Life at the White House was simple in Tyler’s time. The President was in the habit of rising with the sun, lighting14 a fire that had been laid overnight in his study, and working at his desk till breakfast was served at eight o’clock. At this meal he insisted on having the ladies of his family appear in calico frocks. In the evening all the household would gather in the green parlor15 and pass an hour or two in entertaining any visitors who happened in, interspersing16 conversation with piano music and old-fashioned songs. It was Tyler who introduced the custom of periodical open-air concerts by the Marine17 Band; and on warm Saturday afternoons the garden south of the White House was a favorite resort of the best people of the city, while the President would sit with his family and a few invited guests on the porch, listening to the music and responding to the salutations of his acquaintances. Tyler is rarely suspected of possessing a strong sense of humor; but he must have smiled when he signed{179} an official letter to the Emperor of China, in which he described himself as “President of the United States of America, which States are Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New York, New Jersey19, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Missouri, Arkansas, and Michigan”—an array which so impressed the mind of the Celestial20 despot that the envoy21 who presented the missive got everything he asked for.
Tyler lost his wife soon after he entered the White House, and his daughters presided over the domestic life there. He was fond of young society, and one of the belles23 who appeared pretty regularly at his parties was Miss Virginia Timberlake, daughter of the unfortunate naval24 purser and the lady whose cause Jackson and Van Buren had championed. Another was Miss Julia Gardiner of New York, who so captivated him that at one of his receptions in the second year of his term he made her a proposal of marriage. As she described it afterward25, she was taken wholly by surprise, and gave her “No, no, no!” such emphasis by shaking her head that she whisked the tassel27 of her crimson28 Greek cap into his face with every motion. The controlling reason for her refusal, she explained,{180} was her unwillingness29 to leave her father, to whom she was devotedly30 attached; but an accident soon changed the whole face of things.
Captain Stockton of the navy invited a party of about four hundred ladies and gentlemen to inspect the sloop-of-war Princeton, then lying in the Potomac. President Tyler, the members of his Cabinet and their families, and a good many Congressmen were among the guests. The vessel32 had dropped down the river to a point near Mount Vernon, when some of the party importuned33 Stockton to fire his big gun, nicknamed “the peacemaker.” This was just at the close of the luncheon34, and the ladies had lingered at table while most of the gentlemen went on deck. One lady, fortunately, had detained Tyler as he was about to leave, by inducing him to listen to a song; for the gun exploded, killing35 Mr. Upshur, Secretary of State, Mr. Gilmer, Secretary of the Navy, Commander Kennon of the navy, Virgil Maxey, lately American Minister at the Hague, and David Gardiner of New York, the father of Miss Julia. A day of merrymaking was thus turned into one of mourning, as the vessel slowly moved up the stream again, bearing the bodies of the dead, for whom funeral services were held at the White House. After an interval36 the President renewed his suit and found Miss Gardiner more pliant37. When he{181}
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Soldiers’ Home
had composed in her honor a serenade beginning, “Sweet lady, awake!” she agreed to marry him if her mother would consent. Her mother did not approve of a union between a man of fifty-six and a girl of twenty, but, as she did not actually forbid it, they had a very quiet wedding.
In spite of the enjoyment38 he took in social intercourse39, Tyler was often criticized for his frigid40 manners. A virulent42 type of influenza43 which became epidemic44 during his administration received the name of “the Tyler grip,” from the remark of a Boston man who fell ill a few hours after being presented to him: “I probably caught cold from shaking hands with the President.” A good deal was made of this in the campaign of 1844, and added point to John Quincy Adams’s denunciation of Tyler for “performing with a young girl from New York the old fable45 of January and May!” Tyler’s general unpopularity, and a deadlock46 between two other prominent candidates, led the Democrats47 to nominate James K. Polk for President. He was so little known to most of the voters that throughout the campaign the Whigs, who were supporting Henry Clay, rang the changes on the question, “Who is James K. Polk?” thus contrasting his obscurity with Clay’s eminence49. The count of ballots50 showed that a candidate of whom little was known{182} might have certain advantages over one long before the public eye; and as on inauguration51 day it rained heavily, exultant52 Democrats kept themselves warm by hurling53 back at the Whigs the familiar cry, “Who is James K. Polk?” and then laughing wildly at their own humor. It was on this occasion that the telegraph first conveyed out of Washington the news that one President had retired54 and another had come in—Professor Morse having set up an instrument at the edge of the platform on which the President-elect stood, and ticked off a report of the proceedings55 as they occurred.
Mrs. Polk being a devoted31 church-member, of a school which disapproved56 of dancing, the inaugural57 ball that evening shrank into a mere58 promenade59 concert till after she and her husband had quitted the hall. The social activities of the Polks, through the four years which followed, were consistent with this beginning, all the functions at the White House being too sober to suit the diplomats60 or the younger element among the resident population. On its practical side, Polk’s term was perhaps the most notable in that generation, including as it did the war with Mexico, which resulted in the annexation61 of California and the great southwestern area afterward carved into the States of Utah, Nevada, and Arizona and parts of Wyoming,{183} Colorado, and New Mexico. This war, moreover, furnished the usual crop of Presidential candidates, chief among them General Zachary Taylor, who had led the first army across the Rio Grande, and General Winfield Scott, who had wound up the invasion by capturing the city of Mexico.
Believing Taylor the easier to handle, the Whig managers fixed62 upon him, although, having passed the larger part of his sixty-four years with the army, he had never voted. Indeed, he had always expressed an aversion to office-holding, and, when approached on the subject of the Presidency, met the overture63 with frank disfavor, declaring that he had neither the capacity nor the experience needed for such a position. But his “availability” overcame the force of his protests, and the Whigs won with him a sweeping64 victory at the polls. There is pathos65 in the story of the break-up of the pleasant home in Baton66 Rouge67, and the reluctant removal of the family to Washington, taking with them only a faithful negro servant, a favorite dog, and “Old Whitey,” the horse the General had ridden through the Mexican war. Taylor was with difficulty dissuaded68 from his purpose of imitating his military predecessors69 and riding “Old Whitey” either to or from the Capitol on inauguration day. What his friends most feared was his loss of dignity in the eyes{184} of the crowd, for his legs were so short that, in certain emergencies, an orderly had to lift one of them over his horse’s flanks whenever he mounted or dismounted.
Taylor was as simple a soul as Harrison. His unostentatious ways in the army had led the soldiers to dub70 him “Old Rough and Ready,” and this title stuck to him always afterward. One of his favorite amusements was to walk about Washington, chatting informally with people he met and watching whatever was going on in the streets. His love of comfort was such that he could never be induced to wear clothes that fitted him, but his suits were always a size or two larger than his measure, and these, with a black silk hat set far back on his head, made him recognizable at any distance. His message at the opening of Congress contained one announcement as voluminous as his costume: “We are at peace with all the nations of the world, and the rest of mankind.” The bull was discovered too late to prevent its going out in the original print; but in a revised edition the sentence was made to end: “And seek to maintain our cherished relations of amity71 with them.”
The White House underwent another grand refurbishing while the Taylors were in it. The east room was newly carpeted, its walls were decorated, and gas replaced its candles and lamps. The ladies of the{185} family were good housekeepers—particularly the younger daughter, who made the old place look actually homelike, and whom an appreciative72 guest described as doing the honors “with the artlessness of a rustic73 belle22 and the grace of a duchess.” But this pleasant picture was soon to be clouded over. On the fourth of July, 1850, a patriotic75 meeting was held at the base of the Washington National Monument, with long addresses by prominent men. It lasted the whole of a very hot afternoon, and President Taylor, as a guest of honor, felt bound to stay through it, refreshing76 himself from time to time with copious77 drafts of ice-water. He reached home in a state of some exhaustion78 and at once ate a basketful of cherries and drank several glasses of iced milk. From a party to which he had accepted an invitation for that evening he was obliged to excuse himself at the last moment on the score of indisposition. He was violently ill throughout the night, and five days later he died.
Millard Fillmore of New York, fifty years old, of moderate political views and fair ability, was Vice-president at the time. Unlike Tyler, he went to the Capitol to be sworn in the presence of a committee of the two houses, but made no inaugural address. Mrs. Fillmore, who had formerly80 been a teacher, cared little for society. She was of studious habits and soon{186} converted the oval sitting room in the second story of the White House into a library, personally selecting the books. Her taste ran chiefly to standard historical and classical works; and, as the editions then available were generally not very good specimens81 of the typographic art, most of her collection has disappeared. In this administration the Fugitive82 Slave Act was passed, and Fillmore, by signing it, alienated83 the North so largely that the Whig party refused to nominate him for another term. General Scott, to whom it turned, did precisely84 what most of the politicians had predicted he would: made a number of public utterances85 which ruined his chances and thus gave the election to his Democratic competitor, Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire.
During Fillmore’s term Louis Kossuth visited Washington. The country was just passing through one of its occasional periods of revolutionary fervor86, and Kossuth’s stand for the rights of Hungary against Austria had aroused much sympathy here. Our public men were divided in opinion as to how far to go with their demonstrations87 in his favor, wishing to win the support of the Hungarians in the United States and of immigrants who had fled from other countries to escape oppression, yet hoping to keep clear of entanglements88 with Austria. As Kossuth had left home to{187} escape death for high treason and taken refuge in Constantinople, one of our men-of-war was sent to the Dardanelles to bring him to America. He did not then care to go further than England, whence, after an agreeable visit, he came over, in the expectation of inducing our Government to take up arms for Hungarian liberty. Henry Clay, who was already stricken with his last illness, promptly89 put a damper upon that scheme; but Kossuth remained the guest of the nation for a time and was dined and fêted prodigiously90. He maintained the state of a royal personage, keeping a uniformed and armed guard about the door of his suite91 of apartments at what is now the Metropolitan Hotel, and a lot of carousing92 young subalterns always in his anteroom. He never appeared in public except in full military uniform, with his cavalry93 sword, in its steel scabbard, clanking by his side. Mrs. Kossuth, who accompanied him on his tour, was unable to overcome her distrust of American cooking, and used to scandalize her neighbors at table by ostentatiously smelling of every new dish before tasting it.
The inauguration of Pierce was marked by several innovations: he drove to and from the Capitol standing94 up in his carriage, delivered his address without notes, and made affirmation instead of taking the oath of office. A tragic95 interest attaches itself to his{188} administration, because, just as he was preparing to remove to Washington, he lost his only child, a boy of thirteen, in a railway accident. Mrs. Pierce, who was an invalid96, was terribly broken by this bereavement97, and all social festivities at the White House were abandoned till toward the close of her stay there. The new Vice-president, William R. King, was not inaugurated at the same time and place with the President. He had gone to Cuba in January for his health, and, as he was not well enough to come home, Congress passed a special act permitting him to take the oath before the American Consul98-general at Havana. Soon after his return to the United States, in April, he died.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, who was a college mate and intimate friend of Pierce, was anxious to see something of Europe, but had not the means to gratify his desire; so Pierce appointed him consul at Liverpool, where he was able to live in comfort on his pay and save enough for a sojourn99 on the Continent. To this experience American literature owes most of his later work, including “The Marble Faun” and “Our Old Home.” In Washington still linger stories of a visit Hawthorne paid the city about the time of his appointment. Pierce tried to show him some informal attentions; but Hawthorne’s shyness, which went to such an extreme that he could not say anything to the{189} lady next him at table without trembling and blushing, prevented his making much headway socially.
All through Pierce’s term, political conditions were working up to the point which caused the irruption of a few years later. The habit of carrying deadly weapons on the person became so common in Washington, especially in Congress, that scarcely an altercation101 occurred between two men without the exposure, if not the use, of a pistol or a dirk. The newspapers in their serious columns treated such incidents severely102, while the comic paragraphers satirized103 them; and Preston Brooks104, a Representative from South Carolina, in a half-earnest, half-cynical vein105, gave notice one day of his intention to offer this amendment106 to the rules of the House: “Any member who shall bring into the House a concealed107 weapon, shall be expelled by a vote of two-thirds. The Sergeant-at-Arms shall cause a suitable rack to be erected108 in the rotunda109, where members who are addicted110 to carrying concealed weapons shall be required to place them for the inspection111 of the curious, so long as the owners are employed in legislation.”
Senator Sumner of Massachusetts having, a few days later, in a speech on slavery, spoken disparagingly112 of a South Carolina Senator who was absent, Brooks, on the twenty-second of May, 1856, entered the Senate{190} chamber113 when it was nearly deserted114, and, with a heavy gutta-percha cane115, rained blows with all his strength upon the head of Sumner, who was quietly writing at his desk. Sumner fell to the floor and for some days thereafter hovered116 between life and death. He was three or four years in recovering from the direct effects of the assault, and never was entirely117 restored to health and strength. The incident excited bitter feeling throughout both North and South. For denouncing the assault as paralleling that of Cain upon Abel, Representative Anson Burlingame of New York was challenged by Brooks; he accepted the challenge, naming date, place, and weapons, but Brooks failed to appear on the field.
The next President was James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, also a Democrat48. The two incidents in his term which most impressed Washington were the first successful experiments with the Atlantic cable in August, 1858, and the visit to the White House of the Prince of Wales, who later became King Edward VII. Cyrus W. Field, after a struggle as soul-wearing as Morse’s over the introduction of the telegraph, succeeded in making his submarine cable work and induced Queen Victoria to send the first despatch118, a message of greeting to President Buchanan, who was requested to answer it in kind. The skepticism of the{191} day toward all scientific novelties was reflected in Buchanan’s summoning a newspaper correspondent whom he trusted and begging to be told frankly119 whether he were not the victim of a hoax120. At the White House all the members of the Cabinet were gathered, earnestly debating the same question. The most stubborn disbeliever was the Secretary of the Treasury121, Howell Cobb, who jeered122 at the whole thing as a wild absurdity123. In spite of Cobb’s resistance, the correspondent persuaded the President to answer the Queen’s message. As bad luck would have it, the cable parted in mid-ocean soon thereafter and was not restored to working order for several years; and in the interval the skeptics were appropriately exultant.
Buchanan, who was our first bachelor President, was sometimes slangily called “the O. P. F.,” having once referred to himself in a message as an “old public functionary124.” The image of him carried in the popular mind is derived125 from contemporaneous pictures, which show him as a stiff, precise, ministerial-looking old man, wearing a black coat, a high choker collar, and a spotless white neckerchief. But this was the style of the day in portraiture126 and must not be accepted too literally127. The late Frederick O. Prince of Boston used to tell of a morning call he paid{192} Buchanan, whom he had imagined a model of formality and elegance128, and of his astonishment129 when the President entered the room clad in a greenish figured dressing-gown, woolen130 socks, and carpet slippers131, and, to put the standing visitors at their ease, called to a servant: “Jeems, sit some cheers!”
When Buchanan came to Washington for his inauguration, attended by a number of Pennsylvania friends, he took lodgings at the National Hotel, where the whole party fell ill with symptoms which to-day we should charge to ptomaine poisoning. One or two of the sufferers died. Buchanan escaped with a comparatively light attack; but a rumor132 gained circulation that the Free Soilers had tried to assassinate133 him because of his conservative disposition79 toward slavery. For some time after he entered the White House, therefore, the police kept a watch on his movements, and one rough-looking Kansan was arrested on suspicion, having bought an air-gun and engaged a room in a building which the President was in the habit of passing every day when he went out for exercise.
The domestic accommodations at the White House were already so limited that, when the Prince of Wales visited it in 1860, the President had to give up his bedchamber to his guest and sleep on a cot in the anteroom of his office. As I recall the Prince he was not{193}
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Old City Hall
inordinately134 tall, but for some reason—possibly because the legs of royalty135 were supposed to need more space than those of common folk—the old bedstead in the President’s room was replaced by one of extra length. Society in Washington was agog136 over the Prince’s advent137, and the reigning138 belles insisted that his entertainment must include a ball at least as brilliant as that given in his honor in New York; but Mr. Buchanan, whose ideas on certain subjects were rigid41, would not listen to the suggestion of dancing in the White House, and the ball was turned over to the British legation. Miss Harriet Lane, the President’s niece, who managed his household affairs, gave instead a large musicale, at which was performed for the first time the once favorite song, “The Mocking Bird,” its composer having dedicated139 it to her.
Trained as attorney, diplomatist, and politician, to regard the letter of the law rather than its spirit, Buchanan found himself in an unhappy situation when the preliminary mutterings of sectional warfare140 grew loud. In January, 1861, he was urged by some of the Cabinet to recall Major Robert Anderson from Charleston Harbor as a rebuke141 for having removed the Fort Moultrie garrison142 to the stronger Fort Sumter without orders from Washington, and he was holding the matter under advisement when Justice McLean of the Supreme143 Court{194} came to dine with him one evening. After the ladies had left the table, the Justice drew the President aside and inquired what was going to be done about the Major. “Anderson has exceeded his instructions,” answered Buchanan, “and must be disciplined.” McLean raised his hand and fairly shook it in the President’s face as he ejaculated: “You dare not do it, sir! You dare not do it!” This unique defiance144 of the executive by the judiciary had an immediate145 effect: Major Anderson was left undisturbed, to become within a few weeks the first hero of the Civil War.
General Scott, who filled a large place in national affairs from Polk’s administration till the autumn of 1861, was a good officer and a pure patriot74 but full of eccentricities146. His love for military forms gave him the nickname “Old Fuss and Feathers,” and a letter he wrote during the Mexican war, excusing his absence from his headquarters when the Secretary of War called there, on the plea that he had just stepped out to get “a hasty plate of soup,” had won for him the punning title “Marshal Turenne.” He was a good deal of a gourmet147 and did his family marketing148 himself, especially delighting in the delicacy149 which he persisted in calling “tarrapin,” and ordering his oysters150 by the barrel. One of his favorite dishes was pork jowl, and once he told of having eaten sauerkraut “with tears{195} in his eyes.” He was a keen stickler151 for the dignity due him on all occasions. Just after Taylor had been inaugurated President, the two men met in Washington for the first time since a somewhat acrimonious152 parting in Mexico. Taylor, passing over old animosities, invited Scott to call. Scott did so the next day, and Taylor, who was engaged with some other gentlemen in his office, sent word that he would be down in a moment. Five minutes later, having cut his business short, the President descended153 to the parlor, to find his visitor already gone: Scott had waited two minutes by the clock and then stalked in high dudgeon out of the door, not to come back again.
The drama of the Lincoln administration, on which the curtain rose to a bugle-blast and fell to the beat of muffled154 drums, deserves a volume to itself; but in my limited space I have been able to outline only some of its features directly related to the capital city. Lincoln’s first levee was held not in the White House but at Willard’s Hotel, some days before the inauguration. The higher public functionaries155 and their wives, and a number of private citizens of prominence156, had been notified rather than invited to come to the hotel on a certain evening for a first glimpse of the new chief magistrate157. Into this presence stalked the lank,{196} loose-jointed, oddly clad “Old Abe,” with his little, simple, white-shawled wife at his elbow, and the never failing jest on his lips as he made his own announcement: “Ladies and gentlemen, let me present to you the long and the short of the Presidency!”
The Lincolns received several social courtesies from members of Congress and others before the fourth of March, and on the evening of that day the usual inaugural ball was given in their honor. It was plain from the start that they had not made a favorable impression in their new setting, for the ball was a failure in point of attendance; few ladies wore fine costumes, and of the men the majority came in their business clothes. As neither Mr. nor Mrs. Lincoln knew how to dance, or felt enough confidence even to walk through a quadrille, the early part of the evening was devoted to a handshaking performance which threw a chill upon the rest. Mrs. Lincoln’s feminine instinct had led her to exchange the stuffy158 frock and shawl of her first reception for a blue silk gown. Mr. Buchanan had been expected but sent belated regrets; and Stephen A. Douglas, the “Little Giant” who always became a big one in an emergency, stepped into the breach159 as representative of the abdicating160 party, and established himself as the personal escort and knight-in-waiting of Mrs. Lincoln.{197}
In the White House, Lincoln took for his office the large square room in the second story next the southeast corner, from the windows of which he could look over at the Virginia hills. The room adjoining on the west was assigned to his clerks and to visitors waiting for an interview. To secure him a little privacy in passing between his office and the oval library, a wooden screen was run across the south end of the waiting room, and behind this he used to make the transit161 in fancied invisibility, to the delight of the people sitting on the other side, to whom, owing to his extraordinary height, the top locks of his hair and a bit of his forehead were exposed above the partition. He was persistently162 hounded by candidates for appointment to office; and it is recalled that in one instance, where two competitors for a single place had worn him out with their importunities, he sent for a pair of scales, weighing all the petitions in favor of one candidate and then those of the other, and giving the appointment to the man whose budget weighed three-quarters of a pound more than his rival’s.
Visitors admitted to his office usually found him very kind in manner, though now and then a satirical impulse would give an edge to his humor. When an irate163 citizen with a grievance164 called and poured it out upon him, accompanied by a variegated165 assortment{198} of profanity, Lincoln waited patiently till the speaker halted to take breath, and then inquired: “You’re an Episcopalian, aren’t you?”
“Why do you ask that?” demanded the visitor, momentarily forgetting his anger in his surprise.
“Because,” answered Lincoln, “Seward’s an Episcopalian, and you swear just like him.”
The Reverend Doctor Bellows166 of New York, as chairman of the Sanitary167 Commission, called once during the Civil War to tell Lincoln of a number of things he ought to do. Lincoln listened with the most flattering attention, slightly inclining his head in recognition of every separate reminder168 of a duty left unperformed, and at the close of the catalogue remained a minute or two in silent meditation169. Then, throwing one of his long legs over an arm of his chair, he looked up with a quizzical smile. “Dominie,” said he, “how much will you take to swap170 jobs with me?”
He could not always keep his humor out of his official communications, as in this despatch to General Hooker in Virginia: “If the head of Lee’s army is at Martinsburg, and the tail of it on the plank171 road between Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, the animal must be pretty slim somewhere. Couldn’t you break him?”
Indeed, it was his instinctive172 discernment of the{199} ridiculous side of everything which, though it gave his enemies their chance to assail173 him as a mountebank174 and a jester, undoubtedly175 served as a buffer176 to many a heavy blow. Sometimes his laughs were at his own expense. About the middle of the war a young man from a distant State procured177 an interview with him, to expound178 a project for visiting Richmond in the disguise of a wandering organ-grinder and making drawings of the defenses of the city for the use of the union commanders. Lincoln was so impressed that he contributed one hundred and fifty dollars or more to purchase the organ and pay other preliminary expenses. The young man disappeared for some weeks and then returned with a thrilling account of his adventures, and with plats and charts covering everything of military importance around Richmond and at various points on the way thither179. As a reward, the President nominated him for a second lieutenancy180 in the army and spurred some other patriot into sending him a brand new uniform and sword. After a little, and by accident, it came out that the youth had never been anywhere near Richmond, but had spent the President’s money on a trip to his home, where, at his ease, he had prepared his fictitious181 report and maps. Of course his nomination182 was at once withdrawn183; but Lincoln was so amused at his own childlike credulity{200} that he could not bring himself to punish the offense184 as it deserved.
The Cabinet were often annoyed at the obtrusion185 of the President’s taste for a joke at what seemed to them inopportune moments—especially Secretary Stanton, whose sense of humor was not keen. On September 22, 1862, they were peremptorily186 summoned to a meeting at the White House. They found the President reading a book, from which he barely looked up till all were in their seats. Then he said: “Gentlemen, did you ever read anything from Artemus Ward26? Let me read you a chapter which is very funny.” When the reading was finished, he laughed heartily187, looking around the circle for a response, but nobody even smiled; if any countenance188 revealed anything, it was irritation189. “Well,” said he, “let’s have another chapter;” and he suited action to word. Finding his listeners no more sympathetic than before, he threw the book down with a deep sigh and exclaimed: “Gentlemen, why don’t you laugh? With the fearful strain that is on me night and day, if I did not laugh I should die, and you need this medicine as much as I do.” With that, he ran his hand down into his tall hat, which sat on the table near him, and drew forth190 a sheet of paper, from which he read aloud, with the most impressive emphasis, the first draft of the Emancipation{201} Proclamation. “If any of you have any suggestions to make as to the form of this paper or its composition,” said he, “I shall be glad to hear them. But”—and the deliberateness with which he pronounced the next words left no doubt that the die had already been cast—“this paper is to issue!”
The Lincolns brought two young children with them into the White House, both boys. Of the elder, Willie, we hear little, except that he died there, and that his loss added one more to the many lines which the war had worn into the brow of his father. The younger boy, “Tad,” is better known to the public through the exploitation of his juvenile191 pranks192 by the newspapers and his appearance in some of the President’s portraits. Many stories are told of his fondness for bringing ragged193 urchins194 from the streets into the kitchen and feeding them, to the sore distress195 of the cook and sometimes to the disturbance196 of the domestic routine in other ways; but for whatever he wished to do in the charitable line he found his father a faithful ally. There is a pretty tale of his having espied197 in the lower corridor of the White House, one very rainy day, a young man and woman, rather shabbily dressed, who seemed depressed198 in spirits and anxious to consult with some one. Tad called his father’s attention to them, and the President went up and asked them what{202} they wished. His sympathetic manner loosed their tongues and they told him their story.
It appeared that the girl was from Virginia and had run away from home to marry her lover, an honorably discharged soldier from Indiana. They had met by arrangement in Washington, but they were strangers there and very unsophisticated, and had little money to pay a minister or spend on hotel accommodations; so they had been wandering about the city for hours, not knowing where to go, and had taken refuge in the White House from the storm. They had no idea that they were talking to the President till he made himself known. With characteristic directness, he sent for a clergyman of his acquaintance and had the nuptial199 knot tied in his presence. Then he invited bride and groom200 to remain as his guests till the next day, when the weather cleared and they went their way rejoicing.
Although Mrs. Lincoln was the titular201 head of the President’s household, the woman recognized as the social leader of the administration was Kate Chase, daughter of the Secretary of the Treasury. She was handsome, accomplished202, and, after her marriage with William Sprague, the young War Governor of Rhode Island, rich as well. Mrs. Lincoln never liked her, but the President’s gift for peacemaking came into{203} action here, and there was no public display of the coolness of feeling between them. Mrs. Sprague had a strong taste for politics, and her chief ambition was to see her father President; but Lincoln cut off that chance at the critical moment by making him Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Among the young and rising Congressmen with whom Mrs. Sprague was brought into contact during this period was Roscoe Conkling, a Representative from New York, who later became a Senator. He was the pink of elegance in person and attire203, of stately and somewhat condescending204 manners, and master of the arts of verbal expression. They formed a firm friendship which lasted as long as both lived. Edgewood, the Chase home on the northern border of the city, was for many years one of the show places of Washington, and after Chase’s death Conkling procured from Congress an act exempting205 it from taxation206 as a tribute to the public services of its former owner. Another young Representative of whom Mrs. Sprague saw almost as much as of Conkling, but liked less, was James G. Blaine of Maine, a brilliant orator207 who in after years became Conkling’s most powerful adversary208.
A warm friend of Chase’s who used to drop in at Edgewood whenever he was in Washington was Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune. He was a{204} quaint18 character, who wore his clothes awry209 and his hair long and always tousled. His face he kept clean shaven, but raised a heavy blond beard under his chin and jaws210; and this, with his ruddy cheeks, blue eyes, beaming spectacles, and generally bland211 aspect, made him look like the typical back-country farmer of theatrical212 tradition. He accentuated213 the peculiarities214 of his appearance by affecting a large soft hat and not spotless white overcoat, the pockets of the latter habitually215 bulging216 with newspapers. His handwriting was as unconventional as his attire, and compositors in the Tribune office had to be specially100 trained in deciphering it, for Mr. Greeley was often unable to read it himself after the subject-matter had grown cold in his mind.
Greeley was an anti-slavery man, but not an aggressive abolitionist; nevertheless he smiled benignantly upon the work of the Hutchinson family and took some pains to introduce them in Washington wherever their music would be likely to meet with a cordial reception. The Hutchinsons were a Massachusetts family of sixteen brothers and sisters, nearly all of them bearing Bible names given them by a deeply religious mother. They learned as children to lead the singing in the Baptist church attended by their parents, and, as their musical fame spread, one of the{205}
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The “Old Capitol”
brothers developed a talent as a versifier and began writing songs adapted to their interpretation217, breathing an earnest spirit of patriotism218 and pleading for human freedom. From giving concerts in their native town and neighborhood, they gradually essayed more and more ambitious ventures, and with Greeley’s aid came under the favorable notice of the administration. Lincoln, realizing the appeal their homely219 entertainments would make to the union volunteers, gave them a roving commission to visit the camps of the Army of the Potomac and encouraged them to take in the recruiting stations wherever they happened to be. They mixed fun with their seriousness in such proportions as they believed would please all classes in their audiences; and in their way they did as much to keep the soldiers cheerful as Tom Paine had done fourscore years before.
So accustomed is the public mind to associating Lincoln and Grant as coworkers for the union cause that few persons suspect that the two men never met till the Civil War was three-fourths over. Then, Congress having revived the grade of Lieutenant-general of the Army, Grant was ordered to Washington to receive his promotion. Arriving early in March, 1864, he went at once to the White House, where the President happened to be holding a reception in the{206} east room. He held back till most of the people had passed, when Lincoln, recognizing him from his portraits, turned to him with hand outstretched, saying: “This is General Grant, is it not?”
“It is, Mr. President,” answered Grant. And with this self-introduction, fittingly simple, the two great figures of the war faced each other for the first time.
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1
promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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2
presidency
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| n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期) | |
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3
lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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4
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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impeachment
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| n.弹劾；控告；怀疑 | |
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partisan
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| adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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8
disapproval
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| n.反对，不赞成 | |
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9
indignities
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| n.侮辱，轻蔑( indignity的名词复数 ) | |
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defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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appropriation
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| n.拨款，批准支出 | |
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12
implements
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| n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
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13
metropolitan
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| adj.大城市的，大都会的 | |
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14
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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interspersing
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| v.散布，散置( intersperse的现在分词 )；点缀 | |
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17
marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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18
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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19
jersey
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| n.运动衫 | |
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celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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21
envoy
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| n.使节，使者，代表，公使 | |
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22
belle
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| n.靓女 | |
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belles
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| n.美女( belle的名词复数 )；最美的美女 | |
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24
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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27
tassel
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| n.流苏，穗；v.抽穗， （玉米）长穗须 | |
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28
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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29
unwillingness
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| n. 不愿意，不情愿 | |
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devotedly
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| 专心地； 恩爱地； 忠实地； 一心一意地 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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32
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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importuned
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| v.纠缠，向（某人）不断要求( importune的过去式和过去分词 )；（妓女）拉（客） | |
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34
luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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37
pliant
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| adj.顺从的；可弯曲的 | |
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38
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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40
frigid
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| adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的 | |
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41
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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42
virulent
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| adj.有毒的，有恶意的，充满敌意的 | |
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43
influenza
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| n.流行性感冒，流感 | |
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44
epidemic
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| n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的 | |
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45
fable
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| n.寓言；童话；神话 | |
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46
deadlock
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| n.僵局，僵持 | |
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47
democrats
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| n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 ) | |
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48
democrat
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| n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员 | |
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49
eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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50
ballots
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| n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 ) | |
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51
inauguration
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| n.开幕、就职典礼 | |
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52
exultant
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| adj.欢腾的，狂欢的，大喜的 | |
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53
hurling
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| n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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54
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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55
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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56
disapproved
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| v.不赞成( disapprove的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57
inaugural
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| adj.就职的；n.就职典礼 | |
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58
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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59
promenade
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| n./v.散步 | |
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60
diplomats
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| n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人 | |
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61
annexation
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| n.吞并，合并 | |
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62
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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63
overture
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| n.前奏曲、序曲，提议，提案，初步交涉 | |
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64
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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65
pathos
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| n.哀婉，悲怆 | |
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66
baton
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| n.乐队用指挥杖 | |
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67
rouge
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| n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红 | |
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68
dissuaded
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| 劝（某人）勿做某事，劝阻( dissuade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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69
predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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70
dub
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| vt.（以某种称号）授予，给...起绰号，复制 | |
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71
amity
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| n.友好关系 | |
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72
appreciative
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| adj.有鉴赏力的，有眼力的；感激的 | |
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73
rustic
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| adj.乡村的，有乡村特色的；n.乡下人，乡巴佬 | |
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74
patriot
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| n.爱国者，爱国主义者 | |
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75
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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76
refreshing
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| adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的 | |
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copious
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| adj.丰富的，大量的 | |
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78
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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79
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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80
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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81
specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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82
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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83
alienated
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| adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等） | |
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84
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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85
utterances
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| n.发声( utterance的名词复数 )；说话方式；语调；言论 | |
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86
fervor
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| n.热诚；热心；炽热 | |
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87
demonstrations
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| 证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威 | |
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88
entanglements
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| n.瓜葛( entanglement的名词复数 )；牵连；纠缠；缠住 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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prodigiously
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| adv.异常地，惊人地，巨大地 | |
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91
suite
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| n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员 | |
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carousing
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| v.痛饮，闹饮欢宴( carouse的现在分词 ) | |
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cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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94
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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96
invalid
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| n.病人，伤残人；adj.有病的，伤残的；无效的 | |
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97
bereavement
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| n.亲人丧亡，丧失亲人，丧亲之痛 | |
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98
consul
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| n.领事；执政官 | |
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99
sojourn
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| v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留 | |
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100
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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101
altercation
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| n.争吵，争论 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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103
satirized
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| v.讽刺，讥讽( satirize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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104
brooks
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| n.小溪( brook的名词复数 ) | |
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105
vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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106
amendment
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| n.改正，修正，改善，修正案 | |
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107
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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108
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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109
rotunda
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| n.圆形建筑物；圆厅 | |
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110
addicted
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| adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的 | |
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111
inspection
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| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
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112
disparagingly
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| adv.以贬抑的口吻，以轻视的态度 | |
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113
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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114
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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115
cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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116
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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117
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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118
despatch
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| n./v.(dispatch)派遣；发送；n.急件；新闻报道 | |
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119
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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120
hoax
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| v.欺骗，哄骗，愚弄；n.愚弄人，恶作剧 | |
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121
treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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122
jeered
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| v.嘲笑( jeer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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123
absurdity
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| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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124
functionary
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| n.官员；公职人员 | |
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125
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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126
portraiture
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| n.肖像画法 | |
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127
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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128
elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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129
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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130
woolen
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| adj.羊毛(制)的；毛纺的 | |
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131
slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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132
rumor
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| n.谣言，谣传，传说 | |
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133
assassinate
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| vt.暗杀，行刺，中伤 | |
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134
inordinately
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| adv.无度地，非常地 | |
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135
royalty
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| n.皇家，皇族 | |
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136
agog
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| adj.兴奋的，有强烈兴趣的； adv.渴望地 | |
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137
advent
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| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
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138
reigning
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| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 | |
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139
dedicated
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| adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的 | |
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140
warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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141
rebuke
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| v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise | |
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142
garrison
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| n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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143
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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144
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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145
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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146
eccentricities
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| n.古怪行为( eccentricity的名词复数 )；反常；怪癖 | |
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147
gourmet
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| n.食物品尝家；adj.出于美食家之手的 | |
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148
marketing
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| n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西 | |
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149
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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150
oysters
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| 牡蛎( oyster的名词复数 ) | |
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151
stickler
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| n.坚持细节之人 | |
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152
acrimonious
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| adj.严厉的，辛辣的，刻毒的 | |
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153
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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154
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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155
functionaries
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| n.公职人员，官员( functionary的名词复数 ) | |
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156
prominence
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| n.突出；显著；杰出；重要 | |
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157
magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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158
stuffy
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| adj.不透气的，闷热的 | |
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159
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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160
abdicating
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| 放弃（职责、权力等）( abdicate的现在分词 )； 退位，逊位 | |
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161
transit
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| n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过 | |
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162
persistently
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| ad.坚持地；固执地 | |
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163
irate
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| adj.发怒的，生气 | |
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164
grievance
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| n.怨愤，气恼，委屈 | |
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165
variegated
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| adj.斑驳的，杂色的 | |
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166
bellows
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| n.风箱；发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的名词复数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的第三人称单数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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167
sanitary
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| adj.卫生方面的，卫生的，清洁的，卫生的 | |
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168
reminder
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| n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示 | |
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169
meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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170
swap
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| n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易 | |
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171
plank
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| n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目 | |
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172
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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173
assail
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| v.猛烈攻击，抨击，痛斥 | |
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174
mountebank
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| n.江湖郎中；骗子 | |
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175
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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176
buffer
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| n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲 | |
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177
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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178
expound
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| v.详述；解释；阐述 | |
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179
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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180
lieutenancy
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| n.中尉之职，代理官员 | |
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181
fictitious
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| adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的 | |
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182
nomination
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| n.提名，任命，提名权 | |
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183
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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184
offense
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| n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪 | |
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185
obtrusion
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| n.强制，莽撞 | |
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186
peremptorily
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| adv.紧急地，不容分说地，专横地 | |
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187
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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188
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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189
irritation
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| n.激怒，恼怒，生气 | |
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190
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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191
juvenile
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| n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的 | |
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192
pranks
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| n.玩笑，恶作剧( prank的名词复数 ) | |
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193
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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194
urchins
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| n.顽童( urchin的名词复数 )；淘气鬼；猬；海胆 | |
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195
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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196
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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197
espied
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| v.看到( espy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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198
depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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199
nuptial
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| adj.婚姻的，婚礼的 | |
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200
groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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201
titular
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| adj.名义上的，有名无实的；n.只有名义（或头衔）的人 | |
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202
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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203
attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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204
condescending
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| adj.谦逊的,故意屈尊的 | |
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205
exempting
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| 使免除[豁免]( exempt的现在分词 ) | |
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206
taxation
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| n.征税，税收，税金 | |
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207
orator
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| n.演说者，演讲者，雄辩家 | |
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208
adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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209
awry
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| adj.扭曲的，错的 | |
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210
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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211
bland
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| adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的 | |
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212
theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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213
accentuated
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| v.重读( accentuate的过去式和过去分词 )；使突出；使恶化；加重音符号于 | |
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214
peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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215
habitually
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| ad.习惯地，通常地 | |
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216
bulging
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| 膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱 | |
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217
interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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218
patriotism
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| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
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219
homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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