day lunch, and the six-o'clock dinner. A competent housekeeper regulates the affairs of the ménage, but Mrs. Cleveland takes an active interest in all that is going forward. Her own methods of life are very simple. She is an early riser, fond of reading and informal visiting, interested in the affairs of the nation in a way suited to her years. Personally she is a woman whose charm can by no means be understood through the medium of photography. The first impression she creates is of a girlish figure, tall and willowy, with a well-shaped and well-poised head, soft brown hair, brilliant eyes under finely-marked brows, and a mouth and chin absolutely faultless. The character of the face, if girlish, is intelligent and thoughtful. Although the dimples come readily, the smile is exceedingly sweet, and seems a fitting accompaniment to her extremely well modulated voice. Not a trace of affectation or stiffness is there in her manner, but instead a savoir-faire which is remarkable in one so young, unless indeed we accept the natural conclusion that it is instinctive.
The mistress of the White House stands in a position more trying by far than that of any crowned sovereign in Europe. Everything and anything is expected of her. She must unite all the qualities which go to make up a thorough lady; she must pass the ordeal of hours of what may be called public servitude without betraying the least fatigue or inhospitality, whether her guests at a crowded levee come from the wild woods or from the most cosmopolitan centre; she must understand the art of informal receptions,—must be, like foreign royalties, "gracious," "condescending," and "amiable," and at the same time be thoroughly democratic; otherwise she will be severely handled by all the "sovereign people" who constitute themselves her critics. She has not the refuge of seclusion or of divine right which belongs to a queen; and yet her very critics demand from her as much as though she had been born to the purple and received the training necessary for the duties of her station. Happy are we, therefore, when our ladies of the White House possess the inherent sense of the fitness of things which makes Mrs. Grover Cleveland so admirable in her public position, so considerate and unselfish in private life!
