At the Down-Town Club, I lunched with the son of Nathaniel Hawthorne--the greatest novelist that America has yet produced--Mr. Julian Hawthorne, himself a novelist of repute. Lately he has written a series of sensational novels in collaboration with the famous New York detective, Inspector Byrnes. Mr. Julian Hawthorne is a man of about forty-five, tall, well-proportioned, with an artistic-looking head crowned with grayish hair, that reminds a Frenchman of Alexandre Dumas, _fils_, and an American of Nathaniel Hawthorne. A charming, unaffected man, and a delightful _causeur_. * * * * * In the evening I went to Daly's Theater and saw "As You Like It." That bewitching queen of actresses, Miss Ada Rehan, played _Rosalind_. Miss Rehan is so original that it would be perfectly impossible to compare her to any of the other great actresses of France and England. She is like nobody else. She is herself. The coaxing drawl of her musical voice, the vivacity of her movements, the whimsical spontaneity that seems to direct her acting, her tall, handsome figure, her beautiful, intellectual face, all tend to make her a unique actress. She fascinates you, and so gets hold of you, that when she is on the stage she entirely fills it. Mr. John Drew as _Orlando_ and Mr. James Drew as _Touchstone_ were admirable. It matters little what the play-bill announces at Daly's Theater. If I have not seen the play, I am sure to enjoy it; if I have seen it already, I am sure to enjoy it again. CHAPTER XXXIX. WASHINGTON--THE CITY--WILLARD'S HOTEL--THE POLITICIANS--GENERAL BENJAMIN HARRISON, U. S. PRESIDENT--WASHINGTON SOCIETY--BALTIMORE--PHILADELPHIA. _Washington, April 3._ Arrived here the day before yesterday, and put up at Willard's. I prefer this huge hotel to the other more modern houses of the capital, because it is thoroughly American; because it is in its rotunda that every evening the leading men of all parties and the notables of the nation may be found; because to meet at Willard's at night is as much the regular thing as to perform any of the official functions of office during the day; because, to use the words of a guide, which speaks the truth, it is pleasant to live in this historical place, in apartments where battles have been planned and political parties have been born or doomed to death, to become familiar with surroundings amid which Presidents have drawn their most important papers and have chosen their Cabinet Ministers, and where the proud beauties of a century have held their Court. * * * * * On the subject of Washington hotels, I was told a good story the other day. [Illustration: EVENING AT WILLARD'S.]