XIV.

THE wife of General Winfield Scott was prominent in society where she lived. She was Maria Mayo, the daughter of John Mayo, of Richmond, Virginia; “a young lady more admired in her circle than her soldier husband." She had seven children, of whom four died young. She was not well known as a poetess; but she wrote some creditable verses in Paris to cheer her husband on his mission of peace to Puget's Sound, San Juan Island, via Panama. He sailed in the "Star of the West," September 20th, 1859. Mrs. Scott was present at a breakfast given to loyal American citizens in the Hotel du Louvre, Paris, in the May preceding her death. One hundred and fifty were present, onethird ladies. She was remarkable for pungent wit, and was often eccentric in her manners.

General Scott paid a high but just tribute to William C. Preston, of South Carolina, for many years a United States Senator, in saying he was a man "of the purest morals, with a wife worthy to 'glide double-swan and shadow-down the stream of life with him. They were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death not long divided." Both Mr. and Mrs. Preston were well known to the writer of this volume during her residence

in South Carolina. Mr. Preston, as his friend observed, was "greatly gifted in genius and fancy; highly accomplished as a scholar, a gentleman, and a statesman, with splendid powers of oratory to enrapture the multitude and edify the intelligent; with a soul so genial and a voice so sweet as to win all who approached him-young and old, men, women, and children."-" Though at an unhappy period he was given up to nullification, his good genius triumphed in the end; for he lived long enough to make atonement to the Union, and to die faithful to the same allegiance that distinguished his grandfather Campbell, of King's Mountain, and his immediate parent, General Frank Preston, long member of Congress from Southwestern Virginia." He lived also to testify to his acceptance of the Christian's hope through a Redeemer, and to show the evidence of his earnest faith.

Frank Preston, the father of William Campbell Preston, by his marriage with Miss Campbell, obtained the salt-works and mines of Abingdon and on the Kenawha. His sons were William C.; John, who married Miss Hampton, of South Carolina, while in Louisiana; and Thomas, the present owner of the Abingdon property. His uncle had married Edmonia, daughter of Edmund Randolph, the first Attorney General of the United States, and the friend and legal adviser of Washington. Frank's daughters were Eliza, who married Colonel Carrington; Susan, who married James McDowell, Governor of Virginia, the brother of Mrs.

Benton; Sophy, who became the wife of Rev. Robert Breckenridge, of Kentucky;* and Sarah, who married her cousin, Governor Floyd of Virginia.

Frank married one of Madison's family.

The sister of

William Preston, a brother of Frank Preston, married Miss Hancock, and settled in Kentucky on a grant of military land, now the site of part of the city of Louisville. Their only son was William Preston, afterwards minister to Spain, who married Margaret Wickliffe, the daughter of Robert Wickliffe, an eminent lawyer of Kentucky, and the owner of extensive lands and large fortune. He was distinguished for elegance of manner combined with determination and strength of will, being popularly called "The Old Duke." His home in Lexington, over which two of his daughters presided, was noted for hospitality, and was the center of social attraction for several years. The eldest daughter married Judge Wooley, an eminent jurist; Mary became the wife of John Preston of West Virginia. After Margaret's marriage, she went to reside in Louisville. She accompanied her husband to Washington when he became member of Congress for that district, and afterwards when he went as ambassador to Spain. Everywhere her beauty and intellect, her accomplishments and charming manners and conversation, and

* Dr. Breckenridge of the Presbyterian Church, uncle to John Breckenridge.

+ His father was Dr. Floyd, United States Senator; his mother, the sister of Frank Preston.

her influence in society, gave her a leading position. Both she and General Preston were of majestic height and regal appearance. Since the late war they reside in Lexington, on Mrs. Preston's estate.

Mrs. Merrick, the wife of Judge Merrick, of the United States District of Columbia, was the daughter of Charles Wickliffe. She was a leader in Washington society, and gave superb entertainments.

I have heard Washington Irving remark, that William C. Preston was the most brilliant man in conversation he had ever known. His discourse, in fact, sparkled with illustration and wit, in which sarcasm was often blended. Sometimes, by a felicitous turn, he would rebuke an unjust or censorious remark. One evening at Professor Ellet's house, a gentleman known to have a stupid wife, looking at an engraving of Lady Byron, said: "I should not like to marry one of these clever women; they are seldom suited for it;" whereupon Mr. Preston coolly added: "Well, I like to see a man's practice in life correspond with his theory." His words were often pictures, and, in ordinary conversation, seemed to glow with the abundance of the treasures his fancy showered; it almost realized the fable of the fairy who dropped pearls and jewels from her lips in speaking.

The second wife of Mr. Preston was Louisa Penelope Davis, the daughter of Dr. James Davis, of Columbia, South Carolina. She was born in 1807. She improved the advantages of a superior education, having little taste for the occupations in which young girls generally

delight; and became distinguished among her associates for the extent and variety of her acquirements. Her powers of conversation were remarkable; pronounced by Calhoun, Mitchell King, and others, superior to those of any other woman they ever knew. In girlhood she possessed great beauty, combined with graceful and winning manners, which made her a favorite with all. The soft melody of her voice, with its clear and rather slow articulation, added to the pleasing effect of her animated language, in which her delicate wit illustrated every subject.

In the autumn of 1830, Miss Davis gave her hand to William Campbell Preston. During his brilliant career in public life she was his inseparable companion, the star of beauty and wit in Washington, the leader of the most aristocratic society in her native town. Her health became very fragile, but she never relaxed in her devoted attentions to her husband, who suffered much from illness. To please him, she cultivated her rare mental powers, and read the works in which he delighted. The Bible, and Shakespeare's plays, were so familiar to her retentive memory, she was almost a living book of con cordance to them. In Columbia she was the acknowledged queen of society. Her entertainments were marked by good taste as well as profuse liberality. The house had a large and well-shaded garden, in which the company was invited to wander on summer evenings, lamps being hung in the trees and shrubbery. Sometimes refreshments were served in the grove. I remem