Sharp County record., 1879-12-11

not for the world would he take it, and
so Gen. Eaton went in. The Cabinet
was divided at once on the grave sub
iect of Mrs. Eaton. One or two MINIS
ters of the Gospel were brought IN to
do the dirty work, which minister
seems to be able to do sometimes with
great JUNCTION, and one of them, Rev.
Mr.. Ely of Philadelphia, an old friend
of Gen. Jackson's, went on to the Capt.
tai to beg of him not to allow Gen, Ea-
ton to retain his portfolio. When ne
arrived there, however, he did not dare
to open the matter to the President, and,
after his return, wrote him long letter
full of .......
| THE MOST VINDICTIVE ASSAULTS
upon Door Mrs. Eaton. Gen. Jackson
replied with characteristic warmth.
The letter became in measure public.
Mrs. Eaton, unknown to her husband,
took her carriage and friends enough to
see fair play. and confronted Rev. Mr..
Ely in his Philadelphia study, demand
ed the proofs or retraction. " Did
Won obtain either?n | asked Mrs. Eaton,
as she fired up to white heat at a re-
cital ofthe story. "No, sir" she replied;
He covered before me in chagrln and
dismay, while | reminded him OF the
holy calling he had disgraced, and the
ruin he had attempted to bring upon the
head of a woman and her unoffending
babies.n Butthe storm had been raised,
and it was impossible to quell it. Cen
Jackson firmly believed that Henry
CLAW was at the bottom of it all, and the
more that was said against Mrs. Eaton
the stouter he stood up for her. He
visited her, forced his niece, Mrs. Donel-
son, to visit her, had parties and dinners
and balls made for her, and finally broke
ND his cabinet for her. Mr., Calhoun
would not recognize Mrs. Eaton, and
Gen, jackson became his enemy. The
wife of the Austrian Minister declined
TO sit beside her at White House din
ner. and the President threatened to
rive her husband his walking papers
Of all the Cabinet only Martin Van
Buren, treated her with marked, almost
ostentatious, consideration. He thus
commended himself to the President
esteem, and became his favOrite for the
succession. That favor secured him the
nomination, and Mrs. Eaton, who dice
Yesterday at Washington, so poor tha
it was with difficulty she has been able
for the last two years to have a pre-
scription compounded at drugstore
cave him that favor, There were
doubtless, many influences which Sc
| cured to Mr.. Van Buren the support h
needed. But had Peggy O'Neal neve
, been born there never would have been
PRESIDENT VAN BUREN.
E Secretary Eaton was so wrought up D,
Q the slanders against his wife that b
e challenged one of his colleagues, Sec
e retary Ingraham, to duel, and tina
:, gentleman refusing to fight, so insulte
g Secretary Eaton by his reply that tn
: last named laid in wait for him to COW
= hide him. Ingraham took the stage
-tJ1- 81 taegcor U,sens0n mdue If1n1 GoyernO
S of Florida At the beginning of his sec
4 ond term he sent him as Minister t.
| Spain, and the Senate confirmed him.
t Mrs. Eaton's recolections of her lif
S in Spain were vivid in the extreme
| Christina was then on the throne an,
e the afterward exiled and hated Isabell
, was then a spoiled child. Here, a
least, SANDER did not follow her. |
was like Hamlet going to England
, where they were all insane. For thre
8 years the Irish tavern girl rode with
visited and was feted by royalty. Sh
was in her prime
THE VERY INCARNATION OF BEAUTY
She could dance all night and ride -;
horse all the next day, like a centaur
She had become a brilliant converse
tionalist-for she was part of every
thing she had seen. Her eye flashed
with quick anger, or was luminous will
enthusiasm. She had a beautiful anC
talking eye even to the day of her death
Her hair, which in her old age was as
white and fine as the most fashionable
cOstumer could desire, was then black
and lustrous. Her complexion was
peaches smothered with cream. The
same indomitable spirit which bore hel
up through all her after troubles was il
its heyday then.
Before the close of President Jack
sons second term, Gen. Eaton and his
wife returned to the United States, and
not many years afterward the General
died. There were three children, daugh-
ters all, but none, | believe, by him.
The widow was left with ample means,
the most of it profitably invested Her
eldest daughter married a member OF
the French Legation and went to France
to live. Another married into the Ran
dolph family Of Roanoke, Va. The
youngest also married, and the third
generation commenced to spring up.
Mrs. Eaton was living in elegant retire
ment, and had gradually glided into Sc
renity aud mature age. 1t was time for
her to die. If fate had been kind to
| hnI, ba would hovn 1ioI hr+ bc,. 1;fo