Evening star., 1937-05-01

goes to between 40 and SO ladies-the
American Ambassador being allotted
8 or 10 invitations per court for his
countrywomen.
To make ones bow at Buckingham
Palace Is to scale the peak OF social
splendor-to be received into a king
dom Of earthly exclusiveness where
exalted position and great wealth
speak the open sesame" Yet the
first American woman upon whom this
accolade of social favor was conferred
had baked her own bread in a New
England kitchen and in numberleSS
ways had carried out "the daily rounu,
the common task" little dreaming that
a new life was to begin for her at 40!
Born in l744, Abigail Smith became
the wife Of young Massachusetts
lawyer, John Adams, when she was 20.
Acknowledged as one of those who
helped shape new Nation, John
Adams was rewarded with the ap-
pointment Of first United States Min
lister to Great Britain In 1874, and
his wife and 18-year-old daughter
Abby joined him in London. The
following Summer they curtsied, as
the first bona f1de Americans, before
British royalty-thereby leading off
a picturesque procession which a
favored few Of their sisters have con-
tinued for 152 years.
History played master stroke in
selecting Abigail Adams as the first
social representative Of her new Nation
to the hostility of an Old World. Al
though she has been the subject Of
several biographies, all the wonder
OF her has not been revealed. 1t took
the recent depression to teach the
rest OF us what Abigail was success
fully practicing in the late l700s-
that it's smart to be thrifty!
DIPLOMATS required private means
then even more than they do
today, but John had only his made
quate salary 1t was left to his ca
pable wife to stretch this to the de-
mands of life in eighteenth century
London, where the cost Of high liv-
ing, rather than the high cost of liv-
ing, made the cost of living high. v
(That may sound conundrum, but
it isn't). Neither had the doctrine
of social equality been preached and
accepted. Abigail was farm-bred, but,
like many more of the former colon
lists, she came from a long line of
gentle folk. Nearly five centuries
before she was charged with interpret
ing the "upstart" United States OF
America to her late liege sovereign
an ancestor had put his name de
Quincy to Magma Charta-in 1915
They say blood tells"-hence Abb
gals 10 talents.
During the next several weeks Of
this banner year 1887 some 40 or sc
of Uncle Sans daughters will dress
in quivering delight for one Of the
court functions. London is at hel
loveliest in the lilac-scented English
Spring, and it was on an ideal June
day of 1885 that Mrs. Adams and hel
daughter prepared for their inter-
national debut. On the surface the
occasion was social, but underlying
was tremendous historic significance
The moment of meeting between
his Britannia majesty and the un-
known American ladies was one o.
intense drama. Farmer George" was
justifiably curious about the rebels
who had lately cast off allegiance
Which is Mrs. Adams?" he was heard
to whisper to his aide as the roya
party entered the presence chamber
The Adams ladies were presented
and the hand of history must have
trembled as it wrote "fnis" to a long
strangely-Written chapter Thirty
| years earlier the first mutterings Of