The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-05-30

DC. &C
| The recent remarkable clopemcnt of an
! Italian advcnturcr (who seven years ag"
welded the widow of General Eat"n) with
the granddaughter of his wife has created
! , sensation in political and fashionable cir
! clrs both in this city and in Washington.
/ Ii has also revived the public interest III
| the unfortunate wife, who at one time may
have been said 10 have controlled the fate
VI the country, or at least to have been the
chief cause al a change in some ot' its most
important political relations. 1t will he,
| therefore. appropriate at this present time
| to give Il resume Of the leading facts in the
biography of the party in this singular case
with whom the public are naturally most
/ conccrncd--namclv, Madame Bourgananl,
/ formerly widely known as Mrs. General
I Eaton.
The father Of this lady was gentleman
OF wealth and position, and the lady her
! self was possessed Of great personal attrac-
! tionS, remains OF which are visible even to
| this day. She was well educated, and was
gifted with a singular fascination OF man
ncr while not the least important element
! in her character was strength OF VIII, 4
power of fixed determination, which has
sustained her throughout all the rlciS>l-
tudcS Of her cycnttul career. In the height
I of her triumph as II belle at Washington
/ She married a member of the Timbcrlakc
/ family, who was purScr III the Jnl"d
| States navy. ThcuuptialS were celebrated
with cclat. and the father of the bride pre-
scented her with wcll-furnishcd house
/ (Which in after days passed into the hands
ot the Italian drawing master Bourgananl)
! Bv her first husband the lady had several
/ children. PurScr TimbCrlakc was an lnil-
mate personal friend of General Eaton, and
/ is said 10 have felt prcSentlment that his
! life was not destined 10 he OF great dura-
| ton, and also to have expressed the hope
that. in the case OF his dcccaSc, his widow
would unite herself TO his friend. After
! the death OF Timbrrlake, General Eaton,
in due course of time, forwarded an cpl>llc
| To the widow, expressing his sentiments OF
admiration for her, having, as he expressed
/ il, "known her and appreciated her alike
aS a daughter, wife, and widow" and de-
string permission 10 visit her. The pcrmiS-
sion was granted, and Mrs. Timbcrlakc be
came Mrs. General Eaton.
Her second husband enjoying relations
of the closest intimacy with President
Jackson, his wife in consequence assumed
a highpp>i1iou among the tcmalcn"tabllllcS
ui the national capital. She was received
in the kmdc>t manner by the President,
ar.l was >uon numbered among the circle
of his most priced acquainIanc">, While
her husbands : position aS Minister oi ar
still further tended to enhance alike her
notoricty and her influence. According
to the usual law which governs success III
this world. Mrs. Eaton did not escape
scandal. Rulnur busted itself with her
name. and President Jackson himself did
not fail to receive his share Of social gossip.
The opposition newspapers of the day
could not afford to dispense with an such
excellent opportunity I"r sensational items,
and the stories which linked in wrong
the President AMI Mrs. Eaton began t" as
same a poltical Significance.
Calhoun, At that time Nicc-Prc>idcnt and
President Of the Senate, was bitterly OPP
posed 10 the policy and person OF General
Jackson and having failed to Share the ma
toual confidence in his superior hy attacks
ON the management OF the Seminole war,
looked around him for more available ma
trrial. The Eaton scandal was accordingly
>kilfully. though dclicatcly, manipulated 10y
him, and Was brought into practical shape.
With the truth or 1al$chood OF the scandal
itself We have naught 10 do: neither Is II
our province L. undertake to decide what
real crcdcncc Nr. Calhoun in his own mind
attached 10 the report. Suffice ii to record
the facts. Mr.. Calhoun, through the "ic-
male element in Washington, and cSpc-
ciallv hv his influence with the wives of
the various members ol the Cabinet, 50
4 a Mr. l'arlI1l
socially ignored by the ladies' of the Cabi-
net circle. thus increasing the scandal, and
calling 10 It's internal personal disScnslomN
the Unilvorahic attention Of the natlon.
President jackson, pcrccivIng tins, wrote
in his direct way concerning the matter 10
Mr.. Calhoun, who replied hy a very dlpl"-
matte note, stating that the quarrel was
cmpha1callv "ladics' QUARREL with
which men could not successfully inter
irrc that the laws of the ladies were
like the laws of the McdcS and PcrSlanS,
and admitted dncithcr oiargumcnt or amend
mcnt :" with much more i'll similar strain.
On the receipt Of this epStlc General Jack
son determined al once to act. lie accord
inglv sent for Mr.. Van Burcn, then Sccrc-
tarv of State, his political iavorte, and,
explaining his views, requested him, as a
personal favor, to send in his resignation
Mr.. Van Burcn at once complied with the
rather singular request, and of course his
resignation was Immediately followed by
that OF each and every member OF the
Cabinet.
1t is stated that al one stage OF the pro
cccdings the President was willing to com
promise with the enemies of Mrs. Eaton !;
Withdrawing any claim OF his to the Irt-
cate social recognition of the lady, de-
string only her p,tbljc recognition at re-
ccptions and great occasions. But as TINS
COMPROMISE was rejected he acted as we
have above stated. And thus Mrs. Gene
raj Eaton proved the direct cause OF the
dissolution of Il Cabinet.
Directly subsequent 10 this event the
President. who never torsook friend,
accredited General Eaton as United States
Minister to Madrid, and in brief period
his wife, directing her social talents to the
Old World, became almost as noted there
as she had already rendered herself III the
New. She visited London, and Paris, and
finally settling at Madrid, established her
self as decided favoritc. Various anec-
dotes are recorded of her stay in the Spa
nish Court, for ouly one of which we can
find space. IT seems to have been Spa
nish custom, when wishing to evince adml-
ration for lady, to proifer her some valu-
bic present, merely as matter OF form,
the lady being presumed 10 gratefully de-
cline the offer. Mrs. Eaton was aware OF
this custom and Of its meaning-or rather
n lx.,t. md al