Part 18 (1/2)
Washi+ngton had fairly tees, and upon this occasion she was, if possible, more than ever in her element She had a witty encounter with the President and a familiar home-thrust for all whom she encountered Many of the public characters present, when lashed by her sparkling hu to respond She was accoton's son, impersonated by a clever youth of ten years, son of John M Sandidge of Louisiana Mr John Von Sonntag Haviland, formerly of the US Army, wrote ato Mrs Clay, thus expresses hiilds an honored nae zest to that loquacious da wit Provoke fresh uproar at each happy hit!
Note how her hurimace Tempts the srows the crowd round Partington; 'Twere vain to try to name them one by one
Mr Haviland added this to the above:--”Mrs Senator Clay, with knitting in hand, snuff-box in pocket, and 'Ike, the Inevitable,' by her side, acted out her difficult character so as to win the unanimous verdict that her personation of the loquacious _'s entertainh the spacious halls, a crowd of eager listeners followed her footsteps, drinking in her instant repartees, which were really superior in wit and appositeness, and, indeed, in the vein of the fainal contribution of shi+llaber to the nonsensical literature of the day”
One of the guests at this ball was the wife of the late Major General William H Emery, USA, whosein the garb of a Quakeress, and it is to her that Mr Haviland alludes in his reference to the ”smooth meekness of yon Quaker's face”
At the commencee of disloyalty and imprisoned until 1863 He then went to Paris, where he became interested in a scheme for the colonization by Southerners of the State of Sonora in Mexico, in consequence of which he was sometied, he was invited to meet the Emperor, Napoleon III, in private audience, and succeeded in enlisting his sympathies It is said that, upon the request of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, he for the Emperor's approval, was submitted to Maximilian The latter was then in Paris and requested Mr
Gwin's attendance at the Tuileries where, after diligent inquiry, the scheme received the approbation of Maximilian Teeks after the departure of the latter for Mexico, Mr Gwin left for the saraph letter of Napoleon III to Marshal Bazaine The scheeive hi to France in 1865, he secured an audience with the Emperor, to whoed him to return to that country immediately with a peremptory order to Marshal Bazaine to supply a military force adequate to accomplish the project This request was co with no success, demanded an escort to accompany him out of the country This was promptly furnished, and he returned to his ho in this connection to speak of a brilliant ball in Washi+ngton in 1824 Although, of course, I do not reathered here and there certain facts of interest concerning it, soiven by Mrs John Quincy Adams, whose husband was then Secretary of State under Monroe Mrs Adams' hter of Joshua Johnson, who served as our first United States Consul at London, and a niece of Thoton on Tuesday evenings which were attended by uished enerally regarded as, perhaps, the enerous hospitality was dispensed by such men as Madison, Monroe, Adams, Calhoun, Wirt, Rush, Southard, General Winfield Scott and General Alexander Macoe d'affaires_ at this titon The Russian Minister was the Baron de Tuyll; while France, Spain and Portugal were represented by gentleuished manners and rare accomplishments The illustrious John Marshall was Chief Justice, with Joseph Story, Bushrod Washi+ngton, Sress were such , Daniel Webster, Andrew Jackson, Thomas H Benton, William Jones Lowndes, John Jordan Crittenden and Harrison Gray Otis; while the Navy was represented by Stephen Decatur, David Porter, John Rodgers, Lewis Warrington, Charles Stewart, Charles Morris and others, some of whoiven by the Secretary of State and Mrs Adams was in honor of General Andrew Jackson, and was not only an expression of the pleasant personal relations existing between John Quincy Adams and Jackson only shortly before the former defeated the latter for the Presidency, but also a pleasing picture of Washi+ngton society at that time General Jackson was naturally the hero of the occasion, and there was a throng of guests not only froton but also from Baltimore, Richmond and other cities A current newspaper of the day published a :
MRS ADAMS' BALL
Wend you with the world to-night?
Brown and fair and wise and witty, Eyes that float in seas of light, Laughing mouths and dione to Mrs Adaloolance of pleasure, And the only regret is lesttoo fast, Mammas should move off in the ht?
Sixty gray, and giddy twenty, Flirts that court and prudes that slight, State coquettes and spinsters plenty; Mrs Sullivan is there With all the char Gales and Vandeventer; Forsyth, with her group of graces; Both the Crowninshi+elds in blue; The Pierces, with their heavenly faces, And eyes like suns that dazzle through; Belles and one to Mrs Adaht?
East and West and South and North, Forht, And pour a splendid brilliance forth
See the tide of fashi+on flowing, 'Tis the noon of beauty's reign, Webster, Ha, Eastern Floyd and Southern Hayne; Western Tho De Wolfe, all hearts beguiling, Morgan, Benton, Brown and Lee; Belles and one to Mrs Adaht?
Where blue eyes are brightly glancing, While to ; Where the young Euphrosyne Reigns the lee, With the merry tambourine; Many a fore Pleasanton; Vails and Tayloe will be there, Gay Monroe so debonair, hellen, pleasure's harbinger, Raers and Kerr; Belles and one to Mrs Adaht?
Juno in her court presides, Mirth and uides; Haste away then, seize the hour, Shun the thorn and pluck the flower
Youth, in all its spring-tih all its circles glea; Belles and one to Mrs Adams'!
The ”Mrs Sullivan” referred to was Sarah Bowdoin Winthrop, the wife of George Sullivan of Boston, son of Governor Ja Gales” was the wife of Joseph Gales, editor of _The National Intelligencer_ ”Forsyth” was the wife of Senator John Forsyth of Georgia, who subsequently served as Secretary of State during Jackson's administration; and ”the Crowninshi+elds in blue”
were daughters of Benjamin W Crowninshi+eld, Secretary of the Navy under Madison and Monroe ”The Pierces, with their heavenly faces,” were handsome Boston women who in after life became converts to the Roene and Aaron Vail, ere proteges of Senator Williahters of Laurent Salles, a wealthy French in New York Aaron Vail accoation and for a season, after Van Buren's recall, acted as _Charge d'affaires_ ”Tayloe” was Benjatonian ”Ralas Ramsay, the father of Rear Admiral Francis M Ramsay, USN; and ”hellen” was Mrs Adah her e to her son, John Adams President Monroe attended this ball and both he and John Quincy Adams were somewhat criticised for their plain attire, which was in such striking contrast with the elaborate costuuests
In his boyhood Mr Gouverneur fore H Derby, better known in literary circles under the _nom de plume_ of ”John Phoenix” He is well remembered by students of American humor as a contemporary and rival of Artemus Ward He was a member of a prominent Boston faallant soldier, having been wounded during the Mexican War at Cerro Gordo, and was promoted for his bravery in that battle Scarcely anyone was immune from his practical jokes, but, fortunately for his peace of mind, Mr
Gouverneur was acquainted with an incident of his life which, if knoould ly felt perfectly safe in his companionshi+p and well enjoyed his humorous exploits One day Derby and Mr Gouverneur were sauntering through the streets of Washi+ngton when the keen eye of the hun over a store door which read, ”Ladies' Depository”--the old-fashi+onedould now be called a ”Wo to his companion, Derby remarked: ”I have a little business to transact in this shop and I want you to go inside withfemale to who I am so pleased to have discovered this depository I hope that you will take good care of her Expect her at eleven Good-er Jones determined to adopt a new uniform for the US Army, and Derby was thus afforded a conspicuous opportunity to exercise his wit He was an excellent draughtsing the entire system of modern tactics by the aid of an iron hook to be attached to the seat of each soldier's trousers, this hook to be used by the three arms of the service--cavalry, infantry and artillery He illustrated it by a series of well-executed designs, and quoted high es froued that the heavy knapsack induced a stooping position and a contraction of the chest but, hung on a hook by a strap over the shoulders, it would brace the body and back and expand the chest The cavalrymen were to be renderedin the saddle All coht twenty-foot pole, with a ring attached to the end, to be used during an engagelers back into the ranks Hewhich the Generals and Colonels were thus occupied, and in many other ways expatiated upon the value of the hook When Jefferson Davis, the Secretary of War, saw Derby's designs and read his reconity ounded and the service insulted, and he immediately issued an order that Derby be court-martialed William L
Marcy, then Secretary of State, was told of the transaction and of the cloud hanging over Derby He looked over the drawings and saw a regiment, their backs towards him and drawn up in line, with knapsacks, blankets and everything appertaining to camp life attached to each soldier by a hook Marcy, who saw the humorous side at once, said to Davis: ”It's no use to court-h will be upon us Besides, a enius that he has displayed, as well as the faculty of design, ill-directed though they be, is too valuable to the service to be trifled with” Derby therefore was not brought to grief, and in tier was sufficiently mollified for hih the courtesy of the present assistant Secretary of War, that the drawings referred to are not now to be found in the files of the War Department; and a picture, which at the time was the source of untold amusement and of wide-spread notoriety, seems to be lost to the world
[Illustration: MINIATURE OF JAMES MONROE, PAINTED IN PARIS IN 1794, BY SEMe
_Original owned by Mrs Gouverneur_]
An incident connected with the Indian War of 1856-58, in Washi+ngton Territory, furnished another outlet for Derby's effective wit A Catholic priest was taken prisoner by the savages at that ti the scene Derby represented an ecclesiastic in full canonicals walking between two stalwart and half-naked Indians, carrying a crook and crozier, with a tooth-brush attached to one and a comb to the other; while the letters ”I H S” on the priest's chasuble were paraphrased into the words, ”I hate Siwashes” It ht, however, that Derby's life holly devoted to fun and frivolity, for he has been pronounced by an accomplished military writer and critic to have been ”an able and accoineer” He was the author of ”The Squibob Papers” and of ”Phoenixiana; or Sketches and Burlesques,” either of which would worthily place him in the forefront of humorists in the history of American literature I own a copy of the latter book which was given by the author to e, when one considers the character and career of this gifted man, that subsequent to his death nearly every ic end