t Hayes. A
party of distinguished Englishmen was visiting the National Capital and
Mr. Evarts escorted it to Mount Vernon. After inspecting the mansion and
the grave of Washington the party walked to the end of the lawn to view
the attractive scenery of the Potomac River. One of the Englishmen who
seemed decidedly more conversant with certain phases of American
history than the others asked Mr. Evarts whether it were really true
that Washington could throw a shilling across the Potomac. "Yes," said
Mr. Evarts, in a diplomatic tone, "it is quite true." The same evening
at a dinner, the Secretary of State repeated the conversation to a
mutual friend and added: "He could do even better than that; he could
toss a Sovereign across the Atlantic!"

The day after my arrival in Albany, President Zachary Taylor and his
suite were the guests of Governor and Mrs. Fish, and the same day a
dinner was given in his honor which was attended by prominent State
officials. Meanwhile, a concourse of people had surrounded the mansion,
anxious to see the President and to demand a speech. Old "Rough and
Ready" appeared at an open window and faced the multitude, but was not
as "ready" in speech as with his sword. He made a brave attempt,
however, to gratify the people, but he seemed exceedingly feeble and his
voice was decidedly weak. In the course of his remarks his aide and
son-in-law, Colonel William W. S. Bliss, came to his rescue and prompted
him, as it were, from behind the scenes; so that everything passed off,
as I understood the next day, to the satisfaction of his audience.
Possibly this was one of Taylor's last appearances in public, as he died
the following summer.

Although Mrs. Fish was at this time a comparatively young woman, she
presided over the Governor's mansion with the same grace and ease so
characteristic of her career in Washington when her husband was
Secretary of State under President Grant. In my opinion, and I know but
few who had a better opportunity of judging, Mrs. Fish was in many
respects a remarkable woman. For eight years her home was a social
center, and she was regarded as the social dictator of the Grant
administration. When any perplexing questions of a social nature arose
during her _regime_, the general inquiry was: "What does Mrs. Fish
say?" This in time became a standing joke, but it illustrates the fact
that her decisions usually were regarded as final.

One of the social leaders in New York during