A correspondent of the New York Journal of Commerce has also given to the public a sketch of a visit to the Presidential Mansion, which is interesting. “These the musings were soon interrupted by the entrance of Mrs. Polk who, with an easy smile and a graceful simplicity of manner, bid me welcome as an American citizen, and partaker of a common faith. She bears her honors meekly, and surely it is no mean elevation to be the wife of an American President; an elevation to which many fond and ambitious aspirations are doubtless secretly cherished in the bosoms of high-minded American women, but which only one, now and then, can enjoy. And this one, probably, was among the last to expect it, till the news came to disturb the quietude of her happy domestic life in Tennessee.
“Mrs. Polk may be considered a felicitous specimen of the intelligent, refined American lady, who, without artificial airs, without any assumption of stateliness of manners, without any ambitious ornaments of dress, exchanges the courtesies of social life, and demeans herself in public, with a sincerity somewhat rare in the current circles of fashion.
“I cannot but think that the basis of her style of character is laid in a true and unaffected piety. She is regular in her attendance on divine worship and on the communion of the Lord’s supper. In our conversation, she expressed her great delight, among similar things, in having recently witnessed and welcomed the admission of three or four interesting youths to the communion of the Presbyterian Church, of which she is a member. Unlike some of her predecessors, Mrs. Polk has no taste for the gay amusements of the lovers of pleasure.”
In the early fall of 1847, the illness of Mrs. Polk threw a cloud of sorrow and apprehension over many hearts; but it was only a cloud, and the recovery of this beloved and honored lady was hailed with delight and thanksgiving. Some one writing to the Baltimore Sun says: “This fall we have a peculiar sorrow, in the dangerous illness of the honored lady of President Polk. She came among us almost a stranger, respected on account of her station, but unknown to most of us; she is now the pride of society, as well as the object of our tender affection. The social circles of Washington gratefully acknowledge the happiness she has diffused through them; the needy and suffering bless God for such a friend. All admire her character, all revere her virtues, and all with one consent join in supplicating the Father of mercies to spare her long, very long to her distinguished husband and the friends to whom she is so dear.”
A few days before the close of his administration, a splendid dinner party was given by the President to General Taylor. At the levee, the same evening, a great concourse of persons—acquaintances, admirers, and friends—assembled to pay their last respects and take their last adieu of the President and his wife.
On Sunday afternoon, in the first Presbyterian Church, Mrs. Polk participated for the last time in the solemn services of the communion. The Rev. Mr. Ballentyne addressed the distinguished lady in a most appropriate manner; and on the conclusion of the ceremonies, the pastor and a large number of the communicants approached and bade her an affectionate farewell.
The following morceau appears in the Washington Union:
A FAREWELL TO MRS. POLK.
“Lady, farewell! amid the gloom of grief,
How many a heart will utter that sad sound!