r of laughter,
and sat down.

He was a confirmed and incorrigible bachelor. There was in
New Orleans, when we were there, a restaurant famous all over
the country, kept by a very accomplished widow. The members
of the Committee thought it would be a good thing if we could
have such a restaurant as that in Washington. We passed a
unanimous vote requesting Mr. Saulsbury to marry the widow,
and bring her to Washington, as a matter of public duty. He
took the plan into consideration, but nothing came of it.
Some mischievous newspaper correspondent circulated a report,
which went through the country, that Mr. Saulsbury was very
much in love with a lady in Washington, also a charming widow.
It was said that he visited her every evening; that she had
a rare gift of making rum punch; that she always gave him
a glass, and that afterward, although he was exceedingly temperate
in such things, he fell on his knees, offered himself to the
widow, and was refused; and that this ceremony had been repeated
nightly for many years. I once mentioned this story to him,
and he didn't deny it. But, on the other hand, he didn't
admit it.

When he was chosen to the Senate he had two brothers who competed
with him for the office. One of them was then Senator. The
Senate had a good deal of difficulty in getting through its
business before the 4th of March, when the new Administration
came in, and the term of the elder Mr. Saulsbury ended. There
had been an all-night session, so some of the Senators had
got worn out and overcome by the loss of sleep. Just before
twelve o'clock at noon Senator Willard Saulsbury put his head
down on this desk and fell asleep. The Senate was called
to order again for the new session, the roll called, and Mr.
Saulsbury's brother Eli had been sworn in. Willard waked
up, rose, and addressed the Chair. The presiding officer
quietly replied: "The gentleman from Delaware is no longer
a member of the Senate." Whereupon he quietly withdrew.

Matthew C. Butler of South Carolina was another Southern
Democrat, fiery in temper, impatient of control or opposition,
ready to do battle if anybody attacked the South, but carrying
anger as the flint bears fire. He was zealous for the honor
of the country, and never sacrificed the interest of the country
to party or sectional feeling. He was quite unpopular with
the people of the North when he entered the Senate, partly
from the fact that some of his kindred h