She
had a great deal of the sprightly wit for which her son, William,
was so famous. She was at home at the time of Washington's
visit, then a child eleven years old, and opened the door
for him when he took his leave. The General, who was very
fond of children, put his hand on her head and said, "My little
lady, I wish you a better office." She dropped a courtesy
and answered, quick as lightning, "Yes, sir; to let you in."
Mrs. Evarts was a woman not only of sprightly wit, but of
great beauty. She liked to tell in her old age of a dinner
which John Hancock gave for her father and her, in Boston,
when she was a girl. She described her dress with great
minuteness, and added naively, "Didn't I look pretty?"
My mother, who was married in 1812, knew very intimately many
of her father's and mother's old friends who had been distinguished
in the public service in the Revolutionary period and the
Administration of Washington and John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
She knew very well the family of John Jay. He and his wife
were visitors at my grandmother's after their return from
Spain.
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