Litchfield enquirer., 1872-11-28

s'Yes," said Mrs. Clay; s'they always play when they get together"
 Don't it distress you to have Mir. Clay gamble ?''3 sH ia1-l zI :asa11
 s.No, my dear. ]" said the good old lady, composediy: sshe most always wins. 2 < F In the winter of 1841 General Scott, MT. Clay, MT. Fox, and Mir. Bodisco played whist once week for some time, the stake, as usual. being q hundred dollars, They played a match game, Scott and Bo- disco against Clay and Fox. They were well matched. and for & long time the game was pretty even. At length fortune favored Messrs. Clay and Fox, and they were ten or twelve games ahead. 'fGen- tlemen," said the Russian minister, rising from the table, ''the game has closed for the season. The appropriation is ex- haust." And sure enough not another and vexation of General Scott, who of course, was 8 considerable loser.
 JOHN HOWARD PAYNE.
 John Howard Payne came to Washing ton on his release by the Georgia Regula- tors. Payne had conceived grand scheme for an international magazine, to be published simultaneously in London and New York, and he visited the portion of Georgia where the Creek Indians had recently been driven from their homes to gather materials for an article on their habits and mode of living, and he had been held as prisoner on suspicion of being 8 spy. He published an account of his capture and detention, on being Gber- ated, so amusing and entertaining that Col onel Preston, MT. Calhoun's colleague in the Senate, 8 gentleman of elegant cul- ture and of keen sense of the 1udicrous, expressed the hope that Payne might again fall into the hands of some lawless gang, as his individual inconvenience un- der such circumstances was of no conse- quence in comparison with the enjoyment his charming account of his adventures.
 Payne's literary project had failed, and he sought employment from the admins tration, being in straitened circumstances, with no more thrift, or providence, or ca pacity for taking care of himself than liar old Skimpole. He was delightful com- panion, full of genius, of nice culture, of more taste than strength, perhaps, but ca pablo of great deal of labor, and well fitted for clerical duties of any descrip- ton, as he wrote beautiful and expedi- tious hand, and was steady and industri- ous in his habits. He applied for dip- lomatic appointment, but failing in that, he was willing to accept of any respecta- ble position where the emoluments would afford him livelihood. He had all the simplicity of 6 child, was confding, cred ulous, and easily imposed upon, and the wags about Washington--for the city is always infested with great numbers of practical jokers-deluded him with magnificent and impossible expectations. Robert Tyler, the Presidents eldest son, and Fletcher Webster, were warm friends of Payne, and co-operated with several newspaper correspondents, all of whom made persistent effort to procure him an eligible appointment in one of the de- partments. MT. Webster, then Secretary of State, had taken s prejudice against poor Payne, and nothing could be done for him in the diplomatic or consular line After while, and by dint of persevering exertion, we obtained a place for him in the War Department, under MT. Spencer. He had comfortable room all to himself and he was charged with the task of col lating, indexing, and making absract of the treaties negotiated by the govern ment with the several Indian tribes. His annual salary was sixteen hundred dollars at that time a competent support for bachelor of simple tastes and inexpensive habits. Payne was delighted. Nothing could have suited him better, and he set to work with wonderful zeal and intelli- gence. The arrangement was great re- hef to his friends, and we determined that Knowing the secretarys peculiarities, and that he was "a klttle creature to shoe be- hind," as the Scotchman says, we instruct ed Payne in regard to the mode in which he should bear himself toward his official superior. He was advised to attend to his duties diligently, to steer clear of the secretary after exhibiting to him a speci- men of the manner in which he was per forming his work, to draw his salary on the first of every month, and to bother nobody with suggestions or advice on any subject. After few days of constant la bor Payne showed the secretary what he was doing, and how he was doing it. Nothing could have been better done There was no more exquisite penmanship on the files of the department, and the ar- rangement of the papers was perfect. Mr. Spencer expressed his qualification in warm terms, and Payne was in high glee. He continued his labors with increased activity, accomplishing more every day than any other two clerks in the depart ment, and in less than four months he had completed the job. Unmindful of our caution, and pluming himself upon the dispatch with which he had accomplished the work, he carried the fruits of 1t to the Secretary, who said he had nothing more for him to do, and dismissed him from office.
 Here was poor Payne on our hands again, as helpless as an infant, smarting under sense of wrong, querulous, com blaming, and deeming himself the most unfortunate of mankind. He was a spoil ed prodigy. When a mere child he was brought upon the stage, precocious and of great promise in the dramatic line, but his subsequent performances did not full fill this promise, and he was disappoint- ed, unhappy man, for whom his friends could never do enough, No place could be found for him after he had fallen vic- tim to MT. Spencers s caprice. and we were all perptexed and fatigued by his impor- tunities. At this juncture MT. Webster was called to Boston on business, leaving his son Fletcher acting Secretary of State. During his absence we managed to have Payne appointed consul to Tunis, and he had his commission in his pocket before the Secretary returned to Washington But there was no end to his troubles and endorsements. Full of the dignity of his office, he insisted on being conveyed to the scene of his labors in a vessel of war. The Secretary of the Navy hesita- ted about giving an order to that effect, and Payne invoked the authority of the President to accomplish his object. But Mir. Tyler had some doubts of the propri- ety of granting his request, and things re- I rnoInoH of7faI Moon&in,a having raised sum of money by virtue of his office, went to New York, and com menced the purchase of library to occu- py his leisure time while not engaged in conference with the Bey of Tunis. The enemies of the administrations they comprised large majority of Congress, and throughout the country-were all the time on the swatch rcauses ofcensure and reproach, and Payne's long delay in de- parting for the site of old Carthage was made the subject of sharp animadversion.