The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1871-10-13
COLUMBIA TENNESSEE, OCTOBER1s, 1871

day evening. / Immediately ran to
the house, near the State prison, from
whence was told that tfley dare not
remove him. Picture to yourself.
my dear girl, the, emotions which
must have assailed me on nv arrival
at his room, to which 1 was admitted
as his old college classmate. On a
bed without curtains, lay poor Phil,
pale and languid, his rolling listort-
ed eyeballs darting forth the flashes
OF delirum. On one side of him, on
the same bed, lay his agonized faith
er; on the other, his distracted mother;
around him, numerous friends, weep
ing and fixed in sorrow. Blanched
with astOnishment and alright was
the cOuntenance1 which, a few mo-
ments before, was illumined by the
smile of merriment. 1 could cOntin-
ue in the room but very short time.
Returning home, / quickened nv
pace almost uncOnsciOusly, hoping
to escape the image, as we'll as the re.
ality, of what had Witnessed 20
The young man died next morning.
between four and five o'clock. His
father, we arc told, was with difficult
ty supported to the grave, and the
mother remained at home stricken
with grief, robbed of her offspring by
a senseless custom and a debauched
public opinion. 49, 'g
This duel, of the reader knowns.
proved to be but the prelude and re-
hearsal of the one which, three years
later, deprived Mrs. Hamilton of a
husband, and her seven children of a
father. The circumstances were
startlngly similar. The duel was
fought on the same ground for SINH
lar-ofiensive word uttered by Ham,
iltOn. The wound which the father
received was very similar to the one
which destroyed the son, and the
father, like the son, did not fire at his
antagonist. The father, too, was
borne across the river and taken to a
friends house near the shore, where |
he fingered almost the same number |
OF hours as the son, and died sur
rounded by the same thrOng of weep |
ing friends and relations 1t was
doubtless a acOnsOlatiOn to his wife, so
cruelty injured, to discover that she
had been i'm his thoughts the evening
before, when he had w;itten q solemn
injunction to his children never to
forget what they owned to the ''best
and most devoted of mOthers.n In
his will, he left all that he possessed
to his "dear and excellent wife, and
then added these words:
SHOULD it happen that there is not
enough for the payment of debts, l
entreat my dear children, if they, or
any of them, should ever he able, to
make up the deficiency. l, without
hesitation commit to their delicacy a
wish which is dictated by my own.
Though conscious that | have too far
sacrificed the interests of my family
to public avOcatiOns, and on this ac-
count have the less claim to burden
my children, yet trust i'm their mag
nanlmity to appreciate as they ought
this my request. In so unfavorable
an event of things, the support of their
dear mother, with the most respectful
and tender attention, is duty, all
the sacrcdness of which they will feel ;
Probably her own patrimonial re-
sources will preserve her from indig-
rnce. But i'll all situations they are
to bear i'm mind that she has
been to them the best of mOthers.r
Thus can the eloquent tongue apOl- '
Dgize for the faults of the weak heart; ,
and women, i'm their tender charity,
accept the eloquent words and for
give the mighty wrong which lays {
waste their lives. Why should he not '
have said to Burr: my wife and
children have prior claim upon my
life. My life is theirs, and not my
OWN. My life is not mine to risk"
He could not say these words, and ]
no man at that day could have said
them, unless he had been exception
lily strong and good, which Hamil-
-On was not.
Mrs. Hamilton remained for more
han fifty years widow, and during ;
all that period she was an object of
and peculiar interest i'm
all the circles i'm which she moved.
1t is pleasing to know that her chill ;
lren faithfully observed their fathers
Injunction. She testified to the "un-
kindness and attention.
which she had received from her, son,
James A. Hamilton. He even sup i
piled her wants too Oabundantly. One
Of her letters to him has been publish ,
I'd, in which she tells him that she
lid not need cheek which lie had {
sent her, and that he must not send
her any more money unless she asked ,
for it. i-S S''F'"i
"As all good acts" she added, care
in the habitatiOn where :
your father now il, | have no doubt I
his one will be proclaimed to him, {
md have thus given him another Z
motive to implore continued blessings t
upon you. Amen, my dear son." :
During the last years of her life she +,
was much interested i'm the prOsperi-
fy of the Widows Society and Orphan
Asylum, for which she received q
great deal of money by personal ap- t
plication. !
Mamma" said her son to her, one I
lay, you are q sturdy hcggar." ,
My dear son." was her reply, 81 ,
,an not spare myself or Others; my j
Maker has pointed out this duty tOj
me, and has given me the ability and ,
inclination to perform it.'
For one of the orphans whom she ,
rescured from poverty and ignorance
through the Asylum, she obtained u
at the Military Academy.
He graduated, rose to the rank of cap
Monterey, bravely leading his COM
pdhN ihto Dstttic. <AS lOIiS us It liNeN |
he gave something out of his pay
every year for the Asylum, and, max
ing his will the night before the bat
tic, left it all he had-abOut eighteen
dollars. Mrs. Hamilton liv-
ed to the great age of ninety-sevcn,
spending her last year at Washing
ton, with one of her daughters. She
retained her faculties to her last mO-
ment and her death was painless and
peaceful. She called her s0n James
about eleven o'clock one night, and
asked him to make some changes in
the bed-clOthes Mt her feet. Hav-
ing complied with her request, he
bent over her, and looked to see if
there was any change in her cOunten-
ance. She put her arms around his
neck, pressed him to her, kissed him
most tenderly, and said:
good son"
The arm relaxed. She uttered
slight sound like a hicc0ugh: She
had hreather her last lfbOfs HoHse-
bold Mggqziae,