Senator North

Senator North

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Senator North, by Gertrude Atherton
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Title: Senator North
Author: Gertrude Atherton
Release Date: July, 2004 [EBook #6091] [Yes, we are more than one
year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on November 4,
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Edition: 10
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, SENATOR
NORTH ***

Cedric Vonck, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the Online

SENATOR NORTH
BY GERTRUDE ATHERTON

"When, Mr. President, a man, however eminent in other pursuits and
whatever claims he may have to public confidence, becomes a member
of this body, he has much to learn and much to endure. Little does he
know of what he will have to encounter. He may be well read in public
affairs, but he is unaware of the difficulties which must attend and
embarrass every effort to render what he may know available and
useful. He may be upright in purpose and strong in the belief of his own
integrity, but he cannot even dream of the ordeal to which he cannot
fail to be exposed; of how much courage he must possess to resist the
temptations which must daily beset him; of that sensitive shrinking from
undeserved censure which he must learn to control; of the ever
recurring contest between a natural desire for public approbation and
a sense of public duty; of the load of injustice he must be content to
bear even from those who should be his friends; the imputations on his
motives; the sneers and sarcasms of ignorance and malice; all the
manifold injuries which partisan or private malignity, disappointed of
its object, may shower upon his unprotected head. All this, if he would
retain his integrity, he must learn to ear unmoved and walk steadily
onward in the path of public duty, sustained only by the reflection that

time may do him justice; or if not, that his individual hopes and
aspirations and even his name among men should be of little account to
him when weighed in the balance of a people of whose destiny he is a
constituted guardian and defender." --WILLIAM PITT FESSENDEN
In memorial address before the Senate, 1866. Miss Betty Madison
embarks on the Political Sea. Her Discoveries, Surprises, and
Triumphs.

SENATOR NORTH

I

"If we receive this Lady Mary Montgomery, we shall also have to
receive her dreadful husband."
"He is said to be quite charming."
"He is a Representative!"
"Of course they are all wild animals to you, but one or two have been
pointed out to me that looked quite like ordinary gentlemen--really."
"Possibly. But no person in official life has ever entered my house. I do
not feel inclined to break the rule merely because the wife of one of the
most objectionable class is an Englishwoman with a title. I think it very
inconsiderate of Lady Barnstaple to have given her a letter to us."
"Lee, never having lived in Washington, doubtless fancies, like the rest
of the benighted world, that its officials are its aristocracy. The Senate
of the United States is regarded abroad as a sort of House of Peers. One
has to come and live in Washington to hear of the 'Old
Washingtonians,' the 'cave-dwellers,' as Sally calls us; I expected to see
a coat of blue mould on each of them when I returned."

"Really, Betty, I do not understand you this morning." Mrs. Madison
moved uneasily and took out her handkerchief. When her daughter's
rich Southern voice hardened itself to sarcasm, and her brilliant hazel
eyes expressed the brain in a state of cold analysis, Mrs. Madison
braced herself for a contest in which she inevitably must surrender with
what slow dignity she could command. Betty had called her Molly
since she was fourteen months old, and, sweet and gracious in small
matters, invariably pursued her own way when sufficiently roused by
the strength of a