HARRIET LANE JOHNSTON — BEGGS 447 



other souvenir of the sojourn of the Prince, long before he became 

 King Edward VII, is a portrait in uniform painted by Sir John Wat- 

 son Gordon (1798-1864). It was given to President Buchanan in 

 18G2, and is described in the letter from Jaffa, Palestine, exhibited 

 with the painting, "as a slight mark of [his] grateful recollection 

 of the hospitable reception and agreeable visit at the White House." 



Letters exchanged by Queen Victoria and the President m connec- 

 tion with the visit of the Prince of Wales bear evidence of the cordial 

 relations existing between England's ruler and the head of our Govern- 

 ment. This friendship with the Iloyal Family was maintained by 

 Harriet Lane Johnston to the end of the Queen's long reign, as evi- 

 denced by the collection's photograph of Victoria, autographed in 

 1898, and an invitation to Edward VII's coronation in 1902 known to 

 have been received from the King. 



As early as 1853 Buchanan had written his niece, "It is my desire to 

 see you happily married, because, should I be called away, your situ- 

 ation would not be agreeable .... I desire that you shall exercise 

 your own deliberate choice of a husband. View steadily all the conse- 

 quences, ask the guidance of Heaven, and make up your own mind and 

 I shall be satisfied." Though a host of suitors hovered about con- 

 stantly and romance often beckoned, Harriet seemed too preoccupied 

 with her household and official duties to think of marriage. But in 

 Lancaster during October 1865 she obtained her uncle's cheerful ap- 

 proval of her acceptance of Henry Elliott Johnston. "You have made 

 your own unbiased choice and from the character of Mr. Johnston I 

 anticipate for you a happy marriage," he wrote, and, the decision 

 having been made, he cautioned her against unreasonable delays. 



After 6 j^ears with her uncle in his last retirement to Wheatlands, 

 she became the bride of the suitor whose devotion had been constant 

 since they first met in early youth at Bedford Springs. She went to 

 the Maryland home of her husband, who was a junior member of a 

 Baltimore law firm. Her happiness was marred 2 years later by the 

 loss of her beloved uncle. Two sons were taken from her at ages 12 

 and 14; and then she lost her husband after 18 years together. The 

 American sculptors Henry Dexter (1806-1876) and William Henry 

 Einehart (1825-1874) have transmuted to marble the physical like- 

 nesses of the distinguished ex-President, his niece, her husband, and 

 the hitter's namesake. The last mentioned is shown at the age of two 

 as "Cupid Stringing his Bow." The older son, James Buchanan John- 

 ston, is the subject of the posthumous portrait by Harper Pennington 

 (1854-1920). 



The remainder of her life in Baltimore and Washington she spent 

 quietly with plans ever in mind for worthwhile memorials to her 

 loved ones. The birthplace of Buchanan in Mercersburg, Pa., St. 



326511—55 31 



