Mr. W. J------ seems to
think that, after all, the reconciliation between the old General and
Benton was merely external, and that they really hated one another as
before. I do not think so.
These dinners of the Mayors are rather agreeable than otherwise, except
for the annoyance, in my case, of being called up to speak to a toast,
and that is less disagreeable than at first. The suite of rooms at the
Town House is stately and splendid, and all the Mayors, as far as I have
seen, exercise hospitality in a manner worthy of the chief magistrates of
a great city. They are supposed always to spend much more than their
salary (which is 2,000 pounds) in these entertainments. The town
provides the wines, I am told, and it might be expected that they should
be particularly good,--at least, those which improve by age, for a
quarter of a century should be only a moderate age for wine from the
cellars of centuries-long institutions, like a corporate borough. Each
Mayor might lay in a supply of the best vintage he could find, and trust
his good name to posterity to the credit of that wine; and so he would be
kindly and warmly remembered long after his own nose had lost its
rubicundity. In point of fact, the wines seem to be good, but not
remarkable. The dinner was good, and very handsomely served, with
attendance enough, both in the hall below--where the door was wide open
at the appointed hour, notwithstanding the cold--and at table; some
being in the rich livery of the borough, and some in plain clothes.
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