The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-04-26

HOUSE IS now carried away. Hereplied i
i once:
aIovs rules The court. the camp, the grove;
/ Men below and heaven above;
i For love II heaven, and heaven IL love-
| ssMr. Webster was also = very beautiful
| letter writer. I once read letter written
| by him when in Baltimore. He was stop
| ping on Church Hill, and the theme Of
1 the letter Was sunrise which he had that
| morning Witnessed. II was the most
| beautiful and poetical description, in fact,
| SO fine and full Of sentiment that one of
| the gentlemen said: Well, If ] did not
| happen 10 know he Was brought up on .
farm, would say that old Dan had never
| seen sunrise.
Mrs. Webster, Mrs. Semple describes as
elegant manner. a very fitting mate for her
! distinguished husband"
| DOLLY MADISON AND HER TuRBAxs.
OF Dolly Madison, whom she knew very
well, Mrs. Semple speaks with great adj
| miration. and credits her with all the
| graces and qualities commonly ascribed to
her. .'She was most sincere and gener-
| Gus person, = said the lady, "who preserved
her quaint Quakerish simplicity and dig
nifty, both in speech and manner, and
whose heart was as warm as her manners
were cordial. Mrs. Madison's dress was
also modelled after the Quakerish idea,
and the turban of tine white lawn which
always appears in her pictures, was worn
at all times and was very becoming to her.
also distinctly remember the peculiar Or
nament always attached to this turban.
Directly above her forehead and securely
pinned to the folds of the turban, she wore
. miniature of Mr. Madison, an exquisitely
painted portrait set around with pearls.
Then Mrs. Madison was rarely seen with
out little red camel's hair shawl drawn
about her shoulders and pinned Quaker
| fashion over her BOSOM"
Mrs. Semple finds nothing really pro-
gressive in the long sleeve and high choker
of the woman of today. "Decollette
gowns were then the regulation evening
dress, but not" she said, lin such an ex-
treme of fashion as is often seen today,
and the little bonnets of today, tiny affairs
perched on the back of woman's head,
leaving her face exposed, making wo-
man look as if she conld face cannon,
are not in accord with former notions of
modesty and propriety."
WHY PHILIP SPENCE DIED.
The calamities which have overtaken
the cabinet families of this administration
recalled to Mrs. Sempie calamity that
was disgrace as well, which had fallen
upon her fathers secretary of the treas
ury, John C. Spencer 'The secretary, :"
she said, Twas harsh man in bis family,
very severe with his children,
while his wife, a very gentle
and peace-loying woman. was most
devoted mother. and made herself the
shield between the children and their
fathers severity. Phillip. the eldest son,
was q cadet at this time. and during a
cruise on the brig Somers he was detected
at the head of conspiracy to seize the
vessel and transform her into pirate
| Being out of United States waters Captain
martial, and Phillip Spencer, with the
mate and boatswain, were condemned,
hung to the -yard-arm and dropped into
| the ocean. The captain returned at once.
making . full report, and while society
was terribly shocked the captain was justi-
fed by public sentiment. as well as ac-
quilted when tried by court-martial::
| Mrs. Spencer IN her dreadful grief. the
| poor woman cried: oh, my poor Phillip,
| this is the result of an overstern father
| and an overindulgent mother Another
| Of his sons ran away, and none of his chill
dren, believe. were credit to him."
JACKSON, GRANT AND SHERIDAN AS CADETS
Mrs. Semple referred to certain lads
whom her father had commissioned as
cadets who had since risen to national
| prominence. Among these were Generals
Grant and Sheridan and the late Admiral
Porter. 81 do not recall their faces" said
the old lady. thoughtfuiiy trying to reach
back over fifty years of time, '.thopgh
must have met them at some of our levees
in the White House, but they were then of
no more importance than the many other
| young men in school,"
| One incident relating to another histori-
nj 20 n Nlaos a ,tY1n tsA
recalled with satisfaction.
| Zone day the doorkeeper came to my
! father and said, There is young man
| out here who is very anxious to see you.
He Is from Virginia and has walked all
the way from Lexington to ask for COM
| mission to West Point, and he brings with
him letter of introduction Show him
| in said my father, and after he had re-
| ceiyed and talked with the travel-stained
| young man, he sent for his private secre-
tary, General Tyler, and said. Go over to
Acknowledgement Jones and have a COM
| mission made out for this young man.
| There's metal in him. This boy was
Thomas Jefferson Jackson.
THE WHITE HOUSE MALARIA.
A reference to the sanitary condition of
the White House caused its former mis-
tress to observe, smilingIy: "These CON-
| plants are as old as the White House
/ AtSSiis diid xAl >. AAdIilSOu Cuip SuCu I'LL
provements as Dolly Madison never
dreamed of. During our residence the
/ canal still ran through the White lot, and
when the south wind came, you can mag
inc the results. Mr.. Van Buren, would not
live there at all, and every president and
| family since have had more or less of mi
asma along with their honors."
THE coSFEDERAcy AND ITS FLAG.
| But the temporary novelty OF the White
| House is evidently of much less value to
| this proud old lady than the more perma-
nent glory of the Tyler family and its
| achievements in connection with Virginia
| history. 1t was with all the FIRE and fer
vor of youth that this daughter of old Vir-
| ginia dwelt upon the ancient grandeur Of
her state, and re-atfirmed her loyalty to
this discrowned queen. Touching upon
the war. she said with satisfaction
my mothers family alone fur
nished 1000 soldiers TO the Southern
| Confederacy. They came from the
East and West, from the North and even
| from Europe to take up the cause of Vir-
GINA. L had not one relative who proved
traitor TO Virginia. Butt" she con-
tinued, 1.-The struggle between love of the
place in the mind of Robert 4. Lee was a
universal one in the minds of Virginians,
What that decision cost US only we who
had to make it will ever know. Ii was my
father who came to the capital as a men,