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
Senator Wade has left the chair and Chief Justice Chase immediately
succeeds him. For an instant let us survey this cold, haughty,
handsome face. Not for a moment could one imagine fire coursing along
his veins. His lips move, but only inarticulate sound reaches the
gallery. The New York _Independent_ must be mistaken when it says
“he has become the friend of Andrew Johnson, the idol of the young
Democracy.” Ambition may consume him with its unquenchable fire, but
with the corpse of William H. Seward before his eyes he will never
commit suicide. The Senate chamber is as quiet as a vaulted tomb.
The orator of the day arises, and thousands of eyes are brought
to a sudden focus. Benjamin F. Butler has the floor. History has
associated the name of Burke with Warren Hastings; and inseparably
linked must be the names of Butler and Andrew Johnson. Mr. Butler
is not an orator. He did not attempt to impress a jury. He simply
read a great speech to the whole country, expecting the people to
read it after him, and weigh its arguments discriminately; to note
the strong points, and feel that Benjamin F. Butler had proved
himself equal to the task imposed upon him as a trusted servant of
the American people. In making up the gifts for this rare son, it
must be said that Old Mother Nature denied him beauty; but he had
managed to outwit the fickle old dame and come out even with her at
last, for amongst the few beautiful women in the gallery Blanche
Butler, the petite daughter, was fairest amongst the fair. “What
a strong resemblance between the two!” you say. The crooked eyes
are straightened, a little added to their size, and the same fire
is flung into them both. In one case you have a pair of Oriental
almonds, seen nowhere outside of Correggio’s Madonnas. In the other,
you have eyes belonging to Benjamin Butler. The description ends.
There is nothing on earth out of which to manufacture comparison.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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