Ten Years in Washington or, Inside Life and Scenes in Our National Capital as a Woman Sees Them ... to Which Is Added a Full Account of the Life and Death of President James A. Garfield

CHAPTER XXV.

Chapter 25134 wordsPublic domain

THE WHITE HOUSE NOW.

After the War—A Contrast—Secretly Burying the Dead—A Wife of Seventeen Years—Midnight Studies—Broken Down—A party of Grandchildren—“God’s Best Gift to Man”—The Woman Who Taught the President—Doing the Honors at the White House—Traces of the Soldiers—A State of Dirt and Ruin—Mrs. Patterson’s Calico Dress—In the Diary—A Nineteenth Century Wonder—How the Old Carpets were Patched—How $30,000 were Spent—Buying the Furniture—Working in Hot Weather—Very Good Dinners—Doors Open to the Mob—Sketching a Banquet—The Portraits of the Presidents—The Impeachment Trial—Peace in the Family—The Grant Dynasty—Looking Home-like—Mrs. Grant at Home—What Might Be Done, if—How a Certain Young Lady was Spoilt—Brushing Away “the Dew of Innocence,” 243