The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-09

INJURED, toasts are obsolete. very wen,
then, Lord Napier declared. II you won't
will. Here's to your President. Mr..
Cleveland. But he continued with sud-
denly added depth, were 1t your Chevalier
Bayard, would drink 1t on my knees
Upon my return to America, / had the
pleasure OF shouting to Mr.. Bayard. then
Secretary Of State, a recital Of this tribute.
He had now grown very deaf, but my story
reached him at last, and he smiled In
most happy way as he asked, almost shyly,
but with a warm glance in the eye, despite
his effort to remain composed, Did Napier
really say that2''
Mrs. Clay's recollecdons Of the unofficial
Washingtonians who were best known in
society begin with reference to the home
OF Mr.. and Mrs. Osle Tayloe, which was,
we are told, museum Of things rare and
beautiful, vying in this respect with the
Corcoran mansion and the homes Of the
several members Of the Riggs family. Mrs.
Tayloe was New Yorker, whereas the
1ayloes were virgnians. Mrs. Taylos
is remembered as a woman OF fine tastes
and broad views, a very gracious hostess.
When Washington became metanorphosed
by the strangers who poured into its pre-
cincts after the Inauguration OF Mr.. Lincoln.
in 1851, the Tayloe mansion was shrouded.
its pictures were covered and its chandeliers
wound with protective wrappings. Enter
tanning there ceased for years. Nor have
l." said Mrs. Tayloe to the author, in 1885,
crossed the threshold Of the White House
since Harriet Lane went out Mrs. Clay
recalls that at the Tayloe home she often
exchanged a smile and a greeting with
Lily Price, the hostesss niece, who, when
she rea ched womanhood, became the first
Mrs. Hamersley and afterward Duchess
OF Marlborough.
1t Is Mr.. Corcoran, however who, as our
author looks back, stands forth as the prince
Of entertainers. He was a tall and hand
some man, even IN his old age, and our
author says that in his younger days his
expression waa singularly benignant. though
In repose 1t was tinged with a peculiar
mournfulness. The bankers weekly din
ners were an institution In Washington
life. During each session he dined half
Of Congress, to say nothing Of foreign rep
resentatives and the families Of his fellow
citizens. The hospitality Of Corcoran
House was a synonym Of good cheer Of
the most generous and epicurean sort.
The Johannisbergef was famous At the
Corcoran receptions feature Of the decora-
tions was the elaborate festoons and group
ing Of growing plants, which were dis
tributed in profusion about the bankers
drawing rooms.
A chapter Of this book is allotted to the
bal costume given by Mrs. Gwyn wife OF the
Senator, early in the season Of 1888 For
weeks before the event men as we'll as
women were busy consulting costumers
and coming volumes Of colored engravings
in q search for original and accurate cos
TUNES When the evening OF the ball arrived
there was fiutter in every boudoir in Wash
ington. Mrs. Clay went as Mrs. Parting
tom and her disguise, she tells us, was
30 perfec4. that her intimate friends failed
to recognize her. For years Mrs Gwyn's
fancy ball was remembered as one
of the most brilliant incidents in the annals
During many weeks after its occurrence
the local photograph and daguerreotype
galleries we're thronged with patrons who
wished to be portrayed In the costumes
they had worn upon the great occasion
In the winter OF 5000 1t became obvious
that gayety at the capital was waning,
lat homes" were sliyhted. Women
went daily to the Senate gallery to listen
to the angry debates on the floor below.
The saddest day Of our authors life, she
says, was Jan. 81, 1851, when, after years Of
dissension between the sections,
she saw her husband take his portfolio
under his arm and leave the United States
Senate chamber In company with other
no less earnest Southern Senators. For
weeks the pretenoe Of amity between po-
litical parties had been abandoned and
social formalities no longer concealed the
chasm that divided them. When members
Of different parties met each would ignore
the other or, II they spoke, 1t would be
by way OF taunt or challenge. Mrs. Clay
remembers that her husL and was exceed
ingly depressed at the futility OF the Peace
Commission, for he foresaw that the impend-
ing conflict would be bloody and rlinous
One incident that followed the dissolution
Of that body was impressed indelibly upon
her mind: Just after Its close, ex-Presi-
dent Tyler came to our home. He was
now an old man, and very attenuated. He
was completely undone at the failure OF
The Peace men. and tears trickled down
mis- cheeks as he said TO the Senator from
Alabama with indescribable sadness, Clay.
the end has come.
VIII.
Our authors memories OF ante-bellum
lays would be incomplete II they failed to
nolude description Of plantation life as
I was exemplifed in the beautiful homes
u the South. 1t was Mrs. Clay's good
ortune during the late autumn and winter
IF 1854 to be invited to take refuge in a
'paoious plantation home in South Caro-
ina, where the conditions that obtained
we're 80 typical that she chooses them for
Radcliffe, the home OF Senator James
i. Hammond. is still a point Of interest
a tra yallera and a beautiful feaillre