her vividly, since she was conscious that they made up the history of her time, and in her charming letters come allusions to the change in her own position which show that in the midst of her enjoyment of her advantages at the White House she forgot nothing in the past. Writing on one occasion of a ball at the Assembly, "I spent a delightful evening," she said. "As I declined dancing, I had the pleasure of talking to many grave Senators, and among the rest had a long conversation with Mr. Southard. As we stood at the end of the room, which is the old theatre transformed into a ball-room, he said, 'On this very spot where we stand I saw the best acting that I ever witnessed.' . . . Though my heart told me to whom he alluded, I could not help asking him 'what was the play, and who the actor.' 'The play was Macbeth; the performer, Mr. Cooper.' I could not restrain the tears which sprung to my eyes as I heard my dear father so enthusiastically spoken of. I looked around, and thought that not only had papa's footsteps trod those boards. I looked down at the velvet dress of Mrs. Tyler, and thought of the one I wore there six years before as Lady Randolph, when we struggled through a miserable engagement of a few rainy nights!"[1]
The President soon after married the brilliant daughter of his old friend Hon. David Gardiner. The tragic death of this gentleman on the steamer Princeton had awakened public interest in the bereaved family, which culminated in the marriage of the President to Julia,—a striking parallel to the events which formed the recent romance of the White House. To this period we must hasten, although the intervening years are full of social interests in Washington, to say nothing of the tragedies which have passed into history.
In the year 1875 the family of Mr. Oscar Folsom, a genial, generous, and companionable gentleman, were residing at the Tifft House in Buffalo, when the carriage in which he was driving was suddenly overturned, and Mr. Folsom was killed almost instantly. On that day his wife and little daughter chanced to be out of town; but the
- ↑ My own remembrance of Mrs. Robert Tyler may be of interest, since it has to do with a recent period. During my childhood she was a frequent visitor at my father's house, and I recall her charm of manner, her still beautiful countenance, and her remarkable ability at dramatic recitation. With her came frequently her daughter, the one whom during the Presidential period Bodisco used to rotor to as the "empress of a baby," and whose passion for music was evinced almost before she could speak plainly. I recall her, some fifteen years ago, as a most beautiful and very youthful looking woman, the same type of blonde that her mother had been, with piquant features, profuse golden hair, and the most charming blue eyes. She appeared successfully on the stage in New York several times, and has since, I believe, resided in Alabama. Her mother was then a widow, and had suffered much during the civil war.
