The native Virginian. [volume] (Orange Court House, Va.) 1867-187?, 1867-11-15

HoI talk Wei enough even to provoke
him to talk, lie soon became tired ofmy
visits--a fact of which he gave me con-
vincing proof by yawning in my face I!
This house on Broad st. and his mode
OF living, deserve notice. The house
was of brick, three stories high, coiiimo-
dious and comfortable. 1t was one ota
number of investments in real estate,
which he made during the war. AL
though no human being but himself in
habitated this house-the servants being
restricted to the kitchen of four rooms
in the back yard-he lived, literally, all
| over 1t. The front room on the first
| floor5 was his barbour. In it, were two
large oil paintings, works of decided
merit, a MOSAIC chess table and few
mahogany chairs. Sometimes he re-
ceived his visitors In the parlour, but
more often in the dining room adjoin-
ing, where he kept table for writing
and his iron safe. A handsome side
board and a set of solid dining tables of
antique pattern gfaced this apartment
lie was fond of telling that these tables
once belonged to sold Mcmminger,' -
and were bought when the worthy sec
retary of the Treasury broke up house
keeping on Church Hill. The front
room in the second story was his cham
ber, and tiiepassage- room adjoining, his
dressing closet. A tall mirror, which
reached from the floor almost to the
ceiling, was fastened to the wall be-
| tweenthe two front windows. Hardly,
was large cheudl glass, by means of
which he was enabled TO see his whole
figure, front and rear, from head to foot.
lie was not q fop, but he was fond of
| dress and had an eye to appearance not
| only in person but in print. lie had a
horror of all slovenliness. A carelessly
written editorial was his abomination.
He used to say that man who goes in
to print otight to remember that he is
/ making his appearance before the very
best society, and that he owes it both to
| himself and tothat society not to appear
| III undress. When an acquaintance of
the writer of this article was married in
church, one February afternoon in 1868,
John NJ. Daniel was there in long-tail
/ coat and white waist-coat. He believ-
/ cd in white waist-coats. lie told his
manager, Walker, that he ought never
to go to a party without wearing a
! white vest.
ssBut, MIR. Daniel" objected Walker,
suppose a man hasn't got white vest
and Is too poor, these war times, to buy
| oile?o
esD--n it2 sir let him stay at home.,'
/ Besides the mirror, the eheudi glass
and a few chairs, there was no other
| furniture in his chamber, except ali old
fashioned high-post,, bedstead, which,
| together with most Of his furniture, he
had bought at the sales Of the effects of
refugees once wealthy. lie believed in
blood, in families of ancient and honor
able descent, in gentlemen, and prefer
/ ra1 tha .vnri. N shin oo6 apfiuuo fa1
style of things which had descended as
heir looms in the houses of gentlemen
! to the costliest and most tasteful pro-
ductions of modern cabinet Makers
There was no carpet on the floor of his
chamber, and he slept without fire.
In the morning, a fire was built IN the
room next to his chamber, and there lis
breakfast was generally served between
| ii and II O'Clock. He seldom went to
bed before 2 or 3 O'Clock i'll the morn
] ing. This back room in the second sto-
| ry had a bed in it and was used as a
| guest chamber, but do not remember
to have known or heard of but one oc-
! cupant-R. W. Hughes. He made Dan
| iel's house his home whenever he came
| to town. t2ie el
| Adjoining the dressing-room in the
passage of the second floor, was the bath
/ room. Leaning against the door of this
bathroom | used to see a bag of Java
| coffee, which made my mouth water ev-
cry time | looked at it. for coffee, in
those days, was twenty or thirty dol
lars pound.
The FIRST room in the third story was
fused as a sort of lumber room. A bar
rel or two of white sugar ga few boxes
of manufactured tobacco, and some
large empty boxes, which had contain
] ed books, were there, the last time
looked in. The little room cut off from
the passage, was the library. The num-
Der of books was. not What one would
have expected. A complete set of Vol
taire's works; the Dolphin edition of the
classics, complete; Swift's Works, Clar-
endon's Rebellion and a-few. miscella-
neous books are all that / can now re-
call. Most if not all of these editions
| were old and rare, and strange to tell.
most of them were bought ut Eprivate
sale or sat auction during the war;
Daniel was All omniyeroiis reader, but
had sovereign contempt for the So
called ssliterature of .theS day." The
first Napoleon, riding post in his car
riage to the theatre of war, amused
himself by dipping into books just pub
lished and pitching them one after a.
mother out of the window. This was
much the way with John NJ. Daniel be-
fore he went abroad, when, in his ca
pacity as editor of the Examiner, Zall
the new publications were sent to him.
He never cared to KEEP them, either
gave or threw them away, and, If he
had occasion to make an extract from
one of them, used his scissors remorse-
ly. ~ Ee
The back room in the third story was
favorite one with him. Like all the
other rooms, it was tastefully and cheer
fully papered. 1t commanded view
of James river, the hills of Henrico and
the wide lowlands and woods of Ches-
! terfield. Having southern exposure.
there was always plenty OF light in the
lafternoon, and the room was easily
made warm and comfortable. Here he
loved TO sit in leather-b -bottomed chair.
with a little table near him, reading
Voltsire, the Latin poets, or contribu-
tions and COMMUNICATIONS to the Exam
iner. In this room he kept his collec-
tion of medals and seals violin lay in
it's wooden case Oh thc floor, stringless
and unused. A moody man, he sOme-
times deserted this pleasant room and
confined himself for weeks to the rooms
on the lower floors. l. ri-a
| lie lived well, but not luxuriously.-
He detested hotels and boarding houses.
When he lived in rooms over his office,
he had his meals sent to him by Tom
Griffin, or Zetelle. A fter he went to
housekeeping, his negro cook was his
caterer. The day diued at his house
with Wigfall and Hughes, he had but
one course, a single joint of meat, a
few vegetables, no dessert, coffee and
| wine-Madcira from Gov FIoVd's cell