d the Democratic party, which came into power
by the election of Jefferson as President and Burr as Vice-President.
Davis went to Washington shortly afterward, and was boasting that
the elevation of Mr. Jefferson was brought about solely by the
management of Tammany Hall. Mr. Jefferson was a philosopher, and
soon after caught a very large fly, calling the attention of Mr.
Davis to the remarkable fact of the great disproportion in size of
one portion of the insect to its body. Mr. Davis took the hint,
and left the President, in doubt as to whether Mr. Jefferson intended
the comparison to apply to New York or to him (Davis) as an
individual.

Mr. Davis was at one time wealthy, having cleared over one hundred
thousand dollars in the South American trade; but he became poor,
and for many years he was the correspondent at Washington of the
_Courier and Enquirer_, of New York, under the signature of "The
Spy in Washington." He was also the correspondent of the London
_Times_, under the signature of "The Genevese Traveler." On one
occasion Mr. Davis was presented to the British Minister at Washington
(Lord Ashburton) as the author of those letters in the _Times_.
"I am delighted to see you," said the Envoy. "They are extraordinary
letters. I have read them with great pleasure. I hope, sir, that
you are well paid by the _Times_. If not, sir, let me know it; I
will take care that you are paid handsomely." Mr. Davis begged
not to be misunderstood, and said that he was amply paid by the
_Times_. He received two guineas for each letter.

James Gordon Bennett in 1828, when in his thirtieth year, became
the Washington correspondent of the New York _Enquirer_, which was
then on the topmost round of the journalistic ladder. It is related
of him that during his stay in this position he came across a copy
of _Walpole's Letters_ and resolved to try the effect of a few
letters written in a similar strain. The truth of this is doubtful.
It is more probably that the natural talents of the man were now
unfettered, and he wrote without fear of censorship and with all
the ease which a sense of freedom inspires. He was naturally witty,
sarcastic and sensible. These letters were lively, they abounded
in personal allusions, and they described freely, not only Senators,
but the wives and daughters of Senators, and they established Mr.
Bennett's reputation as a light lance among the hosts of writers.

Major M. M. Noah was for many