was born after my earlier
acquaintance with her mother in Frederick. Loved and admired, she
resides in Washington surrounded by an exclusive coterie, and devotes
much of her time and means to works of philanthropy.

The prominent authoress, Mrs. Elizabeth F. Ellet, was repeatedly our
guest while we were living in Frederick. A volume of her poems had
appeared as early as 1835, and she subsequently published quite a number
of books which were highly regarded. When she first came to visit us,
her "Women of the American Revolution" had just appeared and her journey
to Maryland was for the purpose of collecting data for a new work which
later was published under the title of "The Court Circles of the
Republic." Besides being a gifted writer, Mrs. Ellet had considerable
histrionic ability, and I have now before me an old newspaper clipping
containing an account of an entertainment given by me in her honor when
she recited from "Pickwick Papers", "Widow Bedott" and "The Lost Heir."
Another party at which music and recitations were a prominent feature
was given to Mrs. Ellet in Frederick by Mrs. Charles E. Trail, a gifted
woman who thoroughly appreciated intellectual accomplishments wherever
found.

My first acquaintance with the Hon. Joseph Holt, who at the time was
Judge Advocate General of the Army, began in Frederick in 1869. He was a
Kentuckian by birth and, after serving for a time as Postmaster General
under President Buchanan, succeeded, in 1860, John B. Floyd of Virginia
as Secretary of War. He made frequent visits to Frederick where he was
always the guest of the Rev. Dr. and Mrs. George Diehl. He was a typical
Kentuckian, over six feet tall, and in my opinion no one could have
known him well without being impressed by his intellectual ability.
After we returned to Washington to live, in 1873, Judge Holt was a
constant visitor at our home and I frequently attended handsome
entertainments given in his residence on Capitol Hill. Although I have
been in society more or less all of my life, I can say without hesitancy
that he more perfectly understood and practiced the art of
entertaining--it certainly _is_ an art, and possessed by but few--than
any other person I have ever known. His second wife, who was Miss
Margaret Anderson Wickliffe of Kentucky, had died in 1860 and, as he had
no children, he was living entirely alone.

From my earliest acquaintance with Judge Holt I was deeply impressed by
the cloud of sadness t