Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1867-01-24
Gaaies' &tadina,
Etiquette in Washington.

All our lady readers will pc pleased to
read what Mary Clemmer Ames, the bril-
liant correspondent Of the N. y. indie
pendent says of life in Washington, and the
etiquette of fashionable society there =
..In holday-week Washington took a
long, sweet breath for prayer and praise be
fore springing into its vortex of folly. Not
reception has yet been given. Not party
has vet filled the world of fashion with the
memory of its magnificence. But General
and Mrs. Grant have issued cards; so too
have the Cabinet ministers, and other dig
nitaries; and one unbroken chain of gay
ETY. now reaches forth from January to Lent.
Dear little woman, rocking the baby in the
pretty sitting-room Of your quiet country
home, mayhap reading the independent
besides, you can afford to feel sorry for these
women of the gay world, just lowering on
the borders of ovcr-crowded rooms, late
hours, and blistering gas-light When they
have passed through them all, they won't
look half as pretty as you do, nor be half as
happy. Let no description in the newspa-
per of the ..brilliant and ilustrious assem-
blage" deude you into the belief that it was
just as brilliant as we fancy, or that this is
the happier life.
Above all, be sorry for the poor corres-
pondent. The newspaper Mogul, in his dingy
den issued fiat to him, commanding him
to be 'piquante and personal, " sharp il
not sbiting," and at all odds brilliant.
The laws of newspapers are inexorable; SC
are the laws of bread and butter. You gel
your subscription. Perhaps your heart is
stirred with gentle envy of the beautiful
and accomplished" danes to whom distance
lends SO much enchantment have seer
them all, Petite; and will still tell you tha
none ofthem are as freshly pretty as you are
Your runsophisticated heart knows nothing o
the bars of society which divide these fin,
ladies.
When you feel social and communicative
you tuck baby into the little wagon, and g
down the village streets, or across the opel
fields to see your bosom friend Poll. If yol
are domestic, you discuss new recipes ant
new patterns; if gossipy, you tell who il
going to be married, or born; if you are in
/ tellectual, you talk over the last Atldnti
and George Eliot; if you are pious, it is 18th
minister" and ''the new converts" who fl
your heart. In either case, you have a mic
!. time, take cup of tea, and no social bar d
vides you and Polly, You are wild flow
er Carina, too near Nature to live here.
= Mrs. President is called upon by the ladie
of the Cabinet. The Cabinet ladies neve
call first upon Mrs. Senator. Mrs Senate
!, waits for Mrs. Representative, and all in al
- gust state receive" the untitled, unofflci'
crowd. At the Seat of National GovernmeI
le certain formula of etiquette is obviousl
u necessary. 1t only becomes absurd, selfisl
and arrogant when, instead of regulatir
IN the mere forms of conventional acquaintal
ii ces, it obtrudes heartless barrier to the il
tercourse of personal friends.
k Mrs Senator processes deep love for Mr.
10 Commonlife. Mrs. Senator has nothing
do but to sit in her parlor, or ride forth
a her carriage. Mrs. Commonlife has mar
ID cares and her life is full of labor. 81
must call upon me because iam a Sent
tors Wite," says this large-natured frien'
"a When she meets her, it is with an injure
air. You have been in the city week
and haven't been to see me. Yet you kno
:. it is your place to call upon me first, if "
" are busy" "Why?" "Because / am
Senator's aoife; and you-you are only
O. true woman. Your husband holds no office
ss Mrs. Senator secs Mrs. Commonlife on
once through months stay in Washingto
n, II she could only forget long enough til
IL she is Senator's wife, she would go al
pour out her heart every day, as she Ion
a. to do. Instead of draining its sweetest {
ell sence, she is constantly missing the fine
flavor of life. Because she is senate
m wife, she chooses to be narrow, not a larg
n natured woman. Petite, wouldn't you rat
w er take baby. and run and see Polly
would. NJ. G. A.