Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1873-05-17

miss Emily fafthfuli, who spent some time in
this city last season, has written out her i'm
pressions in letter which appears in the Nav
number Of the Victoria kegasiae, of which she
Is editor. As is usual with the people OF her
country, she gets things mixed badly but on
the whole she takes pretty fair view, and
writes In good temper. We make the following
ga reception at the White House. though
equivalent to our Queens Drasing Room is
widely different affair. The one we attended
was the largest held this season. L was unfor-
tunate enough to miss Lady Thornton who was
to present nae, and had not fallen into the
safe keeping of Mrs. Fish should never have
made my way through adensely packed M ass of
people who extended from the hall to the re-
ception room. But Mrs. Fish was able to take
us in by aprivileged way to the room in which
the President, Mrs. Grant and Miss Nellie
Grant stood for more than two hours shaking
which can only be denominated "a crowd,
What would happen on such occasions if repub-
hcan institutions involved the use of court
uains L cannot imagine. DO not, however,
suppose that our American cousins are indif-
ferent to personal adornment, or that points of
etiquette are disregardcd in this free republic
The magnificent dresses in which the ladies
sweep the streets, and the diamonds which fash
ON all SIDES OF you, from the dawn of day TO its
aechne, surpass description. The ordinary
senator ana Congressman is almost shabby *
his invariable suit OF very worn black broad
cloth, but his wife and daughter are resplen-
dent In Paris dresses, and very maryels in the
style OF their hats and bOnnets. Then as to the
etiquette existing in Washington society, L can
assure my English readers that the rules are as
severe as in the mOnarchial circles of Europe
The members wives must call first on the Sena-
tors wives, and these in their turn must visit
the wives of the judges Of the supreme court
and the secretaries, and all must first paw their
respects to the ladies of the diplomatic corps
Inc PRESIDENTS wife of course is not expected
10 call on any one, and season at the capital is
considered indispensable to the success of fash
iOnable social life. Music and dancing have
ceptions, and the newspapers chronicle all such
events IN a style which wOl even astonlsh the
readers of the London Count Journal
Two OF the pleasantest he urs spent at Wash
rngton were passed with Senator Sumner
man who stands head and shoulders above his
fellows in intellectual culture and personal
graces. His name is known and honored in our
best English circles, and let me describe his
career here in the words of the Rev. James
Freeman Clarke, who whiled away the tedium
OF lorg car journey, between Boston and
Albany, by his pleasant talk on subjects of
mutual interest. Charles Sumner, he said.
went from Boston to the United States Senate
In 1851, comparatively young man. He had
made himself unpopular here at home by on
posing most Of tie measures that were fashion
able. Dan iel We bster was then the idol of the
community, a,o any man who opposed him
was was az once ostl acised. This yonng man was
was not made to be a Luther or Elijah in defer
ence to public opinion. No man ever felt
more keenly than he the opposition of enemies
or the estrangement of friends. or the unkind-
ness and injustice OF false accusations. And
yet, during the twenty years, Charles Sumner
has encountered all these, not minding what his
own private feelings were. He could saw with
Cato, Let the gods love the winning cause; |
stand by the conquered and defeated cause
He began his public career in Congress by az
lacking with unanswerable argument the infa-
nous fugitive slave law. He opposed with all
the energy of his nature and all the power of his
intellect, the repeal Of the Missouri compromise
and the introduction of slavery into kansas.
and it is owing largely to his labors and his suf-
ferings, that the United States are really free
that the war has ended, and peace and univn
hoe rod ~-~-0-.