Vicksburg weekly herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1868-1883, 1870-09-10

by INFORM nk IlA hHAlN Hg iAAs AAt hGLs /
-.-0..%-
From the ,olumbus ga. san
The Saddest Picture of Radical
Reconstruction.
With a shudder that made our
blood run cold, We read the fol-
lowing paragraph in the Charles
ton News:
The marriage Of Mrs. Susan
Pctigru King and the Hon. c. c.
Bowen, which has been I subject
OF town-talk in Charleston for
some time, was TO have taken place
in Washington ut & O'Clock ycster-
day evening. Mrs. King is the
relict Of the late Capt. Henry King.
and the daughter of the late James
L. Pctigru. Mr., Bowen repre-.
scnts this district in Congress,
and is 4 candidate upon the Re
publican ticket for re election
There can be no mistake about
this matter, for 50 respectable n
journal as the Charleston News
would not have dared to publish
such Il paragraph at the home Of
the lamcnted Petigru without it
had become the subject Of town
talk. We confess that among the
many dark pictures which have
been presented to our view during
the progress Of Radical recon.
struction, this is by far the black
est and most rcpulsiyc. 1t was
expected that some men would
yield to the Establishments of place
and power, would disgrrcc their
names and families, and sink u
level Of the vile crew imported into
the South and sustained by Fed
craI bayoncts; but il was beyond
the pale Of probeblc c~Qu,cnpla,
ton TO suppose that u high-bOrn
and high bred lady could he forced,
even 10y poverty and It's dire train
Of disasters, to unite her fate with
that Of Il low bred social outca,t.
Mrs. King is the daughter Of
James L Pettigru, the most dis.
tinguished lawyer the South has
produced. She is the widow Of Il
distinguished lawyer of the
Charleston bar, and Il brave and
gallant soldier, who laid down his
life in defence of his native city.
She was 4 woman Of rare personal
charms and OF high intellectual
endowments. In the works Of lit
erature she had made her mark,
and it is claimed for her that she
inherited in no small degree the
ready and sparkling wit Of her re-
nowned and lamcnted father. II
is true that her married life was
not happy, and also true hat many
years since, while she dashed
about and dazzled Charleston So
ciety, with DIR. Hayne, the husband
Of the unfortunate Julia Dean, her
cavalier servente' prudent people
were disposed to think her a triae
too fast, and prudish ones applied
q harsher term to her conduct.
But she was 4 beautiful, brilliant
woman, reared in and accustomed
to all Of the reiincments of the
most cultivated eocicty.
In addition to this, she was pos
sesscd Of talents and accomplish.
mcnts which, properly used, might
have successfully dclied any reyul-
sion in fortune.
Bowen is a low, dirty adven-
turer from Providence, Rhode
Island, a thief by profession and
practice, a fellow utterly destitute
of character or any quality that
could possibly commend him to
the consideration Of a gentleman
or lady. Before the war he wan
dered about the alley in the rear
of the office in which these lines
are penned, loafing and stealing a
living from the small gamblers
and their victims who invested the
place. He married in this place
a superannuated bawd, old enough
to be his mother, and after squan-
dering the little property she had
accumulated by a life of shame,
basely deserted her, and she is
now suing him in the courts of the
country. During the war he as
sinated Col. White, Of Savannah,
and was under sentence of death
for the offence, and was saved
from execution by the sudden and
disastrous close Of the war. Since
that time he has been convicted
and incarcerated in the jail Of
Charleston for stealing from ne
groes, and now it is announced
that he is to marry the daughter
of a gentleman who in the long
and varied practice Of near half
a century, never saw so debased a
specimen of humanity in the
criminal dock as he.
Who will dare say again that
the eagle does not mate with the
owl?