The Olivia Letters: Being Some History of Washington City for Forty Years as Told by the Letters of a Newspaper CorrespondentBriggs, Emily Edson
History
The Olivia Letters: Being Some History of Washington City for Forty Years as Told by the Letters of a Newspaper Correspondent
Briggs, Emily Edson
United States -- Politics and government -- 1865-1933; Washington (D.C.) -- History
This is the Hon. Eugene Hale, of Maine, with his graceful new wife.
Would the ladies know how the richest heiress in Washington is
attired? In plain black cashmere and a simple straw hat.
And this is the Hon. Benjamin F. Butler, one of our most famous
citizens, but so changed for the better that his nearest friends
scarce recognize him. The time has been when General Butler was
dubbed “belligerent,” but this must have been when he was in the
active fermentation of life. To-day the dregs have settled to
the bottom. The froth and scum were all whisked off in that last
Massachusetts campaign. Nothing but the rich, generous body remains.
Even the famous Don Piatt can find no peg to hang a fault on;
besides, the General is growing handsome, for the beauty of the
spirit lights up the countenance, and this is the truest type of
perfection.
A slender and exceedingly graceful man hurries by--a gentleman whom
the wicked types made us call in our last letter “Sunset Cox.” We
never applied any such appellation to this gentleman, and for this
reason we call attention to this correction. We have no personal
acquaintance with the Hon. S. S. Cox, but men, like greenbacks,
pass in Washington for just about what they are worth. There is
nothing about this Congressman to remind one of sunset, unless it
is the brilliant coloring of his mind. This is the term which envy
and malice have fastened upon him; and this uncourteous term cannot
be made to foreshadow his decline. Although he has not reached the
noontide of life, he is one of the readiest debaters, one of the most
eloquent and pleasing speakers, a fascinating writer, and in every
sense of the word an accomplished man. If this is “sunset,” may we
have a little more of it in Congress, for we believe in men instead
of parties, and when women vote we shall not stop to ask “Is he a
Republican?” “Is he a Democrat?” but we shall propound the awful
question, “Who is the man?”
Yonder comes Mrs. Cresswell, clinging to the arm of the
Postmaster-General--a pretty, petite woman, but not quite strong
enough to stamp her impression on the age. And yet women who have
only social qualities upon which they can rely are remembered long
after their thrones are crumbled into dust.
To-day Mrs. Crittenden, of Kentucky, has her shrine in Washington.
Her manners are quoted like the speeches of Clay or Webster. “Tell
me,” inquired the writer of an elderly lady who was blessed with an
excellent memory, “what made Mrs. Crittenden so famous?”
“I am sure I cannot tell, unless it was because she treated the
poorest slaves as though they were ladies and gentlemen.”
OLIVIA.
CHARLES SUMNER.
AN INTERVIEW IN THE WORKSHOP OF THE VETERAN STATESMAN.
WASHINGTON, _April 15, 1873_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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