Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1870-05-29

| sion, the hurry-Scurry that IN
nothing, while the cause of all the
confusion looked more like the knight
lOf the ruefuI cOuntenance than one to
whom an ovation was rendered. For
soOth, / wonder not at his disgust, for
| truly. his sable followers, in Virginia
manage things somewhat better. The
grand question having been at last
divided in favor of the civil Hhofs,
we at last entered the town, and after
some further delay the recipient of
all these honors vas allowed to warm
his almost frozen limbs by
a really comfortable fire. Do
not believe that here ended the war of
etiquette. Since there has been some
genteel sparring between the Presi-
dent and Gov. Hancock. What think
YOU is now the mOoted question? Nay,
Ineeds must tell, or you'd surely never
guess Alright. Nothing less than a dec
IaratiOn made by the Governor that,
Whereas, the President was agent Of
the States, the President should wait
upon the Governor, and not the Gov
ernor on the Presidentio Didst eve
hear such bold assumption? To what
can this Republic be tending? Father
cOunseled an immediate withdrawal;
but Washington is again victorious,
for a messenger has just arrived bear
ing a message from Gov. Hancock to
the effect that he will do himself the
honor of calling upon the President.
Who, think you, was the bearer OF the
message? No other than my hero of
the 'kerchief. From father l learn
that he is Col. Rufus LangfOrd, u of
the bOy-heroes of the Revolution, hav-
ing won his rank ON the battlefield
when not yet twenty. Father processes
unbounded admiration for him. How
long would it continue, were he to
suspect how warmly his daughter
shares the feeling? NUNS the word
ON this hint, for after all l know him
not, and never may; so be not yet
alarmed for your own RACHEL" I
"There must have been some let%
tiers lost or mislaid," continued Mrs.
Benton, "for this one,' holding up,
s she spoke, the fourth faded sheet of
closely written paper, "rei6rs to the
meeting between Colonel GangfOrd
and Rachel Jackson, bot does not tell
when that meeting took place. The
letter was written long after her re-
turn to the capital"
"NEw YORK, April 16, 1890.
"Pity me, dear cousin, for need
and crave it sadly! Since my return,
Colonel LangfOrd has followed me
here, and his devotion has been unin-
terrupted. Father must have been
wilfully blind, indeed, if he saw not
the drift of such conduct. Judge,
then, of our mutual establishment,
when, having won my consent to ask
my fathers blessing on u love, he
was met with unmitigated scOrn!
Scorn for him, the nOblest and best,
because, fOrsoOth, his father was an
honest blacksmith! Yea, that is the
only reason father can find, and says
he wants no other! And this
from a man who processes to
belong to a republic! He says
he cannot forget that he is noble
born, and that his mother was
an Earl's daughter. A pretty reason,
indeed, why my life should be
wrecked! We had a stormy inter-
view this morning, and / told him
roundly that l should not give up my
lover for all the pedigreed gentry he
could name. Methinks some plebian
blood must, at some time, have faint
ed the pure current of which my
father boasts, and found expression
in me. / am far more indignant at
my fathers conduct than Rufus is, for
be hopes to win his ultimate consent.
Oh! Woman's heart and w0man's des-
tinyl what ~playthings in others
handsi My heart is divided against
itself. / cannot forget my fathers
fond solicitude from earlier infancy,
vet ii can no more beat back the
strong current of the new love than
can the banks of the low country the
mountain torrent that carries all be-
fore il. Nay, l seek not to do so.
My lover swears to wait and serve as
long as Jacob for my namesake, and
L will be as faithful. l dare not look
further if all efforts prove unavailing.
Do you wonder now that l asked and
hoped to obtain your sympathy for all,
and more especially for your sorrow
ing RACHEL"
''The last is scarcely more than a
note, yet it tells of a heart stricken
and remorseful. Itbears no date, and
shows a hand palsied by diseases; ~
and Mrs. Benton unfOided a short let
ter, whose serawled appearance had
little in common with the bold CHR
Ography of the others.
"COme TO me, my only friend, where
my spirit wings its flight TO the home
where my husband awaits me. Can
a fathers prejudice never be removed?
1 have written, asking forgiveness.
Will he not come to me in my last
moments? know he will remain
implacabIe; for my husband, on his
dying bed, pleaded in vain for me,
who had erred only in loving him too
well. l do not complain, though since
his loving care was withdrawn my
life has been barren indeed. But my
child, my darling boy My
strength fails. Come quickly, OF it
will be too late! ''RACHEL."
'Can you supply the missing links
in the chain, Aunt Penelope?"
"Yes; as / heard my grandmother
tell it. Rachel Jackson, after waiting
so silently for some years, at last lett
her fathers house as Col. LaBgfOrd's
wife, openly and defiantly. She was
of age, and demanded, in answer to
his threat that he would disinherit
her, her portion of her mothers estate.
This so enraged the old man, that he
IsWore not a penny of his should ever
go to her or hers, and he cast her oil
forever. From that time Rachel
never saw her fathers face. / do not
believe that, as long as Col. LangfOrd
lived she ever regretted the step she
had taken, for her love for him wasau
sufficient, increased as it vas by the
Injustice she felt had been done to
him; but after his death, which took
Mace some six years after their mar
rage, her heart yearned once for
the old man who had nurSed her so
tenderly from the daysh had been
left a helpless babe, and she sought a
reconciliation, but she had not calcu-
lated on the implacable nature she
had offended. Pecuniary misfortunes
also overlook her, and at the time Of
her death she had little to leave to the
only child that had been spared to
herr
aDid the grandfather %relent, Aunt
Penelope?"
WYes. as is usual; hefound pity and
remorse in his heart when too late to
comfort his child. He laYished the
widest love on the boy, who, had he
not possessed really sterling qualities,
would have been ruined by over in
diligence. AS it was, he grew up to
be an honor to himself and to his
country, filling with distinction seve-
raj positions more OF honor than
emolument."
The OrOnidn says: "On the 18th
inst. six brutes in human shape went
20 the Doarding-bouse of j. N. Roach,
in lsod0e, Kansas, and forcibly vio-
lated the persons OF his two little