The Sunny Side of Diplomatic Life, 1875-1912 | Page 8

world. He sent me a book written by Wagner about music and
wrote on the first page "Voici un livre qui vous intéressera. De la part
du mari de la femme de l'auteur." Clever, isn't it? You know that
Madame Wagner is the daughter of Liszt. She ran away from von
Bülow in order to marry Wagner.
Bülow dedicated a song to me, called "Adieu." It is pretty enough to

sing when he plays the accompaniment, but otherwise I do not care for
it. I sang it after dinner, and every one said it was charming, but I had
the feeling that the ladies were more interested in my toilette than in
Bülow's song. I don't blame them, for my dress is lovely (Worth called
it "un rêve"), but I fancy I look like a Corot autumn sunset reflected in
a stagnant lily-pond. It is of light salmon-colored satin, with a tulle
overskirt and clusters of water-lilies here and there. I could have bought
a real Corot with the same money.
Mr. Blaine, who is at present Speaker of the House, and Mr. Roscoe
Conkling, one of the Senators from New York, are the two most
prominent members of the Republican party, but are personally deadly
enemies.
Mr. Blaine is an excellent talker, very popular with the ladies. In a
drawing-room, he is generally found in a corner, quoting poetry (a
specialty of his) to some handsome lady. He knows all the poetry in the
world! They say that he is the best Speaker the House has ever known;
it is quite wonderful to see the rapidity with which he counts the Ayes
and Noes, pointing at each voter with the handle of his club. He grasps
a situation in an instant, and gives a quick retort when he thinks it is
deserved. Roscoe Conkling is quite a different type. He is very
dignified and pompous--perhaps a little theatrical; not at all a society
man, and, though he may be less vain than Mr. Blaine, he has the
appearance of being more so.
The foreign Ministers have the "right of the floor," which means they
have the right to enter the House of Representatives when they like. On
one great occasion a member of the House offered M. de Schlözer his
seat, which happened to be between two members who suddenly got up
and began the most heated discussion over Schlözer's head. He found
the situation dangerous and wished himself elsewhere. He said he felt
like the Biblical baby when the two mothers were wrangling before the
great Solomon. However, the storm spent itself in words, and
fortunately the disputants did not come to blows.
Johan says he was very much struck the first time he went to Congress
by seeing two opposing members, after bitterly attacking each other for

hours, walk quietly away arm-in-arm, obviously the best of friends.
A little incident which occurred in the Senate amused Johan very much.
Roscoe Conkling begged a colleague sitting next to him to read out
loud something he wished to quote in his speech while he paused to
draw a breath. The colleague read, and Conkling, without a word of
thanks, took back the book; but when a colored man brought him a cup
of tea (which he always takes during his speeches) he stood up and in a
very loud voice, making a solemn bow, said, "I thank you, sir!"
I call that coquetting with the gallery, don't you?
We have been invited to take a trip to California by the railroad
company. We can transport ourselves to Omaha; then all our expenses
are to be defrayed by the lavish company. We have all accepted. Who
could refuse such a tempting invitation?
CALIFORNIA, Spring, 1877.
Dear M.,--The rendezvous was to be at the third station before reaching
Omaha, where we really did all meet. On arriving at the next one, some
of the party asked the conductor how long the train would stop, and he
answered, "Twenty minutes"; so off they started on foot to see the town.
We wise ones stayed in the train, which also started off, leaving our
truants behind, but their bags remained with us.
When they returned to the station, before the twenty minutes had
expired, they found the train gone! They hired a special train at great
expense and delay, hoping to overtake us at Omaha. But before they
reached Omaha an official appeared and said that he had received a
telegram from headquarters at Chicago, acknowledging that the
conductor had been at fault in starting a little earlier than he had said;
therefore the company felt itself responsible and insisted on refunding
the money the extra train had cost.
Where else but in America are mistakes so quickly and nicely remedied?
Perhaps in this instance