Mrs. Monroe and her daughters made it an absolute rule to pay no visits; so calls made on them, no matter by whom, went unreturned. Their dislike of the underbred caused them to take no part in the preparations for the general levees, which were thronged with anybody and everybody; but their invitation list for select receptions was cut down mercilessly, and the reduced company were treated to supper, an innovation on recent practices. At all such entertainments Mrs. Monroe was so exacting in her demands as to dress that when one of her near relatives presented himself in an informal costume which he had worn without criticism at the best of the Jefferson and Madison functions, she refused him admittance till he should don the regulation small-clothes and silk hose. The Monroes renamed the east room “the banqueting hall” and had their state dinners there, partly because of its spaciousness, and partly because the dining-room had been so badly damaged in the fire that it took a long time to rehabilitate. The table appointments included a central oval “plateau” twelve feet long by two feet wide, composed of a mirror “surrounded by gold females holding candlesticks.” The china was highly gilt, and the dessert knives, forks, and spoons were of beaten gold. All the plate was the private property of the family and bore the initials “J. M.”; much of it was afterward purchased by the Government and made a part of the official furnishing of the White House, where it remained in use down to Van Buren’s day. A New York Representative went with some friends to dine with the Monroes. Arriving at half-past five, his party were “ushered, Indian file, into the drawing-room,” where they found “some twenty gentlemen seated in a row in solemn state, mute as fishes, having already undergone the ceremony of introduction.” And he goes on: “Mrs. Monroe was seated at the further end of the room, with other ladies. On our approach, she rose and received us handsomely. After being myself presented, I introduced the other gentlemen. I now expected to be led to the President, but my pilot, the private secretary, had vanished. We beat a retreat, each to his respective chair. Observing the President sitting very demurely by the chimney-corner, I arose and advanced to him. He got up and shook me by the hand, as he did the other gentlemen. This second ceremony over, all again was silence, and each once more moved to his seat. It was a period of great solemnity. Not a whisper broke upon the ear to interrupt the silence of the place, and every one looked as if the next moment would be his last. After a while the President, in a grave manner, began conversation with some one that sat near him, and directly the secretary ushered in some more victims, who submitted to the same ordeal we had experienced. This continued for fully half an hour, when dinner was announced. It became more lively as the dishes rattled.” The party remained at table till about half-past eight.