eventually became her husband, but her father was so
devoted to her and so very dependent upon her that he violently opposed
her marrying anyone. Accordingly, a secret marriage was planned by the
young people to take place in Trinity Church. As the youthful pair was
standing in front of the altar, surrounded by a few sympathetic friends,
the rector reached the words, "Who giveth this woman to be married to
this man?" when, to the astonishment of the assembled group, a gruff,
loud voice in the rear of the church shouted "I do." Old John Watts had
opposed his daughter's marriage with all his might, but when he learned
by chance that she was to be married clandestinely, he graciously
accepted the inevitable and without the knowledge of anyone hurried to
the church and, entering it by a side door, duly performed his part as
just related. This anecdote was told me by Arent Schuyler de Peyster, a
distant cousin of General John Watts de Peyster. Many years later, when
I repeated it to Mrs. Diana Bullitt Kearny, she remarked in her
characteristic manner: "He was mean enough not to even allow her the
satisfaction of a runaway marriage." This estimate of his character,
however, does not seem to agree with that given by others. The Laights
were prominent in New York society. One of them, Edward Laight, whom I
knew as a society beau, was remarkably handsome. He was a good deal of a
flirt and transferred his affections with remarkable facility from one
young woman to another. His sister married a Greek, Mr. Eugene Dutilh, a
gentleman of culture and refinement, who owned a beautiful place at
Garrison's-on-the-Hudson which he sold about 1861 to Hamilton Fish.

Philip Kearny and his family lived next door to Peter A. Jay, and I
frequently met the young people of his household at Mrs. Macomb's
parties. Gouverneur Morris, a son of the distinguished statesman, and
Edward Kearny were _habitues_ of this establishment, as were also Ridley
and Essex Watts, both of whom I knew well. General "Phil" Kearny from
his youthful days was an enthusiastic soldier, but he was not a graduate
of West Point, having been appointed to the regular army from civil life
by President Van Buren in 1837. He served throughout the Mexican War,
where he had the misfortune to lose an arm at the battle of Churubusco,
and was killed during the Civil War in 1862 at the battle of Chantilly.

Speaking of General Macomb, I am reminded of a social _on dit_ of many
years ago