edless to say that this remark created much unfavorable
comment, as Washington is especially proud of the Army and Navy officers
she has nurtured.

Among the families who were socially prominent at the National Capital
when I first knew it, were the Seatons, Gales, Lees, Freemans, Carrolls,
Turnbulls, Hagners, Tayloes, Ramsays, Millers, Hills, Gouverneurs,
Maynadiers, Grahams, Woodhulls, Jesups, Watsons, Nicholsons,
Warringtons, Aberts, Worthingtons, Randolphs, Wilkes, Wainwrights, Roger
Jones, Pearsons, McBlairs, Farleys, Cutts, Walter Jones, Porters,
Emorys, Woodburys, Dickens, Pleasantons, McCauleys, and Mays.

I often recall with pleasure the days spent by me at Brentwood, a fine
old country seat near Washington, and picture to my mind those forms of
"life and light" arrayed in the charms of simplicity which were there
portrayed. The far West had not then poured its coffers into the
National Capital, and the mining element of California was then unknown.
It is true that Washington, with its unpaved streets and poorly lighted
thoroughfares, was then in a primitive condition, but it is just as true
that its social tone has never been surpassed. Brentwood was the
residence of Mrs. Joseph Pearson, who dispensed its hospitalities with
ease and elegance. For many years it was a social _El Dorado_, where
resident society and distinguished strangers were always welcome.
Although it was then remote from the heart of the city, most of its
numerous visitors were inclined to linger, once within its walls, to
enjoy the charmed circle which surrounded the Pearson family. Both the
daughters of this house, Eliza, who married Carlisle P. Patterson,
Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Survey, and Josephine, who became the
wife of Peter Augustus Jay of New York, were Washington beauties. Their
social arena, however, was not confined to this city, as they made
frequent visits to New York, where they were regarded as great belles.
Christine Kean, an old friend of mine who was a younger sister of Mrs.
Hamilton Fish, both of whom were daughters of Peter Philip James Kean of
New Jersey, was intimate with the "Pearson girls," and made frequent
visits to Brentwood, where she shared in their social reign. Christine
Kean married William Preston Griffin, a naval officer from Virginia, who
survived their marriage for only a few years. I was accustomed to call
her "sunshine" as she carried joy and gladness to every threshold she
crossed. She was su