs. Schuyler suddenly discovered that the youngest child had been left in her cradle on the first floor. General Schuyler would not allo'w his wife to risk her life by going dow^n to rescue the child; but Margaret, quicker than thought, flew down two flights of stairs, snatched her little sister from the cradle, and was running upstairs with the baby in her arms when an Indian hurled a tomahawk at her. The young girl's dress was cut, and the weapon passed within a few^ inches of the infant's head and lodged in the railing of the stairs. Meyer saw the girl running upstairs with a child in her arms, and, taking her for the nurse, called out, " Wench, wench, where is your master ? " "Gone to alarm the town," was the clever reply ; and in another moment Margaret had gained the upper room and laid the baby in her mother's arms, while Meyer and the marauders — misled by Margaret's answ^er and by the voice of the General calling from the window, as if speaking to a large party of men, " Come in, my brave fellows ! Surround the house ! Seize the villains who 55 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN are plundering ! " — suddenly and precipitately retreated with a large amount of plate, which they had found in the dining-room. The baby thus bravely rescued was Catherine Schuyler, who afterwards married Major Cochran. Other women, as heroic as Mrs. Schuyler and her daughter, had shared with their husbands and fathers the dangers and the excitements of camp life ; and now^, in her ow^n drawing-room, Mrs. Washington rene^ved friendships formed in days of trial and sus- pense. Chief among her army friends were Mrs. Knox and Mrs. Greene. Little Mrs. Smith, John Adams's daughter, wrote to her mother of dining with the General and Mrs. Knox, and finding the former not half so fat as he had been and the latter much improved in her appearance. This improvement must have taken place after Mr. Cutler met Mrs. Knox, as he described her and her costume in terms far less flattering than those of Mrs. Smith. "Dined with General Knox," wrote the New England parson, who seems to have been a great diner out; " Introduced to his lady and a French nobleman, the Marquis Lotbiniere, — at dinner, to several other gentlemen, w^ho dined with us. Our dinner was served in high style — much in the French taste. Mrs. Knox is very gross, but her manners easy and grace- ful. She is sociable and would be very agree- able, were it not for her affected singularity in dressing her hair. She seems to mimic a military style, which to me is disgusting in a 56 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN female. Her hair in front is craped at least a foot high, much in the form of a churn bottom upward, and topped off with a wire skeleton in the same form covered with black gauze, w^hich hangs in streamers down to her back. The hair behind is in a large braid, turned up, and confined with a monstrous large crooked comb. She reminded me of the monstrous cap worn by the Marquis La Fayette's valet, commonly called, on this account, the Marquis' Devil." This seems a cruel description of good Mrs. Knox, who w^as the soul of kindness, and was always the beloved "Lucy" of her faithful " Harry," even if she chose to disfigure her head with an unsightly pyramid. Mrs. Nathaniel Greene, no longer the gay '^^ young matron who " danced upwards of three hours w^ith General Washington without once sitting dow^n," but a w^oman saddened by a crushing sorrow and three years of widow- hood, was a frequent visitor at the President's home. During his Southern tour "Washing- ton recorded in his diary, that on his way to Augusta he stopped "to dine with the widow of his old friend and companion in arms. General Greene, at her seat called Mulberry Grove;" while in his New York diary the President often spoke of having Mrs. Greene, Mrs. Knox, and Mrs. Montgomery to dine with Mrs. Washington and himself, and to join a theatre party afterwards. To these two widov/s of his former associates, Mrs. Nathaniel Greene and Mrs. Richard Mont- 57 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN gomery, the President always paid marked attention. In order to add to the interest of his paint- ing, Mr. Huntington has been guilty of such anachronisms as introducing into his picture '^ General Nathaniel Greene, who died before the new government was established, while the Duke of Orleans, afterwards King of the French, and the Duke of Kent, father of Queen Victoria, w^ho. were in America at different times, are represented as making their bows to Mrs. "Washington at the same time. Such anachronisms as these may be overlooked in the poet, novelist, or artist, and although sometimes misleading do not in this case destroy the historic value of Mr. Huntington's painting, which has been most carefully studied in the matter of costumes as well as with regard to the faces and figures repre- sented. Mr. Jefferson's daughter, Martha, who mar- ried Thomas Mann Randolph soon after her return from abroad, appears in this picture ; but as no mention is made of a visit to New York in the numerous letters that passed . between her father and herself, it is doubtful . whether she left the congenial domesticity of Monticello for the gayeties of the capital. Martha Jefferson's marriage was evidently pleasing to Mr. Jefferson, w^ho summed up his son-in-law's advantages in one of his char- acteristic sentences, as " a man of science, sense, virtue and competence." 58 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Mary, Maria, or Polly Jefferson, as she was usually called, accompanied her father to Philadelphia in the autumn of 1791, as he \vrote to Mr. and Mrs. Randolph soon after he arrived at the capital: "The first part of our journey was pleasant, except some hair-breadth escapes which our new horse occasioned us in going down hills the first day or two, after which he behaved better, and came through the journey pre- serving the fierceness of his spirit to the last. I believe he will make me a valuable horse. Mrs. "Washington took possession of Maria at Mount Vernon, and only restored her to me here [Philadelphia]. It was fortunate enough, as w^e had to travel through five days of north-east storm, having learned at Mount Vernon that Congress was to meet on the 24th instead of the 31st, as I had thought." Mr. Huntington introduces Miss Haber- sham, of Georgia, into his picture. This young lady, of whom no contemporaneous description is to be found, was the daughter of Colonel Joseph Habersham, whose portrait, by Charles Willson Peale, has lately been acquired by Independence Hall. Colonel Hab- ersham was one of the heroic Southern figures of the war. In 1775 he seized the powder in the arsenal at Savannah, thus securing it for the patriot cause, and later as Major of the First Georgia Battalion defended the chief city of his State against a British naval attack. Colonel Habersham was appointed by Presi- 59 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN dent Washington to succeed Mr. Samuel Osgood as Postmaster-General, which posi- tion he held during several administrations. Senator Charles Carroll from Maryland was accompanied to New York by his daughter Polly, who had married Mr. Richard Caton, an English gentleman w^ho came to America in 1785. Mrs. Caton, who was herself charm- ing in manners and appearance, is now chiefly known as the mother of the beautiful Catons. The eldest of these daughters married Mr. Robert Patterson, of Baltimore, and while abroad with her husband was much admired by young Sir Arthur Wellesley, afterwards Duke of Wellington, who regularly corre- sponded with Mrs. Patterson after her return to America. Mrs. Patterson after her hus- band's death revisited London. Her former admirer, the Duke of Wellington, was mar- ried; but as if it were written in the book of fate that the American beauty should marry a W^ellesley, his elder brother, the Marquess of Wellesley, then Viceroy of India, was cap- tivated by the still young and lovely w^idow, whom he married. One of the sisters of the Marchioness of Wellesley married Colonel Hervey, an aide-de-camp to Lord Wellington at Waterloo, and becoming a widow was mar- ried to the Marquess of Caermarthen, after- wards Duke of Leeds, while a third daughter of Richard Caton married Baron Stafford, and a fourth became the wife of Mr. McTavish, for many years British Consul at Baltimore. 60 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN General Oliver "Wolcott, who had rendered such good service in the field as well as in Congress during the Revolution, was not in New York much of the time during the first administration. He was one of the first to greet the President when he reached New Haven, during the Eastern tour of the Chief Magistrate, and as Lieutenant-Governor, and later as Governor, of Connecticut was in con- stant correspondence with the President, by whom he was highly esteemed. It was General Oliver "Wolcott who, after the overthrow^ of the leaden statue of George the Third in New York, had it conveyed to his home at Litchfield, Connecticut, where under his direction it ^vas converted into bullets for the use of the army. In this patri- otic work General Wolcott was aided by the women of his family. In writing to his wife from Philadelphia, where he was attending the sessions of Con- g'-ess in 1777, General Wolcott asked for par- ticular information about the health of the family, as Mrs. Wolcott and the children were then undergoing the barbarous process of in- oculation for small-pox. " I perceive," he says, "that Mariana has had it bad — he [Dr. Smith] writes very hard. I am heartily sorry for what the little Child has suffered, and very much want to see her. If she has by this lost some of her Beauty, which I hope she has not, yet I well know she might spare much of it and still retain as much as most of her 61 t\ SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Sex possess." Then the good New England father adds, as if in excuse for having made too much of the fatal snare of beauty, " But I hope the Small Pox will give her no un- easiness, tho' it may have a little hurt her Complexion, as there is no valuable or lasting Beauty but what exists in the Mind; and if she cultivates these Excellencies, she will not fail of being beloved and esteemed." From her portrait and from the descriptions of contemporaries, it is evident that " Mari- ana" did not lose her beauty, even if she had the small-pox " very hard." Marianne was the youngest daughter of General Wolcott, and was one of the brides of the first adminis- tration, as she married Chauncey Goodrich in October, 1789. Mr. Goodrich was in Congress later ; but in these early years he and his wife spent much of their time in their Hartford home, as appears from Mrs. Goodrich's letters to her sister-in-law, Mrs. Oliver W^olcott, Jr. A warm friendship evidently existed between these ladies. Before their marriage they wrote fanciful school-girl letters to one another, and afterwards long domestic epistles about their husbands and children and of their ov/n doings at home and abroad. Soon after her mar- riage Mrs. Goodrich w^rote to her sister-in- la-w, who was with her husband in New- York, that her letter had found her seated by the fire with her " good man like sober, honest people," while to her mother she wrote, a little later, that although her sister Laura had gone 62 Mrs. Chauiicey Coodrich SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN to the Assembly with all the gaiety and good spirits of a girl of sixteen, she is spending the evening at her own fireside, and means "to take Oliver's advise and not play too many modish pranks this Winter." This was Oliver Wolcott, Jr., who was in New York as Audi- tor of the Treasury. Mr. Wolcott was made Secretary of the Treasury upon the resigna- tion of Mr. Hamilton. Second only in importance to Mrs. Wash- ington's drawing-rooms and dinners were the entertainments of Mrs. John Jay and Lady Kitty Duer. By some good fortune, the visit- ing-lists of both of these ladies have been preserved, and on them are to be found the names of statesmen, diplomats, foreign min- isters, and consuls, side by side with those of the men and v/omen prominent in the social life of New York and of other leading cities of the Union. Mrs. John Jay, a daughter of Governor Livingston, of Ne^w Jersey, was a v^^oman of considerable natural ability, of great charm of manner, as well as of distinguished beauty. Mrs. Jay accompanied her husband upon his missions to Spain and France, and while in Paris in 1782 made many friends. Among these was the lovely Marquise de Lafayette. In a letter, written from the French capital a few years later, Mrs. Adams said, "Every person who knew her when here bestows many en- comiums on Mrs. Jay." Another contempo- rary in writing of Mrs. Jay said that "with 63 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN her father's stern patriotism, she blended feat- ures of gentleness, grace and beauty peculiarly her own." An own cousin of Mrs. Jay was Cathe- rine Duer, who with her mother, Lady Stir- ling, her sister. Lady Mary Watts, Lady Temple, and Lady Christiana Griffin, wife of the President of Congress, were among the titled dames of this administration. Cathe- rine Alexander -was a daughter of Major- General William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, the American claimant to the Scottish earl- dom of Stirling. During the w^ar, while Lord Stirling was engaged in active service. Lady Kitty was with her mother, at the Stirling manor-house among the hills of Basking Ridge, and naturally entered into whatever military festivities served to dispel the gloom of those anxious days in the winter of '79, when the enemy in New York was rather too near for comfort or security to be felt in any of the New Jersey homes of that vicinity. Perhaps for this reason the young people enjoyed their " little frisks " all the more. Lady Kitty cer- tainly enjoyed one especial gaiety at Plucka- min, held in honor of the French alliance, to which Colonel William Duer, her father's friend and her own, came and danced with her again and again. After some months a ^vedding followed, a military w^edding, w^hen the Commander-in-Chief himself gave away the bride, and all around the lawn troops were on guard, lest the army in New York 64 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN should suddenly appear upon the scene and turn the wedding into a surprise party of a very disagreeable kind. Although possessed of no lordly title, Colonel William Duer was in every way worthy of his fair bride, as he -was a distinguished man and an ardent American, even if he had begun his career in the British army. Colonel Duer had rendered important service in the Com- mittee of Safety of New York and in the State and National Councils, and it is said that to his influence was largely due the failure of the infamous Conway cabal, whose object ^vas to depose General Washington from his command of the army. Colonel Duer and his wife were valued friends of the President and Mrs. Washington and were frequently their guests at dinners and recep- tions, while in their o^vn home on Cortlandt Street they entertained in a style befitting their station. Mr. Cutler of course dined with the Duers, in company, he records, with Mr. Osgood, President of the Board of the Treasviry, Major Sargent, and several other gentlemen. " At table we were honored with the com- pany of Mademoiselle La Fouche,* a French lady of the family of one of the noblesse, and Lady Kitty, the wife of Colonel Duer. Lady Kitty, for so she is called, was the daughter of *This may have been Mademoiselle Fauchet, whose father, M. Jean Antoine Joseph Fauchet, succeeded M. Genet as Minister from France. 65 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Lord Sterling, and inherits the title from her father, who had no male heir. She is a fine woman, though not a beauty, very sociable, and with most accomplished manners. She performed the honors of the table most grace- fully, was constantly attended by two servants in livery, and insisted on performing the whole herself. Colonel Duer is Secretary to the Board of Treasury, and lives in the style of a nobleman." Whether Lady Kitty's " performance " con- sisted in anything more than helping to the soup and dessert, Mr. Cutler does not state. What seems to have impressed him the most was Colonel Duer's wine list, " fifteen dif- ferent kinds," and a certain sort of bottled cider that the New England parson evidently mistook for champagne, in the first instance. What it w^as to a city with a population of a little over thirty thousand, -which had been laid waste by a destructive fire and by the even more destructive seven years' resi- dence of the British army, to receive so great an influx of inhabitants as came with the sessions of Congress, we may well imagine. Seeing New York arise from her ashes and put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, it is not strange that all the other towns of any size, and some of no size at all, should have contended for the honor, glory, and profit of making the capital their ow^n. A far hotter contest was this than that waged over the title by which the President should 66 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN be addressed, or that about the etiquette and ceremonial of the new government, because the "residence bill" was a matter of more vital and material interest. General Philemon Dickinson had been appointed by the Conti- nental Congress of 1784, in company with Mr. Robert Morris and General Philip Schuyler, to select a site for the federal capital. These three gentlemen reported in favor of Trenton. This report, like many others upon the same subject, was laid upon the table, which was doubtless the best place for it. Other propo- sitions for the " residence," as it was called, were to place the capital at Lancaster,Wright's Ferry, York, Carlisle, Harrisburg, Reading, or Germantown. One of the Pennsylvania Sena- tors went through the form of putting these names in nomination, the real point at issue alv/ays being Avhether the seat of government should be established in New York, Philadel- phia, or on the "ten-mile space," to be known ever after as the District of Columbia. Those w^ho have studied this question most thor- oughly say, that the establishing of the gov- ernment in the District of Columbia was a foregone conclusion, being the result of a com- promise between the assumptionists North and South. The Pennsylvania delegates were naturally in favor of a " residence " in their own State, Mr. Robert Morris advocating the falls of the Delaware ; Mr. George Clymer spoke strongly in favor of the banks of the Susque- hanna, Harrisburg, as the most favorable posi- 67 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN tion in the State, while Mr. Wynkoop, named by some of his associates "His Highness of the Lower House," seems to have wavered between Germantown and the banks of the Potomac. ^A^ith all their efforts and lobbying, the most that the Pennsylvanians were able to do, and that mainly through the influence of Mr. Morris, was to secure the temporary " residence " of the government while the national buildings were being erected in the District of Columbia. Mr. Maclay evidently thought that the Pennsylvania delegates had not played their cards adroitly, as he remarked to Mr. Wynkoop, Mr. Clymer, and Mr. Fitz- simmons that they might say to themselves, as the Scotchman said in his prayers, " We were left to the freedom of our ow^n vv^ill, and a pretty hand we have made of it." The Nev>/ Yorkers, who had lost the capital, revenged themselves by caricaturing the affair, and presenting Mr. Morris in the most absurd light. Why indeed, said they and others in the opposition, should not the capital be estab- lished in Philadelphia for the next ten years ? Was it not a finer city than New York, was not the theatre always open, and w^as it not the residence of " Bobby the Treasurer " ? One of the caricatures represented Mr. Morris as "Bobby" marching off with the Federal ark upon his shoulders, w^hile the Devil attended him at the Jersey City ferry-house, calling " This way, Bobby." Despite opposition and lampooning, carica- 68 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN tures of " Bobby " and " Miss Assumption " with her ill-gotten offspring, Philadelphia and " Potowmachus," the " residence bill " was carried and New York w^as shorn of her glory. After a residence of a little over a year, Con- gress and all that belonged thereunto were removed from New York to the banks of the Dela-ware. Mr. Maclay moralizes over the effect upon Philadelphia should a great com- mercial town arise upon the Potomac, utterly leaving out of his calculations the potentialities of the great metropolis that was destined to arise upon the scene of the long and destruc- tive occupation of the British troops, and of the brilliant, fleeting vision of brave men and fair w^omen, w^hose presence has forever hallowed the streets of old New York, and made the names of Wall Street and Pearl and Maiden Lane and Cortlandt a part of the history of the new Republic, v^^hose foundations were laid here, whose builders once lived in these narrow down-town thoroughfares. 69 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN CHAPTER III. LIFE IN THE QUAKER CAPITAL. HILE different cities were contend- ing for Congress alive, as those of Greece once contended for Homer dead, Philadelphians were building a suitable hall for the sessions of the Senate and House. It is difficult now to understand why Phila- delphia, or any other city, should have been so desirous of a merely temporary residence of the government. Mr. Maclay, with ingenuity as w^ell as acrimony, gives it as his explanation " That the Citizens of Philadelphia believe that Congress \vill become so enamoured of them as never to wish to leave them, and all this with the recent example of New York before their eyes, w^hose allurements are more than ten to two compared with Philadelphia." Other persons seem to have entertained the same opinion as Mr. Maclay with regard to the hopes of the residents of the Quaker City, even if they expressed themselves somewhat more mildly, and the fact that the erection of a handsome and spacious residence for the President of the United States was begun in 1791 would seem to carry out this idea. The impulse that would be given to trade and manufactures by the residence of the gov- ernment \vas naturally an important factor in this connection. 70 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN A writer of this period says, that upon the arrival of ships from England, in the spring and autumn, all along Front Street from Arch to Walnut, the pavements were covered with boxes and bales of English dry goods. The retailers, principally women, hovered around while the men were opening the boxes, vie^v- ing with admiration the rich varieties of for- eign chintzes, muslins, and calicoes of the latest fashion. " The first brilliant retail fancy dry goods shop was opened about this time by a Mrs. Whitesides, as it was said, from London in the true Bond Street style, at 134 Market Street ; and the uncommon size of the panes of glass, the fine mull-mull and jaconet muslins, the chintzes and linens, suspended in whole pieces and entwined together in puffs and festoons, and the shopman behind the counter bowing and smiling, created for a time a sensation." Attractive shops were to be found at 30 South Second Street and on North Front Street, ^vhere Mrs. Holland dispensed her goods and her smiles, and where Mrs. Jane Taylor sold dry goods and trimmings, at the sign of the Golden Lamb, which, let us hope, v^^as intended as a guarantee that no fleecing was to be done inside the door over which the gilded genius presided. These pop- ular establishments were precursors of the famous Levy's, a shop situated near the Cus- tom-House on Chestnut Street, to ■which the belles of the early years of the present century repaired for the munitions of war. 71 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN All along Water Street, once called King, and Front Street, which was separated from Water by a wall and an iron railing, were the warehouses and stores of the old-time mer- chants of Philadelphia. Here were the India stores of Robert Morris and Thomas Willing, and here Jacob Ridgway, John Welsh, Thomas P. Cope, Robert Ralston, Charles Massey, Manuel Eyre, Henry Pratt, Stephen Girard, the "Wains, Whartons, Lewises, Hollings- worths, and many others engaged in trade with South America, the Indies, China, and European cities, and built up great fortunes, in days when Philadelphia was an important commercial centre. Although importations from foreign lands brought many luxuries to this city, life was still primitive in certain respects. Many of the old merchants lived in houses adjoining or quite near their stores, and some had large cellars for storage purposes under their dwell- ings. Two of the greatest merchants of the time, Henry Pratt and Stephen Girard, lived on Water Street, the premises of the latter running through to his store on Front Street. Mr. Pratt, who was a son of Matthew Pratt, the artist, afterwards bought a fine house on Front Street that had belonged to Isaac Whar- ton. W^ithin a few doors lived Henry Drinker, a leading Quaker merchant, w^hose wife here wrote in her diary a simple record of the daily events of her own small circle. John Swanwick, now chiefly known to the 72 Henry PniU ^v Gilbert Stuart SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN antiquarian as a writer of society verses, was engaged in the importation of West India goods at No. 20 Penn Street, while at his store near the drawbridge Charles "Wharton, who imported largely from Southern Europe and from China, was advertised in the Pennsylvania Packet as setting forth an alluring stock of Souchong, Congo, and Hyson teas, and wines from Lisbon and Fayal. Front and Second Streets seem to have been the favorite dvi^elling-streets of the Quaker merchants, although John and Elliston Perot, who had their store on Water Street, built houses side by side as far out High Street as 297 and 299, which locality was considered almost out of town in those days. The building erected for the sessions of Con- gress was placed upon the southeast corner of Sixth and Chestnut Streets, upon the same lot as the State House, a happy selection, being half-way between the thickly settled portion of the city and the western streets tow^ards which men of speculative minds were beginning to turn their thoughts.* In the second-story room of this building the Senate of the United States held its sessions, and here, on the 4th of March, 1793, the oath of office was admin- istered to Washington upon his re-election for the ensuing four years as President of the * Mr. John F. Watson says that Mr. Markoe's house, on the south side of High Street, between Ninth and Tenth, was, when built, called "the house next to Schuylkill," on account of being so far out of town. 73 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN United States. Edward Thornton, Esq., after- v^ards Secretary of Legation to the United States from Great Britain, thus described the inauguration ceremonies in a letter to Sir James Bland Burges, under date of March 5, 1793 : " I was present yesterday at the cere- mony of administering the oath of office to Mr. "Washington on his re-election for the next four years as President of the United States. It was administered by one of the Judges of the Supreme Court in the Senate Chamber in the presence of the Senators and as many individuals as could be crowded into the room. The President first made a short speech, expressive of his sense of the high honour conferred on him by his re-election. There was nothing particular in the ceremony itself. . . . " There was one thing v/hich I observed yesterday in the Senate Chamber, w^hich if not accidental, will serve to mark the character of the people, though it was trifling in itself. The portraits of the King and Queen of France, which were presented, I believe during the war, were covered with a curtain, a circum- stance which was not the case most certainly when I have been there on former occasions. Alas ! poor Louis ! " ' Deserted at his utmost need By those his former bounty fed ! ' " * * These portraits of himself and his Queen had been sent by Louis XVI. to Congress in 1785. As Congress had 74 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Congress Hall was conveniently situated for legislative purposes, being only a short walk from the President's residence on High Street. Mr. Bradford, the Attorney-General, was liv- ing near the President on the opposite side of High Street ; James ^A^ilson, one of the Judges of the Supreme Court, and Mr. Otis, Secretary of the Senate, were both established on the same street below Sixth, w^here also lived Dr. Caspar Wistar, as great a physician as Dr. Benjamin Rush in the estimation of many old Philadelphians. On Mulberry, now Arch, one square above High, lived Timothy Pickering, Postmaster-General, Jared Inger- soll, Attorney-General for Pennsylvania, and Thomas Mifflin, its Governor, and that spirit- then no permanent seat, the French Minister, Barb6-Mar- bois, was not able to deliver the pictures. As he was about to leave America, he asked Mr. Robert Morris in 1785 to take charge of them until a proper place for them at the meeting-place of Congress could be provided. Mr. Morris consented, and preparations were made to unpack the pic- tures. To this Marbois objected in writing. Mr. Morris wrote back with some irritation, as if he resented the sus- picion that he was making an idle display of vanity by putting up the portraits in his own house. He said that he meant to lock them up. M. Marbois, however, replied courteously, repudiating the suspicion which had been ascribed to him, and proposing to deliver the pictures to Congress himself. The fate of these portraits has never been positively ascertained, but it is supposed that they were carried to Washington City and there destroyed, with so many others, by the fire that destroyed the government buildings in 1812. 75 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN ual interests might not be lost sight of amid surroundings that represented things tem- poral, a number of churches of different de- nominations were clustered together between Second and Sixth and Arch and Chestnut Streets, while quite near the Friends' Meeting on Second Street rose the lofty steeple of Christ Church. Mr. Oliver Wolcott w^rote to his wife that he had secured a house on Third Street at one hundred pounds, which was double what w^ould have been exacted before the matter of residence was determined. Mr. Wolcott afterwards lived on Chestnut Street quite near Congress Hall. The Secretary of War, James McHenry, was living at 113 South Third Street, not far from the residence of Judge Iredell, of South Carolina, Alexander Hamilton's house was on the same street, while the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Tench Coxe, was established at 126 South Second Street. Third Street was a very fashionable quarter at this time, the court end of the town. Here lived the Willings, Powels, Byrds, Vauxes, Chew^s, and Hopkinsons. At the corner of Second and Union Mr. Archibald McCall had a large house surrounded by a great garden, on Union above Third was the house of Mr. John Beale Bordley, and on the east side of Third Street, with grounds reaching from Pine Street to Union, was the residence of Chief- Justice McKean. 76 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN On Second, Third, and Fourth Streets, and on Walnut Street across from the State House yard, which then had an inhospitable board fence all around it, senators and represent- atives were entertained, either in their ow^n homes or in the Union Hotel on Fourth Street, kept by Francis, -who took pains to explain to Mr. Twining, when he applied to him for boarding, that his house was not a tavern, but a private house for the reception of Mem- bers of Congress. The English gentleman gratefully accepted a small room at the top of the house, considering himself fortunate to secure a foothold in this exclusive resort, where he dined with the Vice-President, Mr. Adams, in his drab coat, and breakfasted with senators and representatives, Democratic and Federalist, who forgot their political differ- ences in their enjoyment of Mrs. Francis's unrivalled buckwheat cakes. Those travellers who have left the most in- teresting pictures of Philadelphia life during the latter part of the century are the Marquis de Chastellux, Brissot de Warville, the Duke de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, Mr. Henry Wansey, Mrs. John Warder, and Mr. Thomas Twining. The latter was an English gentle- man who came to America from India in 1795, accompanied by two rather singular travelling companions, a small Bengal cow, and a great sheep which he called a "doombah." Find- ing no grazing ground near his lodgings, Mr. Twining was fortunate in the friendship of 77 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Mr. Bingham, who extended the hospitality of his fine lawn on Fourth Street to the much prized "doombah." Monsieur de Liancourt in his diary speaks of the distinctly English features of Philadelphia life, while Mr. Wansey found the manners and styles so like London that, while sitting in the theatre, he almost imagined himself in the capital of his own country. That the Quaker City was not destitute of amusements may be gathered from the fact that two theatres were supported, one know^n as the Southwark Theatre, at the corner of South Street and Apollo, in w^hich Major Andre, Captain Delancey, and other young officers had given amateur theatricals during the British occupation, and another place of entertainment on Chestnut Street above Sixth, opened in 1794. Despite petitions signed by over three thousand citizens, by clergymen of different denominations, including Bishop White, the Reverend George Duffield, the Reverend Ashbel Green, and Joseph Pilmore, and by prominent elders of the Society of Friends, theatrical representations had been given in Philadelphia, with occasional inter- missions, from 1754 until 1794, when the open- ing of the large theatre on Chestnut Street made it evident that this form of amusement could not be suppressed. Some of the earliest entertainments in this city ■were given in a large brick warehouse in Water Street below Pine, owned by William 78 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Plumsted. After the building of the Southwark Theatre, in 1759, the New American Company brought out Thomas Godfrey's " Prince of Parthia," the first play by an American author performed upon a regular stage. Another native play given at the Southwark Theatre in Philadelphia was " The Widow of Malabar," w^ritten by Colonel David Humphreys, for- merly aide-de-camp to General Washington, who represented the United States in Portu- gal and in Spain during the first and second administrations. Such influential citizens as Dr. John Red- man, General Walter Stewart, Robert Morris, James Lyle, Edward Tilghman, Thomas Wil- ling, and Charles Biddle were so much in favor of the play that they signed their names to a counter petition ; and when the corner- stone of the new theatre on Chestnut Street was laid, the Honorable Jared Ingersoll de- livered an address upon the occasion. This theatre was the one that excited the admiration of Mr. Wansey, who had found, he says, a very bad theatre in New York. He vi^ent to the " New Theatre " in Chestnut Street to see Mrs. Inchbald's play, " Every One has his Faults," with the farce, " No Song, No Supper/' and came away delighted with the theatre, the audience, and the acting. The President frequently attended the play at the Southwark and at the New Theatre, and sometimes indulged in going to Ricketts's Circus, which was at the corner of Twelfth 79 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN and Market Streets, and afterwards at the southwest corner of Sixth and Chestnut Streets. Mr. Ricketts, who was a superb equestrian, rode two horses for the amuse- ment of the company, besides treatmg them to performances on the tight-rope by an Italian acrobat. General Washington helped to make this circus fashionable by attending a perform- ance, given soon after it was opened, for the purpose of supplying the poor of the city with fuel. An entertainment was afterwards given for the benefit of certain needy French exiles who came to Philadelphia. Although the " Old American Company " gave, at the Southwark Theatre, plays of so elevated a character as an adaptation of "Hamlet," or a moral and instructive tale called " Filial Piety Exemplified in the His- tory of the Prince of Denmark," its enter- tainments were not always classic, as Robert- son, from London, sometimes illustrated the " Antipodean Whirligig," with his head upon a strong table and his feet in the air; and upon one occasion, when his Excellency and his friends were present, the evening, which had begun with a representation of " The Young Quaker ; or. The Fair Philadelphian," ended with a spirited leap of one of the performers through a barrel of fire. A more sedate and instructive place of resort was Mr. Peale's Museum, which at this time occupied a room in the building of the Philosophical Society, on Fifth Street. 80 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Here the indefatigable artist and scientist had gathered together an interesting collection of natural objects, which he afterwards removed to one of the upper rooms of the State House. In these, and even in earlier, days Philadel- phia possessed a very gay and fashionable circle, despite the large Quaker element in its population, and, perhaps in consequence of this element, \vas distinguished for its hos- pitality and generous living. It may have been the English characteristics of this city, so often spoken of by travellers and so like their native Virginia, whose social life in the last century was said to be " more English than the England of the Georges," that made Phila- delphia a congenial residence to the Presi- dent and Mrs. \A^ashington. Here they found a formal and established social order, which was in many cases united with great sim- plicity and sincerity. This combination, v/hich w^as, of course, due to the mingling of the Church and the Quaker elements in business and in society, was especially suited to the Virginia lady and gentleman, w^ho, with their thrifty household and farming habits, pos- sessed a strong predilection in favor of a certain amount of form and ceremony in pub- lic and private life. Nor was it the gay and fashionable side of the capital that was most congenial to the President and his wife, it was rather the strongly conservative element in its life, that existed then in a far greater degree than to-day. 6 8i SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Among the families of leading Quakers Washington had warm friends, nor were these men likely to forget that when some of their members were exiled from the city which their ancestors had founded, it was the Commander-in-Chief at Valley Forge who recommended clemency towards them, saying that " humanity pleaded strongly in their behalf." * Mrs. Henry Drinker, who with her friends was allowed to pass through the lines to visit her exiled husband, expressed a certain re- strained admiration for " G. Washington & his wrife." Mrs. Washington, who entertained the Quaker ladies in her quarters at Valley Forge, was spoken of by Mrs. Drinker as " a sociable pretty kind of woman." Mrs. George Logan, a Quakeress of even more cultivation and of a broader mind than Mrs. Drinker, spoke of General W^ashington with admiration amounting to enthusiasm, finding in him " a rare and perfect pattern of the dignity to w^hich man might attain by living up to the laws of virtue and honor, his colossal greatness polished and adorned with all the amenity and gentleness \vhich delights and endears in domestic society." Miers Fisher, who was himself one of those exiled to Virginia, later became a friend of the President, was visited by him at his country- seat, " Ury," which was near the Fox Chase, * " Exiles to Virginia," by Thomas Gilpin. 82 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN and is said to have presented his portrait to the Quaker lawyer.* The Quakers who were sent to Virginia ^vere not the only Philcidelphians who had been exiled during the war. The Reverend Jacob Duche and Mr. Samuel Shoemaker found it expedient to make a long stay in England, where they led a much more agreeable life than if they had remained at home. Governor John Penn and Chief-Justice Benjamin Chew were arrested, but ^vere permitted to retire to the Union Iron Works in New Jersey, which were partly owned by Mrs. Chew's uncle, where they remained prisoners upon parole for more than a year. This treatment of the late Governor of the Province and of Mr. Chew seems to have been as unjust as that of the Friends, as no overt act could be alleged against either of them. Mr. Chew had signed the Non-Importation Agreements of 1763, as had many of the exiled Friends, and during the sessions of the Continental Congress had hospitably entertained Colonel Washington and John Adams, while, upon the authority of Miers Fisher, he is said to have distinctly stated, when questioned by a juror upon what constituted high treason, the following limita- tions : " But in the moment w^hen the King or his Ministers shall exceed the constitutional authority vested in them by the Constitution, * This portrait, by James Sharpies, is still in the posses- sion of the descendants of Mr. Fisher. 83 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN submission to their mandate becomes Trea- son." * The head and front of Mr. Chew's offending seems to have been that he held important positions under the Crown. The unpleasant campaign incidents which befell these two gentlemen did not prevent the re- newal of cordial relations between them and General Washington. When the latter was in Philadelphia attending the Convention of 1787, he dined and drank tea with Mr. John Penn at Lansdowne, with Mr. Chew and with Dr. George Logan at Stenton. Later the Presi- dent gave evidence of his entire confidence in Mr. Chew's integrity and ability by appointing him Judge and President of the High Court of Errors and Appeals in Pennsylvania. On Front Street, on Second, Third, and Fourth Streets, and upon the thoroughfares intersected by them, from Mulberry, now^ Arch, to Cedar Street, beside the homes of the Wil- lings, Powels, Whites, Binghams, McCalls, Shippens, and other leading Church of Eng- land families, were the no less substantial and comfortable, if less showy, homes of the Quaker aristocracy. The owners of these houses wore plain clothes and used plain lan- guage, yet the luxuries of life and some of its ornaments, in the line of handsome silver and china, seem not to have been despised by these good Friends. Many of them owned coaches *"The Provincial Councillors of Pennsylvania," by Charles P. Keith. 84 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN drawn by fine horses, and even if, like Thomas Wharton, they named such a vehicle, in all humility, " a convenience," a coach was then deemed an even greater luxury than to-day. The chariot which Mrs. ^A^ashington used during her residence in Philadelphia had been built for John Penn while he was Governor of the Province, and is described as a very handsome equipage, of a delicate cream color, richly decorated with gilt medallions. Mrs. James Pemberton, a Friend, drove so fine a coach that General Howe confiscated it for his own use w^hile in Philadelphia. Another luxury indulged in by Friends at this time, and even earlier, was the carpeting of their rooms, which custom was objected to by the more rigorous of the sect. Brissot de Warville cites an instance of a Quaker from Carolina w^ho went to dine with an opulent Philadelphia Friend. On finding the passage from the door to the staircase covered with carpet, the Carolina Quaker declined to enter the house, saying that he never dined in a house where there was luxury, and that "it was better to clothe the poor than to clothe the earth." Mrs. John Warder, an English Friend, who visited Philadelphia in 1786, described a num- ber of sumptuous entertainments at Samuel Pleasant's, John Clifford's, Billy Morris's, whom she considered something of an epi- cure, at George Emlen's, James Pember- ton's, and at the house of Miers and Sally 8S SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Fisher, both of whom she found "truly agree- able, observing the strictest gentility with the Quaker." At some of these dinners and sup- pers Mrs. Warder partook of the unaccus- tomed terrapin, which she described, without enthusiasm, as " a small kind of turtle." In view of the frequent onslaughts that Mrs. "Warder records upon green-turtle soup, boned turkey, roast pig, venison, oysters, and all manner of home-made pastry and sweets, in the preparation of which the Colonial lady excelled, it is not strange that John Warder should have been laid up with the gout during some days of his visit, or that his wife should have reached the conclusion that Philadelphia Friends were more superb in their entertam- ments than in England. From the stand-point of an English Friend, Mrs. Warder freely criticized the costumes of Philadelphia members of the Society, and did not hesitate to remark, that to see " an old man stand up in meeting, with a mulberry coat, nankeen waistcoat and breeches, with white stockings, would look singular in Eng- land ; " while some of the women's costumes seemed to her "inconsistent." Mrs. Warder was, herself, remonstrated with by an intimate friend for indulging in " a v/halebone bonnet," which, for some reason, was considered more worldly than pasteboard, but was comforted by knowing that her cap was the " admiration of grave and gay." The English lady does not state in detail the difference between her 86 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN own dress and that of Philadelphia Friends, but she frankly confesses in one place that, although Nancy Emlen's mind appears to be " a perfect symmetry of heavenly love," her own poor mind would have to go " through severe conflicts " to submit to the dress worn by her and others, which was " all brown except her cap, which was coarse muslin without either border or strings," Despite her unbecoming costume, Mrs. Emlen was evidently fair to look upon, as Mrs. Warder acknowledged that she had " all Becky Gur- ney's sweetness of countenance, with a taller and more agreeable person. ' Rather dull, the lives of the young Friends seem to us, when compared with those of their gayer sisters and brothers in the Christ Church and St. Peter's circle ; yet they made the most of their small gayeties in the w^ay of weddings and Yearly Meetings, and w^ere prob- ably quite as happy as the rest of the world. These latter occasions came to be, in a cer- tain sense, important social events, when the mothers of families attended to their visiting and shopping and the boys and girls exchanged news, confidences, and sometimes hearts, as many Friendly marriages grew out of the meet- ing of young Quakers at their yearly reunions. The letters of the girls of the time to their friends, and to and from their lovers, are full of the simple pleasures of their lives and the innocent gossip of their little world. A favorite device of these young creatures was to write 87 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN to their intimate friends under assumed names ; consequently, these plain Sallies, Hannahs, and Deborahs appeared in their letters as Juliets, Babettes, Clarissas, and Belindas, while their devoted swains replied to them over such wicked or worldly signatures as Lothario, Orlando, Lysander, Philario, and Strephon. The language of love then, as now, knew^ no law. A Friendly lover who wrote upon one page of his diary most discreetly of the " solid and edifying conversation ", of his beloved, upon the next sighs like a Shake- spearian sonneteer over the apparent coldness of his fair " charmer." When Elizabeth Drinker's daughter Molly ran off with Samuel Rhoads, what a stir and flutter there must have been in all the Quaker dove-cotes ! Yet, after reading a de- scription of a proper Friend's wedding, with its prolonged passings of meeting and baldly simple service, it does not seem strange that young people should sometimes have taken matters into their own hands and applied to the mayor for a legal sanction of their happi- ness. John Smith, who married Hannah, a daugh- ter of the first James Logan, thus described the wedding of James Pemberton, a brother of Israel, who w^as called "King of the Quakers." " Rode home in the morning and fitted out my four wheel chaise to bring some of Jemmy Pemberton's wedding guests to meeting — was at the meeting which was large and solid — 88 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Mord[ecai] Yarnall and Eliza Hudson preached, H. M. Y. prayed, then Jemmy Pemberton was married." The bride's name is not mentioned in this simple record of an all-important event ; but it is evident that this was Hannah Lloyd, the first of James Pemberton's three wives, as John Smith speaks of "spending the evening at Hannah Lloyd's with the new married couple,^' this being the only festivity recorded. A more cheerful Friend's wedding was that of Elliston Perot, which w^as described in detail by Mrs. Warder, for the benefit of her English relatives : " A pouring wet night and dull morning presented but a bad prospect for Elliston Perot's wedding guests. However, we having the use of George Emlen's carriage, it was not of much consequence to us, further than getting into meeting to which there were not less than a dozen steps from the street and these in bad w^eather so muddy as to be quite uncomfortable. Met at the door Richard and Nancy Vaux. W^hen we got in found most of the wedding company there. Cousin Betsy Roberts first said a few w^ords, then honest Robert "Wills, after which Betsy appeared in supplication, then was followed by a long and fine testimony by William Savery. After which the bride and groom performed, the latter exceedingly well and the former not very badly. Meeting early closed, at least when the pair had signed and certificate was read, the woman taking upon her her husband's 89 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN name. We went to Elliston's house but little distance from the meeting and I soon felt very comfortable \vith several of my old acquaint- ances, among them Abijah and Sally Dawes, John and Anna Clifford with many others, in all 48. " We were ushered up stairs where w^ere bedrooms in order, to receive us, having fires in most part of the house. "Cake and wine were early handed the Bride's brother Joey Sansom brought the lat- ter in two decanters on a waiter with Bitters and glasses, his sister going to take some an accident happened that spilt it all over her ^vedding garment, for which I felt much less than for the poor young man whose embar- rassment was very great. Our next disaster proved a discovery that the black paint off the scirting board in every part of the house came off. Some gowns looked almost ruined but I did not thoroughly examine mine, not w^ishing to be made uneasy about anything of the kind. At 2 o'clock we were summoned down to dinner, time having passed till then in agree- able conversation, all very sociable, though some, and indeed many entire strangers to me, till from enquiring I found who they were, and discovered most related to some I was acquainted with. " All the Company sat at one horse-shoe table except cousins John Head, Jacob Dow^n- ing, and Billy Sansom, who were groomsmen and waited on us. 90 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN " The bridesmaids were Sally Drinker,* her Cousin Betty Drinker, and a young woman named Sykes. Jacob Downing has long courted the former and it is now likely to be a match in the Spring, report says. She is a very cheerful, clever girl and he an agreeable young man. " We had a plentiful plain entertainment, almost all things that the season provided. After being all satisfied we adjourned up stairs and chatted away the afternoon, moving from one room to another as inclination took us. " The young folks w^ere innocently cheerful and the old ones not less so. " They made tea in another room and sent to us. About 9 we were called to supper, which was mostly the fragments, w^ith the ad- dition of a few hot partridges, less pastry and such like than I have ever seen on such occa- sions. After all had sufficiently satisfied them- selves, a general remove took place and the house soon seemed cleared. " Sally Dawes went with us in Sally Em- len's carriage and so to her home. We sat down and related some particulars and then retired. "The next day Lydia, Sally, Nelly Parker, Hannah Wills and myself calling for Sucky Head v/ent to visit the bride. We were first * Sally Drinker was a daughter of Elizabeth, the diarist, from whose record we learn that the course of Jacob Downing's true love ran smooth, as he "spoke to H. D. on account of Sally," and they were married May 15, 1787, 91 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN ushered into the small parlor to take off our bonnets, for which purpose the bridesmaids and groomsmen attended, when the latter handed each of us up to the bride with a great deal of form. " We then seated ourselves ; about ten had got there before us, and in an hour we mus- tered full forty, many that I knew Polly and Molly Sykes, Sally Rawle, Peggy Wharton, Nancy Drinker, Sally Pleasants, Sally Gilpin^ her brother Joshua, Isaac Pleasants, Gideon W^ills, Jerry and Richard Parker, with many others. There was a freedom and ease in most of the Company that destroyed every idea of form. " The conversation was not general, but dividing into little parties all seemed lively. Tea was made and handed after which the three young women in office joined us. The men assisting to wait were also at liberty to chat with the rest after that was over. Sally conducted herself very becoming and with great ease, moving her seat repeatedly to con- verse amongst us all. " This ceremony lasting a week must be very fatiguing, and I should think very dis- agreeable to both Bride and Groom, but cus- toms long established are not very easy broke through." Mrs. W^arder's chronicle is valuable, not only because it gives a faithful picture of the life of the time, but also because it proves that a considerable amount of form and ceremony 92 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN was observed by Friends, even if their usages were not those of the gay world. Another wedding feast, and one that caused Mrs. Warder some scruples of conscience, was given by Dr. James Hutchinson. At first the Friendly lady hesitated, as Dr. Hutchin- son had been married to his Quaker bride by a priest ; but, being fond of seeing life in the New World, and finding that " others made no distinction — calling the first three morn- ings to drink punch with the groom, and the next week drinking tea with the bride," Mrs. Warder attended the dinner. Here she found a large company, a superb entertainment, and afterwards enjoyed a spirited discussion upon dress, w^hich goes to prove that even the garb of a Quaker woman may afford food for con- versation. This marriage of Dr. Hutchinson to a sweet girl * many years younger than himself, and that of Margaret Rawle to Isaac Wharton, he being " full double her age, and she esteemed one of the best girls here," caused Mrs. Warder to reflect seriously upon "the pitch they are got to for husbands in this country ; " nor does the fact that Dr. Hutchinson and Mr. Wharton were redeemed from their " des- picable state " of bachelorhood by this step * The " sweet girl," to whom Dr. Hutchinson was mar- ried in 1786, was Sydney Howeli, his second wife. Dr. Hutchinson's first wife was Lydia Biddle, a sister of Col- onel Clement Biddle. 93 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN reconcile Mrs. Warder to the discrepancy in age of these couples. Marriages "out of meeting" were every year becoming more frequent, which is not to be wondered at, as the Quaker girls were described by all travellers as lovely and charm- ing. Monsieur de Liancourt wrote of them in the latter part of the century : " Gay colours please the young Quaker ladies ; and are in- deed great enemies of the sect. The toilette is the subject of much uneasiness to the old people, whether prohibited or tolerated by them. But whether prohibited or not, the young and handsome Quaker-girls will sacri- fice to the toilette, and call themselves Half- Quakers ; and it must be confessed, they are the greatest favourites with our sex." Despite the endearing charms of young Quakeresses, Governor John Penn, grandson of the Proprietary, married Miss Ann Allen, a daughter of William Allen, Chief Justice of the Province, whose connection with the Ham- iltons, added to the prominent position of her own family, made her a most desirable parti. Mrs. John Penn is described by an uncle of her husband as possessing " good sense, great sweetness of temper, and prudence," to which may be added, if we may trust contempora- neous descriptions, a fair share of good looks. This combination of attractions seems more than Governor John Penn had reason to ex- pect, his early life having been clouded by a mesalliajtce, or what his family chose to consider 94 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN as such, while his personal appearance as de- scribed in a letter of the time does not seem to have been impressive. George Roberts, in a letter to Samuel Powel, then in London, writes : " His honor Penn is a little gentleman, though he may govern equal to one seven foot high." Richard Penn, who was a far greater favorite in Pennsylvania than his brother John, had so far renounced Quakerism as to become the first President of the Jockey Club, and to be married at Christ Church to Miss Polly Masters. Miss Masters, who was only a little over sixteen at the time of her marriage, in May, 1772, was living with her mother in her home on the south side of Market, between Fifth and Sixth Streets. This house, which Mrs. Masters conveyed to her daughter two days before her marriage, was afterwards occupied by General Howe, and later by General Benedict Arnold, by the French Consul, M. Holker, and by Robert Morris, who bought the house some- time prior to 1787.* During the sessions of the Convention of 1787, General Washington stayed with Mr. Morris in this house, and ■when the seat of government was removed from New York to Philadelphia, it w^as con- sidered the most suitable building in the city for the residence of the Chief Executive, al- * A fire broke out in this house in 1780, during M. Holker's residence, and nothing but the first floor was saved. After Mr. Morris bought the house, he rebuilt and enlarged it. 95 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN though Mr. Twining described it as " a small red brick house next door to a hair-dresser." Mr. and Mrs. Morris occupied a house at the corner of Sixth and Market, on the same side of the street. Although the President and his private sec- retary, Mr. Tobias Lear, had entered into an apparently exhaustive correspondence upon the furnishing of this establishment, from dravying-room mirrors to mangles for the kitchen, there ■were doubtless many matters of household and domestic economy that re- mained to be discussed by Mrs. "Washington and Mrs. Morris. Mrs. Washington had com- plained in her letters of the restraints of her life in New York ; but in her letters from Phila- delphia we find no such expressions. In addi- tion to the men and vi^omen who had come to the capital with the administration, the Presi- dent and Mrs. Washington numbered many friends among the resident population of Phila- delphia. Chief among their friends w^ere the members of the Morris family. The President and Robert Morris had been fast friends during the long w^ar, and to him and his partner, Mr. Thomas Willing, the Commander-in-Chief had often turned for aid when the financial resources of the Congress were at the lowest ebb. For both of these gentlemen the President entertained a sincere regard, while Mrs. Washington and Mrs. Morris in this time of peace renewed their friendship formed during the anxious days 96 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN of the Revolution. These two ladies seem to have been most congenial in their tastes, visiting one another informally and frequently driving together, while the young people of the two families were upon intimate terms. Mrs. Washington's granddaughter, Nellie Custis, -was always with her, and at times her t'wo elder grandchildren, Eliza and Martha Parke Custis. In a letter written April 5, 1795, Mrs. Washington says that the girls were going to Miss Morris's wedding the next Thursday. This was Hetty Morris, the eldest daughter of Robert Morris, who married James Marshall, of Virginia, a brother of Chief-Justice Mar- shall. The fair faces of Hetty Morris and her sister Maria, afterwards the wife of Henry Nixon, have been preserved for this generation by the brush of Stuart. This portrait represents two girls seated before a chess-board, from which their eyes have wandered to look out from the canvas, v/ith the innocence and serene hope- fulness of girlhood, which are among its pecu- liar charms, and which Stuart knew so well how to portray. The Treasurer of the United States, Samuel Meredith, lived nearly opposite the State House, at 171 Chestnut Street. An old friend- ship existed between the President and the Meredith family, and while in Philadelphia, before the Revolution, attending the meetings of the Jockey Club, Washington had stopped with Mr. Reese Meredith, the father of Samuel 7 97 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Meredith, and in a letter written by Mrs. Meredith to her husband some years earher she says : " General Washington invited him- self to breakfast with me yesterday. Tom and the girls were at table, and behaved ex- tremely well. It is observed the General is very grave. I do not w^onder at it. A man of his reflection must feel strongly our present unhappy situation." This letter was evidently written during the sessions of the Convention of 1787, when General ^Vashington is said to have been, at times, greatly discouraged with regard to the result of its deliberations. In the letter, which is chiefly taken up with family matters, Mrs. Meredith speaks of the strict economy that she is exercising in order to give her children educational advantages. This need for economy was probably due to the depreciation of the Continental currency, as General Meredith had advanced large sums of money for the support of the government during the Revolution, and was one of the chief contributors to the Bank of North America. These loans are said to have amounted to $140,000. In a diary, kept during his visit to Philadel- phia in 1787, General Washington recorded many tea-drinkings and evenings spent at the Merediths'. Although not generally spoken of as sociable in his tastes, Washington seems to have been somewhat addicted to tea-drinkings, as during this visit we find frequent mention of drinking tea with Mr. and Mrs. Samuel 98 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Powel, with Mr. Tench Francis, " in a large circle," with Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence, Mr. George Clymer, Mr. Francis Hopkinson, Miss Cadwalader, and at Dr. Shippen's " with Mrs. Livingston's party." * The Washington chariot was often to be seen on its w^ay to Lansdowne to the Penns and afterwards to visit the Binghams in the same place, or to Belmont, the country-seat of Judge Peters. Most cordial relations ex- isted between the Washington family and the Chews, the younger daughters of the house being especial favorites of the President and Mrs. Washington. The former, in his Phila- delphia diary of 1787, recorded that he "dined at Mrs. Chew's with the wedding guests." This was the wedding of Miss Peggy Chew, who married Colonel John Eager Howard, of Maryland. Mr. Benjamin Chew w^as then living at no South Third Street. Other friends of the President and Mrs. Washington, living on Third Street, were Colonel and Mrs. John Cox, of Bloomsbury, New Jersey. Colonel Cox had rendered good service to the Continental Army as Assistant Quartermaster under General Greene, the latter having made the appointment of John Cox and Charles Pettit to serve under him a condition of his acceptance of the position of * This was Dr. William Shippen's daughter, Anne Hume Shippen, who married Henry Beekman Livingston, of New York, a son of Robert R. Livingston. 99 E«#670. SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Quartermaster-General. Colonel Cox not only helped to provision the patriot army, but also supplied it with a large amount of ordnance from his foundry at Batisto, New Jersey. At his country-seat near Bloomsbury, General Washington had his head-quarters for a time, and here the Marquis de Lafayette and Ro- chambeau also enjoyed the hospitality of Col- onel Cox's home, where they had the pleasure of conversing in their own language with Mrs. Cox's French aunts, the Demoiselles Cheva- lier. Colonel Cox brought his family to Philadel- phia about 1791, and in this city Mrs. Cox w^as greatly beloved and admired. One evening, at a ball, a gentleman said to Colonel Cox, indicating a young matron in the company, " W^ho is that angel of a w^oman?" "My wife," promptly replied the proud husband. Upon one occasion, when Bishop "White met Mrs. Cox upon the street, he said, quite seriously, " Did you know, my dear madam, that a woe was pronounced upon you in the Bible ? " The fair lady appearing rather sur- prised, the genial Bishop added, " "Woe unto you when all men speak ^vell of you." The home of Judge Peters, at Belmont, which v^^as situated upon a high bluff over- looking the Schuylkill, was a frequent resort of the President. The society of this versa- tile and humorous jurist, whose witty sayings as well as his substantial aid had served to brighten some of the darkest hours of the war, zoo SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN was most agreeable to Washington, who, de- spite his habitual gravity, thoroughly enjoyed a joke. The Marquis de Chastellux described a dinner at Mr. James "Wilson's, where Mr. Peters, then Secretary of W^ar, was the life of the circle, singing songs of his ow^n composi- tion and " an Italian cantabile " with equal charm. Judge Peters perpetrated many don- mots, but none of his own sayings were more incisive than a speech made about him when he went to London, as one of the delegates sent by the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, to confer w^ith the English bishops with regard to granting the episcopacy to the new States. It appears that Mr. Peters was frequently the spokesman for the delega- tion, and one of the bishops said in alluding to their conferences, " We found him a delight- ful companion, a most well-bred gentleman, an accomplished scholar, and extremely well informed on every possible subject, except upon the one for Tvhich he came to England." That this delegation succeeded in its object redounds to the credit of the learned jurist, who spoke v/ell, even if he was not informed upon all points of divinity. Of Judge Peters, it w^as said in this connection that he was, like Lord Eldon, one of the buttresses of the church, rather than one of the pillars, giving his support from the outside. During Mr. Peters's visit to England he dined at Mr. Adams's, who was then in London lOZ SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN representing the United States. Mrs. Adams handed him some letters ^A;'hen he entered the drawing-room, and described him as carrying them to the light, breaking the seals, and ex- claiming as he threw them on the table, " Not one from my wife ! I have lost tvo letters from her. The devil ! I would rather have found two lines from her than ten folios from anyone else." This little story goes to prove that Mr. Peters was very much attached to the pretty Quaker girl whom he had married during the war. This young lady, Miss Sally Robinson, ■was a ward of General Anthony Wayne, and ■when he wrote to her in August, 1776, asking whether he should address her as " Miss ," or by the fond familiar name she once was known by, she promptly replied that when he wrote his letter it was " Miss," but in the interim it had been changed to something else, and that she \vas as violent a Whig as he could wish, " which," she added, " you will not be surprised at when you recolect with ■whome I have engaged to tread the Chequer'd paths of life, his [Mr. Peters's] sentiments is well known, and had I been a tory it would be in his power to convert me, but that you know I never "was." Another genial humorist, some years older than Judge Peters, was Francis Hopkinson, •who was appointed by the President one of the Judges for the district of Pennsylvania. This position Mr. Hopkinson held but a short 102 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN time, as he died early in the administration. His son, Joseph Hopkinson, the author of " Hail Columbia," was later given a similar position by President John Quincy Adams. Mr. Joseph Hopkinson was upon terms of great intimacy with Mr. Hamilton and with his successor in the Treasury, Oliver Wolcott, after whom he named one of his sons. In speaking of delightful evenings passed at Mr. Wolcott's, Judge Hopkinson said, "When I mention such names as Ellsworth, Ames, Griswold, Goodrich, and Tracy, you may imagine w^hat a rich, intellectual society it was. I w^ill not say that we have no such men now, but I do not know v^here they are." Miss Sally McKean, the daughter of Chief- Justice McKean, wrote with enthusiasm of Mrs. Washington's first reception in Phila- delphia, held on Christmas night ; and Mrs. \ John Adams has left one of her brilliant pen- pictures of the same scene. In her first letter written from the capital, Mrs. Adams was inclined to depreciate the social attractions of Philadelphia in com- parison w^ith those of New York ; she after- wards spoke w^ith great admiration of the society of the Quaker City. Perhaps Mrs. Adams's earlier letters from Bush Hill were colored by the discomfort of her surroundings. She described herself as living in a house, " green painted," at which the painters were still at work when she arrived, with no fire except in the kitchen. Mrs. Adams's woes, zp3 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN v/hich were evidently real and tangible ones, can be best understood from her own ex- pressions : " On Friday we arrived here, and late on Saturday evening we got our furniture in. On Sunday, Thomas was laid up with the rheu- matism ; on Monday, I \vas obliged to give Louisa an emetic ; on Tuesday, Mrs. Briesler w^as taken with her old pain in her stomach ; and, to complete the w^hole, on Thursday, Polly was seized with a violent pleuritic fever. She has been tw^ice bled, a blister upon her side, and has not been out of bed since, only as she is taken up to have her bed made. " And every day, the stormy ones excepted, from eleven until three, the house is filled v/ith ladies and gentlemen." Mrs. Adams adds that Mrs. Tobias Lear, wife of one of the President's secretaries, has just called to see her and administered the cold comfort of telling her that she was better off than Mrs. Washington would be w^hen she arrived, as the additions to her house would not be completed for a year. Last, but not least, Mrs. Adams had several of her best gowns ruined on the voyage from Boston, "the blessed effects of tumbling about the w^orld. Poor Mrs. Knox," she says, " is in still greater tribulation, as the vessel which sailed w^ith her furniture on board has not been heard of, although considerably overdue." After thus freely pouring out her sorrows to her sympathizing daughter, Mrs. Adams 104 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN assures her that she endures all these dis- comforts without repining, and frequently emerges from the confusion of her household to enjoy visits from Mrs. Bingham, Nancy Hamilton, and Mrs. Otis. She says that she is thankful to have a decent room in which to receive these ladies, and is pleased to find Mrs. Bingham more amiable and beautiful than ever, while " our Nancy Hamilton is the same un- affected affable girl we formerly knew her." * A few w^eeks later Mrs. Adams wrote of a dance at the Chew^s', a supper at Mr. Clymer's, and various festivities, including an Assembly ball, attended by "the President and Madam, the Vice-President and Madam, Ministers of State and their Madams, etc." " I should," she says, " spend a very dissipated winter, if I were to accept of one-half the invitations I receive, particularly to the routes, and tea and cards. Even Saturday evening is not excepted, and I refused an invitation of that kind for this evening." * This was Ann Hamilton, daughter of the third Andrews Hamilton and his Jewish wife, Abigail Franks, and great- granddaughter of the counsellor, whose able and brilliant defence of the liberty of the press in the John Peter Zenger trial, in New York, made proverbial the ability of the Philadelphia lawyer. Miss Ann Hamilton became the wife of James Lyle, of Philadelphia, in 1792. Although the Hamilton name has disappeared from Philadelphia life, the family is still represented by Mrs. James Lyle's descendants under the names of Morris, Kuhn, Evans, and Mahan in America, and in England by Becketts, Bruces, and Whichcotes. 105 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Although this daughter of the Puritans was opposed to festivities on Saturday evenings, she was not averse to theatre-going, as she v/rote that the managers had very civilly placed a box at the disposal of the Vice- President which he had promised to use whenever the President v/ished to attend the theatre. " Last Wednesday," Mrs. Adams says, "we were all there. The house is equal to most of the theatres we meet w^ith out of France. It is very neat, and prettily fitted up; the actors did their best; 'The School for Scandal' was the play. I missed the divine Farren ; but upon the w^hole it w^as very well performed." A younger and less experienced observer of these gay scenes w^as Miss Charlotte Cham- bers, v/ho wrote to her mother from Philadel- phia of the many delights of the capital. Miss Chambers was so fortunate as to be taken to drive by Mrs. Washington, with whom she had much pleasant conversation, and for whom she entertained a warm admiration. To the eyes of an unsophisticated girl, fresh from her quiet home in Chambersburg, with its many Scotch Presbyterian restrictions, an Assembly ball must have seemed equal to the most elaborate function at the Court of St. James. In describing a ball given on the President's birthday, Miss Chambers dvv^ells upon the con- trast presented by the rich elegance of Mrs. Washington's attire, and the elaborate orna- io6 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN ments, feathers, and jewels worn by the wives of the foreign ambassadors, whose costumes "glittered from the floor to the summit of their head-dress." Although the capital was a gay whirl of delight to the village girl, she was discrimi- nating in her estimates, and never seemed to have had her wise little head turned by all the attention she received. She wrote to her mother of dining at Mrs. John Nicholson's, of spending the evening at Mrs. Madison's, and of walks -with Miss Binney, during which they met Augustus Muhlenberg, Septimus Clay- pole, and General Scott, of Kentucky. The latter gentleman had just called upon Miss Chambers and Miss Binney to propose a party to Gray's Gardens, a favorite pleasure resort on the Schuylkill River. Miss Chambers evi- dently enjoyed the society of the Kentucky gentleman, as she recorded the fact that he had an extensive acquaintance, great original- ity, and was constantly endeavoring to vary and increase their amusements. Admired and feted as she was in this city, Miss Chambers \vas not destined to marry a Philadelphian. She became the wife of Israel Ludlow in 1796, and was w^ith him a pioneer in the settlement of Ohio. Balls were always given on the President's birthday. Mr. Isaac Weld, in his travels, speaks of one birthday, w^hen Washington received from eleven o'clock in the morning until three in the afternoon in the large parlors 107 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN on the first floor of his house, while Mrs. Washington received in her drawing-room up- stairs. After this long day in company, the President and his wife attended a ball in the evening, which was held this year at " Rick- ett's riding place," on Chestnut Street above Sixth. In speaking of one of Mrs. Washington's drawing-rooms, Mr. Adams said: "As the evening was fair and mild, there was a great circle of ladies and a greater of gentlemen. General Wayne w^as there in glory. This man's feelings must be w^orth a guinea a min- ute. The Pennsylvanians claim him as theirs, and show him a marked respect." This was when General Wayne returned from his suc- cessful expedition against the Indians on the banks of the Miami, after an absence of three years. The victorious General was met by three troops of Light Horse, by v^^hich he was escorted into the city amid the ringing of bells, the firing of salutes from the Centre Square, and other demonstrations of joy on the part of the thousands of citizens who crowded the streets to ^A7elcome the hero of the hour. When Mr. Jefferson lived in Philadelphia, he showed his preference for rural life by estab- lishing himself near Gray's Ferry. In a letter written to Mrs. Randolph he says : " V/e are in sight both of Bartram's and Gray's gardens, but have the river between them and us." He speaks of sauntering on the banks of the Schuylkill with his younger daughter, Maria, 1 08 Colonel Joliu Cox Page 99 Major-General Anthony Wayne 4 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN who was in the habit of spending her Sundays out-of-doors with him. The life of the Secretary of State was not, at this time, marked by the extreme simplicity that his latter-day followers claim for him, as he kept five horses, and in addition to his French steward. Petit, and his daughter's maid, had four or five men-servants in his establishment. Mr. Jefferson, whose tastes were scientific and literary, found much more to interest him in the social life of Philadelphia than in that of New York. Here, in addition to the distin- guished men gathered together from the differ- ent States of the Union, w^as a congenial circle composed of members of the Philosophical Society, over which Mr. Jefferson was destined to preside later. In this circle were those noted for wit, geniality, and charm of manner, as well as for learning, — such men as the Reverend William White and Dr. Ashbel Green, both Chaplains of Congress ; Dr. Abercrombie, Dr. Blackwell, Dr. \Ai^illiam Smith, Provost of the College of Philadelphia, Dr. Benjamin Rush, Dr. Caspar Wistar, and Mr. John Vaughan, ■who was a warm personal friend of Mr. Jeffer- son's, although opposed to him in politics. William Bartram, who, like his father, John Bartram, was an enthusiastic botanist, was a near neighbor of Mr. Jefferson's, although, as he says, separated by the Schuylkill. Mr. Bartram's botanical garden w^as a source of much pleasure to Mr. Jefferson, who w^rote to Z09 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN his son-in-law for seeds for Mr. Bartram, being especially anxious to give him those of the Kentucky coffee tree. David Rittenhouse was then President of the Philosophical Society, and his nephews, Benjamin Smith Barton, Professor of Natural History in the College of Philadelphia, and Judge William Barton, who made the design for the seal of the United States,* vi^ere asso- ciated with him in this learned institution. For the genius of Rittenhouse the Virginia statesman had a sincere admiration ; indeed, the language used by him in speaking of the astronomer's ability seems almost extrava- gant: "As an artist," said Mr. Jefferson, "he has exhibited as great a proof of mechanical genius as the world has ever produced. He has not, indeed, made a world, but he has by * As there has been considerable discussion with regard to the Great Seal of the United States, it is interesting to know that letters in possession of members of the Bar- ton family, in the handwriting of Mr. Barton, Charles Thomson, Secretary of Congress, and General Washing- ton, prove that Mr. Barton's design w^as accepted and is the one now in use. General Washington wrote at length, complimenting Mr. Barton upon his design, and the Sec- retary of Congress said, in a letter written to Mr. Barton, June 24, 1782, " I enclose you a copy of the device by w^hich you have displayed your skill in heraldic science, which meets with general approbation." In 1789 William Barton was nominated by President Washington one of the Judges of the Western Territory. (" The Flag of the United States and other National Flags," by George Henry Preble, pp. 690-693.) xxo Judge William Barton By Charles Willson Peale SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN' imitation approached nearer its Maker than any man who has lived, from the creation to this day." This was in allusion to the celebrated plane- tarium of Rittenhouse, usually called the "Orrery," of w^hich Joel Barlow in his " Co- lumbiad " wrote in much the same strain as Mr. Jefferson : " See the sage Rittenhouse, with ardent eye Lift the long tube and pierce the starry sky ; Clear in his view the circling systems roll, And broader splendors gild the central pole. He marks w^hat laws the eccentric wanderers bind, Copies creation in his forming mind." David Rittenhouse, a self-taught mathema- tician, the son of a farmer of Norriton Town- ship, whose instruction w^as gained from some books and tools left him by an uncle, was one of the most remarkable men of his time. Read- ing of young Rittenhouse covering the handle of his plough, the fences, or whatever came nearest to him in the course of his farm work, with mathematical calculations, we are re- minded of another Pennsylvania boy who drew pictures in the pauses of his ploughing, and of still another youth, across the water among the hills of Scotland, w^ho brightened his daily task by singing of the "wee crimson-tipped" flower that v/as turned up in the furrow. The genius of Rittenhouse, like that of his brothers in art and poetry, although united to extreme modesty, was of the kind that could not be suppressed by obstacles and difficulties. The ziz SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN elder Rittenhouse much preferred to have his son remain upon his farm, but wisely yielded to his importunities and allo-wed him to enter upon philosophical and mechanical pursuits, giving him money to purchase such tools as were necessary for his work. Afterwards the Reverend Thomas Barton, who married a sister of Mr. Rittenhouse, and went to England in 1754, brought his brother-in-law a number of scientific books. At the age of seventeen, young Rittenhouse constructed a ^vooden clock of very ingenious \vorkmanship. The cele- brated "Orrery" was completed some years later. Mr. Rittenhouse, being known as the best mathematician in the Colonies, was appointed to settle the limits between New York and New Jersey, and to draw a still more momen- tous boundary line, that between Pennsyl- vania and Maryland, known as the Mason and Dixon's line. With men so learned among its citizens, and with an association as interesting to scientists as the Philosophical Society, it is not strange that many foreigners of distinction came to Philadelphia. Dr. Joseph Priestley was at the capital during some months of the second administration, living on High Street, r^'. where Mr. Twining visited him. Mr. Adams wrote to his wife of dining with Dr. Priestley at the President's, where the English guest enunciated a doctrine as pleasing to the learned as to the gay, which was that " old age was 112 M:, . William Barton By Charles Willsoii Peale Page 213 i SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN the pleasantest part of life, and that he had found it so." During the first summer of the second administration the dreaded scourge of yellow- fever visited Philadelphia with great severity. Mrs. Drinker recorded in her diary under date of August 23, 1793 : " A Fever prevails in the City, particularly in Water St. between Race and Arch Sts. of ye malignant kind; numbers have died of it. Some say it -was occasioned by damaged Coffee and Fish, Tvhich were stored at W"^ Smiths', others say it w^as imported in a Vessel from Cape Franco is, w^hich lay at our wharf, or at ye wharf back our store. Doctor Hutchinson is ordered by ye Governor to enquire into ye report. He found, as 'tis said, upwards of 70 persons sick in that square of different disorders ; several of this putrid or bilious fever. Some are ill in Water St. between Arch and Market Sts. and some in Race Street. 'Tis really an alarming and serious time. •'H. S. D. [Henry S. Drinker] has brought the Books up to the House, that he may be as little as possible in ye lower street." Mr. Jefferson wrote on September 2 : " A malignant fever has been generated in the filth of the docks of Philadelphia, which has given great alarm. It is considerably infec- tious. At first it was confined to Water Street, but it is now in many parts of the city." A little later, Mr. Jefferson, who was 8 113 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN detained in the stricken city by important public affairs, wrote: "The President goes off the day after tomorrow, as he had always intended, Knox then takes flight. Hamilton is ill of the fever, as is said. Poor Hutcheson dined with me on Friday sennight, was taken that day on his return home and died the day before yesterday. It is difficult to say Avhether republican interest has suffered more by his death or Genet's extravagance." This was the distinguished Dr. James Hutch- inson. Another public-spirited man who lost his life at this time was Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant, who was associated with Dr. Hutch- inson and others in an effort to discover the cause of the prevailing epidemic, as well as to care for the sick and dying. The President, with his usual disregard of his own safety and comfort, expressed his desire to stay at his post and send Mrs. Washington and her grandchildren to Mount Vernon. The resolute little lady, however, refused to be sent away without her husband, although, as Washington wrote to Tobias Lear, their house " was in a manner blockaded by the disorder, and was becoming every day more fatal." Finally, not being willing to subject Mrs. Washington and the children to the danger of infection any longer, the Presi- dent, with his family, set out for Mount Ver- non on the loth of September. Upon his return to the capital, in November, the President took a house in Germantown, 114 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN in which suburban resort many Philadelphians had taken refuge ; and members of Congress, as they arrived from other States, gathered around him. Mr. Jefferson, who reached Ger- mantown early in November, speaks of the crowded state of the little town, where it seemed impossible to lodge another person. " As a great favor," he says, " I have got a bed in the corner of the public room of a tavern, and must continue till some of the Philadelphians make a vacancy by moving into the city. Then we must give from 4 to 6 or 8 dollars a week for cuddies ■without a bed, and sometimes without a chair or table. There is not a single lodging house in the place." Later, Mr. Jefferson succeeded in securing quarters for Mr. Madison and Mr. Monroe, telling them that they would have to mess at the tavern across the v^ay, as they all had to do. By the loth of November the fever had, almost entirely disappeared ; but the Presi- dent remained in Germantown until the meet- ing of Congress, as Mr. Jefferson thought, to furnish a rallying-point for the members. "The refugee inhabitants," he says, "are very generally returning into the City. Mr. T. Shippen and lady are here. He is very slowly getting better. Still confined to the house. She is well and very hurley." The house selected for the residence of the Chief Executive, in the autumn of 1793, was one standing upon the west side of the Main IIS SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Street opposite Market Square. This sub- stantial mansion, with its garden, full of fine trees, running back to Greene Street, was then owned by Colonel Isaac Franks, of the Conti- nental Army. Again in the summer of 1794, the President occupied this Germantown house from July until late in September. It was during one, or both, of these residences in Germantown that G. W. Parke Custis was entered among the students of the old Academy at the corner of School House Lane and Greene Street. The Academy and the house stand to-day, ap- parently untouched by time and unchanged by the modern thirst for improvement, so called. The latter is the residence of Mr. Elliston Perot Morris, a great-grandson of Samuel Mor- ris, Captain of the First Troop City Cavalry. Looking through the grating into the garden, it is not difficult to people the lovely shaded grounds with figures of the past. The Wash- ingtons w^ere so fond of an out-of-door life that we may believe that Mrs. Washington often sat under one of these great trees, with her knitting in her hands, surrounded by her grandchildren, while the stately figure of the President was to be seen walking to and fro among the shrubbery alone, engaged in earnest thought ; or in the company of such asso- ciates in the government as Jefferson, Madi- son, Monroe, and Hamilton; or with the great Pennsylvania lawyers, James W^ilson, Richard Peters, "William Rawle, Edward Tilghman, 116 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN f Attorney-General Bradford, Edward Shippen, William Lewis, and Tench Francis; or fight- ing over again the battles of the Republic in the congenial company of General Knox, Col- onel Cox, Clement Biddle, or Colonel Walter Stewart, whose father-in-law, Blair McClena- chan, was a near neighbor, as he owned Mr. Chew's house, a little farther up on the Main Street. Chief-Justice Chew sold his country-seat, Cliveden, to Mr. McClenachan in 1779, because he and his family were so much distressed by the havoc wrought there during the battle of Germantown that they did not wish to return to it. Cliveden was afterwards repurchased by its original owner, who was living there in 1797, as the Duke de la Rochefoucauld, who left America in 1798, speaks of visiting his good old friend, Mr. Benjamin Chew, in his country home. X17 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN CHAPTER IV. SALONS GAY AND GRAVE FOR some months after the British oc- cupation of Philadelphia, the lines of distinction between the Whig and Tory ladies were observed in the social life of the chief city of the Colonies, these lines having been defined by the absence from, or attend- ance of these ladies upon, certain entertain- ments given by the English officers. The following winter, a ball was given at the City Tavern " to the young ladies who had mani- fested their attachment to the cause of virtue and freedom, by sacrificing every convenience to the love of their country." Whether incited to retaliation by this implied reproach, or by General Wayne's caustic allu- sion to the devotion of the Tory belles to "the heavenly, sw^eet, pretty redcoats," Rebecca Franks, daring and original as she was beau- tiful, dressed up a small dog in the colors then worn in honor of the French alliance, and had it turned loose in the ball-room upon the occasion of a grand ball given to Mrs. Wash- ington either by M. Gerard, or by the French residents of Philadelphia. Somewhat less scathing were Miss Franks's practical jokes, than those inflicted by her tongue, for, like a flash of lightning, it was impossible to tell where her wit would strike ; one day General xz8 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Charles Lee was jeered at about his " sherry- vallies," while upon another the British officer, Sir Henry Clinton, received a sharp rebuke from this capricious lady. Chief among the Tory belles were Miss Franks, beautiful Margaret Shippen, — who married Benedict Arnold, — her sisters, Mary and Sarah Shippen, the Chews, Cliftons, Riches, Swifts, Redmans, Aliens, Bonds, and Hamiltons. M. de Chastellux, who was in Philadelphia in 1780 and 1781, speaks of an Assembly ball from which the Tory ladies were excluded, one young lady present. Miss Footman, being " rather contraband, that is to say suspected of not being a very good Whig." The names of the dances, as described by the French gentleman, could not have been particularly agreeable to Tory ears, as they, he says, "like the toasts w^e drink at table, have some rela- tion to politics. One is called the success of the campaign, another, the defeat of Burgoyne, and a third, Clinton's retreat." Whig and Tory ladies may have stood aloof from each other for a time, but connections by blood or marriage, similarity of tastes and edu- cation, and the limited area of the old city, all tended to draw^ them together, and before the war v^as fairly over we find W^higs and Tories dancing and drinking tea together in great har- mony. Mrs. Samuel Shoemaker wrote from Phila- delphia to her husband, then in London, under 119 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN date of December, 1783: "That set [the Tory party] have prudently determined, as they cannot exist in retirement, either at Lans- downe or anywhere else out of public places, to join the others, and Gov. [John] Penn and lady, Mrs. Allen and mother . . . and all their former intimates, are now as happy at Mrs. Stewart's, formerly M'Clanachan, at the French Minister's, or in any other Whig Society, as ever they were in the select circle they once were the principals of." A social and international entertainment that brought together the various elements of the city, both grave and gay, was a superb ball given by the French Minister, M. de la Lu- zerne, to celebrate the birth of the Dauphin of France. The ne^A^s of the advent of the ill- starred little Dauphin, which ^vas received with wild demonstrations of joy by the fickle Parisian populace, w^as celebrated with great rejoicings in America, in consequence of the friendly feel- ing that existed between the two nations, and the aid and support that the French were then giving to the struggling Republic. General Washington celebrated the event at West Point with a dinner, a dance, and fire- works, and w^as in Philadelphia with Count Ro- chambeau by the 15th of July to participate in the entertainment given by the French Minister. Mr. Jacob Hiltzheimer and Mrs. Henry Drinker both speak in their diaries of this ball. The former writes, under date of July 15, 1782 : *' Great doings this evening at ye Z20 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN French Ambassador's (who lives at John Dick- insons House up Chestnut St.) — on account of ye birth of ye Dauphin of France — feasting, fireworks, &c., for which they have been pre- paring for some weeks." The house which was occupied by M. de la Luzerne \A^as the old mansion on Chestnut Street above Sixth, in which Mrs. Ferguson once held her literary gatherings. At this time the house belonged to Mr. John Dickinson, from whom it was rented for the French Min- ister. Early in the next century it was the residence of Chief-Justice W^illiam Tilghman. This house, not being large enough for an entertainment upon so grand a scale as that planned by M. de la Luzerne, he had a great frame pavilion erected upon one side to serve as a dancing-room. This pavilion, -whose deco- rated ceiling was supported by pillars, was open upon all sides. From it the guests could step into the garden, where numerous seats w^ere placed under the trees, and where pine and cedar branches were arranged into arti- ficial groves and bow^ers. To give an idea of the magnitude of this entertainment, a w^riter of the time recorded, among other items, that M. de la Luzerne had borrowed "thirty cooks from the French army to assist in providing an entertainment suited to the size and dignity of the company." The 15th of July, the date named for the French Minister's ball, was one of great ex- citement in the gay world of Philadelphia, and 121 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN in the work-a-day world as well, tradesmen of various kinds being in demand, and barbers and hair-dressers in particular requisition. " The shops were crowded with customers," relates an eye-witness of these scenes. " Hair- dressers w^ere retained ; tailors, milliners, and mantua makers w^ere to be seen covered with sweat and out of breath, in every street. . . . The morning of this day w^as ushered in by a corps of hair-dressers, occupying the place of the city watchmen. Many ladies were obliged to have their heads dressed between four and six o'clock in the morning, so great was the demand and so numerous were the engage- ments this day of the gentlemen of the comb. At half past seven o'clock was the time fixed in the tickets for the meeting of the company. The approach of the hour was proclaimed by the rattling of all the carriages in the city." After reading a description of this ball, written by Dr. Benjamin Rush to a friend, the splendors of the famous Mischianza lose some of their radiance. In point of intellect- ual brilliancy, the Franco-Republican enter- tainment far exceeded that given by the British officers, for here -was gathered a remarkable assemblage of statesmen, w^arriors, and diplo- mats. Dr. Rush says that forty tickets were sent to the governor of each State, to be dis- tributed by him to the principal officers and gentlemen of his government, and an equal number to General Washington, to be dis- tributed to the principal officers of the army. 122 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN " About eight o'clock," says the genial chron- icler of this fete, " our family consisting of Mrs. Rush, our cousin Susan Hall, our sister Sukey and myself, with our good neighbors Mrs. and Mr. Henry, entered the apartment provided for this splendid entertainment. W^e v/ere received through a ■wide gate by the minister and conducted by one of his family to the dancing room. The scene now almost exceeds description. The numerous lights distributed through the garden, the splendour of the room we were approaching, the size of the company which w^as now collected and which consisted of about 700 persons ; the brilliancy and variety of their dresses, and the band of music which had just began to play, formed a scene which resembled enchantment. Sukey Stockton said 'her mind was carried be- yond and out of itself.'* We entered the room together, and here w^e saw the world in min- iature. All the ranks, parties, and professions in the city, and all the officers of government w^ere fully represented in this assembly. Here were ladies and gentlemen of the most an- cient as well as modern families. Here w^ere * Susannah Stockton, a sister of Mrs. Benjamin Rush and of Richard, the signer, married Lewis Pintard, who belonged to a prominent Huguenot family of New Rochelle, New York. Another sister, Abigail Stockton, married Cap- tain Pintard, a brother of Lewis Pintard. The Stockton sisters all spent their girlhood at Morven, the old Stockton mansion at Princeton, New Jersey, still standing and in the possession of the Stockton family. 123 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN lawyers, doctors and ministers of the gospel. Here were the learned faculty of the college, and among them many who knew^ not whether Cicero plead in Latin or in Greek ; or whether Horace was a Roman or a Scotchman. Here were painters and musicians, poets and phi- losophers, and men who were never moved by beauty or harmony, or by rhyme or reason. Here were merchants and gentlemen of inde- pendent fortunes, as well as many respectable and opulent tradesmen. Here were whigs and men who formerly bore the character of tories. Here were the president and members of congress, governors of states and generals of armies ; ministers of finance and foreign affairs. In a word the assembly was truly republican. Here were to be seen heroes and patriots in close conversation with each other. Washington and Dickinson held several dia- logues together. Here were to be seen men conversing with each other who had appeared in all the different stages of the American war. Dickinson and Morris frequently reclined to- gether against the same pillar. Here were to be seen states-men and warriors, from the opposite ends of the continent, talking of the history of the war in their respective states. Rutledge and Walton from the south, here conversed with Lincoln and Duane from the east and north. Here and there, too, appeared a solitary character walking among the arti- ficial bowers in the garden. The celebrated author of 'Common Sense' retired frequently 124 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN from the company to analyze his thoughts and to enjoy the repast of his own original ideas. Here were to be seen men who had opposed each other in the councils and parties of their country, forgetting all former resentments and exchanging civilities with each other. Mifflin and Reed accosted each other w^ith all the kindness of ancient friends. Here were to be seen men of various countries and languages, such as Americans and Frenchmen, English- men and Scotchmen, Germans and Irishmen, conversing with each other like children of one father. And lastly, here were to be seen the extremes of the civilized and savage life." Dr. Rush further explains the striking contrast mentioned in this last sentence by saying that an Indian chief was present "in his savage habit and the Count Rochambeau in his splen- did and expensive uniform." Several instances, of great generosity and thoughtfulness on the part of the French Minister, are recorded. In order to humor the taste of the populace for spectacular enter- tainments, M. de la Luzerne had a board fence on one side of the grounds pulled down, and had a light, open fence put up in its place, through which a full view of the dancing-room could be had. By this means thousands of people v/ere able to witness the brilliant scene. In addition to this, says Dr. Rush, and whether speaking seriously or not it is impossible to tell, " Under the orchestra there w^as a private room where several quaker ladies, whose dress 125 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN •would not permit them to join the assembly, were indulged with a sight of the company through a gauze curtain. " This little attention to the curiosity of the ladies marks in the strongest manner the min- ister's desire to oblige everybody." If the last was a little jest of the good Doc- tor's, intended for a Quaker friend to whom he w^as writing, it was perpetrated w^ith admirable skill and vraisemblance. Another instance is re- lated of the kindness of M. de la Luzerne, who proposed to distribute two pipes of Madeira wine and six hundred dollars in small change among the populace, which was gathered around the house and the adjoining streets to the number of several thousands. " From this act of generosity," says Dr. Rush, "he was dissuaded by some gentlemen of the city, who w^ere afraid that it might prove the occasion of a riot or some troublesome proceedings. The money devoted to this purpose was char- itably distributed among the prisoners in the jails, and patients in the hospitals in the city." That the populace might not be entirely de- prived of some share in the rejoicings of this fete de naissance, some fireworks were exhibited from an open lot near the Minister's house. These the little Quaker children in the neigh- borhood were permitted to enjoy, as Mrs. Drinker relates that " C. James and our chil- dren spent part of ye evening on ye top of ye House, >vhere they could see ye Fireworks." At the supper, which was served in three large 126 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN tents so connected as to make one room, Dr. Rush says that " the Chevalier de la Luzerne appeared with all the splendour of the minister and all the politeness of a gentleman, as he walked along the tables and addressed himself in particular to every lady." Superb as was this entertainment, the con- viviality and ease essential to complete en- joyment seemed to be lost sight of in the impressive decorum of the scene. While ad- miring this excessive "good breeding," which led several gentlemen to remark that " the company looked and behaved more as if they were worshipping than eating," Dr. Rush found something lacking, a void that could only have been filled by an ode to the Dauphin, sung or repeated, which, he thought, would have served to draw the company together in a genuine rejoicing. That an ode had been composed for this occasion by Mr. William Smith, son of the Reverend W^illiam Smith, Dr. Rush states in his letter, adding, " but for what cause I know not, it did not make its appearance." As M. de Chastellux does not describe the grand fete of his friend and compatriot, we may conclude that he was not in Philadelphia at the time. He travelled much, North and South, was in Williamsburg, Virginia, in May of this year, and later in New England, visiting Colonel and Mrs. Langdon and Colonel Went- worth, in Portsmouth, and the Tracys, in Newburyport. 127 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Mr. John Tracy, the most considerable mer- chant of the place, entertained M. de Chas- tellux and the French gentleman with him. Mrs. Tracy and her sister, and a cousin. Miss Lee, ^vho is described as possessing an agree- able and spirituelle face, made the evening pass pleasantly ; Miss Lee sang, and induced M. de Vaudreuil to join her. After the ladies had left the room, M. de Chastellux relates that the gentlemen continued drinking Mr. Tracy's very excellent Madeira and sherry, and that, in consequence of pipes which were intro- duced, according to the custom of the country, the other gentlemen — not M. de Chastellux — lost their heads, and were glad to be led home to their beds. The French gentleman wished it to be clearly understood that it was the American pipes, and not the imported Madeira, that brought about this unhappy state of af- fairs. In Boston M. de Chastellux was welcomed by his " ancie?ine connoissance M. Brick," with whom he dined, and by -whom he was intro- duced to the Assembly balls, of which this gentleman, Mr. Samuel Breck, was a man- ager.* Here the French gentleman had the * Mr. Samuel Breck, of Boston, father of the Honorable Samuel Breck, author of the *' Recollections." Mr. Samuel Breck, the elder, was an opulent merchant who lived at the corner of Winter and Tremont Streets, Boston, which city he left in 1792, on account of the " iniquitous taxes," and settled at 321 High Street, Philadelphia, where he spent the remainder of his days. 128 Honorable Samuel Breck Bv Loiihet SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN pleasure of seeing the Marquis de Vaudreuil open the ball with Lady Temple ; and after observing the grace with which M. de I'Aig- uille, the elder, and M. Truguet each per- formed in the minuet, he enjoyed the still greater satisfaction of contrasting, to the ad- vantage of his own compatriots, the dancing of Americans and Frenchmen. Towards the ladies, M. de Chastellux was more compli- mentary, pronouncing Mrs. Jarvis, her sister. Miss Betsy Broom, and Mrs. Whitmore the best dancers in the room. Although the women present were well dressed, and the coup d'ceil of the dancing-room superior to a similar as- sembly at the City Tavern in Philadelphia, M. de Chastellux was obliged to admit that the dressing was less elegant and tasteful than in the Quaker City. Upon another occasion M. de Chastellux records his pride in the dancing of two other fellow-countrymen, the Comte de Damas and the Vicomte de Noailles. This was at a ball given in Philadelphia. " Strangers," he says, "have generally the privilege of being compli- mented w^ith the handsomest women. The Comte de Damas * had Mrs. Bingham for a partner, and the Vicomte de Noailles, Miss Shippen. Both of them, like true philoso- phers, testified a great respect for the manners * This was probably Comte Charles de Damas, as M. de Chastellux repeats the name frequently in his letters. Guillaume Matthieu Comte Dumas was in America at the 9 129 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN of the country by not quitting their handsome partners the whole evening; in other respects they were the admiration of all the assembly, from the grace and nobleness with which they danced ; I may even assert, to the honor of my country, that they surpassed a Chief Jus- tice of Carolina (Mr. Pendleton) and tw^o members of Congress, one of whom (Mr. Duane) passed however for being by lo per cent more lively than all the other dancers. The ball was suspended towards midnight, by a supper served in the manner of coffee, on several different tables. On passing into the dining room, the Chevalier de la Luzerne pre- sented his hand to Mrs. Morris, and gave her the precedence, an honor pretty generally bestowed upon her, as she is the richest woman in the city." M. de Chastellux was quite correct in speak- ing of Mrs. Robert Morris as a great social leader at this time. Her husband's wealth and important position in the Republic, the stand- ing of her family, and her o\vn tact and ability all combined to make Mrs. Morris an impor- tant personage in the fashionable world. Mrs. , Drinker w^rites of her daughter, and her young same time, and in his memoirs speaks of Count Charles de Damas, wrho was, like himself an aide-de-camp to Count Rochambeau. The names and titles are easily confused. The Comte Dumas -was the more distinguished of the two, having later served as aide-de-camp to Lafayette and fought with Napoleon, while under Louis Philippe he was made Councillor of State and a Peer of France. 130 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN friends, having gone to see the greenhouse of Robert Morris as one of the sights of the town. This was at his country-place, " The Hills," as Mrs. Drinker says that the distance was over three miles. Mr. Samuel Breck, in recalling the elegance of the Morris household, does not dwell upon the white liveries of the servants, as does another writer of the time, but he says very emphatically that such luxury was to be found nowhere else in America. " It \vas the pure and unalloyed which the Morrises sought to place before their friends, v/ithout the abate- ments that so frequently accompany the dis- plays of fashionable life. No badly cooked or cold dinners at their tables ; no pinched fires upon their hearths ; no paucity of waiters ; no awkward loons in their drawing rooms. "We have no such establishments now. God in his mercy gives us plenty of provisions, but it would seem as if the devil possessed the cooks." M. de Chastellux says of Mr. Morris: "He is a large man, very simple in his manners, his mind is subtle and acute, a zealous repub- lican and an Epicurean philosopher, he has always played a distinguished part in social life and in affairs." One of M. de Chastellux's earliest visits was to Mrs. Richard Bache, -whom he found en- gaged, in company with Mrs. Joseph Reed and a number of Philadelphia ladies, in making shirts for the Continental soldiers. "Simple 131 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN in her manners," he says, " like her respect- able father [Dr. Franklin] she possesses his benevolence." No traveller who visited America at this time, seems to have so thoroughly understood the position and capabilities of the women of the Republic as did M. de Chastellux. After being delightfully entertained at Colonel Samuel Meredith's, where Miss Polly Cad- walader made a conquest of Mr. Lynch, while Mrs. Meredith conversed with the narrator upon literature, poetry, romance, and, above all, on the history of France, upon which she was well informed, the admiring Frenchman constructed the follow^ing somewhat involved epigram: "It must be acknowledged, with regard to the ladies who compose it [Mrs. Meredith's circle] that none of them is what may be called handsome; this mode of ex- pression is, perhaps, a little too circuitous for the American women, but if they have wit enough to comprehend, and good sense enough to be flattered with it, their eulogium will be complete." M. de Chastellux supped, dined, and danced with both Whigs and Tories. He makes par- ticular mention of such leading Whig families as the Peterses, W^illings, Morrises, Powels, Cadwaladers,* and Binghams. At the house * As early as 1766, soon after the repeal of the Stamp Act, Colonel Lambert Cadwalader, after eulogizing Mr. Pitt for his share in the good work, wrote to Colonel George Morgan, of Pittsburgh, in the following patriotic and pro- 132 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN of the Virginia statesman, Colonel Theodoric Bland, he drank tea, which function the French Marquis described as a sort of as- sembly, pretty much like the conversazioni of Italy. Here the Marquis de Chastellux met Mr. Izard, of South Carolina, and Arthur Lee, both recently returned from Europe, and his three compatriots, the Marquis de Lafayette, the Vicomte de Noailles, and the Comte de Damas. The scene, he says, "was decorated by several married and unmarried ladies, among whom Miss Shippen, daughter of Dr. Shippen, and a cousin of Mrs. Arnold, claimed particular distinction." Dr. William Shippen was a stanch friend of the administration and of the Chief Executive, having served the latter during the war as Director-General of the Medical Department, and endured with him "the slings and arrows of outrageous " invective at the hands of Con- way and others. The Miss Shippen to whom M. de Chastellux so frequently alluded was Dr. William Shippen's daughter Anne, who soon after married Mr. Livingston. At Dr. Shippen's home the French gentle- man was introduced to a scene that must have reminded him of a salon in his own country as phetic strain: "America is again free! God bless her; long may she remain so. As to the Act asserting the right of Parliament to tax the Colonies, we shall regard it as ■waste paper. Let us only enjoy liberty but half a century longer, and we will defy the power of England to enslave us." 133 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN much as a " conversazione " of Italy. " In the afternoon," he says, " we drank tea with Miss Shippen. This was the first time, since my arrival in America, that I had seen music introduced into society, and mixed with its amusements. Miss Rutledge played upon the harpsichord, and played very well. Miss Shippen sang with timidity, but with a pretty voice. Mr. Ottaw, Secretary to M. de Lu- zerne,* sent for his harp and accompanied Miss Shippen playing several pieces. Music naturally leads to dancing ; the Vicomte de Noailles, took down a violin, which was mounted with harp strings, and he made the young ladies dance, whilst their mothers and other grave personages chatted in another room." Mrs. Samuel Pov^^el, for \vhom Mrs. John Adams expressed so warm an admiration, made a deep impression upon the critical and always discriminating Frenchman, which he showed by frequently going to her home for a chat and staying until a late hour. " She is," he says, " well read and intelligent ; but what distinguished her most is her taste for conver- sation, and the truly European use that she knows how to make of her understanding and information." Of the happy married life of Mr. and Mrs. Powel, M. de. Chastellux writes : " I shall not say that they have lived together * Louis Guillaume Otto, afterwards charge d'affaires in the place of M. Barb6-Marbois. 134 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN in the closest union as man and wife, for twenty years, as that would not convey the idea of perfect equality in America, but as two friends, happily matched in point of under- standing, taste and information." Mrs. Powel was a sister of Mr. Thomas Willing, and after the death of his wife, this "motherly and friendly" lady, as Mrs. Adams described her, was a great help to her brother in the care of his large family of young daughters. The eldest of the group, Mrs. William Bingham, was a bride of seventeen when M. de Chastellux met her. Although those who knew Anne Willing in her girlhood described her as beautiful and charming, it is evident that her attractions, at this early time, \vere only a promise of the full flo^ver of beauty that was to grace the social life of the first and second administrations. Mr. Thomas Willing, the father of Mrs. Bing- ham, had inherited from his father, Charles Willing, some property, a large commercial business, and an excellent ability for affairs. During the war he and his partner, Robert Morris, were the financial bulwarks of the Revolution, in addition to which they held im- portant positions in the Provincial and Conti- nental Congresses. Both Mr. Willing and Mr. Morris had hesitated to sign the Declaration of Independence, because they hoped for an adjustment of the difficulties with the mother country ; but when the Revolution became an accomplished fact, no men were more ardent 135 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN in their support of the cause of the Colonies than these two merchant princes of old Phila- delphia. When the Bank of North America was chartered, Mr. "Willing was elected its President, having associated with him in its management such substantial citizens as James Wilson, Samuel Osgood, Samuel Meredith, Cad\valader Morris, Samuel Inglis, Timothy Matlack, and Thomas Fitzsimons, an Irish merchant and patriot. The establishment of this bank, whose object was to raise money for the prosecution of the w^ar, \vas greatly facilitated by the election of Mr. Morris to be Superintendent of Finance, and by the arrival of a French frigate bringing four hundred and seventy thousand dollars in specie for the use of the provisional government. Thomas Wil- ling, John Ross, Gouverneur Morris, George Meade, David H. Conyngham, and other men of means had sufficient confidence in the ulti- mate success of the Colonies to subscribe largely to this bank, although, as Gouverneur Morris said, the government, w^hich was the largest stockholder, always put in its deposit w^ith one hand and borrowed it with the other. Mr. William Bingham, w^hen a very young man, and at the commencement of his suc- cessful career, generously subscribed five thou- sand pounds to the Bank of Pennsylvania for the purpose of supplying the army of the United States with provisions for two months, and this in one of the darkest hours of the struggle for liberty. Upon the formation of 136 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN the Bank of North America, Mr. Bingham again subscribed largely, as did Mr. Willing, its President. Those, who afterwards spoke of Mr. Bingham and other stockholders of the bank as having made money out of the war, seemed to forget that at the time these men subscribed funds to a bank established by a provisional government, the result of the war was still involved in great uncertainty. If in the end they made much, the risk that they ran was proportionately great ; and we have good reason to believe to-day, that Mr. Thomas Willing, Mr. Bingham, Mr. Morris, Mr. Meredith, and their associates in the Bank of North America, were actuated by the most unselfish and patriotic motives, the primary use of the funds of this bank being for the recruiting service and to procure supplies for the army. Mr. Bingham, whose sudden rise to fortune and influence made him the subject of some scathing satires and pasquinades on the part of Peter Markoe and other poets and poetas- ters of his time, is now^ chiefly known as a man of large wealth, and as the husband of a beautiful v/oman who was a great social leader in Philadelphia life in the latter years of the century, which goes to prove that even in days of less rapid progress among women, it was possible for a man to be overshadowed by the brilliancy of his wife. William Bingham was a man who accomplished much good work in his day. A graduate of the College of Phila- 137 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN delphia, he early received a diplomatic ap- pointment under the British government to Saint Pierre, on the island of Martinique, where he remained for several years. Mr. Bingham returned to Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War, after having for some time acted as Consul for the Continental Con- gress in Martinique, and under the new gov- ernment held the position of United States Senator. In 1784 Mr. and Mrs. Bingham visited London and Paris, in both of which cities the American beauty was greatly admired and feted. Mr. Bingham, being possessed of social tastes as ^vell as distinguished ability, made many friends, some of w^hom visited him in his own home in Philadelphia, or at his country-place, Lansdowne, on the Schuylkill. Among English friends, made by the Bing- hams while abroad, was the Marquess of Lansdowne, who had recently succeeded the Marquess of Rockingham as Prime Minister of England. Lord Wycombe, the eldest son of the Marquess of Lansdowne, visited Amer- ica about 1790. It is said that the Marquess of Lansdowne, who as Lord Shelburne had helped to make peace with the United States, desired to have his son know^ something of the nation to which Great Britain had been com- pelled to relinquish her claim. Mr. Samuel Breck gives an amusing ac- count of the reception of Lord W^ycombe at a Boston boarding-house. The landlady, Mrs. 138 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Eaton, introduced the English gentleman as Lord Wickham, that probably being the pro- nunciation given by his valet; his fello^v- lodgers, not being accustomed to the society of lordships, concluded that " Lord " Avas his Christian name, and addressed the stranger as Mr. Wickham, except when a man from Salem entered into the conversation and spoke to him as " Mr. Wackhim." While in Philadelphia, Lord Wycombe was entertained by President Washington, and Mr. Samuel Breck speaks of meeting him at the Binghams', and at other houses. Mr. William Smith, a Member of Congress from South Carolina, gave a ball in honor of Lord Wy- combe. "At this ball," says Mr. Breck, "a great belle. Miss Sophia ChcAV, teased him so much to dance with her that he at length very reluctantly consented. The poor man, high born as he was, had never learned to dance ; yes, distinguished as was his birth, he did not know a single step. No performance, of course, could be more avs^kward, and he seemed in agony the whole time. But Miss Chew, privileged as all pretty women are, had determined to dance with a lord ; so she said, and so persisted until, bon gre\ mal gr/^ the stranger was obliged to submit. He w^as a tall, thin, gawky man of twenty three or twenty four years of age, mentally well en- dowed, though eccentric." For the Marquess of Lansdowne, Mrs. Bing- ham had a full-length portrait of President 139 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Washington painted by Stuart.* In a graceful letter, in which the English nobleman ac- knowledges the receipt of the portrait, he says that he considers the gift " a very magnificent compliment," whose value is enhanced by the respect he feels for Mr. and Mrs. Bingham. The letter concludes with the following ex- pressions upon the character of the President : •' General Washington's conduct is above all praise. He has left a noble example to sover- eigns and nations present, and to come. I beg you will mention both me and my sons to him in the most respectful terms possible. If I was not too old, I would go to Virginia to do him homage." Gilbert Stuart painted more than one por- * There has been much dispute with regard to the owner- ship of this portrait, and some excellent authorities have come to the conclusion that the original portrait is in the Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, and that the one sent to the Marquess of Lansdowne is a replica made from it. There is no doubt, however, that General Washington sat to Stuart for a full-length portrait for Mrs. Bingham, as he wrote to the artist, under date of April ii, 1796 : " I am under promise to Mrs. Bingham to sit for you to-morrov7, at nine o'clock, and wishing to know if it be convenient to you that I should do so, and whether it shall be at your own house (as she talked of the State House) I send this note to ask information." Mr. John Nagle says that Stuart told him that this por- trait of General Washingtonwas bespoken bythe Marquess of Lansdowne, before he left England, but that Mr. Bing- ham asked for the privilege of presenting the picture to the Marquess. Z40 All^. William I'iiifihain Bv Gilbert Stuart SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN trait of Mrs. Bingham. A charming head is owned by Dr. Henry Middleton Fisher, of Al- verthorpe, and a graceful picture of the young wife and mother, with her children around her, is to be found upon a huge unfinished canvas of Stuart's, which was evidently intended to adorn a large wall-space at Lansdowne. Mr. Bingham's horse has been brought to the door, and he stands ready to mount it, while his wife playfully holds her infant son upon the horse's back, and an older child, Anne Louisa, stands by watching the group. This picture, although sketchy and unfinished, is attractive in color and composition. For many years it was in Trenton, New Jersey, in the posses- sion of Miss Mary Clymer, a niece of Mrs. Bingham's, at w^hose death it passed into the possession of the Countess Jacques de Bryas, of Paris, a daughter of William Bingham Cly- mer, and consequently a grand-niece of Mrs. William Bingham. Mrs. John Adams first met Mrs. Bingham abroad, and was so much charmed w^ith her beauty and grace that she compared her thus favorably with the celebrated English beau- ties : "I have not seen a lady in England w^ho can bear a comparison with Mrs. Bingham, Mrs. Piatt, and a Miss Hamilton, who is a Philadelphia young lady. Amongst the most celebrated of their beauties stands the Du- chess of Devonshire, who is masculine in her appearance. Lady Salisbury is small and genteel, but her complexion is bad ; and Lady 141 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Talbot is not a Mrs. Bingham, who, taken altogether, is the finest woman I ever saw. The intelligence of her countenance, or rather, I ought to say, animation, the elegance of her form, and the affability of her manners, convert you into admiration ; and one has only to lament too much dissipation and fri- volity of amusement, which have weaned her from her native country, and given her a passion and thirst after all the luxuries of Europe." Despite Mrs. Bingham's enjoyment of for- eign life and fashions, she and her husband returned to America after a residence abroad of less than two years. Mr. William Hamil- ton, of Woodlands, in writing from London to Dr. Thomas Parke, in March, 1786, says : *' Mr. Bingham & his family are to be pas- sengers with Willet. He takes two carriages & 8 servants, &c, & imagine means to make a great Show^. What a terrible thing would it be if the Lady was to get into the Dey's Seraglio." No such unhappy fate as that suggested by Mr. Hamilton having overtaken " the Lady," Mr. and Mrs. Bingham returned in safety to Philadelphia, where they soon after built their handsome house on the west side of Third Street above Spruce. The grounds belonging to Mr. Bingham's property, v^hich had been used during the British occupation as a pa- rade ground, extended to Fourth Street. The house was set back about forty feet from the 142 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN line of the street, and was approached by a circular carriage-way. The entrance to the house was not raised, but brought the visitor by a single step to the wide hall, paved w^ith tessellated marble, from which a broad stair- way of white mable, leading to the second floor, gave the entrance an elegant and spa- cious appearance. Mr. ^Vatson says that the grounds, which were carefully laid out and contained beautiful and rare trees, were un- fortunately enclosed within a high board fence and a close line of Lombardy poplars, which prevented passers by from enjoying the lovely garden. While Mr. Bingham's house, which was modelled after the residence of the Duke of Manchester, Manchester Square, London, was in course of erection, Mrs. Warder wrote in her diary that she stopped on her way home from George Emlen's, on Fourth Street, to look at the Binghams' new^ house, which, she says, " causes much talk here, being upon a new plan, but very ungenteel, I think, as it much resembles some of our heavy public buildings — four windows back and front, with figures of stucco work." Although Mr. Bingham's new mansion did not meet with the approval of the English Quakeress, Mrs. Warder, it was greatly ad- mired by Philadelphians and by many visitors, and was sufficiently elegant in its appoint- ments to draw^ forth some shafts of sarcasm from Peter Markoe and other persons of 143 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN socialistic tendencies,* In his verses upon "The Times," which were evidently "out of joint" for him, Mr. Markoe wrote: " Rapax, the muse has slightly touched thy crimes, And dares to wake thee from thy golden dream, In peculation's various arts supreme — Tho' to thy ' mansion ' wits and fops repair. To game, to feast, to flatter, and to stare. But say, from what bright deeds dost thou derive That wealth which bids thee rival British Clive ? Wrung from the hardy sons of toil and wrar. By arts, which petty scoundrels would abhor." In her spacious and beautiful home on Third Street above Spruce, Mrs. Bingham was sur- rounded by her family. The grounds of her father's house, on the same street, joined her garden, while her aunts, Mrs. Byrd and Mrs. Powel, both had elegant establishments on Third Street.f The Reverend Dr. Blackwell, who had married Mr. Bingham's sister, lived on Pine Street above Third, and at 187 South Third Street Mrs. Bingham's sister, Elizabeth, resided after her marriage with Major William Jackson. * This house, the scene of so many brilliant entertain- ments, was afterwards used as a hotel, — a well-appointed and most fashionable resort, called the " Mansion House," — which was kept by William Renshaw, and afterwards by Joseph Head. t Mr. Thomas Willing's house, at the southwest corner of Third and Willing's Alley, which was built by John Palmer in 1745, was afterwards used for the offices of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. 144 Mrs. William Byrd By Cosmo Alexander SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Mrs. "William Byrd was Mr. Charles Wil- ling's daughter Mary. She married the third Colonel Byrd, of Westover. Although their home was at the family seat in Virginia, Mr. and Mrs. Byrd spent much time in Philadel- phia, where Mr. ^Villing had built them a house. Edward Burd,* who, in his numerous letters to friends and relatives, gives some inti- mate and graphic pictures of the gayer side of Philadelphia life, w^rote of this lady some years after her marriage : " I had the Happi- ness of being introduced last Sunday to my Cousin Mrs. Byrd from Virginia, and of tasting her sweet Lips — a Happiness seldom enjoyed here by the People of Fashion, which is a Tyrant that I am afraid will in time be the Destruction of all social Pleasures. Mr. Wansey speaks in his journal of dining at the Binghams', and finding the house and garden in the best English style, the drawing- room chairs from Seddons, in London, the carpet one of Moore's most expensive pat- terns, and the paper in French taste, after the style of the Vatican at Rome. This rather curious mingling of styles Mr. Wansey thought very handsome and effective. The guests at *This is Edward Burd, whose mother was Sarah Ship- pen. He married his cousin, Elizabeth Shippen, a sister of Mrs, Benedict Arnold. Mr. Burd w^as a stanch Whig, commanded a company of volunteers, and was taken pris- oner at the Battle of Long Island. His letters have recently been privately printed by Lewis Burd Walker, of Potts- ville, Pennsylvania. 10 145 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN this dinner were " Mr. Willing, president of the bank of the United States, the father of Mrs. Bingham ; Mons. Cailot, the exiled Governor of Guadaloupe ; and the famous Viscount de Noailles, who distinguished himself so much in the first National Constituent Assembly, on August 4, 1789, by his propositions, and his speech, on that occasion, for the abolition of feudal rights. He is now engaged in forming a settlement with other unfortunate Country- men, about sixty-five miles north of North- umberland Town. It is called ' Asylum,' and stands on the eastern branch of the Susque- lianah." President Washington was a frequent visitor at the Binghams', his official and unofficial relations with Mr. Bingham being of the most friendly nature, while Mrs. Bingham he had known from her girlhood. It is evident that this young w^oman, who drew around her the best and brightest men of her day, possessed a charm beyond and above her great beauty. Washington, who was an accurate reader of character, admired and liked Mrs. Bingham, and John Jay, who had shown so much wisdom in his own matri- monial choice, wrote to Mr. Bingham at the time of his marriage, " As I am always pleased to find those happy whom I think deserve to be so, it gave me very sensible satisfaction to hear that you had both made so judicious a choice, notwithstanding the veil which that sweet fascinating passion often draws over our 146 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN eyes and understanding." Mr. Jefferson was a warm friend and admirer of the Philadelphia beauty, w^hom he first met in Paris, and \vith whom he afterwards corresponded. In -writing to Mrs. Bingham after her return to America, he thus half playfully, half seriously alluded to a discussion that they had had upon the relative attractions of life at home and abroad : *' I know, madam, that the twelve-month is not yet expired ; but it will be, nearly, before this will have the honor of being put into your hands. You are then engaged to tell me, truly and honestly, whether you do not find the tranquil pleasures of America preferable to the empty bustle of Paris. For to what does that bustle tend ? At eleven o'clock it is day, chez niadame. The curtains are drawn. Propped on bolsters and pillows, and her head scratched into a little order, the bulletins of the sick are read, and the billets of the well. She -writes to some of her acquaintances and receives the visits of others. If the morning is not very thronged, she is able to get out and hobble round the cage of the Palais Royal ; but she must hobble quickly, for the coiffeur's turn is come; and a tremendous turn it is! Happy, if he does not make her arrive when dinner is half over ! The torpitude of digestion a little passed, she flutters half an hour through the streets, by way of paying visits, and then to the spectacles. These finished, another half hour is devoted to dodging in and out of the doors of her very sincere friends, and away to 147 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN supper. After supper, cards ; and after cards, bed; to rise at noon the next day, and to tread, like a mill-horse, the same trodden circle over again. ... If death or bankruptcy happen to trip us out of the circle, it is matter for the buzz of the evening, and is completely for- gotten by the next morning. In America, on the other hand, the society of your husband, the fond cares for the children, the arrange- ments of the house, the improvements of the grounds, fill every moment with a healthy and an useful activity. . . . The intervals of leisure are filled by the society of real friends, whose affections are not thinned to cobweb by being spread over a thousand objects. This is the picture, in the light it is presented to my mind; now let me have it in yours." Unfortunately, Mrs. Bingham's reply to this charming letter is not available. We may believe, however, that she ably defended her side of the question. One contemporary speaks of Mrs. Bingham's beauty, another of the grace of her figure and the elegance of her bearing ; but the one prob- ably who best understood her charm, says : " Her manners were a gift. With advantages, personal, social, and external, such as hardly ever fail to excite envy from her sex, such was her easy and happy turn of feeling, and such the fortunate cast of her natural manners, that she seemed never to excite the sting of unkindness, nor so much as aw^aken its slum- ber or repose. Her entertainments were dis- 148 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN tinguished not more for their superior style and frequency than for the happy and discreet selection of her guests." When Mr. Jefferson, Chief-Justice Jay and his beautiful wife, Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Wol- cott, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Hopkinson, and Mr. Madison and his "Dolly," who possessed so much social charm, met in the drawing-room of Mrs. Bingham, and there found the Due de Liancourt, the Vicomte de Noailles, the great ecclesiastical diplomat Talleyrand, and the traveller Volney, who, if " peevish and sour tempered," possessed a vast fund of informa- tion, w^e may believe that there was no lack of brilliant conversation. Whether the discussion turned upon foreign life and fashions, or upon politics at home, or the stirring events then transpiring in the Old World, it was worthy of any salon of Paris or London. Here also came young Mr. Breck, who had been edu- cated abroad, and being upon intimate terms with the foreign noblemen, was ever ready to assist his hostess in drawing together the various elements in her drawing-room. Nor was this a difficult task when Mr. Jeffer- son and Mr. Hamilton were present, as they both possessed an unlimited capacity for being interested in people and matters outside of their own especial lines, while Judge Peters was most helpful in his ability to stem the tide of a too serious discussion by one of his " twisted quirks and happy hits." Another brilliant guest was Mrs. John Adams, fresh 149 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN from foreign fields of observation, with a tongue as ready as her pen, clear, discrimi- nating, and penetrating to the heart of things, yet always too honest and fair-minded to be ill-natured. It was Mrs. Adams who said of Mrs. Bingham that she had come home from Europe to give the laws to Philadelphia v/omen in fashion and elegance, and these laws they seem to have followed with no thought of rebellion. It is said that Queen Marie Antoinette, in the days of her youth and gayety, one day picked up an ostrich plume and carelessly stuck it in her hair. The young Dauphiness saw^ that the feather was becoming, the court ladies told her that she looked beautiful in a high coifftire, — as, indeed, she did in everything that she put on her pretty young head, — and then more feathers were added, and flowers, and pearls, and what not else, until a head- gear -was reared that threatened, like that other structure of Holy "Writ, "to reach even unto heaven." As the gay court of Paris followed the fashions of the royal beauty, so did the worldly minded fair of Philadelphia adopt those of Mrs. Bingham. Flattered, admired, and sought after, it is not strange that this lady should at times have been arbitrary and even captious. When Thomas "Wignell opened the New Theatre, as it was long called, Mrs. Bingham offered to take one of the private boxes " at any price to be fixed by the manager," and to decorate and ISO SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN furnish the box herself, provided she might keep the key, and no person be allowed to enter the box v\7ithout her consent. The proposi- tion ^vas certainly a complex one to a manager entering upon v/hat then seemed a large finan- cial venture. Mr. Wignell was sorely tempted. He recognized all the advantages to his theatre, that would result from having one of his boxes used by so great a social favorite and leader of fashion as Mrs. Bingham ; but, on the other hand, he clearly realized, says Thomas Wood, that he must "act on the principles of his country's government, and on the recognition of feelings deeply pervading the structure of its society ; to hold all men ' free ' to come into his house and ' equal ' while they continued to be and behave themselves in it." In con- sideration of this democratic vie^v of the situ- ation, Mr. Wignell politely, and with many expressions of gratitude for her consideration, declined Mrs. Bingham's offer, and thus for- feited the patronage of the most influential woman in Philadelphia. Mrs. Bingham, who was not used to denials, seldom — some per- sons say never — entered the New Theatre on Chestnut Street. It is interesting to learn that the success of this theatre justified its manager's policy, and that the haughty beauty in the end suffered more than the manager, as many interesting representations were given upon its stage. Mrs. Oldmixen, Mrs. Whit- lock, Mrs. Morris, and Mrs. Marshall were then acting for Mr. Wignell. Mrs. Whitlock 151 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN belonged to the Siddons family, so distin- guished for its histrionic ability, which was later to be represented in this city by Frances Anne Kemble. All strangers of distinction naturally found their way to the Binghams' hospitable home. Mr. Thomas Twining describes a large dinner party at Mrs. Bingham's, where he met the Vicomte de Noailles, Comte de Tilly, M. Vol- ney, the two Messrs. Baring, and several members of the Senate and House of Repre- sentatives. Strange as it may appear, three of the guests at this dinner married Mr. Bingham's tw^o daughters. Alexander Baring, the elder of the two brothers Avho were in America, and the second son of Sir Francis Baring, married Anne Louisa Bingham in 1798, she being at the time of her marriage in her sixteenth year.* Mr. Bingham's second daughter, Maria Matilda, married the gentleman whom Mr. Twining calls " Count Tilley," — James Alex- *The Honorable Alexander Baring was in 1835 raised to the peerage as Baron Ashburton of Ashburton, County Devon. His son, William Bingham Baring, married Har- riet Mary, daughter of Lord Sandwich. Hence, the Lord Ashburton so often spoken of in Mrs. Carlyle's letters was the grandson of the Philadelphia beauty of the last cen- tury, and his wife, the English pre'cieuse who ■was a w^arm friend of John Stuart Mill, Charles Buller, Thomas Car- lyle, and other men of letters, was the Lady Ashburton who raised such a storm of unreasonable jealousy in the sensitive, unsatisfied soul of Jane Welsh Carlyle. 152 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN ander, Comte de Tilly. This marriage was an unhappy one, and the Countess de Tilly after- wards became the wife of Henry Baring, who was also her father's guest at the dinner de- scribed by Mr. T^vining. A number of foreign marriages were made at this time. Among interesting figures in the diplomatic circle were Francois Barbe-Mar- bois, who came to the United States with M. de la Luzerne as his secretary, the Senor Martinez de Yrujo, Spanish Minister to the United States, and David Montague Erskine, afterwards Lord Erskine, w^ho, while he was Secretary to the British Legation, married Frances Cadwalader. M. Barbe-Marbois, who was later Intendant of Saint Domingo and attained a high rank in diplomatic circles, married Elizabeth Moore, of Philadelphia, a daughter of Colonel Moore, and a great-granddaughter of the first Thomas Lloyd. M. Marbois played an important part in the negotiations for the sale of Louisiana to the United States. The Senor Martinez de Yrujo, who was afterwards created Marquis de Casa Yrujo, is described as appearing at Congress Hall, ar- rayed in great magnificence, to w^itness the inauguration of President John Adams. " He was," says a contemporary writer, " of middle size, of round person, florid complexion, and hair powdered like a snow ball ; dark striped silk coat, lined with satin ; white waistcoat, black silk breeches, white silk stockings, shoes IS3 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN and buckles. He had by his side an elegant- hilted small-sword, and his chapeau, tipped with white feathers, under his arm." It is not strange that Miss Sally McKean should have lost her heart to this resplendent cavalier, whom she met at a dinner soon after his ar- rival in Philadelphia. Among the guests at this dinner w^ere Sir Robert Listen, the British Minister, and Lady Liston, Volney the trav- eller, Gilbert Stuart, and Mrs. Henry Clymer and her sister, Mrs. William Bingham. A con- temporary writer, in describing the meeting of Miss McKean and her future husband, says : *' Among the first to arrive was Chief Justice McKean, accompanied by his lovely daughter, Miss Sally McKean. Miss McKean had many admirers, but her heart was still her own. She wore a blue satin dress trimmed with white crape and flowers, and petticoat of white crape richly embroidered, and across the front a festoon of rose color caught up with flowers. . . . The next to arrive was Senor Don Carlos Martinez de Yrujo, a stranger to almost all the guests. He spoke w^ith ease, but with a for- eign accent, and w^as soon lost in amazement at the grace and beauty of Miss McKean. . . . The acquaintance thus commenced, resulted in the marriage of Miss McKean to Senor Martinez de Yrujo at Philadelphia, April lo, 1798." Mrs. Bingham was in the full maturity of her beauty at this time, which was the year of her daughter's marriage to the Honorable 154 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Alexander Baring. The mother of thirty-four and the bride of sixteen were often mistaken for sisters. Elizabeth Willing, Mrs. Bingham's younger sister, had been married only a few years earlier to Major William Jackson, who was aide-de-camp and private secretary to Presi- dent Washington. The wedding of Elizabeth Willing, in her father's house at the southv/est corner of Third Street and Willing's Alley, was one of the brilliant social functions of the Washington administration. Mrs. Bingham acted the part of a mother to her younger sister, and assisted her father in receiving such honored v^edding guests as the President and Lady Washington, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Morris, Alexander Hamilton, General Knox, General Lincoln, a warm personal friend of the groom, and the Vicomte de Noailles. The presence of Major and Mrs. Jackson naturally added much to the attractiveness of Mrs. Bingham's entertainments, as did that of her sisters, Mrs. Henry Clymer and Dorothy and Abigail Willing. Abigail, the youngest of Mr. W^illing's daughters, w^as greatly ad- mired by Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans, and afterwards King of the French. This young nobleman w^as a frequent guest at the Wil- lings' and Binghams', where he saw Miss Willing surrounded by all the charm of social and domestic life. Mrs. John Redman Coxe, in one of her letters to her sister and brother in South Carolina, thus retails the on dit of the day with regard to this affair : " It is reported 155 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN that Abby Willing is to be married to the Duke of Orleans who you know arrived some time before you left us — I do not know whether it is correct, but it is the general report " In another letter Mrs. Coxe says : " Miss Wil- ling's match is broken off — the reason is never to be known. It \vas thought a very extraor- dinary thing at the beginning & this has not lessened the surprise of the natives " The " reason," which Mrs. Coxe and the rest of the gay world did not know, may be found in the story afterwards told, which is worth re- peating, as it reveals the rare common sense and self-respect of Mr. W^illing. It is said that \vhen the Duke of Orleans made his formal demande for the hand of his daughter, Mr. Wil- ling replied, with true republicanism, yet with the tact and grace of a courtier : " Should you ever be restored to your hereditary position you will be too great a match for her ; if not she is too great a match for you." Instead of the questionable future of mar- rying a King of France, there was reserved for Abigail W^illing the more serene, if less event- ful, career of becoming the wife of a Philadel- phia law^yer. Miss W^illing, a few years later, married Richard Peters, a son of Judge Peters. Among charming maids and matrons of the Republican capital were Nelly Custis ; her three girl friends, Elizabeth Bordley, Martha Coffin, and Maria Jefferson, w^ho married her cousin, Mr. Eppes ; Mrs. John Travis ; Mrs. William Lewis, an Irish beauty ; Mrs. Wil- 156 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN liam Ra'wle, a lovely Quakeress, and Mrs. John Cox, who, with her half dozen fair daughters, left her quiet home in New Jersey to enjoy the gayeties of city life. In one of Miss Sarah Cox's letters, undated, but evi- dently written in February, 1797, as she refers to the last birthnight ball given to President Washington in Philadelphia, she says : *' The common topic of conversation here is the Birth night, which is next Wednesday. It is to be the most superb entertainment I hear that ever has been here; It is to be in the same place it was last year — I suppose it will be a genteel mob — for I believe everybody is going, — They all say it is to be the last time we shall ever have it in our power to celebrate the Birthday of our good President, that they will go at all events — Half Trenton is down already & 1 hear that a// Princeton will be here — Mi's D^ Smith has come to go although she is quite lame with the rheumatism, but you know what a good Federalist she is. " I talk of taking two pair of shoes with me for I danced one pair nearly out at the last Assembly and I am sure if I could do that when it had nothing to do with the President, TA^hat shall I do when I have his presence to inspire me." An interesting element in the social life of the time was introduced by the French emigrdes who were in America in the latter years of the century. Many French officers and noblemen who had served under General 157 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Washington returned to America, during and after the French Revolution, to avail them- selves of the free institutions of the Republic to which they had tendered their services. Mr. Samuel Breck, whose father entertained with great hospitality in his home on High Street, says, " I knew personally Talleyrand, Beaumais, Vicomte de Noailles, the Due de Liancourt, Volney, and subsequently Louis Philippe, the present King of the French, and his two brothers, the Dues de Montpensier and Beaujolais." The Duke of Orleans, or M. d'Orleans, as he was called, was entertained in Philadelphia, says Mr. Breck, by Mr. David H. Conyngham, who was then living on Front Street. The Duke of Orleans was afterwards joined by his brothers, the Dukes of Mont- pensier and Beaujolais. These three Princes made a tour through the United States, travel- ling on horseback to Pittsburgh, equipped like Western traders, having a blanket over their saddles and their saddle-bags under them. The brothers afterwards visited Washington at Mount Vernon. Upon their return to Philadelphia, the Duke of Orleans hired very humble lodgings in Prune Street, over a bar- ber-shop, says a writer of the time. The apartment of this future monarch was so in- adequately furnished that, upon the occasion of a small dinner-party given by him, he v^as obliged to seat half of his guests on the bed. Mr. Breck speaks of a more than casual acquaintance with the exiled Bishop of Au- 158 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN tun, and once, when Alexander Hamilton was pleading one of his great cases, Talleyrand sat in the court-room with him, listening to the masterly logic and eloquence of the brilliant advocate. The Vicomte de Noailles he describes as tall, graceful, handsome, possessed of a perfect figure, the first amateur dancer of the age, and with great charm of manner. Having saved a fragment of his fortune from the general wreck of the French Revolution, the young nobleman entered into business in Philadel- phia, and " every day at the coffee house, or exchange, where the merchants met, the ex- nobleman was the busiest of the busy, holding his bank-book in one hand and a broker or a merchant by the button with the other, while he drove his bargains as earnestly as any regular-bred son of a counting-house." In addition to the Frenchmen who came here during the Revolution, there also immigrated to America, from Saint Domingo, a large num- ber of its leading citizens, who with their fami- lies w^ere driven hither by the uprising in the island which followed so close upon that in France. Again, in the early years of the next century, while Dessalines was exercising his brutal will over the unfortunate island, a num- ber of French exiles came to Philadelphia. In one or other of these immigrations, came the Sigoignes, Tesseires, Monges, de la Roches, Guillous, Clapiers, and many other French families of education and refinement. Some 159 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN of these men and women thoroughly identified themselves with the interests of the country to which they had come, and have been num- bered among its best citizens. In 1806 General John Victor Moreau, one of the Marshals of the Empire, came to Phila- delphia with his wife. Miss Mary Binney and Mrs. John Cox both speak with enthusiasm of the elegance and accomplishments of Madame Moreau. Miss Binney, in a letter written to Mrs. Simon Jackson, in Newtown, Massachu- setts, says : " Madame Moreau, wife of the General, is at present the magnet of all at- traction. Her accomplishments are indeed wonderful, and it seems to me her husband takes his consequence from her now, however he reflected honor in France. Tout le monde thinks and talks of Madame Moreau, parties of splendor and balls are consequently given for her. Indeed she plays on the piano, harp, guitar, and tambourine infinitely better than any one in our own country, and is the most perfectly graceful little fairy on the floor my eyes ever beheld. I am just getting steady from a ball in the neighborhood where she danced the waltz to the admiration of about two hundred people. As I suppose my cousin will be interested (in the nursery) with the ball dresses of Philadelphia, I must first tell you that Madame Moreau changes her dress every night, as most ladies do ; one night she will wear a wreath of diamonds as large as large peas through her hair, with necklace ear- 160 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN rings, hair comb etc, of the same, and another night her ornaments are all beautiful pearls. Our belles content themselves ^vith ostrich feathers which are universally worn, and gold and silver trimmings of one kind and another. Now done to this frippery, and let me turn where my heart most certainly is, to your sweet retirement and my uncle's loved Spring Hill." In one of Mrs. John Cox's letters, in which she gives her daughter, Mrs. James Chestnut, of Camden, South Carolina, so much of the gossip, gay and grave, of the Philadelphia ^vorld, she speaks of the gayety of the w^inter of 1806. There being no Assembly that season, she says that there have been many private balls, given by Mrs. Nicklin, Mrs. Lewis, Mrs. John Bradford Wallace, and by her daughter, Mrs. John Redman Coxe, in addition to which a number of musical parties were given in Madame Moreau's honor. " Her accomplish- ments," says Mrs. Cox, " are the constant theme. Her performance on the Harp, Piano, Tamborine &c are greater than has ever been exhibited here and her dancing exceeds all praise." With great pride in her daughter Elizabeth's simple, domestic tastes, the result of her country bringing up, the good mother adds : "I must tell you of Betsy's speech last week — I went there in the evening, when she was dressed & waiting for the carriage to take her to M''^ Nicklin's Ball ' Oh ! how I wish I lived in the country [she exclaimed] where I II 161 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN need not have this trouble of dressing & being in a crowd — I could be content never to Dance but on the green with my children.' " * Most of the foreign visitors, and many of the cabinet officers and American statesmen \vho came to Philadelphia during the first and second administrations, found their way to another drawing-room, very different from that of Mrs. Bingham, but equally charming and distinguished in its way. Mrs. George Logan, of Stenton, was far too consistent a Friend to have called the circle of intellectual men and women which she gathered around her by the worldly French title of salon ; but such it was to all intents and purposes. Here, in her country-place, Stenton, situated on the Germantown Road above Nicetown, in a spa- cious house built by the first James Logan, the elegant and cultivated Quaker lady drew around her an interesting and appreciative little coterie. President Washington visited the Logans at Stenton, and Mrs. Logan has left a pleasant picture of the great soldier and statesman. Dr. George Logan had been making some ex- periments upon his farm which interested Washington, who, like Jefferson, was always a farmer, no matter what other subjects might claim his attention. " He came," says Mrs. * This V7as Elizabeth Cox, who married the distinguished la^vyer, Horace Binney. The Mrs. Nicklin 'who gave the ball was probably Mrs. Philip Nicklin,— Juliana Chew. z62 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Logan, " with his friend Daniel Jennifer, Esq, of Maryland, who had often before been with us, and passed a day at Stenton in the most social and friendly manner imaginable, de- lighted with the fine grass-land and beautiful experiments with gypsum, some of which plainly showed initials and words traced with it upon the sod of a far richer hue and thick- ness than the surrounding grass, and other subjects of rural economy which Dr. Logan then had to show. His praise conferred dis- tinction. Nor did he make me less happy by his pleasing attention to myself and his kind notice of my children, whom he caressed in the most endearing manner, placing my little boy on his knee, and taking my infant in his arms with commendations that made their way immediately to a mother's heart." In the home of her girlhood Mrs. Logan, then Deborah Norris, had been accustomed to meeting many interesting and distinguished persons, who were drawn to the fireside of the Quaker widow, says Mrs. Wister, " by the lively common sense of her talk." Deborah Norris lost her father when she was under five years of age, and to her mother, Mary Parker Norris, she owed many of her dis- tinguishing traits. An incident, which shows how early Deborah Norris developed the social tact and ability that made her home at Stenton so charming a resort, was related by one of the French travellers in America during the Revolution. One day the Chevalier de Ter- Z63 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN nant, a charming and accomplished young Frenchman who served under Baron Steuben during the Revolution, called to pay his re- spects to Mrs. Norris and her fair daughter. The drawing-room was full of old friends and persons of their o^vn religious persuasion, be- tween whom and the accomplished foreigner there seemed little in common. " Deborah looked anxiously round, and presently singled out Humphrey Marshall, a distinguished natu- ralist, but a man of the plainest address, and presented them to each other, adroitly turn- ing the conversation upon botany, which she knew to be a favorite science of De Ternan's, and then left them, to look after other guests. After a long talk, De Ternan came up to her with the inquiry, 'Miss Norris, have you many such men as this Mr. Marshall among you?'"* Many of the statesmen and literary men who resorted to Stenton were drawn thither by their interest in Dr. George Logan, who was a member of the State Legislature, after- wards United States Senator from Pennsyl- vania, — a man of cultivation, a politician of very pronounced view^s, agreeing on certain salient points with Mr. Jefferson, and a lover • Although written Ternan by the narrator, this was evidently the Chevalier Ternant, who was associated with Major Fleury in the inspection of the troops at Valley Forge under Baron Steuben. Washington Irving says' that M. Ternant w^as chosen, not only for his merit and abilities, but because he also possessed the important qualification of speaking English as well as French. 164 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN of peace, as became his religious profession. If Dr. Logan's visitors lingered long over a cup of tea in Mrs. Logan's drawing-room, it was because her conversation was of more than ordinary interest, and that she entered with her husband and his friends into the dis- cussions of the hour appears from her own modest record. Mr. Jefferson was an intimate friend of the Logans, and was frequently at Stenton during his residence in Philadelphia. Years after Mrs. Logan wrote : " I have not forgotten the force and expansion of Jefferson's arguments, delivered in a beautiful simplicity of language, and a politeness of manner that disarmed offence, yet with a strength that defied refutation when Reason was admitted to sit as judge." In general, this shrewd and observing woman thought that Mr. Jefferson did not allow his political prejudice or party spirit to w^arp his judgment; yet in one case she considered that he failed in entire fairness, as she added : " I saw that he wanted sincerity to^vards General Washington, whom I had always revered and could not bear to hear mentioned in terms that implied the smallest diminution of his character or qualities." Many heated discussions upon the princi- ples of the French Revolution and America's attitude towards France took place in Mrs. Logan's drawing-room or under the beautiful trees of Stenton. Upon one of these occa- sions, w^hen hot-headed, radical Genet was present, he rose from his chair, says Mrs. 165 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Logan, " and baffled in argument, but retaining his good humor and gentlemanly demeanor, he exclaimed, in his (then) imperfect English, •"Well, gentlemen, if my country were once happily settled in peace and the enjoyment of her rights, as yours is now, I would sit under my own vine and trees as you do, but I would disclaim political disquisitions altogether ; I would never suffer a gazette to enter my house.' " * Among Mrs. Logan's earlier guests was the great Franklin, for whom she and Dr. Logan had a warm friendship, and the Polish exile Kosciusko, who stayed at Stenton for some w^eeks, and found, says the Quaker lady, "among these rural scenes, some of that balm for the incurable hurt of his noble heart which the companionship of Nature only could ad- minister." To Stenton there came, in earlier and later times, Mr. John Vaughan, the most benevo- lent and genial of men ; Major Pierce Butler, whose country-place was quite near on the York Road; the French patriot, Dupont de Nemours ; the brilliant and eccentric John Randolph of Roanoke ; Peter S. Duponceau, a French jurist, who had been aide-de-camp to Baron Steuben during the war, and the w^itty Abb^ Correa de Serra, Portuguese Minister to the United States, with whom his gentle and * " Deborah Logan, the Quaker Lady," by Mrs. Owen J. Wister. z66 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN learned hostess could converse upon his favor- ite subject, the flora of the country, or show him a choice treasure, the "dormant jerboa" (jumping mouse), which had been turned up by the plough, and which she was tenderly cherishing in a closet. Here doubtless came the great physician, after whom the English naturalist * named the luxuriant vine, with its graceful clusters of purple flow^ers, which is now known all over the world as the "Wistaria. Dr. Caspar Wistar's own country-seat was not far from Stenton, on the other side of Germantown, on School-House Lane. The old house still stands, embowered in rare and beautiful trees, w^ith a garden old-fashioned enough to bring despair to the hearts of all modern projectors of old-time gardens. Other visitors Mrs. Logan had during Dr. Logan's absence in France in the summer of 1798, who came to Stenton from Philadelphia, which was again a plague-stricken city. Many of these guests were the members of her own family, Logans and Norrises, and often to the number of twenty or more at one time. For this large family the Quaker lady, who was * Thomas Nuttall, who named the Wistaria after Dr. Caspar Wistar, -was often at the Germantown home of Mr. Charles J. Wister, who was also a distinguished botanist. Mr. Nuttall found many of his correspondents upon scientific subjects in the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, as Mr. William Hamilton, William Bartram, and the Reverend Louis de Schweinitz, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, another great botanist. 167 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN an admirable housekeeper despite her love of literature and her frequent flights into poetry, provided with ready hospitality, declaring that this sudden influx of guests was far better than for her to be left in solitude. While the yellow-fever -was raging in Phila- delphia, from which all communication was cut off, we may believe that Mrs. Logan's fortunate visitors held many discussions with regard to what was naturally a vital question of the hour, — w^hether Dr. Benjamin Rush's treatment of the epidemic, which was to bleed, bleed, and again to bleed, was as good as Dr. Caspar Wistar's milder methods of dealing with the malady. Germantown, as in the summer of 1793, proved a safe and convenient refuge for Phila- delphians in 1797, '98, and '99, in which years there were more or less severe visitations of yellow-fever. Miss Susan Binney, in writing to a cousin in November, 1799, speaks of having spent the summer in a " rural and healthy situation fixed in the vicinity of the yellow fever metropolis Germantown." Mrs. John Cox wrote to her daughter, Mrs. James Chestnut, in August, 1797, that the fever has again appeared, and that she intends to close her house and go to Trenton. "To- morrow," she adds, " will bring on poor Sister S's * trial, as she must leave behind her the *This vras Colonel John Cox's daughter Sarah, who was engaged to the distinguished Dr. John Redman Coxe, who 168 Mrs. John Redman Coxe By Thomas Sully SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN friend of her heart, who is engaged in attending the sick — daily witnessing the progress of the fever. Though all the Physicians say it yields easier to the power of medicine now than in 93, yet they all agree that many have died — D"" C. has not thought it necessary for us to leave Town to within two days, and the good old D"" Redman has visited me every few days and begged me to keep quiet — that he would certainly let me know if it grew^ w^orse, or crept up from the Street where it took its rise, w^hich w^as Penn street near the Water — Yes- terday he said it was time for us to go." There was evidently much discussion in those years with regard to the proper treat- ment of yellow^-fever, in the journals of the day, as well as in medical circles. A Philadel- phia lady, in writing to a Southern relative, said : " I suppose you see our papers in which our Physicians are at War with each other. I hope it will have the good effect of bringing remained at his post in Philadelphia while his lady love went to Trenton with her mother. Dr. Coxe was in a most exposed position, being one of the four physicians appointed to report the cases of fever to the Board of Health. In another part of her letter Mrs. Cox says that for this reason Dr. Coxe urges their departure, although the general opinion is that the disease cannot be communicated by a third per- son. Dr, John Redman Coxe lived safely through the epi- demic, and married Miss Sarah Cox, by which means she added an e to her name, and thus brought lasting confusion into the ranks of the Coxs and Coxes, only equalled by that wrought by the Wisters and Wistars. 169 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN truth to light at last — It is a great pity they cannot agree. . . . W^hat makes it worse is that those who ran away for fear of the Yellow Fever spent their time in scribbling against those who were risking their lives in the cause of humanity." However the medical world of that day, and the laity also, may have differed with regard to the origin and treatment of the epidemic, there can be no question as to the personal courage and devotion to duty of such men as Dr. John Redman, one of the oldest Philadel- phia physicians, his grandson, Dr. John Red- man Coxe, Dr. Rush, Dr. Caspar Wistar, the Duffields, Michael Leib, Samuel P. Griffitts, Philip Syng Physick, Samuel Cooper, and many others. As a proof of the faithful ser- vice of the good doctors of old Philadelphia, it has been estimated that out of the twenty-five physicians then in the active practice of their profession, nine lost their lives while attending the yellow-fever patients. Among these were Dr. Samuel Pleasants, Dr. Annan, Dr. James Hutchinson, and Dr. Thompson, who was taken ill upon his wedding day and died three days later. Dr. Physick was twice stricken with the fever, and each time returned heroi- cally to his post. Bush Hill, where Mr. Adams and his family had lived during the first years of their resi- dence in Philadelphia, was converted into a yellow-fever hospital, and here two citizens of foreign parentage, Stephen Girard and Peter 170 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUifXICAN Helm, gave to the city of their adoption the noblest and most unwearied service. Stephen Girard, whom we are \vont to re- gard simply as a shrewd, money-getting man, not only fitted up the Bush Hill Hospital at a large expense to himself, but in the absence of competent nurses often ministered to the needs of the patients. From records and let- ters of the time, it appears that Mr. Girard and Mr. Helm conveyed many fever-stricken persons from their homes to the hospital, w^hich they visited daily, risking their lives in their efforts to relieve the misery of its inmates. For her generosity in opening wide her gates to the exile and the homeless from Saint Domingo and other islands of the Southern sea, Philadelphia has more than twice suffered the scourge of a great pestilence; nor has the w^armth of her w^elcome to the stranger abated in consequence of these sad experiences, for to-day, as in that olden time, may be w^ritten of this City of Brotherly Love the gracious Scriptural encomium, "given to hospitality." 171 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN CHAPTER V. LIFE IN THE FEDERAL CITY THE City of Washington, like Phila- delphia, is said to have been laid out after the plan of ancient Babylon ; but there are few persons to-day who will not unite w^ith Mr. Jefferson in repudiating the idea of any similarity of design between these widely dissimilar cities. In one of Mr. Jeffer- son's letters he says that, in compliance w^ith a request from Major L'Enfant, he has sent him accurate plans and scales of Paris, Mar- seilles, Bordeaux, Amsterdam, Strasburg, and other European cities, -which had been made during visits to these places, adding, " they are, none of them, comparable to the old Babylon, revived in Philadelphia, and exem- plified." " Philadelphia griddled across Ver- sailles," said one writer in describing the plan of the capital city. Some thought of the grounds of the old palace of the Bourbons may have been in the mind of the French engineer to whom is due much of the beauty of this unique American city, with its avenues radiating from a chief centre, the Capitol, and again from stars of less magnitude in the form of small parks and circles. A vast labyrinth of streets, drives, and parks, ornamented with fountains, statues, and parterres, is this city which L'Enfant designed for the residence of 172 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN half a million of people, whose possibilities few men of that day could foresee. Because W^ashington died before Congress was removed to the new capital, we are wont to forget how^ deep his interest ■was and how much he had to do with the beginnings of the fair city, w^hich was destined to bear his name. He, like a few other practical men, and many speculative ones, believed in the ultimate greatness of the Federal City, although in 1793, when the corner-stone of the Capitol was laid, it required considerable imagination to picture a metropolis upon the "ten-mile square," as the District of Columbia was first called. A plain, bordered by thickly wooded hills, with the Potomac winding through its centre, was the site of the future capital. The ground was marshy in some places and quite uncultivated, the surface being covered with scrub oaks and the undergrowth that flourishes in swampy places. President "Washington, to w^hom all this country had been familiar from his boyhood, who had encamped with the Braddock expedi- tion upon this w^ell-watered plain, chose it for the site of the national capital, and his choice was accepted by Jefferson and Madison, who ^vere associated with him. He at once bought lots in the " ten-mile square," and used every effort to stimulate others to do the same, al- though he entirely disapproved of Mr. Blod- get's plan to establish a lottery to expedite the sale of property. During the President's 173 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN summer vacations he frequently rode over from Mount Vernon to superintend the work going on in the new city, and in his letters he often records these visits to what he mod- estly called "the Federal City," although the name " Washington " for the city, and " Dis- trict of Columbia " for the " ten-mile square " upon which it was situated, had been decided upon by the commission as early as 1791. Upon these occasions, the President stopped with Mr. Thomas Law or Mr. Thomas Peter. Both of these gentlemen, who had married Mrs. Washington's granddaughters, early built houses for themselves in the new capital, and invested in lots there. Mr. Madison, Mr. Dickinson, General Howard, and Mr. Samuel Blodget, who w^as for a time Superintendent of the Federal City, all invested extensively in building-lots. Mr. Twining gives an interesting description of his attempts to find the residence of Mr. Thomas La>v in the forest of Washington, which then, in 1795, was pierced through with avenues in a more or less perfect state. "After going about three quarters of a mile through a silent wilderness," he says, " I found myself upon a trackless plain partially covered with trees and brushw^ood. I in vain looked about for Mr. Law's house or some one to guide me to it. I therefore rode on in the direction I judged the most likely to lead me out of this labyrinth. I knew that in case of my not suc- ceeding, my retreat was always open to the 174 Mrs. Thomas Law Bv Gilbert Stuart SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Capitol, for while talking with the workmen I observed that all the avenues converged to that point. I continued therefore to explore my way through thickets, keeping my horse's head rather towards the right, to gain, if neces- sary, the Potomac, whose bank I might then follov7. " I had not proceeded far before I saw a carriage issue from the forest beyond the plain, and I soon perceived that it was making for a small bridge, which I now discovered for the first time, considerably to the right of the point for \vhich I was making. As it approached the hope I indulged was confirmed. It was Mr. Law's chariot, which in the expectation of my arrival at Georgetown, Mr. Law had sent for me. The coachman tying my horse behind, we recrossed the small bridge, passed through the forest I had seen, and a second plain beyond it, and reached the banks of the Potomac. In a few minutes more we arrived at Mr. Law^'s, where I had a most cordial re- ception. " In the afternoon Mr. Law took me about his new estate. His house, built by himself, was only a few yards from the steep bank of the Potomac, and commanded a fine view across the river, here half a mile wide. In the rear of the house Mr. Lav\; was building a street, consisting of much smaller houses than his own, speculating upon a great increase in their value when the expected transfer of the seat of government should be effected." 175 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Robert Morris, with John Nicholson and James Greenleaf, who were associated with him in business, invested heavily in Wash- ington lots, and lost in the same proportion, probably because they were attempting to hold too much land elsewhere at the same time, and because the Washington property required ready capital for improvements, and did not rise in value as rapidly as was ex- pected. Major L'Enfant, who had rendered valuable service to the engineer corps during the Revo- lution, and who had later remodelled the City Hall in New York and planned Congress Hall in Philadelphia, w^as chosen as the engineer for the laying out of the capital. The choice was an admirable one in some respects ; but, although possessed of great ability, Major L'Enfant was at times carried by his imagina- tion beyond the bonds of practicability, and was unwilling to be guided by the common sense of his associates. President Washing- ton summed up the case in his own terse, for- cible manner by saying that "Major L'Enfant was as well qualified for the work as any man living, but the knowledge of this fact magni- fied his self-esteem." The French Minister jocosely remarked, in allusion to the alphabetical and numerical names of the streets, "that L'Enfant was not only a child in name, but in education also; as from the names he gave the streets, he ap- peared to know little else than A, B, C, and i, 176 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN 2, 3."* It appears, however, from a letter of the Commissioners, that these names were suggested by them, and, in all probability, those of the principal avenues which bear the names of the sixteen States then in the Union. The headstrong and over-sensitive French- man finally quarrelled with the Commissioners and lost his place. To Andrew Ellicott, a Pennsylvania Quaker, was entrusted the task of carrying out, with some modifications, the plan of Major L'Enfant. Whatever may have been the faults of Major L'Enfant, it should never be forgotten that to his large grasp of the situation and its possi- bilities, is chiefly due the great beauty of the national capital, ^vhich has grown and spread out along the lines laid out by him. The broad plateau overlooking the Potomac suggested a fitting site for the Capitol. This tract of land was owned by Daniel Carroll, and was upon the same property as his country- seat, Duddington Manor, which during the early years of life in the Federal City was the scene of much generous hospitality. The first plan for the Capitol was designed by Dr. "William Thornton, a native of the West Indies and a friend of Mr. Jefferson, who suggested to the architect the cotton blossom, tobacco leaf, and other original and appropriate emblems, which were afterwards * " The Seat of Government of the United States," by Joseph B. Varnum, Jr. 12 177 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN employed in the decoration of the building. It has often been stated that Dr. Thornton was the architect of the Capitol ; but although his plan possessed great merit and ■was at first ap- proved, Mr. Carstairs and Colonel "Williams, who formed the Commission on Architecture, found it impracticable in some respects and more expensive than a design presented by Stephen L. Hallett, a French architect v/ho resided in New York. This latter plan was accepted by the Commissioners, and Mr. James Hoban, Superintendent of the Capitol, was advised to begin the work upon the plan exhibited by Mr. Hallett, leaving " the recess in the east front open to further considera- tion." * Dr. Thornton's attitude in this matter seems to have been most courteous, as he asked to have his plan submitted to a competent com- mission. He was really an amateur, although possessed of excellent taste in architecture. f One charming idea of Major L'Enfant, which if carried out would have added much to the * Mr. Hoban, an Irish architect, not only supervised the building of the Capitol, but planned the White House, which is said to have been copied from the residence of an Irish nobleman in Dublin. t Mr. Charles Burr Todd, in his" Story of Washington," says that this much-controverted point with regard to the authorship of the plan of the Capitol has been definitely settled by reference to the Washington letters in the State Department, and by letters of General Washington to the Commissioners, preserved in the War Department. 178 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN beauty of this city, was to have the White House connected with the Capitol by a garden, or series of parterres, after the plan of the Chamber of Deputies and the Tuileries in Paris. Instead of Major L'Enfant's fair gar- den, there lay for many years between the Capitol and the White House two miles of tenacious yellow mud. When the Congress moved from Philadel- phia to its future municipal home, in the first year of the new century, there were not only no gardens around the Capitol and the W^hite House, but streets and avenues were still an unknow^n luxury. Gouverneur Morris said of Washington in these early days, that it was " the best city in the world for a future residence. We want nothing here but houses, cellars, kitchens, well informed men, amiable women, and other little trifles of this kind, to make our city per- fect." A climax in the way of comparisons was reached when Mr. Jackson, British Min- ister, as late as 1809, likened the Federal City to Hampstead Heath, and declared that he had " started a covey of partridges about three hundred yards from the House of Congress." The serious inconveniences of living in a city, that was only completed upon paper, may be gathered from the letters of senators and representatives. Mr. Oliver Wolcott wrote to his v^ife : " I have made every exertion to secure good lodgings near the office, but shall be compelled to take them at the distance of 179 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN more than half a mile. There are in fact but few houses at any one place, and most of them small, miserable huts, which present an awful contrast to the public buildings. The people are poor, and, as far as I can judge, they live like fishes, by eating each other. All the ground for several miles around the city, being, in the opinion of the people, too valu- able to be cultivated, remains unfenced. There are but few enclosures, even for gardens, and those are in bad order. You may look in al- most any direction over an extent of ground nearly as large as the city of New York, -with- out seeing a fence or any object except brick kilns and temporary huts for laborers." Mrs. Adams and her party while going to the capital lost their way in the woods be- tween Baltimore and Washington, and after wandering about without finding a guide or a path, met " a straggling black," who extricated them from their difficulties. " Woods," she adds, " are all you see from Baltimore until you reach the city, which is only so in name." Mrs. Adams, in writing to her daughter in November, 1800, soon after her arrival in W^ashington, says that there are enough build- ings to accommodate Congress, but all so scattered that little comfort is to be expected. The W^hite House she considers upon "a grand and superb scale, requiring about thirty servants to attend and keep the apartments in proper order, and perform the ordinary busi- ness of the house and stables ; an establish- 180 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN ment very well proportioned to the President's salary. The lighting the apartments, from kitchen to parlours and chambers is a tax in- deed." The ^vork of the house, she adds, \vas seriously retarded by having no bells in this "great castle," and no fence or yard around it, which necessitated the drying of the clothes in the large audience room. This good lady's w^oes at Bush Hill, near Philadelphia, pale before her pioneer experiences in this " new country." Surrounded by forests, she found it almost impossible to get enough wood to build sufficient fires in the freshly plastered house to keep off the ague. The principal stairs were not up, and would not be until spring. She says that only six chambers were habitable, t'wo of which were occupied by the President and Mr. Shaw ; in short, the outlook for the next six months was rather gloomy. It is not strange that this energetic Nev*^ England woman, in summing up the salient points of the situation, should have come to the con- clusion that, "if the twelve or thirteen years in which this place has been considered as the future seat of government, had been improved, as they would have been in New England, very many of the present inconveniences would have been removed." Some bright spots this clever little woman found in her Washington life, as in all her other trying experiences. The incomparable Mrs. Bingham, Miss Hamilton, and kindly Mrs. Powel were not here to comfort her as i8i SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN in Philadelphia, but many ladies came from the hospitable old towns of Alexandria and Georgetown to welcome the President's lady. These guests, Mrs. Adams was obliged to re- ceive in a general parlor, hastily fitted up ; the oval room w^ith handsome crimson furniture, which was designed for a drawing-room, not being completed. There also came a prompt note of welcome from Mrs. Lawrence Lewis, with love from her widowed grandmother, the mistress of Mount Vernon, and an invitation to Mrs. Adams to visit her there, which the New England lady says that she intends to do, health permitting. If Mrs. Adams ac- complished this visit, no letters describing it have been preserved. Other visitors to Mount Vernon, in these days after the General's death, have left pleasant descriptions of the welcome that was extended to them by Mrs. Washing- ton, who put aside her own grief to exercise the hospitality that -was as distinguishing a trait of the mistress, as it had been of the master, of Mount Vernon. Mrs. Adams's letters to her daughter at this time are either less frequent or too confi- dential and intimate for publication, and the reader of to-day misses such brilliant, graphic pictures of persons and scenes in Washing- ton, as have preserved for future generations Mrs. Adams's impressions of Court life in the Old World, or of that of the early years of the Republic in New York and in Philadelphia. The buoyant spirit that enabled her to rise 182 1 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN above all the trials and difficulties of her life and to declare, in the midst of perplexities about her children and anxiety about her absent husband, that she was " a mortal enemy to anything but a cheerful countenance and a merry heart," seems to have sometimes for- saken Abigail Adams during the early months of her residence in Washington. Her health was not good, and she had been depressed by the trying political campaign through which her husband had passed, which had made it quite plain that there would be no second term in office for Mr. Adams. This combination of adverse circumstances may have caused Mrs. Adams's sarcasm to be somewhat more trenchant than in earlier and happier days. In speaking of the delay in the meeting of Congress, she says, evidently re- ferring to Mr. Jefferson : " The Senate is much behind-hand. No Congress has yet been made. 'Tis said is on his way, but travels with so many delicacies in his rear, that he cannot get on fast, lest some of them should suffer." The ladies — probably the Georgetown and Alexandria ladies as well as the cabinet women — were impatient for a drawing-room, said Mrs. Adams, and a drawing-room they had on New^ Year's Day, 1801, although, as she wrote to her daughter, there -were " no looking glasses but dwarfs for this house, nor a twen- tieth part lamps enough to light it." Presi- dent Adams received in the first-floor rooms, 183 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN and Mrs. Adams held her drawing-room in the oval room on the second floor, which was afterwards used as a library. Mr. Dana feaillie Worden, an Irish gentle- man, who was sometime Secretary to the American Legation at Paris, in his recollec- tions of official life in Washington early in the century, speaks with warm admiration of the ladies " in the territory of Columbia." " The state of female society at Washing- ton," says Mr. W^orden, " does great honor to the sex. They have been accused of sacri- ficing too much to the empire of fashion, but as we have not been able to verify the ex- tent of this tribute, it would be dangerous to decide on so delicate a subject. They are certainly superior women, generally highly gifted in mental as they are with personal adornments. They have hitherto withstood the lamentable ravages which art and luxury have, in other great cities, produced upon the sex. There is an evil, however, \vhich is deeply lamented. It is natural to love those who are made to be loved; and no sooner do the young ladies of Washington arrive at the nubile age than they give their hands to some \vooing stranger or Member of Congress, w^ho carries them off to his distant home. The young citizens who have been daily contem- plating the regular advances of these shoots into perfection, disappointed in their ardent intentions, sigh and exclaim (not without reason) against the corruptions of the times, 184 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN against family interest and an unnatural, dis- heartening preference to foreigners. Wash- ington thus resembles a nursery whose fine plants are annually transplanted to foreign and less congenial soil. . . . Respectable strangers, after the slightest introduction, are invited to dinners and evening parties. Those at the President's house unite simplicity with the greatest refinement of manners. Tea parties have become very expensive, as not only tea but coffee, negus, cakes, sweetmeats, iced creams, wine and liquors are often presented, and in a sultry summer evening are found too palatable to be refused. In winter there is a succession of family balls, where all this spe- cies of luxury is exhibited." During the Presidential election of 1800, there occurred the very remarkable tie be- tween Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, which threw the important choice into the House of Representatives. After seven days' balloting, it was announced on February 17, 1801, that ten States, a sufficient number, had voted for Mr. Jefferson as President of the United States. In a periodical of the time, there appeared the following description of the part taken by Judge Nicholson in this electoral contest, w^hich gives a good idea of the spirit and determination of the old-time Jefferson Democrat : " At the time of the election by the House, the result depended on a single vote. Mr. Joseph Hopper Nicholson, one of the Repre- 18S SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN sentatives from Maryland, had been for some weeks confined to his bed, and was so ill that his life was considered in danger. Ill as he was, he insisted on being carried to the Hall of Representatives, in order to give his vote. The physicians absolutely forbade such a pro- ceeding. He insisted, and they appealed to his wife, telling her such a removal and the con- sequent excitement might prove fatal to his life. ' Be it so then,' said she ; ' if my hus- band must die, let it be at the post of duty. No weakness of mine shall oppose his noble resolution.' . . . The patient vi^as carried to the Capitol, where a bed w^as prepared for him in an ante-room adjoining the Senate Chamber, followed by his heroic wife, where during the four or five days and nights of balloting she remained by his side, supporting by various restoratives — much more by her presence — the strength of the feeble invalid, who with difficulty traced the name of Jefferson each time that the ballot box was handed to him." Mrs. Nicholson, who under these trying cir- cumstances proved herself to have been a woman of courage and spirit, developed these traits at an early age, as appears from a story of her childhood preserved in the Lloyd fam- ily, of Maryland. Upon the approach of the British, who afterw^ards burned her father's, Colonel Lloyd's, house, Rebecca was taken out of bed ^vith the other children and hurried to a place of safety. Instead of being fright- ened by this unusual proceeding, the little z86 Mrs. Joseph Hupper Nicholson By Richard Cosway Charles Hall Page 213 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN girl's wrath was aroused against the invading enemy, of whom she made uncomplimen- tary remarks, which she had doubtless heard from her elders, and concluded by exclaiming, " D the British, they shan't take the buckle off my tipper [slipper]." Mrs. Nicholson's sister, Mary Lloyd, mar- ried Francis Scott Key, the author of the "Star Spangled Banner."* Joseph Hopper Nicholson, who was after- wards Presiding Judge of the Baltimore Court of Appeals, was a member of Congress during Mr. Jefferson's administration, and with his wife spent much of his time in Washington. Mr. Henry Adams says that the much- quoted tale of an English traveller, who spoke of the President-elect riding on horseback to the Capitol, unattended by guard or servant, dismounting, hitching his horse to the palings, and entering the halls of legislature to be in- * Mrs. Rebecca Lloyd Shippen, of Baltimore, a grand- daughter of Judge Nicholson, who has in her possession the original manuscript of the " Star Spangled Banner," says that Mr. Key composed the poem while on a vessel in the Baltimore harbor during the night of the bombardment of Fort McHenry, as has always been stated. The original draft, in ink and upon the back of an old letter, was written afterwards at the hotel by Mr. Key from his notes and from memory. This draft Mr. Key took to his brother-in-law, Judge Nicholson, w^ho being a poet and musician, fitted the words to the tune "Anacreon in Heaven," which was much in vogue at that time. Within an hour the song was sent to a printer living near Judge Nicholson's house, and soon after was sung all over the town. 187 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN augurated with as little ceremony as he would have observed in going in to breakfast with a friend, is absolutely without foundation. Mr. Davis, the narrator, was not in the capital at the time, and Mr. Jefferson, who was stopping at Conrad's boarding-house, within a stone's throw of the Capitol, walked thither escorted by a body of militia, and accompanied by the Secretaries of the Navy and the Treasury. Other descriptions, not so easily discredited, are those of Senator Maclay, Augustiri Foster, and many another visitor in Washington, which represent the brilliant, sagacious, ver- satile statesman, who was, says Mr. Adams, "in the village simplicity of Washington more than a king," appearing decidedly unkempt as to the hair and toilet, in corduroy small clothes, red plush waistcoat, yarn stockings, and slip- pers down at heel. The soul of kindness and generosity w^as Jefferson, ^vhom Mr. Forbes described as "appearing like a tall large boned farmer," capable of the most graceful cour- tesy, of compliments galore when ladies were present, and so given to hospitality that the steward said that it sometimes cost fifty dol- lars a day to provide for his many guests. Mr. Jefferson had not been in ofBce long before it became evident that he had made a mistake in abolishing the weekly levee. As there were no regular receptions held by the President, he was accessible to visitors at all hours, except when engaged with his cabinet and during the sessions of Congress. Inter- z88 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN ruptions, as frequent as those to which the President was subjected, must have proved to be a sad waste of precious time, as ^vell as ex- ceedingly irksome. Nor was this informahty in social matters agreeable to the majority of ^A^ashington residents. There were many persons, especially among the fair sex, who missed the weekly receptions which they had enjoyed under the preceding administration. Some of the disaffected, whether instigated by the Federalists in Washington or by some of the ladies, " hit upon an expedient," says Mr. Parton, " to balk the president's intention of abolishing the levee. On the usual day, at the usual hour, — two in the afternoon — ladies and gentlemen began to arrive at the presi- dent's house, attired in the manner customary at the levees. The president w^as not at home. He was enjoying his regular two hours' ride on horseback, which nothing but absolute necessity could make him forego. When he returned at three o'clock, and learned that the great rooms were filled with company waiting to see him, he guessed their object, and frus- trated it gracefully, and with perfect good humor, by merely going among them, all ac- coutred as he was, booted, spurred, splashed with mud, riding w^hip in hand, and greeting them as though the conjunction of so many guests were merely a joyous coincidence. They, in their turn, caught the spirit of the joke, and the affair ended happily. But it was the last of the levees." 189 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Another innovation made by Mr. Jefferson was to do away with state dinners as much as possible, and instead to entertain in the hos- pitable style of the planter of Old Virginia. The dining-room of the White House being much more accessible than that upon a remote plantation, we can readily believe that Mr. Jefferson's dinner-table did not suffer from lack of guests. Edmund Bacon, the steward of Monticello, was often at the White House for many days in succession. In speaking of the life there, he said that there were eleven servants in the establishment, besides the French cook, French steward, and Irish coachman. Mr. Bacon recorded that the long dining-table was full every day that he spent in the White House, the company being com- posed of Congressmen, foreigners, and people of all kinds. " He dined at four o'clock," said Mr. Bacon, " and they generally sat and talked until night. It used to v/eary me to sit so long ; and I finally quit when I got through eating and went off and left them." When Mr. Jefferson gave state dinners, his disregard of etiquette was sometimes the cause of serious misunderstandings. Mr. Merry, sometime British Minister, who is described as a perfect " Turveydrop " in mat- ters of etiquette, was not only shocked at the informality of his own reception, but at seeing the President, at a formal dinner at the White House, offer his arm to Mrs. Madison instead of to the guest of the occasion, Mrs. 190 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Merry. " Poor Merry," says Mr. Parton, " made such an outcry at this in Washington, that Mr. Madison deemed it best to explain the circumstances to Mr. Monroe, the Ameri- can Minister in London, that he might be pre- pared to meet Merry's version. Mr. Merry did relate his grievances to the English Min- ister for Foreign Affairs ; -who, however, forbore to mention it to Monroe. If he had, Monroe was ready for him ; for, beside being fully alive to the humor of the affair, he had seen, a few weeks before, in an official London drawing- room, the wife of an under-secretary of state accorded precedence over his own. Mrs. Merry went no more to the White House, and her husband only went -when official duty compelled." Fortunately for this most democratic admin- istration, the wife of the Secretary of State was generally at hand to smooth over rough places and to give ease and elegance, by her presence and her manners, to functions that would otherwise have been hopelessly crude. During Mr. Jefferson's second administration his daughters were with him very little ; Mrs. Randolph \vas naturally absorbed in the care of her large family, and Mrs. Eppes's health failed soon after her marriage. Mrs. Madison and her sister. Miss Payne, afterwards Mrs. Richard Cutts, were often called upon by Mr. Jefferson to preside in the absence of his daughters. Another sister, Lucy, who mar- ried Mr. Washington, made her home with 191 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Mrs. Madison after her husband's death. Mr. Irving met Mrs. Cutts and Mrs. Washington at the White House, and likened them to "two merry wives of Windsor." Mrs. Madison's exquisite tact, true kindness, great adaptabiHty, and personal charm were much appreciated in Washington society, and it soon became an established fact that the social functions, that v/ere lacking at the White House, would be more than compensated for by Mrs. Madison's evening receptions. With less intellectual ability than Mrs. Adams, and less stability and depth of char- acter than Mrs. Washington, Mrs. Madison possessed far more tact and true knowledge of the world than either of her predecessors. Those who would have dreaded the formality of receptions at the homes of the cabinet officers or the foreign ministers, were drawn to Mrs. Madison's salon by the irresistible attraction of her personality and the warmth of her welcome. Long before Mr. Madison was elected President of the United States, Mrs. Madison's evenings were important social and political functions, which were attended by literary men, artists, wits and beauties, as well as by statesmen and cabinet ladies, and this not because she -was an intellectual woman, a wit, or a beauty, but because she possessed the greatest social power that a woman can wield, the ability to draw men and w^omen of various tastes around her, to hold their interest and admiration, and, above 192 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN all, to enable them to appear at their best. In Mrs. Madison's draAA/^ing-room she shone herself, because she was well fitted to shine by her beauty, her grace and her taet ; but her greatest talent was her power of making others shine. Statesmen and diplomats w^ere glad to attend Mrs. Madison's evenings be- cause they admired her and enjoyed the soci- ety of those whom she gathered around her, while strangers, who came to Washington in those days, found her drawing-room a place where the shyest and the least known were at once made to feel at home by the warm welcome and unobtrusive attentions of the sympathetic hostess. A number of names comparatively new in political life were to be found in Mr. Jeflfer- son's cabinet, as those of Henry Dearborn, of Maine, Secretary of War, Gideon Granger, of Connecticut, Postmaster-General, and Levi Lincoln, of Massachusetts, Attorney-General of the United States, side by side with the old familiar ones of James Madison, Secretary of State, James Monroe, John Marshall, Chief- Justice, and Albert Gallatin, the Swiss patriot, who succeeded Mr. Wolcott as Secretary of the Treasury. In the diplomatic service were such well- known faces as those of Mr. David Montague Erskine, British Minister, and the Marquis de Casa Yrujo. To the Spanish Minister Mr. Jefferson was attached by reason of his politi- cal sentiments and the family connections 13 193 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN which he had made in America, as his father- in-law, Governor McKean, was a personal as well as a political friend of the President. The Marquis de Casa Yrujo, who afterwards made himself most unpopular to all parties by the position taken by him with regard to the purchase of Florida and Louisiana, was a favored individual during the early years of Mr. Jefferson's administration, and to add to his popularity, he was accompanied by his beautiful American wife. The second son of the Marquis de Casa Yrujo, and the only one who lived to succeed to his father's title and estates, was born in the republican capital. The magnificence of the Marquis de Casa Yrujo in his court costume, upon which writers of the time were wont to dwell, must upon occasions have been eclipsed by that of the French Minister, who is thus described by a New Year's caller at the "White House : "After partaking of some ice-creams and a glass of Madeira, shaking hands with the President and tendering our good wishes, we were preparing to leave the rooms, when our attention was attracted through the window towards what w^e conceived to be a rolling ball of burnished gold, carried with swiftness through the air by two gilt wings. Our anxiety increased the nearer it approached, until it actually stopped before the door; and from it alighted, weighted with gold lace, the French Minister and suite. We now also perceived that what we had supposed to be wings, were 194 Copyright, 1900, by C. S. Brailfor.l. Lady Erskine (Frances Cadwalader) Bv Gilbert Stuart SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN nothing more than gorgeous footmen with chapeaux bras, gilt braided skirts and splen- did swords. Nothing ever was witnessed in Washington so brilliant and dazzling, — a meridian sun blazing full on this carriage filled with diamonds and glittering orders, and gilt to the edge of the wheels, — you may well imagine how the natives stared and rubbed their eyes to be convinced 'twas no fairy dream. . . ." The Marchioness de Casa Yrujo was not the only American woman in the corps diploj}iatique, as Frances Cadwalader, who had married Mr. Erskine* in 1799, accompanied her husband when he was appointed to Mr. Merry's place in Washington. A number of letters written by Mrs. Erskine to her Philadelphia relatives, and by friends and members of her family who surrounded her in England, all testify to the fine traits of character of this young w^oman who married at sixteen, and left her home to live in a foreign land before she was twenty. Sarah Brian, a faithful servant in the Cad- walader and Goldsborough families, who ac- companied Mrs. Erskine's mother, Mrs. John Cadwalader, to England, and lived for years with the Erskines, has left several interesting descriptions of Mrs. Erskine, In one of her letters from England, June 15, 1806, Sarah * The Honorable David Montagfue Erskine became Lord. Erskine upon the death of his father in 1823. 19s SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Brian, who seems to have possessed the pen of a ready writer, speaks of Mr. and Mrs. Erskine's departure for America. " I do not think," she says, " that Mrs. Erskine is altered in the least since she left America either in look or manners. She has the same sweet- ness of temper that she had when she w^as Fanny Cadwalader. She was presented (at Court) about 2 months ago. She was dressed in black crape with black beads done all over and something like a crown on her head with seven large feathers done in stars with jet and a great hoop that stuck out 4 yards round. After that she went to the King's birthday — She was dressed in white crape all done through with white beads, and something like a crown on her head with 7 great white feath- ers — diamond earrings and necklace. This dress exclusive of the ornaments was 40 guineas and the black was 30." If Mrs. Erskine, who was a rare beauty, appeared in Washington in costumes as bril- liant as those described by Sarah Brian, she must have been greatly admired. In one of her letters, written to her cousin, Miss Mere- dith, sometime before Mrs. Erskine's return to America, she speaks of the prevalence of the turban in London, which gained such ascend- ency in America during the social reign of Mrs. Madison. "Turkish turbans made of soft "muslin rolled round the head are very much worn, they are extremely pretty with a Bird of Paradise Feather put in at the side 196 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN and drooping very low over one eye." Al- though Mrs. Erskine says that she never wears a turban herself, as she thinks that a young person looks best with nothing at all upon her head, she quotes the high price of wigs and tells her cousin that she has one for which she paid six guineas, which she intends shall last her the rest of her life. The Erskines spent some weeks with Lord and Lady Liston,* at their country-seat six miles from Edinburgh, before sailing for Amer- ica. Mrs, Cadwalader, Mrs. Erskine's mother, was with her during this visit, and her four children, tw^o of whom she brought to America with her. Mr. and Mrs. Erskine returned to England about i8og, when Mr. Francis Jackson was appointed Minister from Great Britain. Mr. Samuel Breck, who was in Washington in October, 1809, speaks of lodging at the Union Inn with " Mr. Jackson and his family (a nev^^ minister plenipotentiary arrived from Eng- land), Mr. Erskine (the recalled Minister), and Mr. Wood, the British Consul of Baltimore." Lord Erskine was for many years British Minister to W^urtemberg and to Bavaria. From Stuttgart Lady Erskine wrote charming letters to her mother in England, telling her of the many pleasures of her life, which Mrs. * Sir Robert Liston had been British Minister to the United States during President Washington's administra- tion. 197 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Cadwalader declined to share on account of her dread of the sea. Mrs. Erskine dwells with enthusiasm upon the beauty of the flowers, especially of the roses, and the orange-trees in full flower. She also speaks of the great kindness of the dow^ager Queen, whose invi- tation to Frederick's Haven she and Lord Erskine have been obliged to accept, because they were invited the year before and did not go. Faithful Sarah Brian in one of her letters has left a pleasant picture of Lady Erskine and her half dozen beautiful daughters, playing Ladies Bountiful to the destitute peasantry near their Bavarian home. Mary, Elizabeth, Stewarta, Margaret, Sevilla, and Jane all come in for a share of the fond foster- mother's admiration; "but Miss Jane," she adds, " will, I think, be the greatest beauty of them all."* * Mary Erskine married Hermann Tautphoeus Count Von Baumgarten of Bavaria, and lived in the great Chateau of Ehring. Mary Erskine was not the author of " The Initials," as has often been stated. The Baroness Tautphoeus, who wrote the novels, was a Scotch lady, Jemima Montgomery. Jane Erskine, in 1837, married her cousin, James H. Callander, great-grandson of Henry David Erskine, Earl of Buchan. J. T. Headley, in his "Letters from Italy," speaks of meeting Mrs. Callander at Genoa : " The other evening I was at an unusually bril- liant assembly at the Palace of the Governor, and as I was standing amid a group of officers I caught a view of a head and face that drew from me an involuntary exclama- tion, there was a beauty and expression about it I had seen but once before in my life, but no one could tell me who 193 1 Di. John Bullus By Gilbert Stuart SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Among women who were prominent in the social life of Washington were Mrs. William W. Seaton (Sarah Gales), Mrs. Albert Galla- tin, Mrs. James Monroe, an elegant and ac- complished woman although not as fond of society as Mrs. Madison ; Mrs. Alexander Macomb, Mrs. Richard Rush, and Mrs. John Bullus, who was a daughter of Colonel Charles Rumsey, of Cecil County, Maryland. Dr. and Mrs. Bullus went to Washington soon after their marriage, in 1800, and lived there a number of years. Dr. Bullus had studied medicine in Philadelphia with Dr. Benjamin Rush, and entered the navy as sur- geon when war with France v/as imminent. He afterwards resigned his commission to accept an appointment as Consul to Mar- she was or where she came from, yet all looked as if they would give the world to know. At length seeing her seated in familiar conversation beside a lady with whom I was acquainted, I soon pierced the mystery that surrounded her. You can guess my surprise and pleasure to learn that this beauty was of American origin. She was the daughter of Lord Erskine, who when Minister [Secy, of Legation] to the U. S. had married a beautiful Philadelphia lady, daughter of Mr, Cadwalader, who it seems has transmitted the charms that had enthralled the noble Lord to the daughter. You can judge of the effect of American beauty on the Italians when I tell you that while I stood by her the young nobles marched by her in regular platoons and paused as they came opposite to her and gazed as if they had been moon-struck. The radiant creature sat quite un- conscious of all this of course, as the lady sitting by her side not very amiably whispered to me." 199 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN seilles, and, sailing with his wife and family on the " Chesapeake," with Captain James Barron, in June, 1807, was a witness of and a participant in the very remarkable en- counter between the " Chesapeake " and the " Leopard." Having removed his wife and children to a place of safety, Dr. BuUus took his position on deck and remained there during this one-sided and unequal engagement. After the "Chesapeake" returned to port, Dr. Bul- lus relinquished the consulate at Marseilles. Having been an eye-witness of the affair be- tween the "Chesapeake" and the "Leopard," he was selected by President Madison as bearer of despatches and sent to England in relation to the matter. A pleasant little story is told by the Bullus family vi^hich gives some idea of the generous hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Custis, of Arling- ton. Dr. and Mrs. Bullus were invited to a tea-party at Arlington. Mrs. Bullus was not able to accompany her husband. While at the table Dr. Bullus admired the beautiful cups and saucers, which were of Sevres china, each one bearing the initials G. W^. in gold letters as they belonged to a set of china presented to General Washington by the Comte de Cus- tine. The next day came a basket of goose- berries from Mrs. Custis to Mrs. Bullus, and buried under the berries was one of the beau- tiful cups and saucers. Mrs. Custis was the wife of Mr. George Washington Parke Custis, of Arlington, the 200 Mrs. John Bullus By Gilbert Stuart SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN grandson of Mrs. Washington and the adopted son of the General. Mrs. Custis, her sister- in-law, Mrs. Lawrence Lewis, who lived at Mount Vernon during her grandmother's life, and Mrs. Bushrod Washington, who resided there after Mrs. Washington's death, were all much in Washington society in the early years of the century. Mrs. Lawrence Lewis's sis- ters, Mrs. Thomas Peter and Mrs. Thomas Law^, were both living in W^ashington. Mrs. Law was as beautiful as Mrs. Lewis, although of a less spiritudle and delicate type of beauty. It is said that when Gilbert Stuart was paint- ing a portrait of General Washington, Mrs. Law, then Eliza Custis, came in from the garden and stood with her arms folded watch- ing the progress of the painting. The artist looked up from his work, and, with his quick appreciation of the character and grace of the pose as well as of the beauty of the face, ex- claimed that he would like to paint a portrait of Miss Custis just as she stood, and thus it was painted. It was w^hen Mr. Law^ offered himself to Miss Custis that General W^ashington wrote her his famous letter, giving her his own philo- sophic views of love and marriage. Unfor- tunately, the young girl did not listen to the words of wisdom contained in this epistle ; for, although Mr. Law's appearance, bril- liancy, and great -wealth w^ere quite sufficient to bewilder any girl in her teens, his eccen- tricities were such as to preclude any hope 201 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN of real happiness. An habitud of Washington City in the early years of the century, in speak- ing of Mr. Law as one of the celebrities of the capital, said that there were few persons then living who had not some anecdote to relate respecting his eccentricities as w^ell as his brilliant talent. This distinguished gentleman was a younger brother of Lord Ellenborough, who had succeeded Lord Kenyon as Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench. Mr. Law's early life had been passed in India with Lord Cornwallis, where he held a high civil position, whose duties he discharged with signal ability. " Infected by the spirit of liberty then moving all nations," said a con- temporary writer, " Mr. Law's enthusiasm was roused in favor of Republican institutions, and, inspired with ardent admiration for the character of V/ashington, he came to America; having however, no political affinities w^hatever in this country. He attracted much attention from his fine person, aristocratic connections, and undoubted genius, and also from his wealth, which, accumulated in the golden days of India, was dissipated chiefly through building speculations, for which he had a mania ; w^hile he w^as also generous, prodigal indeed, in good works, as in the hospitalities dispensed at his country-seat near Washing- ton." The simplicity and informality introduced by Mr. Jefferson, disappeared with astonishing rapidity during the next administration, when 202 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Mrs. Madison held undisputed sway in the social world. Mrs. "William Seaton, describing Mrs. Madi- son's drawing-room, in a letter to a friend, said: "Her majesty's appearance was truly regal, — dressed in a robe of pink satin, trimmed elaborately with ermine, a white velvet and satin turban, with nodding ostrich-plumes and a crescent in front, gold chains and clasps around the waist and wrists. 'Tis here the ^voman w^ho adorns the dress, and not the dress that beautifies the woman. I cannot conceive a female better calculated to dignify the station which she occupies in society than Mrs. Madison, — Amiable in private life and affable in public, she is admired and esteemed by the rich and beloved by the poor. You are aware that she snuffs; but in her hands the snuff-box seems only a gracious implement with w^hich to charm. Her frank cordiality to all her guests is in contrast to the manner of the President, who is formal, reserved and precise, yet not wanting in a certain dignity. Being so low of stature, he was in imminent danger of being confounded w^ith the plebeian crowd, and was pushed and jostled about like a common citizen, — but not so with her ladyship ! The towering feathers and exces- sive throng distinctly pointed out her station w^herever she moved." Mrs. Seaton was surprised and shocked by the amount of powder and rouge used by fashionable women, many of whom spoke 203 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN quite frankly of putting on these " foreign aids of ornament," as they talked of wearing lace or jewels. Mrs. Seaton was also scandalized by the dccolletd style of dressing among w^omen of all ages. " Madame Bonaparte," she said, "is a model of fashion, and many of our belles strive to imitate her ; . . . . but without equal hlat, as Madame Bonaparte has certainly the most transcendently beautiful back and shoul- ders that ever were seen." " Mrs. Madison is said to rouge," wrote Mrs. Seaton, " but not evident to my eyes, and I do not think it true, as I am well assured I saw her color come and go at the naval ball, when the Macedonian flag was presented to her by young Hamilton." In the midst of gayety and merrymaking, there came, during Mr. Madison's second term in office, days of suspense to the country, and of danger to the capital which was not forti- fied or in any w^ay prepared for defence. The new Republic w^as suddenly brought face to face w^ith a proposition with which it has been confronted in later times. The Commander- in-chief of the armies of the United States was a great statesman ; but he knew nothing practically of w^ar, and matters were not im- proved by the presence at his right hand of an ineff"ectual Secretary of War. General Arm- strong saw no reason to fortify the capital of the nation, and that capital was speedily taken possession of by the trained soldiers of a war- like people. 204 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Mr. Madison, in company with the Secre- taries of War and of the Navy, had gone to Eladensburg on the day of the battle. General Armstrong assured Mrs. Madison before he left Washington that there was no danger. Unwilling to quit her post until her husband's return, anxious for his safety, perhaps still more anxious to silence hostile tongues, this heroic w^oman saw one official after another leave Washington ; but not until a messenger from Mr. Madison arrived, crying " Clear out ! clear out ! General Armstrong has ordered a retreat," did Mrs. Madison prepare to leave the White House. In the hurry and confusion of this departure, she had the courage and presence of mind to secure the Stuart portrait of General Washington, which hung upon the dining-room wall. As it could not be easily unscrew^ed from the wall, Mrs. Madison di- rected the doorkeeper and the gardener of the W^hite House to break the frame with an axe. The canvas was thus removed, without injury to the portrait, and conveyed to a place of safety in Georgetown. Whatever may have been said of Mr. Madison's timidity in the face of -war, nothing derogatory to the courage and spirit of Mrs. Madison could have been said VN^ith any shadow of truth. Many were the quips and quirks then freely circulated about the President, among them the follow- ing couplet attributed to an American Scott : "Fly Monroe, fly! Run Armstrong, run 1 Were the last words of Madison." 205 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN "When the President and Mrs. Madison re- turned to the capital, which had been shorn of its glory by the vandalism of General Ross and Admiral Cockburn, they rented a house at the corner of New York Avenue and Eigh- teenth Street, called the " Octagon House." In this mansion, which had been built by Colonel John Tayloe, of Mount Airy, Virginia, the Treaty of Ghent w^as signed, which ended the second war w^ith Great Britain. The reception given by the President and Mrs. Madison after the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, is described by residents of the capital as the most brilliant ever held in Washington. Mrs. Madison, rejoicing in the assurance of peace and of the restored popularity of her husband, received her guests with smiles, and as she passed from group to group radiated an atmosphere of happiness and good-will. "The Justices of the Supreme Court were present in their gowns," says a contemporary, " at the head of whom was Chief Justice Mar- shall. The Peace Commissioners to Ghent — Gallatin, Bayard, Clay and Russell — were in the company. Mr. Adams alone was ab- sent. The levee was additionally brilliant — the heroes of the war of 1812, Major-Generals Brown, Gaines, Scott, and Ripley, with their aides, all in full dress, forming an attractive feature. The return of peace had restored the kindest feeling at home and abroad. . . . "The most notable feature of the evening was the magnificent display of the Diplomatic 206 Mrs. James H. Callander Page 198 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Corps, prominent in which was Sir Charles Bagot, special ambassador from our late en- emy, Great Britain. It was on this occasion that Mr. Bagot made the remark, that Mrs. Madison 'looked every inch a queen.' " Mrs. James M. Mason, who went to Wash- ington as a bride during President Monroe's administration, wrote many letters to her mother, Mrs. Benjamin Chew, and to her sister in Philadelphia, describing the pleasures and gayeties of the capital. In one of her letters Mrs. Mason speaks of the great difficulty in returning visits as the houses, even at this time, were so far apart. The marriage of the President's daughter, Miss Maria Monroe, was, she says, the ab- sorbing topic of interest in the gay world. Of this approaching festivity. Miss Ann Elbertina Van Ness wrote to Miss Ann Chew: "I sup- pose the news of our old school-mate's en- gagement has reached you, long since ; The ninth of this month is the day fixed on for the wedding. I can scarcely realize it; to think that last winter, we were at school together, and now she is about to become Mrs. Gouv- erneur. ... I have laughed at little Rias (as we used to call her) more than once about it." Mrs. Seaton speaks in one of her letters of Mrs. Gouverneur, the bride, receiving in her mother's place at the drawing-room follo^ving the wedding, while "Mrs. Monroe mingled with other citizens. The bridal festivities," she adds, "have received a check which will 207 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN prevent any further attentions to the Presi- dent's family, in the murder of Decatur! The first ball, which we attended, consequent on the w^edding was given by the Decaturs. Invi- tations were out from Van Ness, Commodore Porter, &c, all of w^hich w^ere remanded on so fatal a catastrophe to a man identified with the success of the country in the late war." In one of her letters, Mrs. Mason gives a pleasant picture of Mrs. Madison as she ap- peared in later years. After her husband's death, Mrs. Madison returned to Washington, and was at this time living in the house at the corner of H Street and Madison Place, which is still pointed out to visitors as the Dolly Madison house. " Yesterday I posi- tively determined to go back to Clermont," wrote Mrs. Mason, " yet again I was over- ruled and carried to the Capitol to see Mrs. Madison and other great folks. . . . Tell papa, Mrs. Madison inquired very especially for him and desired me to reciprocate his remem- brances, she was quite eloquent when she described his elegant appearance and man- ners. She is a very charming old lady and quite captivated me by her encomiums of my Father and of my Husband." In one of Mr. Mason's letters to Miss Chew he says, " Mrs. Madison is a particular pet being only four score years." Men and women still living in W^ashington, recall Mrs. Madison as she appeared in her old age, still wearing her turban with a grace and dignity all her own, 208 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN still extending a charming and cordial welcome to all who gathered around her. She was al- ways, says one who remembers seeing her at Mr. Webster's house on H Street, the centre of attraction in whatever circle she appeared. The years when Mrs. Madison held sway in the society of the capital will ever be looked upon as the golden age of Washington society. The city was still small enough for all the great folk to be gathered together in one draw- ing-room, when Mrs. Madison, in the White House or in her more modest home on H Street, drew around her all distinguished per- sons who visited the capital. Having been a bride during the second administration of Washington, and familiar with the generals of the Revolution, Mrs. Madison lived until after the inauguration of President Polk, and wel- comed to her home the heroes of the War of 1812 and of the Mexican War. 14 209 CHAPTER VI. AN EARLY ART CEN- TRE HEN music, and the fine arts come to prosper at Philadelphia ; when society once becomes easy and gay there, and they learn to accept of pleas- ure Avhen it presents itself, without a formal invitation, then may foreigners enjoy all the advantages peculiar to their manners and gov- ernment, v^ithout envying anything in Eu- rope." So wrote the Marquis de Chastellux of the Quaker City during the Revolution. Whatever may be said of music, art came early to Philadelphia, and this despite the Quaker element in the community, which was, to some extent, opposed to the fine arts. That all Friends did not disapprove of portrait painting is evident from the numerous por- traits which have been handed down to this generation in the families of the Morrises, Fishers, Emlens, How^ells, Rawles, Pember- tons, and many leading Friends. Others were conscientiously opposed to the encouragement of art, and in this class were Elizabeth and Henry Drinker, as appears from the following entry in Mrs. Drinker's diary : " A man called this afternoon to see if H. D. would subscribe for a portrait of David Rit- tenhouse. I told him that my husband was 2Z0 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN abroad, and if at home, I believed it would not suit, as he was one that did not deal in pictures. He said that several genteel Quakers had subscribed. I was desirous of saving my husband the trouble of refusing, or the man of calling again." As an offset to the discouragement given to artists by the Drinkers, and others of their way of thinking, generous patronage was given to art by a number of citizens, and many portraits were painted in Philadelphia in Colonial days by Gustavus and John Hesselius, John Wool- aston, Robert Feke, John Watson, Henry Bembridge, Matthew Pratt, Benjamin West, and Charles Willson Peale. Whether born in Philadelphia or elsewhere, all artists of note drifted to this city sooner or later, some to make their homes here, like Charles Willson Peale and his brother James, Thomas Sully, W^illiam Russel Birch, Pierre Henri,* Edward Miles, John Henry Bro'wn, and John Sartain. Others came for a stay of more or less length, as Stuart, Inman, Trott, Jarvis, Malbone, Free- man, and many native and foreign artists. M. Henri brought with him credentials from the Royal Academy of London, and appears * The following notice in the Pennsyhmfiia Packet proves that M. Henri was painting in Philadelphia in 1790 : " Mr. P. Henri, Miniature Painter from Paris, respectfully in- forms the Public that he is living in Front Street, oppo- site the City Vendue (the Door facing the Tree) and that he will do himself the honor to wait on Ladies, at their request." 2ZI SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN to have painted miniatures in Richmond be- fore coming to Philadelphia. This concentration of art interest in Phila- delphia for some years, was doubtless due to the great patronage given to artists, especially to portrait painters, during the early sessions of Congress and later, when Philadelphia was the seat of government. Men and women were draw^n to this city from all parts of the country. Many of the statesmen and warriors of the Revolution had their portraits painted while in Philadelphia, as well as those of their wives and daughters. In consequence of the early encouragement given to native artists by Mr. William Hamil- ton, Mr. Joseph Shippen, Mr. Thomas Hopkin- son, Chief-Justice Allen, and by many other citizens of Philadelphia, an Academy of the Fine Arts was formed in Philadelphia early in the next century. The plan for this Art Society, as it was first called, was formulated in the studio of Rembrandt Peale, at the State House.* The committee appointed to secure a building for the art studies and exhibitions of the Academy was composed of George Clymer, William Poyntell, John Redman Coxe, William Rush, and John Dorsey. The only artist on the committee was William Rush, who pos- sessed great ability as a sculptor and carver in w^ood, as is proved by his noble figure of Gen- * The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, formed in 1805, was the outgrowth of Charles W. Peak's effort to organize an art school in Philadelphia as early as 1791. 212 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN eral Washington, now in Independence Hall, Philadelphia. Charles Willson Peale was painting in Phila- delphia as early as 1772. One of his best por- traits is of Judge William Barton. Mr. Peale also painted a portrait of Mrs. William Barton. This picture of Mrs. Barton (Elizabeth Rhea) represents the young mother with one of her little daughters, Betsy Barton, in her arms. The miniatures of Charles Willson Peale and his brother James are not so readily authenticated as their portraits, but every year more and more of James Peale's minia- tures are being discovered. With a powerful magnifying glass, the initials J. P. may be dis- cerned upon the background of many a minia- ture vs^hose owners have relegated it to the region of the unknown in art. In delicacy and grace of treatment, and in exquisiteness of finish, James Peale is only excelled by Mal- bone, while in strength and individuality of expression he sometimes surpasses the Rhode Island artist. Among interesting miniatures by James Peale, which have recently come to light, are those of Dr. John Bullus, whose por- trait was also painted by Gilbert Stuart, and tw^o very fine miniatures of Tench Francis and of Mr. William Sergeant, a son of Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant. A miniature of Charles Hall, a prominent Pennsylvania lawyer, who began his legal career in Sunbury, Northum- berland County, bears some marks of James Peale's style, while another unsigned and very 213 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN beautiful miniature of Mr. Hall, painted some years earlier, is so fine and delicate in treat- ment and color as to suggest the hand of a French artist. Mr. Hall was how^ever never abroad, having been born and having spent his early years at his father's place. Mount Wel- come, Cecil County, Maryland. He married Miss Elizabeth Coleman, and after his mar- riage lived in Sunbury, in the active practice of his profession. If Mr. Charles Hall's min- iature was the work of a foreign hand, it must have been painted by one of the French or English artists who were in America in the latter years of the century. The miniature v/as probably painted about 1796, the time of Mr. Hall's marriage to Miss Coleman. Another interesting unsigned miniature, painted in Philadelphia about 1778, is that of Mrs. Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant, which may have been the work of the elder Peale, as it was too early for the best w^ork of his brother James. This miniature, if executed by Charles Willson Peale, is an example of the artist at his very best, as it excels his other minia- tures, although it bears some general resem- blance to a well-authenticated miniature by him of Mrs. James Montgomery, and to one of his daughter, Angelica Peale, afterwards Mrs. Alexander Robinson, of Baltimore. Mrs. Ser- geant was a daughter of the Reverend Elihu Spencer, of New Jersey, and the wife of the able and patriotic New Jersey lawyer, Jona- than Dickinson Sergeant. Mr. Sergeant was 214 Mrs. Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant Mrs. Ale.xander Robinson By Charles Willson Peale SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN a member of the Continental Congress, rep- resenting New Jersey, and was afterwards Attorney-General for Pennsylvania. While at- tending the sessions of Congress, in 1776, Mr. Sergeant w^as obliged to leave his wife and infant son at Princeton. Upon the approach of the British, Mr. Spencer being obnoxious to the enemy in consequence of his well-known patriotism, a message was sent by General Mercer to warn him of his danger, while Dr. Bainbridge, of Princeton, aroused Mrs. Ser- geant, and insisted upon her starting at once with her sister and child to McConkey's Ferry, on the Delaware, where her husband had arranged to meet her in case she should be obliged to leave Princeton. Mrs. Sergeant was afterwards joined by her father, Mr. Spen- cer, at McConkey's Ferry. Here the family party had a joyful reunion, and spent the night in a little hut, under the protection of a com- pany of American soldiers on their way to join General Washington.* William Russell Birch, who is known to-day chiefly through his very fine portraits of Gen- eral Washington, and his views of houses and country-seats in and around Ne^v York, Phila- delphia, Washington, and other cities, was a * Mrs. Sergeant died in June, 1787, and Mr. Sergeant married, in December, 1788, Elizabeth Rittenhouse, a daughter of David Rittenhouse, the astronomer. The first Mrs. Sergeant was the mother of the Honorable John Ser- geant, who, like his father, was a distinguished lawyer and public-spirited citizen. 215 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN very remarkable workman in enamel. This artist's work is unique ; his method of putting on the enamel being an invention of his own, the result of much painstaking labor and many experiments. " Enamel painting," he said, "is the unique Art of heightening and pre- serving the beauty of tints to futurity, as given in the Works of the most celebrated Masters of Painting, without a possibility of their changing : the colours are made of metallic substances, metals and minerals, soluted, cal- cined, and composed with glassy substances, commonly called Flux, and when layed on bodies of their own kind and placed in a strong heat, will melt in one with them, and become permanent." Mr. Birch prepared his plates and made his own colors. In the course of his work, he dis- covered that by laying a thin coat of yellow enamel on the metal plate before putting on the last coat of white, he secured a warm tint not to be obtained in any other way. In his diary, or recollections, he says that after ex- perimenting for a month, he was particularly fortunate in producing in enamel a Vandyke brown, which Sir Joshua Reynolds was fond of using. For several years Mr. Birch was engaged in copying Sir Joshua's famous por- traits, at the artist's own request, as he seems to have feared what afterwards came to pass, that his colors, exquisite as they w^ere, would not stand the test of time. Among portraits copied in enamel by Mr. Birch were those of 216 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN the Duke of Devonshire, the Honorable Mrs. Stanhope, Mrs. Robertson, a portrait of Sir Joshua himself, one of the Marquis of Rock- ingham, and of Lord Spencer. Of the Earl of Mansfield, Lord Chief-Justice of the King's Bench, a patron of the artist, he made numer- ous copies in enamel from paintings by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Like a true-born son of Britain, William Birch took great pride in re- ferring to the generous patronage of his work by the English nobility and aristocracy, and the friendly relations that existed between himself and the Earl of Mansfield, Mr. Chaun- cey, and Sir Joshua Reynolds. In Mr. Birch's recollections, written for the benefit of his family, he quaintly tells of his success in inducing the Earl of Mansfield to sit to Sir Joshua for his portrait. " I w^as," he says, " first engaged in his [Lord Mansfield's] patronage in copying Mr. Copley's Picture from the Death of Chatham or a picture so nearly resembling one from it that I could not endure the idea of handing down to Posterity anything like second-hand a Characature not short of the first of the Age, and finding there were so many wanting of this Picture, or portrait, I took the following opportunity of speaking my mind. Sitting at tea one even- ing with his Lordship and the Ladies, * Well Birch,' said he, 'there is another picture to Paint.' ' What my Lord from Mr. Copley's Picture,' I replied, • it appears to me too much like a copy from another Picture, to hand 217 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN down your Lordship to posterity. I cannot copy it my Lord.' • What would you paint from,' he replied. ' I cannot help thinking that in an age like this where two so great men have met as your Lordship and Sir Jos'a that it is your Lordship's duty to your friends and the public to sit to Sir Josh'a Reynolds.' He paused a while and came up to me, * Birch,' said he, * the Archbishop of York has for these ten years past been soliciting me to sit to Sir Jos'a but I have always refused, but you shall go to Sir Joshua tom.orrow and tell him I will sit to him whenever he will appoint me.' Having thus succeeded in getting a fine picture by my own Master to copy I set down with pleasure to the orders, as from the first of the list, the picture being painted and much ap- proved, his Lordship said to me, * what is to be done with the Archbishop of York.' ' A copy of the picture, my Lord, should be or- dered of Sir Joshua for his Grace.' ' Then you go and order it,' he replied." Mr. Birch was in England at the time of the death of Sir Joshua Reynolds, of whom he speaks as his departed friend and master, and relates with great pride the fact that Mr. "West, — Benjamin West, — who had the arrangement of the procession, said to him upon this occa- sion, "I know your standing with Sir Joshua, and as you are not a regular member of the Academy, I have ordered a black coach for you to join with the family." Soon after this Judge Samuel Chase, of Maryland, was in 218 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN London. Mr. Birch says that Judge Chase was connected with him by marriage, and that he saw him often and had many conver- sations with him.* Judge Chase strongly ad- vised the artist to go to America, which he decided to do, taking his wife and children with him. The only letter of introduction that Mr. Birch carried with him was from Benjamin West, then President of the Royal Academy, to Mr. W^illiam Bingham, in Phila- delphia. " Mr. Bingham was my first employer in America," says Mr. Birch, " to instruct his t\vo daughters in Drawing at his own house at- tended with one of their friends, three scholars twice a week, at half a Guinea per lesson each. I then built me a furnace. Painted a full size picture in Enamel of Mr. Bingham and a smaller one from it for Miss Bingham, who afterwards married Sir Francis Baring. Find- ing orders for portraits came in fluently, I gave up my scholars." Mr. Birch had been quite successful in en- graving heads and landscapes while in Eng- land, and now, under the patronage of a number of influential citizens, he set about making his celebrated " Views of the City of Philadelphia in 1800." He says that in making these draw- ings he was assisted by his son, and by Mr. * Judge Chase was sent to England by the Maryland Legislature in 1783, to secure money that had been invested in the Bank of England before the War of the Revolution. 219 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Seymour in the work of engraving. In addi- tion to his " Views " of places in and around Philadelphia, Birch made engravings of a number of country-seats in Maryland, Vir- ginia, New York, and in other States; among them is one of Mount Vernon, then the resi- dence of Judge Bushrod Washington. Ac- cording to the artist's ov/n list, he made engravings of " Hoboken in New Jersey the seat of Mr. John Stevens ; Montobello the seat of General S. Smith of Maryland & the seat of Mr. Duplantier, near New^ Orleans." Among these " Views" is an engraving, which the artist speaks of as "York Island, w^ith a view of the seats of Mr. A. Gracie, Mr. Church, etc." Some of these pictures are in water- colors, as that of Point Breeze, the residence of Joseph Bonaparte, and that of General Ma- son's seat, on Analostan Island in the Potomac River, with a wing of his house at George- town, and of that of Mr. Custis in the distance. In and about Philadelphia Mr. Birch made engravings and water-colors of " Belmont," " Lansdowne," "Woodlands," "Echo," the seat of Mr. Beveridge, " Fairy Hill," which the artist speaks of as the residence of M. de la Roche and family,* and many other places on or near the Schuylkill. Mr. Birch also made engravings of a number of country-seats * " Fairy Hill " was in quite a different direction from Fairhill, the seat of Isaac Norris, which was burned by the British. 220 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN on the Delaware. Of one of these seats, "China Hall," which was near his own place, "Springland," he has left a quaint and in- teresting description. This handsome and unique country-seat, built by Mr. Van Braam, United States Minister from Holland, was situated on the Delaw^are near the mouth of the Neshaminy Creek. Mr. Van Braam, who had spent many years among the Chinese, im- ported many beautiful and curious articles for the furnishing and adornment of " China Hall," and Mr. Birch speaks of his long boat manned by eight Chinese oarsmen, dressed in white, as a picturesque feature in the landscape. Gilbert Stuart returned to America in 1794, and came to Philadelphia with a letter of in- troduction to President Washington from Mr. John Jay, his highest ambition in life being to paint a satisfactory portrait of the great soldier and statesman for whom he cherished so ardent an admiration. Mr. Birch gives an ingenuous account of his relations with the artist and of his first interview with General Washington : " When he [General Washing- ton] was sitting to Stuart, he told him he had heard there was another Artist of merit from London, naming myself, that he \vould sit to me if I chose. Mr. Stuart brought me the message. I thanked Mr. Stuart, and told him that as he had painted his picture, it would be a mark of the highest imposition to trouble the Gen'l to sit to me, but that when I had copied his Picture of him in Enamel, which 221 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN was my forte, that I would show it to the Gen., and thank him for his kind offer, which when I had done, I waited upon the Gen'l with a note. " When I saw the Gen'l I put the picture into his hand, he looked at it steadfastly, but from a peculiarity of solid habit in his manner, left me to look at him as solid, till feeling my- self awkward, I begun the history of Enamel Painting, which by the time I got through, he complimented me upon the beauty of my work. I then told him how much we was beholding to Mr. Stuart for the correctness of his likeness. "The annecdote of what Mr, Stuart calls his Mount Vernon Head, is worthy of obser- vation, it happened in the first picture, near its finish, when Mr. Stuart turned his Head to replenish his pallett, the Gen'l, knowing him to be a wit, took out his set of Ivory teeth, the painter on the turn of his head, struck with the additional dignity of Countenance, told the President, in a tone of tranquil ease, that he had been his subject long, w^ith pleasure, but know Sir, now you are my subject, and must to my pencil another tribute pay. A fresh picture was agreed upon, without the teeth, which is the one generally know^n. The first he called the Mount Vernon Head; I copied one enamel from it, which was purchased by Mr. McHenry." Mr. Birch says that he also made a copy in 222 Mrs. Barnes By William Russell Birch 1 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN enamel of the full-length portrait painted by Stuart for the Marquess of Lansdowne, and numerous other copies from the works of this artist, amounting to sixty in all. The enamels of General Washington by Birch, and the examples of his work in heads and in miniature groups and landscapes in the collections of the Academy of the Fine Arts, in Philadelphia, and in possession of members of the artist's family, are so fine that it is to be regretted that more of these enamels cannot be located. Mr. Birch made several miniatures in enamel of Mr. Jaudenes, Span- ish Minister to the United States, one of vk^hich w^as surrounded with diamonds and made into a locket for Mrs. Jaudenes. These miniatures of course left the country with the Jaudenes.* One of the most charming ex- amples of Mr. Birch's work is a miniature of his daughter Priscilla, who afterwards married Mr. Barnes. In this portrait the artist has, with great skill and delicacy of treatment, re- produced a lace veil that is thrown over the head and falls down upon the forehead almost * Mrs. Gushing, the wife of Judge Gushing, of the Su- preme Gourt, wrote from Philadelphia in 1795 that she and her husband had just dined with the President and Mrs. Washington, in company with Don ]os6 de Jaudenes, the Spanish Minister and his Lady, the Ghevalier and Mrs. Frere, Mr. and Mrs. Van Berckel, and a number of cabinet officers with their wives. Madame Frere, the Portuguese Minister's wife, and Madame Jaudenes were, Mrs. Gush- ing says, "brilliant with diamonds." 223 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN covering the eyes, and yet not concealing their beauty. Another miniature, of a young girl asleep, is very fine in its transparency of color and in the beauty of the flesh-tints. Mrs. Judge Cushing, in speaking of Gilbert Stuart's arrival in Philadelphia, calls him " an extraordinary limner said to exceed by far any other in America." Stuart soon became the fashion, in conse- quence of his great ability, and the distin- guished patronage which came to him through the letters that he brought to General Wash- ington and other prominent men. Although an eccentric individual, Stuart was possessed of a vast fund of information and was an inimitable raco7iteur. His studio, on Chestnut Street above Fifth, soon became more of a salon than a workroom, as visitors flocked in at all hours to see the great artist at work and to enjoy his brilliant conversation and clever tales. This circumstance, says Miss Jane Stuart, the artist's daughter, led Mr. Stuart to remove to Germantown, w^here he estab- lished himself in an old mansion near the Main Street, transforming the barn into a studio.* * The house in which Stuart lived was afterwards bought from Samuel Ashmead by the late Mr. William Wynne Wister, whose daughters still (1899) occupy the house. The old barn, in the rear of 5140 Main Street, in which Stuart painted.was standing in the summer of 1898, and near it the famous apple-tree, then in " the sear and yellow^ leaf," from which, said Mr. Ashmead, General Washington was in the habit of regaling himself when he walked in the garden. 224 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN This suburban painting-room soon became as popular as his Chestnut Street studio, as Miss Stuart says that, "while the General and Mrs. Washington were sitting for their por- traits, it was the resort of many of the most distinguished and interesting persons of the day. Nellie Custis, Mrs. Law, and Miss Har- riet Chew (afterwards Mrs. Carroll), gene- rally accompanied Mrs. "Washington. General Knox, General Henry Lee, and others came with the President. The British Minister and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Liston, Louis Philippe D'Orleans, Counsellor Dunn (an Irish bar- rister), and the Viscount de Noailles were particularly fond of Stuart's society and were daily visitors." General Washington was very fond of the daughters of his friend, Mr. Benjamin Chew, and is said to have gallantly requested Miss Harriet to accompany him to the sittings, as her conversation would give his face its most agreeable expression. W^ith Miss Har- riet Chew often came her sisters, Mrs. Philip Nicklin, Juliana Chev/, and Mrs. John Eager Howard, — Peggy Chew, — who was living in Philadelphia in 1796, while General Howard was attending the sessions of Congress as Senator from Maryland. Another of the Chew sisters, who was married about this time to Mr. Henry Philips, was Sophia Chew. Minia- tures of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Philips were later painted by Richard Cosway. Miss Stuart states that the celebrated Athe- 15 225 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN naeum portrait of General Washington was painted in the Germantown studio, and there seems to be no reason to doubt this state- ment, as this studio was within pleasant driv- ing distance of the President's Philadelphia residence. This beautiful portrait, w^hich w^as painted for Mrs. Washington at her request, was never finished, nor w^as her own portrait, which was intended to accompany it. To this fact may be attributed some of the delicacy and charm of these portraits, for Stuart was too true an artist to risk the chance of mar- ring by an additional stroke what was already beautiful and expressive. The Washington portrait Stuart kept in his Germantown studio, calling it his hundred dollar bill, as he took many orders for replicas from it, and delaying the delivery of it to its owner until the General's patience was ex- hausted. One writer says that Mrs. Washing- ton became quite angry with the artist for not allowing her to have her husband's portrait, and did not hesitate to express herself upon the subject. Stuart painted charming portraits of Miss Harriet Chew, who afterwards married Charles Carroll, the son of Charles Carroll, the Signer, of the Marchioness d'Yrujo, of Sarah Shippen, and of many other Philadelphia beauties. No artist who came to Philadelphia re- ceived more generous appreciation and patron- age than Thomas Sully. Here he made his home and brought up his family of children, 226 / Mrs. Charles Iren6e du Pont By Thomas Sully SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN some of whom inherited a share of their father's artistic ability. Among Mr. Sully's best Philadelphia portraits are those of Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Biddle, Mrs. Richard Wor- sam Meade, and Fanny Kemble, afterwards Mrs. Pierce Butler. Mr. Sully painted a very attractive portrait of Mrs. Charles Irenee du Pont soon after her marriage. Mrs. du Pont w^as a daughter of Senator Van Dyke, of New Castle, Delaw^are. The marriage of Miss Dorcas Montgomery Van Dyke and Mr. Charles Iren6e du Pont* was solemnized at her father's house in New Castle, in October, 1824, while the Marquis de Lafayette was in America. This nobleman, being an old friend of the groom's father, Mr. Victor du Pont, was present at the wedding, which was one of the most important social events that the old town of New Castle had ever witnessed. " Upon this occasion," says one who described the wedding, "Senator Van Dyke allowed the doors and windows to stand open so that the crowd about the mansion could see General Lafayette and the ceremony. The chair occupied by Lafayette was slightly elevated over all the others in the room and festooned with flowers. After the ceremony Lafayette, of course, kissed the Bride." * Mrs. du Pont died in 1858, and Mr. du Pont married Miss Ann Ridgely, a daughter of Henry M. Ridgely, of Dover, Delaware. 227 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Malbone was in Philadelphia for a short time, and here painted miniatures of Colonel and Mrs. Clement Biddle, of their son-in-law, General Thomas Cadwalader, and of the beau- tiful Gratz sisters, Rebecca and Rachel. The greater part of Malbone's work was done in Newport and in Charleston, South Carolina. One of the most charming of his miniatures is that of Isabel Barron, of Charleston, painted in 1806. A little story has come down with the picture, which says that the artist fell in love with his beautiful sitter, and that when this circumstance transpired her father put a stop to all further painting. This tradition seems to be carried out by the miniature, as some of the details are not finished, the deli- cate lace around the lovely throat being in some places merely outlined, while in others it is filled in w^ith great care. Another interest- ing miniature of a South Carolina girl is that of Mrs. Langdon Cheves, a daughter of Mr. Joseph Dulles and his wife, Sophia Heatl^y, of Charleston. Mrs. Cheves spent much of her married life in the North, as Judge Cheves was a prominent figure in political life, and was obliged to be much of the time in Wash- ington and in Philadelphia. Judge Cheves was a colleague of Mr. Calhoun in Congress during the War of 1812, and w^as for a time Speaker of the House of Representatives. His busi- ness and administrative abilities -were highly thought of, and w^hen the affairs of the Bank of the United States were involved in serious 228 Mrs. Langdoii Cheves By Edward Greene Malbone Isabel Barron By Edward Greene Malbone SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN difficulties, he was urged to remove to Phila- delphia and accept the presidency of the bank, which he did. It was at this time that Mr. and Mrs. Cheves spent their summers in Lan- caster, Pennsylvania, where they owned a handsome country-seat near that of the Hon- orable James Buchanan, afterwards President of the United States. Mr. Buchanan, who entertained a warm admiration for the beauty and grace of Mrs. Cheves, was fond of rela- ting a pleasant story of her as she appeared at her own dinner-table. Mrs. Cheves, charm- ingly attired, was one day entertaining some distinguished guests, when the waiter, in passing around the soup-tureen, after the good old style before dinners a la Russe were in vogue, awkwardly overturned the contents upon the delicate brocade gow^n of the hostess. Mr. Buchanan said that not only did Mrs. Cheves utter no expression of surprise or anger, but without a word upon the subject she continued the conversation in which she was engaged. This lovely lady was not only sw^eet-tempered and self-controlled, but highly cultivated and possessed of some artistic abil- ity. A miniature of Colonel William Rhett, copied by her from the original which was painted by a distinguished artist, is still in possession of the family.* While in Philadel- * Colonel William Rhett was, in 1702, appointed by Gov- ernor Nathaniel Johnson commander of the land and naval forces of Carolina. Colonel Rhett, says his biographer, 229 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN phia Mr. and Mrs. Langdon Cheves lived on Locust Street, at the corner of Washington Square, in a house which has been owned for many years by Dr. Horace Howard Furness, the great Shakespearian scholar and commen- tator. Among miniatures painted by Malbone much earlier than that of Mrs. Langdon Cheves, are those of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Dana, of Boston, a handsome couple, in the becoming and picturesque costume of the time. Looking " proved himself by his dauntless courage, regulated by perfect coolness, -worthy of the post. In due time the tall masts of a French frigate, in company with three ships and a galley, appeared above the low, white sand ridge of Morris Island. A courier w^as immediately sent to Col. Johnson, who the next day, very much to the satisfaction of the in- habitants, rode into town. He forthwith called a council of war, the minutes of w^hich read like some old English burgher's meeting, during the reign of Elizabeth, for it w^as quickly agreed to put some great guns on board of such ships as were in the harbor, and employ the sailors in their own way in defense of the town. Of this fleet Col. Rhett, who although commanding the militia of the colony, seems to have been quite as good a sailor as soldier, was made ' vice-admiral.' Col. Rhett whose gallantry contributed so materially to the defeat of the Franco-Spanish fleet, lived long after the death of Col. Johnson. The risk of no enter- prise seemed too great for his dauntless spirit. Among the many services which he rendered the colony was one w^hich eclipsed all others, for desperate bravery, his capture of Steve Bonnes, the famous pirate. The worth of Col. Rhett at length attracted the attention of the home government, and he was appointed Governor of the Bahama Islands, but he died before the commission reached him." 230 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN at Mr. Dana's refined face, with its delicate and finely-modelled features, we can under- stand Mrs. John Adams's warm admiration of the beauty of members of the Dana family whom she met abroad. Whether or not she was nearly related to Richard Dana, the Miss Dana whom Mrs. Adams saw in London was a niece of Francis Dana, United States Minister to Russia. This young lady, whom Mrs. Adams likened to "Calypso among her nymphs, delicate and modest," had, she added, "the best title of any Englishwoman I have seen to the rank of a divinity. I would not have it forgotten that her father is an American, and, as he \vas remarkably hand- some, no doubt she owes a large share of her beauty to him." Robert Field, an English miniature painter, was in America in 1795 and 1796, and like all other artists who came to the Republic, painted a miniature of General Washington. Mr. Twining speaks of dining with Mr. Field at the St. George's Society, in Philadelphia, and of giving him a partial promise to sit to him for his miniature. To Mr. Field may be attributed some of the unsigned miniatures to be found in Philadelphia and other cities, although some of them were doubtless painted by another English miniature painter by the name of Browne, whose name has naturally been confused with that of the well-known American artist, John Henry Brown. The English artist, Browne, painted very remark- 231 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN able miniatures of Mrs. Willing Francis and of Mr. and Mrs. John C. Montgomery. Another foreign artist, who came to Phila- delphia in the first quarter of the century, was Francis Martin Drexel, whose fame as a painter has been entirely overshadowed by his great success as an American banker. This young man, the son of an officer in the Aus- trian army, studied in Rome before he came to try his fortune in the New World. He brought letters to Joseph Bonaparte, then living at Bordentov^^n, New Jersey, who proved to be a kind friend to the artist. Mr. Drexel seems to have possessed considerable ability as an artist and painted in various lines ; like most impecunious young painters, accepting whatever orders came to him. An altar-piece was executed by him for the Roman Catholic Church of Saint Peter's, in Reading, Pennsyl- vania. This painting represented the Cruci- fixion and was very beautiful. Mr. Ferdi- nand J. Dreer, a distinguished Philadelphia antiquarian, distinctly recalls a famous sign painted by young Drexel for a lottery estab- lishment, at the corner of Fourth and Chest- nut Streets, where a fair lady, representing Columbia, presided over a cornucopia from which fell doubloons galore. Mr. Dreer says that this sign was painted upon canvas, and as he recalls it, was beautiful and artistic. Among portraits painted by Mr. Drexel, still to be seen in Philadelphia, are those of Mr. and Mrs. George Washington Morris, a group 232 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN portrait of Gilbert Livingston Morris and Edward Berean Morris,* and miniatures of the artist and his wife, which are in possession of their daughter, Mrs. John G. Watmough. Mr. Pratt, w^ho knew^ Mr. Drexel well, says that his greatest success in painting was made in Bolivia, South America, where he w^ent about 1825. Here he painted portraits of General Bolivar and other leading men in the new Republic. The money acquired in this way enabled Mr. Drexel, when he returned to Philadelphia, to enter into the banking oper- ations which, in the course of a few years, gained for him a world-wide reputation. f From the dignified and imposing portraits that have come down to us, we have been led to think of our grandmothers as tall and stately dames, moulded upon a larger pattern than the women of to-day. It is only from occa- sional descriptions in old letters, and from the small size of some of the garments worn by these ladies of the olden time which have been preserved in certain families, that we * These family portraits are owned by Mr. Harrison S. Morris, of Philadelphia. t Mr. Dundas T. Pratt says that Mr. Drexel began to paint portraits of Bolivar in Philadelphia and painted them during the long voyage. He sold them in Bolivia at a doubloon apiece. On his return, he made his money on Pennsylvania currency when the banks of Pennsylvania stopped payment. He afterwards went to Germany and established the letter-of-credit system. Mr. Drexel had his office on Sixth Street, back of the Public Ledger Building. 233 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN have had reason to form a different opinion. It was a rude awakening to many of us to learn upon good authority that Lady Wash- ington was of exceedingly small stature, and inclined to embo7ipoint in middle life, while from a letter written by a Philadelphia beau in Colonial days, it plainly appears that the belles of that time were not all "•' daughters of the gods, divinely tall." Mr. James Willing gave the following very ungallant reason for not v/ishing to go to the Philadelphia Dancing Assembly : " Among the principal managers," says the old chronicle, "are Billy Allen and Jemmy Willing. The Subscribers may send a Ticket to any Young Lady for the Evening ; Notwithstanding which Privilege J. Willing tells me that He is almost tired of it because the Girls are so little." If these Colonial and Revolutionary dames were not all "divinely tall," they certainly appear " divinely fair," and as their descend- ants of to-day look into the charming faces that have come down to them upon the can- vases of Stuart, Peale, and Sully, or upon the ivories of Trott, Eraser, and Malbone, they may well exclaim with the New England poet who lost his heart to his own great-grand- mother, — " What if a hundred years ago Those dose-shut lips had answered * No ' ?" 234 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN CHAPTER VIL MRS. RUSH AND HER SALON IT was said of the late Madame Aubernon de Neurville that to her Parisian sa/on, " the last sa/on where there was real talk," there came " everyone that we read or read of with interest." To the salon of Mrs. James Rush, of Philadelphia, the same epi- grammatic description may be applied with equal pertinency, the " Open, sesame !" to her drawing-room being talent, intellectual ability, and the power to charm and entertain, rather than great wealth or social position, although Mrs. Rush by no means undervalued these advantages. Whatever mistakes may have been made by her, and these were doubtless exaggerated, all honor is due to Mrs. Rush for having been one of the first women in Amer- ica to establish a social status in her home based upon higher standards, at a time when distinctions of a very artificial and absurd nature still prevailed in the society of the Quaker City. No woman had been so distinctly a leader in the social life of Philadelphia since the days of Mrs. William Bingham, and it may be said w^ith truth that the influence exerted by Mrs. Rush was far more stimulating and elevating than that of Mrs. Bingham, as it -was more intellectual. Luxury and the arts of living 235 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN had made great strides in the years that had intervened since the Binghams entertained in their new mansion on Third Street. Although Colonel Maxwell, who came to this city in 1840, described it as having about it " a gen- eral sombreness increased by the quantities of Quakeresses and weeping willows you meet at every turn," there is reason to believe that the Philadelphia of that day, as at an earlier time, was the centre of much genuine old-fash- ioned hospitality and of considerable gayety. It would be interesting to knov>;^ what fairy godmothers gathered about the cradle of little Phcebe Ann Ridgway and conferred upon the Quaker girl so strong a desire and such distinct ability to lead and shine in the world of let- ters and of society. Although born of Quaker parents, Miss Ridgway, afterwards Mrs. James Rush, w^as not reared in the severe simplicity of the Quaker life of old Philadelphia, as much of her education v^^as gained abroad. Mr. Jacob Ridg^vay, one of the shrewdest of old- time merchants, was engaged in an extensive shipping business as a partner in the firm of Smith & Ridgway. During the war between England and France, it being necessary for one of the partners of the firm of Smith & Ridgway to live abroad in order to protect the interest of the mercantile house, Mr. Ridgway removed to London with his family. He after- wards resided in Antwerp, w^here he occupied the position of United States consul and be- came a partner in an Antwerp house. 236 Susan and Phoebe Ann Ridgway SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN From some lines written in the diary of Dr. James Rush, it appears that Mrs. Rush was born abroad. This entry of 1842 seems as if it might have been made to remind the writer of his wife's birthday : "'P. A. R.' born in London at No. 46 Bish- opgate St., Tuesday, December 3, 1799, at half- past four o'clock P.M." In a family letter written the next year, little Phoebe Ann Ridgv/ay is spoken of as "a lively baby," which proves that her characteristic energy early impressed itself upon her rela- tives. An elder sister, Susan or Susannah Ridgway, was born in Philadelphia, while Mrs. Rush's brother, John Jacob Ridgway, w^as born in Paris. A pleasing picture of the little sisters, Susan and Phcsbe Ann Ridgway, was painted while Mr. and Mrs. Ridgway were living in Ant- werp. These two girlish figures in white muslin gow^ns are charming in their grace and simplicity. Phoebe's tiny red shoes peep out from beneath her skirt, and as Susan was not equipped ^vith the much-coveted red shoes, she was allo\ved to carry a basket of gay flowers, w^hile Phoebe's basket v/as empty, from which it appears that Mr. and Mrs. Ridg- way were as fair and impartial in meting out justice to their offspring as the fathers and mothers of Miss Edgeworth's " Moral Tales." The fact that Phcebe Ann Ridgway's early education and associations were foreign, seems to have been overlooked by many persons who 237 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN misunderstood and misjudged her in her own city, a Continental education not being as usual in the early years of the century as it is to- day. Mrs. Rush early developed a taste for society, for the gayer side of life, for beauty, music, light, and color, as well as a decided love of letters. In her enjoyment of brilliant and gorgeous surroundings, she seemed to have revived some remote and forgotten Ori- ental strain in her blood, \vhile in her intelli- gence, her keen perceptions, and her frankness she was all Anglo-Saxon. Dr. James Rush has sometimes been spoken of as a recluse and a morose and gloomy man. This may have been the case after the death of his wife ; but from all that can be gathered from those who knew the Rushes in their own home, theirs was a happy married life. Although widely different in character and tastes, they possessed certain meeting grounds in their love of study and improvement and in their delight in the society of intellectual men. Dr. Rush was a son of the more distin- guished Dr. Benjamin Rush, and a brother of the Honorable Richard Rush, who represented his country in England and France. Having enjoyed exceptional educational advantages at home and abroad. Dr. Rush was all his life a student and a lover and collector of books and of information upon a great variety of sub- jects. In addition to being engaged in the active practice of his profession, he made a particular study of the voice and the vocal 238 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN organs, and wrote extensively upon these subjects. He did not, however, confine his studies to this one branch of learning, as is proved by his note-books and diaries. The note-books, especially those kept while travel- ling abroad, afford an interesting example of the power for the accretion of a variety of facts possessed by one individual. These books abound in details regarding life, places, and persons in Spain, Holland, Denmark, and Russia, the capital of w^hich latter country Dr. Rush visited during the stirring days that followed the assassination of the Emperor Paul and the accession of his son Alexander. Although content to spend his leisure hours among his books. Dr. Rush heartily encour- aged his wife in her desire to make their home a social as well as an intellectual centre. When learned men from abroad sought his society in his study, he was proud to feel that he could offer them the attractions of his wife's drawing-room, where they could not fail to be delighted with the conversation of Mrs. Rush, who was cultivated, brilliant, and original. Mrs. Rush was as fond of books as her husband, and was always engaged in some especial course of study ; but books alone did not satisfy her, she craved the stimulus of in- tellectual companionship. Her mind was one of unusual range and grasp, masculine rather than feminine in its characteristics. For this reason, perhaps, Mrs. Rush preferred the so- 239 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN ciety of intellectual men to that of her own sex. She did not engage in the favorite pur- suits of the lady of forty years ago — shopping, visiting, and the like. Much of her time was spent in study, and the books that she read were of a kind that men were more ready to discuss with her than ^A7omen. Judge Carle- ton, w^ho had entered into the most culti- vated society in England and America, said that Mrs. Rush was the most intellectual woman whom he had met in this country, adding that she possessed an eminently philo- sophical mind. In the Old World, which she visited, it was the fashion for certain feminine l>eaux espi-its to gather about them a circle of able and distin- guished men. Madame de Stael charmed by the pow^ers of her conversation and the won- ders of her mind all the men who approached her, excepting only the great Napoleon, while certain gra^ide dames in England, as Lady Ash- burton and Lady Holland, drew around them a circle of the wits and intellectual giants of their time. Mrs. Rush's idea of holding a salo7i, of being at home to visitors at certain times and not being subject to incursions from callers at all hours of the day, was one of her foreign notions that made old Philadelphians wonder and criticize. The custom of being •' at home " upon certain days to callers was then unusual in America, except in official circles, and Madam Rush's attempt to recon- struct society, according to methods that had 240 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN been adopted by an older civilization, was duly resented. She frankly defended her position by saying, "You ladies waste a great deal of time in paying and receiving calls. I neither visit or receive visits except on my days." Despite the unpopularity of some of her foreign fashions, Mrs. Rush's balls and matinees were far too elegant and delightful to be ig- nored, and men and women gladly accepted her invitations and flocked to her entertain- ments, even if she declined to spend her days in the drawing-room receiving a stream of visitors, and preferred her book or piano to a dish of gossip at high noon. The hours of this busy woman's day were all appropriated to study, to the practice of music, to reading, and to a daily constitutional up and down Chestnut Street, from her house to the Dela- ware, which she never omitted. This prome- nade w^as a sociable affair, as Mrs. Rush was always attended by two or three gentlemen and met many acquaintances who joined her. Men and w^omen, still in the prime of life, distinctly recall the rubicund face and portly form of Mrs. Rush as she appeared on the street \vhile taking her vigorous constitutional. One person remembers her in a crimson silk gow^n, which may have served to throw her far too brilliant complexion into the shade, while still another recalls the stout figure of the lady of fashion, enveloped in a green velvet •' mantilla," as she stood upon the sidewalk enjoying raw oysters, in a truly democratic i6 241 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN fashion, at Tatem's famous oyster-stand en Twelfth Street near Spruce. Whether introduced as a fashion by Mrs. Rush, or simply by good common sense, walking was for some years a favorite amuse- ment in Philadelphia. Mr. Samuel Breck speaks of being elected to a famous walking- club in 1837, in which some of his associate members were George Rundle, Thomas H. White, Jacob R. Smith, John R. Coates, and Thomas F., Francis R., and Fishbourn Whar- ton. Mr. Breck confesses that some of these " old codgers, to use the French phrase, se promenent en voiture^'' insisting upon having their carriages for the return trip. This was in later and more degenerate days, when a short walk and a long dinner had come to be the only feats required of the members of this club. Mr. Thomas Fishbourn W^harton speaks of earlier and more vigorous days of the vi^alking-club, when he and Mr. Thomas H. W^hite walked to Sloan's Mineral Spring, three miles from Camden, Ne\v Jersey. Nor does he make any mention of a dinner as the reward of their labors. Among Mrs. Rush's cards are quite a num- ber upon which is written an informal engage- ment to take a walk. Some of these are in French, as when " Mr. Saul de la Nouvelle Orleans" wrote upon his card a few lines in that language to learn whether their prome- nade should be at half-past two or five o'clock; other engagements are in Italian or Spanish, 242 Thomas Fishbourn Wharton By Vander Lyii SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN as Mrs. Rush, among other attainments, was the mistress of several languages. This ac- complishment drew many strangers to the Rush mansion, where foreign officials and visitors from abroad, and from the southern portions of our own continent, found a w^arm welcome and a hostess v/ho was ready to con- verse with them in their own tongues. Joseph Bonaparte, who established himself in or near Philadelphia soon after his arrival in America, was a guest of Madam Rush. Among cards left at her house, 179 Chestnut Street, opposite the State House, are some bearing the auto- graph " Le Cte. de Survilliers," which is the name by which the ex-King of Spain was. known in Philadelphia life. He is described by those who knew him as a courteous and charming man, although Mr. Samuel Breck, who met the Count on Third Street, said that his appearance was that of a plain country gentleman, and that he could not help won- dering why one of the nine servants whom he brought with him from England had not brushed his hat, which was decidedly shabby. The Comte de Survilliers spent a number of years near Philadelphia. He lived first at Lansdow^ne, John Penn's country-seat,* * Mr. Breck says, under the date April 20, 1816, "Yes- terday, as we were going to Belmont, my neighbor, Farmer Bones, informed me that the ex-king of Spain, Joseph Bonaparte, had hired Lansdowne House for one year — that he had been in his company in the morning, and found him a very plain, agreeable man." 243 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN and afterwards at Point Breeze, near Borden- town, spending his winters in Philadelphia. A house on Ninth Street above Spruce still bears traces of the residence of the exiled King in the line of papering and decorations, and the Countess de Cuelebroeck, then Miss Willing, remembers a dinner given by the Comte de Survilliers at a house at the corner of Twelfth and Market Streets, which he rented from Stephen Girard.* It was at Point Breeze that the Comte de Survilliers passed so many years, during which his exile was some- times shared by his daughters, Zenaide and Charlotte, by young Murat, his nephew, and always by his faithful attendant and friend, Louis Maillard. Here Joseph Bonaparte lived the life of a country gentleman, surrounded by such congenial friends as the Hopkinsons, Du Barrys, and Tesseires, while from Phila- delphia and elsewhere he was visited by Mr. Charles J. Ingersoll, Dr. Nathaniel Chapman, General Cadwalader, Stephen Girard, Richard Stockton, United States Senator, and by such old soldiers of the Empire as Generals Henry and Charles Lallemand. The Comte de Sur- villiers was upon intimate terms with Dr. Monges, a French refugee, who came to Phil- adelphia accredited by the Royal Academy of * This was a three-story brick building, with a coach- house in the rear, and was considered a complete estab- lishment. At this time Mr. Girard lived on Water Street, in a plain, old-fashioned house. 244 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Madrid and other scientific institutions abroad. The Princess Charlotte painted a portrait of Miss Cora Monges, afterwards Mrs. Charles Dutilh.* A close friendship existed between the family of Joseph Bonaparte and the Hop- kinsons. In one of the Count's letters, written from Point Breeze in 1823, he speaks of the approaching marriage of his daughter Char- lotte to " her cousin, Louis Napoldon, son of Louis Napoleon ci-devant King of Holland." In her letters to Mrs. Joseph Hopkinson, writ- ten after her marriage, the Princess Charlotte signed her name "Charlotte Napoleon." While living in Bordentown and in Phila- delphia, the Comte de Survilliers entertained his friends most hospitably, and evidently ac- cepted some invitations, as Dr. Rush recorded in his diary entertainments given to the Count. In March, 1839, Dr. Rush wrote : " This day gave dinner party and musical party in the evening to Count Survilliers, Joseph Bona- parte." This was while the Rushes were living on Chestnut Street, opposite the State House, where they gave a number of small musical soiries and receptions, as hundreds of notes of acceptance and regret, all care- * Charlotte Bonaparte possessed considerable artistic ability, and while at Bordentown with her father executed a number of sketches, paintings, and lithographs. Some of her work was collected in a volume named " Vues Pit- toresques de I'Am^rique dessin^es par la Comtesse Char- lotte Survilliers, 1824." She also exhibited some of her paintings at the Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. 24s SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN fully labelled and preserved by Dr. Rush, abundantly testify. He also made notes upon special occasions, as when he recorded in his diary on November 14, 1838 : " Madam Cara- dori-Allan spent this evening with us in com- pany with a party, about fifty friends. She sang five songs — Madam B also sang. The two Miss Fords played, as did Miss Margaret Sergeant and Mr. Taylor." The Miss Ser- geant here mentioned was afterwards the wife of General George Gordon Meade, of Pennsyl- vania. Another night. Dr. Rush wrote that he and his wife went to the Musical Fund Hall to hear Madame Caradori sing, after w^hich they repaired to Mrs. Carroll's, on Chestnut Street opposite the Mint, where they met Madame Caradori and other friends, to the number of about twenty, and spent the re- mainder of the evening so agreeably that they did not return home until two o'clock in the morning, which was rather gay for old Phila- delphia. The cheerfulness with which Dr. Rush recalls these nocturnal gayeties sug- gests no thought of his having been bored by them. Madame Caradori Allan had already sung for Dr. and Mrs. Rush at a niusicale in March, 1838, as appears from a note written by her husband, in which he thanks Mrs. Rush for some flowers sent to his wife, and says that she is occupied in preparing for the evening. Among Mrs. Rush's notes of acceptance to this entertainment is a very charming one from 246 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Mr. Moncure Robinson, in which he says : "I take occasion to apprize yourself and Dr. Rush of a new acquaintance I have made through Mrs. Robinson, and who in time she will be most happy to present to you. Mrs. R. and this young gentleman are delighted with each other and are both doing very well. ... I am myself however no very great admirer of the young gentleman's voice which may be a good one, but has at present some harsh notes in it; and will cheerfully give it up once for the Caradori's." Mr. Moncure Robinson was a delightful con- versationalist. Having known many interest- ing persons abroad and in his own country, he possessed a vast fund of reminiscence, from which his excellent memory enabled him to draw freely. Another charming racanteiir^ who was a frequent guest at the Rushes', was Mr. "William D. Lewis. Mr. Le^vis, having repre- sented his country in Russia, was acquainted with that most difficult language, and trans- lated a number of Russian poems into English. Among frequent and informal guests of Mrs. Rush, while she lived opposite the State House, were Mr. and Mrs. W^illiam Jackson, Mr. and Mrs. James Dundas, Colonel and Mrs. Drayton, from South Carolina, beau- tiful Mrs. John Craig, who afterwards married Edward Biddle, the celebrated Dr. Jackson, Dr. William Keith, and Mr. Du Ponceau. The French lawyer, Peter Du Ponceau, had served under General W^ashington, and after the War 347 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN of the Revolution made his home in Philadel- phia, where he was beloved by all who knew him. A pleasant story is told of Mrs. Pierce Butler (Fanny Kemble) and Mr. Du Ponceau. One winter day, when he was ill and feeble, Mrs. Butler called to see him, and finding that for some reason, — probably because he real- ized that he might not live to see the light of another June, — Mr. Du Ponceau had expressed a great desire for a rose. Roses in winter v/ere not plentiful then as now^, as only a few per- sons had hot-houses ; but Mrs. Butler, whose kind heart was touched by the old gentle- man's desire, set forth determined to gratify it. When she returned and found that Mr. Du Ponceau had fallen asleep, she gently placed where he could see it as soon as he opened his eyes, a superb red rose, that bore in its heart all the beauty and fragrance of the June that he was not destined to behold. Mr. and Mrs. John Sergeant and Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Biddle were upon intimate terms with Dr. and Mrs. Rush. Mr. Biddle seems to have found favor in the eyes of the chronicling and usually fault-finding M. de Bacourt, who v^^as in America in 1840, as he recorded of him : " At the Athenaeum I made the acquaintance of M. Bidole whose name has resounded in financial circles abroad." M. de Bacourt described Mr. Biddle as " a handsome man wearing a blue coat with brass buttons, yellow nankeen pantaloons, canary colored gloves, and a glossy beaver." It was 248 I SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN he who said that "the world was ruled by three boxes — the ballot-box, the cartridge-box, and the band-box." Mr. Biddle's quips and quirks and jeu d'esprits were as much prized in his day as were those of Francis Hopkinson and Judge Peters, which served to enliven the gloom of a darker period of our history. All of these men possessed great social charm and good-humor, and despite their "gift of tongues," w^ere ever more loved than feared. Mr. Samuel Jaudon, who was associated with Mr. Biddle, and went to England to represent the interests of the United States Bank, was frequently at the Rushes' while in Philadelphia. A list of the visiting-cards left for Mrs. Rush at the house 179 Chestnut Street, and at the new^ mansion further west on the same street, would not only make a fairly accurate social register of the period, but would also furnish an almost perfect list of the visitors of distinc- tion, native and foreign, who came to Phila- delphia during certain years. All strangers of note brought letters of introduction to Dr. and Mrs. Rush, as their acquaintance, formed w^hile abroad and during their summers at Saratoga, w^as very large. One day Mr. Wald- burg Barclay, of New York, w^rote to avail himself of the permission, which Mrs. Rush had given him at Saratoga, to introduce one of his English friends, the Vice-Consul, Mr. B , "a most agreeable gentlemanlike per- son, who was passing through Philadelphia, 249 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN en route for ■Washington, whither he goes to see the republican king crowned." Another day the Baron Davrainville wrote : " I have this instant met with Lord Chs Wellesley (the Duke of W^ 2"^^ son) ; and Capt. Lewis B. A. Will Mrs. Rush permit me to introduce them to her this evening, and w^ill she be kind enough to send at Jones Hotel, Invitations for the same." Dr. Rush seems to have preserved all the visiting-cards left for Mrs. Rush and himself. On these bits of pasteboard, yellowed by time, we read the names of all well-known Phila- delphians, while from other cities and coun- tries came many persons who have indelibly impressed their names upon the pages of history, science, philosophy, and literature. Among these guests were George Bancroft, the historian ; Dr. Channing, the great Uni- tarian preacher ; Dr. "William H. Furness, a younger divine of the same persuasion ; President Martin Van Buren, Mr. and Mrs. Fenimore Cooper, Charles Dickens, and Miss Harriet Martineau, v^^hom one lady speaks of as so deaf and so decided in her opinions as to make the "give and take" of conversation impossible, while Mrs. Pierce Butler said that if her stay in Philadelphia were long enough, she and Miss Martineau might become friends. General J. Harlan, who had served under the Ameer of Cabul, was entertained at the Rush house, and doubtless had yards of Arabian Nights tales with which to entertain the guests 250 Mrs. John Jacob Ridgway By Alexandre Cabanel Page 260 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN of Mrs. Rush ; and Henry W. Longfellow, — not the beautiful old man who came to Phila- delphia in 1876, but the young poet with the world before him. These and many other persons of distinction were w^armly welcomed by Mrs. Rush, her quick appreciation of genius and her readiness to honor it being one of the admirable sides of this ^voman's character. Although never beautiful, even in her youth, as is proved by a miniature which ^vas painted soon after her marriage, Mrs. Rush is de- scribed by those who knev^ her well as hav- ing possessed a certain air of distinction, that commanded respect and attention, despite the coarseness of her face and the ungainliness of her figure. Mrs. John Jacob Astor, of New York, who met Mrs. Rush at Saratoga and elsewhere, said of her that she was alw^ays a grande dame, and whenever she entered a drawing-room, at home or abroad, she became at once a centre of attraction and interest. No children of the same parents could have been more unlike than Mrs. Rush and her sister, Susan Ridgway. The latter was at- tractive in appearance and as gentle and retiring as Mrs. Rush was independent and pronounced. Susan Ridgway married Mr. Thomas Rotch, and after his death became the wife of the distinguished Dr. Rhea Bar- ton. Mrs. Barton was much beloved in her native city, where she spent the greater part of her life. Being a woman of pronounced character, 251 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN strong prejudices, and sometimes carrying her frankness to the extreme of brusqueness, Mrs. Rush made many enemies and was often the subject of ill-natured gossip. One day, at the dinner-table of one of the large hotels at Sara- toga, some of the guests made a number of unpleasant and disparaging remarks about Mrs. Rush, who was in the habit of spend- ing the summer at this watering-place. Miss Josephine Iturbide was at the table, and after listening for some time w^ith growing indigna- tion, she finally rose to her full height and, with a flash of righteous wrath in her fine black eyes, exclaimed, "The woman of whom you are speaking is a friend of mine, and I call upon you to prove the statements that you have made." The circle of gossips — who had, of course, no proofs, as they did not even know Mrs. Rush and were dealing in hearsays — sat silent and much discomfited before Miss Iturbide's challenge, while a gentleman in another part of the room came for^vard and asked to be presented to Miss Iturbide, saying that he considered it an honor to take by the hand a woman who could so nobly champion an absent friend. That Mrs. Rush's social sway was arbitrary, and sometimes even cruel, there can be little doubt. If any misguided aspirant to social joys essayed to enter her doors unbidden, the retribution that overtook the offender was as swift and sure as a tongue barbed with the keenest satire could make it. It is, however, 252 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN only fair to this woman to say that she was more prone to kindliness than to severity, and delighted to find in others the frankness that she herself exercised to the fullest extent. An equally frank and very witty lady, whom she was in the habit of visiting at her home on Fourth Street, said to her one day : " Mrs. Rush, I w^ish to ask a favor of you. You al- ways send me invitations to your balls. As I never go to balls, I am obliged to sit down and tell a story once every year by saying that I regret not being able to accept your invitation, when I don't regret it in the least. I would much rather not have the invitation." Mrs. Rush laughed and said, " I like your frankness, Mrs. Logan," and then and there promised that she should be troubled with no more invi- tations, although she show^ed that she valued Mrs. Logan's friendship by visiting her fre- quently. With all Mrs. Rush's love of books and study, she was an executive woman and emi- nently practical. Many persons remember seeing her at market -when the market was held in the centre of Market Street, and scraps of paper, still to be found among the Rush papers, upon which are scribbled household items and accounts, prove that she attended personally to the ways of her household. Some of these notes show that Mrs. Rush, like other great leaders and generals, paid the most minute attention to details. When a great ball was on the carpet, every item was 253 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN noted, from the thirty pounds of coffee that were to be roasted a week in advance and put away in stone jars sealed, and the nine dozen terrapin, to the "ribbons for the programmes and the oranges and lemons to be hung on the orange and lemon trees." It was character- istic of Mrs. Rush that, in her abundant pro- viding, she ordered generous rounds of corned beef for the musicians and coachmen. In London and Paris, in both of which cities Dr. Rush's brother, the Honorable Richard Rush, represented the United States, the Rushes received marked attention. In Paris, which city they visited while Richard Rush v^^as American Minister there, they were called upon, not only by titled personages of the new regime, but by stately dames from the Fau- bourg St. Germain. Here such English and American acquaintances gathered around them as the Marquess and Marchioness of Lans- downe. Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, George Sumner, from Boston, Dr. and Mrs. Hay- ward, N. P. "Willis, Washington Irving, the Honorable Robert Walsh, Mr. Henry Beckett, who had married Mr. Walsh's daughter, Mr. and Mrs. James Hopkinson, and Mr. George Tiffany, ^vho was anxious to present his niece to Mrs. Rush. Mr. George R. Gliddon called upon Mrs. Rush and sent her a specimen of the latest " chique," as we gather from a tan- talizing card \vhich gives us no inkling of what the latest " chique " was at that particular date in the late forties. 254 1 ? Mrs. John William Wallace By George Freeman Page 261 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN So much pleasure did Mrs. Rush find in her foreign life, that it was her desire at this time to establish her residence abroad. This plan, however, did not suit Dr. Rush, who, although he had travelled much on the Continent in his youth as w^ell as in maturer years, spoke no language but his own, besides which he seems to have possessed a genuine affection for his native country. Mrs. Rush's desires were overruled by those of her husband in this instance, which goes to prove that Dr. Rush was not possessed of that yielding, almost negative, character with which some w^riters have been disposed to endow him. Those who knew this interesting and individual couple best, say that Dr. Rush was very decided in his opinions upon what he considered subjects of importance, while in all minor matters he allowed his wife to exercise her judgment and taste. In the question of their future home Dr. Rush was not disposed to yield, and thus to this quiet, unobtrusive scholar Philadelphia was indebted for the elegant and varied enter- tainments, that made the Rush mansion a syn- onym for what was gayest and most brilliant in the social life of this city during the years between 1848 and 1858. For some time after their return from abroad Dr. and Mrs. Rush lived at 358 Spruce Street, in a rather small and unpretentious house. This was while the mansion on Chestnut Street was being built. Some time in 1850 they moved into their new residence, as after 255 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN that year Dr. Rush's name appears in the directories of the day as James Rush, M.D., Chestnut Street west of Schuylkill Fourth. The Aldine Hotel stands upon the site of the Rush mansion and includes many of the rooms that were once the scene of entertain- ments which, if we are to credit contempora- neous descriptions, rivalled in splendor and brilliancy the famous scenes of the Thousand and One Nights. Some of the Rush furniture, in Buhl and in rich damask and gold, is still preserved, and is to be seen at the Ridgway Library, on South Broad Street, where a room is fitted up with this furniture and lined with books of the Rushes, father and son. Certain pieces of furniture are not only rich, but in good taste, w^hile most of the paintings, statuettes in Parian, vases, and other ornaments suggest pleasing reflections upon the immense strides made in artistic culture and feeling, since the days when Madam Rush furnished her new mansion on Chestnut Street according to the dictates of her fancy. Although a highly edu- cated woman, Mrs. Rush does not seem to have possessed a discriminating taste in the fine arts, if we may judge from the paintings that she bought for her house. It appears, however, from letters and recollections of the day, that unqualified admiration w^as accorded to the architecture and furnishing of the man- sion on Chestnut Street. Mrs. Henry Pratt McKean wrote to Dr. Rush, when Mr. Mc- 256 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Kean \A^as building a house on "Walnut Street near Twentieth, asking if her husband might be permitted to walk through the lower floor, adding, "the ornamentation of the rooms we remember as very beautiful." The architecture and decoration of this house were not what lent to it its chief charm ; it was that Mrs, Rush possessed to an unusual degree the power of drawing together inter- esting, learned, and agreeable people. At her informal receptions and her Saturday matinees this brilliant hostess drew around her soldiers, statesmen, men of affairs, novelists, musicians, artists, princes, poets, and savants, a goodly company, each freely contributing of his best for the general entertainment. Miss Catharine Rush, in speaking of the matinees given by her aunt, at eleven o'clock on Saturday mornings, said that at these unique entertainments more distinguished men and women were gathered together than at any other house in the United States. One person whom Miss Rush remembers distinctly was Henry Clay, with his earnest, grave face, so much absorbed in his own thoughts, or in ob- serving the animated scene around him, that he appeared quite unconscious of the interest and attention that he was exciting as the lion of the hour. A young Philadelphian ■who already gave promise of a brilliant future. Dr. Joseph Leidy, \vas a chosen friend of both Dr. and Mrs. Rush. By the Doctor he was valued for his 17 257 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN scientific knowledge, and by the lady of the house for a fine vein of humor and simplicity, which belonged to him. This latter grace, per- haps the rarest, the gods bestow with seeming careless hand upon little children and great men, as if to prove in the latter case that " much learning " need not " make men mad " or sad. We can readily imagine, when Dr. Nathan- iel Chapman uttered his latest bon mot, or Dr. Leidy related to the listening circle some of the wonders of the fairyland of science in which he loved to roam, that the luxurious surround- ings of the house were for the moment for- gotten, and champagne and terrapin were not needed to make the entertainment a success. Sometimes a fine vocalist would sing, — Grisi, Mario, and other celebrated artists were fre- quently presented to Mrs. Rush's guests ; sometimes a recitation would be given or some great curiosity exhibited, and always there were good music and a general discus- sion of the topics of the day. Among guests of Mrs. Rush -who could re- late tales worth hearing were Mr. George Robins Gliddon, the archaeologist, who had lived in Egypt as Vice-Consul, Mr. G. A. Peri- cardis, and Mr. Thomas Fishbourn Wharton, who, in addition to the many voyages that he had made to China, enjoyed the distinction of having been taken prisoner by a French vessel and carried to Paris. Not being kept in severe durance, Mr. Wharton had many stories to tell of the gay capital under the Directory, in 258 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN whose streets he often met Madame Reca- mier and Madame Beauharnais, afterwards Madame Bonaparte. One of the brilliant fig- ures of the Rush entertainments of earlier days had passed away ; the sparkling wit of Nicholas Biddle no longer delighted the ap- preciative hostess or the listening guests. An attractive feature of Mrs. Rush's house, unusual in those days, was a conservatory on either side of the ball-room, ■which it was Dr. Rush's pleasure to fill with birds, as well as with blooming plants. This combination of conservatory and aviary added much to the fairy-like beauty of the scene. To the eyes of the many debutantes who made their entree at Mrs. Rush's balls, the hostess, who without beauty was capable of presenting a very magnificent appearance, must have seemed like the Queen of Fairyland, albeit a very robust and portly Titania, habited in rich velvet and lace instead of in the con- ventional gossamer and butterflies' wings of the land of fancy. Around the hostess were grouped such veritable graces and beauties as Elizabeth Willing, who married Mrs. Rush's brother, John Jacob Ridgway ; Mrs. John Butler; the James sisters, Phoebe and Patty, both handsome, the latter distinguished for her exquisite and spirituelle beauty ; Emeline and Caroline Phillips ; Elizabeth Wadsworth, of New York, and her even more beautiful sister- in-law, Mrs. James S. "Wadsworth, who was a daughter of Mr. John Wharton, of Philadel- 259 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN phia. A frequent guest at Mrs. Rush's enter- tainments recalls an evening when some lover of beauty, seeing Mrs. John Jacob Ridgway, Mrs. "Wadsworth, and Mrs. John Butler stand- ing a little apart from the company engaged in conversation, dre^A7 a number of persons to the door of the room that they might admire the charming tableau vivant of these three graces, each one so lovely that it -was a puzzle to the beholder to know to which one should be awarded the golden apple of the gods. The three matrons stood talking together some time before they realized that they formed a distinct centre of admiration and interest, and then, says the narrator, there was some indig- nation on the part of the fair dames. Short- lived anger was this, we may believe, as there are few women, in the past or the present, who are capable of cherishing any very deep resentment against those whose only offence is to acknowledge and pay tribute to that power which has moved men and nations, and far back in the world's history led armies to contend upon the shores of Hellas. Mrs. John Butler v^^as a daughter of Lewis Morris, of Morrisania, New York, while from her mother, Miss Manigault, of South Caro- lina, she inherited her Southern beauty and charm of manner. The Honorable Craig Biddle, in writing of Mrs. Butler, said that, with rare beauty and distinction of manners, " The object of admiration both in this coun- try and in Europe, from her earliest years, 260 Mrs. Joliii lUiller By George Freeman SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN and frequenting for a time the gayest society, she preserved the same natural, unaffected de- meanor, and proved that spotless purity, even from the breath of scandal, was compatible with youth, beauty, and every attraction and success in social life. She possessed great tact, and that rare sense called 'common sense.'" Captain John Butler for many years com- manded the First Troop of Philadelphia City Cavalry, and at the breaking out of the war w^ith Mexico raised a company of horse, of- fered his services, and died during the cam- paign. Captain Butler was a brother of Major Pierce Butler, who married Miss Frances Anne Kemble, whose marvellous impersonations are still remembered by old Philadelphians, who delight in describing her as she appeared as "Juliet" or as "Bianca" in "Fazio," in w^hich latter role Miss Kemble made her dSu^ in New York and in Philadelphia. Other belles and beauties ^vho added to the brilliancy of Mrs. Rush's entertainments were Mrs. John William Wallace, who inherited the proverbial Willing beauty, the Misses Mc- Ilvaine, one of whom married Mr. W^illiam Camac, and Mrs. Carleton, the wife of Judge Carleton. Judge and Mrs. Carleton had no occasion for reprisals, as both had been mar- ried before. Mrs. Carleton, born Maria Van Der Burgh, had married Mr. Wiltbank in her early youth, while Judge Carleton's first wife was Aglae d'Aversac de Castera, a sister of Louise d'Aversac, who married Edward. 261 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Livingston, of New York. Judge Carleton was a man of distinguished ability and attain- ments, and so charming in conversation and manner that Mrs. Rush w^as pleased to call him the Chesterfield of America. Especial friends of Dr. Rush as well as of Mrs. Rush, Judge Carleton and his wife were al^vays warmly welcomed to their home. When Mrs. Carleton entered the reception-room, in her ex- quisite French costumes of ermine and velvet, Mrs. Rush would sometimes thank her for adding so much to the beauty of her rooms by her attractive appearance, which proves that this w^oman who had the reputation of making sarcastic remarks, could also be gracious and appreciative. Another instance of Mrs. Rush's kindness to young guests from another city has been preserved in the Mason family of Georgetown. It was an open secret that Dr. Rush had in his youth been in love with Miss Eliza Chew. Miss Chew^ married Mr. James M. Mason. Many years later the daughters of this couple ■were making a visit to Philadelphia. Mrs. Rush received them in her home with warm hospitality, saying to Miss Mason, "You know very ^vell, my dear, that if your mother had chosen to come, I should not be here." In view of the well-known fact that Mrs. Rush's large means provided the beautiful surround- ings in -which she received her guests, this speech was as generous as it was graceful. Although Mrs. Rush made no secret of the 262 Mrs. James S. VVadsworth By Thomas Sully SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN fact that she preferred the society of intelli- gent men to that of the average woman, she had ^varm friends among her own sex. The younger women w^hom she liked and admired were Mrs. Joshua Lippincott, the niece and adopted daughter of Mr. James Dundas ; witty, vivacious Mrs. George Chapman and Mrs. Oliver Hopkinson, w^ho recalls delightful even- ings at the Rush mansion and at her own house, v/here Dr. and Mrs. Rush were frequent guests. Mrs. Hopkinson, with a humorous twinkle in her eye, tells of a certain Baron P , who came to Philadelphia with letters to the German Consul and to Mrs. Rush. The stranger was entertained by Mrs. Rush, who asked Mrs. Hopkinson to invite him to one of her evening parties, w^hich she did. The man- ners of the Baron -were noticed to be rather peculiar, and at the end of a few days he sud- denly left the city. From letters received by the Consul, it appeared that he and Mrs. Rush had both been deceived by an impostor. This incident w^as not one of Mrs. Rush's favorite reminiscences, as she prided herself upon her knowledge of the world and of human nature. A New York beauty ^vho v^^as frequently to be met at the Rushes' was Elizabeth Wads- worth, a sister of General James S. Wads- w^orth, of Geneseo. Miss Wadsworth was an intimate friend of the Hopkinsons, by whom she is described as lovely in character as Avell as beautiful in person. For Mr. Joseph Hop- kinson's daughter, Mrs. William Biddle, Miss 263 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN Wadsworth had her portrait painted by Sully, ■which is still in possession of the Hopkinson family. When the Honorable Charles Augus- tus Murray was in America collecting mate- rials for his book of travels among the Indians of North America, and for his "Prairie Bird," which appeared later, he met Miss Wads- worth and became warmly attached to her. The American beauty returned the affection of her English lover, but refused to marry him and leave her father. Some years later, after the death of Mr. Wadsworth, his daughter accepted an invitation to go abroad with a party of friends. In London or in Paris she met Mr. Murray, who had remained faithful to his early love ; they became engaged, were married, and went to Cairo, where Mr. Murray held an official position. Among frequent guests of Mrs. Rush's v/ere Mrs. Edward Biddle, who as Mrs. John Craig had visited her in her home opposite the State House; Commodore and Judge Biddle, and Mr. Henry D. Gilpin, whose Southern wife afterwards held an interesting and attractive salon in Philadelphia; while from New York there came Eugene Livingston, Mrs. Van Rensselaer, of Albany, Miss Euphemia Van Rensselaer, Dr. Valentine Mott, and Miss Lynch, aftev/ards Mrs. Botta, who gathered around her in her own salon in New York all the clever people, the brilliant conversational- ists, the artists, and literati of her time. Mrs. Rush, with whom the art of enter- 264 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN taining had been elevated to the dignity of a science, had her codes and aphorisms. One of her favorite sayings was : " An ex-Presi- dent, a foreign minister, a poet, two or three American artists, as many lady authors, a dozen merchants, lawyers, physicians, and others w^ho are there on the simple footing of ' gentlemen ' — their wives who come as re- spectable and agreeable 'ladies' — fifty young men who are good beaux and dance well, fifty pretty girls without money, but respectable, well dressed, lively, charming, are always in- dispensable at a party." Of pretty girls and worthy young men who were ready to dance to the piping of Mrs. Rush's fiddlers, there were doubtless no lack; but in securing the requisite complement of " lady authors," the pow^ers of this valiant hostess must at times have been taxed, as women writers were not as numerous in old Philadelphia as in that of to-day. Mrs. Rush, how^ever, made the most of what she could command. Mrs. Sarah Josepha Hale, probably the first woman editor in America, was then conducting the Godeys Ladys Book in Phila- delphia, and Miss Eliza Leslie, who so charm- ingly combined the ideal and the practical, was writing her clever tales, compiling her cookery books, and editing her magazine. Miss Leslie w^as often at Mrs. Rush's house with her beautiful sister, Patty, who married Mr. Henry C. Carey. To her gay freight of belles and beaux, this 26s SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN diplomatic hostess added as ballast a number of older men and women who preferred cards or conversation to dancing, and always such lions in literature, art, and science as happened to be roaming about Philadelphia at that time. It was this latter feature of Mrs. Rush's enter- tainments that won for them their title to dis- tinction. Other Philadelphians gave handsome balls, and dances of greater or less brilliancy, but her entertainments possessed the unique attraction of drawing together the wise and learned as w^ell as the gay and the pleasure- loving. When she gave her great balls Mrs. Rush stood at the entrance to her reception-room, which was on the left of the hall. Through this reception-room the guests passed, and on through another small room into the large ball-room, which included the two drawing- rooms and the hall, the doors being so arranged that these three rooms could be thrown into one. The conservatories occupied the wings on either side, between which lay the garden, w^hich, like the conservatories, w^as always brilliantly illuminated. The supper-room was on the second floor ever the ball-room. The buffet was along the side of the room, the great supper-table, which could accommodate sixty persons, being in the centre. Here the ladies were all seated, the gentlemen standing behind their chairs to wait upon them. In this instance Mrs. Rush was kind to her o^vn sex in sparing them from standing with a plate 266 Nicholas Biddle By Thomas Sully SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN in one hand and a wine-glass in the other, while they balanced in their minds the rival claims of nectar and ambrosia. How the ap- petites of the waiting gentlemen were satisfied is involved in some doubt, as it was clearly understood that there w^as to be no undue loit- ering at the festal board. In those hours of "storm and stress" even this valiant hostess must have longed for the serene face and "steadfast cheek" of the unflinching Bogle, who, -whether his duty called him to preside over scenes of joy or woe, was more than equal to each occasion. This celebrated waiter, w^ithout whom no Philadelphian of a certain station in social life could entertain, be chris- tened, married, or buried with due state, pro- priety, and solemnity, has been immortalized by Mr. Nicholas Biddle in some of his humor- ous verses. Of this " colorless colored man " — Robert Bogle was a light mulatto — Mr. Biddle wrote : " See him, erect, with lofty tread, The dark scarf streaming from his head, Lead forth his groups in order meet And range them grief-wise in the street ; Presiding o'er the solemn show — The very Chesterfield of woe." ******* *' Nor less, stupendous man ! thy power In festal than in funeral hour, When gas and beauty's blended rays Set hearts and ball-rooms in a blaze, Or spermaceti's light reveals More ' inward bruises ' than it heals ; 267 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN In flames each belle her victim kills, And * sparks fly upward ' in quadrilles : Like iceberg in an Indian clime Refreshing Bogle breathes sublime Cool airs upon that sultry stream, From Roman punch and frosted cream." Bogle, like his genial chronicler, had taken his place in the halls of the immortals, the *' undertaker had been overtaken," and John- son and Chew marshalled the gay throng in Mrs. Rush's dining-room. In was on the occasion of one of the last of these great balls that the affair of the Rush diamonds occurred, which stirred the Phila- delphia world of that day as once the world of Paris was stirred by the mystery of a diamond necklace. The story, " a twice-told tale " to many old inhabitants, runs thus : The ball, given in January, 1857, was one of great splendor. Mrs. Rush is described by a lady, ^vho distinctly recollects many incidents of this famous entertainment, as standing at the entrance to the reception-room to welcome her guests, attired in crimson velvet trimmed with rich white lace, her neck and arms blazing v^ith jewels. This lady recalls the beauty and brilliancy of the scene, the last of many balls given by this hospitable couple, who were so soon to be the victims of a strange and mysterious robbery. The narrator re- members that a light fall of snow covered the ground when the guests tripped down the steps to their carriages. It was about five in 268 Mrs. Nicholas Kiddle By Thomas Sully Ml SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN the morning when, the last guest having de- parted, Dr. and Mrs. Rush retired to their rooms, Mrs. Rush removed her diamonds, which were valued at twenty-one thousand dollars, and left them in their caskets on her dressing-table, the outer door of her room, ac- cording to her own account, not being fas- tened. Overcome by the fatigue of the evening, she dismissed her maid and retired at once, without stopping to put away her jewels. In the short interval before daylight Mrs. Rush fan- cied that she heard the door leading from her room to Dr. Rush's open and shut ; but sup- posing that it was her husband passing through, she paid no attention to the circumstance. He, too, heard the noise, and w^ondered "what Ann was up for," but paid no attention to it. At daylight the next morning Mrs. Rush recol- lected that she had not left on the ledge or table outside some money for an article that she w^as always accustomed to send to market for on that day, which must be purchased early. She rose and went to her bureau- dra\ver, in which she had left some money ; the money was gone; she opened the jewel caskets, which were empty.* She instantly * In one account of this affair, it is stated that the robbery occurred a night and a day after the ball, as Dr. and Mrs. Rush slept very late into the next day. This seems rather improbable for several reasons, and may be almost dis- proved by the fact that Mrs. Rush could not have sent her maid to market on Sunday morning. This ball, like all the Rush balls, was given on Friday night. 269 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN aroused Dr. Rush, who bade her keep still while he examined the doors of the house. All were locked and the outer hall door was duly fastened. The new^-fallen snow showed no trace of footsteps. Dr. Rush called a detec- tive ; the servants AA^ere assembled and told that they must submit to an examination. Not a trace of the thief or booty could be found. The police of Philadelphia did their best, but discovered nothing. The matter created a great sensation and was the subject of news- paper comment in other cities. Many persons insisted on suspecting one of the guests at the ball, but Dr. and Mrs. Rush seem to have thought otherwise. The detective fancied something suspicious in the manner of the cook, who w^as engaged to a jeweller in New Orleans, ^vhom she afterwards married. Nothing could be proved, however, to justify her detention. This is the clearest and most detailed ac- count of the transaction that has yet appeared. It was currently reported at one time that the jewels had been restored, also that Dr. and Mrs. Rush had discovered the offender, w^hose name they suppressed from motives of delicacy and kindness. This latter is only an on dit. Nothing has been absolutely proved; and so the interesting affair of the Rush diamonds must be left among the unsolved mysteries of history and romance. Not many months after this famous ball, which became notable on account of the 270 SALONS COLONIAL & REPUBLICAN strange disappearance of the jewels of the hostess, Mrs. Rush died suddenly at Saratoga. Dr. Rush, lonely and old before his time, re- turned to the great house on Chestnut Street, where he led the life of a recluse. The spa- cious rooms w^ere all closed except the one or two which he used, and here he lived alone the remainder of his days. After the death of Dr. Rush, it was found that a large portion of the fortune that he and Mrs. Rush had enjoyed w^as left for the erection of a library on Broad Street. This library, in accordance with the modest request of Dr. Rush, was to be called the Ridgway Library, the bulk of their fortune having come from the father of Mrs. Rush, old Jacob Ridgway, the Quaker merchant. The Ridgway Library on South Broad Street, with its many rare books and manuscripts and its pleasant reading-rooms and alcoves, is a fitting memorial to Mrs. Rush, who w^as all her life a lover and patron of letters. Yet her highest claim to distinction will ever rest in the fact that she gathered around her the brightest and best men and women in her own city, and afforded them opportunities to meet dis- tinguished persons from other cities and lands. For this, her name should descend to posterity with those of the pn'cieuscs of France, who gave to the w^orld the highest ideal of the salon, and with the names of such English women as Mrs. Elizabeth Montague, Mrs. Elizabeth Carter, and charming Mary Clarke, Madame Mohl. 271 I INDEX Abercrombie, Dr., log. Adams, Abigail (Mrs. William S. Smith), 45. Adams, Charles, 45. Adams, Henry, historian, 187, 188. Adams, John, in Philadelphia, s8, 77, 83, 105, lo8, 112, 170 ; Vice- President, 35, 43; advice on etiquette, 36-39 ; salary of, 41 ; in London, 44, loi ; President of United States, 153, 181-183. Adams, John Quincy, 103, 206. Adams, Mrs. John, letters of, 63 ; in London, 102, 231 ; impres- sions of Philadelphia, 103-106 ; admires Philadelphia women, J34i 135. 141 1 150 ; ability of, 149, 192 ; in Washington, 180-183 ; drawing-room of, 182-184. Alexander, Catherine, 64 (see Lady C. Duer). Alexander, William, Earl of Stirling, 64, 66. Alison, Dr. Francis, 38. Allen, Ann, 94 (see Mrs. John Penn). Allen, Mrs. 'William, 130. Allen, William, Chief Justice, 25-37, 94, 212. Alsop, John, 44. Alsop, Mary (Mrs. Rufus King), 44. Ames, Fisher, 49, 103. Andre, Major John, 78. Armstrong, General John, Secre- tary of War, 204, 205. Arnold, General Benedict, 95, iig. Arnold, Mrs. Benedict, 133, 145. Ashburton, Lady (Anne Louisa Bingham), 141, 152, 219. Ashburton, Lady Harriet, 153, 240. Ashburton, Lord (Alexander Baring), 152, 155, 219. Astor, Mrs. John Jacob, of New York, 251. " Asylum," 146. B Bache, Mrs. Richard, 131, 133. Bacourt, M. de, 248. Bagot, Sir Charles, 207. Bancroft, George, historian, 250. Bank of North America, char- tered, 136, 137. Baring, Henry, 152, 153. Baring, Hon. Alexander, 152 (see Lord Ashburton). Baring, Sir Francis, 152. Baring, William Bingham (Lord Ashburton), 153. Barlow, Joel, 111. Barnes, Mrs. (Priscilla Birch), miniature of, 223. Barron, Captain James, of "Ches- apeake," 30O. Barron, Isabel, miniature of, 338. Barton, Benjamin Smith, 110. Barton, Dr. and Mrs. Rhea, 351. Barton. Judge William, designs seal of United States, 110; por- trait of, 110, 213. Barton, Mrs. William, portrait of, 113, 313. Barton, Rev. Thomas, 17, 113. 18 273 INDEX Bartram's Garden, io8. Bartram, John, log. Bartram, William, log, no, 167. Bayard, James A., 206. Bayard, Mrs. John, 53. Beaujolais, Due de, in Philadel- phia, 158. Beckett, Henry, 254. Beekman, Mrs. James, 53. Bell, Mrs. David (Judith Gary), 23. Bembridge, Henry, 211. Beveridge, John, 27, 28, 220. Biddle, Colonel Clement, 93, 117, 223. Biddle, Commodore, 264. Biddle, Hon. Craig, 260, 264. Biddle, Mrs. Clement, 23, 228. Biddle, Mrs. Edward (Mrs. John Craig), 247, 264. Biddle, Mrs. Nicholas, 227,248. Biddle, Mrs. 'William, 263. Biddle, Nicholas, portrait of, 227 ; appearance, 248 ; wit of, 249, 259 ; verses of, 267. Bingham, Anne Louisa (see Lady Ashburton). Bingham, Maria Matilda, 152, 153. Bingham, Mrs. AA^illiam, ad- mired by Mrs. Adams, 105, 141, 142, i3i ; attractions of, 129, 146, 148 ; marriage of, 135 ; abroad, 138 ; has portrait of Washing- ton painted, 139, 140 ; portraits of, 141 ; family of, 144, 155 ; drawing-room of, 149, 150, 162, 235 ; difficulty with Wignell, 150-152 ; marriage of daughters, J52-I55- Bingham, 'William, new house, 78, 142, 143, 145, 236 ; owns Lans- downe, 99 ; financial aid in Revolution, 136, 137; friendship with Lord Lansdowne, 138, 140 ; portraits of, 141, 219 ; friend of ■Washington, 146; marriage of daughters, 152-155. Binney, Hon. Horace, 162. Binney, Mary, 160. Binney, Susan (Mrs. John B. Wallace), 107. Birch, William R., artist, an ; enamels of Washington, 221 ; recollections of, 216-221 ; anec- dote of Athenaeum portrait, 321, 222 ; miniatures, 223, 224. Blackwell, Rev. Robert, 109, 144. Bland, Colonel Theodoric, 48, 133. Blodget, Samuel, 173, 174. Bogle, " Ode to," 267, 268. Bolivar, General Simon, 233. Bonaparte, Charlotte, 244, 245. Bonaparte, Joseph, at Point Breeze, 220, 232, 244, 245 ; at the Rushes', 243, 245. Bonaparte, Madame Jerome, 304. Bonaparte, Zenaide, 344. Bond, Phineas, 25. Bond, Thomas, 25. Bordley, Elizabeth, 156. Boston, society in, 128, 129. Botta, Mrs. Vincenzo, 264. Bowdoin, Governor James, 51. Bradford, William, Attorney- General, 43, 75, 117. Bradford, William, early printer, 29. Bradford, William, " patriot printer," 28, 29. Bradstreet, Mrs. Simon, 13. Breck, Hon. Samuel, recollec- tions of, 128, 131 ; at the Bing- hams', 138, 139, 149; friend of French exiles, 158, 159 ; in Washington, 197. Breck, Samuel, Sr., of Boston, 128, 158. Brown, John Henry, artist, 211, 231. Browne, English artist, 231. Bryas, Countess Jacques de, 141. Buchanan, James, 229. Bullus, Dr. John, affair of " Ches- apeake," 199, 200; portraits of, 213. 274 INDEX Bullus, Mrs. John, igg, 200. Burd, Edward, 145. Bush Hill Hospital, 171. Butler, Captain John, 261. Butler, Major Pierce, 166, 261. Butler, Mrs. John, 259-261. Butler, Mrs. Pierce (F. A, Kem- ble), 24S, 250. Byrd, Colonel William, 145. Byrd, Mrs. William, 144, 145. Cad^vaIader, Colonel Lambert, Cadwalader, Dr. Thomas, 25. Cadwalader, Frances, 153 (see Lady Erskine). Cadwalader, General John, 199. Cadwalader, General Thomas, 328, 244. Cadwalader, Mrs, John, 195, 197, igS. Callander, Mrs. James H., igS, 199. Camac, Mr. and Mrs. 'William, 261. Caradori-Allan, Madame, 246, 247. Carey, Mr. and Mrs. H. C, 265. Carleton, Judge, 240, 261, 262. Carleton, Mrs., 262. Carlyle, Jane Welsh, 152. Carpenter, Joshua, 19. Carroll, Charles, of Carrollton, 43, 60. Carroll, Daniel, 177. Carroll, Mrs. Charles (Harriet Chew), 225, 226. Cary, Colonel Archibald, 23. Caton, Mr. and Mrs. Richard, 60. Chambers, Charlotte, ro6, 107. Chapman, Dr. Nathaniel, 244, 263. Chapman, Mrs. George, 263. Chase, Judge Samuel, 218, 219. Chastellux, Marquis de, in Phila- delphia, 74, 119, 130; remarks on society in Philadelphia, no, 131-135 ; in South and East, 127-129. Chestnut, Mrs. James, 161, 168. Cheves, Judge Langdon, 228-230. Cheves, Mrs. Langdon, 228-230, Chew, Ann, 207, 208. Chew, Chief-Justice Benjamin, political positions of, 83, 84 ; town residence, 99 ; German- town home, H7, 225. Chew, Peggy (Mrs. John E. Howard), 99. Chew, Sophia (Mrs. Henry Philips), 139, 225. Clay, Henry, 206 ; guest of Mrs. Rush, 257. Clifford, Anna, 32, 90. Clifford, John, 85, 90. Clifford, Thomas, 31. Clinton, Mrs. George, 53, Clinton, Sir Henry, iig. Clymer, George, 47, 67, 68, 99, 105, 213. Clymer, Mary, 141. Clymer, Mrs. Henry, 154, 155. Clymer, William Bingham, 141. Cockburn, Admiral, 206. Coleman, Elizabeth, 214. College of Philadelphia (Univer- sity of Pennsylvania), founding of, 26, 27, 30. Conyngham, David H., 136, 158. Cooper, Dr. Samuel, 170. Copley, John Singleton, artist, 217. Cosway, Richard, artist, 225. Cox, Colonel John, Assistant Quartermaster, 99, 100, 117, 168. Cox, Elizabeth, i5i, 162. Cox, Mrs. John,, 99, 100, 157 ; let- ters from Philadelphia, 160, 161, 16S, 169. Cox, Sarah (see Mrs. John R. Coxe), 157. Coxe, Dr. John R., 168-170, 3X3. Coxe, Mrs. John R., 155, 156, 161, 168. Coxe, Tench^je. 27s INDEX Gushing, Judge William, 223. Gushing, Mrs. William, 223, 224. Gustis, Eleanor Parke (Mrs. Lawrence Lewis), 52, 97. Gustis, Eliza Parke (Mrs. Thomas Law), 97. Gustis, G. W. P., 52, 116, 200. Gustis, Martha Parke, 97. Gutler, Rev. Manasseh, New York diary, 49, 50, 56, 65, 66. Gutts, Mrs. Richard, igi, 192. Damas, Charles, Comte de, 129, 130. 133. Dana, Mr. and Mrs. Richard, miniatures of, 230, 231. Decatur, Stephen, 208. Drayton, Col. and Mrs. William, 247. Dickinson, General Philemon, 46, 67. Dickinson, John, 27, 121, 124, 174. Dove, James David, 28. Downing, Jacob, go, gi. Dreer, Ferdinand J., 232. Drexel, Francis Martin, comes to Philadelphia, 332 ; paints portraits, 232 ; banker, 233. Drexel, Mrs. Francis Martin, miniature of, 233. Drinker, Elizabeth, diary of, 82, X13, 130, 131 ; marriage of daughters, 88, gi ; on French minister's ball, 120, 126 ; on por- traits, 210, 211. Drinker, Henry S., 72, 113; op- posed to portraits, 210, 211. Drinker, Molly, elopes, 88. Drinker, Sally (Mrs. Jacob Downing), gi. Duch^, Rev. Jacob, 83. Duer, Colonel William, 64, 66. Duer, Lady Catherine, at Mrs. Washington's drawing-room, 53; entertainments of, 63, 65, 66 ; marriage of, 64. Dulles, Joseph, 228. Dulles, Mary, 228. Dumas, Cuillaume Matthieu, lag. 130. Dundas, James, 247, 263. Dundas, Mrs. James, 247. Du Ponceau, Peter, 166, 247, 248. Du Pont, Mr. and Mrs. Charles IrenSe, portrait of, 227. Du Pont, Victor, 227. E Ellicott, Andrew, succeeds L'En- fant, 177. Ellsworth, Oliver, 42, 103. Emlen, George, 85, 8g, 143. Emlen, Nancy, 87. Emlen, Sally, gi. Eppes, John, 156. Eppes, Mrs. John, igi. Erskine, David Montague (Lord Erskine), marriage, 153, igg ; British Minister, 193, 195, 196 ; family of, 197, 198. Erskine, Jane (Mrs. J. H. Gal- lander), igS. Erskine, Lady, marriage, 153, 199 ; returns to America, 195, 196 ; daughters of, 197-igg. Erskine, Mary (Baroness Taut- phoeus), ig8. Evans, Rev. Nathaniel, 22, 24. Eve, Captain Oswald, 31. Eve, Sarah, 31 ; diary of, 32, 33; engaged to Dr. Benjamin Rush, 33, 34. Eve, Sarah (Mrs. Adams), 33. Eyre, Manuel, 72. Fauchet,M. Jean Antoine Joseph, 65- Feke, Robert, 30, 211. Ferguson, Elizabeth, literary circle of, 13, 14, 20, 24, 30, 121 ; literary work, 15, 16, 22; book- plate, 17 ; visits Great Britain, 17, 18, ig; diary, i3, 31; mar- 276 INDEX riage, 21 ; political complica- tions, 22, 23 ; last years, 24. Ferguson, Henry Hugh, 21, 22, Field, Robert, artist, 231. Fisher, Dr. Henry M., 141. Fisher, Joshua Francis, 15. Fisher, Miers, 82, 83, 85. Fisher, Mrs. Miers, 85. Fitzsimons, Thomas, 47, 68, 136. Fleury, Major, 164. Fothergill, Dr. John, 17, 18. Francis, Mrs. Willing, 232. Francis, Tench, 25, 27, 99, 117, 213. Franklin, Dr. Benjamin, ingen- ious friends, 24 ; founds College of Philadelphia, 26 ; various talents of, 28, 29, 132 ; at Stenton, 166. Franklin, ^Valter, New York house of, 47, 48. Franks, Abigail, 105. Franks, Colonel Isaac, 116. Franks, Rebecca, 118, 119. Fraser, Charles, artist, 234. Furness, Dr. Horace Howard, 230. Furness, Dr. William H., 250, Gallatin, Albert, 193, 206. Galloway, Jane (Mrs. Joseph Shippen), 29. Genet, Edmond Charles, French Minister, 65, 114, 165, Germantown, Washington's resi- dence in, 114-H7 ; refuge during yellow-fever, 114-117, 167, 168. Gerry, Elbridge, 45. Gilpin, Mr. and Mrs. Henry D., 264. Gilpin, Thomas, 82. Girard, Stephen, house of, 72, 244 ; care of yellow-fever pa- tients, 170, 171. Gliddon, George R., 254, 258. Godfrey, Thomas, poet, 32, 79. Goodrich, Chauncey, 62, 103. Goodrich, Mrs. Chauncey (Ma- rianne Wolcott), 61, 62. Gouverneur, Mrs. Samuel L. (Maria Monroe), 207. Graeme, Dr. Thomas (father of Mrs. Ferguson), 14, 17, 20. Graeme, Elizabeth (see Elizabeth Ferguson), 13. Graeme, Mrs. Thomas, 14, 15, 18, 19. Graeme Park, 13, 14. Gray's Gardens, 107, 108, Green, Rev. Ashbel, 78, log. Greene, Mrs. Nathaniel, 56, 57. Greene, Nathaniel, Quartermas- ter-General, 57, 58, 99. Greenleaf, James, 176. Griffin, Lady Christiana, 64. Griffitts, Dr. Samuel P., 170. Griswold, Rufus W., 48, 103. Guest, Betsy, 32. H Habersham, Colonel Joseph, 59. Hale, Mrs. Sarah Josepha, 265. Hall, Charles, miniatures of, 213, 214. Hall, Susan, 123. Hallett, Stephen L., architect of the Capitol, 178. Hamilton, Alexander, Secretary of the Treasury, 35, 43, 44 ; ad- vice on etiquette, 35-37, 39 ; New York residence, 49; favorite of Washington, 54 ; resigns from Treasury, 63 ; in Philadelphia, 76, 103, 114, 116, 149, 155, 159. Hamilton, Andrew, 105. Hamilton, Ann (Mrs. James Lyle), 105. Hamilton, Governor James, 17, 25- Hamilton, Mrs. Alexander, draw- ing-room of, 53, 54. Hamilton, William, 142, 167, 212. Headley, J. T., 198. Heatley, Sophia, 228. 277 INDEX Helm, Peter, aids yellow-fever patients, 170, 171. Henri, Pierre, artist, 211. Henry, Judge 'William, 17. Hesselius, Gustavus, 311, 277. Hesselius, John, 211. Hiltzheimer, Jacob, 120. Hoban, James, 178. Hopkinson, Francis, poet and satirist, 14, 24 ; wit of, 102, 103, 249. Hopkinson, Joseph, author of " Hail Columbia," 103, 149. Hopkinson, Mrs. Joseph, 149, 345. Hopkinson, Mrs. Oliver, 263. Hopkinson, Mrs. Thomas, 29, 30. Hopkinson, Thomas, 212. Howard, General John K., 99, 174, 225. Howard, Mrs. John E., 225. Howe, General Sir William, 23, 85, 95. Howell, Sydney, 93. Humphreys, Colonel David, 79. Huntington, Benjamin, 43. Huntington, Daniel, paints Re- publican Court, 40, 43, 53, 58, 59- Hutchinson, Dr. James, mar- riage, 93 ; attends yellow-fever patients, 113, 114; death, 170. Ingersoll, Charles J., 344. IngersoU, Hon. Jared, 75, 79. Inglis, John, 26. Inglis, Samuel, 136. Inman, Henry, 2H. Iredell, Judge James, 43, 76, Irving, 'Washington, 164, 192,254. Iturbide, Josephine, friend of Mrs. Rush, 252. Izard, Mrs. Ralph, 53. Izard, Ralph, 133. Jackson, Francis James, British Minister, 179, 197. Jackson, Major William, 40, 144, 155. Jackson, Mrs. Simon, 160. Jackson, Mrs. William, 144, 155. James, Phoebe (Mrs. Saunders Lewis), 259. Jarvis, John 'Wesley, 211. Jaudenes, Don Jose, Spanish Minister, 223. Jaudon, Samuel, 249. Jay, John, Chief Justice, 35, 43 ; marriage, 146; in Philadelphia, 149. Jay, Mrs. John, at Mrs. Washing- ton's receptions, 53 ; drawing- room of, 63 ; attractions of, 63, 64, 149. Jefferson, Maria (Mrs. John Eppes), 59, 108, 156. Jefferson, Martha (Mrs. T. M. Randolph), 58. Jefferson, Thomas, opinion on etiquette, 37, 38 ; salary of, 41 ; Secretary of State, 43, 49 ; ap- pearance of, 44, 188 ; New York residence, 48 ; family of, 58, 59 ; Philadelphia residence, 108 ; Philadelphia friends, log, 149; opinion of Rittenhouse, no, III ; account of yellow-fever, 113; in Germantown, 115, 116; letter to Mrs. Bingham, 147, 148 ; at Stenton, 162, 164, 165 ; interest in Federal City, 172, i73i 177; criticized by Mrs. Adams, 183 ; elected President of the United States, 185, 187 ; cabinet of, 193, 194; informality of administration, 188-191, 202. Jenifer, Daniel, 163. Johnson, Governor Nathaniel, of Carolina, 329, 330. Juliana Library, of Lancaster, 17, 18.J K Keith, Charles P., 84. Keith, Sir William, 14. 278 INDEX Kemble, Frances Anne (Mrs. Pierce Butler), 152, 227, 250, 261 ; charming story of, 248. Key, Francis Scott, and " Star Spangled Banner," 187. King, Mr. and Mrs. Rufus, 44, 45. King, William, Governor of Maine, 45. Knox, General Henry, appear- ance of, 44 ; Secretary of War, 45, 49 ; in New York, 56 ; in Philadelphia, 114, 155 ; in Ger- mantown, 117, 225. Knox, Mrs. Henry, 56, 57, 104. Kosciusko, Thaddeus, at Stenton, 166. Lafayette, Marquis de, in Amer- ica, 100, 130, 133 ; at Du Pont wedding, 227. Lafayette, Marquise de, 63. Langdon, Colonel and Mrs. John, 127. Lansdowne, Marquess of, friend of the Binghams, 138 ; portrait of Washington painted for, 139, 140, 223 ; estimate of Washing- ton, 140. Lansdowne, owned by John Penn, 120; by Binghams, 138, 141. Law, Mrs. Thomas, marriage, 174, 201 ; portrait by Stuart, 201, 225. • Law, Thomas, builds in Wash- ington, 174, 175; marries Miss Custis, 201 ; characteristics, 202. Lear, Tobias, private secretary to AVashington, 40, 96, 114, Lee, Arthur, 133. Lee, General Henry, 225. Leeds, Duchess of (Miss Caton), 60. Leidy, Dr. Joseph, 257, 258. L'Enfant, Pierre Charles, plan for Washington City, 172, 176- 178 ; beauty of design, 177, 179. Leslie, Eliza, authoress, 265. Lewis, Mrs. Lawrence, 156, 182, 201, 225. Lewis, 'William D., 247. Liancourt, 78 (see Due de la Rochefoucauld). Lincoln, General Benjamin, 124, 155. Lippincott, Mrs. Joshua, 263. Liston, Lady, 154, 197, 225. Liston, Sir Robert, British Min- ister, 154, 197, 225. Livingston, Eugene, 264. Livingston, Henry Beekman, 133. Livingston, Hon. and Mrs. Ed- ward, 261. Livingston, Governor William, 63. Livingston, Mrs. Robert R., 53, 99- Livingston, Mrs. Walter, 53. Livingston, Robert R,, Chan- cellor, 43. Lloyd, Colonel Edward 111., of Maryland, 186. Lloyd, Governor Thomas, 27, 153- Lloyd, Hannah, 89. Lloyd, Rebecca (Mrs. Joseph H. Nicholson), 186. Logan, Dr. George, visited by Washington, 84, 162, 163 ; friend of Jefferson, 164, 165; guests at Stenton, 165-167. Logan, Hannah, 88. Logan, James, secretary to Will- iam Penn, 25-27, 88 ; builds Stenton, 162. Logan, Mrs. George, admires ■Washington, 82, 162, 163 ; social charm, 163-165 ; guests at Sten- ton, 165-168. Ludlow, Mrs. Israel, 107. Luzerne, Chevalier de la, French Minister to United States, 120, 130, 134, 153 ; gives ball on birth of Dauphin, 121-127. Lyle, James, 79, 105. 279 INDEX Lyle, Mrs. James (Ann Hamil- McHenry, James, Secretary of ton), 105, 141, iSi. M Maclay, William, criticizes eti- quette in New York, 37-39 ; on salaries, 41 ; admires Washing- ton, 42 ; caustic remarks, 43, 47, 188 ; on moving capital, 68-70, Macomb, Alexander, 49, 52. Macomb, Mrs, Alexander, 199, Madison, James, in Philadelphia, 149 ; interested in Federal City, ^73, 174 ; Secretary of State, 191, 193 ; President of United States, 203 ; criticized in War of 1812, 204, 206. Madison, Mrs. James, in Phila- delphia, 107, 149; in Washing- ton, igo, 199 ; attractions of, 191 ; drawing-room, 192, 193, 203, 204, 206, 207 ; courage dur- ing War of 1812, 205 ; last days, 205, 209. Makin, Thomas, 28. Malbone, Edward Greene, in Philadelphia, 211, 213, 228 ; min- iatures by, 230, 234. Mansion House, 144. Marbois, '&3.x\i€, charge d'' affaires, 75. 134 ; marries Miss Moore, 153- Markoe, Peter, satires of, 137, 143, 144. Marshall, Chief Justice, 97, 193, 206. Marshall, Humphrey, 164. Marshall, Mr. and Mrs. James, 97. Martineau, Harriet, in Philadel- phia, 250. Mason, James M., 208, 262. Mason, Mrs. James M. (Miss Eliza Chew), 207, 208, 262. Masters, Polly (Mrs. Richard Penn), 95. McCall, Archibald, 76. McClenachan, Blair, 117. War, 76. McKean, Governor Thomas, 76, 103, 154. 194- McKean, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Pratt, 256, 257. McKean, Sally, 103 (see Mar< chioness Yrujo). McTavish, British Consul, 60. Meade, General George G., 346. Meade, George, 136. Meade, Mrs. Richard Worsam, 227. Mercer, General Hugh, 215. Meredith, Margaret, ig6. Meredith, Mrs. Samuel, 98, 132. Meredith, Reese, 97. Meredith, Samuel, Treasurer of the United States, 46, 97, 98; entertains Chastellux, 132 ; financial aid during Revolu- tion, 136, 137. Merry, Anthony, British Minis- ter in Washington, 190, 191. Merry, Mrs. Anthony, 191. Mifflin, Governor Thomas, 75, 125- Miles, Edward, 211. Mitchell, Dr. S. W^eir, 13. Monges, Cora (Mrs. Charles Dutilh), 245. Monges, Dr., 244. Monroe, James, in Germantown, 115, 116; American Minister in London, 191, 193; President of the United States, 207. Monroe, Mrs. James, in Wash- ington, 199, 207, Montgomery, Mr. and Mrs. John C, miniatures of, 232. Montgomery, Mrs. Richard, 57, 58. Montpensier, Due de, in Phila- delphia, 158. Moore, Elizabeth, marries Barbtf- Marbois, 153. Moreau, General John Victor, in Philadelphia, 160. 280 INDEX Moreau, Madame, in Philadel- phia, i6o, i6i. Morgan, Colonel George, 13a. Morris, Cadwalader, 136. Morris, Elliston Perot, 116. Morris, Gouverneur, 136, 179. Morris, Hetty (Mrs. James Mar- shall), portrait, 97. Morris, Lewis, of Morrisania, N. Y., 260. Morris, Maria (Mrs, Henry Nixon), portrait, 97. Morris, Mr. and Mrs. George W., Mr. Drexel's portraits of, 232. Morris, Mrs. Robert, in New York, 52 ; friend of Mrs. Wash- ington, 96 ; social leader, 130 ; at Miss'Willing's wedding, 155. Morris, Robert, financier of Re- volution, 43, 130, 135, 136 ; on choice of capital, 67-69 ; great merchant, 72, 136 ; receives por- traits of French king and queen, 75 ; in Philadelphia, 79, 134 ; houses of, 95, 96, 131 ; friend of Washington, 96 ; in- vests in ^Vashington lots, 176. Morris, Samuel, Captain of City Troop, 116. Mott, Dr. Valentine, 264. Murray, Charles Augustus, 264. Murray, Mrs. Charles Augustus (Elizabeth Wadsworth), por- trait, 363, 264 ; marriage, 264. N Nagle, John, 140. Napoleon, Louis, marries Char- lotte Bonaparte, 245. Nemours, Dupont de, at Stenton, j66. New York, the seat of govern- ment, 35-48; social life in, 48- 66 ; removal of government from, 66-69. Nicholson, John, 176. Nicholson, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph, X85-187. 28 Nicklin, Mrs. Philip, 161, i6a, 225. Noailles, Vicomte de, in Philadel- phia, 129, 133, 149, 152, 155, 158, 225; founds "Asylum," 146; described, 159. Norris Deborah (Mrs, Geo. Lo- gan), 163, 164. Norris, Mary Parker, 163, Nuttall, Thomas, 167, Orleans, Duke of, in Philadel- phia, 155, 158, 225 ; addresses Miss W^illing, 155-156. Osgood, Mrs. Samuel, New York residence of, 47, 49. Osgood, Samuel, 47, 49, 65, 136. Otis, James, Secretary of State, 75- Otis, Mrs. James, 105. Otto, Louis Guillaume, 134. Palmer, Mr, and Mrs, William, Parkers, at Perot \vedding, 91, 92. Patterson, Mrs. Robert, 60. Payne, Lucy (Mrs, Washington), 191, 192, Peale, Angelica (Mrs. Alexander Robinson), 214. Peale, Charles 'Willson, portraits ofi 59> 234; museum of, 80; in Philadelphia, 211-213; minia- tures, 214. Peale, James, miniatures of, 2x1, 213. Peale, Rembrandt, plan for Academy of Fine Arts, 2x3. Pemberton, James, 85, 88, 89. Pendleton, Henry, Chief-Justice of Carolina, 130. Penn, Hon. Thomas, 17, 18, Penn, Gov. John, arrives in Pennsylvania, 32, 83 ; coach of, 8s ; marriage, 94, 120 ; appear- Z INDEX ance, 95 ; owns Lansdowne, 343. Penn, Lady Juliana, endows library in Lancaster, 17, 18. Penn, Richard, 95. Penn, William, proprietary, 25. Perot, Elliston, residence of, 73 ; wedding, 89-93. Perot, John, 73. Peter, Mrs. Thomas, 174, 201. Peter, Thomas, 174. Peters, Judge Richard, country seat, 99 ; friend of 'Washington, 116 ; wit and humor, loi, 149, 349; in England, 102. Peters, Mrs. Richard (Sally Robinson), 102. Peters, Mr. and Mrs. Richard, Jr., 156. Peters, Rev. Richard, rector of Christ Church and St. Peter's, Philadelphia, 16, 17, 35, 27. Pettit, Charles, 99. Philips, Mr. and Mrs. Henry, portraits of, 225. Philadelphia, social and religious characteristics, 25-26, 29, 30, 81 ; intellectual life, 36-28, 109-113 ; leading merchants, 71-73 ; seat of government, 70, 74-77, 96-99 ; theatres in, 78-81, 150-153 ; Quaker life, 84-95 ; social life, 101-108, 118-127, 129-135, 140-146, 153-162, 335-271; yellow-fever in, 113-117, 168-171 ; an early art centre, 310-228, 231-233. Philosophical Society, 109, XI3, 167. Physick, Philip Syng, M.D., 170. Pickering, Timothy, 75. Ptnckney, Charles C, 46. Pleasants, Dr. Samuel, 170. Plumsted, Mrs. William, 29. Powel, Mrs. Samuel, 134, 135, 181. Powel, Samuel, 95, 99, 134. Poyntell, William, 212. Pratt, Henry, portrait by Stuart, 72. Pratt, Matthew, artist, 72, 311. Preble, George Henry, no. Priestley, Dr. Joseph, 112. Prime, Rufus, 51. R Randolph, Edmund, Attorney- General, 43. Randolph, John of Roanoke, 166. Randolph, Mrs. Thomas Mann, 108, 191. Rawle, Mrs. 'William, 157. Rawle, 'William, 116. Redman, Dr. John, 79, 169, 170. Reed, General Joseph, 23, 125. Reed, Mrs. Joseph, 131. Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 216, 317, 21S. Rhett, Colonel 'William, 229, 230. Rhoads, Samuel, 83. Ridgely, Ann (Mrs. C. I. du Pont), 227. Ridgely, Henry M., 327. Ridgway, Jacob, 72, 236, 271. Ridgway, John Jacob, 237, 259. Ridgway Library, 271. Ridgway, Phoebe Ann (see Mrs. James Rush), Ridgway, Susan, portrait of (Mrs. Rhea Barton), 237. Rittenhouse, David, first Ameri- can astronomer, no, 210, 251 ; " Orrery of," in ; draws Mason and Dixon's line, 113. Roberts, George, describes John Penn, 95. Robinson, Mr. and Mrs. Mon- cure, 247. Robinson, Mrs. Alexander, min- iatures of, 214. Rochambeau, Marquis of, 100, "5- Rochefoucauld- Liancourt, de- scribes social life in America, 77) 78, 94; in Philadelphia, 117, 149, 158. Roosevelt, Isaac, 48. Ross, John, 30, 136. 282 INDEX Rotch, Mrs. Thomas (Susan Ridgway), 251. Rumsey, Colonel Charles, igg. Rush, Dr. Benjamin, eminent physician and writer, 15, 20, 24, 75, log, igg ; describes Miss Graeme's life abroad, 17-ig ; writes of her salon, 20-22, 30 ; engaged to Sarah Eve, 32-34 ; marries Miss Stockton, 34 ; de- scribes ball on Dauphin's birth- day, 121-127; treatment of yel- low-fever, 168, 170 ; sons of, 238. Rush, Betsy, 32. Rush, Dr. James, parentage, 238 ; character and attainments, 238, 239. 255 ; Philadelphia resi- dences, 243, 255-257 ; records dates of entertainments, 245, 246; friends of, 248, 257, 262; travels abroad, 254, 259 ; later years, 271. Rush, Hon. Richard, 238. Rush, Mrs. Benjamin, 34, 123, Rush, Mrs. James, salon of, 235, 240, 271 ; character and tastes, 236, 238-240, 250-254; early years, 237, 238 ; criticised, 238, 252 ; studies, 239-241, 243 ; appear- ance, 241, 251, 25g ; entertain- ments, 245, 246, 259-261, 266-268 ; Philadelphia residences, 247, '49, 255i 256 ; friends, 248, 257, 263, 264 ; strangers introduced to, 249-250 ; position abroad, 254. 255 ; new home on Chest- nut Street, 256, 257 ; pleasant traits, 262 ; rules for entertain- ing, 265, 26S ; affair of the dia- monds, 268-270; death, 271; founds Ridgway Library, 271. Rush, V^illiam, sculptor, 212. Saint Memin, Charles B. J. F., artist, 33. Salon, the first in America, 13, 14, 19-22, 24, 30 ; in New York, 40, 46, 47, 52-58, 63 ; in Philadel- phia, 103, 108, iig, 120, 132-135, 146, 149, 150, 163-167, 235-271 ; in Washington, 183-185, 188, 189, 191-193, 202-204, 208, 20g. Sansom, Miss (Mrs. Elliston Perot), wedding described, 89-93. Sansom, Joseph, spills wine at wedding, go. Sartain, John, artist, 211. Savery, William, 89. Schuyler, Betsy (Mrs. A. Hamil- ton), 53. Schuyler, Catherine, 55, 56. Schuyler, General Philip, Sena- tor from New York, 45 ; attack on house, 55 ; on site for capi- tal, 67. Schuyler, Margaret, heroism of, 55- Schuyler, Mrs. Philip, patriotism, 23 ; courage, 54-56. Schweinitz, Rev. Louis de, 167. Scott, General Winfield, 206. Seaton, Mrs. William, 199; de- scribes society in Washington, 203, 204, 207. Sedgwick, Theodore, 49. Sergeant, Hon. John, 215, 248. Sergeant, Jonathan Dickinson, 213, 214. Sergeant, Mrs. John, 248. Sergeant, Margaret (Mrs. Geo. G. Meade), 246. Sergeant, Mrs. Jonathan D. (Margaret Spencer), miniature of, 214 ; in Princeton, 215. Sergeant, William, miniature of, 213. Sharpies, James, 83. Shippen, Anne Hume (Mrs. Henry B. Livingston), 99. Shippen, Dr. William, 99, 133. Shippen, Dr. William, the elder, 25- Shippen, Edward, 17. Shippen, Elizabeth, 145. Shippen, Joseph, 212. 283 INDEX Shippen, Margaret (Mrs. Bene- dict Arnold), iig. Shippen, Mrs. Joseph, 29, 30. Shippen, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas, "5- Shippen, Sarah, iig, 236. Shoemaker, Mrs. Samuel, on Philadelphia during Revolu- tion, iig, 120. Shoemaker, Samuel, loyalist, 83, 119. Smith, General S., of Maryland, 220. Smith, John, marries Hannah Logan, 88, 89. Smith, Rev. William, provost of College of Philadelphia, 109, 127. Smith, Mrs. William S., 45, 56. Smith, William, writes ode to Dauphin, 127. Smith, William S., 45. Sowle, Andrew, 29. Spencer, Rev. Elihu, 214, 215. Sterling, Earl of, W^illiam Alex- ander, 66. Sterne, Laurence, English au- thor, 19. Stevens, John, of Hoboken, 220. Steuben, Baron, 164, 166. Stewart, General W^alter, 79, 117. Stockton, Julia (Mrs. Benjamin Rush), 34. Stockton, Mrs. Richard, 13, 23. Stockton, Richard, 244. Stockton, Susannah (Mrs. Lewis Pintard), 123. Strettell, Robert, 26. Stuart, Gilbert, portraits by, 97, 201, 213, 234 ; in Philadelphia, 211, 221 ; \Vashington portraits, 140, 221-226 ; in Germantown, 224-226. Stuart, Jane, 225. Sully, Thomas, in Philadelphia, 211,326; portraits by, 227, 234, 264. Survilliers, Comte de, 243 (see Joseph Bonaparte). Talleyrand, Perigord, 149, 158. Tautphceus, Baroness, author of " Initials," 198. Tayloe, Colonel John, builds Octagon House, 206. Temple, Augusta (Mrs. William Palmer), 50-53. Temple, Grenville, 51, 52. Temple, Lady, in New York, 49, 64 ; appearance, 49, 50 ; por- traits of, 51, 53 ; in Boston, 129. Temple, Sir John, British Con. sul. New York residence of, 49 ; inherits title, 51 ; portrait of, 52- Temple, Sir Thomas, Governor of Nova Scotia, 51. Temple, Rev. Thomas, 51. Ternant, Chevalier de, 164. Thomson, Charles, 27, no. Thornton, Dr. William, draws plan- for Capitol, 177, 178. Tiffany, George, 254. Tilghman, Chief-Justice William, 121. Tilghman, Edward, 79, 116, Tilly, Count de, 152, 153. Tilly, Countess de (Maria Bing> ham), 153. Todd, Charles Burr, 178. Tracy, John, of Newburyport, 128. Trott, Benjamin F., artist, 211, 234- Trumbull, John, artist, 52. Trumbull, Jonathan, 49. Turner, Joseph, 26. Twining, Thomas, describes life in Philadelphia, 77, 96, 112, 152, 153 ; in Washington, 174, 175 ; miniature of, 331. University of Pennsylvania, founding of, 36, 37. 284 INDEX Van Braam, owns " China Hall," 331. Van Buren, President, at Mrs. Rush's, 350. Van Dyke, Dorcas M., wedding of, 337. Van Dyke, Senator from Dela- ware, 337. Van Ness, Ann Elbertina, 307. Van Rensselaer, Euphemia, 364. Van Rensselaer, Jeremiah, 47. Van Rensselaer, Stephen, 55. Vaudreuil, Marquis de, 128, isg. Vaughan, John, log, 166. Vaux, Richard, 8g. Volney, Constantin Francois, 149, 153. 154. 158. W Wadsworth, Elizabeth (Mrs. C. A. Murray), 263. Wadsworth, General James S., 263. Wadsworth, Jeremiah, 49. Wadsworth, Mrs. James S. (Mary Wharton), portrait of, 259, 260, 263. Walker, Lewis Burd, 145. Wallace, Mrs. John Bradford, 161, 168. Wallace, Mrs. John William, 261. Walsh, Hon. Robert, 354. Wansey, Henry, diary of, 40, 77, 78, 79. 145- Warder, John, 86. Warder, Mrs. John, diary of, 77, 143 ; describes Philadelphia Quakers, 85-87 ; describes wed- ding of Elliston Perot, 89-92 ; remarks on marriage, 93, 94. Warren, Mrs. James, 13, 33. Warville, Brissot de, describes the Hamiltons, 53, 54 ; on Phila- delphia life, 77, 85. Washington City, laying out of Streets, 172-179 ; described by visitors, 179-185 ; social and of- ficial life in, 187-309. Washington, George, President of United States, 35, 42, 61, 197, 309 ; etiquette of administra- tion, 35-40 ; salary, 41 ; cabinet, 43-45 ; New York residences, 48-49, 53, 53 ; social life in New York, 54, 57, 65 ; in New Jersey, 64; in Philadelphia, 73, 74,81, 83 ; attends theatre and circus, 79,80, 105; visits Stenton, 84, 162, 163 ; Philadelphia resi- dence, 95, 96 ; Philadelphia friends, 97-101, 146, 155 ; birth- night balls, io6-io8, 157 ; letter on seal of United States, no ; in Germantown, 114-117, 334, 335 ; celebrates birth of Dau- phin, 120, 132, 134 ; portraits of, 140, 331 ; visited by French princes, 158 ; selects site for capital, 173 ; interest in plans for Capitol, 176, 178 ; Stuart paints portraits, 30i, 305, 331, 224-226 ; Birch makes enamel portraits, 332, 223. ^i^ashington, Judge Bushrod, 330. Washington, Mrs. Bushrod, 201. Washington, Martha, in New York, 35, 39, 65, 85 ; drawing- rooms in New York, 40, 46, 47, 56, 58; grandchildren, 53, 97, 574 ; appearance, 52, 83, 234 ; in Philadelphia, 59, 81, 104, 105, 114, 118, 323 ; Philadelphia friends, 96, 97, 99, 155 ; drawing- rooms in Philadelphia, 103, 106, 108 ; in Germantown, 116, 225 ; hospitality of, 182, 201 ; por- traits by Stuart, 226. Watson, Colonel George, of Bos- ton, 51. Watson, John, early American artist, 311. Watson, John F., annalist, 73, 143, ■Wayne, General Anthony, 46, 102, 108, 118. 285 INDEX Webster, Daniel, Washington house of, 2og. ■Weld, Isaac, 107. Wellesley, Marchioness of (Miss Caton), 60. Wellesley, Marquess of, 60. Wellington, Duke of, 60, 250. Welsh, John, 72. Wentworth, Colonel, of Ports- mouth, 127. West, Benjamin, American por- traits by, 29, 211 ; in England, 21S, 2ig. ■Wharton, Charles, 73. ■Wharton, Isaac, 72, 93. ■Wharton, Mrs. Isaac, 92,93. Wharton, Thomas, coach of, 85. Wharton, Thomas F., portrait of, 242, 258. W^hite House, building of, 178. White, William, Bishop, 26, 78, 109. Wignell, Thomas, 150, 151. Willing, Abigail, admired by Louis Philippe, 155, 156. Willing, Anne, 135 (see Mrs. ■William Bingham). Willing, Charles, Mayor of Phil- adelphia, 25, 29, 30, 135, 145. Willing, Elizabeth (Mrs. Will- iam Jackson), 144, 155. Willing, Elizabeth (Mrs. John Jacob Ridgway), 244, 259, 260. Willing, James, remarks on Philadelphia girls, 234. Willing, Mrs. Charles, social leader, 29 ; portrait of, 30. ■Willing, Thomas, the first, 30. Willing, Thomas, great mer- chant and financier, 72, 79, 146 ; in favor of theatre, 79 ; ad- vanced money during Revolu- tion, 135 ; President of Bank of North America, 137 ; house of, 144; reply to Louis Philippe, 156. Wilson, James, jurist and clas- sical scholar, 27, 75, loi, 116, 136. Wiltbank, Mrs. (Maria 'Van der Burgh), 261. ■Winthrop, Mrs. Thomas, 52. ■Wistar, Dr. Caspar, 75, 109 ; ■Wistaria named for, 167 ; treat- ment of yellow-fever, 168, 170. ■Wister, Charles J., 167. ■Wister, Sarah Butler, 163. ■Wister, William Wynne, 224. Wolcott, General Oliver, services of, 61 ; letters from Philadel- phia, 61, 62. ■Wolcott, Marianne (Mrs. Chaun- cey Goodrich), 62. Wolcott, Mrs. Oliver, Jr., 62, 149, 179. Wolcott, Oliver, Jr., Secretary of Treasury, New 'York residence of, 42, 47 ; succeeds Hamilton, 63 ; in Philadelphia, 76, 103, 149 ; in Washington, 179. Wood, Thomas, 151, 197. ■Woolaston, John, artist, 211. ■Worden, Dana Baillie, describes Washington society, 184. Wycombe, Lord, 138, 139. ■Wynkoop, Henry, 47, 68. Yarnall, Mordecai, 89. ■yellow-fever in Philadelphia, 167-171. ■Yrujo, Marchioness de, 154, 195, 226. Yrujo, Marquis de Casa, 153, 193, 194. Zenger, John Peter, trial of, 105. Zachery, Dr. Lloyd, 36. 286 M 13 88 t -i^'X .^'\ -^Ao^ > 6*^ '^^. ^^•n^. '■^ ""^ ^ *'j^l(f?2P^^ ^ DeacidKied using the Bookkeeper process. - > .^ ^ fi^M^^P^r^-^ '•^ Neutralizing Agent: Magnesium Oxide ■^0 • J§B W^XT Treatment Datep^ _ ^ 1QQ7 4""^^ v3fe^° ^ ^a, DEC •»' " "'^J.r.<^ »o- *P .-^ Y I /V / C" ' " Thomson Park Di • 'f*r, /v »^ /l/ i Crantwrry Twp. PA 1 ^.nCy « tWO f " '—' (412)779-2111 PRESERVATION TECHNOLOQIfcS, LP. 60E6 -^^ <\^ « o ^ <«> ■5 iO-Tt, .^"^ % -y^^v^/ . ^ '^o^ 4 o. vT o HECKMAN BINDERY INC. \ I #^ AUG 88 "^B^ N. MANCHESTER, i^^#^ INDIANA 46962 V > ^^■■■%''. >. />:^ *: