Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-03-31
Tine Ladies of the white House.

We find the following handsome criti-
cism of Mrs. Laura Carter HOlloway's la
dies of the White House" in the New
York World:
The objection brought so frequently
against the popular work of Miss Strick-
land on the Queens of England, that it is
mere effort of book making, might be APP
piled to Mrs. Holloway's volume, which
is similar to it in scope and treatment. But
the criticism would be unjust. There is as
much reason for writing the domestic lives
of our statesmen as the narrative of their
political careers The latter abound in
many volumes, but until Mrs. Holloway
wrote this book we believe no author has
treated of the family side of
the lives of the Presidents of
the United States ''The Ladies of
the White House." therefore, covers q
phase Of national history before untouched
| by the pens of historical writer's The
men whom the people have thought great
or good enough to be elevated to the most
conspicuous position in the land are pre-
sented to us as they were seen at their own
| fresides and among their families, stripped
of the glamour that surrounded their public
| lives. How much of public policy has been
| Influenced by the women who were nearest
| to their hearts and most in their confidence
| may be never known, but students in
| American history certainly can never be in
| different to the lives and characters of
| these councillors E'behind the throne
| The nature of our institutions has permit
| ted men of rough mould and defective early
| training to reach the Executive chair; but
| it may be truly said of the women who
shared in their honors that, with perhaps
one exception, they were worthy of their
| husbands. They have not all been bril-
liant society-women, but their characters
have been adorned with those honest
| American virtues which fitted each to be in
| her turn the ''First Lady in the Republic.
| In this volume Mrs. Holloway appears to
| have brought together a large amount of
| Original material. She has been several
years collecting it, and has been obliged
| to carry on an extensive correspondence
| with the kinsfolk of the ladies whose his
tories she has written. The difficulty of
ascertaining facts about such women as
Mrs. Harrison and Mrs. Taylor, whose
whole lives were obscure, may be i'm
agined The fullness of the information
given attests Mrs. Holloway's patience and
industry. Some of the lives are
full of romantic interest Mrs. Wash
| 1nBtOn, Ine wives OF Inc AuanlSeS, INC
daughters of Jefferson, Mrs. Madison,
the two wives of Tyler, and Miss Harriet
Lane were ladies of intellectual and social
culture, and would have graced any Old
World court About some of the others
Mrs. jackson, for instance, or the wife of
Andrew johnson, are clustered many Incl
dents of homely interest. Only one of the
mistresses of the White House appears to
have been unworthy of it, and therein the
candid authoress lays on and spares not.
Our readers will readily gather from these
observations that the book is one of unique
historical value, and contains much enter
tanning matter. 1t is illustrated with the
portraits of a few of the subjects of tie
memoirs Others are attainable, and
should have been added The volume is
swollen with long extracts from the letters
of Mrs. Hollaways correspondents; but, as
they often contain amusing "reminiscences
of the women who ''ruled the rulers, they
are not out of place. geographically, the
publishers have made a very handsome
| hook