Part 2 (1/2)

Had I obeyed implicitly the ireat loss which will ever render the 5th of April a day of sad & bitter memories toto you the poor tribute of my condolence for the terrible bereaves to afflict you with

My own particular grief in thus losing the best & most valued friend I ever had on earth, receives additional poignancy fro sense of the iation, conferred upon me by my lamented friend, I have been debarred, bythose services which it would have afforded me so much consolation to perform

I should be loath, however, to start on my own journey for that shadowy land whose di dailyso to the depth of my appreciation of all the noble attributes which clustered around your husband's character--of enerous exertions in my behalf, & my profound sympathy for you personally in this hour of sorrow & affliction

Hoping that you reat respect,

Your devoted servant,

L F TASISTRO

A valued friend of rado” of this period, ith other practitioners of the day, believed in curing alland a dose of calomel He was the fashi+onable physician of that time and especially prided himself upon his physical resemblance to Benjamin Franklin He had much dramatic ability of a comic sort, and I have often heard the opinion expressed that if he had adopted the stage as a profession he would have rivalled the co his audiences at Burton's Theater on Chambers Street In my early life when Dr Francis was called to our house professionally the favorite dose he invariably prescribed for nearly every ail school hours at Miss Forbes's I was suddenly summoned to return to my home I soon discovered after my arrival that I was in the presence of a tribunal composed of my parents and Dr Francis I was completely at a loss to understand why I was recalled with, what seemed to me, such undue haste, as I was entirely unconscious of any reat trouble It see pupil at our school, had died of a malady known at this period as ”iliac passion,” but now as appendicitis Her attending physician was Dr Ralph I Bush, a foreon in the British Navy, and I soon learned toeh to this day I have never known exactly how Dr Francis, as our family physician, was involved in the affair I stood up as bravely as I could under a rigid cross-exa any reiven Dr Francis to understand that he was ready to settle the affair according to the approved method of the day; but Dr Francis was a man of peace, and had no relish for the code Possibly, with the reputed activity of Sir Lucius O'Trigger, Dr Bush had already selected his seconds, as I have seldom seen a man more unnerved than Dr Francis by what proved after all to be only a trifling episode Soon afterintervieever, explanations followed, and the two physicians amicably adjusted the affair

It seele There were two cases of illness at Miss Forbes's school at the same time, the patient of Dr Bush alreadyfrom a broken arm whom Dr Francis attended He set the lieon, the act was criticized by the schoolgirls withinMy sense of loyalty to my family doctor caused me to utter some childish remark in his defense which was possibly to the effect that he was a great deal better doctor than Dr Bush, who had failed to save the life of our late school this childish episode which caused me so much anxiety I am surprised that such unnecessary attention was paid to the passing remark of awise maxims as Benjamin Franklin, whom he was said to resemble One of them which I recall is the epitoet it out as fast as thou canst”

I may here state, by the way, that in close proximity to Dr Francis's residence on Bond Street lived Dr Eleazer Parh in public estee address He accue fortune and I believe left irls at Miss Forbes's school were taught needle work and e woarded as complete without these accomplishments I quote fro poetical effusion:

What is the bloo tincture of the skin, To peace ofof the finest eye To the soft soothing of a kind reply?

Can comeliness of form or face so fair With kindliness of word or deed coain, But these, these only, can the heart retain

It see such effusive lines, or others similar to them, Miss Forbes's pupils did not become luminaries of virtue and propriety If they did not their failure certainly could not be laid at the door of their preceptress

Miss Forbes personally taught the rudi master, visited the school each day and instructed his scholars in the Italian style of chirography Mr Michael A Gauvain taught French so successfully that in a short time many of us were able to place on the amateur boards a number of French plays Our audiences were co parents, who naturally viewed the perforarded us as incipient Rachels I remember as if it were only yesterday a play in which I took one of the principal parts--”Athalie,” one of Jean Racine's plays

This mode of education was adopted in Paris by Madame Campan, the instructor of the French nobility as well as of royalty during the First Empire In her manuscript memoirs, addressed to the children of her brother, ”Citizen” Ed in America, and of which I have an exact copy, she dwells upon the histrionic perfor ere Queen Hortense and hter of President Jae Hay of Virginia She gives a graphic account of the E one of these plays, when ”Esther,” one of Racine'smaster, who, of course, was an essential adjunct of every well regulated school, was John J Charraud He was a refugee from Hayti after the revolution in that island, and opened his dancing-school in New York on Murray Street, but afterwards gave his ”publics” in the City Hall He taught only the cotillion and the three-step waltz and came to our school three tiiven to poetry, and I still recall the first piece I committed to mehly believed inverse, and he always liberally rewarded me for every piece I was able to recite I may state, by the way, that Blair's Rhetoric was a textbook of our school and the one which I most enjoyed

Miss Forbes had a nuirls were allowed to wear at stated periods for proficiency in their studies as well as for exemplary deportment There was one of these which was known as the ”excellence medal,” and the exultant pupil upon who it for teeks Upon it was inscribed the well known proverb of Solohters have done virtuously, but thou excellest the the pleasant iven by athered around his hospitable board In New York at this time all the professional cooks and waiters in their employ were colored men Butlers were then unknown

It was also before the days of _a la Russe_ service, and I re upon some of these occasions a saddle of venison, while at the opposite end of the table there was always a Westphalia ham Fresh salmon was considered a _piece de resistance_ Many different wines were always served, and long years later in a conversation with Gov William L Marcy, as a warm friend of my father, he told me he was present on one of these occasions when seven different varieties of ere served I especially reiven by him in honor of Martin Van Buren He was Vice-President of the United States at the tiia, a uests invited to meet him were Gulian C

Verplanck, Thomas Morris, John C Hamilton, Philip Hone and Walter Bowne The day previous to this dinnernote from Mr Van Buren:

My dear Sir,

Our friend Mr Forsyth, is with me and you must send him an invitation to dine with you to-morrow if, as I suppose is the case, I am to have that honor

Yours truly,

M VAN BUREN

Sunday, June 9, '33