orrest. She was the daughter of
John Sinclair, formerly a drummer in the English army and subsequently a
professional singer. James Gordon Bennett said of her in the _Herald_
that "being born and schooled in turmoil and dissipation and reared in
constant excitement she could not live without it."

I have heard it said that one day John Van Buren was asked by a
disgruntled friend at the close of a hotly contested suit whether there
was any case so vile or disreputable that he would refuse to act as
counsel for the accused. The quick response was: "I must first know the
circumstances of the case; but what have you been doing?" Dr. Valentine
Mott, who for many years was a resident of Paris, gave a fancy-dress
ball in New York in honor of the Prince de Joinville, son of Louis
Philippe. At this entertainment John Van Buren appeared in the usual
evening dress with a red sash tied around his waist. Much to the
amusement of the guests whom he met, his salutation was: "Would you know
me?" It will be remembered that he was familiarly called "Prince John,"
owing to the fact that he had once danced with Queen Victoria prior to
her ascension to the throne. One day Van Buren met on the street James
T. Brady, a lawyer of equal ability and wit, who had recently returned
from a visit to England. In a most patronizing manner he inquired
whether he had seen the Queen. "Certainly," said Mr. Brady, "and under
these circumstances. I was walking along the street when by chance the
Queen's carriage overtook me, and the moment Her Majesty's eye lighted
upon me she exclaimed: 'Hello, Jim Brady, when did you hear from John
Van Buren?'" I recall another amusing anecdote about John Van Buren
during my school days. Mustaches were at that time worn chiefly by the
sporting element. Mr. Van Buren, who was very attentive to Catharine
Theodora Duer, a daughter of President William Alexander Duer of
Columbia College, and who, by the way, never married, adopted this style
of facial adornment, but the young woman objecting to it he cut it off
and sent it to her in a letter. Prince John Van Buren's daughter, Miss
Anna Vander Poel Van Buren, many years thereafter, married Edward
Alexander Duer, a nephew of this Catharine Theodora Duer.

It was my very great pleasure to know Fanny Kemble and her father,
Charles Kemble. She was, indeed, the queen of tragedy, and delighted the
histrionic world of New York by her remarkable rendering of the plays of
Shakespeare.