New-York tribune., 1909-03-27


They will not of course, let him have IT, put
thev would it ought not to come from the Whlte
House kitchens Such tough leather as they nao
there for breakfast the other morning is as
grace to the cattle on thousand hills 1a1y
cheerfully threatened one day, "When am
ready to eat I going to break INTO MIS-
Blaine's larder," but that happy mood was SNORT
the end was even then drawing near 1here
came a day in the succeeding winter wheh t1le
lady from Maine sat in the courtroom thaI
vile room" she says daily resounding to the
imprecations of Guiteau the narrative OF tne
taking off of poor Garfield, the murmur OF the
crowd of attendants the indecisive judges de-
cisious She has but one wish, she adds-to see
Guiteau put out OF the way. II want 1t impos-
sible for that hoarse cracked voice ever to raise
itself again" A month after the date OF that
letter there is another. in which we see Blaine
writing his eulogy of the dead President, vainly
irving to hide his tears as he writes, and at last
beating a retreat from the room.
The ebb and flow of political affairs as OBJ
served in Washington reflected from time to
time in the letters The ex-Secretarys wlfe en-
counters in that winter OF 1881 the way of the
world in her afternoon calls 1T taxed all my
equanimity," she says, "to hear them calmly dis
cussing your fathers removal without remem-
bering to regret it, even to me. Not the shadow
of a shade of complimentary allusion passed the
lips of one" There is only one letter bearing
date of 1884. the year of Mr.. Blaine's Presiden-
tiaI campaign The candidates wife writes
after election 10 her eldest daughter:
You need not feel envious of any one who was
here during those trying days 1t is all horror
toeme. I was absolutely certain Of the election as
had "a ght to be from rom Mr nj ryR o tbe
1t is easy 10 bear now. the click-click OF the
res2onse to its neTer9to- -6e-safisfed demand and
the increasing murnur Of mems voices coming up
of my, memory-whne over and above all, the per-
spration and chills. into which the conflicting re-
body and soul alike rebellng against the restraints
of nature. made an experience not TO be VoIuh-
tarily recalled.
journey to Europe in 1887 is recorded in
group Of letters which are not so much con-
cerned with the strange countries seen as with
those beings to whom the writer's thoughts
constantly clung. garden party at Buckins-
ham Palace is one of the episodes described:
The Queen came through the lines of visitors,
so that we had a near view OF her me FT!nGee
cane. 1t was. rot an impressive sight 10 see al
the ladies falling backward before this little and
old woman. Ike waves dying on a seashore. That
they should be willing TO do 1t / found it hard
obeisance Some Of the dress was very handsome
and the jewels were perfectly stunning, but the
totally. Imaginative Nothing here has sur
priced me more than the gloomy character of
English enjoyment as compared with the gayety
Of home.
Mrs. Blaine a clever person. but in her
point of view as regards Victoria she seems her
self to have shown lack of imagination. The
little and old woman" great Queen, and
about the infirm little figure was cast the
glamour Of fine character and a remarkable
career.
Not the least attractive phase OF these epistles
is the playfulness WHICH sometimes shines
through the writer's references 10 the husband
she idolized. Your father" she writes from
Florence. has acquired two italian words.
Piano slow, and Presto quick. He gives them
out at intervals during drives. and generally
in critical places, and always with the same ef-
feet dead stop on part Of carriage, until the
driver has time TO recall whether he was going
fast or slow, when he infers that he is to go the
contrary and thus proceeds There is a charac-
teristic passage in a letter written in Augusta
to Miss Dodge during absence of the lord Of
the household: First OF all miss Mr.. Blaine.
cannot bear the orderly array of my life. l
miss the envelopes in the gravy. the bespattered
table linen the uncertainty OF the meals, for
you know he always starts out his con-
stitutonal when he hears them taking In din
ner. I miss his unvarying attention and as con-
slant neglect When alone with him am not
my own-when others are in go you please is
the rule and the alienation suits me exactly"