220 Chronicles of the Cape Fear River

from generation to generation; and I have thought it likely that your
Lydia may have caught the tact of preparing this inimitable dish. I
entertain this opinion on two grounds: first, because I have been
acquainted with very respectable efforts of hers in that line; second,
because she knows Mr. Paige’s admirable connoiseurship, and can de-

termine, by her quick eye, when the dish comes down from the table,
whether the contents have met his approbation.

For these reasons, and others, upon which it is not necessary for the
undersigned to enlarge, he is desirous of obtaining Lydia’s receipt
for a dish of tripe, for the dinner-table. Mrs. Hayman’s is before my
eyes. Unscathed by the frying pan, it was white as snow; it was dis-
posed in squares, or in parallelograms, of the size of a small sheet of
ladies’ note paper; it was tender as jelly; beside it stood the tureen
of melted butter, a dish of mealy potatoes, and the vinegar cruet.

Can this spectacle be exhibited in the Vine Cottage, on Louisiana
Avenue, in the City of Washington?
Yours truly, always,
DAN’L WEBSTER.

P. $8.—Tripe; the etymon is the Greek word to “turn, to wind,” from
its involutions, not the same as “tripod,” which means “having three

feet”; nor the same as “trip,” which is from the Latin tripudiare, to
strike the feet upon the ground; sometimes to stumble; sometimes

to go nimbly; to “trip it on the light fantastic toe.”
Washington, 29 December, 1850.

THE VISIT OF EDWARD EVERETT.

In 1859 the renowned Edward Everett delivered in hundreds
of cities throughout the United States his splendid address on
the Character of Washington, the receipts being for the benefit
of the Ladies’ Mount Vernon Association.

Of his visit to Wilmington on that occasion he wrote in his
Mount Vernon Papers: “Its population, as far as I could judge
from a short visit, is intelligent, enterprising, and rather more
than usually harmonious among themselves. The river pros-
pects from elevated positions are remarkably fine. An immense
audience, assembled in Thalian Hall on the 11th of April last,
honored the repetition of my address on the Character of Wash-
ington, and the net receipts of the evening, $1,091.80, were, in
proportion to population, far beyond those of any other place in
the Union.”

Mr. Everett has also been quoted as saying that at Wilming-
ton alone, during his travels, he was introduced by an orator
who surpassed himself, Mr. George Davis.

Notable Incidents 921

We copy an interesting account of Mr. Everett’s oration in
Wilmington from the Daily Journal of that date.

April 12, 1859.

Mr. Everett's ORATION.

Last evening Thalian Hall was filled by an attentive audi-
ence eager to listen to the Washington oration of Hon. Edward
Everett, of Massachusetts.

At 8 o’clock Mr. Everett, accompanied by a committee of citi-
zens, appeared upon the stage and was introduced to the audi-
ence by George Davis, Esq., whose eloquent though brief re-
marks formed a fitting prelude to the splendid composition of
the distinguished speaker.

Mr. Everett is, we believe, 65 years of age, tall, rather portly
than otherwise, his hair, trimmed short, is nearly white, and we
learn from those who have heard him before that either advanc-
ing years or illness have considerably subdued the vigor of his
tones and the energy of his delivery. His features, those of a
cultivated gentleman, have been or will be made familiar to
most through the portraits of him which have been published.

We have no desire to attempt any sketch of Mr. Everett’s
address further than to glance at a very few points. He spoke
of three eras in Washington’s life—when he fought in the old
French War, when he took command of the American forces,
and when he retired from that command. He spoke of what he
denominated the “Age of Washington,” reviewed the history of
the eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth century ; enumer-
ated the great things that had been done, and the great men
that had figured within that space of time to which future ages
would turn as the Era of Washington; contrasted the character
of the American hero and statesman with that of Peter the
Great of Russia, Frederick the Great of Prussia, or Napoleon
the Great of France.

From Major Washington’s visit to Venango down to the last
stage of President Washington’s life, the speaker followed that
great man’s career, dwelling with inimitable skill upon the
great and good points of his character.

Better still than his comparison and contrast of the character
of Washington with that of the great men of his own immediate

day, was the episode in which he turned back to John, Duke of
Marlborough, the wittiest statesman, the most astute diploma-