New York, after that
city had ceased to be my home, when we went together to dine with Mr.
and Mrs. N. P. Willis at Idlewild, their country home on the Hudson.
These were the days when Mrs. Scott was sometimes facetiously called
_Madame la General_. This charming residence of Mr. Willis was several
miles south of Newburgh, on high ground overlooking the river, and from
its porches there was an enchanting view of West Point. Mr. Willis told
us that when he first came to that vicinity he called the attention of
a countryman from whom he had purchased the land to some uncultivated
acres and asked a suggestion regarding them. "That," said the man,
waving his hand in the direction of the trees, "is nothing but an
Idlewild." The word lingered in Mr. Willis's mind, and he subsequently
adopted it as the name of his new home.

While living in New York we frequently attended parties at the
hospitable home of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin F. Butler in Washington Place.
He was an elegant gentleman of the old school and had served as Attorney
General in the cabinets of Presidents Jackson and Van Buren. They were
people of deep religious convictions, and consequently all their
entertainments were conducted upon the strictest code of the day. For
example, dancing was never permitted and wine was never served. In place
of dancing there was a continuous promenade. I generally attended these
parties accompanied by my father, who enjoyed meeting the legal lights
of the country, some of whom were always there. Exceptionally handsome
suppers were served at these entertainments, and every effort was made
by Mr. and Mrs. Butler to make up, as it were, for the lack of dancing
which was sorely missed by those more gayly inclined.

A hundred thousand dollars was considered a highly respectable fortune
in New York between sixty and seventy years ago. Seven per cent, was the
usual rate of interest, the cost of living was low, and life was, of
course, much simpler in every way. I recall a prominent young man about
this period, Henry Carroll Marx, commonly called "Dandy Marx," who was
said to be the happy possessor of the amount I have named. He was
devoted to horses and from his home on Broadway he could frequently be
seen driving tandem on the cobblestone streets. I do not remember his
entering the social arena; possibly he avoided it in order to escape the
wiles of designing mothers, whom one occasionally encountered even in
those ancient days. His fau