Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1859-04-21
Dinner-Table Anecdotes.

John Hancock was in embarrassed circum-
stances in the latter part Of his life, and a
venerable gentleman whose society some
Itimss enjoy. has told me that he had often
heaEl. on the first day of term, when the
~ io.!!l II called the Crier exclaimed, -
"John Hancock, John Hancock, come iuto
court and answer unto John Doe, or your
default will be recorded - And this when
he was Governor of the Stnte. But in these
blessed days for lawyers, nobody minded be-
ing sued and nobody bothered himself about
paying his debts, except upon compulsion,
unless it suited his convenience. Still, he
hospitality. The gentlemen [ have quoted
who is probably the last surviving guest of
the multitudes Hancock entertained
he died sixty-fve years ago-described to
me dinner party he particularly remem-
bered. There were more than fifty or six
ty persons at table, but the host did not sit
at meat with them. He ate at little side
table, and sat in wheel chair, in which he
wheeled himself about the general table to
speak with his guests. This was because of
his gout, of which he made political and
social excuse for doing as he pleased. On
the occasion in question, when the guests
were in the height of animated conversation
and just as the cloth was drawn, they were
interrupted by tremendous crash. A SER
want, in removing cut glas epergne, which
formed the central ornament of the table, let
it fall and it was dashed in thousand pieces
An awkward silence fell upon the company,
who hardly knew how to treat the accident,
when Hancock relieved their embarrassment
by cheerfully exclaiming ''James break as
much as you please. but don't make such a
confounded fuss about it! And under COW
er of the laugh this excited, the fragments
were removed, and the talk went on as il
nothing had happened. This, it strikes me,
was the presence of mind of true good breed
ing.
It was little different view from the one
taken by Sheridan when similar accident
happened at table where he was dining.
The servant, letting tray full of plates fall,
the master of the house demanded, s'what
he had broken? p ''Nothing, sir" said the
man. ''What?" exclaimed Sheridan, in
|dignantly, ''have you made all that fuss fo1
nothingP" Hancock's mode of meeting this
emergency reminds me of an incident some.
what like it, with which [ will conclude my
discourse: Mr.. Bingham, of Philadelphia,
whose daughter married Mr. Alexander
Barring, afterward Lord Ashburton, was
ambitious of representing Pennsylvania, in
the Senate of the United States. To this
end, he canvassed the Legislature sedulous-
ly, and, like wise man, piled them abun-
dainty with good dinners. In this service
he was ably assisted by his wife. One day,
when he was entertaining party Of legisla-
tors, a representative from rural district,
broke dessert plate, one a priceless set OF
Sevres porcelain, fit for gift to kings, and
worth its weight in gold. Seeing the con-
sternation and distress of her guest Mrs.
Bingham at once relieved him by saying to
him. with perfect unconcern, ''it is Of no
consequence, for this ware is exceedingly
brittle. and breaks very easily And by
way of illustration, she struck the plate be-
fore her with her knife and broke it in pieces.