The Republican journal., 1873-02-13
The Two Wives Of Aaron Burr.

The revival the celebrated Jumel will
case, which for years has been dragging
its slow length through the New York
| courts, naturally recalls the name and
history of the man who figured as the
second husband of the woman whose
property now bids far to be swallowed
up IN the insatiate nav of the legal pro-
| fesslon. We do not, of course, propose
10 attempt any biography or criticism Of
one who has been so thoroughly crucified
by the pens of scribblers of high and low
| degree as Aaron Burr; but the very
notoriety he has gained lends strong
interest to some details of his domestic
life which are not entirely familiar to the
majority OF newspaper readers.
1t was while commanding his regiment
in New Jersey during the early years of
the revolutionary war that Colonel Burr
made the acquaintance OF the lady who
afterwards became his first wife and the
mother OF that incompatible daughter,
whose genius and fidelity have almost re-
deemed her fathers fame. Mrs. Theo-
dosia Provost was then the wife of Colonel
Provost OF the British army, at that time in
the West Indies. She resided at Paramus.
with her mother and sister and her two
sons-the latter sprightly little fellows
whose vlvacity could not be other than at
| tractlve to man so passionately fond of
| bright children as Burr was till the dav of
| his death. Mrs. Provost was ten wears
older that the young officer whom she cap
| tivated by her rare grace and culture but
| neither the difference in age, nor the alb
sence OF beauty lessened her charms in his
| estimation. Her family-the De Viennes
was OF French or Swiss origin, and she
herself was the first woman educated in
! accordance with the European standard
whom Burr had ever met. She was thor
onghly versed in the best literature of the
day, and undoubtedly did much toward
forming the taste and shaping the intel
lectua devcopement of an admirer who,
| above all other tings in the world, appre-
clated brains-particularl when lodged
IN female head. Her manners are rep
resented to have been the perfection of
elegance and refinement, and long after
she had been mercifully taken away from
the evil to come, Burr was accustomed to
say that if his own manners were in any
respect superior to those of men in gen
eral, it was mainly owing to the insensi-
bic influence of hers. Some unpublished
letters from her hand which we have seen,
a5undantly confirm this estimate of her
character-the penmanship is exquisitely
neat and clear, and the matter is no less
remarkable tor its vigorous common sense
than for the admirable style in which it is
set forth.
We have said that Burr was an admirer
OF Mrs. Provost, but there is not the slight
est reason to suppose that his admiration
ever went beyond the bounds of strict pro-
priety, or that her behavior was in any re-
spect unworthy the position she occupied
Ii she was conscious of the impression she
had made that consciousness never re-
vealed itself in word or act-and it is the
most wretched injustice to fasten upon her
reputation even a shadow of the stain
which rests upon him whose brighter for
tunes she shared. But when, not long
after their first meeting, Colonel Provost
died, it is probable that this mutual self
restraint gradually began to disappear;
for we know that when Burr resigned from
the army in 1879, they were engaged to
be marred-the ceremony being delayed
only by those pecuniary considerations
which cannot be overlooked even in the
delirium of passionate love. Both were
poor, and let it be remembered as a slight
atonement for his many subsequent trans
gressions, that Burr deliberately married
for affection and not for money. He was
young, handsome and brilliant; he had
come out of the war with splendid record |