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Show WASHINGTON'S STATE DINNERS. They Were Verj Solemn Affairs, According Accord-ing to aa Ancient Annalist. "Washington's state winners must have been exceedingly solemn affairs if they were all like the description of the following, fol-lowing, which is found in the ancient diary of Senator Maclay, one of the first two representatives of the state of Pennsylvania Penn-sylvania in the United States senate: "Thursday, Aug. 27, 1789 A little after 4 o'clock I called upon Mr. Bassett of Delaware Btate, and we went to the president's for dinner. "The company were President and Mrs. Washington, Vice President and Mrs. Adams, Governor Mifflin and his wife, Mr. Jay and wife, Mr. Langdon and wife, Mr. Dalton and a lady (perhaps (per-haps his wife), Bassett, myself, Lee Lewis Lew-is and the president's two secretaries. "The president and his wife sat opposite oppo-site each other in the middle of the table; the two secretaries, one at each end. It was a great dinner and the best of the kind I ever was at. The room, however, was disagreeably warm. "First were soup, fish, roasted and baked meats, gammon, fowl, etc. This was the dinner. The middle of the table was garnished in the usual tasty way, with small images, artificial flowers, etc. The dessert was fruit, apple pies, pudding, pud-ding, etc., then ice cream, jelly, etc., then watermelons, musknielons, apples, peaches and nuts. "It was the most solemn dinner I was ever at. Not a health drank, scarce a word said until the cloth was taken a way. Then the president, filling a glass of wine, with great formality drank the health of every individual around the table. Everybody imitated him, changed glasses, and such a buzz of 'Heal'Ji, sir,' 'Health, madame,' 'Thank you, sir,' and 'Thank yon, madame,' I had never heard before. "The ladies sat a good while, and the bottle passed about, but there was a dead silence almost. Mrs. "Washington at last withdrew with the ladies. I expected the men would now begin, but the same silence remained. The president told of a New England clergyman who had lost his hat and wig in passing a river called the Bronx, and ho smiled, and everybody else laughed. "He now and then said a sentence or two on some common subject, and what he said was not amiss. Mr. Jay tried to make a laugb by mentioning the caricature carica-ture of the Duchess of Devonshire assisting as-sisting in carrying on Fox's election. "The president kept a fork in his hand when the cloth was taken away, I thought for the purpose of picking nuts. He ate none, but played with the fork, striking on the edge of the table. We did not sit long after the ladies retired. The president rose and went up stairs to drink coffee. The company followed. I took my hat and went home." New York Herald. |
