New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-09-19
MIRA Gal,atin and Mrs Mason. Afectioaate


ally and gracefully, although she modestly COM
Mains of icing so much Sput forward" AT diplo-
matte dinner the President insisted upon giving
her his arm and the sea of honor in spite oil her
whispered entreaty that he would take IN the
wife Of the British Minister. The Minister, MT.
Merry resented what lac chose to regard rs an
oeront and the affair ended In his recall. Mrs.
Madison always afterwardtook the head OF Presi-
dent JeGersons table. The Presidents eldest
daughter, Martha Jefferson Randolph, was her
bosom friend. and they were sometimes MISTAKEN
for each other-not. as we understand because
they looked alike, but because they were SO nnch
together The Capital had been removed TO ~ash-
ington shortly before Madison became Secretary OF
State, and he and his wife travelled thither oy
carriage. making the long rough journey from
Montpelier with the encumbrance OF a quantity OF
household furniture, which could hardly have
been obtained then at the seat of Government.
Washington was new. struggling. squalid.
muddy village the houses few and far between,
the streets no better than country wagon tracks.
Still there was a small and agreeable resident
society, dispersed about Washington. Alexandra
and Georgetown Congress brought together some
families of education and refinement and great
many intelligent fore gners found their way 10 the
Capital of a new republic concerning which the
old world felt not very fattering curiosity
We read few illusions in Mrs. Madlsons letters
to the visiting strangers OF distinction She Writes
for example. to her sister Anna, who had married
Richard Cults member of Congress from the Dis
trict Of Maine,
We have lately hal great treat in the company
of a charming Prussian Baron. All the ladies say
they are in love with him notwithstanding ms
want of personal charms He is the most poIte
modest, wcll-informed. and interesting traVeile1r
we have ever met, and is much pleased WIN
America. ! hope one day you Will become &C
Qnainted with charming Baron liWnoolut'
He sails in few days for France with MS com
palions and is going 10 publish an account OF MS
travels i'll South America, where ne hNea nVs
years; proposing to return mere asan ne m
clever and entertaining, did not compare 10 the
Baron.
The sketches of public characters in these family
letters, however, are not important The real IN
erest Of the correspondence lies in its disclosure
of the domestic side of official life at n period
which threatened not long ago to become hope
essly legendary, and its echoes of the boudor and
the drawing-room during crisis i'll our political
Quarrels and our foreign difficulties When Mr.
Madison became President in 1909 party anliEosI-
ties rising to serious height, as we drIited
steadily toward our second war with England
But all factions welcomed the accession of the
new mistress of the house. She had already en-
deaed herself to the people of Washington. not
osty and kindness to the poor. Embittered pollti
clans, who never met save at her hOspitabe board,
f,rgot all their qIarrels under the influence of her
gracious tact.D She abolished forms and
monies which prevailed under Mrs. Washington
and Mrs Adams. allowed stiffness. returned all
calls made by her own sex, and gave delightful
"dOve parties" to the wives of Cabinet officers
and foreign Ministers while their lords dis
cussing solemn State dinners. She was not highly
educated; few women were in her time; and she
bad little taste for reading: bat her letters are
well expressed and have the mmtabe charm of
simplicity and directnes,; and she had natural
talent which, with caeerfulness and sincerity,
sdilced in conversation to supply the defect of
learning. Once she visited by two Old Quaker
ladies'. Rehekah Hubbs and Sarah Scull. members
of the society to which she had belonged in Phila
delphia They were doubtless concerned about her
lapse into vanities; bat although she had put of
by this time the last yestIge Of Quakerism, the
little cap which sne until she entere the EX-
ecutve Mansion, the good old inqusitOrs could not
resist her amiability and truthfulness. quaint
letter from Rebckah written after the visit
over shows that conscientious lady struggling
helpessly between duty and delight She does
not lorbcar a faint word of warning, but her heat
speaks rather in such phrases these Assuredly,
dear Dorothy, | think shall ever remember thee
panon. your kind and Christian entertainment of
rs; God Will not be wanting to rev ard your love
DESTROYS to be hid in rem ,mbrance by thee, dear
Dorothy. in love- | conclude and rema; n thy souls
best W shcr.' 1t is interesting 20 note how under
the stress of especial emotion, Mrs Madison adopts,
as if nstinctivey. the Quaker phraseology Of her
youth. There are few letter, to her hu band for
example-verY few because they were rarely
separated-in which her loving anxiety for his
health and comfort expresses itself with the help
of the Old forms of "thee" and thou" familiar in
her. lips when they first knew each other IL have
at this moment peruscd with delight thy letter,
my darling husband, with its enclosures" at
is now past o'clock and cease tc write only to
dream Of thee"
There is great deal about dress and fashion in
the letters mingled oddly with passing references
to affairs which are big in history joel Bar
low, whom Mr. Madison sent to France to negotiate
treaty with Napoleon was particular friend of
| Mrs. Madison, and she wrote to him and his wife
in the midst of the troubles Of the Embargo and
the agitation over the prospect Of war;
| As Won. my dear friends. have everything and we
nothing that is beautiful will ak the favor of
you to send me by safe vessel large head-dresses
a few flowers. feathers, gloves and stockings
| black and white, with anything else pretty and
suitable for an economist and let me know the
amount.
The next letter shows how this commission was
discharged. and throws little light upon the ideas
of the appropriate in dress entertained in that
primitive time:
Tell Mr.. Lee that shall be ever grateful for the
fatigue ana trouble he must have experienced for
my sake, IN procuring the valuable collection he
sent me the bill was Immediately paid but he
Will be astonlshed at the amount of duties
$1,000 fear | shall never have money enough
to send again. All the articles beautiful; the
heads could not get on being little tight so I
shall lay them aside until next winter when can
have them enlarged to tit. The lowers. trimmings
and ornaments were enchanting
The capture of Washington by the British in
1914 was so completely unexpected that Mrs.
Madison had invitations out for dinner party
on the very day of the occupation and burning,
and one of the notes preserved in this volume IS