seemed to float upon the stage sustained only by the surrounding
atmosphere. In my opinion she has never had a rival, with the possible
exception of Taglioni, the great Swedish _danseuse_. I saw Fanny Elssler
dance the _cracovienne_ and the _cachucha_, and it is a memory which
will linger with me always. The music that accompanied these dances was
generally selected from the popular airs of the day. Many dark stories
were afloat concerning Fanny Elssler's private life, but to me it seems
impossible to associate her angelic presence with anything but her
wonderful art. She was never received socially in New York; indeed, the
only person that I remember connected with the stage in my early days
who had the social _entree_ was Fanny Kemble.

We attended the Dutch Reformed Church in New York of which the Rev. Dr.
Jacob Brodhead was for many years the pastor. My aunts, however,
attended one of the three collegiate churches in the lower part of the
city, and I sometimes accompanied them and, as there was a frequent
interchange of pulpits, I became quite accustomed to hear all of the
three clergymen. The Rev. Dr. John Knox, who endeared himself to his
flock by his gentle and appealing ministrations; the Rev. Dr. Thomas De
Witt, a profound theologian and courtly gentleman; and the Rev. Dr.
William C. Brownlee, with his vigorous Scotch accent, preaching against
what he invariably called "papery" (popery), and recalling, as he did,
John Knox of old, that irritating thorn in the side of the unfortunate
Mary Queen of Scots, made up this remarkable trio. During the latter
part of his life Dr. Brownlee suffered from a stroke of paralysis which
rendered him speechless, and his Catholic adversaries improved this
opportunity to circulate the report that he had been visited by a
judgment from Heaven.

There were many shining lights in the Episcopal Church at this time in
New York. The Rev. Dr. William Berrian was the acceptable rector of St.
John's, which was then as now a chapel of Trinity Parish. The Rev. Dr.
Francis L. Hawks was the popular rector of St. Thomas's church, on the
corner of Broadway and Houston Streets. He was a North Carolinian by
birth, but is said to have been in part of Indian descent. I recall with
pleasure his masterly rendition of the Episcopal service. During the
Civil War he made it quite apparent to his parishioners that his
sympathies were with the South, and as most of them did not share his
views he moved