This was the expression of a wise man when President Roosevelt first came into power. Here was a man in possession of the highest honor the country could bestow upon one of its citizens; he had proved himself of sterling worth in whatsoever office he had held in City government, State government, and in battle. Why should there be a thought that he should prove of less worth as the President of the United States? CHAPTER XX. Home Life "Tranquillity" on Oyster Bay-Rule of Simplicity-Mrs. Roosevelt-A Gracious and Good Woman-Ideal Wife and Mother-"$300 a Year Enough for a Woman to Dress On"-The Roosevelt Children-"Swashbuckler Americanism"-Honors conferred at Yale College-Resumé―The Country is Assured-The Good Work will Go On-The President's Attitude on Affairs of State-The Country will Continue to Speak with Pride the Name of Theodore Roosevelt. M UCH has been written about Theodore Roosevelt, his life and his family, and the wholesomeness of it all has been represented for years in the way in which hundreds of thousands of American citizens have called its head not only by his first name, but by his nickname of "Teddy." As Mr. F. J. Stimson once wrote in a poem: "He whom men call 'Teddy' And the gods call 'Theodore." " But it is always pleasant to know something of the family life of such a man, without in any way desiring to drag into public notice that part of his life which essentially belongs to himself, and which neither he nor any one else wishes to vulgarize. Colonel Roosevelt has for years lived on the top of a hill overlooking Long Island Sound, at Oyster Bay, in a large, unassuming house, full of the stuffed heads of animals of one kind or another that have been the results of his many hunting trips. The floors are covered with skins of all kinds, and it has been a pride of his to have only such trophies in the lower part of his house as he himself was responsible for. Here the family are together always in the summer, and often far into the winter. They all, from Mrs. Roosevelt down, gather there whenever they can, stay as long as possible, and only leave when duties of one kind or another call them away. The simplicity of the household, the simplicity of the method of life, is as unusual among such people as it is pleasant, and there is no more probability of any change in the method of life, except such as is necessitated by the President's new duties, than there is that the characters of the people themselves will change. All about the President's house, on the sides of Sagamore Hill, are the country residences of his relatives; and the different families can gather together some eighteen or twenty children. One of the important features of the community are the holiday expeditions which Theodore Roosevelt and this army of young people have undertaken through the woods and along the shore since the oldest of them could toddle along behind their cousin and father. It is a common and interesting sight to see him, dressed in knickerbockers, striding along through the woods and over fences, with a troop of children doing their best to keep up with him, on their way for a bath in the bay, or taking hold of hands and running down the great sand cliff called Coopers Bluff, which drops from the top of the hill into the Sound itself. They all talk at once; they discuss the nature of some newfound nest or insect or flower, and not the least interested of the party is its leader. The reports that have got abroad that Mr. Roosevelt would give up this Oyster Bay house during his term as President of the United States cannot be true, as no one who knows him could conceive of his giving up the opportunity for rest and exercise, for the kind of family life which he most desires, and which he could not possibly have anywhere else. When after his return from Montauk Point at the close of the Spanish war he stood in the village under the trees on an old bandstand and told the people of his town what it all meant to him and ought to mean to them, he began by recalling an incident that showed |