Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-03-11
TWO MEMORABLE DINNERS.
Charles Sumner as he was In the Early
Part Of His Public Life,

Jessie Benton Fremont in Philadelphia Times
Far back / remember q dinner full Of eccen-
tricities at the house of Gerrit Smith, where, a.
| all the guests were men of note, no Oddly
weighed for q moment against their respect for
| the splendid truth and courageous convictions
Of this remarkable and good man. The family
had large wealth, inherited as well as acquired;
but an overbalance of conscience in small
things as well as great, ''the defects of their
| merits" made them, to say the least, unusual
Their convictions about health forbid their
even inviting others to dine later than 5 in the
afternoon. Fancy this in June in Washington!
You could call il luncheon and eat, but you
could not lessen the heat in that hour.
And conscience applied to questions of health
and utility had put these modest, retiring
women into full bloomer dress-without regard
to age or size. For all the sincere respect we
this queer dressing.
Charles Sumner and Mr. Chase were there;
the company was all right and harmonized. 1t
was the summer of the disputed admission Of
to its free-soil constitution yet it tried all of
| to have the dessert served ON a service of china
representing the Horrors of slavery" pres
ent to Gerrit Smith from English admirers.
On my plate, through a clear layer of water
ice, doomed q very black man standing on a
barrel. with very big chains all about him, the
auctioneer on one side and the most piteous
groups OF other slaves to be sold covering the
ground. 1t was too painful-because too true
to obtrude on a gathering for pleasure. 1t is
well 70 be instant in season and out of sea-
son" but this we felt to be decidedly out of
season.
Mr.. Chase after dinner expatiated to me on
the charm of a woman's long, floating white
muslin dress as contrasted by the silk shor:
| skirt and trOusers-"Such a loss of all the
poetry of ideas"-and when we got home, the
hot sun still blazing, my father said: SECT me
some cool water anda little claret. Our friend
Gerrit Smith pushes his theories too far for
this weather." Conscience again had forbid
been served without even the light claret almost
indispensable in hot climates.
The next day (when the sun was well down,
however), we dined with the Aikens, of South
Carolina, where We met again Mr.. Sumner. He
was, in those, his younger days, a serene and
charming companion and great favorite.
Looking back, the cruel evil done him by near
relative OF the Aikens seems out of possibility.
1t changed his nature entirely. The Aikens
themselves were people of calm, good sense, as
well as the utmost refinement We were a
small party, and the admission of California
came up naturally as the topic of the day,
brought forward by Mr.. Aiken himself who. in
the clearest, most dispassionate manner, spoke
OF the necessary results from this precedent for
the territories. Himself the owner of over a
thousand slaves, and inheriting with them
great extent of land in South Carolina, he spoke
from evident deep thought on the subject, see
ing. the inevitable lessening of the values of
such property.
He said it would be we'll to invest s'for the
coming generation" in western wild lands"
asking OF Mr.. Fremont (which, of such lands
he had seen, '.would he advise purchase OFF"
I'm California" was the instant answer; but
who in 1851, could be made to see California
as it is? Rejecting this as too remote and of
nrnhlpmaf a f1n6
upon as an Investment which might be of profit
in twenty or thirty years. Mr.. Aiken proceeded
at once to acquire some 10000 acres, think,
not far from Kansas City.
BY 1880, the limit he had fixed for possible
value to this wild land" what contrast was
there between the value of this Kansas estate
and his lands in the south-no longer having
their thousand slave laborers.