The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1876-03-08
lFrom Our Regular Correspondent
Our Washington Letter.
WASHINGTON, March 4, 1876.


has stirred all hearts with such powerful thrills
of dismay and sorrow that we have talked in
low voices, while each one felt as if the nation
al disgrace was personal stain. No lady has
been In Washington for years, whose beauty
| ana grace were SO widely acknowledged, and to
think OF Mrs. Belknap's queenly head bowed
in the agony of shame which must rest upon
her with no hope of relief touched us al! with
pity in the midst of our knowledge of her
wrong. shall never forget the first time I
saw her. 1t was her first reception after her
baby's birth, when crowds were thronging to
| congratulate her; the beautiful parlors, whose
walls have crimson velvet paper with gilded
ngures, We're full of happy faces; there was the
low murmur of wel.bred voices, a ripple of
| hght laughter now and then, pictures and ele-
| CANT ornaments were everywhere, but fairer
than anything beside stood the hostess Per-
fectly dressed of course; from the diamond
vIgnete in the soft puffs Of her dark hair to the
toe OF her dainty satin boot The costume was an
artistic combination of black velvet with shin
ing silver gray satin. 1t fitted her stately fig
ure without fault; there was such a light in
her beautiful eyes; such glow of health on
her cheeks; the coral lips parted over such per-
feet teeth that steod looking at her as 1 might
| at some artists dream of a loveliness never
known in actual life. There was only one fea-
| ture to be criticized; the nose was an unmis.
| taxable pug, but one never thought of that
| when her smiles sent their brightness over all
the face with an irresistible charm. 1 remem-
ber that the Secretary stood in the great front
parlor laughing heartily at some droll thought
and then glesm from the setting sun struck
through his tawny beard. A bluff, jolly son OF
Mars much more at home in camps than courts
but personally liked by all who knew him.
Again saw Mrs. BelKrap only two weeks ago
standing in the same place, and quite as ex-
quisite ir every detail ss when first saw her;
| over on the piano sat the baby with its French
nurse proudly guarding her treasure. The lit
| tie Alice locks like her father; she has bright
| golden hair, blue eyes and the faIrest skin.
| Not one bit abashed or dismayed the darling
received the homage so freely offered, chartered
away in the sweet unknown jargon of baby
land, got up on her little feet now and then and
| wondered if all her life would be as bright and
happy as its dawnngi
Not a week ago Mrs. Belknap came with
some friends to the reserved gallery in the
House, wearing carriage suit Of black velvet
plainly made but extremely becoming, while
from her girdle there hung the pretty gathered
pocket with its broad silver clasp and chains.
| How very brief has been the triumph how
long will be the years of humiliation and sor-
row!
The Secretary, as is we'll. known, was from
Iowa; his present wife is the sister of his sec
ond; his fist wife died many years ago leaving
him three sons The babe of bis second wife
only outlived its mother a very short time;
think all bis sons are dead and little Alice is
now his only child. The most dreadful thing
In all the sad affair is the fact that at the fun
eral OF her sister, the present Mrs. Belknap dis
| cussed the payment of the money, which was
to secure Mr.. Murch in his past-tradership. OF
| conrse there are hundred rumors current but
many Of them axe utterly groundless, and it is
cruel to heap more sorrow upon one sufficient
ly crushed, sufficiently punished. Think too of
| the terrible temptation; think how easy it
| seemed to frame abundant excuse; think of oc-
cupying SO exalted place yet having only a
very moderate income, and be merciful. In al
most every other land high officials are allowed
such revenues as will sustain the style required
| from their positions, but President Grant chose
to invite to his Cabinet gentleman whose pri-
vate income was exceedingly limited; the pres
sure of society was very great, and the sad sto-
ry quickly ended.
| CONGRESS ON THURSDAY.
The Baltimore Gazette was the first paper
reaching the city with its startling despatch;
the news spread with lightning swiftness and
when Congress came together business re-
ceived precious little attention. Every heart
| was heavily burdened; there were few smiles
| visible; the leading members clustered togeth.
er in groups unable TO talk or think of any
| thing but the dreadful tidings; the galleries
were filed with spectators who expected i'm
| peachment proceedings to take place; addition
al scraps of rumor passed from lip to lip and in
| the Senate many bill owed its passage to the
utter indifference which Senators felt concern
| ing any legislative action. 1t was as if they
said in their hearts, "Where is the
use of law or the issuing of any
opinion upon public obligations when honor
is so cheaply sold? When in the House the
committee made their report it was strange
| scene. Mr.. Clymer was excessively agitated;
| members left their desks to come crowding
down the aisles. listening eagerly TO every
word of that fateful readi1g; stiffness like
| the hush before some awful storm settled over
us all; faces grew pale and eyes were shining
with tears, for we felt as if flags must be at
half mast when so great calamity had be.
fallen the nation. Then yesterday in the Sem
| ate it was like attending funeral, but in the
midst of all this distress and excitement, those
who saw the President report him IS calm aud
unmoved as if nothing had occurred beyond
| the usual course of affairs. There was story
that he vented his emotion by driving IA
1 ba L. -
man with the iron mask never allows emotion
to show itself in his face.
SECRETARY BRIsTow.
In striking contrast to the usual Washington
display we find Secretary Bristow quietly living
in house on X. street, which Is by no means
| spacious or splendid. Now and then he gives
| quiet dinner TO a few friends, and Mrs Bris-
| tow has held her regular Wednesday recep-
| tions, but there has never been any attempt at
show, any apparent desire to rival or outshne
others. Yet Mrs. Bristow is an heiress in her
| own right to hundreds of thousands She is
| universally admired and dearly loved by all
who knew her, so it is not quite necessary to be
| dishonest. There is only this fact. Where
| social position and dignity are a matter of
| heritage, where the signet of refinement and
honor is legibly written, and the consciousness
of their possession innate, there is very little
| thought given to outward assertion of preemi-
nence. In carrying out our beloved republi-
canism we are too apt to forget this; we like
to sneer at the old phrase, "nObleSse obige;"
| we like to assert that lone mau is as good as
another if not little better,' till some day
when we have exalted our pet ideas into prac-
| tical demonstration we find the demonstration
| tumbling before us.