AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 7 1 



The external appearance of the " White 

 House " somewhat disappointed me ; yet it is a 

 magnificent structure, with massive pillars in 

 front, while the interior does credit to the good 

 taste of those in charge. 



The Red Room, being generally selected for 

 the receptions held by the President and his 

 wife, is very handsomely furnished in velvet and 

 drapery, the color of which corresponds with the 

 name of the room. I must, however, express 

 my preference for the Blue Room ; its light 

 shade of satin damask, with gold, is so chaste 

 and elegant that one could scarcely dream of a 

 fairy-land more beautiful ; and at " morning re- 

 ceptions," from two till five P. M., the guests be- 

 ing received in this room, it is rendered doubly 

 beautiful by the elegant toilettes of our Ameri- 

 can and foreign ladies, who crowd it with the 

 beauty and fashion of the metropolis. 



The large East Room, which occupies that 

 entire end of the building, is elegantly furnished, 

 while the walls are hung with life-size portraits, 

 in oil, of Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and 



