e ago I saw the statement in a newspaper to the effect that
descendants of Ignatius Gurowski were living in the United States. This
suggests, although remotely, the inquiry heard many years ago: "Have we
a Bourbon among us?"--referring, of course, to the last Dauphin, whom
many believed to exist in the person of the Rev. Eleazer Williams, who
resided in St. Lawrence County, New York. The Rev. Dr. Francis L. Hawks
had such an abiding faith that Williams was actually the Dauphin that he
wrote an article in 1853 for _Putnam's Magazine_ expressive of his
views. If the newspaper story and Dr. Hawks's claims be true, this
country has accordingly been the retreat of more than one member of the
ill-fated Bourbon family. Several years ago I was surprised to hear it
stated that the father of Kuroki, the famous Japanese General, was a
brother of Adam and Ignatius Gurowski. This information, I am informed,
came from a nephew of General Kuroki who was receiving his education in
Europe. "My uncle Kuroki," he is said to have written, "is of Polish
origin. His father was a Polish nobleman by the name of Kourowski, who
fled from Russia after the Revolution of 1831. He finally went to Japan
and married a Japanese. As the name of Kourowski is difficult to
pronounce in Japanese, my uncle pronounced it Kuroki. The General's
father, upon his death bed said to him that perhaps some day he would
be able to take vengeance upon the Russians for their cruel treatment of
unhappy Poland."

One of the most notable men of my acquaintance in Washington was Caleb
Cushing. I first met him when he was Attorney-General in President
Pierce's Cabinet, and the friendship formed at that time lasted for many
years. He was among the guests at my wedding, and Miss Emily Harper,
whom he accompanied, told me that he especially commented upon that
portion of the service which reads, "those whom God hath joined
together, let no man put asunder." His remarks evidently appealed to her
as an ardent Roman Catholic. Ralph Waldo Emerson declared Mr. Cushing to
be the most eminent scholar of the country, and Wendell Phillips went
still further and said: "I regard Mr. Cushing as the most learned man
living." His habit was one of constant acquirement. He was what I should
call "a Northern man with Southern principles," an expression which
originated in 1835, and was first applied to Martin Van Buren. I have
heard Cushing defend slavery with great eloquence and although, like