The daily Green Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1861-1865, 1862-02-20
Mrs. Lincoln.

it is not OF quite 50 much Importance to the
Country who the Presidents wife is, as it is
who is President In ordinary times the Coun-
try might not be greatly concerned to learn that
there was lady in the White House whose
bead had become giddy by her elevation, and
N7hcec department, instead of being marked by
the quiet, serious, lady-lke demeanor that
ought now in these solemn days of National tri-
al and peril to grace the Mansion of the Head
of the Nation, was made painfully conspicuous
by an absence of refinement, OF delicate sensi-
'5ility, of womanly sympathy, of matronly dig
nifty, and by the presence, in their place, of
|grlish vanity, an unbecoming coquetry, a pas,
sion for display quite out Of place in the de-
pressed state Of the National finances, and an
aunfeeling heedessness Of the momentous and
solemn events beng enacted in the new wax
dor independence. Many unpleasant facts have
rec ntly come to light respecting the tastes, the
manners, and the associations of the lady of the
White House. Sometime since we copied from
a New York paper the statement that Mrs. Lin
coin was in frequent, almost daily, correspond
cnce with the wife Of the editor of the New York
Ufyaid. james Gordon Bennett, the editor OF
the Herald, did what he could 10 defeat Mr. Lin
coin, and after his election did what he could
20 help on the Southern rebellion. When waited
anon by some indignant gentlemen and asked to
display the American flag, after the fall Of
.SnMter, and when the National ensign was
blossoming from almost every house in the city,
he was compelled to ask indulgence till he could
'5ercow one. lie is an outcast, a parah in So
,ciety. But he has great wealth, and Mrs. Ben
'aetJ is enabled to appear in very dashing and
brilliant style. She spends very much of her
time abroad, preferring the corrupt and heart.
less society of IL French capital where her hus.
3and's reputation, to say nothing of her own,
does not shut the doors against her. But since
she has found confidential and intimate friend
in the White House, she can forego for winter
she flashing society of Paris, and devote her &C.
'complishments to her new affinity at Washing
ton. MIR. Henri Wikof, a political and social
intriguer, an unprincipled and shameless ad-
'yenturer, man who iskicked out of all respec-
table society wherever he Is known, and who
has beeu made acquainted with the inside of
4oreign prisons, for his impudent efrontry, and
his persistent social intriguing, has been made
in many instances the vehicle for transmitting
between Mrs. Lincoln aud Mrs Bennett scented
aiIlets, elegant bouquets Of flowers, and the silly
tribes that lackadaisical school-nsses 50 much
Affect, before they have outgrown their girlish
fancies and never-dying friendship, and arrived
at the dignity and grace Of womanhood. This
vSlmc WikoH-an attachec OF the Herad- lis also
frequneter Of the White House When he
WAS ordered under arrest the other day by the
lIuuae for refusing to disclose tue means through
(which he Was enabled 10 farnlsh the U,a,I
ghe substance Of the Presidents message - adj
vance Of its delivery, the President himself APP
peared before the Committee to help clear up
Che matter, and it will be remembered that il
was finally explained that Mr. Watt, the presi-
dents gardener, and Mr. Wikoff managed
through their free run of the Mansion u ~ Il
sight at Mr.. Lincoln's manuscript
La addition to harboring such an unprlnciped
scamp as Wikof and such an unbushing trai-
tor Us Watt about the household, it is also now
said that the notorious Dan. E. Sick les who
is not much better than when he was thrust out
from tho company Of honest people awhile since
except that he is now a Brig General, - il