ator, to
become Assistant Secretary of State, but the invitation was declined.
James Guthrie, a stalwart, clear-headed Kentuckian, was made
Secretary of the Treasury, with Peter G. Washington, a veteran
District politician, as Assistant Secretary. Jefferson Davis
solicited and received the position of Secretary of War, James C.
Dobbin, of North Carolina, was made Secretary of the Navy; Robert
McClelland, of Michigan, was designated by General Cass for Secretary
of the Interior, and James Campbell, of Pennsylvania, was appointed
Postmaster-General, with thirty thousand subordinate places to be
filled, its progressive improvements to be looked after, and a
general desire on the part of the public for a reduction of postage.
An abler Cabinet never gathered around the council-table at the
White House.

Jefferson Davis, the Secretary of War, entertained more than any
of his associates. His dinner-parties, at which six guests sat
down with the host and hostess, were very enjoyable, and his evening
receptions, which were attended by the leading Southerners and
their Northern allies, were brilliant affairs with one exception.
On that occasion, owing, it was to said, to a defect in the gas
meter, every light in the house suddenly ceased to burn. It was
late, and with great difficulty lamps and candles were obtained to
enable the guests to secure their wraps and make their departure.

No other President ever won the affections of the people of Washington
so completely as did General Pierce. Such was the respect entertained
for him by citizens of all political creeds, that when he took his
customary "constitutional" walk down Pennsylvania Avenue to the
Capitol and back one could mark his progress by the uplifting of
hats as he passed along. He and Mrs. Pierce, disregarding the
etiquette of the White House, used to pay social visits to the
families of New Hampshire friends holding clerkships, and to have
them as guests at their family dinner-table. The President's
fascinating courtesy and kindness were irresistible.

Roger A. Pryor first figured at Washington in the spring of 1853.
He was an editorial contributor to the Washington _Union_, the
Democratic organ, and he wrote a scathing review of _The War of
Ormuzd and Ahriman_, by Henry Winter Davis, of Baltimore, which
set for the United States and Russia as the respective champions
of the principles of liberty and of despotism, and claimed to
foresee in the distant futu