Memoirs of John Adams Dix; comp. by his son, Morgan Dix.

1845-1853.] A BADIANT GALAXY OF BEAUTY.

249

I spent the winter of 188-'49 in Washington. It was my
father's last year in the Senate. His residence was on C
Street; Colonel Benton, his intimate personal friend, was his
near neighbor, but two or three houses away. Opposite us
lived Senator Bagley, and near him Mr. Philip Barton Key
and his beautiful wife. Nothing could be more delightful
than the society of Washington at that time to one able to
enjoy the lazy, listless, easy existence led by the families of
prominent officials or pleasure-seekers at the capital. There
was, and probably still is, a certain indefinable charm in the
place, due in part to temperate climate and agreeable air, and
in part to the intermingling of cultivated persons from all
parts of our country, officers in the military and naval service,
and a select foreign society in the Diplomatic Corps. President Polk and his very agreeable wife were at the White
House. The Vice - President, Mr. George M. Dallas, was a
picture to look upon, tall and commanding, with snowy white
hair, a florid visage, and aristocratic bearing. On the square,
not far from the Executive Mansion, the venerable Mrs. Madison held her court, conspicuous for her antiquated costume,
her spotless turban, and her rigid observance of the manners
of the olden time. Next door to her lived my father's old
friend, Benjamin Ogle Tayloe, occupying one of those ample
and comfortable houses wherein one feels instantly at home.
The families of General Totten, of the Engineers, Commodore
Morris, of the navy, and other officers, were represented at the
balls and receptions by lovely young women in the full bloom
of their charms. M. de Bodisco was Russian Minister; his
wife, an American lady, celebrated not less for her beauty
than for her virtues. Colonel Benton's daughter Jessie, the
young wife of the brilliant soldier Fremont, himself a kind
of idol among us at that day, shone radiantly in the galaxy.
I remember the picturesque mansion "Kalorama," which
overlooked the city from a wooded ridge; and "Arlington;"
apd the fetes given in those and other stately houses, destined,
alas! in time to put off their glory and gather up grime and