dearly loved by her relatives; Major Lewis was near his uncle's heart for the sake of his dead mother, who bore so striking a resemblance to the great Chief, that sometimes, when in sport she would put a chapeau on her head and throw a military cloak over her shoulders, she might easily have been mistaken for himself.

It was the bride's wish that the General should wear on that occasion the splendid embroidered uniform which the board of general officers had adopted; but Washington would not appear in a costume bedizened with tinsel; preferring the plain old continental blue and buff, with a modest black ribbon and cockade. The magnificent white plumes which General Pinckney had presented to him he gave to the bride; and to the Rev. Thomas Davis, the rector of Christ Church, Alexandria, who performed the marriage ceremony, he gave an elegant copy of Mrs. Macaulay's* "History of England,” in eight volumes, telling him they were written by a remarkable woman, who had visited America many years before. She had crossed the Atlantic in 1785 to see General Washington.

Mrs. Mary Custis, of Arlington, the wife of Mrs. Washington's grandson, was the daughter of William Fitzhugh, of Chatham. Bishop Meade says: "Scarcely was there a Christian lady more honored; none more loved and esteemed."

Mrs. Marshall, the wife of Chief Justice Marshall, of

* Catharine Macaulay Graham.

Richmond, Virginia, was devoted to her husband. After her death, in 1831, he often repeated General Burgoyne's lines, substituting "Mary" for "Anna" :

"Encompassed in an angel's frame,
An angel's virtues lay;

Too soon did Heaven assert its claim,
And take its own away.

"My Mary's worth, my Mary's charms,
Can never more return;

What now shall fill these widowed arms!

Ah me! my Mary's urn!

Ah me! ah me! my Mary's urn!"

An intimate friend of "Nelly Custis" was Mary A. Sitgreaves, the second child of Colonel Daniel Kemper, of the Revolutionary army. She was born in New York, in April, 1774. Her early associations were with persons distinguished in those times. When New York was threatened by the British, her father removed his family to Morristown, New Jersey. While the headquarters of General Washington were in the neighborhood, Miss Kemper was in the habit of playing about the Chief's premises, and now and then running into his marquée. Mrs. Washington one day was busy in arranging the camp-stools and putting things to rights, when the little visitor presented herself. The General seized her, placed her upon his knee, and had a long talk with her. This incident she often referred to with pleasure.

During the Presidency of Washington, Miss Kemper became prominent in the circles of the republican court

for her great beauty and the fascination of her manners. In the Capital she attracted much attention, and was a welcome guest at Mrs. Washington's at all times. She was on a visit at the house of her uncle, the celebrated Dr. David Jackson, of Philadelphia, when she first met Hon. Samuel Sitgreaves, a member of Congress, in the President's drawing-room. Love at first sight ensued, and she was married to him in June, 1796.

Once hearing a sermon on the birthday of Washington, Mrs. Sitgreaves described a birthnight-ball she had attended, in company with him and Mrs. Washington, just fifty-six years before; Mrs. Washington appearing dressed in black velvet trimmed with silver lace, and Mrs. Knox in green velvet decorated with gold. She and Eleanor Custis had their hair arranged by the hairdresser, long previous to the fête, and then had a frolic in the garden, on the afternoon preceding it; she plucking snow-balls from the tree and showering the blossoms over her friend's head. They stuck fast, and formed a most admired addition to the head-dress in the evening.

On the adjournment of Congress, Mrs. Sitgreaves accompanied her husband to Easton, Pennsylvania. He was appointed Minister to England during the Presidency of the elder Adams, and was in Congress several years. Their home was in Easton till the death of Mrs. Sitgreaves, who long survived her husband, and died in November, 1864. She retained her faculties unimpaired and clear to the last moment of her existence, and her firm faith in her Redeemer was a consolation to her

bereaved children, and a bright example to all who knew her, as had been her life of active Christian duty and cheerful benevolence. The church was her beloved, and she was always ready for every good word and work.

Mrs. Susan Wallace, the mother of Horace Binney Wallace, was eminent for the noble grace of her deportment. Her mother, Mrs. Mary Binney, lived opposite Washington's house in Philadelphia. The daughter of Mrs. Wallace, who married John Bradford Wallace, died in 1849. The Rev. Herman Hooker said of her, "No praise befits the character of such a person but a truthful and grateful mention of her virtues. She was a model of a woman." She was born February 22d, 1778, and was just entering society in the last years of Washington's administration. Her husband was the nephew of Mr. Bradford, the second Attorney General of the Uni ted States.

XII.

ONE of the most distinguished and charming women who gave a character of elegance and high-bred grace to the best circle in Washington society, was the wife of General Van Ness. She was the daughter of David Burns, a gentleman of excellent family, who inherited a fine estate near the Potomac, in the District of Columbia, and held the office of civil magistrate while attending to the interests of his large plantation. He married Miss White, a young lady also of highly respectable family. Marcia was their only daughter, born on the plantation now embraced within the limits of the city of Washington. She grew up a lovely girl, light as a fairy in form, with a face of innocent beauty, and manners so arch and engaging that all who saw her were attracted. She was placed at school in Georgetown, where she received a good education, with the accomplishments necessary for a young lady entitled to move in the most refined society. After completing her studies, she was sent for "finishing" to Baltimore, where she lived in the family of Luther Martin, then at the height of his reputation as the most eminent jurist and advocate in Maryland. He was a friend of Mr. Burns. Marcia had formed an intimacy with his daughter at the George