solaced to the latest hour of life by his devoted filial affection.
The Lady of President Madison, none could visit without grateful recollections. The kindness of her welcome would not be forgotten, nor that goodness of heart which breathed a magic influence upon all around. She was encircled in her elegant retirement with objects congenial to her taste,—the charms of cultivated nature, and the music of birds. Some of the most rare species of her winged friends she cherished in an aviary, and among those who ranged at will was a favorite Macaw, of shrewd character, and singularly splendid train and plumage. Blossoms and flowering trees sprang up beneath these sunny skies in luxuriance and profusion. The Pride of China expanded its delicate foliage beside the window, the Jessamine climbed up to the sleeping apartments, diffusing its rich perfume, and the Multiflora on every side cheered the eye with its countless clusters.
When called from this fair retreat by the election of her husband to the Chief Magistracy of the Nation, her queenly manners, and perfect affability, won admiration at every levee where she presided. During the eight years of his continuance in office, she filled the station of the highest lady in the land, to the satisfaction of all, and by her true kindness of heart, conciliated good will and lasting remembrance. "She never forgot," says one of her biographers, "a name she had once heard, nor a face she had once seen, nor the per-