The Republican journal., 1874-02-26
Washington Women.


can says: Beyond any question, Mrs. Fish
stands at the head of official society. 1t is
a place impossible to the lady of the
White House, by reason Of her position ,
but to my mind it belongs of right to the
wife Of the Vice-President. On the con
trary, until Colfax's time, this lady was a
yeritable Cinderella, and even his smiles
only made her princess, not a queen; he
was too much of the people, and his social
acts even savored too much of his ambi-
ton to admit of society leadership Mrs
Fish comes here with position already as
smed OF one of the oldest families in the
land with so remote a tradition Of wealth
that its possession or lack of it appears
never to occur to her, while on every
hand she makes it her servant there
seemed nothing for her to gain, As it was
impossible tor her to lose any thino; but
her Washington experience has added to
the honors that clustered about her name.
the reputation of being the most perfect
hostess in the land, and of combining with
the most complete elegance the most
| thorough Womanliness There is no youno
lady who would not be the better for fol
lowing after Mrs. Fish. The sensation Of
the season Is her tillSh htcl, Miss Edith :;
and truly, | have no patience with the
man or woman who does not at once and
| irrevocably fall in love with her She is
simply superb, and she isn't 50 very hand
| some either, 1t would be perfectly use
less to attempt to describe her; | should
as soon think Of drawing one of Murillo's
Madonnas, SO will go right on to tell YOU
Of the last "Wednesday morning at their
house and elsewhere
Every newspaper the country over, tor
the last SIX years. has informed its readers
that this house was the center Of diplo-
matte society. 50 it is quite unnecessary
to speak of that Just now. but perhaps
shall not deal 50 exclusively in repetition
If | explain 4 little what that means prac-
tically 1t is to find the street blocked
with the most elegant carriages, to meet
ut the door 4 procession Of foreign Minis
tiers and their wives, 50 continuous that
You wonder 4 little if any body has gone
away. and to grow green with envy ut the
magnificent toilets, if YOU are a woman
Meanwhile you eaIS RIM with the chatter
ing Of French, and very likely Your throat
ache. at the ease and rapidity With which
somebody in the corner is carving on 4
aon,araat0m III German iioi is il very Till
likely either that rs YOU fall back 4 little
awed 10y the derived magnificence Of the
last arrival, whom YOU have Just heard 4
servant, only u little darker than himself.
announce in 4 stentolian voice rs 1.-The
Minister OF Gwottermoler,' You fall into
the face OF 4 little Irritation in Spanish 1t
is astonishing what lnguists the WaShimg-
ton girls become The needs of coquctrv
overcome all obstacles. If YOU are like
most people, YOU become Slightly alarmed
at this Babel; and, only stealing Glance
at Miss Edith and her pretty Paris gown
who are standing-she and the gown !
mcan-on the other side Of the room you
forget to speak to Mrs Bancroft Davis and
say GOOD morning to Mrs Fish in 4 dlzed
way
When YOU get inside Mrs Belhnap
door, YOU inyoluntarily listen little, and
are relieved at the sound Of good plain
English. Perhaps you are none the less
dazzled in this drawing groom; hut it il
you eyes and not 1our ears that got con
fused Mrs. Belknap i one oi the few
ladie5 in society here who can afford to
have pretty girls around her, and ii i5
enough to say that after 4 peIpIeXnp
series Of tascinations, YOU think her face
the finest and sweetest OF them all more
over. even i man could tell how incoMl-
parable her toilets are | said AIi~s Fish
was the sen alton of the season. | don't
know after all but it IS this bride who
holds that place; As Mrs Bowers, She kept
the house Of her br0thcr-in-lW, and did
the honors until all Washington was at
her feet last year she was abroad and
now She comes bacl. again bride to hor
new home-vrry elegant in all t5 appoint
men 5 but evidently no less home. Her
parlors are crowded, aud every body IS nj
the height OF enjoyment; but if you watch
her ever 50 closely, You can not see but
She is ust as gracious to those very com
mon-looking people who are apparently
strange to society OF any kind, as She i to
Sir Edward Thornton, who has followed
them III, on to the consequential pomposlty
Of 'Ey-Secretary and Mrs Eorie who
are behind him.
In q different sense from these ladies'
somewhat Mr. Attorney General vii
llams II also n sensation this winter. |
imagine somebody might like to know
how she looks Tall and stout, with a
beautiful skin, black hair and eyes, she has
been IN every sense a brilliant woman
moreover, she knows thoroughly how to
dress herself so as to heighten the effect
having studied her own style; she affected
the barbaric somewhat, and she was quite
right; She looked like a Queen, albeit an
Oriental Queen On Wednesday, standing
in the vast spaces Of her elegant new
mansion, in q taultless dress OF cherry and
gray, she nevertheless looked worn and
blase; she seemed nervous and defiant,
and she lacked the olt-time, never falling
adaptable brilliancy We said to one an
other. Mrs. Williams is 4 woman, after
all, and not personitied ambition, rs it had
seemed sometimes" Her house looked
like concrete ambition, truly; the draw
ing room, large enough for a Presidential
mansion Cor the house of a Chiet-,Justice,
perhaps), has twice the elegance Of the
East Room, in some inexplicable way the
dining-room, where you 90 always at re-
ceptions, for the inimitable chocolate
and cake, ''or its equivalent" to use the
Roman phrase--heing, in this instance in
Rome-the dining room untes size with a
certain coziness that does not preclude
daily living in it. Let me close with q
story Mrs. Williams ,old u.s. so character
stic Of the woman that YOU will forgive
its trivialitv The weather She says-We
think the Worry-has given her persistent
and almost unbearable neuralgia; the
newspapers, with their usual disregard Of
the 'private affairs of public people, en-
large upon this fact, the consequence was
the reception by her of a neat package
containing a box of pills and a polite note
signed by name entirely strange to her.
This man said that having suffered terri
bly, from neuralgia, he took the liberty OF
sending her . box ofthe French pills, which
had cured him. OF course she ignored the
pills but the pain could not be ignored, and
Tuesday, with the ordeal of a state dinner
at the White House, just after her hus-
bands withdrawal, before her, and nearly
frantic with pain, she tried the pills-her
head grew easier another dose, and the
pain begins to go away-still another. and
She is free! Is she not 4 woman who
dares?" She says. II believe | shall never
be done with romance"
Says the Washington correspondent Of
the Cincinnati Gazette: "The belle par
excellence, to nv mind this season. is