RECOLLECTIONS OF FULL YEARS
"June 30—At 3:30 o'clock ex-President Theodore Roosevelt, accompanied by Senator Lodge, called to pay his respects to the President. He was met at the entrance by Captain Butt, who announced his arrival. The President immediately came out and greeted his visitor most affectionately, addressing him as Theodore.
"Colonel Roosevelt took both hands of the President, and said,
"'Mr. President, it is fine to see you looking so well.'
"'But why "Mr. President"?' laughed the President.
"'Because,' replied Colonel Roosevelt, 'it used to be Mr. President" and "Will," now it must be "Mr. President" and "Theodore."'
"The President conducted his distinguished predecessor to the side porch where they started into a series of delightful reminiscences of the past Administration.…Colonel Roosevelt remained two hours, during which he gave the President an interesting account of his trip."
I was present at this interview and remember it as being remarkably pleasant and entertaining. Everybody will recall that the question of Mr. Roosevelt's attitude toward my husband was even then a debatable one, but Mr. Taft had resolutely refused to believe that it could ever be anything but friendly. I did not share his complete faith, but I was glad on this occasion to find the old spirit of sympathetic comradeship still paramount and myself evidently proved to be unwarrantably suspicious.
Mr. Roosevelt had just been in England where he acted as the representative of the President of the United States at the funeral of King Edward, and that solemnly magnificent event seemed to have overshadowed in his mind every other experience he had had during his long absence. He described the stately ceremonies and the mediævally picturesque procession in vivid detail and did not fail to emphasise their grave and reverential aspects, but he dwelt partic-
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