shington.

Her chief work and that by which she is best remembered hangs in the
Senate wing of the United States Capitol. No picture in the Capitol
attracts more attention, and large numbers of people view it daily. It is
the "Electoral Commission in Open Session." It represents the old Senate
Chamber, now the Supreme Court Room, with William M. Evarts making the
opening argument. There are two hundred and fifty-eight portraits of
notable men and women, prominent in political, literary, scientific, and
social circles. Many of these were painted from life.

The _Arcadian_, New York, December 15, 1876, in speaking of this picture,
says: "Mr. Evarts is addressing the court, and the large number of people
present are naturally and easily grouped. There is no stiffness nor
awkwardness in the positions, nothing forced in the whole work. There
are, in the crowd, ladies in bright colors to relieve the sombreness of
the black-coated men, and the effect of the whole picture is pleasing and
artistic, aside from its great value as an historical work."

The _Washington Capital_, March 17, 1878: "Mrs. Fassett's 'Electoral
Commission' gives evidence of great merit, and this illustration in oil
of an historical event in the presidential annals of the country, by the
preservation of the likenesses in groups of some of the principal actors,
and a few leading correspondents of the press, will be valuable. This
picture we safely predict will be a landmark in the history of the nation
that will never be erased. It memorizes a most remarkable crisis in our
life, and perpetuates, both by reason of its intrinsic value as a chapter
of history and its intrinsic worth as an art production, the incident it
represents and the name of the artist."

In the _Washington Star_, October, 1903, an article appeared from which I
quote as follows: "On the walls of the beautiful tessellated corridor of
the eastern gallery floor of the Senate wing of the Capitol at
Washington, just opposite the door of the caucus room of the Senate
Democrats, hangs a large oil painting that never fails to attract the
keenest curiosity of sightseers and legislators alike. And for good
reason: that painting depicts in glowing colors a scene of momentous
import, a chapter of American political history of graver consequence and
more far-reaching results than any other since the Civil War. The printed
legend on the frame of the picture reads:

"'The Florida case before the elec