, 1859-02-15

The Presidents Levee-Piccolominl
and buchanan.
Correspondence Of th: n. 7. iouae.1
WAsalas7os, Feb. .. 1859.
Who can describe levee at the White
House? The White House itself would task
q master. It were easy to paint the massive
feyer- aed.ugue marsh to the Potomac; the
Chandeliers in the East Room, bluziug with
light reflected from countless drops and mir.
rors; the frescoed ceiling, dull gliding, faded
carpets, faded curtains, faded cbairs-;l1 out
Of keeping with each other-the conservatory
flor which Miss Lane is to be thApksd), open
on reception day, bat not in the evening when
visitors may be expected, who, having served
q uoyitiate ut Mount Vernon, bave no more
hesitation in plucking q memorial Of the liv-
ing Father Of his country than they had In
cutting caue in honor Of the dead Fathers
homes Easy enough to sketch these things,
bat the arcuna Of the National Palace, tic
boudoir Of Miss Lane, the private retreat of
Mr. Buchanan, the store-rooms, the closets,
the kitchen, the kitchen cabinet, the resi-
depcc Of the National ard the residence OF
the Buchanan skelcton-the secret places, q
knowledge Of which is key to tue necessa-
ries Of the House and tie life Of its occupants
who spall describe tlese, unless it be Lady
Gore 0usely or the correspondent Of the
Courier whose letter you served up with
most appctlzing sauce Of your own some
weeks ago4 viii not tho Courier Jenkins
crafty waiting people? No otlcc jenkins
can.
But the 1evec. Crossing the threshold,
where arc no guards nor guides, you fad
yourself In spacious vestibule, the walls
whereof are linel. with shelves, numbered and
ticketcd as iu hotel hatrand cloak room.
Here, If gentleman. you deposit your out
side haLilime1ts, aud u ith light heart-for
you had been warned Uf rde danger OF losing
your coat-draw on yoar gloves and await
Jour lady companion, who is similarly cared
for in the adjoining apartment. Around you
are black coats, here and there only, a cray
one; white gloves, here and there only black
or brown oues !; patent and polished lca,bers.
here and there only dirty pair. Entering.
gou find no one to show the way. and 20 uat-
urally 20 in tue wrong direction. ut length
Won are set right aud reach the small fcce,,
ton room. the middle one Of three between
The ladies' attirinr aDartment and the East
room, You look for marshal to present Won
and while looking, suddenly find yourself in
the nresencc of tb.. old man whose slv eva and
droaninr head mark him. Yon nrescnf Tonr.
self. for there is no one to present you-at
least. such was tue cas-. all last evening nut
your eloyed hand into bis ungloved one, and
bass on to Miss Lane, who had a gentleman A.
tendant during Il portion Of the evening, Lu.
dies wonid hardly forgive me if I did not state
that she wore pisl- satin. trimmed with black
and relieved by roses in nes hair and bosom.
The curreat flows into the East room.
where few persons as yet, for it is just after
eight, arc promenading to the music Of the
Narine, Baud stationed in IN ante room. Soon
the apartment begins to fill up. By nine it
is crowded, and the few notabilities of the
evening app.ar. Tue diplomatic CORPS was
we'll represented. / noticed only tro Seua.
tors aud one Judge ot the Supreme Court,
Few prominent Southern or Northern Con.
cressmen nere present. Maynard Of Teunes-
Sec, with his eirlisb face aud long rinelets,
came early and slayed late. Gid Commodore
stewart yas iu the thronc, 50 wus Daniel +
Slck,cs, dressed faultlessly with beauty upou
hia arm, and J1dge Russell of YOUR
city escor,jnc a short loarj. who wore
gold diajem. "Galorious Dlckv I
did not scc, nor hare / caught sieut OF
him since the hour when be hung en-
trauced over Judre uouylas, mncl, boHl.
There we're a few we'll dressed women. but as
have not jenkins kuonlcdge OF names aud
t,brics c,nunt IN into mimi. narticn,ars
In 1a;r sender c;rl amonr uhna, c,rls
While f1nwcrs wcre oven whi5e n blpc s,.h
.sv.. tan. un} .ncau;ng II her ,ri7;o ,1rass
i1nnr.ss,45 mc. tai, 6rnnettc in nint s,,in
tr;mncd with 1acp attracted some ro,,n na avea
Rnt onlv nne or tuo of The Cnnrt ]4iies of
Wash1nyton wura nresant Tharc x,. tha
".aa,e.f vsr;atv ~ str1c H.-a q ,r;,,oxr
sShose ,.1a;m has hcpo hefore I'm oress this
m.nv 1nanv ve,rs in ta5cd h1own b,act
i,cn @ hanr;n9 ] orcr her hend. 1Iere ~ a rrsnec,. %