And how shall I describe my pleasant Guardian? Amiable, sensible, brilliant, and witty; Ingersoll is charming at sixty three.

That gentleman on the Speaker's left, dressed in the old revolutionary costume of buff and blue is the Chairman of Foreign Relations; by reason of which Office, his own true grace and favour, and my free will and duty, he assumed the responsibilities of my Guardianship; and in consequence became my almost constant companion during the greater portion of my residence in Washington. In conversation he eminently excels, and is the delight of every dinner party; he is extensively acquainted rath English and French literature, an excellent classical scholar, quick in quotation, and fond of drawing comparisons; he is curious in seeking the motives of men, and has frequently given me the key of the characters of those around us with much acuteness and felicity; and I have ever found him inclined to praise rather than to censure. He has no secrets, and can keep none; the only error of his nature being an uncontrollable impulse to utter at once, regardless of time and place, the thing he feels, or knows, or even suspects. If this excess of candour sometimes leads him beyond the bounds of caution, it displays also the most noble and most generous sentiments that can animate the breast of man; open to conviction, ready to acknowledge an indiscretion, and earnest to ask as he is happy to grant forgiveness, his character exhibits all the warm uncalculating sensibilities of youth.