The Press., 1888-12-06

QCAO1s 0n0 PS1AOLAAGu t44o 4UeJ wAAn 6AS~O skill, and won the admiration of all who saw her. My husband told me that she was brought in by faen. Greene the next morning, her dress sOiled with blood and dust, and presented to Washington as worthy of reward. The general, admirlng her courage, gave her the commission of 8 sergeant and on his recommendation her name was placed upon the list of haif-pay officers for life. She was living near Fort Montgomery in the Highlands at the time of our visit, and came to the camp two or three times while we were there. She was dressed in Q sergeant's coat and waist coat over her petticoat, and cooked hat The story of her exploit charmed the French officers, and they made her many presents She would sometimes pass along the French lines when on parade, and get her hat nearly filled with crowns. "
 You must have seen and become ac- quainted with very many of the mos. dis tinguished men and women of America. and also eminent foreigners, while yonr husband was in Washingion's c'binet, l remarked.
 "Oh, yes," she replied. "I had little et private life in those days Mrs. Washing ton, who, like myself, had a passi na:e love of home and domestic lite, cften com plained of the waste of flme' she was G m- 1pelled to endure. They call me the firs' lady in the land, and think must be ex- tremely happy she would say, almost bit terly, at times, and add, they might more properly call me the chief state prisoner 1 "As was younger than she. 1 mingled moro in the gaieties of the day. l was fond of dancing, and usually attended the public balls that were given. was at the inauguration ball-the most brilliant of them all-which was given early in May at the assembly rooms on Broadway, above 1 Wall street. It was attended by the presi- dent and vice president, the cabinet off cers, majority of the members of con- gress, the French and Spanish ministers, and military aud civil officers, with their wives and daughters. Mrs. Washington had not yet arrived in New York from Mount Vernon, aud did not until three weeks later. Gu that occasion every wo- man who attended the ball was presented with a fan, prepared in Paris, with ivory frame, and when opened displayed like ness of Washington in profile"
 "Were you often at balls which Wash ington attended ?" Iinquired
 .~ "Fre quently."
 "Did he usually dance such occa- sions ?''
 II never saw Washington d'.Ece, sEe replied. He would always choose part her and sOGlk through the figures 'rrect- iy, but he never danced. His favorite was the minuet, a slow, graceful dance, suited to his dignity and gravity, and now little known, believe"
 "Mrs. Washington's receptions were very brilliant, were they no, ?" I asked.
 Brilliant so far as beauty, fashion and social distinction went, she replied; 'Oth- erwise they were very plain, and entirely nnostentatious."
 "Did you usnally attend them? asked. } Frequently. I remember very excit- ing scene at one of her earlier receptions. Ostrich plumes, waving high over the hea !, formed part of the evening head dress of 5 fashionable belle at that time. Miss McEvers, sister of Mrs. Edward Livings- too, who was present, had plumes unusu- ally high. The ceiling-.of the drawing room of the presidents house, near Frank lin Square, was rather low, and Miss Nc ) Ever's plumes were $gnited by the flame of the chandelier. Major Jackson, Washing tons aid de camp, sRTaRg to the rescue of the young lady and sxtinguished the fire by smothering it with his hands,"
 "You saw many distinguished French lpeople, refugees from the tempest of the revolutio in France, did you not?" I in, Equired.
 very many N0W 4Ork became much Freuchified in speech and manners. Mir. Hamilton spoke Preach huently, and as he did not sympathize with the revolut ion ists who drove the exiles from their homes, he was favorite with many of the culti yated 'emigrts.' Among the most distin- guiAhed of these was Talleyrand, strange creature, who staid in America nearly two years. He was notoriously misshapen, lame in one foot, his manners far from ele- gant, the tone of his voice was disagreea. ble, and in dress h9 was rather slovenly Mir. Hamil!o saw much of him, and while I he anmlred the shrewd diplomat for his great intellec. ual endowments, he detested his utter lack of principle. He had DO conscience In the summer of 1794 he spent several days with us, at the grange, on Harlem Heights"
 ''Did you not entertain the young son of Lafayette and his tutor at the grange 8 year or two later ?" inquired.
 "We did, while they were waiting for Washington to retire from office. They came to this country when the marquis was Tn an Austrian prison, and his wife and daughter gladly shared his fate Their son, George Washington, was sent to the protection of Lafayette's beloved friend l The president and Mrs. Washington would gladly have received him into their family, but state policy forbade it. at that critical time. The lad and his tutor pass ed whole summer with us at the grange At length he and his pupil went to Pbila- delphia, lived quietly at private lodgings, and when the retired president and his family left the seat of government for Mount Vernon, the tutor and pupil accom- panied them. When the young man and hls father were in this country, twenty odd years ago, they very warmly greeted me, for the marquis loved Mir. Hamilton as a brother. Their love was mutual" l might repeat many more utterances of interesting personal "reminiscences of the venerable and venerated matron, but these must suffice. As my request she kindly wrote her name iIi my notebook. I bade her adieu imm mediately after tea. Her sweet spirit departed on the 9th of Novem- ber, 1854, after pilgrimage on the earth of ninety seven years and three months.- Benson L Lossisag, LL. D.