all of whom had expiated their crimes upon the gallows.

In recalling these early school days it seems to me that the rudiments
of education received far more attention then than now. Spelling was
regarded as of chief importance and due consideration was given to
grammar. There were no "frills" then, such as physical culture, manual
training and the like, and vacation lasted but thirty days, usually
during the month of August. Some of my earliest friendships were formed
at Miss Forbes's school, many of which I have retained through a long
life. Among my companions and classmates were the Tillotsons, Lynches,
Astors, Kembles, Hamiltons, Duers, and Livingstons.

But in spite of the severe discipline of Miss Forbes's school, her
pupils occasionally engaged in current gossip. It was in her schoolroom
I first made the discovery that this earth boasted of such valuable
adjuncts to the human family as title-bearing gentlemen, and in this
particular case it was a live Count that was brought to my notice. Count
Louis Fitzgerald Tasistro had recently arrived in New York, and his
engagement to Adelaide Lynch, a daughter of Judge James Lynch, of an old
New York family, was soon announced. On the voyage to America he had
made the acquaintance of a son of Lord Henry Gage of England, whose
principal object in visiting this country was to make the acquaintance
of his kinsman, Mr. Gouverneur Kemble. Through his instrumentality
Tasistro was introduced into New York's most exclusive set, and soon
became the lion of the hour. We girls discussed the engagement and
subsequent marriage of the distinguished foreigner (_sub rosa_, of
course), and to our childish vision pictured a wonderful career for this
New York girl. The marriage, however, soon terminated unfortunately, and
to the day of his death Tasistro's origin remained a mystery. He was an
intellectual man of fine presence and skilled in a number of foreign
languages. He claimed he was a graduate of Dublin College. Many years
later, after I had become more familiar with title-bearing foreigners,
Tasistro again crossed my path in Washington, where he was acting as a
translator in the State Department; but after a few years, owing to an
affection of the eyes, he was obliged to give up this position, and his
condition was one of destitution. Through the instrumentality of my
husband he obtained an annuity from his son, whom, by the way, he never
knew; and for some years, in a spirit of g