Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-12-02
wEBsTER ANp ELS wIpn
Some "Reminiscences OF the p,...
gufshed CounIa

buAsueQ couple.
Mrs. Webster, whose maiden usr,a
Caroline Leroy, Gays a corresponden. a.
the Philadelphia Times, belonged 10 -
of the old New York families. and n 80 o-e
respects a remarkable woman. altbo--.'
like the wives of many men OF great At
tainments, she was never noted for O..
literary talents. She was tall and en-
looking, very erect in figure, and hal
complexion which PHILADELPHIA han.
might be proud of. She was very partio-
ular about her dress and dislike5 o.
thing not in the prevailing STYLE -.
wishing to adhere to by-gone fasbions
so many old ladies do, through her ipbor
ent good taste was always seen in a.
sire to have suitable toilets for eyorv ~
casion.
When she told her numerous and o;,
experiences of life, we always wsro PIE
ested IN listening to the tbings iaser-
pleased her most--how Mr.. Wehsfo. snat
to call her the ''Lady Caroline; ~ USE, used
evening walks, and indeed many NJ sI k
"reminiscences were very entertajninsll
were they less frequently or more coba7,
emily carried out. WITT
Mrs. Webster always read thu navsr.
pers, and though it is doubtful If she a "a
fully realized that she was almost ala
In her generation, some names took bar
back over lapse Of years and She ~.
called persons wildly. At the time Calah
Gushing was appointed Minister 10 Snair
she remarked: pam
''He was very agreeable man: lrnov-
him WE'LL" She also added: II yondsr
why he never married?"
The old lady was always a great advo-
cate of matrimony. We once asked he,
what she thought of Henry CLAY.
"Oh," she replied, ''Mr. Clay was the
thinneSt man | ever cav. He was a great
man and magnificent speaker-not equal
to my husband, of course"
One day in reading Sir II. Hollands let
terS we saw an account of a dinner given
to Daniel Webster and his wife when in
England. We mentioned this to Mrs.
Webster and she was very anxious to see
the book. \ chord in her memory was
touched and long dormant memories
seemed to awake. She related various little
incidents of her travels abroad. but
though they were then so feted and made
much OF, there was no assumption Of dig
nifty on her part; she merely took the al
tentiOn paid her as her due, being the Wife
of great man, the Secretary of State OF
a great nation. She mentioned driving
out in a barouche with the Queen. and
driving with her merely as she would had
she done the same with an acquaintance
in her own rank of life. She smilinglv
said:
Queen Victoria is very plain-looking
person, but an excellent woman and Very
sensible.I have seldom met an American
lady at dinner party dressed as plainly
and with as little TASTE"
Hon. Alexander Stephens once said Of
Daniel Webster: 81 think Webster was
the worst slandered man 1 ever knew. It
is the general impression in the country
to-day that Webster was great drunk
ard. You hear it spoken of even now
whenever his name is mentioned, but tits
an outrageous SANDER. / will tell you
what / know myself. For six years
while we were both in Congress l lived
next door to him. His house was as ia
miliar TO me as my own garden. l was in
there great deal and he was as often in
mine, and In all the time of my acquaint-
ance with him never saw Webster when
he was in the least affected by liquor or
under the influence of it in any way. |
have dined with him at his house and
mine. l have met him at dinners and af-
fairs outside and | never sew him in the
least inebriated. l never heard OF his be-
ing intoxicated but twice, and on one of
those occasions-a dinner-he made a
speech that was grandly eloquent"