But
Quincy said his presence in Boston was imperative, that certain
matters required his attention, and so the earliest train brought him
and his wife to the city. Quincy left the carriage under the arch at
the State House.
Alice was driven to the well-known house on Mount Vernon Street, in
which Aunt Ella had lived so long, but which had lost much of its
cheerfulness, and all of its Bohemianism since that lady had gone to
England and become Lady Fernborough.
The Executive Chamber was a large room, and simply furnished with a
flat top desk of wine-red mahogany, a bookcase, and a few chairs. A
door to the left led to the office of the private secretary; the one
to the right to a short and narrow corridor across which was the door
of the Council Chamber--a room occupied by that last link between
democratic and aristocratic government. It must not be inferred that
the members of the Council are aristocrats--far from it, but with the
lieutenant-governor they form a "house of lords" which may or may not
agree with the policies of the chief magistrate. They can aid him
greatly, or they can "clip his wings" and materially curb his freedom
of action. The Council is a relic of the old provincial and colonial
days, its inherited aristocratic body clothed in democratic garments.
As its duties could be performed by the Senate without loss of
dignity, and with pecuniary saving, its retention as a part of the
body politic is due to the "let well enough alone" policy of the
American citizen which has supplanted the militant, progressive
democracy of his forefathers.
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